Collin Kelly

Batman Beyond: Neo-Year collects material that originally appeared in Batman: Urban Legends no. 7 and Batman Beyond: Neo-Year nos. 1-6 written by Collin Kelley & Jackson Lanzing with art by Max Dunbar, colors by Sebastian Cheng and Romulo Fajardo, Jr., letters by Aditya Bidikar, and covers by Dunbar, Cheng, and Francesco Mattina. The story begins with Bruce Wayne’s death. A rogue emergent AI seized control of all of Gotham’s systems and highjacked Wayne’s pacemaker. Terry McGinnis finds him, but is unable to save him. Instead, Bruce imparts his last bit of wisdom to Terry and charges him with continuing the Batman’s mission. Terry tries to reach Commissioner Barbara Gordon, but she further upsets his sense of order by announcing her retirement. Donovan Lumos, the Holographic Man, takes over Wayne-Powers, using his influence to remake the city. As he works, Terry realizes that the AI Gotham is exercising its own control over the city. Terry must return Batman to the shadows in order to strike a system that can track his every move and be anywhere. He must also find new allies who aren’t part of the order that controls Gotham. Kelley & Lanzing’s Neo-Year is Batman Beyond’s Year One, with Terry having to find his own way without the aid and assistance of Bruce Wayne. Like young Bruce, he keeps a journal detailing his fight. He also has to relearn lessons and adapt when his initial plans go awry. Dunbar, Cheng, and Fajardo’s art captures the iconic style of Bruce Timm’s Batman Beyond while advancing it to match the tone of this new story, including a subtle redesign of the batsuit that honors the original. Cheng and Fajardo’s use of colors perfectly matches the palette of the original animated series. A great story for any fan of Batman Beyond, those who haven’t followed the various comic tie-ins and continuations from the television series can easily jump in with Neo-Year.… (mere)

With Kang set to be the “big bad” of the next arc of Marvel movies, this volume aims to explore his various incarnations throughout Marvel’s comics history.

And what better guide to the lives of an immortal time-traveling conquerer than a younger version of himself plucked from a far future and schooled in what makes Kang, Kang.

It’s an interesting attempt to weave a cohesive story out of a complex web of loosely connected events, while also trying to provide insight and motive to a multifaceted character.

But it is hampered by the subjects inherent complexity involving time-travel, variants, paradoxes, parallel incarnations, etc.

It just reinforced that there is no such thing as a straightforward narrative for a character like Kang, which makes me wonder just how he will be explained to the more general movie audience.… (mere)