Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #2 – Collin Kelly/Jackson Lanzing, Writers; Max Dunbar, Artist; Sebastian Cheng, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The first issue of this revival of Batman Beyond was largely about setting up the new status quo in Gotham—Bruce Wayne is dead, Terry McGinnis is on his own with all his old supporting cast having left, Wayne Enterprises is in the hands of a mysterious new villain named Donovan Lumos, and Gotham itself is under the control of a powerful AI villain claiming to be Gotham incarnate. It’s certainly chaotic, but the first issue was almost unbearably moody. This issue finds a much better groove, with a faster pace that calls back more to the tone of the classic show. It also nicely shows how superheroes are forced to adapt to changing circumstances, with much of the first half of the issue being devoted to Terry redesigning his costume to keep out of the line of sight of Gotham—his smart-costume designed by Bruce has gone from being a high-tech boost to a liability against a villain that’s living data.
When the action picks up, it’s very entertaining. A mysterious streak of jewel heists have plagued Gotham, and Terry traces them to a new villain named Gestalt. Or is it villains? It appears to be three people bound in some sort of twisted AI robot cephalopod, working together to power the larger creature through some sort of psychic symbiosis. It’s one of the most individually interesting villain designs I’ve seen in a long time. There are a lot of double-paged spreads in this issue, with some brilliant art by Max Dunbar—particularly on a depiction of Joker Town, a twisted circus filled with hundreds of clowns. Much of this issue is pure action, which means we still don’t know all that much about Terry’s status quo out of costume in this book. It does feel like the book is still heating up, but what it lacks in character work it makes up for in breakneck action and top-tier visuals.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
