2 writers, 2 artists, 2 stories – that’s the idea behind Batman Beyond Unlimited, a sequel of sorts to the short-lived pre-New 52 Batman Beyond series, which was itself a sequel to the animated series of the same name. The 2 stories in each issue are available separately digitally (as Batman Beyond and Justice League Beyond) prior to their release on comics stands. Prior to the post-New 52 relaunch, Adam Beechen and Ryan Benjamin’s run on Batman Beyond sold strikingly well for a book based on a TV series that had been off the air for 10 years. Now, while by no means up to the blockbuster status of Batman or Justice League, Batman Beyond Unlimited is selling solidly in the upper range of DC titles at Ground Zero.
Now, the upside to having two stories in one book is you get two complete 22-page stories for $3.99, which is a better value than anything else on comic shelves right now. The downside, of course, is if you’re not wild about one of the two stories, you’re stuck with it if you want the other – unless, of course, you choose to buy digitally. The Batman Beyond story this month deals with the return of Mad Stan, a character from the TV series who was presumed killed during the Hush Beyond miniseries. Mad Stan himself is a joke that could easily wear thin fairly quickly (much like the Evil Mad Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, upon whom I’ve always felt Mad Stan was at least somewhat based), but luckily for writer Adam Beechen, the joke has had plenty of time to become fresh again, and Stan is as sympathetically hilarious as ever in this issue. We also have, simmering in the background, Dana’s brother Doug, a recently rehabilitated Joker gang member, who we learned last issue has some kind of plot going to unite the world’s Jokerz gangs, and we have a brief mention of Max’s dealings with Undercloud, which was introduced at the end of the pre-New 52 series. A fair amount of balls to juggle, but as usual, Beechen does it with aplomb, even managing to fit a brilliant character moment in, with Terry finally mastering the “vanishing act” that his mentor always perturbed Gordon with so often.
For someone who’s comic work has mostly focused on younger readers fare, he’s successfully updated the Beyond franchise to work with the current DCU framework, and just put out some great work the entire time. Unfortunately, the same high praise given to the story can’t be given to the art. While Ryan Benjamin’s art on the previous run never quite got the look of the TV series right, it was still serviceable enough in its own right. Now, however, Norm Breyfogle has taken over artistic duties. These characters are no longer recognizable to me. I’m sure there’s someone out there who “gets” Breyfogle’s art – otherwise he wouldn’t still have a job, but that someone isn’t me. Putting Breyfogle on Batman Beyond smacks of the same lack of faith in the book that DC has shown by putting Rob Liefeld in charge of Grifter, Deathstroke, and The Savage Hawkman. With any luck at all, we’ll eventually get someone drawing this book who’s at least seen the TV series.
The Justice League Beyond portion of the book fares considerably better, at least as far as the art is concerned. Dustin Nguyen shows a true understanding and appreciation of Bruce Timm’s vision of the future, and his work on JLB serves to make it feel like a true successor of the TV show. Derek Fridolfs, while a newcomer to writing Beyond comics, does just as well. The book features fairly tight plotting, just enough nods to the TV series and previous DC continuity to keep old fans happy (wars that time forgot, anyone?), while still constantly moving forward with a plot designed to reintroduce the League of the future to a new audience – and for those of you who’ve seen all of the Justice League Unlimited TV series, there’s a surprise guest star that you’ll be quite pleased with.
All in all, this is a series with some serious long-term potential for DC, although right now, Justice League Beyond pretty far outstrips Batman Beyond in terms of quality. Its a tumultuous time for DC right now, with so many books starting and ending at the moment, but if they can avoid any early-run hiccups like they had last time they did Batman Beyond, they could have a real winner on their hands – and, lucky us, so could we.
Be sure to check out the book’s official page on DC’s site here: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-beyond-unlimited-2012/batman-beyond-unlimited-2. You can buy the books digitally via Ground Zero Comics here: https://comics.comixology.com/ret/383/Ground_Zero_Comics_DC_Comics_Digital_Store/#/issue/20978/Batman-Beyond-2012-2 and here: https://comics.comixology.com/ret/383/Ground_Zero_Comics_DC_Comics_Digital_Store/#/issue/20321/Justice-League-Beyond-2
