“Rebirth”

Terry McGinnis is back as Batman, much to the delight of his family and friends. But is the original Joker really back as well? Inspired by the possible return of their role model, the Jokerz have taken over an entire section of Gotham City and are determined to wreak havoc in the still-rebuilding city. While Batman battles chaos on the streets, his friend Dana is at the mercy of the new leader of the now-unified gang.

We pick up where we last left off with Terry getting his pointy ears handed to him by the new gang of Jokerz and their venomed out Bane Mascot. As Terry is in a brawl for his life he realizes one thing: This used to be so much easier.

The rest of the issue revolves around our reintroduction to the future Bat-Family, Matt, Max, Dana, as well as placing the focus on the resurrection of Terry and Bruce’s worst enemy. Speaking of Bruce we are left a bit of a mystery as to where he actually is at this time.

The art by Bernard Chang was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While he does have some pretty pencils, some of his layouts and page structure are a bit weird. I know this isn’t the animated Batman Beyond continuity but I still wish it had more of that fluid style. The way he draws the villains and the supporting cast is really good, just his Batman I am not sold on at all yet. Perhaps it’s the red eyes. It might take some getting used to.

As for the story, I think Dan Jurgens (one of my favorites) does a pretty good job here, but I wanted much more. His style is so much more suited to Superman than it is to the Dark Knight or Neo Knight here.

The mystery with the whereabouts of Old man Bruce Wayne and the cliffhanger with Terry at the end have me a little intrigued. I’m not sure it will be enough to keep me coming back to see the bright neon Gotham lights.

Story: Dan Jurgens Art: Bernard Chang
Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Score: 7.1 Recommendation: Read

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