A young vigilante is put to the test while investigating a break-in at a high tech lab in the latest Batman Beyond. The Batman of the future faces a dual threat of do people confuse into the same villain all manga-like as a much older Bruce Wayne has apparently drifted off into a fit of cranky apathy in a story written by Dan Jurgens with art by Rick Leonardi.  Ande Parks handles the inking. Color comes to the page courtesy of Chris Sotomayor. A standard superhero story is well executed. However, numerous opportunities seem to be avoided in favor of something far too traditional to be terribly original.

The Batman of the future has been ambushed by the pair of villains known as The Splitt. Both hero and villains have learned something from their last encounter with each other. However, without adequate support from retired veteran Batman Bruce Wayne, the current caped crusader is placed in peril under the influence of an artificial gravity field. Meanwhile, a severely disinterested Bruce Wayne apparently decides to go out to a casino for a little diversion, leaving the rest of his support to fend for themselves in aid of Batman.

It would stand to reason that as someone who is as dedicated to what he’s doing as Bruce Wayne might suffer from a sudden loss of determination in old age. Jurgens has an opportunity to explore the island someone’s been fighting crime and one for another for over half a century. Poseidon break might be inevitable. But that’s not what’s going on if your ass is illustrated by foreshadowing at issue’s end. This is a big missed opportunity for Jurgens’ script. It could have been more than a tolerably formulaic dying to crime-fighting adventure.

It’s been a pleasure to see Leonardi’s style develop over the decades. His excellent execution of the action fits a traditional superhero story quite well. The story may not be eating anything currently in original, but Leonardi’s style lends the movement a certain timelessness aided as it is by the ink work of Parks. There’s a very assertive, aggression to the action that is vividly illuminated by the color of Sotomayor. The color gets particularly smart concerning the blurriness of Split’s super-speed towards the end of the issue. The ghostly blur of the fused villains and their truncheon lends an impressive intensity to panels that might have otherwise felt flat due to the layout that Jorgenson’s script cornered that art into.

It’s really nice to know that there are still issues like Batman Beyond #32. It’s the type of chapter that could have appeared in just about any similar Marvel or DC title going back to the dawn of the silver age. But without anything more to offer in the deliciously attractive potential of Gotham in the future, this is just another issue in the series that fails to live up to the possibilities of the premise.

Grade: C+