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ORACLE OF COMICS #024 – BATMAN ETERNAL #17 – THE SAVIOR

By Luke Abbott

Batman Eternal #17 Deacon
Last issue, Deacon Blackfire was revealed to be the master behind the strange going-ons at Arkham and this issue handles his further invasion of Gotham. Jim Corrigan and Batwing try to fend off the first wave of his minions from the deep, but with the Joker’s Daughter and the endless numbers pressing against them, they are really struggling against the odds. Also, in other news, Bluebird and the Red Robin confront the man behind the nano-technology, always pushing closer to discovering if Jim Gordon really did hallucinate the gun in the man’s hand.

Batman Eternal #17 Cleanse
This issue is little more than atmosphere-building. Looking back through the pages on a second read confirms that not a lot actually happens here. We are still underneath Arkham, Deacon Blackfire is still bringing his minions together for an attack on Gotham and everyone is still in danger. We could argue that Issue #17 brings little to the table in terms of story. Bizarrely, I didn’t mind this as much as I minded the last few issues of Batman Eternal. Mainly, this is because its goals as a comic were very clear. We were meant to put down this comic, mind blown and wondering how anyone is meant to take on the power of Deacon Blackfire. The comic achieved that goal very well. The last page is eerie and creepy. We have no idea what is going on with the supernatural throwing us all out of our comfort zone. We are lost and this means that we are also part of the nightmare. The supernatural also gives artist of the week, Dustin Nguyen, several opportunities to show off his artistic skills.

I enjoyed breaking away from the story to see Blackfire’s origins. This was clever because of two things. One – I know nothing about Blackfire, but I left this issue moderately up to speed with the man. While we didn’t get to cover how he got his supernatural powers, we left understanding his motives, and for me, that is far more important. Besides, writers have a tough job of getting newcomers, like me, up to date with the canon, without boring the veteran readers with details they have already heard hundreds of times before. Batman Eternal, on this occasion, handled exposition well. The other good thing about Blackfire’s origins was that it gave us some time with the actual Batman rather than his crew. Not enough Batman for me, but he gets a cool moment, it has a pretty neat bit of misdirection and I left this comic, feeling as though I read a Batman comic, rather than a Robin comic. Good job, in my books.

Batman Eternal #17 Kick Ass
Quote of the Issue

Batwing: I’m supposed to accept the supernatural. I accept it, okay? And now I’m going to kick its ass!

For more comic views and reviews follow Luke on Twitter at @LukeBbtt and check out his website at www.oracleoffilm.com

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Posted on August 4th, 2014
Category: ORACLE OF COMICS, REVIEWS
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