Review: Batman Beyond Vol. 6- Divide, Conquer, and Kill

March 29, 2021 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The volume has plenty of engaging fight scenes. The narrative is packed with tension and progresses in a way that is interesting. The conclusion builds excitement for the next book.

Cons: The artwork is lackluster throughout the book.

Overall: This is a seriously fun book and a worthwhile entry in this series. The entire read is enjoyable from start to finish. It takes cool action, combines it with well-written suspense, and closes with a great conclusion. The only real disappointment is the visuals, which are underwhelming. All in all, this is a solid read that any fan of Batman Beyond should consider picking up.

Story

Batman Beyond Vol. 6: Divide, Conquer, and Kill, by Dan Jurgens, is one of the most consistently positive entries in this Batman Beyond series. The volume has all of the action and intensity readers have come to expect from this book. However, it doubles down on the tension and suspense in a way that is very well-executed. Plus, it ends with a conclusion that builds some serious anticipation for the next volume. Together, this makes for a fun and engaging reading experience.

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Divide, Conquer, and Kill continues the trend of the Batman Beyond series by heavily emphasizing action. Batman, False Face, Ten, and even the Flash all enter the fray throughout this book. It creates a narrative with a diverse range of fun conflicts.

However, where this book really achieves its success is in building suspense throughout the read. Right from the very first chapter, the reader is made aware that something isn’t right, as Bruce Wayne is acting strange. Then, they learn False Face has taken Bruce’s identity. This makes every scene with Bruce/False Face very tense, especially when the rest of the Bat-family is unaware of the switch. Then, the same switch occurs with Terry, changing things up and keeping the tension fresh until the volume’s conclusion. The entire progression here is well done and remains engaging the whole way through.

In addition to all of this, Divide, Conquer, and Kill closes on a great cliffhanger. At the conclusion of this book, Terry has lost his memory, a new villain may be on the loose, someone has taken the Bat-suit, and it generally feels like the superhero community is getting bigger. It opens the door for new plotlines and builds excitement for the next book.

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Art

The artwork in Divide, Conquer, and Kill is probably the most disappointing aspect of the book. Rick Leonardi’s work is structured well and typically does an adequate job in depicting this book’s fight scenes. This leads to a good portion of the book being about average when it comes to visuals. However, there are too many places where the quality level drops. There are moments where characters are contorted in weird ways or where there isn’t enough detail to exactly tell what is going on. The visuals aren’t downright bad but are still disappointing nonetheless.