Batman Beyond 2.0 #40 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel
Art by: Thony Silas
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: November 1, 2014

Seasons in the Sun

It's finally arrived, the last issue of Kyle Higgins' , Alec Siegel's and Thony Silas' run on Batman Beyond.  If you haven't been following our little site, let me clue you in on a little secret...I'm a bit of a fan of this book.  That may be an understatement since it's my favorite book I read right now and don't really know what I'm going to do on Saturdays without it.  Sure, I could play with my children or talk to my Wife, but where's the fun in that?  Seriously, for over a year I have spent my Saturdays with Terry and I've loved every moment of it.  And now it's over.  So sit back, hold back those tears and cue "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" as we discuss Batman Beyond 2.0 #40.



Note from me:  I usually try not to spoil things in my reviews, but I'm scraping that for this issue.  It's the last one and I'm going to spoil the shit out of it.  If that bothers you, turn away now.  Better yet, read the issue yourself and come back and discuss it with me below.  You've been warned.

Last week ended with the mother of all cliffhangers, the death of Dick Grayson.  Barbara and Terry were desperately trying to bring him back, but it looked liked Dan Didio's biggest wish had come true.  Well, looks can be deceiving.  Did you really think that Kyle Higgins would kill off Dick Grayson?  Granted, if I were him I may have done it out of spite for how DC ended his Nigtwing run, but I'm an ass.  Kyle Higgins is not an ass.  Plus, how would we find out how Dick got that eye patch if he died? More on that later.

While Bruce watches over a recovering Dick and Barbara heads off to Arkham, Terry makes his way to the Batcave to check on the Justice Lords Portal.  When Bruce destroyed it I was actually happy.  Terry had been going to the Justice Lords Timeline to play "make believe" with his doppelganger T's Father.  It was not only psychologically f-ed up, but also lead to Dick's present condition.  While Terry is debating on fixing it, two visitors come through.  I won't get into the pseudo science behind how it's possible (or not) for the portal to still work because it's so awesome.  It's enough for me that we get to see T and the JL Timeline Dick Grayson one last time.  After T reveals that he knows what's been going on with his Father, Terry gives a heartfelt speech about the importance of family with a great Batman:TAS/Batman Beyond  montage backdrop that ends with an old and sad Bruce Wayne.  I have been pretty hard on Bruce, but he has been a horrible human being in this series.  I forgive him after this issue.

Terry says his final goodbyes to T and Dick and heads back to see Bruce, Barbara and his Dick (ha, ha) and it's such a nice, low key scene to end the book and series.  After all the pain, guilt, jealousy and pretty much every other awful emotion that they have been through in this series, it's nice for them to just sit back, smile and enjoy each other's company.  The series ends with the cliched "The End...For Now!" which usually makes me roll my eyes, but even the slimmest chance of this book continuing makes me "Flash Jump" and that's just what I did.

I really enjoyed this issue except for one bit of unfinished business.  What about the eye patch?!?  I have wanted to know the story since this run started and Higgins' threw out a massive tease about it a couple issues back, but now he's left us all hanging like a Tom Brady high five.  The truth is out there and I want to know.  I want to know!!!

One thing I do know is that Thony Silas' art was the perfect pick for this book.  His animated series style was great throughout and the emotions he displayed told the story just as much as the script.  Damn, I'm going to miss this book.

Bits and Pieces:

Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel and Thony Silas end their run and while I'm sad the series is over, I enjoyed this low key finale.  Fans may not have found out the backstory of Dick's eye patch (boo!), but the loose ends were tied up like a bow and everything is in place for the book to return, hopefully in the near future.  Batman Beyond 2.0 has been my favorite book and if you haven't read it yet, start for the beginning and find out why.  Thank you Kyle, Thony and Alec for a hell of a good read.

9.5/10