Batman Eternal #10 Review

Hopefully, by now, you’re reading this to see if you agree with me about what you just read and not still wondering whether or not this is a title you should pick up. If it’s the former, I’m going to start questioning our writer/reader relationship. If it’s the latter, welcome back….good to see you. Batman Eternal is a weekly title that’s more addictive than some television shows lately (excluding Game of Thrones…I’ve been advised that suggesting otherwise borders on heresy). Sadly, this week’s installment is the result of playing a constant game of Hot Potato with creative talent. You can have good story but not-so-good artwork. John Layman is still on scripting duties for Scott Snyder’s ready-made plot. We pick up with Catwoman captive to Carmine “The Roman” Falcone whose grip on the city grows blatantly tighter by the day. There’s a fantastic exchange between the two that not only hammers home the point that these two have serious axes to grind with one another, but it also shines a somewhat different light on this villain. Usually, with Batman baddies, their motivations are pretty self-gratifying. They just want to watch Gotham burn (Joker), they’re greedy (Riddler), they want to show a status quo that has marginalized and ignored them how smart they are (Riddler again) or they just REALLY hate Batman (Hush, Thomas Wayne Jr). Falcone hangs onto a very interesting sort of self-absolution reminiscent of Nino Brown “you need me” attitude towards organized crime. He genui…