DC Announces Batman Beyond 25th Anniversary Compendium

25 years after Terry McGinnis suited up as the Dark Knight of the future in the Batman Beyond animated series, DC Comics is coming out with a new comic book collection that’s totally schway. Releasing March 5th, 2024, DC’s Batman Beyond: The Animated Series Classics Compendium is a massive 700-page paperback collecting issues of the animated show’s original tie-in comic book set in the DC Animated Universe with the same art style. Batman Beyond launched as a six-issue limited series in 1999, with a second volume publishing another 24 issues until the TV series ended after 52 episodes in 2001.

The official description: “In 1999, fans met Terry McGinnis for the first time in the Batman Beyond animated series—a new Batman for a new era, mentored by Bruce Wayne and fighting crime in a futuristic Gotham City!  That same year, Terry made his comic book debut, encountering threats such as Blight, Inque, and the Jokerz! Thesestories — including the unprecedented meeting between Batman Beyond andthe Batman of the present — return in this massive compendium collection!”

DCAU veteran Hilary J. Bader — whose credits include dozens of episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman Beyond — wrote 27 of the original 30 issues, with art by Rick Burchett (Batman Adventures), Joe Staton (Adventure Comics), Craig Rousseau (Harley Quinn), and Min S. Ku (Justice League Adventures). The two volumes featured covers by Bruce Timm, co-creator of Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, Brian Stelfreeze (Batman: Shadow of the Bat), James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), Bob Smith (Scooby-Doo), Terry Beatty (Batman: Gotham Adventures), and Darwyn Cooke (The New Frontier).

Stories collected in the compendium are a who’s who of Batman Beyond’s rogue’s gallery — the issues pit Batman against the Royal Flush Gang, Spellbinder, Terminal, Shriek, Stalker, and Splicers — and feature guest stars like Barbara Gordon, Etrigan the Demon, Aquagirl, and Justice League Unlimited members Warhawk, Big Barda, and the Kai-Ro Green Lantern.

Also on the way from DC Comics is the Batman Adventures: Vol. 1 Omnibus, a 1200-page new edition collecting the first 36 issues of The Batman Adventures. The omnibus releases September 5th, 2023, followed by the Batman Beyond: The Animated Series Classics Compendium on March 5th, 2024.