Batman Beyond #4

[superfangirl1]

Comments

[wonderwomanhero]

Something about those faces doesn't sit well with me....

[shadowpsykie]

what is this....

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Third page: OH MY GOD HIS NECK. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS NECK.

That... just doesn't seem very anatomically possible (though please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). o_o

[star_of_airdrie]

I think it's the roll up of the shoulder if we're looking at the same panel that they are trying to portray... but the neck would need to be longer, bendier... but the epic smirk is fun.

[mullon]

Wait, what?

[jcbaggee]

To clarify for those who are wondering (spoilers ahead, obviously)
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Dick's ID was made public by Hush in the previous story. To put it under wraps before someone put 2 and 2 together and figured out Wayne was Batman, Terry disguised himself as Nightwing and put in a few public appearances where Dick was to create doubt that the two were the same.

Rather than accepting this, Dick publicly professes he's Nightwing, and that he was hired as the first Batman, INC. employee, and never saw Batman unmask, nor was he privy to any information about identities.

As an aside: holy shit, I miss that Nightwing costume. Such a great design.

[arxh]

is batman inc. still around in this universe?

[mas]

I call bull right now! I know Batman Inc as a concept wasn't even around until this year but if it existed at all we would have heard about it in the series at least once.

[aaron_bourque]

Through the same power of time travel that allowed Terry Pratchett to steal the idea of Hogwart's in creating Unseen University nearly two decades before Jo Rowling?

[ninjapeps]

Pterry admitted to building that time machine!

[aaron_bourque]

THEN HE SHOULD HAVE SHARED WITH OTHER BRITISH WRITERS

[star_of_airdrie]

wait, so Batman Beyond is canon and Batman Inc is part of Batman Beyond? Or are they just cross promoting the two titles???

Oh I do miss me some Nightwing...

[pyrotwilight]

Despite the fact Batman Beyond is the future of the DCAU universe they keep trying to shoe horn in the regular DCU's continuity to make Batman Beyond seem like it can possibly be the future of the regular DCU as well.

An absolutely horrid idea in truth...

[star_of_airdrie]

Noooo! It isn't an internally consistent argument DC, esp that the DCU and the DCAU would merge...

In any event, as much as I love(d) the Batman Beyond cartoon, and the title is fine, bringing Grayson into this has been unnecessary and unsettling... or maybe it's just me

[icon_uk]

I have no problem with bringing Dick Grayson into the concept of Batman Beyond, since the absence of any reference to him in the show went beyond "mysterious" and into the "annoying". (IIRC The creators said they know what had happened to Dick as far as they were concerned, and there was mention made at one point of a movie which would address Dick's fate the way Return of the Joker addressed Tim's, but it came to naught) but bringing it in in the fairly wretched way that this comic has done does not impress me. It makes Bruce look like even more of an arsehole, and destroys most of the point of Dick Grayson (No heroic career, a low key and apparently lonely life).

[star_of_airdrie]

It is hard to imagine Dick Grayson ever not living a heroic life

[icon_uk]

Yeah, even if he wasn't running around in the spandex anymore, which I could well imagine given his age, I could see him acting as mentor and sponsor to a future Teen Titans equivalent.

They could even play with the notion that he's become a bit like Bruce, but instead of chaperoning a single hero from a cave, he's in Titans Tower, running an entire team remotely, co-ordinating them until they reach a level that they don't need him any more and can operate on their own. Then he moves on to the enxt class whilst they go off to become heroes in their own right.

[star_of_airdrie]

That wouldn't be bad; instead they have him really resentful of Bruce 50 odd years after the fact.

[wizardru]

Didn't 'Return of the Joker' establish that Dick was the DA in NYC or something to that effect? I thought the implication is that pretty much all the heroes gave up 'the life' because it became too much of a burden...but they all (with the exception of Tim, who was forcibly retired) maintained a foot in the pool, so to speak.

[icon_uk]

Nope, there was no confirmation anywwhere of Dick's fate, be it alive, dead or retired.

Barbara mentions that Dick had left Gotham before the events of the RotJ flashback scene, but no mention was given as to where or in what capacity.

[likeaminx]

I believe when Terry asks her a question, Barbra says 'you should ask Nightwing for stories' or some such. I assumed that meant Nightwing was still active but not in Gotham.

[screamsheet.wordpress.com]

The only way such an idea would be tolerable to me is if it means some DCAU characterization floating into the mainstream DC Universe. I'd like a Batman who isn't a total dick to everyone, a Joker who can be both funny and scary, and a few other tidbits that wouldn't even require a major change in continuity, just better writing.

Of course, the Bruce Wayne we see in Batman Beyond is actually leagues beyond the asshat he is in the mainsteam DC Universe, so it seems that there isn't any DCAU characterization even in the DCAU-based story.

[silverzeo]

Was Wondering when Max would show up, is she "Oracle" now?

[darkknightjrk]

From the looks of it, she was about as much of "Oracle" here as she was in the show.

[silverzeo]

I meant if is she carrying on the title like a legacy character?

[darkknightjrk]

Nope.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

No one ever said Batman, Inc. was still around at this point in time, did they?

And is it me, or does Terry kissing Max a little... wrong?

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[icon_uk]

Given that Terry has a girlfriend/fiance, yes, it is.

[runespoor]

Not that Terry had a great track record with that in the show.

[icon_uk]

Oh I dunno, he was faithful to Dana as Terry, and by the time of Epilogue, he was still with her, she knew his secret and he was planning on proposing to her.

[runespoor]

There was his thing with Melanie, though.

[icon_uk]

I recall Terry being sympathetic and understanding, and Mel perhaps wanting more than that, but it basically being two slightly isolated people finding a bit of company in someone who understood those issues, over that much in the way of a relationship, but it being not much more than that.

[runespoor]

I recalled a kiss and definite flirtation, but given that a)I haven't watched BB in a while, b)I am not a fan of that show, and c)I have a vested interest in Dating Catwoman scenarios, I will bow to your knowledge. (Still think Terry wasn't Boyfriend of the Year material.)

[icon_uk]

He might have done, and if so, yes, that would be skeevy, it's been a while since I saw it too.

Generally though, given that she came across as a somewhat high-maintence girlfriend, and he kept disappearing to do the hero thing at inopportune times, I thought they weathered their relationship rather well.

[runespoor]

I thought they weathered their relationship rather well.

I agree, but at the same time it was also a disappointment. Terry/Melanie would've been so much more awesome!

And obviously they should've written it just to please me.

[icon_uk]

Well, of course! :)

[icon_uk]

Though to be fair, it does appear to be nothing more than a grateful peck on the cheek as a thank you. It's not a romantic kiss at all.

[espanolbot]

Yeah, Bruce Timm mentioned in one of the DVD commentaries that the idea of pairing up Max and Terry did come up at one point, but they thought that it would be weird as Terry saw her as a friend rather than girlfriend material.

And Dana is a nice person, and was to start with okay with Terry disappearing at random points for his job, but as time went on it started to bug her, which is character developement or something.

Still, at least he tells her at some point, as she knew in the JLU episode Epilogue and stuff.

[icon_uk]

I have no love for this storyline, but

"Why Dick, why?"

Because you were a complete and absolute asshole to your son, Bruce.

[glprime]

Motto to line one.

But for me, "...then they know where to find me."

FUCK YEAH. "If all somebody wants after all these years is a fight with an old man, they're welcome to one."

[icon_uk]

Well 1) This is Gotham, there's probably a villain with just that MO, the Grannybasher, or the GeriatriKiller, or somesuch.

2) Old!Bruce is badass, I would expect Old!Dick to be too.

I suppose the Batman Inc bit is simply to try and explain how Dick can come out of the super-closet without everyone instantly woking out Bruce was Batman... though again, Batman Inc is such a crap idea for that sort of thing it's laughable. (If Dick goes public, then surely the media will be after Tim too, and even old!Dick wouldn't want to inflict that on him)

[retro_nouveau]

Motto: Bruce Wayne's ward = Batman's sidekick. Therefore ... Only someone like Croc would miss that one.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Well, can we now agree that Beechen just shouldn't be allowed to touch any of the Bat-clan?

[runespoor]

Motto to infinity plus one.

[irrelevant]

Motto to infinity plus one-thousand.

[espanolbot]

Have to say, the art is a MAJOR improvement over the majority of the mini-series that preceeded this.

[just_kazari]

(sigh) I love Batman Beyond in the DCAU but I'm really not loving its interpretation to actual comics, both miniseries and ongoing.