4 issue Test #13 - Batman and Robin Eternal

The weekly miniseries is something DC brought back in 52, an excellent title written by 4 renowned writers focusing on the minor heroes in the DC Universe after the big 3 were taken off the table thanks to infinite crisis

Then came Countdown, an awful work head-written by great writer Paul Dini and a load of crappy writers intended to set up an event it didn’t set up, kill things without mercy and push tie-ins wherever it could. It was awful and killed the miniseries off for a while. With the New52 came 3 new mini-series. Future’s end, Earth 2: World’s end, neither of which I’ve read but I can’t say I’ve heard great things about, and Batman: Eternal, intended to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Batman, which I did a 4 issue test of in January despite the fact issue 4 came out in April of the previous year.

Batman: Eternal was reasonably well written and successful enough that a 26-issue second mini-series Batman and Robin Eternal, this time celebrating the 75^th anniversary of Robin. I don’t like to give too much background as I feel a new title should provide that anyway. But it’s best to know that during the Batman story endgame. Batman and his long-time nemesis the Joker ‘died.’ James Gordon became a fully police sanctioned Batman with a robotic suit as he lacks the skills Batman had. Bruce has since returned, but with no memories of his time as Batman and lacking the skills.

I hate the idea of Jim Gordon as Batman, I’ll just go out and say it. I haven’t been picking up titles with him as the focus because Jim Gordon to me is the legal centre of Batman. He’s Batman’s ally in the police and the main difference between him and Batman is that he is a firm believer in the law. Becoming a vigilante is backwards for his character, and I hate the ro-bat suit. One other thing. Dick Grayson revealed himself to Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl and the Red Hood to be alive after his ‘death’ in Forever evil and becoming a super-spy (see my 4 issue Test of Grayson for more info)

OK, let’s take a look.

Editorial: 5 things I want to see in Batman and Robin Eternal

Batman Eternal; I did a 4 issue test on the series in January (despite the fact the 4th issue came out in April the year before, before I even started this blog) it was a good story but it's focus on the plot and big reveals whilst character work was limited to only Batman, Julia Pennyworth, Spoiler and Jim Gordon (with a few sprinkles for Batgirl and the Red Hood) preventing me from calling it a great story. Next month, a new series of Batman Eternal is coming out, titled Batman and Robin: Eternal focusing more on the family of Batman than Batman (who is now Jim Gordon in a stupid robot bat-suit)

So, what needs to happen in this 6-month weekly series to improve upon it's predecessor, here are my 5 suggestions

4 issue Test #3 - Batman Eternal

Sorry this one doesn't look too good, pity they write in white in this one

What was originally going to be a Gotham Academy review had to be delayed owing to the release date being too close to the review date, so let’s dig into the first 4 issues of the series: Batman Eternal, the mini-series to celebrate Batman’s 75^th Anniversary and see how good or otherwise it is.

#7 Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 (The New 52)

Oh boy, it’s another cr*ppy Scott Lobdell Comic, what I have to put up with…

So, Red Hood and the Outlaws is one of the more controversial new 52 comics. Not because of the fact that Jason Todd seems deadpan and sarcastic, not because Roy Harper is now wearing a trucker hat but everything to do with their portrayal of Starfire. In the first issue she seems like a sex object, and I never really bothered to read the rest of it.

So rather than choosing Roy Harper, who’s origin has clearly changed for the New 52, or Starfire, whose origin is a far lesser known one, we get the origin of the Red Hood. Batman sells! So you'll not be surprised to hear that despite Roy Harper and Starfire being on the cover, they're not in the book at all.

So, let’s not waste any time and get into the issue, and get it over with quickly