I’m a bit confused. Batman Beyond. So, beyond Batman? But there’s still a Batman? And then the actual Batman also appears in the comics? Confusion 100. To be fair, this was my first time picking up a Batman Beyond publication, so please don't judge my confusion.

In Escaping the Grave we follow the character Terry McGinnis who takes on the Batman mantle, after Bruce Wayne and the Joker are rumoured to be dead. Terry is a likeable character, and it was a pity that I didn’t know more of his backstory (in case there already exist more comics introducing him), but enough is nicely told in this volume to understand his mission and his mindset. He seems like a good person to defend Gotham of being overrun by the Jokerz gang.

Meanwhile, one of his old high school buddies tries to revive The Joker (who we later find out to actually be Bruce Wayne instead) and kidnaps Terry’s high school flame. All in all, I feel like the story was well built up and kind of interesting and made for a good read. The artwork is not the style that I truly like, but I’ve seen worse Batman artwork, so that’s okay. All in all I think this makes for a very decent 3.5 star rating.

I love the Batman Beyond storylines, this reboots is just as good as the past storylines have been. Great artwork, well-paced story that I couldn't put down until the end.

I was a huge fan of Batman Beyond growing up and, honestly, it's still probably my favorite animated Batman series of all time. The Animated Series is great but Terry McGinnis will always be the bad boy who won my preteen heart. When I saw that Batman Beyond was jumping on board with the Rebirth branding I thought this would be a great way to get back into the comics.

As it turns out, Batman Beyond Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave is not as easy of a place to start out as I thought it would be. It does, however, do a pretty good job of going over the basics of what happened prior to Rebirth. And what happened was apparently super crazy.

The 'Escaping the Grave' subtitle is pretty apt considering basically everyone died prior to this volume or was at the very least thought to be dead. There's also a whole lot of people coming back to life -- including a couple people who held the title of Batman. When we catch back up with Terry he's basically trying to put the pieces back together after disappearing for a time thanks to whatever major event came before. (Since I was jumping into this series for the first time in years my understanding of what happened earlier is limited to what this book explains.)

Gotham is, well, Gotham. Except there's a new leader among the Jokerz who has this crazy idea that he can resurrect the original Joker. It's the kind of rallying cry the disjointed organization of crazed individuals need because they rally around this figurehead, taking over entire chunks of the city. No one is safe from the Jokerz -- not even social workers like Dana. When Dana is kidnapped and taken into the heart of Jokerz territory, Terry has to act.

Despite the fact that things are very different from what old school Batman Beyond fans might expect, it's a good book. The Jokerz story is good and the big revelation towards the end is impactful even if you're not really aware of anything that's happened in the last seven volumes of the comic. There are just probably way better places to start reading from.

The best part of the book was seeing how Terry's little Bat-family came together. A lot has changed in the dynamics from the show. Bruce is gone. Matt not only knows that Terry is Batman but he's helping out in his own way and probably half a step from becoming a Robin in his own right. And Max is on the team playing tech support in an Alfred-esque role (minus the whole butler thing). Terry, Matt, and Max are such a great, close-knit little group. They're cohesive and they work together well. It's a whole different sort of team than we've seen before and I really liked it.

The artwork in the book is fantastic. Bernard Chang really invokes the original look and feel of the cartoon while bringing it to life in his own way throughout the pages and panels. I hadn't watched the show in years but I immediately felt right back at home so to speak. He really captured the crazy, 90s-inspired futuristic look of Terry's Gotham.

Batman Beyond (Rebirth) Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave isn't necessarily the best place for new readers to jump into the series but it's a great story nonetheless. If you're familiar with the series or aren't too fussed with the details, you're going to love Dan Jurgen and Bernard Chang's take on the series. It's one heck of a story and it sets up some seriously awesome reveals that will definitely leave readers wanting more!

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A REVIEW COPY WAS PROVIDED FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW

I will admit I never really viewed the animated series that spawned this title, but I like the concept of someone continuing the Bat legacy. As a rebirth story, this was just okay and I have read prior incarnations of this series so I was not completely in the dark about the title character. This story just didn't have the oomph to really get me excited to read it. Don't get me wrong I will read more volumes, but I hope the stories get better.

Thank you very much for approving me for this book. I have attempted to read it a few times but could not connect with it. I don't intend to review the book or comment upon it, since I don't feel that would be fair under the circumstances.

'Batman Beyond Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave' by Dan Jurgens with art by Bernard Chang, Ryan Sook and Peter Woods, is an appropriate subtitle for the story told between the covers.

The story takes place in a Gotham City of the future. Terry McGinnis was thought to be dead, but he is back as Gotham's Batman. He got his suit and training from Bruce Wayne, who is now dead. The Joker is also dead, but that doesn't stop a large cult of criminals from adopting his persona and running riot in a part of town called Jokerz Town. The Jokerz are up to something big and when Terry finds out, he goes undercover as one of the Jokerz to stop it. Is he up to the job?

I know Batman Beyond from the animated series, and not as a title, but I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I like the future punk elements, like the Bane/Joker mashup character. The characters and story are good, and things seem to be set up for good plot lines to come.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

In a future Gotham, Terry McGinnis is returning to the fray as Batman. Years ago, he had been rescued by an older Bruce Wayne who trained him to takeover as Batman. Now he is back in the city, but unprepared to take on a who slew of wanna-be Jokers lead by an old high school classmate. When his girl-friend is taken as a hostage, Terry, his brother and friend all pitch-in to rescue Dana and stop the resurrection of Joker. But the last laugh may be on them.

This was a great DC title! I enjoyed the story arch a lot, and I'm curious to see where it goes next. I definitely plan on picking up the next volume to see what happens after the twist at the end! A fun read for anyone who likes Batman and the Joker!

Another story from DC's Rebirth universe, set several decades from now in Neo-Gotham - or Jokerz Town as it's been dubbed. There's a new Batman on the streets and a whole gang of Jokerz. Terry, having been trained by the late Bruce Wayne, is wearing the cape and cowl now. The new clown-crazed criminals need to be dealt with - especially when they kidnap Terry's old girlfriend, Dana.

Terminal, an old school friend of Dana and now the leader of the Jokerz, has a mad plan in action. It involves the original Joker, who everyone believed to be dead.

There are several big surprises in this novel. It's a really interesting volume, definitely enticing you to read on. The readers aren't the only one being surprised, though - every character is dealt their fair share of shock in this story!

I like what I've seen of Terry so far, and his relationship with his little brother. I look forward to learning more about them. And I'm super interested to see what happens after the final plot twist was revealed. This seems like a really interesting comic, and I'm giving this issue 4 stars.

This volume has a lot of confusing references for readers who have never heard of Batman Beyond until they picked up this issue. I could only understand part of it because I watched some of the TV show. This volume is not the best introduction to a character. The art style isn’t the easiest to understand either, it’s not something I’m a fan of.

I loved how Terry goes undercover Jokerz style to save his old flame Dana. He made a pretty convincing punk. But the leader Terminal, an old classmate, recognizes his voice. So the jig is up. Poor Terry is more exposed without his suit. Luckily his kid brother sneaks in an old prototype suit for him. Then it is on like Donkey Kong! Terminal tricks his followers into thinking he'll bring Joker back to life.  But it turns out to be Bruce Wayne instead. Terminal wants his fortune and access to Keystone. Terry figures it out. A lackey tosses Bruce down a stairs. Terry saves him, but Terminal escapes. The epilogue is the lackey killing Terminal with a crowbar for disrespecting the Joker. It turns out the lackey is.the Joker.

I have never read any batman beyond and really enjoyed this one. I've really liked most of the rebirth books I've read and this one had the smartest writing I've seen thus far in rebirth. The story line was really interesting, and again for my new comic book friends- this is an origin story so no need to read anything before picking this up. It goes through a NEW batman many decades in the future and explains how he became batman while still including a lot of the regulars we would've missed in a batman story. This is likely in my top two of all DC graphic novels and would definitely buy it for my personal collection or for friends.

It's the same creative team of Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang so the big change for Rebirth here is that Terry McGinnis is back in the suit. No more Tim Drake as Batman Beyond nonsense.. or any of the stupid Future's End crap either. It's a return to the status quo of the TV show. Terminal has taken over the Jokerz and carved out a section on Gotham as JokerzTown. His ultimate master plan, "DUH DUH DUH", is to bring back the Joker. I'm sure you can see where the rest is headed from here.

The Good: I love the relationship between Terry and his little brother Matt. More of that!

The Bad: I don't really want to have Dana back in the book. We don't need everything to return from the cartoon.

The Ugly: That big reveal at the end, you could see coming a mile away and I didn't care for it. <spoiler>Do we really need that clown 50 years in the future too? He already proliferates the rest of the DCU. Plus it's pretty dumb to think he'd be alive that far in the future.</spoiler>

So, uh, is Dan Jurgens writing all the DC titles now? Heh?

We go back to the future with Terry and everyone. Apparently Neo Gotham has gotten even more treacherous, because now the Jokerz don't just want to sow chaos and such, but they want money too.

Terry tries to go undercover as well, which goes sorta as one would expect. And then there was the twist near the end. I probably shouldn't have been surprised by it, but I was, and then the even bigger twist that came after that. Whew and whoa.

I was given this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment.

I never got into the whole Batman Beyond thing. So I went in reading this graphic novel with little to no expectations. It's not great, but it's not bad. It's okay. The artwork left me hoping for better. The story was solid, but ran the risk of losing me at times. Though, I'm thankful I stuck with it till the end. That's when it got interesting! There are a lot of unknowns in the story, which is itself a part of the story line. Is the Joker really dead? Is Bruce Wayne really dead? The one thing this graphic novel did for me was confirm that, for me personally, Batman will always be Bruce Wayne.

I never watched the Batman Beyond cartoon, but I grew up with the Superman comics in the '90s, so Dan Jurgens is my guy. This volume makes a nice jumping on point, taking great pains to bring the reader up to speed on events that took place in a previous series. The Joker and Bruce Wayne are dead, and Terry McGinnis has been out of action for a while. His high school sweetheart has been captured by a pack of Joker emulators, and he's got to rush back to action to save her, stumbling upon a plot to raise the Joker from his grave. The dialogue wasn't scintillating (the Joker's dialogue in a flashback was actually pretty bad), but points for an exciting plot and nice pencils.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2053911051?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Thank you for the ARC! Unfortunately, I was unable to review this title prior to the archive date.