Batman Eternal #23 Review –“The Legacy of Gotham”
Overview
Batman Eternal has been a very captivating series even though it gets a bit lukewarm for a certain amount of issues during the months. But that’s because it’s a weekly series and sometimes writers are busy writing other comics. So, it can come out rushed or have different artists because they tend to have their own busy schedules with other comics as well. But overall this has been one of the best weekly series up to date since “52”. So, you can forgive the hurdles it has. There’s been a few great storylines that you can check out like Jim Gordon being put to jail for a crime scene that made him look like he killed an unarmed man. There’s some conspiracy that Falcone was involved with this plan. But it hasn’t been revealed yet. He is also causing a gang war to rule over Gotham and other gangs like Penguin. There are also some characters being affected by this like Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Red Hood, Red Robin, Batwoman, Batwing, Spectre, Catwoman and the police department. Basically the entire Bat-family gets shaped up in this series even though it has Batman on the title. It’s one of many reasons why I love this series it’s because you get the insides and outsides of Gotham and see the developments that shape the Batman universe as a whole. I call it the next Gotham Central. Plus, there’s the origin of Spoiler! But besides all the good stuff, today is a bit of a lukewarm issue because it reveals a disappointment of Catwoman’s father. But I highly suggest to still pick up this issue because you would want to know the recent developments of Catwoman.
Story
Catwoman has talks with her to take heir as a crime lord while Batman continues to fight Architect as Gotham City collapses!
The Good
I feel very lukewarm or on the fence with this issue. We finally get to find out who Catwoman’s father is and it’s nice to know why she becomes a Gotham crime lord in future issues. It’s really nice to see how her premises will be building up for her own series as well. It really seems like the end shakes up the core of Gotham literally and I like how all the dots are getting connected. I also like how we got to know a little bit more about Architect’s game plan was. But we still feel gipped on not knowing about who he is.
The Bad
Like I said earlier I’m still on the fence of all this. I’m just disappointed on who Catwoman’s father is because my recent guess was based on someone else because of all the hype the storylines and conflict were panting up for which, I felt it could have built up to a better story in my opinion. Plus, it’s a pathos of pervious origins of Catwoman. There’s also a suspension of disbelief or mystery to who her father is because of the quotes she gives this person as her “father” or maybe it’s because he abandoned her. Anyways I felt like the whole Batman vs Architect should have been pushed aside for next week’s issue because there’s something more that could have been addressed about Catwoman’s father like why we need the story to be centered on him and care about him and this revelation of his crime lord empire. We also didn’t get to know more about Architect either. We only got to know his game plan and why was he doing this. I also couldn’t understand why would Batman let Hush be all alone and wandered off where the people are. I though Batman would at least tie-roped him at he is fighting Architect. So, nothing bad would happen being near people.
As much as I like Dustin Nugyen’s art it was really weak this week. It looks quite rushed. The face expressions on the faces weren’t that much detailed and it needed some kink to it. The action was also a bunch of one hit punches and it really wasn’t that expansive as it should be. Also the characters didn’t look all too familiar. I couldn’t even tell who Catwoman’s father was until his name was mentioned.
Theme
The theme in this issue is legacy. Legacy is the choice of holding or carrying on your family or someone’s past and make it your own. Putting your foot forward and making it to something better like for example, you didn’t like how your father treated you when you were young but it’s still your duty to carry on the family name but try to be a better father than he ever was to your new child. It also doesn’t have to be someone you didn’t like, it can also be someone who you admired and you would like to carry their beliefs to others and you still make changes to applied a better you. This is the theme I saw in catwoman even though she never loved her father. It still her duty to carry on the crime lord legacy of her father, make it as her own and maybe be even better than her father. I kind also saw this in Architect since he mentions a little bit about holding a family’s name.
Verdict
I give this issue a 3.5/7.5 out of 5/10 stars. It’s an average issue that gives off some decent plot points. But I felt it needed to be more detailed and it felt rather rushed this week. I think if they gave us more a story based on who Cabwoman’s dad is and why he is important to this story. I also felt this way with Architect as well. Dustin’s art was also a disappointment because it looks rushed and undetailed on the action and faces in general. But overall I still think this is a worthy issue of a pick up because we get to know what Catwoman’s goal in mind is and once again we’re noticing how the plot points are connected like never before. So, I recommend to get this issue to know these revelations.
Video Review
