We missed last week, but we’re back for issue #40 of Batman Eternal. Let’s see what the new issue holds for us as the comic grows closer and closer to the end.
Batman Eternal #40 (DC Comics)
Lead writer: Ray Fawkes
Other writers: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Tim Seeley, and James Tynion IV
Artist: Davide Furno & Paolo Armitano
Story
After being caught up in an avalanche at Miller Mountain, Batman searches for the Riddler, who also got caught up in it. Meanwhile in Gotham, a lot of Batman’s rogues have gained access to Batman’s equipment from a figure on a radio. While most are happy to get it, Catwoman has no interest in anything of this. She’s perfectly fine with climbing the top of the mob world and doesn’t trust getting any of this equipment from some unseen person on the radio.
Spoiler Corner
Batman eventually finds the Riddler under piles of snow and pulls him out. Riddler is freaked out about going back to Gotham. He swears he’ll never tell him anything, but Batman doesn’t care at this point and is just going to take him back to prison.
In response to Selina declining the mysterious man’s offer and telling the rogues they are in over their heads, Firefly tries killing her. However, she sneaks out a side door when he blows up her car and disappears. The rogues then leave, preparing to cause as much damage and destruction to Gotham with their new toys.
Selina realizes something really big is going down, between all the events that have happened and the mysterious voice on the radio. She contacts one of her guys to see if there is any person with a hit on their head that seems like overkill. The man points out that this teenage girl (Stephanie Brown if you recall) has a bounty for a $100 million on her head and Catwoman suspects she knows something. As such, she plans on finding her herself.
Vicki Vale manages to subdue the man who shot Warren with a combination of pepper spray and knocking him in the head with his own gun. After the police arrest the man and Warren is taken away by an ambulance, a Batplane can be seen overhead bombing some parts of Gotham. Vicki starts to figure out that something bigger is happening herself…
Somewhere on the edges of Gotham, Jim Corrigan emerges from a drainage pipe, with an unconscious Maxie Zeus in toe. The two of them managed to survive being stuck in the tunnels for two weeks straight after Arkham collapsed and are lucky to be alive. The issue ends with another bomb going off in Gotham as Jim starts dragging Maxie away to find the police.
Thoughts
Not a bad issue overall, bringing us closer and closer to where Batman #28 was last year. The story is really heating up now more than usual and I’m curious to see how this all plays out, especially with the rogues gaining control of Batman’s weapons and Selina’s plan of action. Hopefully we get some more answers as time goes on, since we still have no real idea who is pulling the strings in this mess. The writing and character work here was solid and the artwork was rather nice looking. Quite scratchy in areas, but the style did fit the book more than recent artists’ work did.
Best Moment
Now this man here with the silly collar gets it. He’s way too smart to be a Batman villain.
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