Eternal Reviews

Batman Eternal #11

Batman Eternal is one of  DC's weekly titles, and this week's installment helps further a couple of earlier plots that helped kick off the series.

Batgirl is on the hunt for a mysterious man who was at the scene of the train derailment in Gotham. The same one that resulted in Jim Gordon's incarceration. Batgirl needs to find out who this man is and what, if any connection he has to the disaster. Sure enough, things aren't ever easy as Scorpiana and Batgirl end up at each others throats. It's nice to see the Jim Gordon angle revisited and furthered.

Julia Pennyworth is still rehabbing at Wayne Manor, making for a nice break from the chaos of chase and fight sequences. More than that, it's nice to see a little more emoting from the characters. Especially when those characters are family.

The Cluemaster plot gets some well written backstory, and we learn about his life before crime as well as his motivation. Stephanie exposes her fathers' early run-ins with Batman and tries to understand where and how her fathers' life went wrong.

A weekly Batman series is just what was needed, despite being another addition to the growing list of Batman books. The writing team of Snyder, Tynion, and Fawkes is a strong argument for the quality and consistency of the title, and a well varying art team keeps things interesting.

NEW COMICS JUNE 18th

More Bombshell covers this week, including Talia on Batman and Ra's #32
Batwoman on Batwoman #32, and Harley Quinn. She'll go quick.
Kill Shakespeare returns for another 4-issue run.
Original Sin #4 ships with 2 covers.
Wicked and Divine is a new Image title by Gillen and McKelvie( of Young Avengers and Journey into Mystery)about gods walking the Earth with the status of pop-stars. The O'Malley cover will go fast.

NEW COMICS JUNE 11th

Good week,not a lot of big stuff to mention though.
The spin-off to Original Sin starts this week, and of course its called "Original Sins", so that wont be confusing or anything.
DC 52 starts off Infinity Man and the Forever People, hopefully enough old school DC fans are still around to support a book like this.
Uncanny X-Men Special #1 starts off a 3 part story that runs through the Iron Man and Nova Specials this summer.
Figment is a Marvel comic based on an old Disney attraction.( kind of like Seekers of the Weird which just finished its run)
Empty Man is a new crime, horror comic by Cullen Bunn.
Red City is a new Image crime, sci-fi comic.
Couple more Bombshell covers this week, including Detective, Green Lantern Corps and Justice League United.
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Weekly Reviews

Here is a review of the 2 weekly comics DC is doing .

Batman Eternal #9

Batman Eternal is a weekly series from DC and another addition to the list of bat-books on the shelf. Each issue is an installment in an epic Batman story that spans many characters and locations in the DCU.

In this week's issue, Batman heads to Japan to investigate the resurgence of Carmine Falcone, who has taken over the GCPD from the shadows and is now running Gotham city. Falcone was last seen in Japan, and when we're in Japan we can usually expect to see Jiro, them Japanese Batman. Jiro makes an appearance in this issue and fights alongside Batman to uncover the mystery of Falcone's reappearance in Gotham.

Batman Eternal is a good addition to the Batman books, especially if Zero year is moving too low or the stories in other Batman titles aren't working for you. This is a weekly series, so the story progresses at a more rapid pace when compared to other titles. It's got all of the standard qualities desired in a Batman book: mystery, detective work, plenty of characters, lots of action and the writers on the book are some of the most talented in the business.

Batman Eternal is a great choice if you're looking for a solid series that's easy to catch up on, and to follow along with.

Futures End #5

Another weekly series, this one taking place five years in the future. Futures End features rue whole cast of DC characters, including Batman Beyond who is at the forefront of the story.

In the distant future, the world has been taken over by an AI. The heroes, all turned into android bugs, only have one purpose: to assimilate all life into the AI. It's as dystopian a world as you can imagine, but Batman has a plan as always. Batman Beyond is sent back in time to prevent this future from happening.

Each character seems to have their own mini stories progressing which will converge into one down the line. This issue features Constantine, Firestorm, Grifter, Mr.Terriffic and a few others. Mr Terriffic announces a new consumer level T-Sphere which can store your essence much like a flash drive stores data, and Grifter is given an interesting ultimatum.

Futures End is only five weeks in, so we haven't seen any of the top tier heroes yet. How they'll factor in is anyone's guess, but there's still almost a years worth of story left as Futures End is a 52 week book.

Futures End will also be featured during DC's September event, during which each issue of the standard monthly titles will be a Futures End tie in. With some big writers working on the book, such as Jeff Lemire and Brian Azzarello, this seems like a pretty promising title.

NEW COMICS JUNE 4th

A little more reasonable delivery this week, with a good mix of stuff.
Many of the new 52 DC titles this month will have a Bombshell variant. These are basically art pieces based on the old 50's pin-ups girls. I will have a decent supply of these variants, but they will sell quick at cover price. If you are interested make sure to order early.
Batman '66 meets Green Hornet is written by Kevin Smith and looks like a lot of fun. It is basically a sequel to the time the heroes met up in the T.V. show.
New Vampirella is pretty self explanatory. As is Big Trouble in Little China.
Princess Ugg looks like a fun all-ages book about a barbarian princess who's quite a bit different from the other girls at princess school. Its by Ted Naifeh of Courtney Crumrin fame.
More all-ages fun as Tiny Titans returns for a 6 issue run.
If you havent been reading Afterlife with Archie(zombie Archie) make sure to pick up the first trade paperback collection of issues 1-5.

NEW comics MAY 28th

A really big week to end off the month. A good mix of titles with a couple of BIG #1's to watch for.
Horror fans will be happy to see more Clive Barker on the shelves as Nightbreed #1 arrives.
More horror/comedy as Chew and Revival team-up for a one-shot.
Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 brings us 4 short self contained stories kind of like what got us all into comics years ago.
Thanos Annual #1 teams Jim Starlin with Ron Lim to bring us a big battle between the Mad Titan and his greatest foes, the Avengers and himself. This story will lead into the Thanos original hardcover coming soon.
 C.O.W.L. brings us the story of the worlds first organized super-hero union. What do they do when they are TOO successful.
With Forever Evil wrapping up this week, we can finally get to read Nightwing #30. How and why does Dick become Grayson Agent of Spyral.
Warren Ellis is back big time as Trees begins. Huge monoliths from the stars planted themselves all over the Earth, and for 10 years did nothing. Now something is happening.

WEEKLY Reviews

Batman Eternal #7
 

For those who aren't following along with the weekly series, Batman Eternal is a stand-alone Batman title completely different from the other bat-books on the shelves. Batman Eternal features a number of different writers and artists working on the same story, keeping things interesting and (hopefully) on time.

So far, the story in Batman Eternal features a wide cast of characters and we're being given a number of different plot points that are all slowly winding towards each other. Gotham is seemingly being overthrown by ex-mob boss Carmine Falcone, who appears to have the GCPD in the palm of his hand. After orchestrating the imprisonment of Commissioner Gordon and manipulating Professor Pyg, it looks like Falcone is slowly completing his takeover of Gotham.

This issue features The Penguin, Catwoman, and lots of explosions. Of course, in between the turf wars, crooked cops, and maniac villains, Batman remains on the streets investigating the circumstances surrounding Gordon's mysterious imprisonment, and the rise of an ex crime lord.

It's a good read, and gives us a little bit of everything that makes Batman books fun - detective work, villains, team-ups, and action.

Futures End #3

Another weekly series, this one featuring the entire DC roster, as well as Batman Beyond. This title takes place five years into the future of the current DCU. Batman Beyond has been sent back in time to prevent a future believed to be caused by Mr.Terrific's corporation, Terrifitech. It's a future where an AI has taken over the world, assimilating any living beings, including superheroes and villains into cyborg bugs. Unfortunately, Batman Beyond arrives five years too late, and the transformation to his eventual future is already underway.

This weekly series is only three weeks in, and while the cast will eventually grow, it currently features Batman Beyond, Firestorm, and Frankenstein. They'll likely be important characters when the terrifying future is eventually realized, and the writers are keeping things interesting leading up to that moment. Surely though, it's a long ways away.

For DC's September issues, each one will tie into Futures End. They won't be necessary but they should give a good look at how each character fits into the future. It looks like Futures end is going to have lasting implications on the DCU as well, so it's a good title to pick up for DC fans.