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Saturday 29 April 2017

Batman of the Future Review (Hilary J. Bader, Rick Burchett)


Batman of the Future is the first Batman Beyond book, spinning off from the late ‘90s animated TV show and, like every other Batman Beyond book, it sucks!

The origin story is ok even if the sequence is a bit rushed. Set in 2039 where an elderly Bruce Wayne, relying on tech-suits to still be Batman, passes on the snazzy new outfit and cowl when a worthy heir conveniently appears: Terry McGinnis. Except it’s a retelling of the pilot episode so the quality is based on Paul Dini/Bruce Timm’s work rather than anything the writer of this book, Hilary J. Bader, came up with. Rick Burchett’s artwork is also very much like Timm’s art style so the whole book comes off as derivative.

For a first volume, the book does a lousy job of world-building. The Jokerz just show up without establishing who they are and what they stand for, while Inque appears without any introduction, as if we’re just meant to know who they are instantly! Also, Terry fits into the Batman role far too easily without any real problems, like he’s been a superhero for years rather than a kid who’s just been given this remarkable new life! 

Besides crummy villains, the stories are completely unmemorable. Etrigan’s in one, Blight’s in another, Inque’s doing something, and there’s a super-corny mummy story. Just terrible, dreary nothing, one after the other! 

Awful across the board, Batman of the Future is unfortunately the usual Batman Beyond bog-standard!

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