JUSTICE SERVED #12

The "Beyond: Origin" to Micron probably involved the most work from the ground up, compared to any of the other origins. Unlike most of the other members on the Justice League, Micron really was a blank slate. There wasn't the familiarity that came with Barda, or the family name recognition that came with Aquagirl, or the back history with someone like Warhawk. Aside from his brief appearance in the show, there was not a lot to go on. So it was both a challenge and refreshing to be allowed to see where we could take the character. And continuing the idea of the parents of these heroes, Dustin and I thought it would be a way to champion all the single moms out there raising kids. That Dustin made her an EMT driver, makes her just as much a hero as her son.

Also this story was a chance to get a bit geeky. To have a little fun and tie-in all sorts of things that had gone on in the Batman Beyond show and timeline. The story ended up being as much about Bruce Wayne as it was about Micron. I thought it would be a good chance to attempt to explain the things leading up to Bruce losing his company as well as his mantle of the Batman.

Just some of the fun continuity nods from the show…
 

I wanted to show Bruce, even nearing the end of his career of Batman, would have been the first to encounter Derek Powers' bodyguard Mr. Fixx. A younger Fixx would actually lose his eye in this encounter, to help explain where that scar came from in his appearance in the show.

In the opening episode of Batman Beyond, the merger of Derek Powers' company with it's takeover of Wayne Enterprises, could now be explained. With Bruce's failing health, he would now be that much more determined to focus his life entirely on Batman. And the expense that would take to his bank account to keep his technology up to date would be the leading cause of him losing his company.
 

 

The scientist Nobu Otaka is a direct call back to the episode "Sneak Peak". Nobu was responsible for developing the Vibraspace technology that allowed the user to change their molecules to pass through solid objects. But also I'd expand that to allow for shape and dimension. This would help set up Micron's powers. Even though it would've been far easier to make Micron a sort of legacy decedent to "The Atom", I thought it would be more interesting to take a different path.
 

Eagle eyed readers might've been able to spot Terry's young father, Warren McGinnis, as one of the people to be rescued from the fire, by Micron's mother. He was still working for Wayne-Powers in their research division at this time.
 

It became a bit of a running joke between Dustin and I that Micron spent more time in containment tubes than out of them. And we'd always find a way to put him in one. He had that appearance in the show, then we used it in the "Konstriction" story, and now here. Well…it amused us at least. This is what happens when you toss ideas back and forth in the middle of the night over instant messaging.
 

I'm always looking for any excuse to showcase some of the more absurd villains from the comics and animated shows. The obstacle of writing a future based story, is a lot of those said villains might either be really old or dead. But I figured we could get away with it by using Toyman. Whether this is still the original version, an offspring, or a sentient toy himself…we'll just leave that open to interpretation.

Lastly let's talk about the art. Fiona Staples is getting all sorts of acclaim for her work on the hit "Saga". And even though this Micron story would be published after that title was already coming out, it was actually the Micron story that was drawn before Saga. Fiona was drawing Micron in November of 2011, before the first issue of Saga would come out in March of 2012. This is the magic of working for DC Digital, in which so much of our work is being done far in advance of when it's released, due to it being digital-first before eventually getting collected much later into print. So it was fun seeing how Fiona really exploded with the buzz around Saga, by the time our story came out. And she turned in a fine performance here.