Review: Batman Beyond #4
I've had a huge work project eating my time for weeks now, but this weekend I made a little room in my schedule to try to catch up on comics. Unfortunately, I spent part of that time reading Batman Beyond #4.
Once I was done, all I could do was stare at the page and say aloud, "For real?" This issue had a lot going for it until the big reveal of who the killer is and that plot twist alone has single-handedly undone almost all the good will I can offer this title. I'm finding it very difficult to believe the story has taken this turn and I'm not really sure it's worth $8 to see it finished. It's just tremendously disappointing.
The art is still pretty great, though.
I usually try to stay pretty positive with my reviews because, ultimately, even when something is lousy for one issue it might get better next month. A bad turn by an artist who's filling in; an off month for a writer who's normally great; a publishing schedule that chops up a narrative unexpectedly: these are all little things that may unfairly impact what started as a solid set of work by a creative team and I try not to let those things unfairly color my opinion. After all, six months later when it's read as a trade paperback a book may be unburdened by such concerns when the reader can experience it as a complete work rather than a serial.
There are some notable exceptions to that charity - the largely schedule-induced implosion of my interest for Elephantmen comes to mind, as do The Issue of Buffy Season Eight Which Shall Not Be Named and my absolute and utter disappointment in that book about Nyarlathotep - but overall I try hard to give books the same chance I'd want given to my own creative output.
Thus it was with a heavy heart that I slogged my way through the first three issues of Batman Beyond, awaiting some glimmer of hope that the book might suddenly turn a corner and be about the Beyond part of the title more than the Batman. Most of issue #4 suggested that my faith would be rewarded and as it went on I was even starting to like the revealed nuggets of this alternate future's past as Terry worked his way through it in search of his antagonist's identity. The scene with Terry and Dick Grayson - and the DCAU Grayson's Nightwing uniform - is well-written and oddly touching and also horrifying at the same time. I was really getting into the book at that point.
Then the big reveal of Hush's identity came and... well. It might be an interesting story but it certainly isn't original and something about it proved an immediate turn-off. At this point, I'm not even sure I'm willing to buy the last two issues to finish out the series. It's not that it's offensive or silly or bad. It's not that there is some sacred calf I can't stand to see them sacrifice. After all, Batman Beyond explicitly takes place in an alternate future, so all bets are off and all narrative possibilities are left open; it's their sandbox and they can play in it all they want. It's not even that it's unlikely or that I couldn't see it happening. It's that this is a storyline that has very near variants present in multiple other Batman titles. In fact, it's a variation on a story that's been done very recently in a different and much better Batman title. Worst of all, it yanks the focus right back away from Terry and onto Bruce. Ugh.
Years ago, Dan DiDio said in an interview that there would be a new Batman Beyond comics outing in response to an outpouring of fan interest in the character of Terry McGinnis. Too bad that didn't turn out to be what we got.
Is the art still good? Yes, the art is still good. I don't know if it's worth $4, though.
In happier news, tomorrow I get to gush about Joe the Barbarian #7, a book that makes me choke up a little just from how much I liked it.
Klarion
Posted to Review on 30 September 2010
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