#batmanbeyond

Neo-Gotham and Dakota City meet in DC's latest Elseworlds story as Batman Beyond and Static team up to save the planet. This brand new 6-issue miniseries, titled Batman/Static: Beyond, is being helmed by writer/artist Evan Narcisse and artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey and will hit shelves in November. For all the details on this new series, check out the official press release below.

Batman/Static: Beyond #1 main cover by Nikolas Draper-Ivey   DC ANNOUNCES 'BATMAN/STATIC: BEYOND' Terry McGinnis and Virgil Hawkins Go Beyond... Into a Bold New Future DC today announced Batman/Static: Beyond, a bold new six-issue limited comic book series launching this fall under its DC Elseworlds imprint. The series pairs acclaimed writer Evan Narcisse with visionary artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey for a futuristic team-up unlike anything seen before. Launching November 12, 2025, the series unites two of DC's most dynamic heroes—Terry McGinnis, the cyberpunk guardian of Neo-Gotham, and Virgil Hawkins, the electrifying architect of Dakota City's future, both renowned for being breakout animated stars—for a high-stakes mission that could reshape Earth's place in the cosmos. In the debut issue, Terry McGinnis patrols the neon-lit streets of Neo-Gotham while Virgil Hawkins pioneers a technological revolution with the launch of the Q-Wave Energy Grid. As Earth prepares to join a powerful interplanetary alliance called the Cooperative, the Justice League Beyond stands ready to usher in a new era of peace. But when a mysterious villain triggers a global blackout, the planet's future hangs in the balance. With technology crippled and chaos rising, Static and Batman Beyond must forge an unlikely alliance and take a grounded approach to saving the world before it's too late. "I loved the dynamic Nik set up between Static and Batman in the Milestone 30th Anniversary Special where these characters first teamed up with each other," said Evan Narcisse, "and the most exciting part of this new project has been exploring how different Terry and Virgil are from each other." "This story is intended to be a commentary on our overreliance on technology and the imminent dangers becoming complacent and too comfortable using AI to substitute our own imagination and human ingenuity," continued Nikolas Draper-Ivey. "We now use our watches to find our phones, we use our phones to connect to everything else. We don't rely on our own memories. We rely on technology to remember for us. That deeply concerns me. I worry that we are getting to a point where if all these things were to be suddenly taken away from us in an instant—at the rate we're going now, humanity will be at a huge disadvantage." "Static is a former teen hero who grew up to take on even more responsibility for his city and the larger world, while Terry is still figuring out how to do those things in his own way," added Narcisse. "Terry's still a high school student but he's also got the weight of the Batman mantle and the expectations that come with it as key parts of his life now. As an adult member of the Justice League, Virgil's at a different part of his journey. But he's driven by an adolescence where systemic injustice changed what it meant to live in his hometown of Dakota. Their approaches to making the world a safer, more just place are extremely different. That difference energizes the big question they have to deal with: can they learn to work together during a critical moment when everything they've taken for granted has fallen apart? The whole creative team is going to try and answer that question in Batman/Static: Beyond with a story where deep emotions collide against the backdrop of an uncertain future." Writer Evan Narcisse (Rise of the Black Panther, Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City) brings his signature blend of character-driven storytelling and high-concept futurism to Batman/Static: Beyond, while artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey (Static: Shadows of Dakota) delivers bold, kinetic visuals that fuse cyberpunk grit with electric energy. Together, the creative team reimagines two fan-favorite heroes for a new generation, pushing the boundaries of legacy and innovation within the DC Elseworlds imprint. Batman/Static: Beyond #1 will feature a main cover by Nikolas Draper-Ivey, retailing for $4.99 US. Variant cardstock covers will be available for $5.99 US, including artwork by Dustin Nguyen, Rahzzah, and a 1:25 incentive variant by Denys Cowan and Ho Che Anderson. Nguyen's cover will also be released as a foil variant. The series will run for six issues, with a collected edition scheduled for release on August 4, 2026.

Batman/Static: Beyond #1 variant cover by Denys Cowan and Ho Che Anderson

Batman/Static: Beyond #1 variant cover by Rahzzah

I don't normally make hard statements like this. I typically hate it when somebody makes hard statements like this, but hear me out.

No prior Batfamily character can be the next Batman. I'll keep it brief and explain why going person by person (obvious headcanon warning)

Dick is definitely a likelier candidate than most. He can cover for Batman if the need ever arises. But I believe that Dick Grayson hates the idea of actually becoming Batman. He can play the role. He was a circus kid and he's got the heart of a theatre kid, he can play the role all day long. But he was the first. He arguably saw Batman at his natural worst. He and Alfred, anyways. I'm going to drop some OP lore to further elaborate. My dad's a pastor. He's a really good pastor. He's a good man, and he may be an ass, but that's because I know him as "dad". For YEARS, people would tell me that I was just like him, and for a long time, I wanted to be him. It's what boys do when their dad is at the very least decent. But, as I got older, I saw the tapestry and saw the flaws. I saw how tired being a pastor made my dad. I saw how much of his life being a pastor was taking up. I would never tell my dad to stop being a pastor, because that's him. That's his calling; and if he was anything else, then he'd be a soulless, husk of a man. But I've seen what being a pastor does to you, and I don't want that. I want to be better than that. Dick Grayson has seen what The Batman does to a person. He's seen Bruce do things that Dick would never do, and the idea of being the next Batman is something that got soured to him. And it definitely doesn't help that that's what a lot of people used to do to him. So yeah, traumadumping aside, Dick would never STAY Batman. Even if he doesn't know it.

I honestly think it's best if Jason stays as far away from the idea of The Batman legacy as possible. Jason's at the best possible spot right now. He's taken his trauma and has turned it into his empowerment. I don't care what Three Jokers says, that's dumb. Joker's an ass, we don't listen to him. ESPECIALLY if he's swapped out his gun for a crowbar and has a no-kill rule, Jason could be Red Hood until he's 90 and it'll be narratively fulfilling.

Tim is one I see get thrown around a lot. However, I believe that The Batman would absolutely DESTROY him and he would be too stubborn to acknowledge it. One common denominator I believe every Robin goes through is the realization of "oh wow, Bruce is not okay" and trying to be better than that. While I do believe that Tim went through that, I also believe that Tim is arrogant enough to believe that he's better than that. Even putting all of the "alternate Tim evil gun toting Batman" futures aside, I think that Tim is obsessive enough as is. Giving him the mantle of The Batman would cause him to obsess even more to be like Bruce thus causing ANOTHER evil gun toting alternate future Batman. Tim is best as Red Robin. An independent agent that can go well with ANY Batman to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Babs is best as Oracle. No I will not be elaborating. If you want her to be Batgirl, then say that she can Batgirl every once and a while but doing it stresses out the microchip in her back.

Steph is best as Spoiler. She backdoored her way into the Batfamily by being competent enough as Spoiler. I honestly wish that she could be like Batwoman and establish herself as Batfamily adjacent and have her own supporting cast and such. If she does have one, then I'm sorry. Cassie is kind of a blind spot.

Sadly, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, and Harper Row are even bigger blindspots of mine. From what I've seen of them, I can't think of any reasons they couldn't be Batman. However, I can't think of any reasons why they especially should be Batman.

Damian Wayne is my personal vote for becoming the next Batman out of everybody pre established. Not for any birthright reasons. That's dumb. Admittedly, DCeased really turned me on to the idea. I think that the idea of Damian being the child raised by Bruce that turned out the best is a really good idea. In retrospect, I guess the idea of birthright is technically why I'm choosing Damian. BUT, understand I'm doing it with the caveat that Damian is fully developed as a person and as a character. That is the END of his arc.

HOWEVER, Terry McGinnis takes the cake for me in terms of Batman successor. This is going off of the idea that he isn't a Bruce clone. I don't know how canon we've made that, but canon is relative, so I'm saying it's not for the sake of argument. Terry is an outsider. He has no baggage with the idea of The Batman. He's just a guy working through some grief with The Batman being used as a vehicle. He doesn't know any of the Bruceisms. He never had to explain to his friends that his dad is crazy and he's sorry he made contingency plans for all of them. Terry McGinnis gets to make Batman his own. And, luckily, he gets to have a fully realized Bruce to guide him along the way. I also think that it opens so much more story potential. It's essentially a soft reboot for The Batman as an idea. Everybody else can be out doing their own thing. But I think this works in the same way that Miguel O'Hara can ALSO be Spider-Man. I believe that every intimate Batfamily member would follow Bruce's footsteps by making Batman an UNHEALTHY obsession. Terry would be different, he'd lead the pack by turning The Batman into something HEALTHY.

sketchbook for 07/08 - 07/24/2025

wanted to do my own take of tarkin to complement with count dooku.

Transcript from Yuhki Demers:

5 months ago Patrick Harpin walked into @wbpictures and pitched a 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 Animated Feature. Before we pitched, they warned us "there is absolutely no way we can do a 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 movie", but they loved our enthusiasm. We pitched the outline for the entire film, and what started as a 'never' turned into a 'maybe'. In the time since, we've been pitching our way up the company hoping to get to @jamesgunn. But for now, here's a taste of what we've been cooking. LIKE & SHARE 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 From Writer/Director Patrick Harpin (𝘔𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳) & Production Designer/Producer Yuhki Demers (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘔𝘢𝘯: 𝘈𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦)