Well, it’s apparently Second-Tier Batman Book Week. If you weren’t looking for any of the major ongoing books, but still wanted to drop some cash, this one’s for you. That’s not to say there isn’t any quality in the week (Batman Beyond is a fun book and any week with Neal Adams can’t be a total bust), but it’s a whole lot of books for not much that really…well…matters.
Batman Beyond #2
As far as ongoing titles are concerned, this is the winner of the week. Last month, the Batman Beyond concept returned from relative obscurity (it was popular in its day, but unfortunately faded into the background quite some time ago) with the debut of a new regular book. Adam Beechen’s first story arc kicked off with a very new reader-friendly story: Terry McGinnis, the Batman of Neo-Gotham, is enjoying some much-deserved downtime with his girlfriend, mother, and brother. Unwittingly, his trip to the mall puts him on a collision course with a disgruntled lab technician who has stolen (and somehow absorbed) the wand of the Matter Master, giving him the power to rearrange reality at an atomic level…but not giving him the ability to control that power very well. As Terry and his loved ones meander through a shopping center, this new Matter Master conducts a running fight with the Justice League of the future (complete with updated analogues to several of the JLA’s key members).
The issue ended with a standoff… not between the rookie supervillain and the League, but between the League and Batman. With his family trapped inside the mall (after Matter Master sealed the entrances behind him), Terry can’t risk having anyone close to him getting caught in the crossfire, ending the issue with a defiant Dark Knight staring down the entire League.
One of the strongest points in this new series is that Beechen strikes a pretty good balance between assuming the reader is already familiar with the concept of the book and trying to make it accessible to new readers. The plot clipped along at a nice pace, managing to avoid that tired old trope of having plot exposition masquerade as dialogue, but still quickly explaining the basic dynamic between the main players.
This month picks up where the previous issue left off, with Terry torn between his desire to rescue his family (and his personal desire to join the Justice League) and his need to follow the orders of his mentor, Bruce Wayne (who, in his role as grizzled old veteran, vehemently opposes Terry’s reliance on a team). You can’t go wrong here, folks.
