Batman Beyond #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Joining The Club

Written By: Dan Jurgens
Art By: Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 23, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

While I'm still interested in what happened to Tim Drake between the end of the New 52 Batman Beyond series and this one, I have to say that I'm not so interested that I can't take this for what it is and for the most part that seems to be classic style Batman Beyond........ Hell, it's so classic feeling that Brother Eye's invasion doesn't even seem to be a thing anymore.  Maybe that's a don't ask, don't tell situation going on that could be a part of something later on, but as of right now it doesn't seem to matter because the Jokerz have taken over a portion of Gotham and Terminal seems to be hellbent on bringing the OG Joker back to life to lead them into a whole new time of chaos.  As we saw in the previous issue, Terry's a bit out of shape from being out of commission for awhile so his new tactic is to infiltrate the Jokerz by disguising himself as one of their own.  Hopefully he doesn't go and get his fool self killed in the process.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Explain It!;

Our issue begins with Terminal letting Dana in on how the Joker kicked it and to no one's surprise, Batman was involved.  It turns out that on the last night the Joker would pull his shenanigans, he had Batman strapped up to the front of a snowplow, while he had a dirty bomb set up to go off in Gotham.  Eventually, Batman would set himself free and begin to beat the holy hell out of Joker, while the snowplow rolled up on some train tracks and even though it looked like Batman had plenty of time to pull Joker to safety, it looks here.......... or just through the lens of Terminal's story that Batman let Joker get run down by the train, putting his killer pranks to rest forever.  What Batman didn't know though was that some of Joker's gang was nearby and rushed him off to be cryogenically frozen.  The reason everyone believed him to be dead is because he left enough blood and gore behind to make it look like the snowplow on the front of the train tore him up.  Now it's up to Terminal to make Joker the first person to ever be brought back to life after being frozen and since Terry McGinnis had himself a problem even getting into Jokerz Town in the previous issue, it doesn't look like anyone will be there to stop him.

Of course that isn't true though because we saw previously that Terry was planning on infiltrating the Jokerz by going in disguised as one of their own and he really plays it up here because he puts on a big spectacle, possibly putting Max and Matt in danger in the process.  To get all of the Jokerz' attention, he has the two fly in with the Batmobile........... I don't know why he has both of them, but we'll go with it.  Anyway, after flying around for a bit, Terry, in full clown-face comes out of nowhere with a bazooka and makes it look like he shot the Batmobile down, while in reality it was just a fancy light show to sell it.

In the end, Terry introduces himself as Trey Malone, the formerly locked up son of Matches Malone and I love this bit here because I love the idea that Matches Malone's legacy is still known throughout the criminal world.  Anyway, with these kind of credentials, Terry is welcomed into Jokerz Town and since it looks like he just iced the Bat, I'm guessing Terminal is going to let him be right inside his inner circle.  Hopefully Dana doesn't blow his cover though because as we leave this issue it looks like she recognizes Terry's voice.

That's it for this issue of Batman Beyond and while the flashback about Joker's demise felt a bit off....... not only because Batman let it happen, but because the Joker felt like a throwback to a more Silver Age feeling Joker in not only look, but in dialog as well, I found myself having a decent time with this installment and actually loved the inclusion of a Matches Malone Beyond!  Yeah, clown-faced Trey, might not have the same presence as his fake father, but it was still a cool reference that works and puts a smile on my face.  The art in this issue was great during the present day story, but I found it lacking a bit during the flashback scenes and I don't know why because we had the same artist on throughout.  Overall, this is a serviceable issue that gives us background on what's going on and moves us further in our story, but I found myself still wanting more out of it, especially since I'm now spoiled by DC's bi-monthly titles and this happens to only come out once a month.  GIVE ME MORE....... I hate waiting.  

Bits and Pieces:

This is an alright issue of Batman Beyond that gives us some background that we've been wanting, but it's somewhat slow at times and while it does move the story forward, it doesn't do it all that much.  The art too is a toss up to me because while I loved the present day stuff, the flashback moments just didn't seem as polished.

6.5/10