Batman Beyond (comic book)

Cameos

In Superman/Batman #22 (written by Jeph Loeb), a Batman wearing the Beyond costume appears, making his first foray into the regular DC Comics continuity. The plot involves Bizarro being transported to an alternate version of Gotham City. In issue #23, this Batman is named "Tim". The packaging for the action figure created by DC Direct based on this appearance in Superman/Batman identifies this Batman Beyond as Tim Drake.

On March 3, 2007, Dan DiDio announced that Terry McGinnis had a chance to appear in the DCU sometime that year.^[3] Terry appeared in Countdown to Final Crisis #21, set on Earth-12.^[4]

A Green Lantern implied to be from Earth-12, a universe within the multiverse similar to that of Batman Beyond (though not the same GL represented in the animated series) was a participant in the Countdown: Arena series (2007) leading towards Final Crisis.

The character also made a cameo in Justice League of America #43, which was released May 2010.

Mainstream contemporary continuity

In Batman #700 (June 2010), Terry McGinnis is included in the one-off as a part of the DC Universe presented, having a history with Damian Wayne, who rescued him as Batman from Two-Face-Two when he was held hostage as an infant. Two-Face-Two believed Terry McGinnis was one of a pair of twin boys who were the sons of billionaires rather than Warren and Mary McGinnis. Two-Face-Two transformed Terry into a miniature duplicate of the Joker with Joker venom. Damian administers the antidote after he rescues Terry. In the following page, Terry is seen behind the Batman cowl, battling the apparently-resurrected Joker, with Damian as his mentor, instead of Bruce.

Superman/Batman Annual #4 (2010) is a single oversized issue featuring Terry McGinnis' Batman. Author Paul Levitz penned the story, with experience collaborating with Paul Dini and Alan Burnett in the past. It picks up after Superman's first meeting with the new Batman taking place in the DCAU, and supposedly jibing with the DCU's "Batman Beyond" verse.^[5]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Terry is reintroduced in the 2014 maxiseries, The New 52: Futures End.^[6]

Creation and development

Beechen was approached by Dan DiDio in December 2008 regarding the possibility of the project. Beechen responded by pitching DC Comics editor Ian Sattler in a two-worded email, the title to opening story arc. The series was green-lit during Comic-Con 2009.^[10] The series was first announced during the Emerald City ComiCon in March 2010.^[11] Summarizing the series, Beechen stated:

"The dark future of the legendary animated series comes to the DCU in a six-issue miniseries, as Terry McGinnis, Bruce Wayne's young successor as Batman, faces his deadliest foe yet — a mystery murderer from the Dark Knight's past! Old faces return, new allies and enemies step into the light, and the partnership between Terry and Bruce — not to mention Terry and Bruce themselves — might not survive!"^[12]

The story arc opened in a single issue focusing on and featuring Terry McGinnis and Superman in Superman/Batman Annual #4.^[13] Following the issue, the miniseries began in June 2010, under the title Future Evil. In August 2010, the series was announced to continue following the completion of the first story arc as an ongoing series.^[14]

Plot

Terry McGinnis has repeatedly refused to join the Justice League. The death of the villain Signalman prompts Bruce to send Terry out to investigate. They discover that the M.O. matches Two-Face, who had disappeared years ago during his final battle with Bruce. Reports of alarms at St. James Hospital disrupts them and Terry investigates, it has been the home of the Mad Hatter since Arkham Asylum closed down. After checking in on the Hatter, who has become docile and somewhat senile, Terry discovers a nurse under attack by a man in a trench coat. The mysterious rogue flees at the sight of Batman and Terry checks on the nurse, who says the man told her to "Hush".^[15]

During Terry's fight with "Hush," it is revealed that he is not only capable of matching Terry, but is also aware it is not Bruce Wayne. "Hush" reveals his plan while regarding Terry as an 'imposter', and states he will 'orphan' Batman all over again by killing Batman's rogues gallery. "Hush" escapes, leaving Terry to decide whether or not to pursue him or rescue Calendar Man, who is bound with a bomb attached to him. Choosing the latter, Terry arrives too late as a bomb detonates, killing Day. After he returns to the cave, Terry receives a talk from Bruce about commitment to Batman. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller talks with Doctor Reid about reports of the murders; Reid insists that they report their role in this, but Waller shoots down the option.

Bruce attempts to apprehend Hush, allowing Catwoman an opportunity to escape. The attack fails as Hush attempts to hack the Drone, forcing Bruce to activate the Wraith's self-destruct. Meanwhile, Terry talks with Dick Grayson, who now runs an athletics training center. Dick explains that he retired as Nightwing after he was shot, resulting in losing an eye while aiding Batman. He then retired in disgust at Bruce's lack of concern for Dick's health after the shooting. As Terry leaves, Dick warns Terry but Terry disregards it. At Project Cadmus, Waller learns that Doctor Reid has gone missing. Attempting to lure Hush into a trap, Terry uses a hologram to pose as a villain, only to be hit by Hush. Mocking Terry, Hush unmasks himself and reveals himself to be Dick Grayson, determined to replace Bruce Wayne once and for all.^[16]

At Gotham Central, Reid reveals that Hush is a clone of Grayson created by Cadmus and was intended to act as a successor to Batman. However, the clone escaped before he was ready, believing himself to be the real Dick Grayson and wanting to replace Batman himself. Reid also reveals that she is a granddaughter of Thomas Elliot, and is seeking to atone for her family's sins by working for Waller. Hush reveals by transmission that he will save the city by performing mercy killings of its corrupt, by a mass of explosives at the epicenter to set off an earthquake.^[17]

Terry, aided by Dick Grayson and Catwoman, confronts the clone, with Grayson unable to convince Hush that he is a clone. The group defeats Hush when Bruce temporarily overrides Hush's control of the Bat-Wraiths, resulting in the clone being accidentally impaled. Catwoman departs quickly and Grayson departs despite Bruce's attempts to offer an apology for how things ended between them. Terry returns to Bruce, with whom he discusses the ideals of heroism. Bruce offers Terry a chance to step down as Batman, Terry refuses, stating that it is better than anything else he could do. Unknown to them, Waller has escaped blame for her role in Grayson's cloning by claiming that Reid was acting alone, and is now aided by a new geneticist, Doctor Thawne. Waller has begun research into a new line of clones, stating that recent events have merely confirmed her ideals.^[18]

Reception

The first issue of the series was well received and met favorable reviews for both writing and art.^[19][20] Ian Robinson of Crave noted the series was both blended well with and matured from the animated series.^[19] Jesse Schedeen of IGN provided a favorable review, but commented that while the writing transitioned well from small screen to comic, the art was 'haphazard' and 'inconsistent.'^[21]

Legends of the Dark Knight: Jake

This side story focuses on the great-grandnephew of Joe Chill, Jake. Jake is an alcoholic who lives in the lower streets of downtown Gotham through government checks wracked with guilt. He was formerly a security guard at Wayne-Powers Industries before being upgraded to a special security that Derek Powers called his "Quiet Squad" under the command of Powers' right-hand man, Mister Fixx. He enjoyed upgrading his weaponry and the benefits he got from the job until he was ordered to kill Warren McGinnis.

After Warren's death, Jake became depressed after watching Warren's funeral on television and seeing the family that Warren left behind. He descended into alcoholism and was fired after Batman defeated Powers and Fixx and the temporary management at Wayne-Powers discovered the Quiet Squad's existence. He did not look for another job and was evicted from his apartment, which led him to the lower streets. During the night Jake is narrating this, he finds a group of thieves ransacking his house and lashes out at them, using his combat experience to gain the upper hand. After defeating the criminals, he finds a new purpose in life and takes out his old armor from his Quiet Squad days. Jake begins planning on upgrading his equipment and becoming a new hero in Gotham to atone for his sins.^[26]

Justice Lords Beyond: Another World

In a crossover with Justice League Beyond, Batman finds himself in the Justice Lords timeline where he and the rest of the League try to find out what happened to Wonder Woman. When he is first transported to the world, he is confronted by this world's version of Dick Grayson, who is a commander of the Justice Lord Task Force. They use an EMP blast to disable Batman's suit, but Terry manages to escape. He finds his counterpart in this world, who is a blond Jokerz member named T. T reveals to Terry that this world's Bruce Wayne was killed years ago for standing against the other Justice Lords. Terry takes the two of them to Wayne Manor, where he finds the house destroyed. The two are cornered by the Jokerz, but defeat them when Terry finds an upgraded Batsuit in the Batcave. They are then confronted by Justice Lord Superman, who arrests T and supposedly kills Terry.

However it is revealed on the Task Force ship that Terry's death was a projection given by the suit. Batman escapes from the ship and goes into the Batcave, where he retrieves the Batmobile and a message from the deceased Justice Lord Batman. He goes to the JLTF headquarters to rescue T and convinces the alternate Dick to join them by showing that Justice Lord Batman imbued the new Batsuit with synthetic kryptonite to use against Justice Lord Superman. T chooses to stay behind while Dick and Terry go to the Watchtower to gain access to the Portal Generator under disguise. After the disguise easily breaks, Terry and Dick are rescued by T, who changed his mind and aids them transporting Terry back to his world.

Terry's kryptonite suit allows the Justice League to defeat Justice Lord Superman. He then returns to the Lords' timeline to give back the suit and talk to T one last time. T allows Terry to talk to the alive Warren McGinnis of this world as repayment. Terry gets emotional for having a chance to talk to his father again and rewatches their conversation when he gets back to Dick's headquarters. While they watch the recap through Terry's recorder, Dick gets the chance to see his Justice Lords counterpart, who is married to Barbara Gordon and has a son named Jon. Though shocked, Dick accepts that some things are bound to be different in alternate timelines. In the Justice Lord timeline, Dick and T are inspired by Terry to continue Bruce's work as T prepares to become the Batman Beyond of his world, with Terry monitoring him.^[27]

Mark of the Phantasm

This story takes place a year before the current events and explains what led Terry to leave Bruce. After a night fending off the Jokerz, Batman and Vigilante go their separate ways. During the fight, Vigilante's blood was spilled on the scene and collected by the police, who identify him as Jake Chill. Jake is attacked by the Phantasm in his apartment, who demands his death for the murder of Warren McGinnis. Batman manages to arrive just as Phantasm escapes and leaves behind a gas. After Jake tells Terry his role in Warren's death, Batman starts ruthlessly beating up Jake and is only stopped by Bruce's intervention. When Terry returns to the Batcave, Bruce tells him that he inhaled some of Andrea's fear toxin and started acting irrationally. Terry asks Bruce if he knew about Jake, but Bruce denies it. Terry suspects he's lying given how Jake worked at Wayne Enterprises and was related to the killer of Bruce's parents, Joe Chill.

Terry goes to Dick and Barbara after his talk with Bruce. The two decide to tell Terry what led to the Bat-Family falling apart. While Tim Drake was recovering from the Joker's psychological trauma (as seen in the flashbacks of Return of the Joker), Barbara quit being Batgirl and ended her relationship with Bruce. Dick returned to Gotham after hearing what happened and felt guilty that he was not there for Tim. Dick and Barbara rekindled their relationship, with Dick even planning to propose to Barbara at one point. However, Barbara found out that she was pregnant with Bruce's child and refused to tell Dick about it. Bruce told Dick about the pregnancy himself, leading his former sidekick to lash out at him. Barbara had a miscarriage after stopping a couple of thieves in an alley. A year later, Barbara would meet Sam Young at the D.A.'s office and eventually married him as she and Dick severed their ties with Bruce.

Bruce tells Terry that Vigilante and the Jokerz are at the library, where the gang injects an upgraded Joker toxin into Jake to send him into a maniacal rampage. As this is happening, Andrea reunites with Bruce in the Batcave. She tells Bruce that she needs to kill Jake as she's afraid that Terry might do it, and she's aware Bruce is also afraid of the same thing and lied to Terry about not knowing Jake prior before she heads to the library. Batman manages to defeat the Jokerz and prevents Phantasm from stabbing Jake, but the Joker toxin and Andrea's fear gas prove too much for Jake and he dies of a seizure.

Terry feels guilty about Jake's death and goes to the Batcave after finding out Bruce told Dana and Max what happened so they could comfort him. He loses his trust in Bruce after finding out what happened to Dick and Barbara and decides to end their partnership. It is revealed that Andrea was hired by Amanda Waller to take out Jake as killing goes against what Batman represents. In the Arkham Institute, Davis Dusk meets Ghoul in the middle of his father's interview with a reporter, which eventually leads him into becoming Rewire. In the present, Rewire is released from Arkham thanks to Ghoul acting as his lawyer.^[28]

Plot

Synopsis

With Bruce Wayne dead, Terry McGinnis must keep the legacy of Batman alive in Gotham City as a deadly A.I. begins hunting him. With no mentor and a Gotham City completely against him, Terry must use the limited resources he has to face this new state-of-the-art A.I. that's emerged in Neo-Gotham. Terry must also face his old adversaries, the Jokerz as he turns to Commissioner Barbara Gordon for help.