Due to the holiday weekend this week’s comics came a day late, and even though these occasions mess with a fans schedule it’s easy to avoid if you’re a veteran collector and know it’s coming. This week I was excited to get to my local comic shop because one of my favorite childhood characters has risen from the dead, and I'm not talking about one of the Brightest Day twelve. Terry McGuiness has returned as Batman! From 1999-2001 the cartoon, Batman Beyond, starred a teenage Terry McGuiness as the Batman of the future with cooler gadgets than the original Batman and sarcastic puns that would make Spider-Man jealous. Mentored by an elderly Bruce Wayne, Terry took on the bad guys of Gotham’s future, and now he is getting his own 6 issue mini-series this year.
Superman/Batman Annual #4 helps re-introduce fans who may have forgotten about Terry, or perhaps need a fresh recap of what his Batman style is like. Drugs are being smuggled into Gotham that have traces of kryptonite in them, which leads Batman to Metropolis to find the man of steel, to and see what’s going on. Metropolis now looks a lot like Gotham; it’s run over with crime and Luthor is serving a lifetime term as mayor. Turns out Lex has been passing out this drug so that Superman can’t get close enough to the criminals to catch them, and he’s about to implement his final attack to get rid of Superman for good. It’s up to Terry to try and help the man of tomorrow re-claim his city from Luthor’s evil paws.
I like futuristic stories, especially dystopian ones. We find Superman without his city, and without Lois, who died years ago. He’s more brooding character now, like Bruce used to be, and it’s different to see him not so hopeful. Seeing characters shaken to their core is always nice for fans, because rarely do you see any actual change from the status quo. This stories takes place after the Batman Beyond series because they reference villains and storylines that were in the old cartoon.
Paul Levitz is best known for his writing on The Legion of Superheroes, which he just took up writing again. I think Levitz has a great sense for writing young heroes, which is why I hope he’ll do well writing the Batman Beyond mini-series as well. When I was reading this issue I could hear Will Friedle(Boy Meets World) talking as Terry once again. Renato Guedes’s art helps show the maturity of not only Terry, but also in the future. Everything just seems old, like it’s been there a while. This could seem odd considering it’s the future, but it’s a broken future, and it’s up to Batman and Superman to fix it.
To me this issue is about Superman accepting Terry as the new Batman, and knowing he’s the right guy for the job. I look forward in a few weeks to see what Levitz has in store for the young dark knight. If we’re all lucky his little mini-series could be Batman Beyond being reborn.
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