Batman Beyond #1 (DC Comics)
Dan Jurgens (w) Bernard Chang (a)
A lot of people (myself included) were only familiar with Batman Beyond as a cartoon series that was set in Gotham's future with a retired Bruce Wayne and a new, more technologically enhanced "Batman" in the form of young Terry McGuiness.
Then suddenly he appeared in Futures End a tale supposedly set five years later in Earths future. Terry came to stop Brother Eye and not only failed but dies in the process. His legacy is continued back in the future by Tim Drake, better known as Red Robin to regular DC readers.
Of course getting ones head around future realities that changed and have ceased to exist through time paradoxes are further confused by the changing of reality itself in the recent Convergence multi part series.
So what's the deal?
Whether this is really is the future of the DC universe is debatable, more like it's an alternate Earth. If it isn't then DC's comics have just a few years to run before they all (or at least most of them) turn into the robotic nightmares we now see outside Neo-Gotham, possibly the last refuge of humanity.
Then again we have Justice League 3001 which doesn't tie into even perceived continuity in any way. In this there has been a "great disaster" and Earth is a prison planet. No Legion of Superheroes in sight even though we know they are out there somewhere having been seen in Justice League Unlimited.
And anyway since the earth 2 survivors went to a new world rather than Earth much of the premise of Futures End never happened.
Maybe DC will explain all this one day...
Meanwhile enjoy the ride while it lasts. The story shows great potential in it's own right and I'm looking forward to the ride.
Just try not to think about how we got to this point and read the adventure for what it is.
A comic, and a rather good one at that!
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