Batman Beyond #1

Terry McGinnis returns again in a one month time period as Batman, but this time not in an annual comic but in his own mini-series, featuring a few villains from Batman's past.
 

The Good

More Batman Beyond! It was one of my favorite cartoon series! Anyway, it's good to see McGinnis back in the suit again, even though we saw him two weeks ago in Superman/Batman Annual #4. the artwork in the book is done by Ryan Benjamin, and it looks like Dustin Nguyen's pencils met an updated version of the original cartoon. It looks pretty good, but there were a couple times I wasn't too happy with it. The inclusion of old and new villains in the futuristic setting was a staple of the original show, but obviously focusing more on the new baddies that the oldies. This comics follows the feel of the show very well, except for Terry juggling his social life with his super life, but this is the first issue of the book, so hopefully, it will touch up on that later.
 

The Bad

Have you seen Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker? If you have, you'll feel like you're reading a revamping of that in a sense, and no, Joker is not in this book. On the art side of things, my arch-nemesis returned to this book, disappearing backgrounds. Many times, this is done to convey a message, and I understand that because that's what seems to be happening here, but I am no fan of it. Another art element I was not digging on was during a fight scene, the background was still there, but it was all tinted green? Why? I don't get it.
 

The Verdict 3.5/5

Ok, I'm bias, but as I read this book a second and a third time, just to make sure my biases didn't take over my rating and the overall review, I realized that the book isn't as good as I originally thought. Sure, I enjoyed it, a lot, but it was because I'm such a Batman Beyond fanboy. The issue is all set-up for the rest of the story, which is what most first issues are anyways, but I feel in a sense that I'm reading a revamping of Return of the Joker, but replacing Joker with another classic Wayne villain. Don't get me wrong, I am loving it, but so far, this feels a little stale for a character and world that has never truly had his own series, minus cartoon adaptations. I'm recommending the book, but fans be weary because this will feel a little too familiar to you.