Batman Beyond #37 – Dan Jurgens, Writer; Sean Chen, Penciller; Sean Parsons, Inker; Chris Sotomayor, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8/10
Ray: With every arc, it feels like Batman Beyond gets closer to the tone of the original Batman Beyond cartoon and delivers more of what fans have been wanting since the character first returned to the DCU. The previous arc, which had Terry replaced by False Face, is over, but Terry’s memories still aren’t back. That’s left Terry on the run with a mysterious woman with ties to Powers Tech’s shady science division, as the cops pursue him over false murder charges.
But while Terry is missing in action, it seems Batman might not be – someone’s taken the Bat-suit from the Batcave, and while Matt insists that Terry came back, Bruce is more skeptical. Batman Beyond #37 spends much of the time keeping the new Bat hidden as they fly around Gotham saving the day, but the cover’s already blown the twist for us – it’s not Batman we’re looking for, it’s a new mysterious Batwoman.
But even though I continue to be annoyed by DC’s tendency to spoil end-of-issue cliffhangers on the cover of the issue, I can’t say it took away from my enjoyment of Batman Beyond #37. The art by new artist Sean Chen is at the top of its game, and the segments where Batwoman – usually shrouded by shadow or the chaos of the fight scene – swoops in to fight crime and stop supervillains are pretty iconic.
It’s great to see a comic revive the mystery and suspense around Batman, while most books have completely abandoned the “urban legend” element. I liked that Bruce and Matt can’t seem to agree who the new Batwoman is – my guess is it’s none of the above – but it was a little surprising that the return of Blight, teased for months, is almost an afterthought in this issue. Something big is coming, and it took a while to get here but this title is definitely living up to the legacy of the cartoon.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
