Comic Vine Review

25 Comments

Batman Eternal #6 - The Denied

3

Jim Corrigan confronts Batman and warns him about the future.

The Good

The issue opens up pretty awesome as the reader is treated to a battle between Batwing and Gentleman Ghost. That's right. Gentleman Ghost is finally in the New 52. One really cool thing about BATMAN ETERNAL is that it is introducing a lot of characters in the New 52 as well as into the world of Gotham.

Gentleman Ghost is a complete redesign. Yes, he's still a ghost but he's all in black now and has a bit more of a ghost feel to him. Also, yes, he is still wearing the top hat. Another reintroduction is Doctor Phosphorus. He's appeared in the issues of CATWOMAN and FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S. before, but this is the first time he's dealt with Batman. This issue features a good chunk of characters from the DCU moving closer and closer to a confrontation with Batman.

BATMAN ETERNAL #6 incorporates Batwing extremely well into the book. Those who haven't read BATWING before won't feel lost or confused, the writing team does a fantastic job at throwing him in here and for a good reason. It strengthens the connection between Batman and Batwing as well.

Trevor McCarthy (art) and Guy Major (color) do a really solid job here on the art. It's consistent and fits the tone of the book very well. The opening pages featuring Doctor Phosphorus looks beautiful and the colors there fit perfectly. The light that emanates of him and onto the walls looks great and is a fine reflection of how Guy Major is an expert at his craft.

The Bad

The last issue dealt with Tim Drake, Harper Row, and Vicki Vale, but now, the next issue is about Batwing, Batman, and a few other folks who weren't in previous issues. The first three issues revolved around Commissioner Gordon, and because of this, there is a little bit of expectation that readers will get a chunk of a larger story at a time, which they don't.

While it's true everything happening in BATMAN ETERNAL is leading to larger, escalating tension, which will in turn become a gang war, the past three issues have felt so disjointed from issues #1-3.

A part of the frustration from reading the issue is the plots stacked up on each other that aren't getting resolved or built up. They are set up and feel forgotten. Obviously, that's not the case, but so much is being set up in these past 6 issues that it becomes hard to keep track of everything and know where this book is going.

The Verdict

BATMAN ETERNAL isn't bad, but there are problems with the direction of this book. It feels like they're just topping more and more and more story on top of one another without resolving or building on anything else. For the past three issues, there have been numerous new plots introduced within each issue. This issue, on its own, is a pretty good read, introducing the reader to new characters and elements within the world of Gotham. The art is solid and the color work is fantastic. While this particular issue didn't hit it out of the park, it was still a solid read and this series is still worth picking up every week.

25 Comments

Avatar image for colanicole
ColaNicole

683

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Lets be honest, we didn't need a Batman weekly to begin with.

Avatar image for NightShade2040
NightShade2040

11

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@colanicole: Yeah, it's kind of overkill, especially when you consider the amount of bat-books out there already. I actually dropped Batgirl and Batwing just for this series. I would have preferred that Batman Eternal was a monthly comic. It would have been easier to write, and it probably would have felt more cohesive, too. I'm just not too big on weekly comics. They never seem to pan out as well as a monthly would.

Avatar image for muyjingo
MuyJingo

2862

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Since it's a weekly book, I think they are more free to branch out and pile on more story.

I don't think it affects the book at all, just adds to it.

Avatar image for the_stegman
the_stegman

41911

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By the_stegman  Moderator

I have been loving this series so far, I like that we get so many different stories, it's a weekly after all, I expect it.

Avatar image for shadowswordmaster
ShadowSwordmaster

19974

Forum Posts

10454

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 19

User Lists: 13

Didn't Gentleman Ghost appear in the Hawkman when he had a book but other then that nice review.

Avatar image for righteous300
righteous300

3975

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Avatar image for jthood
JTHood

171

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

@inferiorego You're giving a Scott Snyder Batbook 3 out of 5 stars? Danger must be your middle name.

Avatar image for inferiorego
inferiorego

25752

Forum Posts

28300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 324

User Lists: 12

inferiorego  Staff

@jthood said:

@inferiorego You're giving a Scott Snyder Batbook 3 out of 5 stars? Danger must be your middle name.

lol... It's not just a Scott Snyder book though. There's a few folks working on this. It's not a bad issue, but if you're a week to week reader, there's going to be some disappointment with the jumpiness.

Avatar image for ptigrusmagus
ptigrusmagus

496

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jthood: inferiorego is a superhero hater and hipster about that genre of comics

Avatar image for muyjingo
MuyJingo

2862

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jthood: inferiorego is a superhero hater and hipster about that genre of comics

Not at all.

Avatar image for sighburr_punk
Sighburr_Punk

227

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Sighburr_Punk

@ptigrusmagus said:

@jthood: inferiorego is a superhero hater and hipster about that genre of comics

FEEL THE HATE.

Nice review though, I agree with what you're saying. Batman seriously has enough books right now. Coming from me, that's pretty big.

Avatar image for inferiorego
inferiorego

25752

Forum Posts

28300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 324

User Lists: 12

Edited By inferiorego  Staff

@jthood: inferiorego is a superhero hater and hipster about that genre of comics

I challenge you to say something nice in the comments/forums of this site for one day.

Stop being filled with so much hate.

Avatar image for judasnixon
judasnixon

12815

Forum Posts

699

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By judasnixon

I'll give someone a cookie if they can tell me how many Batman books will come out in 2014.

Avatar image for reachdestroyer
ReachDestroyer

61

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I really haven't enjoyed the past two issues at all, mainly because I don't think that supernatural elements work in a Batman story and nano-bots are just...lame.

I really want to like this weekly, but I'm worried I'll have to drop it.

Avatar image for danhimself
danhimself

21433

Forum Posts

36958

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Avatar image for madeinbangladesh
MadeinBangladesh

12494

Forum Posts

53

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 59

User Lists: 172

Edited By MadeinBangladesh

I'm giving it 4 more issues to impress me. Then, I'm done.

Avatar image for manwithoutshame
manwithoutshame

659

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@colanicole: Speak for yourself, I have to buy a Batman comic every week or I'll go crazy

Avatar image for deactivated-5edd330f57b65
deactivated-5edd330f57b65

26437

Forum Posts

815

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Very good issue, I like the characters used in this issue too. But I do agree the storylines are feeling forgotten. This should be the last issue with a new storyline for a while. They no to backtrack and work on the current ones.

Avatar image for brione
Brione

116

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@colanicole: Speak for yourself, I have to buy a Batman comic every week or I'll go crazy

Same here!

This is a good issue. I think that the stuff that feels like it's not connected right now will all come together but it might take some time since it's a weekly.

Avatar image for scarletbatman
ScarletBatman

377

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By ScarletBatman

Did no one read Comic Vine's interview of James Tynion IV about Eternal?

The first three issues get you into the overarching Batman story and plant the seeds for tales to come. The next four issues are one shot books that set up each writer's characters and storylines. After those four issues, the format will return to three issue story arcs.

Avatar image for rustyroy
RustyRoy

16610

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I didn't like the last two issues with Barbara and Tim but this one was good.

Avatar image for jdp180
jdp180

174

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ok now I am beginning to not like this series. I was on board on issues 1-3 but now that the focus has been taken off Gordon and placed on people new to the story, I just dont see why I should care. How does Batwing fit in to this? Oh and way to make him look like nothing more than Batman's do-boy.

Avatar image for timelord
timelord

920

Forum Posts

1136

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

This is feeling very disjointed I wish they would stick to a character for an arc and stick with them this jumping around is annoying.

Avatar image for scarletbatman
ScarletBatman

377

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@timelord said:

This is feeling very disjointed I wish they would stick to a character for an arc and stick with them this jumping around is annoying.

Issues 4-7 are set up issues for each writer. After that, the book returns to 3 issue story arcs.

@jdp180 said:

Ok now I am beginning to not like this series. I was on board on issues 1-3 but now that the focus has been taken off Gordon and placed on people new to the story, I just dont see why I should care. How does Batwing fit in to this? Oh and way to make him look like nothing more than Batman's do-boy.

Because everything will inter-relate in the end. Just because Batwing isn't harboring resentment from DotF does not mean he is Batman's little gofer. Why can't someone genuinely want to help Batman when he asks for your help?

Avatar image for FeedOnATreeFrog
feedonatreefrog

290

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By feedonatreefrog

I don't get the complaints about the multiple story threads. We're getting multiple books a month.

Reminds me of Game of Thrones, Lost, etc, where you might not see certain characters and stories for several episodes.