BATMAN ETERNAL Megathread (35-48)

[ispacehead]

Another great issue of Batman: Everything and the Kitchen Sink.

Not shocked to see the way the events have unfurled.

Still seems a little early for that last page reveal to be the big bad reveal.

[Godlike13]

Either he's the big bad, or he figured out who the big bad is.

[RobinFan4880]

Either he's the big bad, or he figured out who the big bad is.

spoilers:

The Riddler does have a history of helping Batman, so he could have simply figured it out and now wants to push Batman into seeing the whole picture. Not sure I like that as much. The Riddler is a cool Big Bad.

end of spoilers

You should read the solicits, haha.

spoilers:

I've been avoiding the solicits for that exact reason. Reading the solicits for a normal book is ok, since you are only previewing 3 issues in advance of where you are today. With a Weekly, you are seeing 12 issues ahead. that's a big difference, at least to me.

end of spoilers

[ispacehead]

Either he's the big bad, or he figured out who the big bad is.

Or he's just another cog in the wheel...

I've been avoiding the solicits for that exact reason.

Too much fun to ruin with spoilers.

[K. Jones]

I like that Batman laid out the "three ongoing mysteries". Who initiated the Nanovirus? Who wrecked Arkham? Who set up Gordon?

I mean not to harp on about my Doctor Hurt theory, but last thread I did stipulate that if there ended up being "Five" players in the conspiracy that it would be a big sign pointing to the guy. And here we have five players. Falcone. Hush. And the three other mysterious high-level operators. Villains unite? What, like a club of villains? Probably a psychiatric figure with magical connections, probably somebody with Owl connections, and obviously somebody with insane high tech connections. (My ongoing thoughts are that the other three fingers in the new Black Glove are Professor Milo, Lincoln March and maybe The Wrath.)

Alright, that rampant speculation over, I'm stoked on seeing Riddler. Gotham's Moriarty finally turns up. The Napoleon of Pop Crime. The Prince of Puzzles. I like that this calls upon both his large-scale game-playing and history as a mastermind behind masterminds, but also calls upon his history of aiding the Dark Knight because boredom and ego and loving to play the game with everybody, not just Bats, and be his rival. And I'm even surprisingly cool with the old school Zero Year fedora. It's less quirky than the classic bowler hat, but I suppose a bit more fashionable.

[Triple J]

I still think Owlman is the big bad; I remember seeing him somewhere (along with Luthor). He is doing something..not sure what.

[megaharrison]

Riddler being the Big Bad would be way underwhelming when you bring back Hush.

[berserkerclaw]

That and we just had a loaf of riddle in zero year

[toddx77]

Another great issue. Does Fox know that Bruce is Batman in the New 52? The way he was talking made it seem like he didn't, but I thought in some older issue he knew.

I still think Owlman is the big bad; I remember seeing him somewhere (along with Luthor). He is doing something..not sure what.

In Justice League he is working with Luthor to get Superwoman's baby when it is born. I don't think Owlman would be the big bad since he is already having a role in Justice League right now plus Owlman seems to be a Justice League character instead of a Batman characters and Johns would have control over him.

[Naked Bat]

the riddler won't be the big bad, I hope, it would be too much of a hush rehash. Also, he was teased months ago in solicits. which I won't read anymore because they spoil too much.

I find both last issue and this one to be disappointing. The trap wasn't that exciting, and him being like "I escaped like this" wasn't either. At least, when Mr Miracle did that, kirby still showed you how he did. The Bard story is not interesting, and it makes no sense that noone, including Gordon and Batman, would search about him. How come nobody but Vicki Vale thought of searching about his past? That doesn't make sense. I can say I prefer the first act over the second one. I hope the third act will be better. I'm being kinda melodramatic, because I really enjoyed act two, but It wasn't as exciting as the first one to me.

[Maxpower00044]

So, the Riddler would be sitting there trying to solve the case if he was the "Big Bad". That makes absolutely no sense! He's obviously not the bad guy. I'm thinking it has to be Hurt or March. I also think that last page has a lot of clues as to who it could be (the bold words seem like clues).

Man, I'll say it again; these last few issues by unknown (to me) artists, have been great.

[Babs]

It's good to see Babs in her new costume outside of her own book.

[RobinFan4880]

So, the Riddler would be sitting there trying to solve the case if he was the "Big Bad". That makes absolutely no sense! He's obviously not the bad guy. I'm thinking it has to be Hurt or March. I also think that last page has a lot of clues as to who it could be (the bold words seem like clues).

Man, I'll say it again; these last few issues by unknown (to me) artists, have been great.

Agreed. I think the Riddler is a going to nudge Bruce along to finding the real enemy. Maybe we'll get a cool Bat/Riddler team up for the finale! That would be cool given how much focus the Riddler has been given in the last year.

The art is stupendous, especially considering the artistic oddities/lows that this comic has seen.

[JasonTodd428]

Yeah, I don't think that the Riddler is the big bad here either. Why would he bother to try and solve the case if he was the mastermind behind it? I agree with RobinFan. He's likely going to drop clues for Bruce to find that will eventually point to the real big bad here. I still think its going to be March myself but we'll see.

[Maxpower00044]

Eternal ends in MARCH! Coincidence? Probably, but I still think he'll have a hand in it. I do like K. Jones new Black Glove theory. That would be cool too.