Like I said last time, this series isn’t new reader friendly, it’s not even consistent reader friendly, but I think it’ll be pretty damn fun when it comes out in a hardcover or trade paper back down the line–especially the Superman Beyond segments.
Justice League Beyond
Konstruction Chapter 8: Ecdysis
Written by Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen
Pencils by Dustin Nguyen
Inks by Derek Fridolfs
This is all action. Ten pages of all out alien war against a giant planet eating snake. It’s probably going to be a pretty fun moment when this is all collected in a trade, heck it might even be fun if you read this digitally every week. But for somebody like me who only catches this once a month in print…it kinda drops me right into a chaotic moment and I spend most of my time going “Hey? What’s going on?” and by the time I finally remember what happened a month ago and get a grip on the current situation–it’s over. The credits roll and it’s time to move on to the next story. Chapter 8 was incredibly brief but enjoyable…if you can remember what everybody here is doing. I think that this whole war on apocalypse/giant snake thing has stretched on for far too long and needs to wrap up. The series would be a lot more enjoyable for monthly readers if the stories didn’t carry on for so long. With only 8-10 pages a month, it’s almost impossible to keep up without going back and re-reading everything that came before.
SCORE: 6/10
Beyond Origin: Aquagirl
Written by Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen
Art by James Brouwer
Now here’s something I could read and actually follow. The origin of Aquagirl isn’t broken up into parts that’ll span 2-3 issues, it’s one-and-done. And it’s entertaining and lovely to look at. Her origin is essentially The Little Mermaid with a superhero twist. The art even looks very Disneyesque (that word is actually in Webster’s dictionary, by the way).
SCORE: 8/10
Batman Beyond
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Norm Breyfogle
I’m happy to say that this series has totally turned itself around. The past couple issues have been good and this one was wonderful as well. Adam Beechen is cranking out good stories that use the beyond universe well and the great Norm Breyfogle is giving the book a lot more attention to detail than he was in the earlier issues. It looks great, it’s fun to read, and it definitely has me excited about what could possibly come next.
SCORE: 8.5/10
Superman Beyond: Failsafe
Written by JT Krull
Pencils by Howard Porter
Inks by John Livesay
Colors by Tony Avina
One thing that’s great about this issue is that it actually took the time in the opening page to remind the reader what happened in previous issues rather than just dropping you into the chaos like Justice League Beyond did. However, I still wish DC would adopt Marvel’s “Previously On…” page to open each of their comics. As for the actual content here…it has one of the most bad ass moments of the year for Batman. ’nuff said. Imagine if super-suit Batman from the battle at the end of The Dark Knight Returns had come to help Superman and then they left the scene via skyhook like in The Dark Knight and it all had a futuristic Batman beyond twist. That’s what happened here and I thought it was pretty cool. And a lot of other really big, cool things happen here as well. It’s definitely a larger than life story and that’s exactly what I want to see from Superman.
SCORE: 8.5/10
Overall
I think this might just be the best issue of Batman Beyond Unlimited yet and it offers you more bang for your buck than pretty much any other comic out there with lots of enjoyable content.
SCORE: 8/10
