Batman Beyond #38

By Dan Jurgens, Sean Chen, Sean Parsons, Chris Sotomayor, Travis Lanham, Lee Weeks, and Elizaeth Breitweiser

Terry’s journey to figure out who he is and the mystery of the new Batwoman continues this issue and we are starting to see some subtle hints as to how these two will converge. Terry is still on the run from the police with Constance and learns about her past working for Derek Powers, a.k.a. Blight. Coincidentally, Batwoman finds herself dealing Blight in a much more direct manner. This issue continues with Batman Beyond’s theme of mysteries as we piece together more and more clues as to who the new Batwoman may be and what plans Derek Powers has in store.

Batman Beyond is a title that could have easily been a short lived series playing off of the popularity of the old cartoon show but Dan Jurgens continues to make this series something special and long lasting. Each issue we get from Jurgens feels like there is careful planning of the various plot threads being set up and future rereading of this series will make the reader realize how cleverly answers were hidden throughout the series. The current mystery of who the new Batwoman is, makes the reader as if there is something they are missing. The first two obvious contenders for the new Batwoman, Barbara Gordan and Melanie Walker, seem obvious choices. After this issue, it seems as if they are no longer suspects which now causes the reader to think back on who else could be Batwoman? As mentioned earlier, there are probably clues as to who the new Batwoman is in previous issues and we can only hope the reveal is worth the build up.

For Batman Beyond #38, the art by Chen, Parsons, Sotomayor, and Lanham always has a look that fits perfectly for this series. As mentioned in the review for the previous issue, the look of Batwoman herself always looks great as shadows are used in concert with the red and black of her suit. She legitimately looks more intimidating than Terry as she is looming behind a bad guy getting ready to strike. Batwoman also looks great as we get a whole page or panel devoted to her using the wings in her suit spanned across the scene in a fantastic show of force. The few scenes of Blight that we see in this issue are also great to view. The skull specifically has a different look to anything else in the issue with a specific sketched look to it. Along with Blight’s unique look, he also has his own lettering to his speech bubbles which gives an intimidating tone to match his brutal actions.

Batman Beyond #38 is another solid entry into the series and serves as a set up for the upcoming confrontation between Batwoman Beyond and Blight. This issue also gives us some clues as to how Terry will cross paths with Batwoman due to Constace’s previous relationship with Derek Powers. It will be interesting to see how Terry’s interaction with Batwoman will play out and when he returns to his role of Batman, how it will affect Batwoman’s role in defending Neo-Gotham.