In 1999, a new era of Batman mythos was born when the cartoon Batman Beyond went on the air. Now he’s on DVD, in the comics, and on his way to your toy shelf.
A lot of folks were concerned. Batman the Animated Series / The New Adventures of Batman was to many the best Batman ever done. Why would we want to stray from that? This new show would never hold up. Almost despite its nay sayers, Batman Beyond did hold up, giving us 52 episodes. Including numerous repeated villains who are great characters in their own rights.
And it is responsible for intruducing a concept many of us love, the idea of a Justice League Unlimited in cartoon form ("The Call").
Some would like to write off this series as just a possible future, barely connected to the DC Animated universe at all. Then the Batman Beyond universe took center stage for not one but two episodes of JLU ("Time Warped, Epilogue). This world also appeared in an episode of Static Shock, tying the DCAU together even more tightly.
The final leap, from cartoon to comic took place in Superman/Batman issue #22. While popping across dimensions, Bizarro briefly runs into Batman Beyond. Terry’s second comic book appearance was in a single panel of Countdown, where his universe is clearly labelled as Earth-12.
What does this all have to do with toys? Batman Beyond toys have not been seen since the show was on the air. There was a Burger King promotion and Hasbro put out an action figure line, but there has been nothing since. Until that Superman/Batman appearance opened the door.
<== DCDirect responded with a figure. || Mattel showed their own DCUC figure at NYCC. ==>
At SDCC Mattel showed a Batman Beyond themed JLU 3 pack with Batman, Warhawk, and Old Bruce Wayne.
And yesterday, WizKidsGames revealed that the Batman for their upcoming set of DC HeroClix, "Arkham Asylum", is none other than Batman Beyond. The reveal came complete with designer notes too.
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/dc/gameresources.asp?cid=41840
Love him or hate him, Batman Beyond is back. (and you can pick up the entire series on DVD).
pictures credited to:
www.WorldsFinestOnLine.com
www.ActionFigureInsider.com
www.DcComics.com
www.WizKidsGames.com
Great article! I love Batman Beyond and the inclusion of Terry in the DCUC line and the new figures showing up in the JLU line has this fan PUMPed up! Here’s to many more
Cool blog Erik. I love the Batman Beyond character, and am really glad to see him make his way into the JLU line. As far as his appearances in the regular DCU continuity, I’m not that fussed, but I do like the DCUC figure.
I just hope we see the future JLU characters made at some point in the JLU line, and also some of the main villains from the show. The line up you posted above and a Return of the Joker set would be more than welcome!
Thanks for the feedback. I like Batman Beyond too. Writing the article was easy. Collecting and formatting the pictures took several hours. I’m still new at formatting. And the pic from S/B 22 I had to scan into my pc, something I had not done before.