Batman Beyond #43
DC Comics
Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Sean Chen
Inks by: Sean Parsons and Norm Rapmuno
Colors by: Chris Sotomayor
Letters by: Travis Lanham
I’m all about having action in a book just for the sake of breaking up dialogue — whether it’s dense in terms of volume or subject matter. But some of the fighting needs to actually have an impact.
Too often it feels like Batman Beyond has meaningless action, with Batman Beyond #43 being no exception. And I’ve had trouble pinpointing why this sticks out so much with this title versus others. Again, normally, I’m all about any sort of fighting. This has nothing to do with Sean Chen, by the way. He does a great job.
The problem with the action is the dialogue leading up to it, oddly enough. Everything feels rushed. All the important stuff happens at the very beginning and very end. All else in between seems rather forgettable.
There are still nuggets to pull from Batman Beyond #43, but ultimately, there’s a lot left to be desired.
(WARNING: Spoilers for Batman Beyond #43 ahead.)
The two most important developments out of this issue are Terry McGinnis’ heightened aggression and what’s going on with the League of Assassins. (What little Batwoman we get in this issue is predictable.)
But instead of digging in more to Terry’s new approach as Batman, we spent more time talking about the Batsuite. We can still get a look at the new digs, but what seems to be going on with Terry was glossed over. The League of Assassins matter will play a larger role later, which is fine — and promising. The thing is, it feels like I say that too often with this title. The payoffs to Jurgens’ tease never quite seem to be enough.