At last, Batman Beyond gets his own ongoing series in THE definitive future of the DCU! But this isn’t the Beyond you think you know! With the Justice League missing and without Bruce to guide him, this new Batman will need to explore this bizarre world on his own while fighting to raise humanity from an opponent that’s already won.

The heroes Batman knew have failed, the world he knew has been turned on its head, and every step he takes will lead him either toward finding home – or further down the road of disaster!

In Batman Beyond #1, Tim Drake is now the future Batman, and the future DC Universe Future’s End has been changed, but the Eye still exists. I read only bits of DC’s weekly even Future’s End, so I have a general idea of the story, but missed Tim Drake being the new future Batman, so that’s pretty cool!

Where Batman is somewhat of a detective story, this future version is a bit more action in the first issue. We have a few battles as new and old readers are eased into this future vision. Drake is a man out of time, and learning about the world around him, just like we are too. And, it’s done in an action packed, fast paced way, all courtesy of writer Dan Jurgens.

Joining Jurgens on art is Bernard Chang who adds solid visuals that give us a future world that’s at times technologically advanced, and at other times a destroyed wasteland. His rendering of the future Gotham is awesome, and has you lingering on the page checking out the details. The design is really cool and each character is very unique, and that’s helped with a small cast. But even when the crowd expands a bit, the characters all have a style to their own, as well as varied shapes and sizes.

Batman Beyond #1 brings the character into the main DCU, and it looks like it’ll be one fun ride. Everything is on the table here, opening up a hell of a lot of possibilities in a familiar but strange world. The first issue was one that got more on my radar as time went on, and it looks like it’ll be a series I’ll be following for a while, especially after that ending.

Story: Dan Jurgens Art: Bernard Chang
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.65 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review