In this review of Batman/Static: Beyond #3, the Tomorrow Knight and Static are at odds on how to stop Shutdown, just as the power outages across Dakota and Neo-Gotham grow worse and worse!
Batman/Static: Beyond #3 main cover by Nikolas Draper-Ivey (DC Comics)
BATMAN/STATIC: BEYOND #3
Written by EVAN NARCISSE
Art by MIGUEL MENDONÇA
Main Cover: NIKOLAS DRAPER-IVEY
Variant Covers: BERNARD CHANG, SANFORD GREENE
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 2/4/26
This review contains spoilers
The enormous power outage from Shutdown leaves both Gotham and Dakota completely blacked out, with Static unconscious and unresponsive. Batman flies him towards the lightning storm in the sky, which revives Dakota’s hero just in time to save his young colleague before the Bat-Suit runs out of power.
Static is furious at Batman for jumping the gun, causing Shutdown to freak out and destroy all electronic power statewide. He leaves Terry with some sobering advice about not letting the mantle of Batman work him, but have it work for him. Later the next night, Static is shot trying to stop masked punks from attacking aid workers. His powers have been grievously affected by Shutdown, and he’s lost confidence in himself.
Terry feels similarly guilty. His actions led to the attack from Shutdown, resulting in the disabling of the Bat-Suit. He avoids returning to the Bat-Cave, opting to check in with his family and Max, unsure on how to act as a hero despite engaging in fights with thieves and Kobra troops.
Shutdown, a.k.a. Melvin Kim, returns to his parents revealing his abilities and furious when they tell him they’ve been working on the top-secret Q-Juice project. He feels betrayed that their secrecy involved everything he’d been protesting against, but uncontrollably teleports away.
The next day, a Tomorrow Institute graduation hosted by Adam Evans a.k.a. Rubberband Man is interrupted by Shutdown, who blames Static for his parents involvement in the Q-Juice project. As he attacks, Static, Rubberband Man and the Tomorrow Institute students all retaliate with their special abilities.
The team cannot figure how to wake Static up. (DC Comics)
Analysis
I’ve been solidly enjoying this miniseries so far, but with this issue is especially exciting as it features Miguel Mendonca on art duties. As I said in last issue’s review, Nikolas Draper-Ivey is a terrific artist, but his interiors often leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the finishes. Details like backgrounds and foreshortened anatomy can suffer, and I think Draper-Ivey is stronger as a splash page artist and cover artist moreso than an ongoing interior penciller (although his work on Static: Shadows of Dakota was stronger, and I’m curious if the lead time on this book gave him less of a deadline window). Miguel Mendonca on the other hand is a far more detailed and experienced draftsman. I’m only previously familiar with him from a couple of years back during Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run, in which he provided artwork for the backup stories with Tim Drake. He’s got a very refined, slick style that shows off more of a mastery of the human form. Additionally, he’s a great Batman Beyond artist. His HUD panel with Terry’s face was a great insert shot, as well as his rendering of Batman’s mask often in shadow without a visible mouth. Again, I’m a fan of Draper-Ivey, but Mendonca’s work really gave this issue a shot in the arm.
Narcisse’s writing for this is still solid, regardless of the artist. Three issues in, and this is one of the better Batman Beyond comics I’ve read (I’ve not read many past the new 52 series from forever ago), and an even better crossover. He makes the combination of a Terry McGinnis/Virgil Hawkins team-up not only work, but work with Virgil being much older and almost unrecognizable. But the key word is “almost”. Virgil still feels guilt and responsibility, and even feels bad for ragging on Terry. There’s an unspoken understanding of how similar Terry is to how Virgil used to be back when he was a teenager. Maybe a bit more focus on that could be appreciated, but just enough of it is there between the lines for it to be a good contrast.
There’s also a lot of fine details that fill in gaps between classic Milestone and this future iteration. Virgil and Daisy have gotten married. Amistad, Rocket’s baby son, grew up to become an inheritor of her powers and is the hero Beacon. We also get a reference to Shadows of Dakota with Rubberband Man invoking his kidnapping from that storyline. None of it is confusing or overtly expositionary. It’s all fast-paced, but with just enough focus to not feel like throwaway scenes. Especially with Batman and Static rescuing each other in the beginning. That managed to have just enough suspense and action to feel like a real *moment*. Lesser comics would’ve solved that dilemma in a single page. But Mendonca’s art makes it breath and shows off all of his shining qualities in four explosive pages.
I think Batman/Static: Beyond #3 ends a bit abruptly with Shutdown’s attack of the graduation, but overall this is a fine comic featuring fan-favorite heroes. One of the better books out at the moment, which is saying a lot, as DC’s been quite solid for a long time now.
