Batman Beyond Universe #4 – Review

By: Christos Gage & Kyle Higgins (writers), Iban Coello & Thony Silas (artists), Tom Mason & Andrew Elder (colorists)

The Story: Superman is trapped in the Phantom Zone without his powers and surrounded by the worst killers and criminals Krypton has ever seen. Meanwhile, Batman has his hands full with a living lightning rod and the world’s most passive aggressive mentor.

The Review: This fourth installment of Batman Beyond Universe’s print run closes the first chapter of both of its stories, but in each case there are plenty of dangling threads to draw you back next month.

First Superman concludes his battle with Jax-Ur in the Phantom Zone. The pacing in this story is odd, as we’re kind of just resolving the climax that hit at the end of last issue when we enter. There’s not a lot of time to deal with this and, as it so often is, the answer comes quickly. The result makes our heroes look very capable but lacks a certain narrative punch. Thank goodness, then, that there’s still the matter of Superman being trapped in the Phantom Zone.

Despite the sound beating that Kal has been handing Jax-Ur, this thread quickly escalates, providing the fun, satisfying final clash that the issue needed. Christos Gage’s script is a little academic at times, his characters abnormally well spoken in the midst of combat and their quips sometimes feeling stiff, but I, for one, am grateful for the intelligent and nuanced way that he handles the fight’s resolution. It was a risky choice but one that pays off. While Gage makes sure to offer us the action we demand, the struggle is eventually decided by the individual drives and desires of each of the characters.

Batman Beyond Universe #3- Review

by Kyle Higgins, Christos Gage (writers), Thony Silas, Iban Coello (art)

The Story: Which would you rather see: Terry fighting Batman or Terry fighting Superman? Why choose?

The Review: Though there was something magical about seeing the original DCAU Bat-family, the cliffhanger that Kyle Higgins gave us last issue wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s probably that we know that it can’t possibly be them. So while it was a cool image, I was thrilled when this issue revealed a much more interesting reality behind the illusion.

Make no mistake; this story wants you to know that it matters. Higgins is throwing Terry up against some long odds. You’d think that setting the stakes so high would make any resolution seem underwhelming, but the story channels one of the most beloved moments from Batman Beyond and provides a clever way out that provides adequate resolution in the moment but sets up greater struggles down the line.

Likewise, Higgins does an excellent job of introducing a new villain and making him seem like a viable threat, without the awkward insistence that “NOTHING CAN PREPARE YOU FOR THIS”, that appears so often in comics.

Ghosts #1 – Review

By: Way too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Proton packs won’t work against these ghosts—not even if you merge streams.

The Review: Early in my reviewing career, I covered an intermittent anthology series called The Gathering (which has no relation to the card game that somehow survived my prepubescent years).  At the time, I felt most of its offbeat features were raw and unpolished, on both the story and art sides.  Vertigo’s Ghosts takes up pretty much the same format, only with established talents on board, resulting in a much more impressive book.  Get ready; this one’s a doozy.

Predator #1 – Capsule Review

By John Acrudi (Writer), Javier Saltares (Art), and Wes Dzioba & Andrew Elder (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The first issue of the Aliens re-launch was pretty odd all around. While it was written well and looked rather nice, it rarely felt like an Aliens comic. It will be interesting to see what John Arcudi, the writer of Aliens, does with the first issue of the Predator re-launch. At the very least, I hope that it feels like a Predator book…

The Story: Military men and mercenaries in Africa encounter Predators…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: I’m going to save you and I some time by getting the most important thing out of the way first. You ready? Predator #1 is a pretty bad comic. Ok, now with that out of the way…

While the debut of the new Dark Horse Predator series is a whole hell of a lot like Aliens #1 in ways (namely because the artwork, while solid, is a poor fit and because there’s a lack of alien action), it’s also worse than the Aliens book. And why’s that? Because it’s next to impossible to give a damn about anything that’s happening.

The one thing that Aliens #1 really had going for it was how well rounded John Arcudi’s victims…er…I mean characters felt right from the start. In Predator #1, the characters that Arcudi introduces could not possibly be any more forgettable. Military/mercenary clichés in every way. In addition, the first issue of Predator doesn’t really have any sort of hook outside of the initial “Predators hunt guys in Africa” idea. At least there’s a bit of mystery concerning what’s really going on in the Aliens series…

Conclusion: And here I had thought that Aliens #1 was disappointing…

Grade: D-

-Kyle Posluszny