Batman Beyond Universe #7 – Review

By: Kyle Higgins, Christos Gage (writers), Thony Silas, Iban Coello (art), Emilio Lopez & Ulises Arreola

The Story: Brainiac continues his plan, manipulating everyone and everything around him and attempting to prove himself the greatest intelligence in the known universe. Unfortunately so does Bruce Wayne.

The Review: Kyle Higgins slows things down a little bit in this month’s chapter of The Bat Men. Last month I complained that the story had lost its energy, but, now that we have a little more context, it seems that this was part of a transition. This installment is similarly focused on character moments, however, while there’s even less attention paid to fight scenes, it’s a much more engaging issue; the result of the brilliant relationships that Higgins has crafted between Terry and Bruce and Bruce and Kirk.

As all out war between the Cult of the Bat and the FBI looms, threatening to destroy Gotham, Bruce and Terry have been captured. Especially in a genre where captivity rarely lasts, especially with these characters, it’s kind of nice that Higgins uses this as a moment to decompress and provide some lively exposition. The tale he fashions is a sad one and, while it’s by no means ground breaking, it’s tinged with truth enough to elicit genuine sympathy.

Higgins continues to write a positively infuriating Bruce Wayne, in the best possible sense. Bruce’s inability to communicate and sheer skill make him an impossible partner, but it’s telling how he relates to his supposed friends. Bruce actually doesn’t accomplish anywhere near as much as he pretends to in this issue and, despite a number of reasonable contributions from Terry, he simply can’t bring himself to acknowledge them, opting to take swipes at his former partners instead. Only alone with Kirk can he admit the profound errors of his ways, tragically unaware of how recently he’s reaffirmed his choice. This one-on-one interaction between the Bat-Men really sells the history between the two men.

The strength of these two major sequences really drives the issue, however I would be lying if I didn’t admit that, otherwise, there’s not that much there. While it builds tone to spend time watching the struggle going on outside, it doesn’t add very much else to the story. To Higgins’ credit, they pack a disproportionate wallop, building support for both sides, but when the two halves of the story are joined, the repetition becomes too much.

Likewise a lot of exchanges feel very decompressed for this title. Thony Silas is a talented storyteller who’s always shown a knack for layouts on this title. His ability to use small panels has allowed Batman Beyond 2.0 to replicate the reaction-laden feel of its television predecessor without sacrificing page space, so it’s immediately suspect when we see so many large panels and long silences. Perhaps it’s just a stylistic choice, the filmmaker in Higgins choosing to use long takes, but I can’t shake the feeling that he had two great cliffhangers and a story that wouldn’t accommodate quite enough between them to fill twenty pages, especially when the two of them blast through Kirk’s backstory in three pages without missing a drop of drama.

Thony Silas is clearly having a blast with this Man-Bat design. I don’t know if I ever noticed just how dynamic an artist he is. Motion and the potential for motion are built into each panel. The weight of Kirk’s frame, of his face – the sway of his beard or his body adjusting midair, it’s all in the panel somewhere. It contrasts sharply with how static an issue this can be. The whole thing is very cinematic, often using fairly similar shots from one angle and switching perspective for significant movements. Perhaps that’s Higgins’ influence again or maybe it’s part of why they seem to work so well together.

Regardless the reason, Silas is still, by far, the artist who best captures the look of Batman Beyond. The Batsuit, the Man-Bats, the GCPD are all spot on replications of their DCAU originals and new additions to the mythos fit in seamlessly.

Meanwhile, the Flash is part of the dwindling resistance against Brainiac. Christos Gage does a solid job of giving the sense of ongoing struggle. The desperation of the heroes is palpable, but though things don’t deviate terribly from the traditional post-apocalyptic resistance story, there’s a welcome sense of possibility. King Orin and Mareena hold the sea while Zod fervently patrols one of humanity’s last bastions in the Fortress of Solitude.

Indeed, much of what sets this story apart from its brethren is the attention paid to quiet moments. The machines aren’t constantly coming, eager to be mowed down, but slowly infecting friends and loved ones. The fabled ‘one final stand’ is a luxury the League can’t afford as the oppressive crawl of Brainiac is slow enough that failure is an option, one that demands restraint. Likewise, the best moments of the resistance are quieter ones, glimmers of desperate hope and grasps for normalcy.

Admittedly there are a lot of players on the board here, especially after reinforcements arrived last issue. As a result of the size of the cast and the care taken with character reactions the issue can feel a little scattered. Especially as the Flash deals with her family, her relationships, Brainiac’s plans, and Micron’s doubts it can feel as though you need Speed Mind to properly process it all.

Still, while both series in this issue feature unusually well-developed character interaction, the ability to do it within a single team, under one writer, is a rare and special thing in this day and age.

While the pace of the story reads well, it’s objectively a little scattered, which complicates Iban Coello’s duties. Much of the time it seems that Coello is merely looking in on events briefly, while most of his more stable scenes are councils and meetings. In other words he often has one panel to express a number of images or only one major image to fill a number of panels and that’s not something that Coello is able to overcome.

As a result, a lot of panels feel overly familiar. How often have we seen a floating Aquaman giving orders or Captain Marvel decking an opponent towards the reader? Even a rather touching scene between Superman, Zod, and Warhawk is framed exactly as you would imagine.

Still, Coello tries his best to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to him. An early panel of Aquaman is a fine example, not only allowing Coello to comment on the preceding panel but demonstrating the care and beauty that Coello can bring to his work.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Flash looks much better than in previous issues, filling out the sometimes wiry frame she had been given just in time for a starring role.

The Conclusion: This is not an issue to hand to a new reader. While the requisite attempts to fill in the details are present, you’d be missing a lot without the context of the last two issues and a knowledge of who these characters are. That said, part of the reason why that’s so important is the level of interpersonal drama that Higgins and Gage bring to these huge conflicts.

Both stories have clearly reached the climax point, and both have made small sacrifices to position everything perfectly for the final act, but strong art, gripping storytelling, and an unheard of attention to character make Batman Beyond Universe one of the most reliable books on the shelves.

Even if the New 52 has rubbed you the wrong way, don’t count DC out just yet.

Grade:

                Batman Beyond: B+

                Justice League Beyond: B-

– Noah Sharma