BATMAN #28 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Dustin Nguyen
This month sees
Batman take a break for the "Zero Year" storyline so Scott Snyder and company can provide a teaser of sorts for the upcoming weekly series
Batman Eternal. It's important to note that this tale doesn't take place at the start of the new status quo that
Eternal will establish, but months into the future. It's essentially like viewing a television episode midseason without having previously viewed any episodes up to that point.
The issue opens with Harper Row purposely violating curfew to infiltrate an underground nightclub. (Read a few pages of the issue and that sentence will make sense.) My only complaint having to do with Harper is how Dustin Nguyen draws her out of costume. Much like he did with Tim Drake during his pre New 52 run on
Detective Comics, he makes people in their late teens look like they're ten years old or even younger. Other than that, I'm fine with his cartoon-ish, noir-ish art style. Since first being brought into comics a couple years back, it's been obvious that she's been groomed to be part of the Bat Family. You won't have to wait for her development in
Eternal because she's here in all her costumed glory as Bluebird. Yes. Bluebird. Not Nightwing or Robin. Scott Snyder recently confirmed in an interview with Newsarama that she is indeed Batman's new partner and they decided to give her a new name even though she is essentially a Robin. Still, it's no wonder we all thought she would be called Nightwing because her costume took some MAJOR cues from Dick Grayson's.
It's not long after she infiltrates the club that she's joined by Batman to kick the asses of the hired muscle. It turns out that Selina Kyle now rules the Gotham underworld. Apparently she and Batman had some kind of falling out. It seems that Catwoman is returning to the character's villainous roots. I'm personally a fan of her being more of a grey character and working with Batman, but I understand that writers need to change up things. This issue also sees The New 52 introduction of Stephanie Brown/ Spoiler, which should please all twelve of her fans.
I'm aware that some people didn't like being thrust into the middle of a story, but I really liked this issue. Granted I'm eager to see how "Zero Year" finishes, but this issue did what it set out to do- get me excited for
Batman Eternal. I can't wait to see how the characters got to this point and what awaits them beyond that. Change is something that I welcome in comics (that's not something you hear often) and a bleak future for Gotham looks pretty bright from where I'm sitting.
Score: 9/10