Face the Future: Dan Jurgens Talks Batman Beyond #3

Last week marked the third issue of the DC You's first week of titles, including Batman Beyond.

In the issue, Tim and his allies are at the mercy of Brother Eye, taken prisoner and trying to fight their way out...well, mostly. Some of them are in the thrall of Brother Eye and need more of a rescue.

Writer Dan Jurgens joined ComicBook.com to talk about Batman Beyond #3 and what's next for the title.

Warning: This is a spoiler-heavy interview. If you haven't read Batman Beyond #3 yet, go buy a copy and read along with us. You can read our commentary track for the first issue, and a free, 8-page preview story published during Convergence in May, here. We talked about #2 here.

The relationship between Tim and Terry's brother Matt evolves in a really interesting way this issue. Will we see it continue on that trajectory, or given the revelations of the first couple of pages will we see it kind of reconsidered again?

We introduced Matt in the very first 8 page story because we have always seen him as an important part of the series.

That will grow and develop over the next story or two, as will his relationship with Tim.

I've always explained it this way: From Matt's point of view, Tim is the unknown guy who somehow inherited his brother's really awesome car.

We do get a definitive image that shows Tim as Robin here. That's a question that feels like it's been kind of up in the air, exactly how all that went down, since Flashpoint. Will his pre-Futures End and/or pre-Red Robin past be explored at some point?

Yeah, it will. Tim will refer to more of his past as Red Robin, especially since he kind of fit into that awkward middle slot between Dick Grayson, who set the mold, and Bruce's son. It had to be an uncomfortable position for him and is part of what made him very much what he is today.

As an aside, do you think the whole idea of a kid figuring out Batman's identity works better/is more believable in a post-Internet world? We see Tim at a computer instead of watching the news footage on TV here, which I always remember thinking was odd. Batman being on TV.

I think it could have been something more dramatic than figuring it out on a computer, but I'm really referring to what we saw in Secret Origins. We're really on the mark with what was established.

But it does reinforce the fact that Tim is really smart and tech oriented. That's all also come into play down the road.

Have you accepted the fact that there's a small chance you could go to hell for "eyeronic?"

Probably more than a small chance. But eye simply could not resist.

Is Hal Jordan accounted for yet? I can't remember, but it strikes me as interesting that I can remember John Stewart, not Hal, in earlier issues and then the shot of the JLA in this issue is missing Hal and of course Bruce...who we know lived much longer than the others and had a very different fate.

We're keying in more on John Stewart, just as we did in FUTURES END. Good to keep the final fates of some of these guys mysterious.

Looks like Barbara has the same question. Can we assume that her specifically noting the absence of Barda and Warhawk will play in down the line?

That's a stay tuned answer! We have some more surprises coming, just as we did with Micron this issue.

Barda, you know, has a little something in common with the Great Disaster timeline…!

Yeah, just a bit!

If they survive to "fix" Max, will she basically snap out of it, or are we in for a few more issues of Creepy Smile Max while she recovers?

Another stay tuned answer! Sorry to have to resort to that, but it applies here.

That having been said, Max Gibson is a great character and should always have a role in Batman Beyond.

Brother Eye itself looks a bit different than I remember. Did Bernard redesign the look and logo a bit?

He did. We knew it was time to evolve Brother Eye into a bit of a human appearance. At the same time, we wanted to be sure to avoid the versions we've seen in the past.

We also see that, yes, there's an OMAC at the heart of Brother Eye that appears to be his physical manifestation. Is there a strategic upside to that for Brother Eye? All it seems like is a target.

We address that as well. Which is a different way of saying, "stay tuned"!

Are we to assume that he wanted Inque to join Tim, in order to manipulate the outcome of the battle without being too obvious?

Not necessarily. Inque is a bit more of a wild card than that and always has been.

Inque's interests have always been her own— and that's no different here.

Indeed, it was. Whenever a reader sees something on page 18-20 of an issue that refers to something that happened earlier, in a rather sneaky way, I've always felt it's important for them to be able to go back and isolate it. Makes the creative team look they knew what they were doing! Which I'm all in favor of, btw!