Watch out Jim Gordon, it’s Tim Drake’s time to take your Batsuit for a spin. Last issue we saw Tim fight his heart out against Brother Eye’s goons and it resulted in him draining the remaining battery for the Batman Beyond suit. The timing could not be any worse because now Eye has called in his generals, the borg-ed out Justice League! So Tim and Barbara Gordon decide their only option now is to dust off her father’s suit and take a stand against Brother Eye as the fate of Neo Gotham looms in the balance.
The revelation made during this issue was Brother Eye’s apparent hatred for Tim, who supposedly altered the future to be less savory for the villain. Eye even says that he created a body for himself so he could walk through Neo Gotham with Drake’s corpse dragged behind him as a trophy, that’s some deep feelings for a machine to be harboring.
Like the old Batman though, Tim proves to resourceful to be killed by the likes of android John Stewart and company. With a little help from Micron, Drake uses the old Bat Bunny suit to take down the JL and escape with Barbara to Wayne Estate, for something that remains hidden to us.
The Positives
This was by far Tim’s best outing as the new “Batman”, his tactfulness and contingency plans were well crafted and a sight to marvel. Writer Dan Jurgens really has went beyond what I expected from this series, he’s carefully merged the mess Futures End left us with and the Batman Beyond universe into something that is action packed and keeps you at the edge of your seat. The action has been criminally underrated, what with Tim literally destroying the remains of the Justice League and just being an overall badass.
Tim and Barbara have also been a great duo over the span of this series and it was only expanded upon during this issue. His heartfelt message about what it was really like being a Robin and not being worthy of becoming the Batman was a great moment.
THE NEGATIVES
While this issue was a fun read, it was almost the exact same thing as the last issue. Barbara takes Tim to a secret hideout where a secret weapon is located and Tim has to use it while Brother Eye invades Neo Gotham.
If that sounds familiar to you, you’re not wrong.
THE VERDICT
Batman Beyond #5 delivers in the action department as Tim takes the Batbunny suit and wrecks the android Justice League.  The series continues to get better each issue and while it’s not as flashy as other series, it’s a fun ride that stars a gruff and tough Tim Drake.
