So much to do, so little time.
The Batfamily takes trip round the world searching for clues
to end the troubles in Gotham while Falcone
and Pyg go head to head.
Many threads continue to enter into play, going so far as to
overstuff the series.
SPOILERS FOLLOW………….
Batman’s arrival in Hong Kong is greeted by the underworld
boss Shen Fang’s enforcers, the Ghost Dragons (seen last when a hit was put on
Bruce Wayne by Penguin) but with the timely help of Jiro (the Batman of Japan),
they manage to infiltrate Fang’s headquarters.
But an obstacle presents itself in the form of a spy who
engages Batman in a race to get Fang first, but ends up getting impaled
(seriously fatal-looking, I might add) by the mobster.
Batman beats the answers out of him, and learns that he paid
Falcone to leave and now gives 60% of his profits to Carmine. Apparently,
Falcone was shown a chance of reclaiming Gotham
and just left.
Back in Gotham, Selina
continues putting Falcone’s operations in problem but is caught at her own game
with armed guards waiting for her behind the vault doors.
Batman brings the spy back to his city, with news to Alfred
– she’s Julia Pennyworth, his niece!
As Carmine plans to kill Selina in the most painful way
possible, Pyg invades his penthouse and scuppers his plans.
Jason aka Red Hood is tasked with meeting up with a
rampaging Batgirl in search for any leads in getting her father free and sent
off to Brazil
by Bruce.
Pyg is about to dismember Falcone and Selina into his own
perverted versions of perfection, but Batman arrives in time to stop the attack
and retrieve Catwoman.
Bard hesitates so that Batman can escape before sending the
GCPD in on Forbes’ orders.
Batman and Catwoman discuss who could have tipped off
Falcone about the volatile situation in Gotham
as a shadowy figure watches.
In Brazil,
Batgirl tries to get one of her leads – a popular Brazilian tv star, but is
stopped by the Black Glove member Scorpiona.
The actor reveals that he owed the Club of Villains a debt
and a doctor cloned his face, which would explain how he could be at two places
at the same time.
With the added assist of Starfire and El Guacho, Scorpiona
is captured and the actor withheld, as Batgirl comes face to face with Red
Hood.
Meanwhile, at the Gotham Country Library, Stephenie Brown
has made it her home and continues her research and exposure of her father, the
Cluemaster.
We get his backstory as a small time quiz host who turned to
crime when he said some unseemly things at a celebrity on live television, and
how he manipulated his status as a father to stop Batman from taking him in the
first time.
Julia and Alfred get off on the wrong foot, with suppressed
feelings of abandonment and disillusion setting up barriers in their
communications. Julia sees her uncle as someone who went from war hero to ‘manservant
for the spoiled rich’.
With Pyg now in prison (thanks in no small measure to
Falcone’s wrath), Tim Drake visits him, but is interrupted when Harper Row
tries to hack into his system.
Jason Bard continues his own investigation into shutting the
gang war down, and enlists the help of fellow officers Maggie Sawyer and Harvey
Bullock as well as reporter Vicki Vale and Batman to bring this to a close.
James Gordon undergoes an excruciating first day at court,
as the prosecutor manages to steer the jury away from his character and
previous work to the gruesomeness of the incident in question. Batman meets up
with him before going to court, but Gordon tells him to get his priorities
straight.
In prison, Jim gets an unexpected visitor – James Jr Gordon.
There’s no time for introspection here as action comes fast
and hard. It feels like Eternal is juggling too much through at times, and
reader friendly goes out of the window.
The artwork is mostly above par, especially in #9 and #12,
but #11 provides a jarring art discontinuity as it evokes Frank Quitely’s
artwork which is at odds with the rest of the line-up.
SPOILERS END…………..
The characters receive some through work, but most of them
fall flat – especially Batgirl’s arc.
Trying to balance too many things at once leads to a lot of
noise and not much progression in the story, as we’re left with very small
movement.
The artwork also suffers from changing artists, through some
gems are getting unearthed in the process as well.
So, I give it 7.0 out of 10.
+Nice inclusion of the entire Batverse and more
+Some excellent artwork
-Unbalanced character work
-Artwork is inconsistent
-Too many threads proving problematic
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