Recap: Batman Eternal #51

The story from last week:

"One by one, Batman systematically ends the conflicts designed to divide and conquer them, and gathers his team to reclaim the city. Fires continue to engulf Gotham, but both the Bats and Jim Gordon have been sprung from their traps. Both men have decided to simply roll up their sleeves and go to work.Alfred finds a message for Bruce posted online, inviting him to meet the mastermind of the insidious plot. Who is waiting in the shadows?"

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!

That’s right, it’s Cluemaster! Like we always suspected. So, issue #50 was a setup for the big reveal. Cluemaster ingeniously created a plot to foil Batman that actually took advantage of the fact that he’s a C-list villain.

The plan was to launch a coordinated attack on Batman while he was distracted by a plot he assumed was perpetrated by a high profile villain. The rogues no one takes seriously would then divide and conquer the Bat-family before they ever put the pieces together. Cluemaster reveals his plot to The Dark Knight, then unmasks him to satisfy his ego.

But this is Batman we’re talking about.

Bruce literally has something up his sleeve in the form of a device to break through his chains. Once free, he begins to lay into Arthur Brown with a vengeance, but Bats is very obviously not on his game. Having gone more than 36 hours without sleep and sustaining severe injuries, Bruce is weak. Cluemaster manages to get him on the business end of a very large pistol, ready to end the whole game.

Suddenly, Cluemaster is ambushed and his throat is slit from behind. There’s someone else with their own scheme from the beginning…

Big twist! That means there’s far more to the story than we suspected. I just knew the Court of Owls couldn’t be so easily manipulated.

Stay tuned for next issue, Bat-fans!

Images: DC Comics