by Jeremy DeFatta
Building on last week’s post, I’ve decided to go through the various incarnations of Batman in a somewhat random order. I’m starting with Terry McGinnis. Any other fans of Batman Beyond out there? I have fond memories of watching it back in the 90’s and early 2000’s; hell, I still watch it on Netflix. I also recommend following the ongoing comic in some form, either the online weekly or monthly print collections at your local comic shop.
The very 90’s sci-fi opening credits of Batman Beyond:
The basic setup of Batman Beyond is this: Bruce Wayne retired from being Batman decades earlier and your standard, loud 90’s idea of a teenager (Terry McGinnis) stumbles into his life, proving himself through his abilities and a common trait of personal tragedy as a worthy successor to the Batman mantle. Villains new and old appear as stumbling blocks in Terry’s attempts to pacify Neo-Gotham (they seriously renamed the city, because the future and shut up), which is effectively a clean-looking version of the cityscape from Blade Runner. Despite its few weaknesses, I have to say this is one of the more interesting possible futures presented in the DC Multiverse.
Terry himself is a great character to lead in new viewers/readers, and even provide experienced consumers with an outsider’s perspective on Batman’s brand of superheroics. The show and comics both provide interesting interactions between elderly Bruce Wayne and elderly Superman, who are estranged friends rather than outright circumstantial enemies as in The Dark Knight Returns. Though DC has an amazing track record with animated films, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is still, in my opinion, one of their best.
Any other fans with fond memories of the animated DC Universe? To be fair, those ventures might have been some of DC’s strongest material to appear in the 90’s, which is a point I’d like to see discussed below. We will return to the animated universe as we work through more iterations of Batman in the weeks to come.
Thank you all for reading, and remember to support your local comic shops!
My picks this week, tough ladies:
Carbon Grey vol. 3 #2
Velvet #3
Rat Queens #4
This was a tough one, being as Daredevil (#35) and Thor (#17) both have new issues this week, and I have to admit those are two of my favorite comics by any publisher currently running. Eh, why not… Five picks this week! Be sure to check them out and feel free to discuss below or tweet me @quaintjeremy. Until next week!
image: viewerscommentary.com
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