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Batman Eternal #9 Review

 

Falcone’s after a cat, there’s a canary and two bats, a guy who’s Kingpin fat, and we’re introduced to somebody’s brat. Welcome to issue 9 of Batman Eternal, where all Asians are obviously the same kind of Asian, a super villain wants to make some craaaaaaaaaazy money, and women fill out leather suits like Bechdel never even existed. A quick DC wikia search will tell you why this issue is super special, folks.

First, I have to plead ignorance on this, but I’m not super familiar with the villain Roadrunner. I know he was in Snyder’s Black Mirror storyline but he didn’t leave a huge impression on me. Apparently he’s got a tricked out taxi, though, which he uses to get Commissioner Forbes to a rendezvous with our suit-on-top-of-wifebeater-wearing crime boss villain dejour. I wonder if this guy just parks in random places throughout Gotham from time to time, waiting for somebody to mistake his cab for a real lone, and then just blasts off with them. It’s sort of like that cash cab, but with horrible whiplash. I wonder how many people got into that cab before Forbes finally did, and if they had to pay for the ride at the end. read more

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Batman Eternal #8 Review

 

After the brazen murder of an innocent penguin (RIP, Commander Wilhelm) and the destruction of the Iceberg Casino, Carmine “The Roman” Falcone feels the force of Batman’s rage in this issue which begins with him pummeling some gangland scum. Of course, this doesn’t help any with Comissioner Forbes at the helm of the police, and Batman acts shockingly naive while Falcone’s puppet completely craps the bed at both police work and criminal activity. FFS, if you’re going to be corrupt, you don’t just let the criminals go right away, you have to at least pretend you’re processing them or the state will get sued up the ass by victims. read more

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Batman Eternal #7 Review

 

This issue sees the feathers really hit the fan in the Gotham City gang war, especially for poor Ozzie, who seems to lose everything in a matter of pages. But this Noah’s ark of an installment also includes a cat, a pig, a tiger shark, an orca, and for a short flash, a bat. Old MacDonald would be all hot and bothered by this issue, friends. This is Batman Eternal #7, and an empire crumbles into the deeps of Gotham harbor here.
 

“It was either you or Captain Stingaree. I couldn’t afford him.” read more

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Comic Book Resources Bullshit

 

So yeah, banned from another message board. Maybe the problem is me.

But also, maybe the problem is sycophantic Grant Morrison devotees who will do anything to stamp out even the most reasoned dissension, or even the possibility of it.

You be the judge. (And then I’ll overrule you.)

Cast out of paradise! Cursed to walk the Earth, ever marked and alone, reviled and chased!  What do you do when you’re branded and you know you’re a man(child) ?

About, oh, I don’t know, maybe four or five months ago, I joined the Comic Book Resources’ message board. CBR is a website that previews, reviews, and discusses comic books, mostly cape books, usually from the Big Two, but also independent publications and even manga from time to time. Every week they spotlight previews for that week’s new issues, and there are several blogs and sub blogs that highlight different aspects of comic books and comic book fandom. The site has won several awards, and is actually quite a good read most of the time. read more

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Batman Eternal #6 Review

Gotham gets just a little bit creepier in this installment of DC’s ongoing Batman weekly, when it looks like one of the worst characters in DC history is leading some kind of limb-chopping cult and The Spectre is on the case.

"I use an Nth Metal condom when I screw Zatanna. Or, at least I tell her that."
 

Batman is a skeptical fellow. A rational mind, even if he is, at his core, driven somewhat driven by emotion. The problem with that rationality is that it’s often in conflict with some of the more bizarre things in the DC universe. However, here we can see that even though he doesn’t necessarily understand the supernatural, he at least understands that those forces indeed exist, and has planned at least as far as using Nth Metal against forces like the Gentleman Ghost. It’s the young Luke Fox, Batwing, who seems to be even more skeptical, probably due to his lack of experience, thus making his buddy-cop team up with Jim Corrigan have a bit more flavor than just having the stern Dark Knight and a supernatural entity pair for a case. It’ll give Batwing something to do now that his book has been cancelled (I know I didn’t read it). read more

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Batman Eternal #5 Review

 

This issue sees our favorite burger joint-named fugitive from the clutches of Scott Lobdell investigating the strange sickness the children from the Professor Pyg take down were suffering from. One of the biggest selling points to me for this series was that it was going to feature my favorite Robin in a capacity that might redeem his thus far unappealing portrayal in the New 52 continuity. It’s a bit telling that it took the death of Damian and the removal of Dick as Nightwing before he came back into the picture, but I, for one, welcome back Timothy Drake. And here he gets more than just a short cameo. read more

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Batman Eternal #4 Review

My review’s a week late, but hopefully not a dollar short.

 

Well, there’s not a whole lot of capital to spend on this issue, anyway. It’s a transition issue. There’s not a lot of new revelations, twists, or plot development. As you might imagine from reading the first three issues, it takes a pretty natural course with what was already laid down: Jim Gordon is thrown to the wolves by the authorities, Barbara goes nuts over the betrayal, Stephanie Brown is in a lot of trouble, Forbes demands the police go after Batman, and Batman unsuccessfully tries to intimidate Falcone. read more

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Batman Eternal #3 Review

 

So, yeah. A week late with this. As you might’ve noticed, I had a week’s worth of rage building up inside of me for that previous entry. Forgiveness, please.

 

I can’t imagine why I didn’t jump right on the review for this issue. It opens by highlighting a long-time supporting character for the Batman franchise that hasn’t been seen or heard from in a very long time. The anticipation for this character’s return was staggering, and I waited with baited breath to see them in the pages of this weekly series. read more

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Batman Eternal #2 Review

 

When we last left our hero, he was reeling from the apparent guilt of his friend, Comissoner Gordon, in the collision of two subway trains, which cost massive casualties. GCPD newcomer Jason Bard came into town just in time to be in on the arrest of Gordon for the crime. As we join Batman and Gordon in this issue, the former is visiting the latter in a holding cell and things are looking increasingly troubled.

 

News travels fast, and every one of the current Bat Family soon learns of the crash and the arrest of Gordon. Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, is of course the most shocked. Harper Row reads about it on the internet. Red Robin, now free of the clutches of “writer” Scott Lobdell, books a flight from New York to Gotham. Jason Todd is picking up the news in a bar as far as Hong Kong. And… Batwoman and Batwing are also in this issue (who cares?). read more

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Batman Eternal #1 Review

 

I know this blog of mine is mostly for reviewing Japanese animation, and frankly I don’t even review Japanese comics much, but we all know how much I love Batman (don’t we?), and I figured I’d start giving reviewing some comics a chance. I bided time until I could review something Batman-related from the beginning of a story arc or a new book, but with Snyder’s Batman still on “Zero Year” and Tomasi’s book doing something I want to wait to see pan out, I was a little concerned when I would have a chance. read more

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