Are We Going To See More Nightwing?
Last issue Dick Grayson was outed as formerly being Nightwing. How will everyone handle this?
The Good
The Batman Beyond miniseries was a little on the dark side. There were deaths and we saw the Beyond versions of a few of Batman's former villains. With this new ongoing series, the first three issues had a lighter feel closer to the animated series. Not necessarily a bad thing but I wanted more darkness and more characters from Batman's past. With Dick Grayson being accused of formerly being Nightwing, that means trouble for him and everyone associated with Batman. You can imagine that this won't be a bright and cheerful issue. There's also some more focus on Maxine, Terry's best friend.
Adam Beechen continues to take the universe created in the animated series and takes it further than expected. I love the fact that he took a pretty big thing from today's continuity and injected it into the Batman Beyond world. It completely took me by surprise. A bold decision and I like it. The art by Eduardo Pansica also caught me off guard as having a different style from Ryan Benjamin. It's a nice clean and detail style that gives a new depth to the characters.
The Bad
I mentioned Pansica's art. I liked it and it was good but it was a little jarring to see. Don't get me wrong, the detail and expressions on the characters' faces is great but it almost makes it lose the Batman Beyond animated feel. We basically have two separate stories here and I'm not quite sure how I feel about where both end in this issue. Clearly there will be repercussions from both so it might just be a matter of waiting to see how they play out.
The Verdict
This is what I want in a Batman Beyond comic. As much as I loved the show, I could never get into the 1999 series. It felt watered down as if it was meant for kids. With Adam Beechen's series, we get a darker take on the concept and are seeing some more connections to the current Batman continuity, something I've been wanting to see more of. Beechen is adding depth to the characters and we're seeing the beginning of an evolution for a couple of them. Eduardo Pansica's art brings a new feel to characters. It was a little weird to see after all the Ryan Benjamin issues but it's a nice evolution. Be prepared to be caught off guard by what happens here.
