Batman Eternal is one of the many weekly releases published by DC. Its first release was made to commemorate the 75th year anniversary of the world of Batman. Starring the eponymous character, it also features many of the characters in Gotham and the extended universe.
Batman Eternal was a weekly release between June 2014 and July 2015. With a total issue count of 52 to date (one for each week), some interesting storylines circulated. Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, Tim Seeley, and Kyle Higgins, there was a lot to look out for from the year-long event. So, let’s take a look at the top 10 things we loved from Batman Eternal.
10. Batman Eternal Presents “The Bat Armor”
Batman’s gadgets have always been a regular highlight of his entire getup. It’s one of the reasons why we love the utility belt so much. There are so many tools, and accessories he uses in his array in his fight against crime, and each one is as unique as the last.
Batman Eternal, at its beginning, might have been difficult to navigate because of its timeline, but it established the fact that this Bruce Wayne was an experienced one.
Experienced enough to have The Bat-amor at his disposal. Sure, we’ve seen body armor on the caped crusader before, but this particular suit is just badass. We see Batman don it in the very first issue, and immediately it’s clear why. In addition, this piece of tech shows that the events of Batman Eternal are bound to be heavy, and they were.
9. Alfred Has a Daughter
We’ve always seen butler extraordinaire as the father figure to Bruce for all time, but he is an actual father as well. His daughter? Julia Pennyworth, and although she has only previously been alluded to in the past, we finally get to see her inactive canon ever since Crisis on Infinite Earths performed a wipe on her character.
When we see Julia, she is an SRR operative looking to eliminate an associate of Gotham City crime boss Carmine Falcone. Of course, Batman disapproves, and this leads her injured. But daddy Alfred is there to save the day. Her entrance makes for good drama seeing as she is estranged from her father, and it is a sight to see a part of Alfred’s life outside of Wayne Manor.
8. Batman Eternal Has Spoilers
If you’re familiar with the story of Stephanie Brown, the first thing you know is the purple-wearing vigilante exists because of her father. Arthur Brown, aka lives a double life, and when Stephanie finds out who her father really is, she makes it her life’s mission to see his plans in the mud. Stephanie herself makes her return in Batman Eternal, and we see events unfold as The Browns, and the Bats eventually become entangled.
7. Batman Eternal Presents: Spectre and Batwing Live in Arkham
Batman Eternal covers the very expansive world involving every Batman associated character, and it could do so without remorse because it was a year-long event. So, it was no surprise to see Batwing show up. However, Jim Corrigan, aka Spectre appearing, is something else.
The story weaving in Batman Eternal is incredible, so seeing Spectre can only be something intentional. This poses the idea that there’s something huge a-brewing to look out for. It’s enough to cause a team up with Batwing and Spectre, and that could only mean something epic.
6. Junior Comes to Town
James Gordon is a respectable figure in Gotham, even to the inhabitants of its underworld. His life is mostly clean at the fore, so it’s the introduction of James Gordon Junior that is a little unsettling. Popping in at Batman Eternal #14, what the storyline holds for him is nothing short of riveting, considering his previous outings in Batman R.I.P as Black Mirror.
5. Gotham City PD vs Batman
The relationship between the GCPD and Batman is a love-hate one. Originally, they didn’t mind his vigilantism, but things change, and Batman became a major target for his activities.
In times past, James Gordon’s presence eased out whatever tension may have existed, but with his incarceration and subsequent absence, Batman is on the radar again. It gets so bad that criminals are given a blind eye because Batman is the police department’s main quarry. Talk about obsessive.
4. Professor Pyg Gets A Pardon
With Gordon out, someone needs to watch over the state of law enforcement in Gotham. That person is Acting Commissioner Forbes, but there is nothing lawful about this crooked cop. At the behest of Gotham’s dirtiest, he launches a search on Batman, but don’t take that to mean he’s not sick on his own.
He shows this when he releases a captured Pyg back into the wild (no pun intended) to continue his rampage and quest to enslave Gotham, all because it was Batman’s capture. Whatever issues Forbes has with Batman are deep-running, and he stops at nothing to frustrate The Dark Knight’s efforts.
3. Batman Eternal Shows There Are Still Good Cops
At some point, Forbes’ efforts do pay off in his hunt for Batman. He finally devises a plan with a trap that snags Batman, and it looks like the end for our hero.
However, one character decides that Batman still has many days to fight crime in Gotham; Jason Bard. He creates the chance for Batman to escape the GCPD’s clutches, much to Forbes’s disdain.
The young transferee from Detroit shows he places what’s right over doing what’s easy, something similar to what James Gordon Senior is all about. Indeed, Bard is one of the last good things left behind by Gordon’s time as commissioner, and we see why the young cop is held in high regard.
2. Batman Eternal Presents: The Return of Falcone
Carmine Falcon is a Gotham City underworld big shot, and for good reasons too. He is cold, calculated, and a ruthless boss and his return to Gotham is a sight for sore eyes and uncompelling storylines.
Despite not having any powers, Carmine shows himself to be a major threat in all plots, and you wonder if he really is the big bad we’ve all been waiting for or if he is just a placeholder.
1. Batman Eternal: The Beginning of the End
The first panels of the first Batman Eternal issue show us the end of the storyline. In them, we see Bruce demasked, bruised, and burnt. Bleeding with the Bat Logo engraved right on his chest, we see Gotham in ruins, burnt to the ground.
It looks like everything is lost; the stakes are higher, because you want to get to the bottom of the mystery. Well, Batman loses everything from the looks of it, but there are so many questions to be answered. And 52 glorious issues to address them.
