X-men Supreme Issue 20: Uprising Part 4 is LIVE!

It's that time again! I spend so much time ranting about X-men in other mediums, but I never forget about my own X-men series! The final issue of the Uprising arc and the next to last issue of X-men Supreme Volume 1: Mutant Revolution is ready! This fanfiction series has turned into more than I ever hoped for. So has this blog, even if the comic reviews seem to be the main draw. I've been thrilled by those few who have been nice enough to provide support and I've worked hard to make this X-men series the best it can be. This four-part saga has been the biggest yet for X-men Supreme and I'm honored to present it to all those who have come to enjoy this fanfiction series as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Issue 20: Uprising Part 4

The end of this arc marks the culmination of many different plots that have been growing since the beginning. It will help set the stage for a new status quo for Volume 2. Don't expect everything to end all nice and tidy. The events in this series thus far will have a deep impact on the world of X-men Supreme. Marvel Universe 1015 will be undergoing some major shifts. The nature of those shifts will become clearer in the final issue. Until then, I hope you enjoy this next to last entry of my humble experiment in X-men fandom! As always, I strongly encourage everybody to post reviews for each issue or contact me with feedback. The more I get, the better my fanfiction will be! Stay tuned for more updates to the pics section and bio page. Excelsior!

Jack

CBR X-Position: Victor Gischler - My Question Asked

I know I make a big deal of it every time my question gets asked in an interview. Call me immature, childish, or a giddy fanboy. I've heard it all before and I'm beyond giving a shit. I can't help it! I get a cheap thrill whenever my question is asked to someone who actually controls the direction of awesome in a comic. X-POSITION with Comic Book Resources has been good to me. It's asked my questions a number of times and for that I can only be eternally grateful. That gratitude continues with the most recent X-POSITION involving the writer of the adjectiveless X-men, Victor Gischler.

Now this is a hell of an X-POSITION to get involved with because originally, no one was more skeptical about this series than I was. Calling a series X-men #1 just seemed like a cheap gimmick to get any old comic to sell. The first issue sure didn't measure up, but I've been eating my words with every issue since. The whole mutants vs. vampires story has genuinely blown me away better than three Las Vegas escorts. I don't usually get that surprised with my books, but I'm humble enough to admit when I'm full of shit. As such, I owed it to show my support and ask some decent questions and since CBR has such awesome people working for it they published it.

CBR: X-Position - Victor Gischler

MarvelMaster616, on the other hand, would like to the vampire insanity brought to other books. Is there anything you can share regarding this?

1) I've been enjoying the whole Mutants vs. Vampires arc a great deal, and I like how you've made the Marvel Vampires awesome again. But I was wondering…once this story is over, will the end result have further ramifications throughout the Marvel Universe? Dracula's return sounds like something that should definitely cause a few ripples.

The Marvel secret police don't tell me those kinds of secrets, but my gut instinct is that vampires will be around causing more trouble in the Marvel U. The whole point of the "Death of Dracula" one-shot was to juice up Marvel U vamps and make them worthy of our attention again. I can't say where or how (because I don't know), but I really do think you'll see our new vamp pals popping up again sooner or later.

2) It's been well-documented that Dracula has a history with Storm and has shown some interest in Emma Frost as well (and who can blame him?). Will he try using his vampire charm on other women of the X-Men? After all, vampires are all the rage now, and who's to say the X-women aren't susceptible to it?

Dracula is charming and one never knows when or where he'll cast his hypnotic gaze, but he's got his hands a bit too full for hanky-panky at the moment…or does he? Well, yes.

His first answer offers me plenty of hope. Others may have tired of the whole vampire fad, but I'm all for the Marvel Universe sucking every drop of blood from the blood-suckers hype. After this arc is over, I'll be more than happy to see guys like Dracula leave their mark on the rest of the Marvel Universe. However, the next answer was a big disappointing. As a rampant True Blood fan, I'm all for vampires getting freaky with non-vampire women. Dracula in the Marvel Universe has shown to be quite a player with a taste in X-women. He already tried to bump uglies with Storm. Then he flirted with Emma Frost. With the likes of Edward Cullen and Bill Compton in the literary world, why shouldn't Dracula measure up? Seems like a waste.

Oh well, the mutants vs. vampires story is still pretty awesome. I'll keep following it until it stops being awesome, which in comics can happen. From what Gischler has shown, he doesn't look to pull a Clone Saga. Until it does, I'm on board! Nuff said.

Deadpool #27 - Returning to Awesome Form

I know it sounds like I cut some heavy slack to the comics I inherently love, but I can be a hardass when I have to. The last time I reviewed a Deadpool comic I didn't hide my disappointment. I made just as many poop jokes to lampoon it as if it were another shitty Ultimate book, albeit not nearly as severe. Deapool is usually one of those comics you can rely on being entertaining month in and month out. For one to slip up like Deadpool #26 did, someone was either drunk on the job or someone lost a shitload playing fantasy football at the Marvel offices. There's no way around it. The story with Deadpool and Ghost Rider in the last issue sucked ass. It was poorly done, poorly executed, and nowhere near as entertaining as a Deadpool comic should be. It deserved a shitty score and it earned readers the right to be a little skeptical with the next book.

Luckily, Deadpool is one of those comics that can easily redeem itself with a single issue. Since Deadpool is such a wacky and bat-shit crazy character, there's no need for it to flow or remain completely consistent. If it were then that would completely go against the purpose of Deadpool. So for that reason I didn't hesitate to give Deadpool #27 a chance. It promises to continue the strong of miniature crossovers that has been done to death in Deadpool comics. The last one involved Ghost Rider and it sucked. This one involves the Secret Avengers. So does it measure up?

Well it starts off simply enough. Deadpool is trying to buy a burrito with gold at a gas station. Really, if any part of that surprises you then you haven't been reading Deadpool comics for very long. The guy behind the counter looks like a stereotypical Arab the politically incorrect crowd would expect to find working at a gas station. While MoveOn.org sues Marvel and Michael Moore goes into crying fits, it does make for a fairly typical dilemma that Deadpool faces.

Beyond the burrito, it stands to reason that he'll face another typical dilemma at one point. It comes in the form of a robbery that for once he doesn't start. He doesn't seem to notice it at first, as is often the case when faced with the prospect of a burrito. But a bunch of masked men from the Department of Homeland Security showed up behind him and they're prepared to do some "enhanced interrogation" for whatever Bush-appointed crony the CIA and NSA happen to be blowing at the moment.

Guys with guns against Deadpool has only one inevitable outcome and that's a full blown gunfight. Now at this point it's not clear who these guys are and what they're after. They look like any thug the Department of Homeland Security would slap ski-masks on and call "Freedom Fighters," but remember this is a Deadpool comic. Shit has a way of making little to no sense at first. It's made all the more crazy when the soldiers in question show healing factors. That reveals they may be a bit more than typical Bush cronies and it also gives Deadpool an excuse to use high explosives (as if he ever needs one).

It doesn't take long for the gunfight to take another twist. During the fight, Deadpool slips into a secret passage that you wouldn't expect to find in a gas station. Usually a secret passage like that only leads to an oversized porno collection. Instead it leads to something else that will have the far left bitching endlessly. That cashier from earlier wasn't just your typical red-blooded American. He was an Arab selling weapons. Before I finish writing this sentence, Nancy Palosi is writing a letter to the ACLU.

The man tires to play the victim. He tries not to come off as the ruthless Arab terrorists that Fox News can't resist playing clips of every five seconds. Deadpool, assuming he's not a Fox News fan, gives him a chance to explain himself. He doesn't end up getting it because those American shock troopers from earlier find their way into the passage and confront them. The cashier plays coward and hides behind a heavy barrier, leaving Deadpool to do the explaining.

Now it's not too clear what is said, but most of the words come in the form of bullet wounds. Since both Deadpool and the masked soldiers regenerate, shooting each other is about as effective as throwing silly putty. Eventually they start talking with words. The guys in the mask claim to be patriots after the cashiers weapons. The cashier claims NOT to be a terrorist. Deadpool, not known for his reasoning skills, is understandably confused.

They go back and forth. The cashier claims he's the victim. The CIA gave him these weapons and wanted him to sell them in his country. He refused. He wanted to take them and sell them in America where they go for more, thus giving Uncle Sam a nice Cleveland Steamer in the process. The masked men don't buy it. They say he's just a thug selling to other thugs. Deadpool can't decide who is the terrorist. Then the guest stars enter the picture in another shameless crossover. This time it's Captain America and the Secret Avengers, who by most measures are a step up from Ghost Rider.

They take out the masked men and Steve Rogers gives Deadpool a hard slug as well. He doesn't seem to mind. In fact, it triggers some flashbacks to him as a kid idealizing Captain America. For him, it would be like a Star Trek fan getting punched by William Shatner. That fan will never wash his face again.

Since Deadpool is out, Captain America and his Secret Avengers make quick work of the soldiers. This is a guy who took on the freakin' Nazis in a way that Call of Duty fans can only masterbate to. It's not much of a fight to say the least.

Then comes another twist. This time it's the cashier. He finally comes clean. It turns out he's not the innocent victim of post 9/11 bigotry. For once the assholes at Fox News get what they want. The creepy store clerk at the gas station is a terrorist. And not just any terrorist either. He's a terrorist with a giant freakin' robot suit. In terrorist circles, that's like being the guy that had a three way with Hallie Berry and Jennifer Lopez.

It looks like he's setting the stage for an epic struggle against the Secret Avengers. Then in the span of a single panel it ends in a humiliating and somewhat appropriate manner for a Deadpool comic. Deadpool, now fully recovered from Captain America's punch, gets up and casually shoots the guy in the head. Apparently, the terrorists are still way behind the curve when it comes to robot armor suits. They don't understand that not protecting the head of the wearer makes these things about as vulnerable as a compact car in a monster truck show. All it took was one bullet and that was it. America is safe again. Fox News can keep gloating.

There's not much to resolve from here. Deadpool's little save earned him some brownie points with Steve Rogers. For him, shooting a terrorist earns you about two gold stars in the patriot handbook. Deadpool still swoons around him the way Lady Gaga swoons at a gay rights rally. He looks pretty goofy, but he's Deadpool. He does it in a way that's still awesome. Then Captain America does yet another twist and asks if Deadpool wants to work for him. That's like a heavy metal fan being asked to be lead guitar for Metallica. Deadpool's response is to be expected. He makes a total fool of himself, thereby making for the most fitting end to this book.

Going back to what I said earlier, it's easy for one Deadpool comic to make up for a shitty one. Compared to the last issue with Ghost Rider, this was like shit turning to gold. It was worlds better. It didn't let itself get bogged down by the events of the previous book. It didn't try to start some epic new arc. It just told a nice, crazy Deadpool story.

Granted, it was heavy on the twists and politically incorrect in so many areas. If this book was read by Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck, it would be covered in their semen by the end of the second reading. So long as you're not the politically sensitive type, you'll still enjoy this issue for what it offers. It shows Deadpool at his best, being badass and goofy in all the ways that make him so lovably awesome. It also sets the stage for some new stories that have him joining Steve Rogers for a bit. Now it certainly doesn't sound like a recipe for a very successful partnership. It'll be nothing short of a miracle if it lasts more than one issue. But it offers plenty more reasons to get the next issue compared to the last one.

Overall, this was a great rebound from the previous issue. Deadpool remains one of those special comics that readers should always give a chance because it has it's own style that stay entertainingly awesome even if it does make a few missteps. For improving mightily and reminding readers why they love this series, Deadpool #27 gets a 4.5 out of 5. If you love Deadpool, killing terrorists, or are generally a right-winger you'll love this book. Nuff said!

Uncanny X-men Getting New Writer - Kieron Gillen

I meant to post this sooner (like anybody gives a shit), but some big news recently emerged regarding one of the X-men's flagship titles. For the past few years Uncanny X-men has been guided by the wacky and sometimes offbeat pen of Matt Fraction. Uncanny has quickly taken over the role Astonishing once played as THE comic to follow for the biggest X-men events. It's been the comic that introduced the X-men to San Francisco, put them on Utopia, and set the stage for Second Coming. It has also been the comic where the events proceeding Second Coming has unfolded. Now the news has come out that Uncanny will be getting a new co-writer. Fraction isn't leaving, but now he has someone looking over his shoulder and that someone is Kieron Gillen.


CBR: Kieron Gillen joins Fraction on Uncanny X-men

Now for the most part, Matt Fraction has done a damn good job with Uncanny. He has plenty of detractors, but you don't get the Uncanny X-men job without being pretty good at it. He's always been great at telling big plot-driven stories with a lot of action and he's great with witty dialogue (for certain characters anyways). There are also the sales, the life-blood of any comic. Marvel has shown repeatedly that they could give six truckloads of donkey shit how much fans and critics hate a comic, but if the sales are good they'll embrace it like a drunk college girl wearing a black lace thong. Matt Fraction has kept Uncanny a top seller and has gotten his fair share of praise from fans and critics alike. However, he's not without his problems.

One of the most glaring and egregious problems with his writing involves his characterization skills. To be brief, he has none when it comes to the characters he claims are his favorites. Nowhere is this more apparent than Cyclops and Emma Frost. These two characters benefited the most from Joss Whedon's pen during his run on Astonishing. Well that was completely flip-flopped with Matt Fraction. He claims to love Cyclops, Emma, and their relationship. Yet he's done more to make fans hate these characters and their relationship than almost any other writers.

It starts with his clear and almost blatant bias. The man has no subtlety. You can tell in his writing he loves Cyclops and Emma more than the other X-men. He goes out of his way to make them sound like they're inhumanly cool, coming at the expense of who they truly are. He's turned Cyclops into this Gary-Stu douche-bag who is always right, always awesome, and always competent. It's a long ways away from the insecure yet honorable guy from the past. Joss Whedon made it a point to show that Cyclops was a strong leader, but he did have some personal struggles that made him more human and that's what made him great. Fraction has done none of this, only making him seem like the coolest kid on the block and that just doesn't fit Scott Summers.

Then there's Emma Frost. We all love talking about Emma Frost, unless of course she's being written by Fraction. Since the Grant Morrison run, Emma has been one of the most intriguing and interesting characters in X-men. It also helps she's very easy on the eyes. However, a large part of her character is driven by her harsh personality. That personality has been pretty much ass-raped by Matt Fraction. Since he came on board, his love of the Cyclops/Emma relationship has turned it into something completely different compared to what Morrison and Whedon set up. There's none of the unique chemistry they once had. Emma is now essentially Cyclops's arm candy. She's the hot blond who always supports him, always forgives him, and never calls him out. She's basically been domesticated. She shows none of her usual personality or wit. She has none of the mean, cold-heartedness that made her so awesome during Morrison's run. She's just the loving hot blond who spreads her legs for the man in charge.

Even worse, Fraction has set up chances to make the relationship more interesting. He had Emma seemingly betray the X-men during Utopia and he introduced Namor as a potential love interest that cold make for a new classic love triangle. But he's done nothing with this. It turns out Emma never betrayed anyone and even after she found out about the secrets Scott had been keeping, they basically just kissed and made up and that's it. No conflict or growth came of it. Then Namor comes along and despite the fact he still very much wants to bone her and they have had some serious chemistry in the past, pretty much nothing is done with it. Matt Fraction seems allergic to any story that would make Cyclops and Emma less than a perfect couple. This completely ignores the premise that Whedon embraced on his run in that Cyclops and Emma weren't the perfect couple. They were nowhere near as close or loving as Cyclops was with Jean Grey. That's part of the appeal. Fraction, despite claiming to love Cyclops/Emma, has basically turned them into Cyclops/Jean except Jean Grey would never have been so casual about her lover's activities with X-Force.

It seems the longer Fraction writes Uncanny, the more Cyclops and Emma Frost suffer as characters. Well now it seems like there's finally hope for Cyclops and Emma fans. Kieron Gillen is coming on board in a way very similar to which Matt Fraction came aboard. He joined Ed Brubaker after Messiah Complex as a co-writer. Eventually, he got the main job. Kieron Gillen is coming on board while also working on a series called Generation Hope that is spinning right out of the events of Uncanny. It makes sense that he would be involved because his series is tied to Uncanny. So it would make even more sense that if the two series ever came together, he would be the one to do so. This also factors in how Fraction has more on his plate besides Uncanny. He's also working on Iron Man and Thor. So it's not unreasonable to think that when push comes to shove, he'll have to drop a title in order to focus on others. The last thing the X-men series needs at this point is Ultimates style delays.

This is, of course, all speculation. I could be talking out of my ass as I so often do. But the arrival of Kieron Gillen offers some hope that some of Fraction's misgivings will finally be over with. The man has done a great deal for Uncanny, but his take has run it's course. Someone else needs to come on board who can make good use of some of the plots he won't touch like Emma/Namor. There's no indication as to what Kieron Gillen's tastes and proclivities are, but he'll definitely get his chance when he begins his run in December. Then come 2011, he may be the main man on the Uncanny X-men campus. Only time will tell. He's got a familiar looking redhead to use and plenty of loose plots that Fraction won't ever touch. Overall, there's plenty to work with. Nuff said.

Batman Beyond #4 - Secrets and Setbacks

Batman Beyond has done a lot to try and recapture the magic of the old TV show. It's also done a lot to try and be like a real Batman comic and not be some cheap gimmick that has people going "Ooh, it's Batman...from the future! Wow! Take my money!" To do this the Batman Beyond series has focused heavily not on the hardcore action or fighting of the show, but on the old school mystery element that made the Batman comics so epic. And I'm not talking about the mind-bending Lost style awesome that requires three doses of LSD and two doses of meth to at least partially follow. I'm talking about the classic mystery we got tested in back in grade school with motive, clues, and what not. Even though I got a D- on those tests, Batman Beyond is a mystery written in a way that is easy to follow and pretty damn awesome.

The mystery in this mini centers around the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, trying to uncover the truth behind a string of murders involving Batman's old enemies. The face behind these murders is supposedly Hush, the classic Batman villain who had ties to the early life of Bruce Wayne. However, that would be a bit of a stretch and not just because the guy is supposed to be dead. This is 40 years in the future and Bruce is old as dirt. Since Hush came after him when he was still in his prime, he should be withering with osteoporosis and pissing into a bag. So what's going on here? That's the question Terry has to answer.

Batman Beyond #4 brings where the last issue ended. Hush was confronting yet another old Batman villain (at least an updated version) in Catwoman. He had been getting help from her in his screwing-with-Batman plan and to no one's surprise, he looks to screw her over and not in a way you could make Viagra commercials about. There's still no clue as to who this new Catwoman is. She doesn't offer any hints, only that she's not related to the old Catwoman. Yeah, that's really helpful. But before Hush can finish the job, Batman shows up. However, it's not the old Batman or even the new Batman. It's a robot Batman. Don't get too excited though. It's not as awesome as it sounds.

So Hush is only fooled for a very brief moment. He's about as impressed as the readers probably are when it comes to Batman using a robot. It's not even a very good robot either. Terminator fans who may be reading this will scoff at how ineffective this robo-Batman is because Hush only takes one blow before out-smarting the machine (take that Skynet!). Well he doesn't exactly outsmart it. The damn thing malfunctions like the Windows Vista beta version. It's pretty underwhelming and with all those billions, you would think Bruce would have at least tried to work out the kinks.

While robo-Batman is giving himself a bad name, new Batman is still working the mystery angle with another old Batman ally, Dick Grayson. This is a character that never showed up in the TV show so it's nice to finally see him in the world of Batman Beyond. He's got some white hair going like the rest of the old Batman cast and like Tim Drake he's left pretty embittered by Bruce. He still made a new life for himself, teaching gymnastics and acrobatics. Terry's only mildly impressed. He gets right to the good-cop/bad-cop routine, asking for an alibi since Dick is one of the very few who knows Batman's secrets. If Tim Drake could go a little nuts, why couldn't Dick? Well he does offer an alibi and he also offers some insight into his history. While he doesn't have the rogue's gallery Batman has in his cave, he did keep one of his old uniforms (albeit riddled with bullet holes).

Dick has the potential to offer some vital clues while filling in some of the blanks the show never got to. While Terry is getting this history lesson, the battle of robo-Batman continues to unfold. Not only that, the new Catwoman enlisted the help of some robo-Catwomen as well. It must be a mark of status in the future. You're not really awesome until you have your own army of duplicates doing your dirty work. Some may find the whole robot angle pretty lame, but since this is the future it does fit somewhat. It's just that for all the supposed advancements made, the damn things are still an insult to the Terminators and every robot movie ever made. That doesn't mean they don't kick a little ass though. Batman does manage to get some fight out of his robots and give Hush a good beat down.

Where it all goes wrong is in the design. Hush may be flesh and blood, but he still has a working brain. He quickly picks out a flaw in robo-Batman's design. He guesses that the main power supply is under the trademarked Batman emblem and guess what? He's right. It's just like those lame putty soldiers in the old Power Ranger TV show. One hit to a certain point and it's done for. Not a very effective design to say the least. The only thing Bruce can possibly do to not be completely humiliated is self-destruct the damn thing. In comics, that's like standing up with a bullhorn and admitting to a large crowd that you're a pussy.

It's clear Bruce is not doing very well without Terry, but someone has to do the whole mystery game. In the process, there's a quick flashback with Dick Grayson and this is where it gets a little muddled from the show. He says that during Bruce's final days as Batman the Joker showed up and abducted Alfred. But how can that be? It was already revealed in a previous issue that the whole plot of Return of the Joker still applied. Anyone who saw that story on a late-night rerun on Cartoon Network knows that the Joker was killed by Tim Drake. So how could he show up again to abduct Alfred? Moreover, how can this be the point when Bruce retired? In the first episode of Batman Beyond, it showed Bruce still going at it as an old man in the new suit. Something is clearly very wrong here.

It's the first major hiccup in the continuity with this series. So far the book has been very good at staying true to what the old show established. This is quite a misstep because it's flying in the face of events that were already established in this very mini. If Tim Drake never made an appearance, then one could say it was a retcon. But that's not the case. Someone drilled a hole here and it's big enough for Ron Jeremy to fuck. There is some other details about Dick getting shot during this process, but for most readers that will fly right over their heads as they're too busy scratching it trying to rectify this first and blatant inconsistency.

There may very well be an explanation for this, but for now it's a hole that this series will have to work around. There is some reprieve when another familiar face from Batman Beyond shows up, his old friend Max. Her hair is dyed a different color in this comic, but she's still clearly the new Batman's Alfred except she has boobs and no accent. She's able to give Terry a good pep talk and prompt him to quit with the detective shit and go do something about Hush and the shit he's been pulling.

What he ends up doing is luring Hush out by disguising himself as one of Batman's current villains, Mad Stan. He was one of the more colorful villains in the show, not so much a master criminal and more an overall trouble-maker. He was no Joker, but he was easy to laugh at. His appearance is more than enough to get Hush in the mix for another fight and this time he's packing more deranged madness this time. He's also got a spear, which admittedly isn't as subtle as a boomerang but even in the future being stabbed still hasn't been rendered obsolete.

The fighting is a lot more intense this time around. Hush isn't looking to taunt or tease Terry like some overpriced street hooker. He's out for blood. He rants on about how this is part of some bigger plan to do what's right for Gotham. Somehow killing Batman, the guy who has always taken it upon himself to save Gotham, is supposed to work. I don't get it either and it sounds like someone is off his meds for making this case, but Hush believes his madness the same way Donald Trump believes his own superiority. This seems to be enough because he ends up delivering a fatal blow to Terry.

Then comes the big reveal. Hush has taken down Batman. He's stabbed him, wounded him, and humiliated him. Now feeling his balls descend a bit more, he rips off the bandages covering his face to reveal his identity. Only it's not the same Hush that was described a few issues ago. This Hush is actually Dick Grayson. Yeah, the same damn Dick Grayson from earlier in the books! Somehow that alibi of his wasn't as solid as he claimed and somehow he figured out to be two places at once, fighting Catwoman while meeting with Terry. It's shocking and confusing, sort of like sitting on tasers while high on cocaine. It's certainly unexpected, but it offers more confusion rather than mystery.

So we've got Dick Grayson showing up and later revealing himself as Hush. This comes on top of that flashback that flies directly in the face of the story revealed in the cartoon. For a series that had been so streamlined and solid, it's like someone drove over a pothole laced with grease from a MacDonalds deep fryer. It didn't completely crash and burn, but it's swerving recklessly throughout a busy residential neighborhood and taking out a few kids and small kittens in the process. Even though these reveals made for some strong moments, they weren't all that striking and didn't hit an emotional chord. That in many ways is the greatest weakness of the book. Because of the confusing twists, it's hard to get really attached to it.

That doesn't mean it's been completely destroyed. This issue was not up to par with the previous three and it's really hurt the overall flow of the story. However, it certainly isn't beyond redemption. There could certainly be a worthy explanation in the next issue as there so often are with other mystery books. Perhaps that flashback in this book was a ruse. Perhaps that Dick Grayson that Terry talked to was a ruse. Perhaps even the Hush claiming to be Dick Grayson is an impostor. There are plenty of possibilities and it depends on how it brings the story together. For now though, this issue fell short of it's predecessors. That's why I give Batman Beyond #4 a 3 out of 5. It's not terrible enough to pan just yet, but it has some work to do to be awesome again. Nuff said.