Sunday, October 19, 2014

Batman Beyond 2.0 #38 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel
Art by Thony Silas
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: October 18, 2014


Pattern Opposition


Batman Beyond 2.0 has been the most consistently great book that DC has put out.  It is my favorite book and I use it,along with Injustice and Smallville, as an example of how great the DC Digital line is.  And now it's ending.  I won't claim to know the backroom dealings at DC, but I wish that something could have been done on either side (if there are only two sides?!?) to make this book continue.  Oh well, everything must come to an end eventually and at least Kyle Higgins and the fans of this book can look back at a great run knowing it went out on top...kind of.  The Mark of the Phantasm was so epic and satisfying that this Alternating Currents arc seems a bit anticlimactic.  Kyle Higgins himself said the the Phantasm story was the one he originally pitched for the book and HAD to tell.  Now he is left to cross the t's and dot the i's and here we are...with Dick Grayson near death.  Some things will never change!



Last issue ended with Dick "escaping" only to realize that he is out in the middle of nowhere.  Well, it seems he's out in Gotham Harbor on a Rig to be exact.  When Rewire returns to make fun of him, Dick again shows that on old man with an eye patch can sure kick ass!  Then Rewire changes up the game by putting an electrical charger on Dick that will eventually short out his heart. Really?  When Kyle Higgins does so much to kill Dick Grayson, there may be no hope for the character.

Of course there is always hope when Batman is involved.  Throw two Batmen and a former Batgirl into the mix and there's a pretty good chance our Dick will be saved (he, he).  That is if they could stop arguing.  While Bruce and Terry point fingers and rehash all wounds, Barbara comes up with a plan...Ghoul.


Ghoul has been in a coma since Rewire kicked the living crap out of him and as he wakes up, Terry is there to get answers or put him right back in.  This was my favorite part of the issue because it shows the wear and tear their "game" has had on each of them. Ghoul seems to want to continue their messed up relationship, but Terry is just tired.  When Terry spells out how it all ended for the previous two players (you can guess who they were), even Ghoul seems to realize what must be done.  It looks like Dick has a chance afterall.



The issue ends with Terry confronting Rewire.  They have the usual back-and-forth while a video screen shows my favorite character of all-time being shocked over and over again.  Then Terry tries to finish it all, but either Ghoul is getting the last laugh or Rewire tricked them all.  Either way, next issue is bound to be explosive and promises "The Final Fate of Dick Grayson".  He better live and we better find out how he got that eye-patch.

I guess you could call this issue mostly setup, but I enjoyed everything in it.  Higgins did such a great job mixing in some real character moments and nice action all wrapped around the tension of Dick Grayson's fate.  This is the reason I love this book and why I'll be so sad when it ends.



I'll also be sad to not get awesome Thony Silas art each week.  He does another great job, but outdoes himself in one of the quieter scenes this series has had.  The emotional roller coaster he shows Ghoul going through was awesome because it meant so much to the entire Batman Beyond story, but also because it was...well, awesome.  Great job!

Bits and Pieces:

Batman Beyond 2.0 #38 is another really good issue.  It is a middle issue of the story, so there is bound to be setup, but the action and character moments are so great you barely notice.  Higgins, Seigel and Silas are firing on all cylinders to end this run in style. I just hope Dick Grayson is there to take a final bow.

9.0/10



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