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Batman/Static: Beyond
Not yet published
Expected 4 Aug 26184 pages, Paperback
Expected publication August 4, 2026
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Review of advance copy
As both a massive Static and Batman Beyond fan, this book was a must-buy. I read this in single issues as it came out; at the time of writing this review, issue 6 just dropped. I wanted to like this more than I did. The art by Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Miguel Mendonça is great and the premise is solid, but the writing falls short.
Evan Narcisse did not capture the voices of these characters for me. Virgil Hawkins/Static is depicted as more verbally abrasive than normal and even aggressive toward Terry/Batman Beyond. Terry does not sound like himself in parts and neither do other characters (Blight, Micron, Raquel, etc). It's a characterization issue, with choices these characters would not make and dialogue that doesn't ring true to prior depictions. There's some leeway here, since this is an alternate timeline with different versions of the characters we know, but it doesn't fully cut it. For newer readers less familiar with these characters, it may not bother them. For me, it hampered my reading experience somewhat.
The antagonist also did not work for me. Shutdown gets his powers and immediately becomes a supervillain; dude went from zero to a hundred in seconds. That turn felt sudden and forced for plot contrivance instead of gradual and organic. Also the subplot with the Cooperative was interesting, but the resolution fell flat at the end.
That said, I enjoyed seeing the Justice League Beyond again. And seeing Gear, Rubberband Man, Ebon, and the debut of Amistad Ervin as Beacon. The series is a stew of elements from the DCAU/Beyond Universe and Milestone Returns continuities in a brand-new timeline, honoring what came before while still introducing something new. Beacon was definitely a highlight, and luckily we got a bit more of him in the New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident one-shot. Dakota Incident even retroactively makes this series hit a little more poignantly.
If you're a Milestone or Batman Beyond fan, pick this up. 3/5.
Evan Narcisse did not capture the voices of these characters for me. Virgil Hawkins/Static is depicted as more verbally abrasive than normal and even aggressive toward Terry/Batman Beyond. Terry does not sound like himself in parts and neither do other characters (Blight, Micron, Raquel, etc). It's a characterization issue, with choices these characters would not make and dialogue that doesn't ring true to prior depictions. There's some leeway here, since this is an alternate timeline with different versions of the characters we know, but it doesn't fully cut it. For newer readers less familiar with these characters, it may not bother them. For me, it hampered my reading experience somewhat.
The antagonist also did not work for me. Shutdown gets his powers and immediately becomes a supervillain; dude went from zero to a hundred in seconds. That turn felt sudden and forced for plot contrivance instead of gradual and organic. Also the subplot with the Cooperative was interesting, but the resolution fell flat at the end.
That said, I enjoyed seeing the Justice League Beyond again. And seeing Gear, Rubberband Man, Ebon, and the debut of Amistad Ervin as Beacon. The series is a stew of elements from the DCAU/Beyond Universe and Milestone Returns continuities in a brand-new timeline, honoring what came before while still introducing something new. Beacon was definitely a highlight, and luckily we got a bit more of him in the New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident one-shot. Dakota Incident even retroactively makes this series hit a little more poignantly.
If you're a Milestone or Batman Beyond fan, pick this up. 3/5.
Displaying 1 of 1 review