The Men Behind the Mask

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the entire story. If you want to know my spoiler-free opinion: read it. It's one of the best I have read or seen in many years.

When the Batman Beyond 2.0 series first started coming out, I was so impressed that I said "the stories on this level and above have the potential to surpass the animated series that spawned the comics"

That has now happened, and fans of Batman and the Beyond universe are the richer for it.

In "Mark of the Phantasm," Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel, Thony Shilas and Craig Rousseau have woven together what can only be called a beautiful symphony of storytelling - combining visuals, expressions, writing and pacing to produce a masterpiece of narrative and depth. Much like the original Batman: The Animated Series, it sets a high standard which I very much hope will continue to be met for years to come.

The Vigilantes

Contrary to the title, this story isn't really about the Phantasm. It's about a moment we all knew was coming - the moment when Jake Chill, murderer of Warren McGinnis and present-day hero, was found out. The Phantasm discovers it first, but it's when Terry finds out himself that everything really goes south.

Jake Chill AKA Vigilante forces Terry to face all kinds of hard questions. Not just the standard one of 'should I kill him or not' - but what to think of Chill in the first place. Because Chill is eerily and uncomfortably similar to Terry - a good if naive guy who got in way over his head and didn't get out until it was too late. His speech about feeling "like a real person" - someone who deserves to exist - when he puts on his suit is very similar to a speech Terry gave Bruce in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Chill is thus dissimilar than any 'parent killer' in the Batverse - he is not a psychotic killer, unrepentant criminal or even just a crook who remains haunted by his actions but never tries to atone. A single gunshot separates him and the present wearer of the cowl. In the end, Chill dies at the hands of criminals, a warped hero fallen in the line of duty.

What to make of this? Is he a hero? Is he a badguy? What does any of this say about Terry? Like all the layers of this rich story, we are never given a definitive answer, but are simply left to agonize with Terry as he goes through all the stages - anger, grief, and more. In the end, there may be no real answers, and I've no doubt this will haunt the Future Batman for years to come.

The Phantasm

Jake Chill put on the mask to hide himself, but he never forgot who he was - his conscience never let him. Andrea Beaumont AKA Phantasm is different. A feisty and intelligent woman in the flashback of her origin movie, by the time the movie ends she is a shell of her former self. Andrea Beaumont is dead; only the Phantasm remains.

This story merely confirms the impression I received from the film. There is no hint of humanity or anything else in her; just a driving sense of mission, now subordinate to the crafty and more complex Amanda Waller, who aimed merely to 'tie up the loose end' of Jake Chill. Beaumont is exactly what everyone fears has become of the original Batman - a human being subsumed in the mask.

Master of Manipulation ... or Victim of His Own Myth?

This story pulls no punches in making us ask very hard questions about Bruce Wayne. The first question is the most obvious and jarring:

How on earth could Bruce Wayne, master detective and one of the most obsessive literary personae this side of Les Miserables' Javert, not know who Vigilante really was and what he'd done?! This is the man, after all, who'd built a reputation for always being the smartest one in the room, who always had the answers, and who almost never got caught off guard.

Terry certainly doesn't believe it. He even uses Chill's familial affiliation to Bruce's own tragedy to drive home the point. All throughout the story, we have hints dropped to increase our suspicion: a Joker background to remind us of the last time Bruce had held back critical information from Terry, and the fact that even the Phantasm and Barbara aren't sure if he knew or not.

Speaking of Barbara, her story gets a boost in a flashback that's sure to continue to generate controversy among fans. So let's clarify where I stand: I've no problem with the fact that Bruce and Barbara had an affair, or that he got her pregnant. For me, it fits perfectly with the general theme of the run-up between The New Batman Adventures/Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker to the beginning of Batman Beyond, when Bruce Wayne went from moral low point to moral low point until he reached the absolute nadir, coming within an inch of violating his cardinal rule. It is the perfect sign of a "professional" team defeated by unstoppable feelings of human emotion and attachment - no matter how toxic they are. Barbara herself recognizes as much when she calls it off.

What's even more jarring is his conduct towards his former proteges. He has no real parting words for his former lover, no sense of empathy. When he tried to warn Dick away from proposing to Barbara, he says that Barbara made her own choices - yet he won't admit that so did he. It's hard not to see parallels between Bruce's at best tone-deaf approach with Dick and Barbara and his own manipulation of Dana and Max to comfort Terry or at least try to give Bruce the benefit of the doubt. On the face of it, Bruce Wayne truly went full Heisenberg.

Except. Except. Except every event in this story can be interpreted differently, in a way that paints Bruce Wayne not as a selfish master manipulator, but a tragic figure who is now trapped by his own mythos. He may have genuinely not seen it as his place to dig into Vigilante's past. His refusal to admit responsibility may be a function of his lack of faith that he can make moral decisions and actions or dissuade people from the attraction of Batman. He may have manipulated Dana and Max to comfort Terry simply because he believes he is incapable of doing so. It is almost as if he thinks everyone considers him to be Heisenberg anyway, so he may as well play the part. Bruce Wayne - the moral agent, the empathetic human being - has been denied the right to exist by Batman.

Vigilante put on the mask but remembered the man underneath. Andrea Beaumont surrendered to it. Bruce Wayne doesn't know - or perhaps is afraid - to take it off.

Terry McGinnis ... Or Do You Prefer Batman?

Which brings us to the hero of the story: Terry McGinnis. Terry believes fervently in two things: that he needs Batman not to sink into the abyss, and that he can - nay, he must - prevent the mask from overtaking him and absorbing his person. By the end of the story, Terry decides that that means leaving Bruce Wayne ... with the suit. While I expected the two to come to physical blows, the psychological separation and the speed at which Terry is forced to mature during "Mark of the Phantasm" left a genuine mark on me. I have not felt such a powerful identification with a character in a long time.

The original Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was a story that started strong, but ended up fizzling out into farce, leaving questions I wasn't interested in answering. "Mark of the Phantasm" is different, and makes me hunger for more: how DID Dick lose his eye? How did Bruce find out about Joe Chill? How much did Waller know about Terry's Dad's murder - and did she allow it to happen? Most importantly ... why did Bruce let Terry leave with the suit?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure any of these questions will ever be answered. Recently, Kyle Higgins announced that Batman Beyond 2.0 is coming to a close shortly. While I am still optimistic, I am doubtful that this world has anywhere as gifted a creator and exponent as Higgins and his team. But if all we are left with is 2.0, Justice Lords Beyond, and the present story, then all of us - Bruce fans, Terry fans, or just DCAU fans, have all profited tremendously.

"Batman Beyond 2.0: Mark of the Phantasm" is now available through digital outlets and comic shops.