By Luke Abbott
This was the issue I figured out I had been reading Batman Eternal all wrong. Rather than checking them out each week, I should have collected the entire series and marathoned them in a single evening. There is not a lot I shall say in this review that I haven’t said before. “We check in with everyone’s storylines.” “Something big is around the corner, promise!” The truth is Eternal is playing the long game and the people who will get the most pleasure out of this series are the ones who are content to wait until they have every issue in their hands, before even beginning. However, I have started this weekly review now and I will see it through to the bitter end.
The Good Man tackles far more of the ongoing stories than any of the other issues so far. Jim Gordon makes a return after a long absence. His trial gets underway and we get a savagely delicious courtroom scene. Meanwhile, Penguin and Falcone are going to greater lengths to win the city back, the first page showing Penguin’s thugs getting mown down by armed thugs. Jason Bard, Harvey Bullock and Captain Sawyer get together and come up with a plan to end the gang war once and for all, but it requires a risky step which is revealed in the last few pages. Also, Batgirl and Red Hood’s encounter is carried on from the last issue, but without the distracting art or silly humour. Also… takes deep breath… we check in on Red Robin and Bluebird, who haven’t shown up in forever. And on top of that, there is more drama in the Pennyworth family. Yes, this issue is action-packed, yet the writers even find time to slip in a cameo from a certain famous DC reporter.
It’s all good. It really is. There isn’t any part of this issue where I could point to a certain beat and say: “that’s wrong!” As far as issues of Batman Eternal go, that would make this particular episode a success. It is just always promising something interesting in an issue’s time. Every frame is orchestrated into making you buy the next issue, rather than focusing on this particular one in your hands. This is a common sin for any comic book collector. However, it works, because I am unable to stop buying this Batman comic now: I am in too deep. So yes, if anyone is still on the fence about buying these comics, do it! Just maybe read them in one go, rather than sitting through a single issue that seems perfectly content to inch along with its narrative.
Quote of the Issue:
Bluebird: “Just told me to ‘buck up’ or something like that.”
For more comic views and reviews follow Luke on Twitter at @LukeBbtt and check out his website at www.oracleoffilm.com
Posted on June 26th, 2014
Category: ORACLE OF COMICS, REVIEWS
Tags: Batgirl, Batman Eternal #12 Review, Bruce Wayne, DC Comics, Luke Abbott, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler
Reviewed by Chris Fenn
I have enjoyed Snyder’s writing in the New 52, but I do have some slight hang ups over his plots. Now I know you may think that this has nothing to do with Batman #28, but bear with me; I’ll get there eventually!
I’ve recently been buying and sorting out Grant Morrison books; I have his complete Batman run, in trade paperbacks, from Batman and Son to the end of the first Batman Incorporated, and I have all of his New 52 Batman Incorporated books in comics. One of Morrison’s best arcs, in my opinion, spans the length of his Batman run and revolves around the Black Glove. Now this predates Snyder’s Court of Owls and I have to say, I feel The Black Glove is more complete, detailed and the identity of the main villain is more ambiguous which helps the story more. This isn’t to say that Snyder’s Owls arc is bad, it’s just Morrison’s is better.
So once Snyder was finished with Court of Owls he did his Death of the Family arc. I have to say that I haven’t read anything like it before and I think it’s on the whole very original and I enjoyed it. My hang up with this arc is that we seemed to be promised more than was delivered, and I’m sure this is due to the powers that be and not Snyder, but it turned what could have been a nuclear bomb into a sparkler. So, again, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy this story arc, but it did leave me with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.
Now we have Snyder’s take on Year One. Clearly this is a tall order to deliver something that seems to be revered as a Holy book by the general Batman community, but I like that Snyder is going in his own direction and focusing less on the mafia angle and more on the super-villain ‘prototypes’. I’ve been liking this story a lot, and I love how he has incorporated the Red Hood, Riddler and Dr. Death without making the whole thing feel like a schizophrenic mess.
Then there’s Batman #28.
Advertised on the front cover it does say that this is a “Secret Glimpse into Batman Eternal”, but I expected something along the lines of what Detective Comics #27 gave us for Gothtopia. Instead it gave us the bulk of the issue as a context-less sample of Eternal and then a ‘trailer’ for American Vampire.
Now I liked what I read with Batman Eternal; I like the fact that it’s set in a totalitarian or dystopian near future and thus far we have no idea why. I like that Harper Row is being made useful instead of being an annoying character with no significance other than the fact it’s obvious she will assume the role of a side-kick or spin off character. I like that Stephanie Brown makes an appearance and is being made out to be a very significant character towards Eternal’s plot. I like this nastier, unforgiving Catwoman and am looking forward to seeing where her hatred for Batman has come from.
What I don’t like is when I pay for a Batman comic and get a Batman Eternal comic. I wanted to read about Batman facing the Riddler and I wanted to see how his first adventure ends, or at least see the story progress towards an end. I was probably going to buy Batman Eternal anyway; because it’s another Batman book written by Snyder, I don’t need to pay for an advert when I’m confident that I’ll be seeing a lot of adverts for it in my other DC comics.
I’m also really bitter towards the plugging of Snyder’s American Vampire. It’s not even because that title doesn’t interest me, it just seems like a cheap way of using up space and lining Snyder’s pockets. The Batman Eternal inclusion is irritating, but makes sense; advertise more Batman comics in, what is possibly the most popular and best-selling Batman title.
I know this isn’t much of a review of content, but it just really bugged me. Sorry for the rant readers, but if anybody who read Batman #28 felt the same way as I did then it’s perfectly justified.
For more comic views and reviews follow Chris on Twitter at @fenneth1989
Posted on February 16th, 2014
Category: OUT OF THE LONG BOX, REVIEWS
Tags: American Vampire, Batman #28 Review, Catwoman, Chris Fenn, Comic Blog, Comic Reviews, DC Comics, Harper Row, Scott Snyder, Spoiler
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