Superman Beyond finally comes out of retirement. How could the Man of Tomorrow really call it quits when there is still so much crime to deal with. This issue shows that we could all benefit from more Beyond titles.
The Good
We need to see more of the Batman Beyond world. Superman may have decided to retire or travel to other planets but that just never felt right for his character. Earth is his home and there is still plenty of crime to take care of. Somehow I completely missed that Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema were the creative team. It makes sense as they have spent plenty of time working on the future of the Marvel Universe with the Spider-Girl series.
The story here reestablishes Superman as a hero on Earth. It doesn't contain the biggest, most spectacular villain we might expect but the story was fun. Seeing other characters from this world was a nice touch to show us that they are all connected. Some, like the appearance of Terry McGinnis, might feel like glorified cameos but they are needed to tie everything together.
The Bad
I mentioned the villain. He is a formidable opponent for Superman. His story might be cliché but he serves the purpose of bringing Superman back in action in the public. We see the Justice League Unlimited team as well. Even though they've had some appearances in the recent Batman Beyond series and have their roots from the animated series, I still haven't warmed up to them. I haven't really seen them do anything that has won me over. When we do see Superman Beyond again, I really hope that something can be done with the team to make them more appealing to me.
The Verdict
If you've been wanting more comics from the Batman Beyond world, here it is. Superman comes out of retirement and there are plenty of guest stars here to welcome him back. The choice of a villain for Superman isn't overly spectacular but he provides a good foil for the Man of Steel and helps set things up for his permanent return. The fact that the creative team is the same from the MC2 Spider-Girl series is a nice touch as those gentlemen have plenty of experience in writing future stories. I wasn't completely blown away with this issue but I did have fun reading it and that is what matters when reading a comic.