Now that business has begun to pick up in Batman Eternal, it’s going to be interesting to see how the creative team handles juggling the action on multiple fronts. As it is, the book has wrestled on and off with handling large amounts of material in single issues. With shit about to really hit the fan all across Gotham and the “master plan” coming into focus, is this weekly series going to be able to handle it?
This week, Kyle Higgins is at the scripting helm. Last week, the conspiracy to swallow Gotham whole began with the release of an old foe, The Architect, from Blackgate Penitentiary. In response, he has wasted no time in wreaking havoc in the city which, of course, attracts the attention of our favorite Dark Knight who I’m beginning to think just doesn’t sleep or eat or stop to use the bathroom. In that regard, this series is like an episode of 24. When you’ve been out kicking ass without a break as long as Batman has, does he just shave in the car? Does his five o’clock shadow grow awkwardly around the mask? Am I the only one who wonders this? Anyway, back at Wayne Manor, Alfred aka Penny-One (the WORST codename when you’re last name is Pennyworth) is in bad shape after Hush’s attack on the mansion and a confession leads his daughter Julia further down the rabbit hole of secrets.
Higgins manages a well paced, straightforward story that continues last week’s habit of not taking on too much material. As the plot thickens, perhaps there’s not as much need to cover so many fronts at one time. Hopefully, this carries over into next week as well. Jorge Lucas’ art has the right ideas, but the faces could stand to be a bit more expressive and it feels a bit rushed in certain panels. But all of the action beats hit the mark and, considering there’s more than a little action in this issue, the good definitely outweighs the bad.
Bottom Line: Decent looking, but the real win seems to be the creative team’s decision to take on less material per issue. 8 out of 10
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