Script: Kyle Higgins / artist: Jed Dougherty , Goran Sudzuka & Roger Robinson / DC Comics
Batman Eternal is one of these books that makes certain promises at its beginning and then reverse engineers those moments to slowly reveal how we get to those moments. With the story obviously inching closer to its resolution, Scott Snyder and his musical chairs game of creative talent have been handing out more long promised payoffs than a church Bingo Night. This week’s sees the one I, in particular, have been waiting for since the series began.
This issue features the rise of the newest addition to the Bat-family: Harper “Bluebird” Row. The Mad Hatter is up to his old tricks thanks to an upgrade from Batman’s mystery troll. Now, with the rest of the team incapacitated, the new girl has to step up to the learning curve quickly if Gotham is going survive yet another horror in this year of living dangerously. Meanwhile, the Spoiler gets some time out of harm’s way as….oh, who are we kidding? Let’s face it. The Spoiler is never out of harm’s way. Kyle Higgins is back on scripting duty and basically served his purpose. The plot was tight and the dialogue didn’t seem to be a nuisance. Once again, the fatal flaw this week was definitely the artwork.
This time, the trouble was just too many cooks in the kitchen. Jed Dougherty, Goran Sudzuka and Roger Robinson all did the visuals on this issue. It takes less people to pilot the Jaegers in Pacific Rim than it did to draw this book and it shows. The contrast between artists trying to blend their varying styles is too noticeable. Notable and annoying. There are a handful of artists who work well together on the same issue of a book. I can tell that this combination is NOT among that handful.
Bottom Line: Despite too many artists having a hand in getting the book drawn, it looks better than last week. And it’s still a pretty good way to welcome the new gal on the block to the team story-wise. 7.5 out of 10
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