Batman Eternal by Snyder and Tynion issue #8

How many times does the Bat-signal have to die over and over again? The answer to that, apparently, is ONCE MORE with feeling. (I actually looked through the first few pages of Snyder's Batman issue #35 last week and the Bat-signal was once again assaulted there). I suppose it's becoming a recurring theme now (or a running joke, whatever you call it) to destroy the fuck out of that signal. This issue was no exception. It makes you wonder how Gordon affords to replace that hefty thing. It must cost a lot for maintenance alone.

Now after my nitpicks for the previous issue which was also written by the Snyder-Tynion team, this issue was better paced and written than that so I can at least get back to focusing on the things I enjoy about the events unfolding in line with the multiple storylines bundled up together for the series so far, instead of needlessly re-living the stuff that I wasn't crazy about Eternal as a whole. Eight issues in and I'm still having a great time in spite of evidence to the contrary in my reviews. This isn't torture for me to read (believe me, I know torture-reading better than anyone since I subjected myself to Tony Daniel's Detective Comics volume 1 not long ago). Even if I dislike some of the choices the writers have made throughout said issues, I'm still having fun.

Honest to Loki who is my god, by the way. Or maybe Tom Hiddleston is. Striking this through because unimportant.

The opening sequence was, firstly, SUPERB. Reading about Batman going all night long being a sexy vigilante machine and beating up criminal scum just like the old times makes me happily nostalgic. If Falcone wants the old ways back then Batman will comply and remind him the relentless pressure of the one-man crusade that is the Dark Knight that managed to drive Falcone away in the first place. But why the hell did Falcone bother coming back anyway? Is he being as nostalgic as I am? Surely, being Hong Kong's crime boss should suffice. His motivations appear unclear to me. Something must have happened in Hong Kong--a catalyst of some sort--and I hope the next issue is going to reveal that. Also, Catwoman is there too...for some reason. Yeah, things are about to get complicated again and I earnestly hope it will also be compelling.

Can I just state for the record now that I hate Jack Forbes and I will NEVER EVER EVER call him GCPD's Commissioner? I wish he dies very painfully when this series ends. It will be the only consolation I will settle for. Honestly, he frees the criminals Batman has carefully gift-wrapped for the police force all because of his hypocritical stance against vigilantism? He's a Falcone henchman and he makes my blood boil. So goddamn you, sir. God damn you to the bowels of hell.

Should I acknowledge how weird it is for Tiger Shark to be working for Falcone? Can anyone else see how this relationship will surely deteriorate in time? No? Okey-dokey then.

Meanwhile, I absolutely adore Jason Bard and his scenes and role here in this issue were one of the few things I enjoyed the most. Vicki Vale makes yet another appearance and if the writers plan to get her and Jason together (whether in a professional or possibly romantic relationship), I wouldn't mind as long as it serves the plot and/or gives room for their characters to further develop. I got my eye on Vale already and I hope she's utilized more realistically. I don't have to like her, you know. I just need her to make sense when I read her. In line with the scenes between Bard and Vale, we also get sliced panels with whatever happened to Stephanie Brown from where we left her in issue #4. Her parents want her dead and she once again botched an assassination attempt out of sheer luck. Man, is this nightmare ever going to end for Steph? Will she encounter Batman or some other caped crusader (Barbara, anyone?) while she's trying to get to a safe place? In bloody Gotham City. With GCPD being led by an asshole crook. While another surge for the ongoing gang war will spill in the streets sooner or later. And a swarm of nanobots are infecting children. And Professor Pyg is on the loose and now has plans to claim the city as his own playground. And the Joker's Daughter is abducting people to sacrifice for her mystic ritual. And now Batman has just left for Hong Kong. Damn.

GODDAMN, I'm getting more excited now that I have just thought about the multiple subplots all unfolding from a distance and will hopefully converge sooner or later to shake the city to its foundations. So let's do this, fuckers! Bring it on, Batman Eternal!

RECOMMENDED: 8/10