Review: Batman Beyond Vol. 1- Escaping the Grave

Quick Summary

Pros: The action and suspense are well written. The main narrative is compelling and has enough surprises to keep readers on the edge of their seats the whole way through. The artwork looks nice and suits the book well.

Cons: Some of the reveals are a little over-dramatic.

Overall: This is a fun and engaging start to a new chapter in the Batman Beyond series. This volume brings back Terry McGinnis for a tense and action-packed adventure. It has drama, good-looking visuals, and enough surprises to keep you guessing. Overall, this is a book for any fan of the Batman Beyond concept or for any fan simply looking for a pure-fun Rebirth era read.

Story

Batman Beyond Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave, by Dan Jurgens, is a highly enjoyable opening to a new Batman Beyond series. This volume has all of the action and suspense one could ask for from a comic. It contains energetic clashes, well-executed plans, and moments where it feels like complete disaster is right on the horizon. This volume also contains a narrative that is captivating from start to finish. It immediately grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them guessing the entire way through. All in all, the volume is a joy to read and has me very excited to see what is next from this Batman Beyond series.

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The first volume in the Rebirth Batman Beyond series recaptures the intense levels of excitement that were present in the New 52 Batman Beyond series. The volume opens with some fighting between Terry and random gang members, moves on to a straightforward fight between a hero and a villain, and concludes with a final showdown in a skyscraper. Even the pieces of the volume not focused on action manages to be delightfully tense, as Terry’s undercover work relies on carefully executed plans that could go wrong at any moment. This combination between action and tension works out wonderfully.

However, where Escaping the Grave really makes its mark is in its whirlwind narrative. This volume has Terry go undercover, reveals that Joker is still alive and in a coma, has Terry’s cover blown, reveals that “Joker” was actually Bruce Wayne, has Terry rescue Bruce, has the main villain get away, and concludes by revealing that Joker is also alive and has him close the book by killing this main villain. It is an absolute whirlwind of twists and turns that remains unpredictable from the very start. There are a few places where the reveals border on over-dramatic but the end result still works surprisingly well.

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Art

The artwork in Escaping the Grave looks nice and suits this series well. In our reviews of the previous Batman Beyond series, we often talked about how the combination of Bernard Chang’s visuals and Marcelo Maiolo’s colors helped effectively bring the world of this series to life. Chang’s depictions of Neo-Gotham are creative while Maiolo’s colors give the world a futuristic aura. Everything is also laid out well, in a way that suits the narrative’s action-packed nature.  All of this remains true in this volume. Plus, a single chapter from Ryan Sook opens the volume with distinct and equally impressive visuals. Together, all of these features help make a good-looking book.

Continuity

Batman Beyond Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave continues aspects of the story from the previous Batman Beyond series, which ended with Batman Beyond Vol. 3: Wired for Death (Review).

The story here continues in Batman Beyond Vol. 2: Rise of the Demon (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Superman’s death is mentioned. This is likely a reference to the events of Superman: The Death of Superman.
• The artwork one of this volume’s final pages is a visual reference to a scene from Batman: A Death in the Family.