BEYOND my exceptions
The Batman of tomorrow finally makes its way into mainstream comics (aside from the Batman Beyond comic, and some neat cameos in Superman/Batman.). I won't take the time to explain the setting, if you've seen Batman Beyond then an explanation would be redundant, unless you haven't but lets pretend you did. Paul Levitz does an excellent job of taking up from the original series, referencing the starro episode, and even takes time to explain what happened in a brief summary. This issue actually deals with the rather grim aftermath of the starro incident, it was quite neat if you enjoy stories of he future. The story focuses on Terry as Batman, trying to solve the sudden flooding of crooks in Gotham who came over from Metropolis, which eventually grows into something much larger in a subtle pace.
Levitz's dialog felt natural, and fitted quite nicely with the character's speaking it, almost to the point where I started reading it cast's voices from the series's. The whole thing starts off as a mystery, which pulls together towards the end in a nice little package. Paul also does a great job of not trying to mimic the original Batman Beyond series too hard, building ontop of it's established continuity .
Renato Guedes also does an excellent job of drawing the comic as Levitz did writing it. It's a mixed between realism and comic book cartoony feelings that we all love. Though he could improve a little more on his expressions, a few panels suffered from "same face" but nothing too serious. His consistency, backgrounds and overall style were just pleasant to look at.
The ending itself was quite satisfying, more so if you're pretty big fan of Superman and his supporting cast, as some character's from the past make cameos or referenced. It's a great balanced between both Superman and Batman, which is what i would of expected from Superman/Batman. The comic itself is a healthy size, coming in at 47 pages of story, and preview for the new Red Hood mini series, which makes worth it's cover price. Overall pick this up if you enjoyed the series, and you got 5 bucks to waste, go for it, and enjoy yourself. All and all the only people who probably won't enjoy this as much would be those who have yet to watch batman beyond, they might find themselves a tad confused with the futuristic, alternate universe. So pick this comic up and hope to the pagan gods/god that DC does more with Terry McGinnis and his universe, back stories featuring him would be nice too.
