Batman Beyond Unlimited #8

Note: I have been doing a weekly review of Batman Beyond. This is a compilation of those reviews.

Boomtown

I’ve never been a fan of Batman Beyond. I don’t dislike it, but I’ve never had much experience with it. Despite that, I found the last issue of Batman Beyond to be extremely engaging. The last issue left us on a cliffhanger revealing the Bruce is suffering from liver failure, and I was very interested to see how this story progresses.

In this issue, Terry reacts to the news that Bruce is, in all likelihood, dying. Before he can even begin to come to terms with this news, Terry hears of an explosion which has killed about a dozen and injured many more.

Excellence

I’m delighted to say that I have loved these last two issues. Again, I don’t have a lot of experience with this character, so my expectations were that I would find only a moderately good story, but these stories have been extremely good. Terry and Bruce’s interactions are great as always. It is intriguing to see how the Bat God faces the frailty of old age since we never get this from regular Bat titles. This issue holds the introduction of a new character which wears a costume design that older comic fans will immediately recognize, and these sort of reimagined characters are always fun. The art does an excellent job of remaining true to the visuals of the cartoon yet providing a more detailed and adult feel. In short, the writing and the art team are doing a great job.

Levels of Panic

I’ve never followed Batman Beyond before last month, but these last few issues have impressed me so much that I have started watching the old cartoons, and I am greatly enjoying the series in all mediums now. I do feel the more mature nature of the comics improves the Batman Beyond unvierse, but there is a lot of value in the old cartoon as well.

In this issue, Batman teams up with Vigilante to try to stop Jokerz from blowing themselves up all over Gotham City. They soon find out that stopping a suicide bomber is a tall order, and after getting knocked around a little, Terry calls Maxine for backup.

Jokerz Gone Mad!

Once again, this series continues to impress me. This issue is decidedly focused on action which is a little disappointing because I am so invested in Bruce’s liver failure and the Joker King’s philosophical ramblings. Nonetheless, the action delivers and you sympathize with Terry’s helplessness at being faced with such an insurmountable problem.

The parallels between the Jokerz’ strategy in this issue and the operations of Islamic extremists is pretty striking, and Terry is faced with the same very real problem many nations face today, how do you stop people who are willing to kill themselves just to see their enemies suffer?

Beyond that, there is really not much else to say. Maxine’s subplot continues to advance, and Vigilante makes a good showing for himself though I am interested in seeing Terry discover that he is fighting crime alongside his father’s killer.

All Hands

Batman Beyond has been on hiatus, strangely, for over two weeks. I’ve tried to find a reason for this, but none has been forthcoming. Presumably, part of it is due to Batman Beyond’s relocation to a Saturday release schedule. Regardless, I had nearly forgotten about this story it had been so much longer than expected since an update. When last we say Terry, Gotham City was blowing up amongst a host of Jokerz. Has the long wait given the creative team time to create a perfect chapter, or have they been twiddling their thumbs on their extended break?

In this issue, Batman teams up with Catwoman to take down the Jokerz, but even her help is not enough to win the day. With Max missing, Terry turns to the only person he can think of to help, Tim Drake.

Nerdgasm

At the end of this issue, I tried very hard not to have a full fledged nerdgasm, and I failed miserably. Though this issue was just as action packed as the last one, it was also balanced with enough surprises to make me very happy. The introduction of Tim Drake and some other supporting cast members was genius, and it might prove for some interesting drama down the line when the extended Bat Family learns that Bruce is dying.

The updated Catwoman bugged me at first, but I soon grew used to her. Her powers are odd, but her personality actually seems somewhat similar to Selina, so I can buy her as the inheritor of the legacy.

The last page of the issue made me very happy.