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Batman Eternal #11
Written by Tim Seeley, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, & John Layman
Illustrated by Ian Bertram
Colors by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Dezi SientyThe trial of Jim Gordon begins!
On the Cover: A Guillem March & Tomeu Morey cover depicting Batgirl quite literally tangled up in battle with Scorpiana.
How is the Story Progressing?:
The two weeklies seem to be sticking to a rough 3-plotline-per-issue standard. That’s not entirely true here, as this issue is bookended by a 4th setting involving Catwoman at the grave of her fence, Lola. This part is more of a tone-setter than anything that moves the plot forward, but it’s a strong one.
Batgirl shows up in Rio De Janeiro this issue, on the hunt for Gonzolo Dominguez – a Brazilian soap opera star who she pegged at the scene of the train crash in Gotham that eventually put her Jim Gordon on trial. As the cover teased, she takes on Scopiana of the Club of Villains, who also wants Dominguez for some “unfinished business.” Seems that he was only indirectly involved in the train crash – being the victim of some sort of gruesome plastic surgery-induced identity theft. This sequence is all the right kind of nuts, incorporating the camp of the telenovella world with the unique flavor of Bertram’s art (more on that later). It’s all very playful, with a scenery chewing villain in Scorpiana, to boot. Seeley makes time for a little bit of character work before its all over, alluding to Barbara’s obsession with clearing her father’s name.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Brown does a little obsessing of her own, pouring over whatever she could find on her father from the local library. We get to see a gameshow that her father hosted before becoming Cluemaster, wherein he flips out at an affluent contestant who’s intellect rates below French Stewart from SNL’s “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch. Kind of gives us an idea that he might not have been the greatest guy from the beginning. Stephanie gives us a little context for why her father would become the Cluemaster, and compares him to a dollar store version of the Riddler for good measure.
Finally, Alfred and his daughter Julia literally and figuratively “patch things up” (a little bit, at least) after having been alienated from one another for a long time. I found the depiction of Alfred to be fascinating here. Where we normally see him as a stoic, capable father figure for “Batman & Sons” – he comes across as utterly disarmed and dejected when confronted with his daughter. We’ve seen him breakdown or show weakness before, but in this scene, he basically embodies the idea of regret.
New 52 Debuts: Gonzolo Dominguez is a new character, who I suspect we won’t see much more of, as his appearance here is mostly a red herring to the identity of the real culprit. That said, he made quite an impression in a rather fun issue of “Batman Eternal.”
Fun fact: The plastic surgery procedure that Dominguez claims he was involved in was performed by a “Dr. Mangaravite.” You can Google it if you don’t believe me, but that is a real plastic surgeon from Rio De Janeiro. Now that’s researching your story.
“Batman Eternal” Debuts: El Gaucho, everybody’s favorite Latino Batman facsimile, shows up because why wouldn’t you have him show up when your issue is set in Brazil? His appearance is brief, but memorable, as he tries to resist a couple of curvy body paint models. More El Gaucho in future “Batman Eternal” issues, please and thank you.
Visuals: What an inspired choice to get Ian Bertram to work on “Batman Eternal” – especially this particular issue. I think this issue illustrates, better than any other so far, the importance of art on the final tone and quality of a comic book. Bertram’s flavorful art and playfulness during the Brazil sequences were almost the stuff of madcap alternative comics. Quite possibly the exact opposite of what you would expect when you think of ‘New 52’ Batman and the closest thing to re-capture the camp spirit of Grant Morrison’s “Batman Inc.”
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I saw some controversy about the art choices on social media, which is a matter of taste, I realize, but this was very much a valid visual interpretation of Batman. It was refreshing that DC Comics was willing to show the bounding, fun side of Batman again, even while their darker, more realistic takes have been selling well. The artists that have worked in that style have been quite strong, too, don’t get me wrong. It was just so refreshing to get something different. And to have Dave Stewart on board to do a particularly colorful issue? Well, that’s just special – no other way to say it.
Three Big Questions:
1. What will Julia Pennyworth become?
We already saw Julia dressin’ up an awful lot like Catwoman, which we commented on the last time we did reviews. But Alfred makes an offer to help her in her quest for justice, the same way that he aids Batman on a daily basis. Will Julia become a member of the Bat Family, or will this be an entirely rogue affair? Could we have another Batgirl on our hands? Some other kind of bird or bat or cat person? *puts on David Bowie’s “Cat People”*
2. So, dads, eh?
I, for one, think it’s also pretty cool that they would do such a specific thematic exploration right in the middle of a weekly mainstream bat book. Oh, of course the theme of “fathers of costumed people” has been done to death, but nothing here was offensively overwrought or cheesy. After all, ‘Villains Month’ taught us that every villain has either a bad dad or a bad mother.
Here, we get to explore the effects that their paternal upbringing had on Catwoman, Spoiler, Batgirl, and Julia Pennyworth individually. With Julia, there’s a chance for redemption. With Spoiler, we’re seeing the mere beginnings of her realizations about her father. There’s a burned bridge between Catwoman and her father – a relationship that seems to be running in the opposite direction of Julia and Alfred’s. I guess my question would be, can we expect more of these “very special “Batman Eternal” issues down the road? Because this one was really good.
3. What do the Club of Villains have to do with all of this?
So far, Professor Pyg aside, we haven’t folded in much of Batman’s oddball rogues gallery of costumed villains. The Gotham City Police Department and the mob are pretty realistic rivals for him to face off against. There’s been a supernatural element too, but it’s not yet clear how that factors in and it doesn’t really involve his more iconic rogues.
But surely they’re coming, right? We get the idea that the Club of Villains might have been involved in the events of “Batman Eternal” #1, but we’re not exactly sure how or why. So what role are they playing, and when will we see Killer Croc, Clock King, Poison Ivy, The Joker, etcetera – if at all?
Final Verdict: 9.0 – The series was pretty close to needing a kick in the proverbial pants, and it definitely got one here. “Batman Eternal” #11 is a special issue that shows the potential for something really different to still work as part of a patchwork weekly series.
Batman Eternal #12
Written by James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley, and John Layman
Illustrated by Mikel Janin
Colors by Jeromy Cox
Lettered by Taylor EspositoJason Bard makes his big play to end the gang war once and for all. And Jim Gordon’s trial becomes a family affair!
On the Cover: Another Guillem March/Tomeu Morey joint, wherein Batman is perched on a rooftop air duct or something, as the ominous GCPD blimp floats above the city in search of him.
How is the Story Progressing?: As Falcone’s gang wages his war to take back the streets of Gotham, the noble Jason Bard takes up a very Gordon-esque crusade to take them on in an unconventional way. Remember that the new commissioner won’t let them go after the mob. Gotham City corruption at its best.
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Gordon and Batman have a fun rendezvous in the back of a police van, Bruce dressed up as a heavily armed officer. Gordon, with a keen eye and a unique relationship to Batman, sees right through that.
“Batman Eternal” continues to take back the character of Tim Drake and fold him into the Bat Family proper again. He gets a fun little scene where he interrogates Professor Pyg and another cute scene where he has a confusing introduction to Julia Pennyworth. This is all adding up to another really strong issue, where the writers are really being careful with the ensemble cast and making it all feel like the big Bat Family that has become essential to Batman’s character.
Gordon’s trial finally begins in earnest and the prosecuting might as well have dropped a mic at the end of his opening statement, because it sure was brutal. If that wasn’t bad enough for Gordon, we get the return of everyone’s favorite tsundere socially inept weirdo: James Gordon Jr.
New 52 Debuts: None, other than that badass attorney that dropped the hammer on Gordon.
“Batman Eternal” Debuts: James Gordon Jr. makes a final splash page teaser of an appearance, because the police are apparently really bad at preventing Gordon from talking to anyone he shouldn’t be. Still, it’s the introduction to “Batman Eternal” that JGJr. deserves – he’s one of the best things to happen to the Batman world in some time.
Visuals: Another strong issue visually, but one that we knew more what to expect from when compared to Bertram’s issue #11. Mikel Janin is one of the strongest artists in DC Comics’ stable right now. His smooth, attractive, and realistic style fits with the slick art that “Batman Eternal” debuted with under Jason Fabok. I’m particularly impressed with the realism aspect, which is always something that Janin has been able to lay claim to.
Take this image of Barbara Gordon Batgirl:
In my opinion, that’s as realistic as comic book art gets before it looks stilted, stiff, or falls into the uncanny valley. I think I probably stared at the teeth on this image for much longer than I had any reason to. So many artists try to draw individual teeth and it ends up looking uncannily weird and wrong. Janin nails it, and he nails just about everything in the issue. I think we at the DC3 appreciate Janin’s inclusion in this series, if only for an issue, and appreciate the fact that DC Comics is getting good artists to come do work on a book that they actually wouldn’t have to try this hard to sell.
Three Big Questions:
1. What’s James Gordon Jr. doing there?
Correct me if I’m wrong (because I can’t read everything DC puts out), but the last time we saw JGJr he was helping run Suicide Squad, wasn’t he? Maybe he used a little government pull to get in to see his dad at the end of this issue? On the other hand, maybe he’s another one of those supernatural-type villains who can’t be stopped and can get anywhere they want to (a la Anton Chigurh and Lorne Malvo).
So what is he here for? My guess is that he’s there to help his father, just because I don’t see what piling on another villain for Gordon would accomplish, narratively. At the same time, I’m envisioning the terms of Jr’s aid aren’t going to be of Gordon Sr’s liking. I’m guessing there will be a conflict of interests here.
2. Can we start liking Red Hood again?
Look at Jason Todd, white knighting his way back into the Bat Family again. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found Jason difficult to get behind since the ‘New 52’ began. He was off doing his own thing in a book that I couldn’t get interested in, and his few cameo appearances in the bat books failed to satisfy. The last time I was really interested in Todd was when Judd Winick was writing him pre-Flashpoint.
Continued belowI think he’s an interesting part of the Bat Family, though – and an essential thematic touchstone for Bruce Wayne. I’m all for getting him back to Gotham.
3. Who am I supposed to ship with who?
At first I wanted to ship Tim Drake and gazette reporter Joey Day. Then I thought maybe I’d ship Tim and Cullen Row for a little while. Now I kind of want to ship Tim and Julia Pennyworth. Multiversity Staff writer and cartoon watcher, James Johnston, please tell me what to do here.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Strong art and solid story weaving. Not as ambitious as issue #11, but really good as a standard benchmark for “Batman Eternal” to reach for.
The Series So Far: 8.0 – While it’s always been solid, “Batman Eternal” was starting to lag just a little bit, becoming confused with too many plotlines up in the air and not enough “big” moments. These two issues, #11 in particular, are among the best issues of the series. Much of that has to do with the visuals, but also the particular focus of these two issues was on the strongest of the many plot points. Roughly a quarter of the way through, DC Comics is giving it the book the attention it needs and as a result, it’s showing real staying power.
