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brendalaJust finished issue 5 (out of 6) of the ongoing Batman Beyond comic book mini-series and....my brain is still reeling from the insane mess I just witnessed:
So, as of last issue, we found out that the new Hush (the guy who has been killing off aging villains connected to both Batmen) was none other than Dick freakin' Grayson! He did it because he was pissed at Bruce for ditching him during a mission years ago (FYI, this book turns Bruce into a MAJOR asshole. More on that later) and was jealous that Terry got to take on the mantle of "Batman" and not him.
Well, turns out the Dick Grayson who commited all those murders wasn't Dick Grayson at all. He was a clone grown in a tube by Amanda Waller because she was unable to clone Bruce (the object of her school girl crush) and figured she'd settle for Dick because "the world NEEDS a Batman" and his bitter ex-sidekick was a good enough substitute. No, really!
...WHAT THE F*&K!?!?!?
Seriously, that makes no sense at all! And if the clone thing isn't stupid enough, Waller also gave Clone-Dick all of Original-Dick's memories (uh, why?) via some bullcrap method I wont even bother explaining. Clone-Dick developed Daddy issues with Bruce and that's what caused him to go insane and start killing old Bat villians. Because simply killing the objects of his hatred and jealousy (Bruce and Terry) would have just made too much sense.
That's right, Clone-Dick! Kill off all the people who spent their prime years trying to murder Bruce and/or Terry. I'm sure Terry and Bruce will shed many tears over the thugs who have fired countless bullets at them!
Oh, and in this issue we find out that the new Catwoman who's been prancing around all this time is actually the daughter of DANTON BLACK!! **cue dramatic music***
....what's that you ask? "Who the hell is Danton Black and why should I care about him or his daughter?". Well, join the club! That was the same reaction I had when I read the book (except with more profanity)! A quick Google search revealed that Danton Black is an obscure, completely uninteresting DC supervillain. Black apparently has no connection to Catwoman; so his daughter taking up her name is just a random twist meant to mess with the reader, I guess.
Also, on a completely shallow note, the art sucks. It's ugly and it's so radically different from the style of the cartoon that half of the characters are literally unrecognizable! I doubt the penciler and the colorist ever watched the cartoon because even little things (like hair color) are messed up on more than one character; which makes it even harder to figure out who's who.
In summation, if you're one of those Batman and/or DCAU fans who mainly follows the cartoon canon(s) and doesn't know much about the labrynthian mess that is the comic books' continuities, this comic will just confuse and anger you. This comic expects you to know Hush's history. It expects you to be familiar with Silver St. Cloud and why her name makes Bruce sad. And it expects you to know the history of every obscure DC baddie that ever had a run in with Batman at any point in time. This is ridiculous and it alienates the fans who, like me, follow the cartoons' continuity and avoid the clusterfark that is the comic book mythos (outside of a few outstanding, stand-alone trade paperbacks).
Also, last time I checked, Batman Beyond was supposed to be about TERRY MCGUINESS!! Terry doesn't do much in this mini-series aside from bitch about how he doesn't get enough sleep and run around collecting the backstories on Dick Grayson and all of Bruce's old foes (mainly because Bruce is too much of a crochety old jerk to just tell him the stuff he needs to know to stop the murders!). If you loved Batman Beyond, avoid this series. It'll just confuse you and make you mad.
So, as of last issue, we found out that the new Hush (the guy who has been killing off aging villains connected to both Batmen) was none other than Dick freakin' Grayson! He did it because he was pissed at Bruce for ditching him during a mission years ago (FYI, this book turns Bruce into a MAJOR asshole. More on that later) and was jealous that Terry got to take on the mantle of "Batman" and not him.
Well, turns out the Dick Grayson who commited all those murders wasn't Dick Grayson at all. He was a clone grown in a tube by Amanda Waller because she was unable to clone Bruce (the object of her school girl crush) and figured she'd settle for Dick because "the world NEEDS a Batman" and his bitter ex-sidekick was a good enough substitute. No, really!
...WHAT THE F*&K!?!?!?
Seriously, that makes no sense at all! And if the clone thing isn't stupid enough, Waller also gave Clone-Dick all of Original-Dick's memories (uh, why?) via some bullcrap method I wont even bother explaining. Clone-Dick developed Daddy issues with Bruce and that's what caused him to go insane and start killing old Bat villians. Because simply killing the objects of his hatred and jealousy (Bruce and Terry) would have just made too much sense.
That's right, Clone-Dick! Kill off all the people who spent their prime years trying to murder Bruce and/or Terry. I'm sure Terry and Bruce will shed many tears over the thugs who have fired countless bullets at them!
Oh, and in this issue we find out that the new Catwoman who's been prancing around all this time is actually the daughter of DANTON BLACK!! **cue dramatic music***
....what's that you ask? "Who the hell is Danton Black and why should I care about him or his daughter?". Well, join the club! That was the same reaction I had when I read the book (except with more profanity)! A quick Google search revealed that Danton Black is an obscure, completely uninteresting DC supervillain. Black apparently has no connection to Catwoman; so his daughter taking up her name is just a random twist meant to mess with the reader, I guess.
Also, on a completely shallow note, the art sucks. It's ugly and it's so radically different from the style of the cartoon that half of the characters are literally unrecognizable! I doubt the penciler and the colorist ever watched the cartoon because even little things (like hair color) are messed up on more than one character; which makes it even harder to figure out who's who.
In summation, if you're one of those Batman and/or DCAU fans who mainly follows the cartoon canon(s) and doesn't know much about the labrynthian mess that is the comic books' continuities, this comic will just confuse and anger you. This comic expects you to know Hush's history. It expects you to be familiar with Silver St. Cloud and why her name makes Bruce sad. And it expects you to know the history of every obscure DC baddie that ever had a run in with Batman at any point in time. This is ridiculous and it alienates the fans who, like me, follow the cartoons' continuity and avoid the clusterfark that is the comic book mythos (outside of a few outstanding, stand-alone trade paperbacks).
Also, last time I checked, Batman Beyond was supposed to be about TERRY MCGUINESS!! Terry doesn't do much in this mini-series aside from bitch about how he doesn't get enough sleep and run around collecting the backstories on Dick Grayson and all of Bruce's old foes (mainly because Bruce is too much of a crochety old jerk to just tell him the stuff he needs to know to stop the murders!). If you loved Batman Beyond, avoid this series. It'll just confuse you and make you mad.
