Batman Eternal #13 Review

So, a couple of weeks ago in my weekly blog, I made a joke that reviewing this book has become my weekly column on how weekly comics should/shouldn’t be done. But as I’m sitting here staring at cherry picked pages of this book that I’ve both applauded and lambasted over the past few months, I find that this is totally true. When you’re doing a weekly book that changes hands as much as this one does, hiccups are just going to be par for the course. Having said that, Batman Eternal manages to remain a mostly strong comic even when the concepts are stronger than the execution. If it weren’t for the compelling story Scott Snyder has laid out for other creators to script and illustrate, this series would have a much tougher time than it’s had. This week, as he’s cooling his heels in Blackgate prison, Jim Gordon has an unexpected meeting with his son, James Gordon Jr. The result is an absolutely delicious moment of a villain reading his own father like a set of flash cards. There is something to be said about the symbolism here. One mainstay of Batman’s list of bad guys has always been that they often pose the question of whether or not Batman exists because of them or vice versa. There’s also the long standing quandry of how far into the darkness Batman really reaches. In recent times, we don’t get to see him in this predicament as as often because (let’s face it), it’s easier to sell younger audiences a character that’s unilaterally good no matter even with violent methods. So, i…