Batman ’89: Echoes #1: Big Swings and Bat Wings

The world of 1989’s Batman has had an interesting few years with the release of the six-issue series simply titled Batman ‘89 that came out between the summers of 2021 and 2022. On top of that, Michael Keaton reprised the role in 2023’s The Flash, though that wasn’t necessarily a continuation of his original appearances in Batman and Batman Returns. However, that is just what Batman ‘89 does as well as its follow-up series Batman ‘89: Echoes. Batman ‘89: Echoes #1 picks up nearly two years after the events of Batman ‘89 and follows Barbara Gordon as she tries to uncover the reason behind a slew of Batman copycats turning up dead and the criminals that killed them showing signs of extreme fear of just the sight of Batman. With Bruce Wayne supposedly missing, Barbara is running out of leads but readers are in for a few surprises.

The original film’s appearance of Harvey Dent portrayed by Billy Dee Williams planted the seeds for Two-Face’s appearance in Batman ‘89, so his inclusion was a great way to ease readers into transitioning from the screen to the pages of a comic book. With Echoes, the classic Batman villain will most likely be Scarecrow, considering he is on the cover and the issue features Jonathan Crane, but there was no on-screen casting or portrayal of the character. The art by Joe Quinones with colors by Leonardo Ito does an excellent job capturing the likenesses of the characters whether it is characters that were in the films or newly “casted” actors without constantly feeling rigid and stiff, which adaptations of this nature sometimes feel. Quinones manages to translate accurate depictions while blending them with their own style which in turn does an incredible job bridging the gap between the film universe and this new comic universe.