Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1, available now from DC Comics.An important ally to Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis retires just as Batman Beyond is dealing with a massive threat.
In the Batman Beyond timeline, former Batgirl Barbara Gordon took up her father's role in the Gotham City Police Department as Commissioner Gordon. This new role for her character was introduced back during the original Batman Beyond television series' first season. Now, in Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1, Gordon is moving on from the GCPD and leaving her crime-fighting life behind.
Gordon reveals to McGinnis that she has spent "too many years" and lost "too many friends" while taking on Gotham and Neo-Gotham's criminals. She believes that the city does not need her anymore, when she could not be farther from the truth. A super-intelligence now controls Neo-Gotham and behaves as the city itself, so McGinnis is running out of allies to help put an end to it.
One of Neo-Gotham's first actions was killing Bruce Wayne in Batman: Urban Legends #7 -- the prelude to Neo-Year -- after worming its way into the Batcomputer and Wayne's pacemaker. To try and slow the super-intelligence down, McGinnis destroyed the Batcave and Wayne Manor, but the intelligence remained in control over the whole city. McGinnis already lost one mentor and ally, but now he loses another with Barbara out of the GCPD.
While he may be running short on allies, McGinnis has plenty of criminals to face in addition to Neo-Gotham itself, considering that the city is creating new villains to take him down. One introduced in the latest issue is Donovan Lumos aka the Holographic Man, a former crime lord. Not only Lumos still engaging in criminal activities, but he is doing it all as Wayne-Powers' latest Chief Executive Officer.
Towards the end of the issue, Terry faces another new villain while trying to interrupt Lumos' drug shipment at Neo-Gotham's docks. This mystery combatant works for Neo-Gotham and informs McGinnis that the city does not truly want him dead, but compliant to its will. While claiming to be the city's "sword," the villain sets off a massive explosion that seemingly leaves McGinnis burried under rubble. Whether Gordon will return to help McGinnis in the series remains to be seen.
Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1 is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, featuring interior and cover artwork by Max Dunbar, colors by Sebastian Cheng and letters by Aditya Bidikar. Variant covers are contributed to by Christian Ward, Simone Di Meo, Jim Cheung and Jay David Ramos. The issue is available now in print and digitally from DC Comics.
Source: Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1
