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Batman Eternal
Batman Eternal, Volume 1
A new weekly Batman series that examines the relationship between the heroes, villains, and citizens of Gotham City!
In the wake of Forever Evil, the world looks at heroes in a different light, creating tension between Batman and his allies and the Gotham City Police Department. When a gang war breaks out and new villains arise, it's up to the Dark Knight, Batgirl, and more to turn the tides as best as they can—but will the GCPD be a help or a hinderance? Plus, a fan-favorite character makes her long-awaited DC Comics—The New 52 debut.
Collects: Batman: Eternal 1-21.
In the wake of Forever Evil, the world looks at heroes in a different light, creating tension between Batman and his allies and the Gotham City Police Department. When a gang war breaks out and new villains arise, it's up to the Dark Knight, Batgirl, and more to turn the tides as best as they can—but will the GCPD be a help or a hinderance? Plus, a fan-favorite character makes her long-awaited DC Comics—The New 52 debut.
Collects: Batman: Eternal 1-21.
480 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2014
257 people are currently reading
2622 people want to read
About the author
Scott Snyder
1,779 books5,119 followersScott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 342 reviews
July 17, 2021
(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: Overcooked a little, left to fizzle on the griddle, still its story's strong, just stretched too long: all flabby in the middle.
Notes: Overcooked a little, left to fizzle on the griddle, still its story's strong, just stretched too long: all flabby in the middle.
May 23, 2018
This is essentially the graphic novel equivalent of a night of well-intentioned lovemaking with yours truly: it jumps right into the action, climaxes way too fast, gropes aimlessly for a while in a vain effort to regain momentum, gives you some signs of hope that make you want to give it the benefit of the doubt, but ultimately lacks the consistency and skill to match its ambition, and so leaves you feeling a little underwhelmed, frustrated, and wondering why you were so excited when you started. But, it tries hard and pushes just enough of the right buttons that you’re willing to come back for at least one more shot. We'll call it 3.4 Stars. So, naturally, I’m reading Vol. 2.
And, just like that, I’ve destroyed the already limited libido of Batman readers everywhere.
And, just like that, I’ve destroyed the already limited libido of Batman readers everywhere.
March 13, 2015
Holy shit! This was HUGE!
Why didn't anyone tell me it was going to be so...huge?!
I also didn't realize that 448 pages wouldn't be enough to tell the whole story, meaning that I'd have to wait to read the conclusion when volume 2 comes out.
The plot is...this is fucking gigantic, so there's a shitload of story.
I just..can't. My brain will explode.
Basics, I'll just stick with the basics.
Jim Gordon gets arrested for manslaughter, and is looking at a life sentence for firing his weapon at an unarmed man, which caused a massive train wreck.
Lots of dead people.
Batman doesn't believe he made a mistake, he thinks somehow someone/something caused Jim to think this guy had a gun.
Also, Babs is out for blood.
Like, seriously ragey and a bit unhinged. So, Bruce sends Jason after her to keep her from doing anything too crazy. Somehow, Batwoman is also pulled into babysitting duty.
Only not really babysitting, because, as Jason explains, Batgirl has always been better than all the Robins. They knew it, and it drove them nuts.
Which I thought was kind of cool for the boys to admit.
Meanwhile, Carmine Falcone is back in town, and intent on taking Gotham back from Penguin.
He buys off the police force, and starts a gang war by blowing up the Ice Casino and putting Cobblepot on the run. Sort of.
So with Gordon out of the picture, and the police in his pocket, you've got to assume that Falcone the mastermind behind the mystery of the disappearing gun , right? Yeah, not so fast.
You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a villain in this thing.
Which was sorta cool, and sort of not.
It starts off with Professor Pyg, which I hate, but at least I recognized him. Joker's Daughter...which I also think is a pretty stupid waste of ink. James Jr, one of my favorite DC psychos, has a small role. And, of course, Penguin is flapping around in his new role as a surprisingly badass bird. There's also a fantastic story with Killer Croc towards the end. Loved him!
But, for me,
However, I liked the majority of the stuff in this epic tale of Batman.
For one thing, it seems like EVERYONE gets to make an appearance in this sucker. Harper, Red Robin, The Spectre, Batwoman, Red Hood, El Gaucho, The Batman of Japan (Jiro), Batwing, Viki Vale, Catwoman, and best of all...
Stephanie Brown is BACK!
I don't know if I mentioned it before, but this story is ginormous!
December 8, 2014
Batman turned 75 this year (2014) and, among the many things DC put out to celebrate their biggest moneymaker’s anniversary, they launched Batman: Eternal, a weekly Batman serial. Plotted by current Batman writer and DC’s MVP, Scott Snyder, and his regular collaborator, James Tynion IV, Eternal is a sprawling mass of comics that includes nearly as many creators as it does characters!
Snyder and Tynion IV actually write very little of the book with the bulk written by Ray Fawkes, John Layman (who left DC shortly after this series launched), and Tim Seeley. Among the artistic talent is Jason Fabok, Dustin Nguyen, Guillem March, Mikel Janin, Andy Clarke, Trevor McCarthy and several others.
Even if you didn’t know Snyder plotted this series, it becomes immediately apparent that this is a Snyder Batman book because of all of the references to his previous Batman work that keep cropping up. Tyger Shark, Roadrunner and James Gordon Jr. all make appearances, as does Snyder’s Harper Row character (who’s taken to wearing a hideous blue Grifter mask), and another character who isn’t revealed until the end. Snyder’s Batman books are definitely worth reading but, if you haven’t already, check out The Black Mirror, The Gates of Gotham, and The Court of Owls before jumping into Eternal to get the most out of this book.
But I’m getting ahead of myself - is Batman: Eternal worth reading? It’s a hefty first volume with the first 21 issues collected and weighing in at 450 pages - it’ll take you a while to get through! And the answer is yay and nay. Because it’s not a great story and won’t go down as a classic but, if you’re a fan, it has lots of neat moments and scenes within it that many Batman readers will like.
The overarching story is that Jim Gordon appears to cause two subway cars to collide head on and kill over 100 people. Gordon goes to Blackgate Prison, a new, corrupt Commissioner takes over, and Carmine Falcone, the Roman, returns to Gotham. Suddenly it’s like the bad old days have returned. Batman and the Bat family split up to keep the gang warfare that’s exploded between the Roman and the Penguin’s forces from spilling over, while Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, spearheads the investigation to clear her dad’s name.
Right away, the main story bothered me with a pretty major flaw. Gordon chases one of Professor Pyg’s goons (Pyg is one of MANY bad guys in this book), through the subway system. The man is unarmed by Gordon is made to believe he’s holding a gun. He fires, the bullet hits a fuse box, which then causes the rails to change and put two trains on a collision course.
Except hitting an exposed fuse box in the subway wouldn’t affect the rails. This is even mentioned in the comic itself! So it’s clearly an act of sabotage that had nothing to do with him but, regardless of this, Gordon is still tried for the murders of everyone who died in the crash. It doesn’t make sense. Sure you could try him for shooting what appeared to be an unarmed man, but the deaths of over 100 people? Where’s the evidence? This wouldn’t have gone to court because the charges wouldn’t stick.
That’s the overarching story to Batman: Eternal - and it’s not a great start.
From then on it’s a grab-bag of hits and misses, though Eternal does contain a number of awesome characters that are reintroduced to the Bat universe. Biggest of all is Stephanie Brown, one of Batman’s former Robins, making her New 52 debut. I was delighted to see her again but she was woefully underused. She finds out her dad is Cluemaster (the poor man’s Riddler) and hides out in a library for the entire book - that’s it.
It’s also cool to see Alfred getting more story than usual when his daughter, Julia Pennyworth, shows up in Gotham. I don’t think the writers get the most they can out of her as all she and Alfred do is argue, mostly because she doesn’t understand why he would settle for being some rich playboy’s butler, unaware of said playboy’s vigilante lifestyle and the major role her dad plays in it. It gets a bit repetitive after the first couple times.
I also loved seeing some of the Batman Incorporated crew pop up again, like Gaucho, the Batman of Argentina, and Jiro, the Batman of Japan, neither of whom I thought I’d see quite so soon.
The couple of new characters that are introduced are ok. Warren Spacey is a crime beat journalist at the Gotham Gazette who has the superpower of changing his hair from white to brown in between panels! (It’s an artist’s mistake in colouring) The major new character is Jason Bard, or young Jim Gordon, an idealistic young cop handpicked by Gordon, who arrives the day of the subway trains collision.
I felt that his character was a bit too much like Gordon’s, from behaviour to looks, for me to say he was a great new addition to the cast, though he becomes more different as the story continues.
But, along with the good, come the bad. The awfully named Joker’s Daughter has a role to play in Eternal as leader of the Gotham Underground (whatever that is) underneath Arkham, and the villain of one of the worst Batman books ever, The Cult, makes a reappearance: Deacon Blackfire. I’ve also never liked Carmine Falcone, the star bad guy of The Long Halloween, or Hush.
Notice that I’m mentioning characters and not story because there really isn’t any. There are only fragments of story here and there. Batgirl, Red Hood and Batwoman team up to find clues in South America. Penguin and Falcone’s forces fight each other. Batman temporarily fights the GCPD. Harper Row and Red Robin are doing something somewhere. Jim Gordon and James Jr have a bitter reunion. Batwing and Jim Corrigan aka The Spectre investigate stuff. Meh. It doesn’t add up to much besides the obvious page count!
I wish the writers had chosen to focus on the characters they had rather than continue to lob in character after character. I mean, when you’re including Z-list characters like Dr Phosphorus, Mister Bygone, Dr Falsario, it’s time to stop. There were also baffling hints of storylines that went nowhere (alien gateways!?) that added nothing to the book.
Not to mention how stupid it was that a corrupt Commissioner could allow obviously guilty criminals to walk free without anyone else in government, or in the news, saying anything - and did we need to see ANOTHER scene where the Bat signal gets smashed?
The art, like the writing, is agreeable but no great shakes. Jason Fabok’s work is very solidly mainstream Batman, as is Andy Clarke’s. Mikel Janin and Guillem March produce satisfactory work but nothing spectacular, and Dustin Nguyen’s work is dependably brilliant. The standout for me was Ian Bertram who drew the Batgirl/Red Hood/Batwoman in Rio section. He’s an artist I’ve only seen once before briefly in Detective Comics #27 earlier this year, but whose style immediately stands out as unique and interesting.
I think the idea of the various writers was that each would contribute a different quality to the tale as each supposedly has distinct voices that excel in different areas of interest. But so much of the book is generic superhero fare that you don’t really notice the changes between writers. Generally though with this many creators I think there was more or less a consistency of decent quality throughout, which has to be applauded for such an ambitious project.
Still, I’d describe Batman: Eternal as a shedload of Batman things rather than a story and that’s where it falls down. The Gordon storyline was stupid and yet became the backbone of the series. The rest of it became the usual Batman stuff that makes up most of the Bat-titles.
Though a lot of Eternal is forgettable, little bits and pieces here and there kept things entertaining and in this way is a fine celebration of Batman and his world. 75 years isn’t an eternity but Batman will keep going for many, many years to come - if any character has a shot at eternal life, it’s Batman!
Happy 75th, you miserable emo git - have a drink and cheer up a bit!
Snyder and Tynion IV actually write very little of the book with the bulk written by Ray Fawkes, John Layman (who left DC shortly after this series launched), and Tim Seeley. Among the artistic talent is Jason Fabok, Dustin Nguyen, Guillem March, Mikel Janin, Andy Clarke, Trevor McCarthy and several others.
Even if you didn’t know Snyder plotted this series, it becomes immediately apparent that this is a Snyder Batman book because of all of the references to his previous Batman work that keep cropping up. Tyger Shark, Roadrunner and James Gordon Jr. all make appearances, as does Snyder’s Harper Row character (who’s taken to wearing a hideous blue Grifter mask), and another character who isn’t revealed until the end. Snyder’s Batman books are definitely worth reading but, if you haven’t already, check out The Black Mirror, The Gates of Gotham, and The Court of Owls before jumping into Eternal to get the most out of this book.
But I’m getting ahead of myself - is Batman: Eternal worth reading? It’s a hefty first volume with the first 21 issues collected and weighing in at 450 pages - it’ll take you a while to get through! And the answer is yay and nay. Because it’s not a great story and won’t go down as a classic but, if you’re a fan, it has lots of neat moments and scenes within it that many Batman readers will like.
The overarching story is that Jim Gordon appears to cause two subway cars to collide head on and kill over 100 people. Gordon goes to Blackgate Prison, a new, corrupt Commissioner takes over, and Carmine Falcone, the Roman, returns to Gotham. Suddenly it’s like the bad old days have returned. Batman and the Bat family split up to keep the gang warfare that’s exploded between the Roman and the Penguin’s forces from spilling over, while Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, spearheads the investigation to clear her dad’s name.
Right away, the main story bothered me with a pretty major flaw. Gordon chases one of Professor Pyg’s goons (Pyg is one of MANY bad guys in this book), through the subway system. The man is unarmed by Gordon is made to believe he’s holding a gun. He fires, the bullet hits a fuse box, which then causes the rails to change and put two trains on a collision course.
Except hitting an exposed fuse box in the subway wouldn’t affect the rails. This is even mentioned in the comic itself! So it’s clearly an act of sabotage that had nothing to do with him but, regardless of this, Gordon is still tried for the murders of everyone who died in the crash. It doesn’t make sense. Sure you could try him for shooting what appeared to be an unarmed man, but the deaths of over 100 people? Where’s the evidence? This wouldn’t have gone to court because the charges wouldn’t stick.
That’s the overarching story to Batman: Eternal - and it’s not a great start.
From then on it’s a grab-bag of hits and misses, though Eternal does contain a number of awesome characters that are reintroduced to the Bat universe. Biggest of all is Stephanie Brown, one of Batman’s former Robins, making her New 52 debut. I was delighted to see her again but she was woefully underused. She finds out her dad is Cluemaster (the poor man’s Riddler) and hides out in a library for the entire book - that’s it.
It’s also cool to see Alfred getting more story than usual when his daughter, Julia Pennyworth, shows up in Gotham. I don’t think the writers get the most they can out of her as all she and Alfred do is argue, mostly because she doesn’t understand why he would settle for being some rich playboy’s butler, unaware of said playboy’s vigilante lifestyle and the major role her dad plays in it. It gets a bit repetitive after the first couple times.
I also loved seeing some of the Batman Incorporated crew pop up again, like Gaucho, the Batman of Argentina, and Jiro, the Batman of Japan, neither of whom I thought I’d see quite so soon.
The couple of new characters that are introduced are ok. Warren Spacey is a crime beat journalist at the Gotham Gazette who has the superpower of changing his hair from white to brown in between panels! (It’s an artist’s mistake in colouring) The major new character is Jason Bard, or young Jim Gordon, an idealistic young cop handpicked by Gordon, who arrives the day of the subway trains collision.
I felt that his character was a bit too much like Gordon’s, from behaviour to looks, for me to say he was a great new addition to the cast, though he becomes more different as the story continues.
But, along with the good, come the bad. The awfully named Joker’s Daughter has a role to play in Eternal as leader of the Gotham Underground (whatever that is) underneath Arkham, and the villain of one of the worst Batman books ever, The Cult, makes a reappearance: Deacon Blackfire. I’ve also never liked Carmine Falcone, the star bad guy of The Long Halloween, or Hush.
Notice that I’m mentioning characters and not story because there really isn’t any. There are only fragments of story here and there. Batgirl, Red Hood and Batwoman team up to find clues in South America. Penguin and Falcone’s forces fight each other. Batman temporarily fights the GCPD. Harper Row and Red Robin are doing something somewhere. Jim Gordon and James Jr have a bitter reunion. Batwing and Jim Corrigan aka The Spectre investigate stuff. Meh. It doesn’t add up to much besides the obvious page count!
I wish the writers had chosen to focus on the characters they had rather than continue to lob in character after character. I mean, when you’re including Z-list characters like Dr Phosphorus, Mister Bygone, Dr Falsario, it’s time to stop. There were also baffling hints of storylines that went nowhere (alien gateways!?) that added nothing to the book.
Not to mention how stupid it was that a corrupt Commissioner could allow obviously guilty criminals to walk free without anyone else in government, or in the news, saying anything - and did we need to see ANOTHER scene where the Bat signal gets smashed?
The art, like the writing, is agreeable but no great shakes. Jason Fabok’s work is very solidly mainstream Batman, as is Andy Clarke’s. Mikel Janin and Guillem March produce satisfactory work but nothing spectacular, and Dustin Nguyen’s work is dependably brilliant. The standout for me was Ian Bertram who drew the Batgirl/Red Hood/Batwoman in Rio section. He’s an artist I’ve only seen once before briefly in Detective Comics #27 earlier this year, but whose style immediately stands out as unique and interesting.
I think the idea of the various writers was that each would contribute a different quality to the tale as each supposedly has distinct voices that excel in different areas of interest. But so much of the book is generic superhero fare that you don’t really notice the changes between writers. Generally though with this many creators I think there was more or less a consistency of decent quality throughout, which has to be applauded for such an ambitious project.
Still, I’d describe Batman: Eternal as a shedload of Batman things rather than a story and that’s where it falls down. The Gordon storyline was stupid and yet became the backbone of the series. The rest of it became the usual Batman stuff that makes up most of the Bat-titles.
Though a lot of Eternal is forgettable, little bits and pieces here and there kept things entertaining and in this way is a fine celebration of Batman and his world. 75 years isn’t an eternity but Batman will keep going for many, many years to come - if any character has a shot at eternal life, it’s Batman!
Happy 75th, you miserable emo git - have a drink and cheer up a bit!
February 28, 2017
This cycle from Scott Snyder starts out strong in Vol 1 with the welcome alliance of Batman and Batgirl against more denizens of Gotham. Well-illustrated and entertaining, it is a welcome return to the old serialised style of Batman stories.
August 15, 2015
An epic scope of the Bat Family as Jim Gordon goes to trial for murder.
Glorious artwork.
Well plotted by Scott Snyder.
Get it, read it, love it.
OVERALL GRADE: A minus to A.
Glorious artwork.
Well plotted by Scott Snyder.
Get it, read it, love it.
OVERALL GRADE: A minus to A.
July 1, 2015
Wow!
I wonder what the brainstorming sessions were when the writers and story-boarders were developing this complex storyline. Unusual and little-known characters showing up, driving the story into seemingly random directions. It's really fascinating!
I wonder what the brainstorming sessions were when the writers and story-boarders were developing this complex storyline. Unusual and little-known characters showing up, driving the story into seemingly random directions. It's really fascinating!
November 24, 2014
There is A HEFTY AMOUNT OF MULTIPLE STORYLINES for New 52's most ambitious collaborative project yet and I have spent six weeks reviewing all the thirty-two issues that were released so far and doing so was mildly panic-attack-inducing if not downright catalystic for a mental fatigue. In spite of a few of my criticisms in specific issues, I can still claim that this is one of the most exciting things I have ever read in New 52's Batman line-up. Written by a roster of talents such as Tim Seeley, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, James T Tynion IV, and Scott Snyder, with a great range of the industry's most sought-after artists (Mikel Janin, Ian Bertram, Riccardo Burchielli, Guillem March, Emanuel Simeoni, Trevor McCarthy, Andy Clarke, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen, Jason Fabok), BATMAN ETERNAL was a weekly released series that examines the Forever Evil story arc's aftermath in Gotham City.
I don't think I'm overstating it when I say that everywhere you go Gotham City right now is A COLOSSAL FUCKING MESS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. Hey, I may even be downplaying it with that insufficient description.
Comprising the first twenty issues of the series, this volume is guaranteed to be bulky in width and twice the fun for anyone who wants to re-read everything that happened in one compact collection. I'm honestly not in the mood to do that at this point because I'm still recovering from what I just witnessed in its thirty-two installments, but I think I'll be up for it some time next year, preferably after this series wraps up for good. I read somewhere that this is intended to run for fifty issues so holy fuck, we're only halfway there. As I said, this was released weekly which probably meant there are two or three new ones since I finished #32 and I don't intend to read them yet because I am frankly trying to get away from this series. That's not to say that Batman Eternal is horrible--far from it! I just can't handle multiple servings every week, most especially when there are certain issues that are inferior than others. I can't specify which ones they are in this review but I will try to discuss the PROS and the CONS of this collected volume, starting from the latter so we can get over with the unpleasantness foremost.
CONS: My number one criticism for the series has always been the fact that there is just too much material to chew and digest easily. It's only accessible if you have immersed yourself well enough in the Bat-mythos, particularly the New 52 line-up of Bat-related titles. You also have to be at least aware of how the current DCU works since its re-launch. You don't really need to read Forever Evil first to get on track for Eternal which is a good thing. Now If you have been following this series weekly then there are enough days to mull over the story in between, but if you have read it as a pile which I have (I began reading by the time there are were twenty-six issues available for consumption) then you may have found yourself getting sick of some things which is what worried me mostly about Eternal once the issues were published in a volume such as this one.
The reading experience will be exhausting and slightly grating, so I advise readers who will buy this collection to take your time reading it and not try to finish everything in one sitting because you are only hurting yourself if you do that. This volume is meant to be savored so take as much several breaks as you need if you ever find yourself needing a palette cleanse. I only wished I had the same privilege but I was on a tight self-imposed schedule to post reviews so I had no choice but to binge like a Roman noble.
PROS: The good stuff truly outweigh the bad for Batman Eternal. The roster of writers and artists can always offer something fresh and exciting to the buffet even if a few of the contents from this buffet can be taken or not, depending on the matter of personal taste and preference. With multiple storylines to follow and watch unfold, the issues can have an unevenness in their foci and scopes. Nevertheless, each new issues promises something better than the last which does tend to happen for this series. One moment I'm nerd-raging the fuck out of some narrative/plot decision, the next I'm applauding the unfortunate yet engrossing series of events that were enough to restore my faith which then helped me to jump head to the next installments. My advise in reading this series is to hold on and keep true. Batman Eternal has tons of great action, drama, character interplay, and mystery; these are fantastic and intriguing tales whose writers and artists worked tirelessly over so that they can be conveyed on the pages of each issue.
The collaborative effort of these amazing people, especially the range of various narrative and art styles alone, should be enough to make you want to buy this volume and display it in your bookshelf!
Now I recognize that this is a premature review, considering the copy will only be made available two days from now (November 26) but I surely hope that my review has convinced you to check out this one, if not encourage you to spend some money on it.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MY BATMAN COMICS REVIEWS AT:
I don't think I'm overstating it when I say that everywhere you go Gotham City right now is A COLOSSAL FUCKING MESS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. Hey, I may even be downplaying it with that insufficient description.
Comprising the first twenty issues of the series, this volume is guaranteed to be bulky in width and twice the fun for anyone who wants to re-read everything that happened in one compact collection. I'm honestly not in the mood to do that at this point because I'm still recovering from what I just witnessed in its thirty-two installments, but I think I'll be up for it some time next year, preferably after this series wraps up for good. I read somewhere that this is intended to run for fifty issues so holy fuck, we're only halfway there. As I said, this was released weekly which probably meant there are two or three new ones since I finished #32 and I don't intend to read them yet because I am frankly trying to get away from this series. That's not to say that Batman Eternal is horrible--far from it! I just can't handle multiple servings every week, most especially when there are certain issues that are inferior than others. I can't specify which ones they are in this review but I will try to discuss the PROS and the CONS of this collected volume, starting from the latter so we can get over with the unpleasantness foremost.
CONS: My number one criticism for the series has always been the fact that there is just too much material to chew and digest easily. It's only accessible if you have immersed yourself well enough in the Bat-mythos, particularly the New 52 line-up of Bat-related titles. You also have to be at least aware of how the current DCU works since its re-launch. You don't really need to read Forever Evil first to get on track for Eternal which is a good thing. Now If you have been following this series weekly then there are enough days to mull over the story in between, but if you have read it as a pile which I have (I began reading by the time there are were twenty-six issues available for consumption) then you may have found yourself getting sick of some things which is what worried me mostly about Eternal once the issues were published in a volume such as this one.
The reading experience will be exhausting and slightly grating, so I advise readers who will buy this collection to take your time reading it and not try to finish everything in one sitting because you are only hurting yourself if you do that. This volume is meant to be savored so take as much several breaks as you need if you ever find yourself needing a palette cleanse. I only wished I had the same privilege but I was on a tight self-imposed schedule to post reviews so I had no choice but to binge like a Roman noble.
PROS: The good stuff truly outweigh the bad for Batman Eternal. The roster of writers and artists can always offer something fresh and exciting to the buffet even if a few of the contents from this buffet can be taken or not, depending on the matter of personal taste and preference. With multiple storylines to follow and watch unfold, the issues can have an unevenness in their foci and scopes. Nevertheless, each new issues promises something better than the last which does tend to happen for this series. One moment I'm nerd-raging the fuck out of some narrative/plot decision, the next I'm applauding the unfortunate yet engrossing series of events that were enough to restore my faith which then helped me to jump head to the next installments. My advise in reading this series is to hold on and keep true. Batman Eternal has tons of great action, drama, character interplay, and mystery; these are fantastic and intriguing tales whose writers and artists worked tirelessly over so that they can be conveyed on the pages of each issue.
The collaborative effort of these amazing people, especially the range of various narrative and art styles alone, should be enough to make you want to buy this volume and display it in your bookshelf!
Now I recognize that this is a premature review, considering the copy will only be made available two days from now (November 26) but I surely hope that my review has convinced you to check out this one, if not encourage you to spend some money on it.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MY BATMAN COMICS REVIEWS AT:
April 16, 2015
Hmm...I can't put Scott Snyder on the hook for this because he just plotted it, and other lesser talents filled it in...that being said, at times this feels like the silly end of the Grant Morrison Bat-spectrum.
Professor Pyg? Fuck off, stupid character. Gordon is the high commissioner, why does he always run around? Also, this is such an obvious set up, and he so quickly give up, it's insane. Not Gordon at all. The new cop, Bard is such a carbon copy of Gordon, it's a good thing James Jr. Shows up so we don't think Bard is another lost son of Jimmy.
Of course Bats doesn't trust him, no cop that smart would come to Gotham, and if Gordon had him brought in, and then The Roman runs things? I guarantee that Bard would end up on a slab or back out of Gotham.
There is simply too much going on, too many storylines, and yet, Batman gets far too much ink...they seem to forget about Catwoman halfway through, Red Robin is borderline useless, and for some reason, it takes Red Hood and both lady Bats to take down a knock off Mad Hatter? Hatter himself is a b lister...
I don't buy this shit that Barbara is suddenly going to completely lose her shit...her dad has been in worse scrapes before, and she's genius level intellect, Eidetic memory, and yet, she goes off the reservation? No, don't buy it.
Who cares about Cluemaster? When you give more space to the z-list villains, I start to worry...especially when you throw a bigger one in at the end for shock value. Stephanie Brown, ok nice to see a return..Vicki Vale, you're not Lois Lane...who is even in the book...sheesh.
The Roman looks like a middle aged hipster, I'm sorry. And penguin is in a onesie long underwear suit and now a badass killer? Hmmm...also, Bard lets penguin kill a bunch of Romans men and Bats knows it, yet allows that to go on? No.
This is also feeling like No Mans Land or any of the other stories where all hell breaks loose for Bats to cover some other story.
I did like Croc being antihero instead of the usual, but that's not much.
This book is really missing something....2 something's in fact: Dick and Damian. It's hard to see the Bat Family as it is without them.
Also, since when can't Jim Corrigan turn into the Spectre? And why do we drop the stuff with him and Batwing mark 2 in the middle of the shit?
At this rate, I expect to see Anarky, Knight and Squire, and a million others, like the Birds of Prey, and so on.
One thing I did notice....someone was about to say Harvey Dent, and they got cut off...this would only be an acceptable payoff if they finally brought back Harv. He's missing, so is Joker, Riddler MIA...all the baddies taken over by supernatural garbage?
To call this a clusterfuck seems apt. It really could go either way. I'd have more faith in it if Snyder was writing it..
But I'll just hush...
Professor Pyg? Fuck off, stupid character. Gordon is the high commissioner, why does he always run around? Also, this is such an obvious set up, and he so quickly give up, it's insane. Not Gordon at all. The new cop, Bard is such a carbon copy of Gordon, it's a good thing James Jr. Shows up so we don't think Bard is another lost son of Jimmy.
Of course Bats doesn't trust him, no cop that smart would come to Gotham, and if Gordon had him brought in, and then The Roman runs things? I guarantee that Bard would end up on a slab or back out of Gotham.
There is simply too much going on, too many storylines, and yet, Batman gets far too much ink...they seem to forget about Catwoman halfway through, Red Robin is borderline useless, and for some reason, it takes Red Hood and both lady Bats to take down a knock off Mad Hatter? Hatter himself is a b lister...
I don't buy this shit that Barbara is suddenly going to completely lose her shit...her dad has been in worse scrapes before, and she's genius level intellect, Eidetic memory, and yet, she goes off the reservation? No, don't buy it.
Who cares about Cluemaster? When you give more space to the z-list villains, I start to worry...especially when you throw a bigger one in at the end for shock value. Stephanie Brown, ok nice to see a return..Vicki Vale, you're not Lois Lane...who is even in the book...sheesh.
The Roman looks like a middle aged hipster, I'm sorry. And penguin is in a onesie long underwear suit and now a badass killer? Hmmm...also, Bard lets penguin kill a bunch of Romans men and Bats knows it, yet allows that to go on? No.
This is also feeling like No Mans Land or any of the other stories where all hell breaks loose for Bats to cover some other story.
I did like Croc being antihero instead of the usual, but that's not much.
This book is really missing something....2 something's in fact: Dick and Damian. It's hard to see the Bat Family as it is without them.
Also, since when can't Jim Corrigan turn into the Spectre? And why do we drop the stuff with him and Batwing mark 2 in the middle of the shit?
At this rate, I expect to see Anarky, Knight and Squire, and a million others, like the Birds of Prey, and so on.
One thing I did notice....someone was about to say Harvey Dent, and they got cut off...this would only be an acceptable payoff if they finally brought back Harv. He's missing, so is Joker, Riddler MIA...all the baddies taken over by supernatural garbage?
To call this a clusterfuck seems apt. It really could go either way. I'd have more faith in it if Snyder was writing it..
But I'll just hush...
December 18, 2014
Batman: Eternal is going to be an enormous project. When all is said and done, there will be about 60 issues, all telling the same story. Which is actually kind of ridiculous. Think about it: it would be like a regular monthly took five years to tell a single story. So, is it worth it? For me, it looks like the answer will be, "Eh, maybe."
For me, the highlight was easily the re-introduction of Stephanie Brown. Oh, Steph, how I've missed you! She doesn't get to do all that much in this volume, but I was just so happy to see her I almost didn't care. It definitely looks like she's getting set up to be Spoiler again. I'm ok with that. At least she exists again.
Let's start with the premise: Gordon has been framed. While chasing down one of Professor Pyg's minions (which Gordon himself is doing for Reasons, of course), Gordon fires and his bullet ends up causing a train to derail, killing over a hundred passengers. Gordon ends up in prison, on trial for the murder of all of them. This is the overlying story, what drives almost everything else that happens on the page. And it's kind of nonsense. It's obviously, transparently, almost hilariously intentional sabotage intended to frame Gordon. So getting him to the point of trial, apparently without anyone but the Batfamily seeing something amiss, just doesn't fit. I can buy that Gotham is corrupt enough to railroad Gordon, even on such flimsy, blatantly cooked up charges. I don't buy that the average citizens of Gotham are complacent enough, and trust the power structure enough, that they'd just shrug and go with it. I would expect to see a lot of dissension, Free Gordon type stuff. But nope. Everybody just seems to trust the official narrative, and believes that the powers that be are correct. In Gotham.
There's also a tendency to make the book feel more like a roll call than organic storytelling. Here's Batwoman! Here's Scarecrow! If we don't get through every single member of the Batfamily, every single Batvillain, and every single Batsupportingcharacter before the 60 issues are up, it won't be for lack of trying.
I'm not saying it's bad. It's not. But it is slow, and sometimes overburdened, and I'm not exactly buying into the main premise. But the writing and the art are never terrible, which is something.
For me, the highlight was easily the re-introduction of Stephanie Brown. Oh, Steph, how I've missed you! She doesn't get to do all that much in this volume, but I was just so happy to see her I almost didn't care. It definitely looks like she's getting set up to be Spoiler again. I'm ok with that. At least she exists again.
Let's start with the premise: Gordon has been framed. While chasing down one of Professor Pyg's minions (which Gordon himself is doing for Reasons, of course), Gordon fires and his bullet ends up causing a train to derail, killing over a hundred passengers. Gordon ends up in prison, on trial for the murder of all of them. This is the overlying story, what drives almost everything else that happens on the page. And it's kind of nonsense. It's obviously, transparently, almost hilariously intentional sabotage intended to frame Gordon. So getting him to the point of trial, apparently without anyone but the Batfamily seeing something amiss, just doesn't fit. I can buy that Gotham is corrupt enough to railroad Gordon, even on such flimsy, blatantly cooked up charges. I don't buy that the average citizens of Gotham are complacent enough, and trust the power structure enough, that they'd just shrug and go with it. I would expect to see a lot of dissension, Free Gordon type stuff. But nope. Everybody just seems to trust the official narrative, and believes that the powers that be are correct. In Gotham.
There's also a tendency to make the book feel more like a roll call than organic storytelling. Here's Batwoman! Here's Scarecrow! If we don't get through every single member of the Batfamily, every single Batvillain, and every single Batsupportingcharacter before the 60 issues are up, it won't be for lack of trying.
I'm not saying it's bad. It's not. But it is slow, and sometimes overburdened, and I'm not exactly buying into the main premise. But the writing and the art are never terrible, which is something.
November 25, 2024
Tour-de-force of the (formerly soi dissant "New 52") Bat-verse.
Part I. And it IS a real page-turner, as layer upon layer of plot to destroy Batnam are revealed.
Part I. And it IS a real page-turner, as layer upon layer of plot to destroy Batnam are revealed.
July 1, 2017
Just a good, solid Batman story.
🦇
🦇
February 10, 2015
I just finished this volume and I've got two words:
HOLY S***!!!
I didn't read this in the weekly issues. The boyfriend did that, but I preferred to make Future's End my weekly read. And I REALLY like weeklies: you don't have to wait a whole month to see what's happening (as you do with normal monthly issues) and you don't have to reread the previous volume (as you do with collected volumes). But here's the problem: these weeklies involve a lot of characters and quite a few simultaneous stories and sometimes it's a bit hard to keep up.
That's where the TPB comes out to play.
Sure, this is quite a hefty volume (21 issues? ouch!). I think the last time it took me this long to read a comic, there was a blue penis involved.
But it's so worth it
The main storyline is about Gordon. The Commissioner shoots this unarmed guy and it has serious repercussions. First of all, the bullet kind of blows some sort of fuse box that kills a few hundred people. Second of all, the guy was unarmed but Gordon swears he saw a gun.
Aaaaaaaand he goes to Blackgate.
Batman & Co to the rescue.
The side stories include a spirit haunting Arkham, the Falcone/Penguin gang war, Batgirl going to Brazil to find proof of her dad's innocence, and Red Robin and Harper Row (with a terrible Grifter blue mask?) go to Japan to find the source of some odd disease.
And somehow these are all connected.
I really enjoyed reading this, but there were parts that I really couldn't care less about.
- Joker's daughter? Isn't she the one in the new Suicide Squad? What the hell was she doing here?
- Mystical and magical? Shouldn't we leave that stuff for the JLD?
- I really hate Harper Row. Argh.
- I'm Portuguese. I take offence at the lack of effort put in the translations and the even bigger offence of mixing Portuguese and Spanish. Seriously, you've got Ivan Reis at DC. Just write him a post it note or something. I'm sure he's a busy man, but I bet he'd rather spend 5 minutes correcting these horrible mistakes than having this published.
There were also bits that I reaaaaaaaaally liked
- The fact that it starts with the ending, and it looks EPIC
- The Iceberg casino . Whaaaaaaaaat?! I couldn't believe it when I read it.
- Lt Bard. Wow. All I wanted to read was stuff about him. And then
-
- Absolutely EVERYTHING ELSE.
I'm seriously considering reading the rest of the story as the weekly issues, but I had so much fun reading the TPB that I might just contain my curiosity and wait for the next volume!
HOLY S***!!!
I didn't read this in the weekly issues. The boyfriend did that, but I preferred to make Future's End my weekly read. And I REALLY like weeklies: you don't have to wait a whole month to see what's happening (as you do with normal monthly issues) and you don't have to reread the previous volume (as you do with collected volumes). But here's the problem: these weeklies involve a lot of characters and quite a few simultaneous stories and sometimes it's a bit hard to keep up.
That's where the TPB comes out to play.
Sure, this is quite a hefty volume (21 issues? ouch!). I think the last time it took me this long to read a comic, there was a blue penis involved.
But it's so worth it
The main storyline is about Gordon. The Commissioner shoots this unarmed guy and it has serious repercussions. First of all, the bullet kind of blows some sort of fuse box that kills a few hundred people. Second of all, the guy was unarmed but Gordon swears he saw a gun.
Aaaaaaaand he goes to Blackgate.
Batman & Co to the rescue.
The side stories include a spirit haunting Arkham, the Falcone/Penguin gang war, Batgirl going to Brazil to find proof of her dad's innocence, and Red Robin and Harper Row (with a terrible Grifter blue mask?) go to Japan to find the source of some odd disease.
And somehow these are all connected.
I really enjoyed reading this, but there were parts that I really couldn't care less about.
- Joker's daughter? Isn't she the one in the new Suicide Squad? What the hell was she doing here?
- Mystical and magical? Shouldn't we leave that stuff for the JLD?
- I really hate Harper Row. Argh.
- I'm Portuguese. I take offence at the lack of effort put in the translations and the even bigger offence of mixing Portuguese and Spanish. Seriously, you've got Ivan Reis at DC. Just write him a post it note or something. I'm sure he's a busy man, but I bet he'd rather spend 5 minutes correcting these horrible mistakes than having this published.
There were also bits that I reaaaaaaaaally liked
- The fact that it starts with the ending, and it looks EPIC
- The Iceberg casino . Whaaaaaaaaat?! I couldn't believe it when I read it.
- Lt Bard. Wow. All I wanted to read was stuff about him. And then
-
- Absolutely EVERYTHING ELSE.
I'm seriously considering reading the rest of the story as the weekly issues, but I had so much fun reading the TPB that I might just contain my curiosity and wait for the next volume!
January 19, 2019
In terms of the promise of a series at its inception compared with where it eventually went, this may be the most disappointing comic I've ever read. Not the worst by any means. I just had such high hopes for it at the beginning, only to have them slowly and methodically drowned to death by the sheer number of cooks in this kitchen.
The setup is great. A vast conspiracy has somehow been building in the shadows of Gotham, culminating in the complete upending of the top-down management of the city itself. Batman no longer has anyone in the government he can trust, Jim Gordon is in dire straits, and even the Penguin's criminal empire is at risk of being overtaken by something worse. It feels very grounded to begin with, kind of like the old GCPD series (which I loved). The drama was mostly stemming from actual politics and difficult-to-prove crimes, giving Batman and company no clear villain to punch.
But then, about 6 issues in, completely out of nowhere, everything goes insane. You can actually see the moment it falls apart, and it's all due to Ray Fawkes's contributions. His first issue introduces about 3 new storylines and deals absolutely zero with the storylines we've been invested in. All of his stories are weird, supernatural nonsense that he never really bothers to dig into or explain (just like his bland runs on Constantine and Justice League Dark), complete with new weirdo characters he gives no actual motivations or personalities to. It's just a complete left turn directly into a brick wall.
Now, is it completely Fawkes's fault? I don't know. This series is massive, constructed by a total of six writers. Story credit is given to Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV (whose issues tend to be the strongest of the bunch), but the contributing writers include Fawkes, Tim Seeley, John Layman and Kyle Higgins. That's six total writers on this thing, which is never a great sign. I have a feeling that each writer wanted to contribute their own twist on this story rather than just write whatever Snyder & Tynion wanted (understandably), but in Fawkes's case, it just feels like a completely different comic altogether.
These new storylines totally derail the book, and by the end none of the most interesting plotlines are serviced satisfyingly. Instead the weirdo supernatural stuff takes over (again, without being grounded in any sort of reality), abandoning the compelling "Batman vs. the police" clashes in favor of like 5 straight issues of Batwing fighting ghost zombies for no reason. It's bananas, and I truly hated it. Not only that, but the crime plots I'm referring to don't even get wrapped up. They just stop, have a tidy bow tied on them, and go away. It's very frustrating.
I can't really recommend this complete slog (it's 490 pages long, by the way), even though it does have shining moments of greatness. But, that said, I'm still probably going to read the next volume because it seems to so widely affect the Batman side of the New 52 universe, which I'm currently reading through. So I guess stay tuned to see how much I don't like that one! What am I doing to myself?
The setup is great. A vast conspiracy has somehow been building in the shadows of Gotham, culminating in the complete upending of the top-down management of the city itself. Batman no longer has anyone in the government he can trust, Jim Gordon is in dire straits, and even the Penguin's criminal empire is at risk of being overtaken by something worse. It feels very grounded to begin with, kind of like the old GCPD series (which I loved). The drama was mostly stemming from actual politics and difficult-to-prove crimes, giving Batman and company no clear villain to punch.
But then, about 6 issues in, completely out of nowhere, everything goes insane. You can actually see the moment it falls apart, and it's all due to Ray Fawkes's contributions. His first issue introduces about 3 new storylines and deals absolutely zero with the storylines we've been invested in. All of his stories are weird, supernatural nonsense that he never really bothers to dig into or explain (just like his bland runs on Constantine and Justice League Dark), complete with new weirdo characters he gives no actual motivations or personalities to. It's just a complete left turn directly into a brick wall.
Now, is it completely Fawkes's fault? I don't know. This series is massive, constructed by a total of six writers. Story credit is given to Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV (whose issues tend to be the strongest of the bunch), but the contributing writers include Fawkes, Tim Seeley, John Layman and Kyle Higgins. That's six total writers on this thing, which is never a great sign. I have a feeling that each writer wanted to contribute their own twist on this story rather than just write whatever Snyder & Tynion wanted (understandably), but in Fawkes's case, it just feels like a completely different comic altogether.
These new storylines totally derail the book, and by the end none of the most interesting plotlines are serviced satisfyingly. Instead the weirdo supernatural stuff takes over (again, without being grounded in any sort of reality), abandoning the compelling "Batman vs. the police" clashes in favor of like 5 straight issues of Batwing fighting ghost zombies for no reason. It's bananas, and I truly hated it. Not only that, but the crime plots I'm referring to don't even get wrapped up. They just stop, have a tidy bow tied on them, and go away. It's very frustrating.
I can't really recommend this complete slog (it's 490 pages long, by the way), even though it does have shining moments of greatness. But, that said, I'm still probably going to read the next volume because it seems to so widely affect the Batman side of the New 52 universe, which I'm currently reading through. So I guess stay tuned to see how much I don't like that one! What am I doing to myself?
June 24, 2020
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Populated with criminals at every street corner, Gotham is set upon a rotten foundation where even its history is nothing more than lies piled together and conspiracies melted in corruption and collusion. Despite the very nature of this environment that breeds evil, there are individuals within it that try everything within their power to make it a livable space, a place where families can see bright futures and not fear for their life. In vain, its criminality pollutes the air and it is in the hands of heroes that lies the last means for justice. As part of Batman's 75th-anniversary celebration, a year-long weekly limited series was launched with Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV at the head of the project. Assisted with countless other notable writers and artists, they begin an enormous story-arc that will breathe life (or death) into Gotham.
What is Batman Eternal (Vol. 1) about? Collecting the first 21 issues of the series, the story is set around the Forever Evil story-arc and intersects with the Zero Year event during DC's New 52 era. Jumping straight into the action, the story places Commissioner James Gordon in a sticky situation against Professor Pyg before Batman arrives to lend a helping hand. As they split up, Gordon ends up triggering a chain of events that will have devastating consequences and ultimately places him under arrest. Driven by a desire to prove his innocence, Batman sets out to unravel this mystery that will shock the Gotham City Police Department to the very core, shocked to the point of changing their stance on vigilantism and becoming a hindrance for caped heroes. But the obstacles do not end there as the legendary mobster Carmine Falcone returns to take back Gotham.
So much goes on in this one and somehow it doesn't even feel overwhelming. The premise sets up a fantastic story but it doesn't stick to it necessarily. You'd imagine that the story would just lose its focus and overload the reader with too much world-building but every chapter feels like an episode that simply adds to the city's own criminal ecosystem. Every chapter thus presents a different sub-plot with various characters and ideas to be explored in the long-term and allows it to grow without any true frontiers. While it does leave a lot of loose threads unanswered, the pacing makes it easy to follow and incite intrigue in the reader. From Batman Incorporated to newly-introduced heroes, this series does a fantastic job of seamlessly tying together multiple elements from the New 52 universe to forge this self-contained story. The authors also set out to focus on a different aspect of Batman's character and the stories that are usually characteristic of his adventures, whether it's a mystery thriller or an action-packed adventure.
The artwork is where the most fault can be identified. This is very inevitable due to the way each issue is published (having a weekly release will force your hand into contracting multiple creative teams) but knowing this beforehand immensely helps in appreciating the story for what it offers. The different styles are quite interesting in general although it sometimes dips to all-time lows with artistic visions that don't necessarily mesh well with Batman's character. Certain artists tried to capture the obscure magic element, others the horror hidden within the city, others the noir detective style, but what they ultimately offer are insightful interpretations of Batman's lore. These styles never necessarily look to fit together but commemorate the character in his natural habit, while also looking into his bond with various heroes like James Gordon.
Batman Eternal (Vol. 1) is a unique story allowing Gotham to become a character of its own as villains, heroes, and ideas stunningly interact together.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
February 13, 2015
This is a fantastic collection, especially if you haven't read the weekly Batman Eternal comics. Putting all the comics together in a volume makes the story flow better and truly appreciate it. I can also say that the story gets even better in the issues past Volume 1.
A MUST READ for Batman, Bat-family & Bat-Villian Fans!!!
A MUST READ for Batman, Bat-family & Bat-Villian Fans!!!
July 14, 2015
This one started off really well but man it really went off the rails. So busy with so many villains and so many of the Batman Inc. family it was just too much. Plus the ever changing artists makes for a rather unpleasant experience. Really takes away from the story. 2.5 stars rounded down.
April 1, 2020
I am a fan of Batman. Bronze Age Batman, that is. I generally don't care much for the 1990's and onward. But this one is an engrossing epic. I quite enjoyed it. Might have to read the two other volumes.
July 1, 2015
3.5 stars
This volume is a compilation of a weekly series and I'm pretty impressed with the quality of this story. The story and art are fairly consistent through the whole book and they've used a handful of different artists, my favorite being Fabrok.
The story is engaging as well, with at least one central mystery. I did have some issues with the initial "crime" and felt that afterwards people were too quick to judge after it happened (that'll make more sense after you read it.) That aside, the plot is fine, but there are quite a few story threads (think a season of Game of Thrones so at times, you completely drop one thread in favor of another. They do a decent job of going back and forth, reminding you what happened, although when you read this all in one go through a few details get repetitive. The pacing suffers a little as well and by halfway through I was getting anxious for something major to happen.
There are a lot of "WTF?" moments, seeds for future stories, and surprisingly not a lot of Batman. He's there of course, but because of the depth of the cast and multiple story threads, he doesn't feel like the central figure. The villain they brought back for the main story was a surprise to me and a good idea, although the resolution fell flat for me. There were a few other villains that I didn't know and assumed they were introduced elsewhere.
All in all, definitely worthwhile reading and I'm going to give Vol 2 a shot.
This volume is a compilation of a weekly series and I'm pretty impressed with the quality of this story. The story and art are fairly consistent through the whole book and they've used a handful of different artists, my favorite being Fabrok.
The story is engaging as well, with at least one central mystery. I did have some issues with the initial "crime" and felt that afterwards people were too quick to judge after it happened (that'll make more sense after you read it.) That aside, the plot is fine, but there are quite a few story threads (think a season of Game of Thrones so at times, you completely drop one thread in favor of another. They do a decent job of going back and forth, reminding you what happened, although when you read this all in one go through a few details get repetitive. The pacing suffers a little as well and by halfway through I was getting anxious for something major to happen.
There are a lot of "WTF?" moments, seeds for future stories, and surprisingly not a lot of Batman. He's there of course, but because of the depth of the cast and multiple story threads, he doesn't feel like the central figure. The villain they brought back for the main story was a surprise to me and a good idea, although the resolution fell flat for me. There were a few other villains that I didn't know and assumed they were introduced elsewhere.
All in all, definitely worthwhile reading and I'm going to give Vol 2 a shot.
June 28, 2017
Ok, brilliant work here! But what was up with all that changing artwork :( Sometimes it felt really strange and awkward... not to mention bad ..
But the first story about Falcone/Penguin/... was definitely a great start!
Oh, and great to see the entire "gang" out there ;)
The second story in here, takes place at Arkham... where Batwing and Corrigan land from situation in to situation..
Finally we reach the end of the volume and you think you know everything.. oh my.. it just keep getting better and better!!
Seriously: one of the finer stories I've read these last years
But the first story about Falcone/Penguin/... was definitely a great start!
Oh, and great to see the entire "gang" out there ;)
The second story in here, takes place at Arkham... where Batwing and Corrigan land from situation in to situation..
Finally we reach the end of the volume and you think you know everything.. oh my.. it just keep getting better and better!!
Seriously: one of the finer stories I've read these last years
June 6, 2014
More like 4.5 stars, really. This is a lot of fun and the weekly release keeps you on your toes and fully engrossed in the story, which is surprisingly consistent, given the frequent releases and rotation of writers. This is well worth the read. Catch up now if you can with single issues but, if not, the trade paper backs will be a welcomed addition to your collection.
November 19, 2019
Wow this was a monster graphic novel! It started great until about half way. Then zombie things popped up, then every villain in the Batman comics came out, then the story got confusing from there. I wanted to like this but after half way it just started going down hill for me.
January 23, 2015
Solid. Nothing amazing.
July 8, 2023
While I liked Gordon's plot, it's full of typical N52 characterization.
February 18, 2016
Batman Eternal was an interesting read. It had some great aspects to it, and some that weren't all that great. Let's start at the beginning- Commissioner Gordon is framed for murder, after shooting an unarmed man and causing a train crash that kills 162 people. He ends up in Blackgate Prison pending his trial and verdict. In the meanwhile Carmine Falcone has returned to Gotham and has started a gang war with the Penguin. There is also something supernatural going on in the bowels of Gotham. These are the three main stories going on that Batman has to deal with.
This story takes place after Forever Evil and batman Inc, both of which I am not familiar with. In this timeline Dick Grayson is dead- but Red Hood and Red Robin are still around. Damien Wayne is dead as well, I think, but he's not around so he might as well be dead. I liked Nightwing and Damien-both are great characters. Instead of these guys we have a plethora of B and C listers helping Batman. There is Batgirl (Barbara Gordon-who apparently is no longer crippled or the Oracle), Batwoman (who the Hell knows who this is), some white-trash projects girl with a stupid haircut and tasers- oh and she happens to be Tony Stark smart with technology (who knew inner-city schools were SO good?) and Batwing (Lucius Fox's kid in power armor). If I seem underwhelmed at all these new Bat-People, it is because I am. Batman trained for nearly a decade or two (and keeps training) to achieve his level of expertise. But with this influx of c-listers..it begs the question- who trained them? How are they so good? It demeans the whole Batman concept. A normal man who uses skill, brains and technology to defeat supercriminals. But, if everyone and their teenage daughter can do it (oh that reminds me Cluemaster's teenage daughter also dons a mask near the end *sigh*) then is Batman really special? I didn't hate all the characters- I thought batgirl and batwoman were fine, but the kids need to be kept home.
The rest of the story is not bad, though it does tend to be all over the map. It never does say what happened to Jim Corrigan (The Spectre) and Batwing-but that might be in Vol 2. I shall see. It is an ambitious story with old characters like Falcone and Penguin and new ones such as Commissioner Baird. It stretches from Gotham all the way to Hong Kong and Rio (where we meet C-list Batmen like the Argentinian Batman and a Japanese Batman), it involves lesser known villains like the Ten-Eyed Man and Deacon Blackfyre trying to engineer a supernatural armageddon and some girl calling herself the Joker's daughter (not sure what her story is-but the character has promise), it takes place in Gotham icons like Arkham and Blackgate- so it is a bold and exciting story. I think I would have liked it more if Mr. Snyder had shied away from all the B and C list types ( did I mention Alfred's daughter is also some super-soldier? *sigh*)..it just gets VERY annoying. I mean if there are hundreds, I exaggerate but you get my point, of these heroes popping up at the drop of a hat-then why is there so much damn crime still? Seriously?
The art is also all over the place- some it is excellent, the rest is merely good to not too bad. Apparently they had a rotating artist position for this series. But, on the whole the art was good I'd give it a 4/5 for the whole.
If you are caught up on all the Batman Inc, Forever Evil, etc stuff then you might really like this. If you are a more traditional Batman fan (you know-Batman, Robin- AND a few others like Nightwing, Red Robin, even Batwoman and Batgirl are ok) then all these B and C listers will get on your nerves.
This story takes place after Forever Evil and batman Inc, both of which I am not familiar with. In this timeline Dick Grayson is dead- but Red Hood and Red Robin are still around. Damien Wayne is dead as well, I think, but he's not around so he might as well be dead. I liked Nightwing and Damien-both are great characters. Instead of these guys we have a plethora of B and C listers helping Batman. There is Batgirl (Barbara Gordon-who apparently is no longer crippled or the Oracle), Batwoman (who the Hell knows who this is), some white-trash projects girl with a stupid haircut and tasers- oh and she happens to be Tony Stark smart with technology (who knew inner-city schools were SO good?) and Batwing (Lucius Fox's kid in power armor). If I seem underwhelmed at all these new Bat-People, it is because I am. Batman trained for nearly a decade or two (and keeps training) to achieve his level of expertise. But with this influx of c-listers..it begs the question- who trained them? How are they so good? It demeans the whole Batman concept. A normal man who uses skill, brains and technology to defeat supercriminals. But, if everyone and their teenage daughter can do it (oh that reminds me Cluemaster's teenage daughter also dons a mask near the end *sigh*) then is Batman really special? I didn't hate all the characters- I thought batgirl and batwoman were fine, but the kids need to be kept home.
The rest of the story is not bad, though it does tend to be all over the map. It never does say what happened to Jim Corrigan (The Spectre) and Batwing-but that might be in Vol 2. I shall see. It is an ambitious story with old characters like Falcone and Penguin and new ones such as Commissioner Baird. It stretches from Gotham all the way to Hong Kong and Rio (where we meet C-list Batmen like the Argentinian Batman and a Japanese Batman), it involves lesser known villains like the Ten-Eyed Man and Deacon Blackfyre trying to engineer a supernatural armageddon and some girl calling herself the Joker's daughter (not sure what her story is-but the character has promise), it takes place in Gotham icons like Arkham and Blackgate- so it is a bold and exciting story. I think I would have liked it more if Mr. Snyder had shied away from all the B and C list types ( did I mention Alfred's daughter is also some super-soldier? *sigh*)..it just gets VERY annoying. I mean if there are hundreds, I exaggerate but you get my point, of these heroes popping up at the drop of a hat-then why is there so much damn crime still? Seriously?
The art is also all over the place- some it is excellent, the rest is merely good to not too bad. Apparently they had a rotating artist position for this series. But, on the whole the art was good I'd give it a 4/5 for the whole.
If you are caught up on all the Batman Inc, Forever Evil, etc stuff then you might really like this. If you are a more traditional Batman fan (you know-Batman, Robin- AND a few others like Nightwing, Red Robin, even Batwoman and Batgirl are ok) then all these B and C listers will get on your nerves.
February 26, 2025
A new amazing adventure for the black knight with Scott Snyder. Although the description says that this arc comes as a side story after the events of 'Forever Evil', I couldn't see the relation, but rather found many references to the timeline of the 'Zero Year' arc, which I read recently.
So what's the deal this time? chaos, chaos everywhere, different villainous activities that seem unrelated but all coinciding at the same time, and not only in Gotham, but the battles go deeper across continents to Brazil, Hong kong, and Tokyo. And the detective work by the Bat and his allies from the Bat universe that seems independent at first as parallel stories going side by side, but all the parts fall through to show that everything is indeed connected on a grand scheme, with some unknown villain in the background orchestrating the fall of Gotham and the ruin of Batman once and for all.
Can't wait to start volume 2
MiM
So what's the deal this time? chaos, chaos everywhere, different villainous activities that seem unrelated but all coinciding at the same time, and not only in Gotham, but the battles go deeper across continents to Brazil, Hong kong, and Tokyo. And the detective work by the Bat and his allies from the Bat universe that seems independent at first as parallel stories going side by side, but all the parts fall through to show that everything is indeed connected on a grand scheme, with some unknown villain in the background orchestrating the fall of Gotham and the ruin of Batman once and for all.
Can't wait to start volume 2
MiM
May 25, 2015
I'm enjoying myself, though a million comic story arc is kind of excessive (this huge volume isn't even complete). I like when arcs have a million different small villains, either being manipulated by a different one, or just taking advantage of the chaos, which this has.
I did spend a lot of time asking who the crap someone was, which I suppose is fine? It certainly keeps you on your toes.
Gordon is a bit of an anomaly in this arc. I feel like they made him not fight things as much due to a desire to not complicate the story even more, at the expense of not being true to the character. I'm getting over it though.
I would like someone to do something about Mary "Harper" Sue. Cut her hand off or something. Ok, a little extreme. But have her fail at something. Anything.
/end rambling... for now
I did spend a lot of time asking who the crap someone was, which I suppose is fine? It certainly keeps you on your toes.
Gordon is a bit of an anomaly in this arc. I feel like they made him not fight things as much due to a desire to not complicate the story even more, at the expense of not being true to the character. I'm getting over it though.
I would like someone to do something about Mary "Harper" Sue. Cut her hand off or something. Ok, a little extreme. But have her fail at something. Anything.
/end rambling... for now
January 28, 2016
Holy shiitake mushrooms! WOW! Batman by Scott Snyder is AMAZING! First Night of the Owls, now this!
This is a little later in the New 52 than I've read, so the mentions of Nightwing really threw me, and I wondered why he wasn't there... :( I hate being spoiled.
Basically it's like Night of the Owls, everything goes to hell, but this time it's slower. Even at the end of this volume I don't know who is behind what's happening. I have to wonder, how does Gotham stay together with all the crap of Owls, Batman Inc, and now this? How is a single store open? Seriously.
But what I love is that this time I have no clue who's going to pop up next. Will it be a big villain I know? Or some small villain from the 1950's I've never heard of? We'll see.
This is a little later in the New 52 than I've read, so the mentions of Nightwing really threw me, and I wondered why he wasn't there... :( I hate being spoiled.
Basically it's like Night of the Owls, everything goes to hell, but this time it's slower. Even at the end of this volume I don't know who is behind what's happening. I have to wonder, how does Gotham stay together with all the crap of Owls, Batman Inc, and now this? How is a single store open? Seriously.
But what I love is that this time I have no clue who's going to pop up next. Will it be a big villain I know? Or some small villain from the 1950's I've never heard of? We'll see.
April 11, 2015
Holy crap that ending! I enjoyed this volume, probably because of the sheer size of it. The page count allowed for a lot more exposition (of the plot-moving type, not the shitty extraneous type), and kept several different story threads going at once. Now I seriously have to know: So yeah, overall enjoyed this one. Also, nice tie-in/crossover with the Spectre. The second I saw him on the page, I had to go into my brother's room and tell him about it (he's a Spectre nut)! Also, the thing with Batwing almost made me curious enough to seek out his comic. I'd recommend it if you're a Bat-fan, especially if you're more entrenched than a newbie like me - you'll probably get even more out of it!
January 18, 2016
wow this graphic novel is huge. not only worth every cent in sheer volume of pages but each page and packed with so much plot and subplot.
penguin and the returned falcone are warring in Gotham, while cluemasters daughter starts to grow into her own identity and commissioner gordan is in blackgate prison. oh also Alfred's daughter visits and batgirl and red hood travel to south america. boy oh boy so much story I loved it and the art was unique and gritty but perhaps my least favourite part of this volume.
penguin and the returned falcone are warring in Gotham, while cluemasters daughter starts to grow into her own identity and commissioner gordan is in blackgate prison. oh also Alfred's daughter visits and batgirl and red hood travel to south america. boy oh boy so much story I loved it and the art was unique and gritty but perhaps my least favourite part of this volume.
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