Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #1 // Review
It’s Gotham City at night, which means it’s raining. No rainy Gotham City night is complete without the presence of Batman. This is different, though. This is a rainy Gotham City at night that rests in the future as narration speaks of death. This is the opening of Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #1. It’s a whole new series as the writing team of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing begins a story with artist Max Dunbar and colorist Sebastian Cheng. The distinct impression of the future seems that much more fresh in a whole new outing with a Batman facing a whole new threat to the dark city of the future.
Batman’s speaking with the cave--or, more accurately, the voice inside the cave. It’s a voice known as Gestalt. There had been five signals over the course of the evening as Batman speaks with the voice. With crowdsourcing updates, the data set keeps getting larger, so they’re going to be that much more aware of every little problem facing everyone in the whole city. It’s going to be a lot for one guy to handle. Thankfully, he’s got support. There are a lot of reformed criminals working in the cave for Batman. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to have to multitask to make it through the evening.
Kelly and Lanzing have developed a rather richly detailed world for this particular Batman. Characters have quite a history already going into the series. However, this particular futuristic Gotham feels layered and textured. Much more so than previous incarnations have. Terry comes across as a very complex character. Like so many others who have worn a cowl over the years, he is dedicated and working well beyond his means. However, in a future in which information is collected at a rapid rate, he is capable of being that much more lost in his work.
The art team follows the script with an immersive futuristic Gotham City. The script allows them to explore a number of different locations, all of which have a very distinctly different atmosphere. Occasionally, there’s an establishing shot that just looks beautiful. And there are more than a few characters who seem very appealing visually. They do a particularly good job with an albino cat guy who Terry encounters, selling what appears to be black market fruit. There’s a careful attention to detail with this particular antihero, and it adds considerable personality to an already appealing visual package.
It appears as though the series is going to run through a very comprehensive look at this particular vision of the future. More than just a crime procedural, it is an adventure set in a world that is being presented to audiences in a slightly new and fresh perspective. With any luck, the creative team will do something that will involve a lot more of an intrepid adventure through this particularly dark city of the future as the series progresses.
