Preview: Batman Beyond #2

[Frontier]

I still wonder why they had to make the switch at all. What reason would there be to switch Tim with Terry for a Batman Beyond book? Does Tim really need a solo when he already has the Teen Titans ?

[GunCheese]

As a fan of both the Batman Beyond show and the comic book series I think it's a travesty and a disservice to both the character and his fans. I refuse to buy the book though other people seem to like it.

So you don't think Tim Drake has a future as Batman?

[GunCheese]

I still wonder why they had to make the switch at all. What reason would there be to switch Tim with Terry for a Batman Beyond book? Does Tim really need a solo when he already has the Teen Titans ?

I was wondering the same thing. Having said that, I do really like Tim Drake and I'm interested to see how he handles being Batman.

[big_boss]

If my life depended on it, I would not buy a book that is called Batman Beyond and Terry is not in it, especially if Terry is not the Batman Beyond. For me, he is second only to Zatanna in my love for DC characters, I love everything about his character and I'm disgusted by this comic. I was going to go back to physical copies just for this book... and then no Terry.

Just my opinion.

[JasonTodd428]

So you don't think Tim Drake has a future as Batman?

Sure he has a future as Batman and I don't have a problem with him in that role at all. My problem with the entire premise here is based on the fact that DC basically brought Terry into the main universe solely to fridge him and I really found that offensive. Now I desperately wanted a Tim Drake solo because Teen Titans has been extremely awful but I didn't want it to come at the expense of another character. They could have called this anything but instead they preempted an existing brand for it so I kind of feel like they've thrown Terry and his fans under the bus here on the slim hope that Future's End Tim will sell Batman Beyond better then Terry did. In any case I'm voting with my wallet here. No Terry, no sale. Besides there are plenty of other books out there that I enjoy.

[GunCheese]

Sure he has a future as Batman and I don't have a problem with him in that role at all. My problem with the entire premise here is based on the fact that DC basically brought Terry into the main universe solely to fridge him and I really found that offensive. Now I desperately wanted a Tim Drake solo because Teen Titans has been extremely awful but I didn't want it to come at the expense of another character. They could have called this anything but instead they preempted an existing brand for it so I kind of feel like they've thrown Terry and his fans under the bus here on the slim hope that Future's End Tim will sell Batman Beyond better then Terry did. In any case I'm voting with my wallet here. No Terry, no sale. Besides there are plenty of other books out there that I enjoy.

You make a valid point and I agree with it, I felt like they didn't really give terry a chance but I'm glad to see Tim on his own.

[Den]

I dropped it when I found out about the switch. Like others, I really wanted Terry.

[Vinsanity]

I like Terry but this is an interesting comic. What I didn't like about Batman Beyond was Dana. Chelsea and Melanie were cooler.

[godisawesome]

Sure he has a future as Batman and I don't have a problem with him in that role at all. My problem with the entire premise here is based on the fact that DC basically brought Terry into the main universe solely to fridge him and I really found that offensive. Now I desperately wanted a Tim Drake solo because Teen Titans has been extremely awful but I didn't want it to come at the expense of another character. They could have called this anything but instead they preempted an existing brand for it so I kind of feel like they've thrown Terry and his fans under the bus here on the slim hope that Future's End Tim will sell Batman Beyond better then Terry did. In any case I'm voting with my wallet here. No Terry, no sale. Besides there are plenty of other books out there that I enjoy.

I'm with you; any Batman affiliate, if written well, could be Batman's successor. But this whole storyline has been anything but organic because of its basis on the tired and weary "bad future" trope. And this story's Tim Drake is doubled down on that concept; he's a possible future version of Tim (albeit the much debated New 52 version) going to another possible future, interacting with someone else's cast in an entirely different context from either hero's world. And it flies against part of the formula that made Tim and Terry so successful: the contrast of their fantastic crime fighting with the subdued reality of their civilian life.

I really want Tim to have a solo. But this isn't Tim Drake's solo: this is a smorgasbord of ideas and clichès that would normally be resolved in a single adventure, not a weekly followed by a monthly. None for this story will matter to the world it inhabits, except perhaps in the most minuscule and trivial manners. It can be a very well written story, but the core concepts are so weak for the characters that it almost sabotages itself to long time geeks and fans of Tim Drake like me.

[GunCheese]

I dropped it when I found out about the switch. Like others, I really wanted Terry.

As much as I like Terry, maybe we're not giving Tim a chance. I'm interested to see how he pulls it off, it looks like a lot of the villains from the original Batman Beyond seem to make an appearance at some point. So I guess we'll see right??

[ilovelocust]

I still wonder why they had to make the switch at all. What reason would there be to switch Tim with Terry for a Batman Beyond book? Does Tim really need a solo when he already has the Teen Titans ?

Considering the current Teen Titans comic, yes Tim needs his own solo. Why they chose to give him one by killing off Terry, I couldn't tell you. I'm enjoying the comic so far, but it's kind of hard to sell it to my friends when the first part the conversations starts with me explaining that they kill off the entire Batman Beyond cast within two comics. All the BB fans are turned off by that, and well my generation has a lot of BB fans.

[ilovelocust]

You make a valid point and I agree with it, I felt like they didn't really give terry a chance but I'm glad to see Tim on his own.

I think DC may be making a bit of a mistake getting rid of Terry now. The next couple years is the time when they should be marketing a bunch of comics close to the cartoons they've put out in the past. A lot of the fans of the original cartoons are graduating college and getting their first real jobs. Many couldn't spend money on things like a monthly comic book growing up, but right now they are getting real disposable incomes and trying to decide what kind of hobbies their adult selves are going to have. Comics about Batman Beyond and the other cartoons are a good way to play on these people's nostalgia and get their feet heading into a comic book store, before they pick other hobbies to spend their cash on. Once you got them coming in odds are they'll start seeing all the other cool things you have to offer.

This is just speculation on my part though. All I can do is look around me and see what all my friends are doing now that they aren't studying and have a job.