Batman Eternal Retrospective-The First 12 Issues
By Roger Lee
Batman Eternal #1 Cover Art
Batman Eternal is a weekly comic book. As such, the first twelve issues cover twelve weeks of real time, unlike with a monthly title, in which twelve issues would cover a calendar year. The twelve-issue mark is a good place to offer up a retrospective look at what this series has covered and where it may go from here. NOTE: By dint of being a retrospective of the first twelve issues, be warned that Spoilers Abound Hereabouts! Batman Eternal #1 opens with a shot of a defeated Batman strung up on a broken Bat-Signal, Gotham City burning in the background, and a Bat-emblem etched onto his chest. He is unmasked, and a voice is speaking to him (off-panel, so we cannot see who it is), claiming that everyone he loved has been slaughtered. The villain calls him Bruce, which tells us he (or perhaps, she), knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman (duh, he is unmasked), and may actually know Bruce in real life, since they are using his first name, rather than calling him Batman or Mr. Wayne. This is the setup for our story. The next panel then goes to a shot of Jason Bard (in his first New 52 appearance), arriving in Gotham City from Detroit. We learn that he has been recruited by Commissioner Gordon to work as a detective at the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Bard is not the first member of the old Batman gallery of friends and foes to make their first “New 52” appearance in Batman Eternal (BE). We also get our first shot of Batman in action against Professor Pyg, who serves as something of a “chaos factor” in the series; showing up at various points and causing problems for nearly everyone.
Batman and Catwoman
As the story develops, we see several distinct, but interrelated sub-plots emerge. They are, in rough order:
Sub-Plot #1: Commissioner Gordon Goes to Jail: In the first issue, we see Gordon shoot at an apparently unarmed man, and his shots cause a subway wreck that kills 163 people and injures hundreds more. This plot thread follows Gordon to his cell at Blackgate prison, to a Gotham City Courthouse, and to an unpleasant meeting in BE #12 with a very important villain-character, who may (or may not) be the mysterious villain from the first pages of BE #1. One aspect of this storyline that follows Jim Gordon, is that he maintains his ethics and stays in character. In many ways, Jim Gordon is the moral compass of the Bat-Family. He does not deny that he fired the fatal shot that resulted in the subway tragedy. He warns Batman (who visits him in jail surreptitiously), to not attempt any sort of rescue or break-out. Gordon says he has faith in the legal system, and if he is found guilty, then so be it. Gordon’s attitude and the tribulations he is undergoing are very similar to the underlying theme of the classic Batman storyline of “The Killing Joke.” As you may recall, that storyline revolved around the Joker believing that anyone would crack and drop their sanity and their ethics if they had a bad enough day. Joker picked Jim Gordon as his Job-like example, yet despite everything Joker threw at the Commissioner, Gordon maintained his sanity and his ethics. Since we are led to believe that Gordon fired those shots in the subway as part of some elaborate ruse by an as-yet unknown villain, the similarity to the Killing Joke theme may point to the Joker as our culprit. And, tellingly, with all the chaos enveloping Gotham in these first twelve issues, we have not seen, nor heard from the Joker at all. Hmmm…
Sub-Plot #2: Batgirl Obsesses About Clearing Her Dad’s Name: This can be considered a sub-plot of Sub-Plot #1, and is a natural reaction for Barbara Gordon/Batgirl to have regarding what she sees as a clear set-up to put her father in jail and ruin him. Batgirl works to investigate the subway incident and ends up tracking a potential suspect to Brazil, where she tangles with a Latin American villainous named Scorpiana. Batgirl and Batman argue over the right course of action, and to a large degree, Batgirl follows her heart, and not her head in her pursuit of what she sees as the truth.
Batgirl Battles Scorpiana
Sub-Plot #3: Gang War: A bloody gang war between the recently returned Carmine “The Roman” Falcone and the Penguin rips Gotham’s Underworld apart with hit and counter-hit. The biggest splash, as it were, comes when Falcone blows up Penguin’s floating casino, the Iceberg Palace. At one point, Batman travels to Hong Kong to track down information on Falcone (who had taken up residence there during his enforced exile from Gotham when he lost a previous gang war to the Penguin). While in Hong Kong, Batman learns that while it appears that a leading Hong Kong gangster claims to have defeated Falcone and forced him to return to Gotham, it turns out that Falcone left for Gotham willingly, after being told by someone (our mysterious villain?) that Batman was weakened and that Gotham was ripe for his return. Out of this sub-plot, three other sub-plots emerge, two directly related to the gang war, and the other one which is simply introduced via Batman’s Hong Kong visit.
Sub-Plot #4: Catwoman’s Feud with Falcone: In the pre-New 52 DC Universe, there was a lot of back story to the relationship and connections involving Catwoman and Falcone. In the New 52, he still sports the claw marks from Catwoman from a few years past, and he still harbors a lot of hate. Her hate toward him is also apparent. Catwoman keeps turning up at various points in the gang warfare, and her “good guy” side shows up periodically, as when she saves the lives of several of the innocent victims of the Iceberg Palace’s destruction.
Sub-Plot #5: GCPD Corruption and Jason Bard: With the arrest of Commissioner Gordon, the new Commissioner, Jack Forbes, turns out to be a corrupt cop in the employ of Carmine Falcone. As Falcone’s flunky, Forbes does everything in his power to keep the cops from interfering with the gang war, and instead, on Falcone’s orders, has the police try to capture or kill Batman. Jason Bard, along with honest cops Harvey Bullock and Maggie Sawyer, find ways to sabotage Forbes’ plans while also providing more material aid to Batman in ending the gang war.
Sub-Plot #6: Alfred and Julia: While in Hong Kong, Batman encounters a military special agent who is wounded in battle with the Chinese gangsters. Batman flies her home to Gotham to have her wounds tended to by Alfred. As Bats flies her home, Batman informs Alfred that the woman is Alfred’s daughter, Julia Pennyworth. Over the next several issues, we learn more about Julia’s estrangement from her father, and her feelings of utter contempt for her dad’s willingness to serve as a rich playboy’s butler. The question here is, how long will it take her (remember, she is a trained military intelligence operative), to figure out that Wayne Manor is much more than merely a rich man’s playhouse?
Sub-Plot #7: Tech Threat w/Red Robin, Harper Row, and the Nanothingies: Red Robin encounters Harper Row, who is a tech genius with a penchant for irritating Batman and now Red Robin with her insistence in helping them out. Red Robin and Harper encounter a technological threat infecting the Narrows with nanobots. If you caught Batman #28, which served as a sort of future-looking prequel to the Batman Eternal series, we know that (Major Spoiler here…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Harper Row will eventually become Batman’s latest sidekick, Bluebird!
Sub-Plot #8: Occult Happenings at Arkham: This sub-plot pairs Batwing and Jim Corrigan (the Spectre), investigating occult occurrences at Arkham at the behest of Batman, who is too busy with the Gang War and Jim Gordon’s issues. Weird things have been occurring at Arkham involving Deacon Blackfire. The Gentleman Ghost is also connected to this sub-plot. The Joker’s Daughter (long story, she is not really his daughter), is holed up bowels of Arkham and is causing inmates to hallucinate. She is involved in the occult occurrences, it appears, but her role in all this remains murky through issue #12
Sub-Plot #9: Stephanie Brown and the Parents from Hell: This sub-plot involved Stephanie Brown, who was also seen in that Batman #28 issue (her first New 52 appearance –as.. Another Major Spoiler Here……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Spoiler! See, we told you there was a Spoiler here, literally!). Stephanie’s major problem is that her dad is the villain Cluemaster, who is having his henchmen try to kill his daughter (because she KNOWS TOO MUCH!) and her mom is also not exactly up for parent of the year either. Gosh, she needs another, more stable, loving, and understanding father figure, doesn’t she? Yes, but Alfred has kid issues of his own right now. Maybe Batman is available….hmmm….?
The Return of Stephanie Brown
Not every issue touches on each of these sub-plots, but the whole series thus far presents a lot of intrigue and action. The big mystery is who is really behind the violence and plotting, and what will Batman and his allies do about it all? The first twelve issues set the table and whet our appetite. We suspect that the next twelve will put some meat and potatoes on that table so that we can dig in deeper. This is a good series. If you are a fan of Batman or any of his various Robins, (plus Batgirl, who has a pretty big role), pick up this series and follow it. Join us in another twelve weeks as we provide a retrospective on the next dozen issues of Batman Eternal.