In this week’s Weekly Weeklies we feature Batman Eternal #6 and Futures End #2. With Batman, Ray Fawkes is taking charge as he shifts focus to Batwing and a more supernatural flavor. Over in Futures End, we witness a funeral for a fallen hero. Probably won’t be the last to fall in this comic either. With that being said, let’s check them out.
WARNING: Spoilers Below:
Batman Eternal #6
Lead Writer: Ray Fawkes
Corresponding Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, John Layman, and Tim Seeley
Artist: Trevor McCarthy
Story:
Amidst the Gang War that continues to heat up all around the city, something stranger has been going on in the background. Jim Corrigan, AKA the Spectre, has arrived in town, having been drawn to Gotham by the increase in mysticism. Corrigan warns Bruce about this; with all of the fighting going on though, Batman can’t do everything — so he assigns someone else to assist him.
Spoiler Corner:
Batwing teams up with Jim Corrigan to investigate where all the magic and mysticism is coming from, Arkham Asylum (couldn’t see it being anywhere else but here honestly).
Certain inmates of the asylum who are having dark dreams are being brought below the asylum to the Joker’s Daughter. Apparently, their dreams have to do with something a part of a summoning (to officially raise Deacon Blackfire from the grave?). Also, Dr. Milo and Maxie Zeus may be in on it.
As Batman chases after one of the trucks he and Batwing had earlier tagged due to it carrying illegal weapons, it turns out to be a trap! Inside the truck is a truck load of dangerous chemicals and Dr. Phosphorous, who blows them as soon as Batman gets near.
Thoughts:
After several straight weeks of exciting and intense stories and subplots starting up, this issue feels like a slight step back.
While it definitely still gets some interesting mysteries going and has some good setup, it lacks any real “wow” or heavy moments to it that previous issues had. Heck, the ending is a bit flat because it lacked that “oomph.” Also, while very necessary to get these storylines going with the supernatural angle, at this point, it might be a little nice to check in again with the Gang War instead of just hinting towards what’s going on in the background.
Besides that, the writing is good. The characterization and interactions are good, the introduction of some new characters to the story have potential, the dialogue was fine with some good lines or jokes tossed in, and all the writing mechanics were good; it just needs a bit more in the story department. The artwork by McCarthy was at least enjoyable and nice to look at, especially with the supernatural and mystic components.
Best Moment:
It just happens that sonic weapons sound like alarm clocks, duh!
7.5Overall Score
Futures End #2
Lead Writers: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, and Keith Giffen
Artist: Jesus Merino
Story:
It’s a bit after Green Arrow’s death and superheroes from all over are coming to pay their respects for their fallen comrade. There is though, tension in the air, especially with Firestorm showing up, who had shown up to a distress call from Green Arrow an hour late and probably is what caused him to die.
Spoiler Corner:
Not surprisingly, Firestorm’s presence there gets him yelled and then decked by Arsenal, former partner of Green Arrow. He’s not the only person to have a problem with him as well.
The triple homicide of the aliens caused by Grifter is in the middle of its investigation when all of the police files are stolen/destroyed by a mysterious man with his own alien technology. The man and his unseen commanders are hunting down and searching for Grifter.
During his attendance at the funeral, Mr. Terrific mentions that he turned down a job offering from the Justice League to explore his own ways of saving the world.
Lois Lane is working on article about Green Arrow’s death when she gets a mysterious package with coordinates to go somewhere and to trust no one. In the package besides the note, there are:
The broken off tip of what appears to be an arrow from Arsenal.
A green pyramid block.
A matchbox from The Wounded Duck, which was shown randomly towards the end of the book.
Thoughts:
This issue felt like catching up with an old friend after having not seen in them in a long time. Here, you catch up with the characters and what they have been up to in the past five years, and what their personalities and interests were over that span. It’s nice to help flesh out the new timeline and world in the story, but it’s just not enough. This issue fell rather short in the story department, with the funeral taking up much of the meat. That’s not to say the funeral scene was bad, because it was decent (especially Animal Man’s eulogy); but between that, the fact that Batman Beyond didn’t do a single thing this issue, and the only real thing of interest happening at the very end; the issue feels lackluster. Not a very good thing this early into the comic.
The writing is not bad at all, but it’s not particularly anything exciting either. The dialogue is fine, the pacing is fine, the storytelling and structure are fine, etc. Plus, the artwork is also fine if a bit boring and generic after seeing Zircher’s pencils last issue. Everything is just fine, but it needs to be more than that if it wants to win over the audience. This is a comic that needs a serious kick in the butt at this point, because it cannot and will not last long if it proceeds like this for another issue, especially when people out there are already having problems with it.
Best Moment:
Those people probably also didn’t read his awesome comic either. Nuts to them.
6.5Overall Score
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