Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batman Beyond #4

By Colin Andersen
September 15, 2010 - 19:44

   Well, this issue was certainly not what I had hoped. Though I haven’t written about the series for Comic Book Bin before, I have been following this current Batman Beyond miniseries very carefully since it was first announced. I was a huge fan of the television incarnation of Batman Beyond and was hugely excited with this mini was announced. So far, it hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations, mainly due to poor art and the choice to follow mainly of the original Batman’s rogues over Batman Beyond’s rogues. Despite that, I could see that there was potential for the series to branch out and take a life of its own and live up to its name. Unfortunately, this issue is looking to dash my hopes for that.

   

The past three issues have followed the current Batman, Terry McGuiness, in his hunt for an escaped maniac who is killing old Batman rogues while also trying to put up with his boss, Bruce Wayne. This issue finally brings about the reveal of who “Hush” is and to say it is underwhelming and rather confusing is an understatement. I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers here and I apologize if I say anything that leads you to figuring it out while reading this review. Hush turns out to be a character as-yet-unseen in this miniseries and one that makes very little sense. When the character is introduced earlier in the issue, he looks noticeably different than he does during the big reveal at the end. Also, the time frames in which certain events take place only makes Hush’s identity make even less sense. There are still possible explanations (likely ones involving cloning and/or holograms), but I can’t think of any that wouldn’t seem needlessly cliché. The whole situation just reeks of “red herring” and it’s incredibly annoying. Even if it does turn out to not be a red herring, it is still an uninspired choice to make, especially if you’ve seen Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. I was really hoping that Adam Beechen would have been able to come with a more…creative identity for his villain.

    That’s not the only problem with this issue either. There are some other strange elements to the plot, such as the introduction of Bruce Wayne’s new Batman robots only for it to break time only two pages after it shows up. The only apparent reason for this is to give the new Catwoman a chance to fight for herself. I have to admit, I am actually starting to like this Catwoman and she actually have some pretty interesting moves for herself, though she isn’t given long to show them off. This issue also spends some time focusing on Dick Grayson’s place in the future of Batman Beyond and I actually quite liked the back story he was given here. It doesn’t even remotely fit into Batman Beyond continuity, but it is effective background that makes sense with the information presented here. Just don’t go into the issue expecting the miniseries to fit flawlessly into the show’s established history. I wish it did, but it has to be treated as a separate beast. Luckily, Beechen is at least still able to competently write Terry.

    One of the other areas I have had a problem with over the course of the series is the art by Ryan Benjamin. It’s terribly inconsistent work with characters changing size and shape from panel to panel. The worst offender of this is Hush himself as he has shrunken quite a bit since the start of the series. The constant changing of little details makes the book plain unattractive to look at at times. It’s also lucky for Benjamin that so many of his characters are masked as his faces probably suffer more than anything else. Dick Grayson is easily the most by this as he seems to magically change ages and looks different in almost every panel. He also has an eye patch that I wouldn’t even know was an eye patch if the story didn’t establish it was. I honestly thought he just had a dark shadow over his right eye in every panel for most of the book. It’s frustrating to say the least, especially when Benjamin shows that he is a capable artist in some panels, especially when drawing Gotham City.
   
    I desperately want a worthy successor to Batman Beyond the show. I had hoped that this series was going to be that, but the issue seems to have all but cemented the miniseries as a disappointment. I suppose it’s still possible that Beechen could turn the plot around and make it something at least salvageable, but this issue is making me think that he won’t be able to. There is still hope with the announcement of a new Batman Beyond ongoing, but I can only hope that it will not only not be in continuity with this miniseries, but that there will be a new creative team altogether. Wait for the trade on this one, folks.

Rating: 5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12