PLEASE NOTE BEFORE PROCEEDING! This post contains a major spoiler, so if you are not current on Batman Beyond, look away now!
I’m not big on Mary Sue characters. I like my heroes and heroines with some flaws — a little dirt beneath their fingernails and some weaknesses. Perfect is boring.
But it also bothers me when a hero/heroine is gratuitously compromised or written in a way that is wildly out of character. At least offer a plausible explanation for why the person went off the deep end before sending them there in a burst of flames.
Which brings us to Batman Beyond #4, in which we learn that the new Hush — the nut who has been terrorizing Gotham City and killing folks — is none other than (drumroll) …
Dude. No way.
… Dick Grayson. That’s right. As in the previously well-adjusted former Boy Wonder/Nightwing and current Batman.
All together now: Really?
“Well, that was nauseatingly lame,” V. said.
Before the big reveal, I dug where the comic was going with the mystery of New Hush. And since Batman Beyond has always hinged upon Bruce Wayne’s (probably inevitable) isolation, I liked the addition of a middle-aged Grayson, still wounded by his former mentor’s abandonment after he nearly died. Earlier in this issue, when Dick warns Terry McGinnis that Bruce doesn’t care about anything but his crusade, well, it’s hard to argue the point.
But Dick becoming a murderous villain because he felt betrayed? I’m sorry, but that is some Jason Todd, Lazarus Pit bullshit. Perhaps this mini-series will provide a powerful explanation for turning one of DC’s most likable and level-headed characters into a maniac with a bandage fetish. Perhaps. It occurred to me that this could all be a hoax, and that some shape-shifter is impersonating Dick. Perhaps. But for now, I can only scratch my head at the nonsense that brought an interesting story to such an awkward, screeching halt.
Ah! We needed a spoiler alert.
Oh well. At least you’ve helped me decide not to buy the trade when (if) it comes out.
Dick Grayson? Really? Lame.
Um. Ed. Big bold letters at the top of the article mention something about a “major spoiler.”
;-)
Oh, no! Was the spoiler alert at the top too weak? I’ll put it in the headline. And you are so right. Lame, Lame, Lame!
E-Boogs, you ain’t got to put that ish in the headline. Being a sexy beast does not necessarily include detail-orientation.
Crap. I’m blind. Sorry.
You are forgiven.
I wasn’t current, but I’m not waiting a month to read reviews.
Dick Grayson? Come on now…
They couldn’t have thought of something better? Like really.
Is this a mini or a continuing title? Why did I think it was supposed to end at 6?
Hey Dom,
Batman Beyond is a six-issue mini. But the reveal in #4 was so absurd that it makes #5 and #6 moot.
Redemption is futile.
Wow, Batman Beyond really doesn’t like former Robins, does it?
Wow. Shades of the past. In the movie, “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” it was Tim Drake posing as the Joker. In that one, Tim was being controlled, but still… two Robins as villains battling Batman Beyond? And neither is Jason Todd? What’s next Stephie Brown, Carrie Kelly, and Damian Wayne become Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman?
The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
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Wellll….
Dick Grayson is also shown earlier in the issue talking to Batman (Beyond) WHILE the new Hush (Beyond) is fighting Catwoman (Beyond) and later, Batman (Old-school).
The Grayson talking with Terry has an eye patch-y thing, the one “revealed” as Hush does not.
One of them must be an imposter.
Remember, in current times, Hush (this is getting awkward) has had surgery to look just like Bruce Wayne. I’m giving Adam Beechen the benefit of the doubt until more is revealed.
Tim Drake? See, when you mess with Tim, you’re messing with me. Brian, I hope you’re right. Adam Beechen is a good writer, so I’m willing to stick with the series to the end. Did I mention that I hope you’re right?
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