WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1, on sale now from DC Comics.
With Neo-Gotham now a living entity that has targeted Batman, Terry McGinnis has had to ditch some of the technology he once relied on to get the job done. He has no Bruce Wayne, no Batcave, and no support, and is truly on his own for the first time. This means that he has had to go low-tech in his latest crusade, and that involves continuing one of the original Dark Knight’s crime-fighting traditions.
Terry has ditched even the simplest of tech in favor of good old pen and paper in Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1 (by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Max Dunbar, Sebastian Cheng and Aditya Bidikar). It makes sense that in the future of Neo-Gotham, Terry would be reliant on technology to record everything. However, he has now resorted to using good old pen and paper to chronicle his latest case, in what looks to be a continuation of one of the Dark Knight’s oldest traditions – the Black Casebook.
The Black Casebook was first used in Detective Comics #148 in 1949. It has grown in significance over the years and, in modern comics, has come to have a more mythic and mysterious purpose in the Dark Knight’s life. This is due to its role during Grant Morrison’s Batman run, which reintroduced the Black Casebook in post-Crisis continuity. It was filled with the Caped Crusader’s strangest adventures, and the Batman: The Black Casebook collection was released around the time of Morrison’s run, containing many of the Dark Knight’s Silver Age adventures.
Most recently, the casebook fell into the hands of the Joker during “Joker War” and was later stolen from the Batcave by Damian Wayne. The Son of Batman sought to solve the cases his father could not, bringing another element to light that makes the Black Casebook so fascinating. It contains some of the most bizarre cases the World’s Greatest Detective has ever faced, and a few that he proved unable to fully solve.
Terry’s latest case certainly qualifies as being worthy of the Black Casebook. Even if this future Batman is used to bleeding-edge tech, he’s never come across anything like what he is currently facing. A living city, capable of breaking into the Batcomputer and killing Bruce Wayne is definitely worthy of entry into the Black Casebook.
Terry creating his own casebook is much more than him merely continuing a tradition; It is also an indication that he’s becoming more like his mentor with each passing day. Previously, Terry was simply a high school student trying to live up to the legacy of Bruce Wayne as he forged his own path toward becoming the new Dark Knight. Now, McGinnis has shown that he has taken the mantle and the ideas behind it and made them all his own. As this story progresses, Terry McGinnis will most certainly continue his transformation into a fully realized Dark Knight, and drawing on past elements like the Black Casebook will be part of the reason why.
About The Author
