Review: Batman Eternal Volume 1

After cornering a criminal in the train tunnels beneath Gotham City, Commissioner Gordon appears to shoot the unarmed man. Now stripped of his rank and facing a criminal trial, Gordon is sent to Blackgate. It’s up to the Dark Knight and the newly transferred Police Lieutenant Jason Bard to prove Gordon’s innocence. Meanwhile, a turf war is brewing between Penguin and the mobster Carmine Falcone.

Batman Eternal Volume 1 collects Batman: Eternal #1-21, written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and John Layman.

Batman: Eternal is an expansive series with an impressively large cast, which makes it feel like a modern update on the classic Batman Family series from the 1970s mixed with Gotham Central. It’s a title that is complex and focuses on the interwoven narratives of the most iconic Gotham City-based characters. From Spoiler to Red Hood, just about every fan-favourite Gothamite shows up and contributes a little something to the story. This is both a pro and a con. It’s great because you’re getting to see a wide range of diverse characters in one place, but is disappointing because some feel misused or fail to contribute anything substantial to the narrative. An example of this would be Catwoman. She shows up early on and is featured rather prominently in the first quarter of the story, but disappears for the rest. Something similar can be said for Spoiler. Eternal was hotly anticipated for re-introducing her to the DC Universe, but her origins are shoehorned into the book and a lot of time passes between the scenes featuring the character.

The narrative quality of Batman: Eternal is varied. There’s a lot to love, but just as much to dislike. My biggest issue was the overabundance of subplots, which also ties into the massive cast. The main plot seems to be that of Commissioner Gordon’s unjust imprisonment and the investigation to prove his innocence. This includes Batman’s alliance with Jason Bard, as well as Batgirl going rogue and being intercepted by Batwoman and Red Hood while following a lead in South America. These are the two most noteworthy and character building plots. In fact, the scenes with Batgirl and her allies are perhaps my favourite. Red Hood’s explanation of Batgirl’s motives shows tremendous depth for both characters, as do the exchanges he has with her after she turns against him. 

Then there’s Falcone and Penguin’s turf war, Red Robin’s trip to Japan, the origins of fan-favourite Spoiler, Alfred tending to his injured daughter Julia, and Batwing’s team-up with Jim Corrigan to investigate the underground. Some of these subplots are better than others, but for the most part they all feel unnecessary. While it’s evident that each one is hinting at something bigger to come, there’s zero pay off due to a lackluster cliffhanger. If you don’t give your readers some sense of closure or direction after having them read 21 issues of a series, then why should they keep reading?

Batman: Eternal is at its core a companion series to Scott Snyder’s run on Batman. There are many moments of brilliance, but these are often dimmed by a meandering narrative that goes nowhere for over 20 issues. Overall, the quality of the dialogue is above average and the potpourri of art styles functions quite well for this type of vignette-style storytelling. This book is a mixed bag. For fans of Stephanie Brown, it serves as her much awaited return to comics. Sadly, you have to drudge through a bunch of other stories to even get to it. The same can be said for just about every character or plot. I really want to like Batman: Eternal because it features a lot of characters I love and many of the storylines have potential. Unfortunately, the execution is messy and by the end of the first volume I had to wrack my brain to even remember every subplot. If you’re intending to pick this one up, be ready to take notes so you can keep track of everything.

RATING: C+