Since Rebirth, “Detective Comics” has been one of the strongest titles at DC and very different from its previous incarnation. Instead of focusing on Batman as detective, Tynion chose to make this book about the larger Bat- family and what the bat-symbol means for each member. Over the course of 47 issues, he’s interrogated what it means to wear the bat and what it means to reject it. This issue is the last and as such, the question must be asked, does he stick the landing or does this issue fail to end on a high note? (Spoiler: It sticks the landing. Also true spoilers for the end ahead.)
Written by James Tynion IVCover by Eddy Barrows,
Eber Ferreira, and Adriano Lucas
Penciled by Eddy Barrows
Inked by Eber Ferreira
Colored by Adriano Lucas
Lettered by Sal Cipriano“Batmen Eternal” finale! This is it—the unbelievable conclusion of James Tynion IV’s Batman epic! It’s the last stand of the Gotham Knights, fighting a monster they helped inspire…and a destiny they won’t accept! What will become of the greatest crime-fighting team Gotham City ever saw?
For much of the latter half of this run, Tynion has been deconstruction what he built up over. From the leaving of Spoiler and Harper, to future Tim’s messing with present Tim’s head, to the death of Clayface, to Batwoman, Lucius, and Azrael joining with the colony, all of this has served to splinter the group and drive them apart. With this issue, we see them all return, in one way or another, to fight the people who have been working behind the scenes and to once again, fight together.
The issue is split in half, narratively. The first half is the above fighting and the conclusion to the ordeal Tim began with his kidnapping with Mr. Oz and the ‘Lonely Place of Dying’ arc. While the audience has known the Ulysses Armstrong and Brother Eye have been pulling the strings on Tim for a while, what we didn’t know was that this was true of the other future as well. This does bring into question what the point of that one “Batwoman” issue was other than a teaser but I digress.
It’s a big reveal and its played out with exactly the right amount of drama and reverence. Tynion’s always been good at the emotions of the characters, showing their weaknesses and how those are manifested in the way they interact with their fellow heroes. Barrows and Ferreira support this with their art, which is equal parts anguish and hope.
The fight scenes are just the right amount of chaos so as to show the scale of OMAC invasion and how hard Batman, Cassandra and others are fighting. What little fighting there is, is choreographed well. On one of the two-page spreads, Cassandra is shown flipping to Batman’s aid. It’s a kinetic shot with three versions of her at the start, mid-point, and end of the flip, where she kicks two or three OMACs in the face while Batman is being held back by five more. Batman apologizing in the midst of this battle hammers home just how inconsequential the actual battle scenes are to the theme of this run.
Sure, they’re big and bombastic but the true heart and the heavy lifting comes from the slower, more emotional moments. This is where Barrows and Ferreira shine. The scenes depicting the quiet desolation of that alternate future’s Kate and Bruce, both weary and knowing the end is nigh and the ones of Kate and Tim crying as the Belfry is destroyed in the background are beautiful, although the second one is more visually arresting.
My only gripe with the art is how the faces, especially those of Ulysses Armstrong, look…not lifeless, they all convey emotion well, but in the uncanny valley. They’re just ever so too shiny and though the faces lean towards realism, with heavy inking lines and a grainer coloring palate, it makes them feel more unreal. Also, no one seems to close their mouth. Anytime we see a mouth it’s either fully distended or open just a little, with teeth showing. It’s at its worst when people are yelling but thankfully that is contained to the first half of the issue.
Continued belowOn the whole, this is a triumphant issue, one that doesn’t shy away from bittersweet endings and goodbyes. This arc somehow made the OMACs and Brother Eye work after the disaster that was “The New 52: Futures End” while also establishing a new status quo for all the members of the Bat-family. These status quos, however, are not all superhero or Bat-centric. Tynion’s run opened on the promise of a new team, run by Red Robin, that would continue the legacy of Batman and expand what he could do.
But as this arc has shown, despite the title, Batman is not eternal nor should he. His legacy might live on but it should change, it should be improved, not just replicated. He fights because inside he has the child who lived through great tragedy. The others fight for their own reasons. We see this in their denouement.
Tim and Steph go off to do timeline stuff, Cassandra moves in with Leslie Tompkins and Barbara, and Batwoman is off to fight the Religion of Crime (yesssss). Azrael is finding himself while Lucius is playing with brother eye (bad idea!). There is even a surprise guest whose one-page appearance made me weep. Damn you James Tynion IV and Co.! Not sure how they’re back but I’m glad they are.
There are plenty of pages within this issue, mostly in the second half, that have the grandiosity of an ending, different endings mind you, but endings all the same. Thankfully, they all mesh well, providing exactly the kind of hopeful message that is needed and acting as exactly the kind of ending that was desired.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Conclusions and goodbyes are difficult but the whole creative team made it look effortless, despite a few artistic stylizations that don’t quite work.
