Batman: Eternal #38 Review

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Andrea Mutti
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 24, 2014

Tag Team Back Again

While my relationship with Batman: Eternal has run hot and cold, I'm starting to get really irritated with all the dangling plot threads.  Nanobots, Spoiler, Cluemaster, etc are still out there, but Tim Seeley is giving us a Rogues Gallery team-up that sounds like a fanboy dream come true.  Bane, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Clayface, Mr. Freeze and Joker's Daughter (?!?) are trying to take advantage of the Gotham chaos and only Batman can stop them. It's a little detour that isn't as good as it sounds, but luckily ends fairly quickly.  I just hope the other plot points get resolved soon too.



The main draw of this issue is of course the villain teamup.  Fans of Scarecrow might just get an issue they've been waiting for.  Dr. Crane comes off as the smartest of the bunch even through the awful orphan metaphors he uses to analyze the situation.  While Poison Ivy and Bane get some screen time, Mr. Freeze and Joker's Daughter are just throwaways and Clayface comes off as a blowhard.  I don't care if I ever get any more of Joker's Daughter, but Mr. Freeze and Clayface are missed opportunities.  It doesn't really matter because most of them are just here to get taken in by Batman.

While Batman rounds up Mr. Freeze, Joker's Daughter, Scarecrow and Clayface, Bane get tricked by Poison Ivy and then attacked by Killer Croc.  It seems really random until the end reveal.  I wish I could say I was excited about the cliffhanger, but it felt a little forced and out of left field.  We also get a little bit of Gordon/Bard interaction that looks to be the start of Bard's rehabilitation and the end of Gordon's nightmare. I'm hoping this will finally get the whole Gordon story back on course and in the spotlight.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this issue because the premise seemed fun enough.  Unfortunately, the dialogue of the villains seemed a bit off and the overall story seemed like filler.  I'm also already tired of Batman's financial woe's being stressed out loud. We all know he lost his money and while I like the idea of him struggling a bit, he doesn't have to keep reminding the reader.

I also didn't like Andrea Mutti's art that much.  Every character just felt slightly off from Bane's mask to Posion Ivy's face and so much in between..  I'm sure it's a preference issue, but I didn't like it

Bits and Pieces:

Batman: Eternal #38 was a mediocre bunch of filler that wasn't as fun as it should have been.  In the end, it was pretty forgetable though it finally looks like were going to get to some major developments in the near future.  Let's hope we get there very soon.

5.5/10