By Chris Tresson

Here we have the rebirth issue of Batman Beyond from DC Comics, written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Ryan Sook. I’m quite fond of this version of Batman and have been since I was a kid watching the cartoon (though it was called Batman of the Future over here in the UK.) I enjoyed the last outing/series before Rebirth, so I figured I’d give this one a bash and see what’s up. With all the current books featuring Batman out right now, and the fact every one (except Detective Comics) is piss poor, I am in need of a decent Batman story. In this book, we’re given a bit of background/ a refresher on this incarnation of Batman via Terry McGinnis. He talks us through how he became the Batman of the future. This takes up about half of the book, but it’s intertwined with the main story which concerns the Jokerz and a town they’ve set up called... Jokerz Town. It’s not very complex but as a rebirth issue, and having read rebirth issues of other titles, it does what it needs to do in setting up the story ahead. There’s a really interesting bit once you get to the end of the issue… No spoilers, but it has pretty much guarantees that I’ll be picking issue one of this series and probably beyond that to see how it all plays out.

Dan Jurgens writes a solid issue and I like the thing that he’s doing here. It’s the one thing that bothers me about the Batman Beyond series but with what you see in this issue, it has me more interested in the character than ever. I’m being pretty cryptic there, but you’ll see what I mean. There's an element to Batman Beyond that makes me go "meh" and it looks like it's being sorted (for this arc at least.) This review is actually a pain in the arse to write because I’m wanting to elaborate on what I mean there but I don’t want to spoil it for you, haha.  You’ll have to go read it and post in the comments section and we’ll talk some more...

The art’s really nice in this issue. I’ve always liked the design of the character and it hasn’t changed all that much for Rebirth, the only noticeable difference is the eyes being read now. Ryan Sook is the artist on the book, so well done him. I really like the cover on this book, I don’t usually write too much about the covers in my reviews but I’m making an exception for this book because it’s a pretty simplistic but it stands out, which is what you want in a cover. Nice work from colorists Jeremy Lawson and Tony Aviña on making the art really "pop" in this issue, too. There’s some really nice panels where Batman is under neon lights and the color reflects on the suit… The more I look at it, the more I appreciate what colorists actually do for comic art when it’s done well. Lovely stuff. Great work all-round from the art team.

So I’d say this was a good issue, I liked it. It held my interest and I’m intrigued by what’s potentially in store for this Batman. I know I found it a lot more interesting than the regular Batman title’s Rebirth issue, so hopefully this is a good sign for the rest of the series. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

Score: 4/5

Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Ryan Sook
Colorists: Jeremy Lawson and Tony Aviña
Publisher: DC Comics
rice: $2.99
Format: One-Shot; Print/Digital