Book Review: Batman Beyond, Volume 4: Target: Batman

Batman Beyond, Volume 4: Target: Batman by Dan Jurgens

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Everybody hates Batman for seemingly no reason. Well, Terry McGuinness' girlfriend hates him for a reason because after coming onto her real strong in the third volume, she sees him making out with a blonde who he met back in the TV series, but everyone else hates Batman and has determined that Batman must die. Of course, the real reason is Supervillain.

The problems with this book are multiple. The Matt as the new Robin storyline is being shoved forward by Jurgens even if it means having Bruce send out an unprepared and undisciplined to fight crime. It's like this almost fan fictiony that the writer wants to happen and he's going to make it happen even if he has to violate every character and can't make the readers care about it.

At the same time, the storyline is once again Batman at the center of a story where it's all about people targeting him and as a result of something Bruce did and we of course get something lecturing Bruce about how he's responsible for all of this because...Batman Beyond, I guess.

Some of this can be fine, particularly if it's well done, but at some point, Batman's got to put on his cape and fight a battle where he's not the main target, and where the villain isn't just acting up because of Terry or Bruce's past actions. At this point, I'm giving up on Dan Jurgens figuring this out.



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