A villain has taken over the body of Batman decades into the future. He’s conspiring with a pair of super-villains to break into the Batcave to steal valuable tech. Bruce Wayne has to think quickly if he is to navigate his way out of the predicament in Batman Beyond #35, written by Dan Jurgens with art by Rick Leonardi and inker Ande Parks with colors by Chris Sotomayor. A standard chapter in the life of a traditional superhero gets a pleasant shift in an issue that pits Bruce Wayne against a cunning villain in the body of Batman. 

It doesn’t take Bruce Wayne long to realize that Batman has been taken over by False Face. The villain is making no attempt to hide his intentions from  Wayne, who is monitoring his every move. Tenuously placing their trust in him, the twin villains collectively known as Splitt give False Face the full rundown on their origin. Thus allowing him to manipulate them into joining him in a break-in on The Batcave. Former Royal Flush Gang member Melanie offers to help take False Face down. But if Wayne is to have any chance of thwarting the villains, he just might need the help of an old friend. 

Jurgens paces the action in the story with room for a couple of twists as False Face approaches in the form of Batman. Though specific elements of the story are relatively new here, the overall story feels familiar enough to come across as being a little dull. This is unfortunate as there’s a lot of potential in a villain who is two people at once. And another villain posing as a hero for even greater villainy. Barring any major plot twists, this multipart Splitt/False Face story doesn’t seem to be heading in any direction that would deliver on any of the story’s potential. That being said, the characters in the ensemble of the series continue to be appealing enough to overcome any issues with originality. 

Leonardi and Parks’ art adds to the warmth of the ensemble of characters in Bruce Wayne’s life. False Face’s specific personality fits Batman’s body perfectly as subtle changes in facial expression. It might have been all too easy for the artist to let the dialogue define the villain-who-looks-like-the hero by conversation alone. To his credit, Leonardi finds cleverly unheroic expressions and postures to creep across the Face and body of the hero. Sotomayor does all the usual sort of defining depth and tone, but the colorist’s work is most impressive when adding light to a panel. From a police officer’s lighted billy club to energy signatures in combat, the color works remarkably well in this issue.

Jurgens has a long history writing superhero comics. Batman has been through a lot over the years. Jurgens and company may not be adding a whole lot of new elements to a traditional superhero story. But the entire creative team does a good enough job of distracting from the tired, old central themes of the story to make it FEEL fresh,

Grade: B