I'm sorry If this has been asked before.

So I am thinking about starting Batman eternal. But as it is going on for quite some time now it would make more sense for me to buy the paperbacks. The first one however already costs 35 euros, so I am wondering if I am spending my money on something good with this one.

I really enjoyed Scott Snyder's work so far and heared that it has a focus on the bat family, which I like. But it's also a lot of money for a poor student like me.

There are better Batman stories you can get for that money. But it definitely is a good story that does have a focus on batfamily characters. Not every issue is good, but I would say that most of them are, and the ending is great, especially if you liked Snyder's work.

No,like 15 issues are really only worth it.

The first arc that dealt with gang wars and Falcone was really really strong (from Issue 1 to issue 21). The Second arc that featured Hush was also strong and kept me on the edge of my seat every week (from issue 21 to issue 34). Once that arc ended things started to slow down. There were a couple of strong issues after 34. but after issue 39, it was clear that, at this point, the writers were just buying time to reach issue number 52. The last 6 issues were actually pretty strong, but in between 39 and 46 it was just filler that could be easily skipped. The only siginificant thing that happens is the resolution of the nano-virus subplot in issues 41 and 42 that originally started in issue 5 but was rarely visited since then until 41. That was a meaningless and dumb sub plot any way and you can skip issue 5. But outside of that the overall story is very engaging, as it focuses on the BatFamily with each having their own thing, the mystery is engaging and you genuinely want to know who's behind it, the action is intense and the ending is mindblowing.

How interested are you in the history of Batman? One of the things that makes this book worth reading, is that it delves into so many old and seldom used characters from Batman's history. It does a great job of reminding the reader what Batman's world is like and plays with all of the different realms that Batman belongs in. Sometimes it felt like the book was more focused on the history lesson than the story.

Do you like Stephanie Brown? One of the shinning stars of this book is Stephanie.

Do you hate Harper? A lot of people are not fans of this character, and because she gets a lot of panel time, I would not recommend the book to any one who dislikes her.

The thing is that Barbara, Jason, Tim and Luke Fox hardly interact with Bruce and don't get any good showings or an important role, Batwoman and El Gaucho only have only short cameos and Dick and Damian aren't even in this series.

Steph has an important role in the story but iirc not much screen time.

The central characters of the story are imho Bruce, Harper Row and Julia Pennyworth.

There are a ton of issues.

Some are good, some aren't.

Just get the trades if you really want to read them.

It was 50/50 for me, some issues were amazing and made me want more while others lacked in art and story. Some felt like filler issues while others felt like key issues. My advice is to just get the trades.

I heard it isn't good. I would get Batman: Hush if I were you. It has a LOT of Gotham characters in it, the artwork and plot is great.

Hush is great, already got it though.

Well, Thanks everyone. I bought the first paperback now. I'm not a huge fan of Harper but I like the rest. Since everyone says that it depends on the issues, I'm just going to read the first 21 and decide from there on :)

Thank you again.

It started off strong, but it ran out of steam a third of the way through. There were too many bad subplots that went nowhere, such as Batwing being buried under a pile of rubble for 3 issues, or Jason Todd whining about his stalker crush on Batgirl. The second and third acts were full of filler used to stall for time until the extremely predictable twist that doesn't get revealed until the second-to-last issue.

If I am to be completely honest with you, then eh... it's okay, I would rate it 6.5 or 7/10, if you're a die hard fan then go ahead, but if you're just a casual fan then... meh, it's really a toss.