The Twin Bats: ‘Batman Beyond #42’ Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Blight is launching an attack on Wayne Manor to get back at Bruce Wayne and Bruce, Matt, Dick, Barbara, nor Melanie are prepared for it. Thankfully, Batwoman and Terry McGinnis are on their way back to the Manor. They find Blight’s forced entrance into the Batcave and Batwoman keeps Blight busy while the others escape. Meanwhile, Terry goes to retrieve something elsewhere in the cave. He finds an old version of his suit and Batman Beyond flies again!
Batman Beyond #42 brings back Terry McGinnis as Batman Beyond, teams him up with Batwoman Beyond to stop Derek Powers, aka Blight, and save their friends and family in the Batcave. It’s an action-packed issue, with both Bats teaming up to take on the powerful Blight and keep him from wiping out the Batman legacy.
It’s certainly a treat to see McGinnis back with his memories and in a Batman suit. I have already grown quite fond of Batwoman Beyond, but I did miss Terry being himself in the comic.
The new question, of course, becomes who will be headlining the comic from here on out. The comic leaves that as the open question on the ending cliffhanger. I have some ideas, but we’ll just have to wait for Batman Beyond #43 to know for sure.
There isn’t a lot of analysis to do on the story here. It’s fun and straightforward, which is Dan Jurgens’ talent. I will say Bruce Wayne saying “schway” was a little much.
Sean Chen once again puts in a great treatment in this issue. The book looks great throughout and the fight scenes are excellent. He’s especially good at making the Batman Beyond costume look fantastic on the page. Sean Parsons puts in some great inkwork and color artist Chris Sotomayor nails it on the color palette in this book.
Batman Beyond #42 brings the long-awaited return of Terry McGinnis as Batman Beyond and delivers an exciting team-up with him and the new Batwoman. It’s a straightforward issue that brings a climactic conclusion to the Blight story and it easily earns a recommendation. Check it out.
Batman Beyond #42 comes to us from writer Dan Jurgens, artist Sean Chen, inker Sean Parsons, color artist Chris Sotomayor, letterer Travis Lanham, cover artist Dustin Nguyen, and variant cover artist Francis Manapul.
Final Score: 8/10