Warning: Contains spoilers for Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #3!
Batman Beyond’s journey into the labyrinth below Gotham Deep takes a magical turn as Kyle the Catboi’s past is finally revealed. Terry McGinnis’ traveling companion has kept his life a guarded secret since the start of their journey, but a confrontation with a husk of the Court of Owls pulls the truth to the surface. Kyle didn’t pick up magic by chance; he was trained and betrayed by master magician John Constantine and went into the depths with Batman to find him.
In Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #3 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Max Dunbar, Sebastian Cheng, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Batman and Kyle confront a facade of the Court of Owls and learn of the existence of their mysterious Garden. As the pressure mounts, Kyle reveals that he isn’t traveling with Terry just because Batman hired him. Kyle is following him to find the final resting place of John Constantine, who taught him magic and “left [him] to die the same slow death that kept him kicking through the last century.”
The issue includes a brief flashback to a young Kyle meeting a grizzled “old man” version of Constantine. Not only did Kyle join Batman’s quest under false pretenses, but he hid the extent and power of his magic, too.
Batman’s Companion Inherited Constantine’s Many Curses
John Constantine was a powerful and resourceful magician in his own right, evidenced by his unexpectedly long life. Still, according to Terry, even Bruce Wayne assumed that Constantine was dead. But Kyle admits that Constantine leveraged every death to buy himself more time, which left him the “single most cursed person in existence” before he disappeared into the darkness. John was the first person he saw make the descent into Gotham Deep, and he supposedly left all his burdens to his protégé. The full nature of Constantine’s betrayal is still a mystery, but Batman’s companion has a wealth of magical talent and a chip on his shoulder to match.
Whatever transpired with Constantine ruined his life alongside his ability to trust others, and as Kyle and Batman continue to fight for their lives, a lack of trust is a curse all its own. As they navigate the Court of Owls’ maze, Terry mentions that he can’t be trapped in the dark with someone withholding the truth. Unfortunately for him, learning Kyle’s secret isn’t the end of things; there are many pieces still missing. The Court of Owls is determined to feed Kyle to their Garden, going so far as to say he has its secrets beneath his skin, as he mentions that Constantine got a “garden of light” at the end of his life. If Kyle is too preoccupied with settling his own grudges or righting the wrongs of his life, he could wind up on a different page than Batman, endangering them bot.
Kyle the Catboi’s Grudge Could Doom Batman Beyond
In the end, there is no real evidence that John Constantine is truly gone. There may be reasons behind his disappearance beyond anything Kyle understands, especially given John’s propensity for involving himself in magical and supernatural messes. He may already have some of the knowledge they’re seeking, or he could be yet another secret that Batman left sealed away. For now, traveling further into the darkness has not yielded answers for Batman Beyond — only more questions that may bring Gotham’s demise.
Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #3 is available now from DC Comics!
