Batman Eternal is a year-long weekly limited series published by DC Comics, that began in April 2014. The series featured Batman, his allies, and Gotham City, with a writing team led by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, and Tim Seeley. John Layman was initially involved but departed after the tenth issue, being replaced by Higgins. The series ran through April 2015, after which it took a hiatus before returning in October 2015 for a 26-issue weekly sequel series titled Batman and Robin Eternal, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Robin. The success of the series led to spin-off series like Arkham Manor and Gotham by Midnight, both of which emerged from events within the main series of Batman Eternal.
The story begins with a major incident that reshapes Gotham City, exploring various subplots and characters, including the Bat Family, James Gordon, and several villains. The narrative is divided into different arcs, each showcasing the unique styles of the contributing writers. Notable plot points include the transformation of Wayne Manor into Arkham Manor and the rise of new threats in Gotham.
The series was praised for its engaging plot and strong character development. Critics appreciated the depth and complexity of the story, as well as the way it handled multiple characters and their arcs. However, there were occasional pacing issues, with some parts of the story feeling slow or disjointed. The series consistently ranked among the top-selling comics, with several issues appearing in Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly top ten lists.
Publication history In October 2013, DC Comics announced the series would launch in early 2014, with Scott Snyder heading the story. Additional writers include James Tynion IV, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, and Tim Seeley, with art at the beginning handled by Jason Fabok. Snyder and Tynion co-wrote the first story arc, which lays the groundwork for the series. The story lines then move to a bigger story that includes Snyder's Batman title, once it finishes the "Zero Year" story line. The series is part of the 75th anniversary celebration of Batman.
In November 2013, Snyder released a teaser image by Fabok, titled "Happy Batsgiving", inspired by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris' The First Thanksgiving 1621. The image was intended to be "full of Easter eggs and teases" for the series. In December 2013, Seeley stated that Snyder and Tynion created the overarching plot threads of the series to keep each writer progressing, but then further broke the whole story down to different genres for each writer to work in. Fawkes also added that each writer takes turns being the "lead" on the issue, while the others continue to contribute their parts to the issue.
In January 2014, Snyder revealed that each writer is writing arcs to the series, opposed to each writer working together on a single issue. Snyder said, "it might be more difficult or tricky to do a series where each one of us is doing an arc that leads to the next arc, but we liked that idea. We liked that challenge." To aid in this, a large document containing the whole story was created to help map out where large moments needed to occur, and how to aid in connecting each writer's arcs. It was also announced in January that the series would launch in April 2014, and that Layman had left the project. Layman's final issue was issue 10, though he still received "contributing writer" credit through issue 21. Later in the month, DC confirmed the addition of Kyle Higgins on the writing team, who wrote The New 52 series Nightwing up to its penultimate issue in March 2014.
The series starts with a three-issue arc that features a glimpse at the series' end, as well as establishing the incident that drastically reshapes Gotham. Then, issues 4–7 set up smaller plots branching out from the overarching story, before shifting into three-issue arcs by the various creative teams. On the arcs, Snyder said, "Each arc reflects the tastes and the real talent of each writer, and yet at the same time it will feel really seamless and singular — like one bombastic game-changing story that rolls forward through these different neighborhoods of writing in an interesting way." Seeley called issue 20 the end of "season one" of Eternal.
In July 2014, Snyder revealed the story arc after "Zero Year" in Batman, "Endgame", would take place after the events of Eternal. He revealed that issue 34 would act as a way to catch readers up to the events of Eternal, without spoiling the conclusion, while also setting up the new story arc that will run from Batman #35-40. Starting in October 2014, along with the "Endgame" storyline, most New 52 titles in the "Batman" family take place at the end of the Eternal storyline ending in April 2015. At the end of October, Snyder confirmed the series would go on hiatus after April 2015, and would return for a second year.
Batman (vol. 2) #28 In December 2013, Snyder announced that Batman (vol. 2) #28, originally scheduled to be part of the "Zero Year" story, would instead act as a preview issue to Batman Eternal and the future story line in Batman. The issue was written by Snyder and Tynion, with Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs providing the artwork. Snyder stated that, if Batman (vol. 2) #28 was an issue of Eternal, it would be issue 39.5, which equates to a year's time from the continuity seen at the end of "Forever Evil" and the start of Eternal, and was done as a way to tease where Eternal would lead in 2014. However, the solicitations for issue #43 indicated that that issue would have close ties to Batman (vol. 2) 28.
The issue introduces a Gotham where the police are no longer allies to Batman and a curfew is being enforced. Harper Row is able to gain access to The Egyptian, the last remaining nightclub in New Gotham, where she reveals to security that her brother is sick in the Narrows at "ground zero" and was hoping to meet the new "kingpin" of Gotham to get help. When security starts to question her reason for being there, she shuts off the lights to allow Batman to enter. Learning where to go next from a mysterious girl in the Batcave, Harper begins to help Batman remove the remaining security teams, working under the name Bluebird. Batman and Bluebird learn that the new "kingpin" is Selina Kyle, who has taken control of the underworld. They request to get something from her safe that will help the people dying in Gotham. At the safe, it is revealed Selina has Stephanie Brown tied up and she is the only one who knows how to stop what is coming next.
Premise and characters Each of the writers spoke about the different aspects of Batman and Gotham City they would be exploring in their arcs. With the main plot occurring in Snyder's and Tynion's arcs, each writer was able to incorporate different genres and aspects of the Batman universe into their stories:
Tynion stated he would be focusing on some of the younger members of the Bat Family, including former Robins Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown. Additionally, Tynion will be introducing a larger role for the Gotham Gazette and Vicki Vale, and will examine how their roles as reporters affect Gotham. Seeley revealed he would be working within the action, espionage, and adventure genres, with his arc focused on Batgirl and Red Hood. Fawkes covers the horror genre and aspect of Gotham, while focusing on Batwing and Jim Corrigan. He also brought back Ten-Eyed Man, Doctor Double X, and Maxie Zeus, among other characters who have not appeared in years, and thought to introduce Julia Pennyworth, which the creative team felt strongly about, they rerouted "everything to make [her place in the story] one of the key parts of the series." Layman, before leaving the project, was to focus on "the colorful aspects of Gotham" and the villains. Layman's replacement, Kyle Higgins, will continue this focus while also taking his approach from a cinema background. Higgins also revealed that he would introduce Zachary Gate, also known as The Architect, from his Batman: Gates of Gotham series.
Snyder stated after the release of Batman (vol. 2) #28, that Harper Row "is all over this book" and later said that one of the "spines" of the series is the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon, putting "them in situations you've never ever seen before where the conflicts and challenges they're up against are different than anything they've experienced on the page." On the characters that will appear in the series, Tynion said, "Gotham is the best toy box in the comics industry, and we're getting to play with all of the toys, even the ones that are sort of in the bottom of the bin that have been forgotten about."
Tynion later added that Dick Grayson would not appear in his series, due to the Bat Family believing he is dead from the events of Forever Evil and the character appearing in his new role as a superspy in the series Grayson. However, the effect of the Bat Family thinking Nightwing is dead and not knowing where he is will be explored. At the 2014 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Tynion revealed that the creative team almost included Renee Montoya, who had yet to appear in The New 52, but they decided against it, saying, "We cut her out because we didn't want her to just be in the background of the GCPD. We want to bring her back for her own big story."
Additional characters that saw their New 52 debut in the series, played a significant role overall or within an individual writer's arc, or were included in the "Batsgiving" teaser, include: Batwoman, Jason Bard, Harvey Bullock, Catwoman, Deacon Blackfire, Carmine Falcone, Jack Forbes, Hush, Joker's Daughter, Killer Croc, the Penguin, Alfred Pennyworth, Professor Pyg, Road Runner, Maggie Sawyer, and Tiger Shark.
Plot
In the near future, Batman is seen tied to the Bat-Signal while Gotham City burns around him. In the present, Commissioner Gordon fights Professor Pyg before being joined by Batman. The two give chase to Pyg, with Gordon cornering one of his henchmen and ordering him to lower his weapon. The henchman states he does not have one. Gordon fires, but the bullet hits a transformer and causes a massive explosion and makes two trains collide. The Gotham City Police Department and Jason Bard, who had just arrived in Gotham, arrest Gordon, who is denied bail for his crimes and assigned to Blackgate Penitentiary until his trial. Batman reviews the footage of the accident and learns that the henchman worked for Carmine Falcone, who has been talking to Sebastian Hady about returning Gotham to the time before the rise of Batman. Meanwhile, Falcone's men attack on Penguin's weapons caches. This makes Penguin prepare to go to war. Hady, under the guidance of Falcone, promotes Major Jack Forbes to interim commissioner of the GCPD, who shifts the department's priority to stopping Batman.