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unladylike's review
4.0
I got into this weekly series because of Scott Snyder (the chief writer and mastermind of all the great Batman comics of the past 4+ years) and Harper Row (badass working class sister who's developing into a great hero in the Bat-family).
Kudos to the artists for keeping the quality so consistent through such a complex story arc week after week. It's the script writers who couldn't keep up the consistency of tone in this volume. Specifically one writer stands out as having ruined an otherwise great story: Tim Seeley. I don't know who this guy is, but he makes Ray Fawkes' portions look great by comparison. The story-plotting/scripting/co-advisor junior assistant team for this series is Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV at the top, Ray Fawkes and Kyle Higgins doing an admirable job of both dark and more light-hearted moments throughout what is one of the most intricate Batman stories I've ever read. There are SO many threads to this plot all happening at once that to pull it off was truly a feat - and on a WEEKLY deadline! But then there's Tim Seeley, whose issues read like the Scooby Doo interlude in Batman Begins.
Whole pages of good artist talent are wasted so Seeley can slowly set up a corny joke, everyone's voice becomes that of Jay Leno, looking at the reader and squeaking out, "Ya git it?! See? Cuz...It's funny!"
Thankfully Seeley gets pulled after a few issues and Fawkes/Higgins, with direction from Snyder/Tynion pull it together for the closing act of this dense volume.
One final quibble I forgot to mention in my review of Vol. 1, which carries over into this one: The plot arc about Gordon getting thrown in jail hinges upon one moment, wherein he fires a single bullet past a hired villain, and that bullet hits an electrical panel, causing a subway train to be unable to brake, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. Even Batman points out early on that frying that control panel shouldn't have been enough to cause the tragedy, but nobody ever looks further at that point. So they sweep this unlikely plot point under the rug and never look back for the sake of the bigger picture. But seriously, you can't just smash a visible control panel at pedestrian level on a subway platform and make trains crash into one another like that! Gordon was framed and (at least in these 2 volumes) we never get to see the World's Greatest Detective put the pieces together of the incident itself - more just making excuses and looking at the red herrings strewn about the scene.
Kudos to the artists for keeping the quality so consistent through such a complex story arc week after week. It's the script writers who couldn't keep up the consistency of tone in this volume. Specifically one writer stands out as having ruined an otherwise great story: Tim Seeley. I don't know who this guy is, but he makes Ray Fawkes' portions look great by comparison. The story-plotting/scripting/co-advisor junior assistant team for this series is Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV at the top, Ray Fawkes and Kyle Higgins doing an admirable job of both dark and more light-hearted moments throughout what is one of the most intricate Batman stories I've ever read. There are SO many threads to this plot all happening at once that to pull it off was truly a feat - and on a WEEKLY deadline! But then there's Tim Seeley, whose issues read like the Scooby Doo interlude in Batman Begins.
Whole pages of good artist talent are wasted so Seeley can slowly set up a corny joke, everyone's voice becomes that of Jay Leno, looking at the reader and squeaking out, "Ya git it?! See? Cuz...It's funny!"
Thankfully Seeley gets pulled after a few issues and Fawkes/Higgins, with direction from Snyder/Tynion pull it together for the closing act of this dense volume.
One final quibble I forgot to mention in my review of Vol. 1, which carries over into this one: The plot arc about Gordon getting thrown in jail hinges upon one moment, wherein he fires a single bullet past a hired villain, and that bullet hits an electrical panel, causing a subway train to be unable to brake, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. Even Batman points out early on that frying that control panel shouldn't have been enough to cause the tragedy, but nobody ever looks further at that point. So they sweep this unlikely plot point under the rug and never look back for the sake of the bigger picture. But seriously, you can't just smash a visible control panel at pedestrian level on a subway platform and make trains crash into one another like that! Gordon was framed and (at least in these 2 volumes) we never get to see the World's Greatest Detective put the pieces together of the incident itself - more just making excuses and looking at the red herrings strewn about the scene.
karliclover's review
5.0
Like I said in my recent review of The New 52: Futures End, Volume 2, I absolutely love weekly comics. They're so jam-packed with stories and I love how they all come together and make one huge story. Gotham is getting hit pretty hard in this book and it's all great. I can't wait for volume 3 to come out.
lorien13's review
5.0
Wow.
You have to, HAVE TO read this series. This is Batman as it's best, with twists and turns that are beyond surprising and blow me away. Eternal stands with The Long Halloween, The Killing Joke, Hush, and Under the Red Hood. I have no clue what's going to happen next and I'm dying to continue the story in volume 3.
Now it's gonna get spoilery.
With Hush being the villain you know it's going to be good, and you know there is no honor, no usual tricks and moves. There's no one he won't use, and no one he won't hurt. Even those fighting for him realize they're puppets of the worst kind and totally disposable. Each character is at risk you have no idea what's going to happen next.
The twists were great and like the best Batman comics there are cute and hilarious moments, like when the family meets Julia and Red Hood freaks out over Alfred having a daughter, as well as horrifying like when you have no clue if Alfred will make it. I enjoyed it and as I've read Batman volume 6 which is past Eternal, I know this is going to be amazing.
You have to, HAVE TO read this series. This is Batman as it's best, with twists and turns that are beyond surprising and blow me away. Eternal stands with The Long Halloween, The Killing Joke, Hush, and Under the Red Hood. I have no clue what's going to happen next and I'm dying to continue the story in volume 3.
Now it's gonna get spoilery.
With Hush being the villain you know it's going to be good, and you know there is no honor, no usual tricks and moves. There's no one he won't use, and no one he won't hurt. Even those fighting for him realize they're puppets of the worst kind and totally disposable. Each character is at risk you have no idea what's going to happen next.
The twists were great and like the best Batman comics there are cute and hilarious moments, like when the family meets Julia and Red Hood freaks out over Alfred having a daughter, as well as horrifying like when you have no clue if Alfred will make it. I enjoyed it and as I've read Batman volume 6 which is past Eternal, I know this is going to be amazing.
dominicangirl's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
carleeiigh's review
4.0
More of the ever entangling Batplots! Some I definitely enjoy more than other, but the ones in this that I like, I Really like.
I obviously enjoyed the small Batfam moments - all coming together to help quell the riots. Tim again gets mostly pushed to the side, but he, Jason and Barbara have some fun littler interactions. I liked Jason actually showing some of his heart to Barbara before leaving (also proving to her that she's not a killer, even if she hates Bard for imprisoning her father, she won't let someone die). I also like how they set up Selena's arc for the next volume - let her be a crimelord!! and save cats!!
Everyone hates the random Joker's daughter story. So do I. The magic plotline with Batwing and Corrigan feels like a waste of time, now that Arkham just got leveled anyway. Guess it's back to dumping criminals into Blackgate again
I don't mind Hush as the main villain. He has almost all of Batman's skills and knows his secrets? Sure, it makes for an interesting plot at least. I'm not sure how Batman's bases blowing up leads to Wayne Enterprises getting dismantled? But okay - All the intersecting storylines are weaved together well enough (except for Joker's daughter/Arkham but oh well they were easy to skip over) so I'm interested to see where it will go.
I obviously enjoyed the small Batfam moments - all coming together to help quell the riots. Tim again gets mostly pushed to the side, but he, Jason and Barbara have some fun littler interactions. I liked Jason actually showing some of his heart to Barbara before leaving (also proving to her that she's not a killer, even if she hates Bard for imprisoning her father, she won't let someone die). I also like how they set up Selena's arc for the next volume - let her be a crimelord!! and save cats!!
Everyone hates the random Joker's daughter story. So do I. The magic plotline with Batwing and Corrigan feels like a waste of time, now that Arkham just got leveled anyway. Guess it's back to dumping criminals into Blackgate again
I don't mind Hush as the main villain. He has almost all of Batman's skills and knows his secrets? Sure, it makes for an interesting plot at least. I'm not sure how Batman's bases blowing up leads to Wayne Enterprises getting dismantled? But okay - All the intersecting storylines are weaved together well enough (except for Joker's daughter/Arkham but oh well they were easy to skip over) so I'm interested to see where it will go.
cdkamat's review
4.0
3.5
Liked this more than Vol. 1. Artwork is much more consistent and the story is a bit contained. The end was a good cliffhanger.
Liked this more than Vol. 1. Artwork is much more consistent and the story is a bit contained. The end was a good cliffhanger.
19lindsey89's review
3.0
2.5 Stars
Eh. I liked the bit between Tim and Jason, but they decided to work as a family, then Batman runs off to battle Hush by himself.
Catwoman didn’t do anything. There was a lot of the story that felt more like filler than stuff that contributed to the plot.
Eh. I liked the bit between Tim and Jason, but they decided to work as a family, then Batman runs off to battle Hush by himself.
Catwoman didn’t do anything. There was a lot of the story that felt more like filler than stuff that contributed to the plot.