I was really hoping that the Batman Beyond miniseries would live up to my expectations. I was hoping for a nice continuation of the TV series aimed at maybe a slightly older audience and, unfortunately, I’ve only partially gotten that wish. The first two issues were good, but felt less like a Batman Beyond comic, and more like a futuristic version of the normal Batman books. The rogues gallery of Terry McGinnis is being increasingly ignored for returns of rehashes of Bruce Wayne’s old enemies and this is really disappointing. It’s like the creative team can’t decide whether they are writing this more for the Batman or Batman Beyond audience. That does not mean that this a bad book, but it does have so much more potential.
Continuing where issue #2 left off, Terry is losing a fight against the man that seems to Hush as he tries to kill the aged Calendar Man. Unfortunately for Terry, he’s being hit both by Hush and sleep deprivation and has Bruce Wayne yelling in his ear. Things go about as well as you might expect for him. After Hush escapes, Terry heads home for some much needed rest and then visits Bruce only to find that Bruce isn’t exactly pleased with Terry’s performance as Batman. This continues to be the one area where writer Adam Beechen excels: he has absolutely nailed Terry’s voice perfectly. He reacts to any given situation exactly as you would expect not just the Terry McGinnis from the show, but also how any teenager in his situation would act. The fact that Beechen handles him well is a large part of the reason this book isn’t worse than it could be.
However, his other characters don’t fare so well. Bruce, though he was also harsh and critical of Terry in the show, was never as overly angry as he is represented here. Every little thing that Terry does bothers him and even when Terry almost gets himself killed from pushing himself too hard, Wayne still scolds him for not being devoted enough. This might have been acceptable if this series took place very early in Terry’s career, but this issue establishes that the series takes place after the movie “Return of the Joker” which is probably the point where Wayne thinks most highly of McGinnis as Batman. It’s a huge character inconsistency that I would like to see resolved somehow.
I’d also like to see that plot itself go somewhere. This issue really didn’t tell the read anything new. Really all that happens is that Wayne makes a particularly harsh statement about his lack of faith and we discover who Catwoman is running around for. This mini is at its halfway point and the story really hasn’t moved along at all. At this point, I’m just hoping that the resolution isn’t too rushed, but then again, there also isn’t too much to the plot either so, unless there’s a twist coming, there is not much that needs to be wrapped up at all. Either way, it’s a worrying sign for the series.
On the other side of the creative team coin, I’m trying really hard to like Ryan Benjamin’s pencils, but it’s just so inconsistent. Some of his panels look absolutely amazing and his Hush is actually frightening. He looks powerful and scary and like he could actually take Batman apart all by himself, which is really impressive for a guy that is only wearing a trench coat and bandages. I also really like how nimble he makes Batman look which is a necessity for the Batman Beyond version. However, at the same time, his faces still look odd, especially Terry’s, both in an out of the mask. And for some strange reason, Terry’s mother has gone from moderately-sized with red hair to much skinnier with black hair. I’m not sure if that was a conscious decision to separate a plot point about Terry’s “real parents” introduced in the last episode of Justice League Unlimited or just an error on Benjamin’s part, but it really bothered me.
Despite all the criticism I’ve thrown at this series, it really does have a lot of potential and that’s exactly why I’m being so hard on it. Honestly, most of problems might not be issues for some readers; some might enjoy the increased focus on the villains of the past and others may really like every panel of Benjamin’s pencils, but I think this could be so much more. There’s still time for Beechen to change this around and he shown that he knows the backstory of this universe well and can do (most) of the characters well, so I hope that the latter half of the mini can really make Batman Beyond into the powerhouse it should be.
Overall: 6.5/10
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