It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed this weekly title here, so I thought that since it’s a very slow week in terms of books hitting the stands, I’d give my thoughts on it.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating – when this weekly series has finished in the spring of 2015, I’m truly going to miss it!
BATMAN: ETERNAL #39
Written by: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley, Kyle Higgins
Art by: Ramon Perez
Cover by: Tommy Lee Edwards
Published by: DC Comics
Cover price: $3.99
Previously in BATMAN: ETERNAL: Someone has pieced together the mystery behind the plot to crush Gotham City…but it’s not Batman! The Riddler knows all – and he’ll never tell!
A WEEKLY SUCCESS
Before I hit the content, I thought I’d delve a little outside the printed page.
One of the reasons DC launched this title was to celebrate Batman’s 75th anniversary. I think the company has done the Dark Knight proud since he got a much bigger party than the Man of Steel did last year. I mean, I see Batman merchandise in nearly every store I shop in. Wow!
With a team of writers led by Scott Snyder, this has been the ideal time to put out a weekly series on Batman. As of this writing, they haven’t missed an issue! That’s quite an accomplishment given that all of these creators are busy people, having their own individual projects to complete as well.
I also keep hearing that Batman: Eternal has been selling extremely well, and that’s also true of Futures End and the newer Earth 2 weeklies. If I were DC, I’d consider keeping this trend going after the move to L.A. has been completed in 2015.
THE WRITING HASN’T LET UP A BIT
Weekly books are quite the challenge, given all the coordination it must take to keep all the creators on schedule. Some titles like this have seen weeks in which things didn’t quite measure up to the rest of the run.
I’ve been reading this book since it kicked off, and I haven’t seen any let up in quality from week to week. Instead, I get to the end of an issue and wish it wasn’t a whole week until the next one. (That’s quite a compliment given that I feel the same with the monthly Batman books.)
We’ve seen characters new and old in this series, and I think they’ve done right by them all. Even when Batman hasn’t been the main hero of the week, the person who’s making things happen is living up to the spotlight.
My understanding is that Mr. Snyder is overseeing the writing, and he’s doing an excellent job with that. Also, I feel that the individual writers have been doing their best to keep this book from being on the top of my weekly stack of comics.
This week, the focus is on the Riddler, who has gotten quite an upgrade thanks to Mr. Snyder in recent years. Unlike Batman, he’s figured out just who’s making the Dark Knight’s miserable . However, he’s NOT going to give up that information by speaking plainly. Instead, he’s told Batman in his usual code, but the caped hero’s been way too busy to figure it out … yet!
We also see Batman’s technology being turned against him, and that could be a challenge. I do think, though, that if I were Batman, I’d have a failsafe or two installed to prevent this kind of thing from happening to me, but we’ll see.
THE ART SHINES STRONGLY
There’s no way an artist in today’s environment could possibly turn out a weekly comic, so I expected there to be a variety of folks to make the art happen.
Jason Fabok, who’s work I grew to enjoy on Detective Comics, did several of the early issues. I’m sorry when it comes to this book that he’s moved on to Justice League, but I have been pretty happy with the other artists from week to week.
Ramon Perez does a good job with both character moments and action sequences, so he’s propelling the story forward, as are the other people handling the artwork.
Cool cover, too, by the way!
BOTTOM LINE: Week by Week, I Love this Series!
As I mentioned earlier, there will be a Batman: Eternal-sized hole in my reading after this book concludes. However, I did get a chance during an interview with Mr. Tynion to ask if we might see another year of this title somewhere down the road, and he hinted that it could happen! I sure hope it does!
Batman’s flying high right now, and that’s such a pleasure for a long-time Bat-fan like me. I was sorry to see Arkham Manor bite the big one, but there are so many other excellent Bat-titles out there now that it’s lessening my pain.
If you’re late to Batman: Eternal, the first volume is something you will be able to pick up soon if you haven’t already. I highly recommend this powerful Batman series, so don’t miss it!
