Comic Info
Comic Name: Batman Eternal
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder/James Tynion IV/John Layman/Ray Fawkes/Tim Seeley/Kyle Higgins
Artist: Jason Fabok/Dustin Nguyen/Mikel Janin/Guillem March/Ian Bertram/Riccardo Burchielli Andy Clarke/Trevor McCarthy/Emanuel Simeoni/Derek Fridolfs/Guillermo Ortego
# of Issues: 21
Release Date: 2014
Batman Eternal #6
The Roman has returned to Gotham City and in his wake, a crime war is brewing…but Carmine Falcone isn’t the only danger in Gotham. As Batman sets out to stop the rising crimewave, he finds he might be working alone as Commission Gordon is jailed for the killing of innocents in an attempt to apprehend criminals. Batgirl, Red Hood, and Batwoman are out to prove Gordon’s innocence while Red Robin finds himself with a new partner in Harper Row. Batwing and the Spectre try to uncover the darkness lurking under the city as Gordon fights for his life in Blackgate Prison and a girl named Stephanie Brown uncovers that there is more to her father than she ever knew.
Batman Eternal was a year-long event that appeared as a preview story in Batman (2) #28 (April 2014). The series featured a rotation of writers and artists led by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV. The series was released as a fifty-two issue weekly series.
I enjoyed Scott Snyder’s Batman and when Batman Eternal was previewed in Batman #28, it felt like more of a good thing. The only scary thing about something like Batman Eternal is that it is both intimidating and a real commitment. If you decided to read Batman Eternal, you had read the whole year of Batman Eternal…and if you didn’t read Batman Eternal you ran the risk of not understanding plotlines in other DC “Batman Family” titles.
Batman Eternal #18
For me (in general), the New 52 was a good thing for DC. It streamlined the stories (at least for a while) and made tons of good jump-on points. One of those points for me was Snyder’s Batman. Batman never has been that very interesting of a character to me. People love his brooding nature, but I’ve always thought him quite a bore. Batman did a good job humanizing Batman and making him more attainable, and this series is big on developing his “family” by showing how he works with the other characters in the related comics.
The story for Batman Eternal does keep moving and like something like Lord of the Rings, there are definitely parts I’m more interested in and parts I could skip. Overall the story is solid and enjoyable, but it doesn’t seem to push the boundaries as much as Batman’s solo title. I don’t feel that sense of danger and it just doesn’t seem as inventive.
The rotating artist does provide some fun. I like seeing the different styles for Batman and his clan. The flipside of that is much like the stories themselves. Some artists aren’t as good as other artists and you find yourself wishing for the better artists throughout (though they do a pretty good job keeping a general consistent nature).
Batman Eternal is a decent series with a lot of room to expand the Batman Universe. This collection only scratches the surface of the series. I wish that the series was a bit more hard hitting and felt like events were catastrophic or series changing, but the series in general gives the impression that by the end everything will still be status quo in Batman…but you’ll have to continue with Batman Eternal—Volume 2 to find out.
