Art by: Jason Fabok
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 9, 2014
The Road to Oz
Batman: Eternal has been a good book plagued by pacing issues. At points, the book seems like it's on a mission to throw an insane amount of information at the reader and other times it feels like it's enjoying withholding the same info. Resolutions have been hard to come by as more and more plot lines pile up in the corner. The revolving door of authors and artists haven't helped either. Each one seems to have their own agenda and up until now I was hard pressed to see the big picture. I say, "Up until now" because this issue changes all that. Not only is it my favorite in the series so far, but we get some resolution and big picture moments. If we get more issues like this, I will be one happy little camper.
James Gordon is contemplating his son's offer to walk out of Blackgate a free man. Gordon is a good man, beaten down by Gotham and it's getting to him. However, fate intervenes to make his decision for him. Fate and Batman, that is.
Meanwhile, Lt. Bard is trying to clean up Gotham in his own way. I think everyone was a little skeptical about Bard's intentions at first, but I have to give the guy credit, he's getting criminals off the streets. This issue he sets his sights on Crime Bosses. While Batman is not a big fan of his methods, the guy gets results. The Gotham Gang War is ending long before I thought it would, but it's only leading to Blackgate's version of OZ.
The other two stories are not as important (now?) Red Robin is on his way to Hong Kong, but has to deal with a stowaway and the Scarecrow is running scared and runs into my least favorite character in all of comics. If you have read my reviews, you may guess who SHE is.
James Tynion IV has given readers a winner. The script is fast paced and ties up loose ends that have been dangling since the first issue. I liked everything in this issue and that's not something I've been able to say so far. I'm looking forward to next week and it's not because of a crazy twist or awesome cliffhanger, but just the promise of a great story.
Speaking of great, Jason Fabok's art is just that. Clean, straight forward and great. It doesn't take away from the story or yell "look at me!" It just blends perfectly with the script to help tell a kick ass story. Well done.
Bits and Pieces:
Batman: Eternal #14 is the best issue of the series so far. It is a great story that ties up loose ends and shows this book is more than worthy of it's early promise and hype. I can't wait to see what happens next. Highly Recommended.
9.6/10
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