Titled “A Night on Earth”, BATMAN ETERNAL #18 involves Batgirl, Batwoman, and Jason Todd racing to find evidence that may save Commissioner Gordon! Also Killer Croc makes an appearance!
I loved this issue so much. One reason was because it was one of the longer issues since BATMAN ETERNAL started and because it was long we were able to cover a lot of stuff and nothing felt forced to me. Each page was filled with something that kept me interested. Whether it was the opening scene with the little kid in Brazil, or the ending conversation between Batwoman and Red Hood discussing Batgirl. Another reason was because of the writing by Snyder and Tynion IV and the script writing done by Tim Seeley. The writing was spot on, to me, on every page. Let’s get more in detail with the positives and negatives with BATMAN ETERNAL #18!
Positives
One of the strong points of this issue was the Batgirl, Red Hood, and Batwoman dynamic. It was so fun just the way they were written in this issue. They were bouncing dialogue off of each other and almost each scene had some sort of impact.  The scene where Batwoman ask Batgirl are they cool and Batgirl’s answer was perfect. Also, the scene where Red Hood’s plan was ousted by Batgirl’s tenaciousness and Batwoman somewhat agreeing with Batgirl’s plan of attack, adds to what made these characters dynamic work so well. I’m glad that Batgirl’s plan to find out what happened to Jim Gordon has come to a kind of climax…
…Batgirl becomes mind-controlled by the one who is suspected to be behind what happened to Jim Gordon. My memory is kind of fuzzy, so I can’t remember exactly who that character is, or if they were introduced before BATMAN ETERNAL started. If he can control minds, then, he is a very dangerous person to be dealing with, and this investigation just got very, very interesting!
Killer Croc was pretty damn awesome in this issue! His back and forth with Lieutenant Bard had me laughing. I kinda knew from the cover that he was going to be in it but the way he made his appearance was pretty cool. I love how he is written so the readers can have remorse for him. Like, in the scene where he initially runs into Bard and Batman, and he grabs Bard and says “That’s how it is with all of you up there…who needs to do the actual police work?! Blame it on the cannibal croc!” That made me actually feel for the big guy. Even more so, Â when he said he knew the father and the child who went into the sewers. So it seems who’s going to be kind of an anti-hero up until they figure out who killed that guy.
The writing was great, as stated before. The character dynamics carried the issue and even though this issue was one of the longer ones, it did not feel like it. I was so into the characters and the dialogue that as I was reading page after page, I did not know I was done the whole issue. In fact, I wanted to read more! So thumbs up to Tim Seeley on script duties for keeping the issue well paced and great character dynamic, and to Snyder and Tynion IV for the engaging dialogue!
The artwork by Andy Clarke looked really good! One of my favorite scenes in this issue, is the scene that is pictured to the left of this paragraph. It is one of my favorite scenes, not only because of the dialogue, but because it was such a meaningful way to start this issue. The little boy looked so sad lugging all those rocks at this concentration camp and when he pulled out the Batman doll, I was just hoping someone come and save this kid from this gunman. I give Andy Clarke his props, because if it was not for the definition on the child’s face and the way the setting was, I might would have just read pass the page and not pay it any mind, thank you for that.
Negatives
The one gripe I have with this issue is still the Pennyworths debacle. Like what was that scene with Julia dancing at the club there for? I’m assuming it was comedic relief from most of the serious scenes that were showed prior to this scene. But, I did not find it funny at all. We have enough comedic moments with Red Hood and co. that we did not need this scene.
Verdict
As I said before, I loved this issue! The writing was superb, the artwork was good and detailed, and the pacing was excellent for a much longer issue. Nothing really felt forced except for that scene with Julia, but, other than that I thought this issue delivered a solid, interesting, and very character driven experience for the readers. Highly recommend!
Rating
