The triple threat in Weekly Weeklies continues: Batman Eternal #20, Futures End #16, and Genius #3 are featured in this week’s pull-list. Let’s see how they fared:
WARNING: Spoilers Below!
Batman Eternal #20
Lead Writer: Tim Seeley
Corresponding Writers: Scott Snyder, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, and James Tynion IV
Artist: Emanuel Simeoni
Story:
As Batgirl tracks down Dr. Falsario in the Brazilian rainforest, Batman, Jason Bard and Killer Croc fight a bunch of empty vessel zombies and the Ten-Eyed Man far below in the Gotham Underground to save a young girl from being sacrificed to hold open an interdimensional gate.
Spoiler Corner:
Inside Blackgate Prison the Warden and a few others are guarding the cells of Falcone and the Penguin, while the police outside the prison prepare to break in. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon is taking down different members of Penguin’s gang holding some of the prison guards hostage while his cellmate, Leo, is cleaning himself up for some reason.
Batgirl continues hunting down Dr. Falsario, who is screaming about why someone has sent demons for him. Batgirl finds him after following his voice, but she’s too late: he’s just been murdered by a rather large, decorated sword that has been left impaled in a tree. However, all is not lost: Red Hood and Batwoman found enough evidence in the toy factory to set the record straight about Gordon.
As the three finally get the girl to safety, Killer Croc tries to depart with Jade and take her back to her home, but Jason pulls a gun on him and tries to arrest him for murder of three cops (you may recall from his Villain’s Month special last year). Croc sends to Jade to Batman and ends up escaping from he and Bard in the meantime. Above ground, Batman talks to Alfred and admits he was wrong about Bard.
Jim Gordon is on the ropes as Penguin’s goons and Volt have him cornered. However, before they can kill him, Leo appears and kills a few of them, revealing himself to be Rex Calabrese AKA The Lion and former Kingpin of Crime in Gotham. When the police arrive and get a handle on the situation, Gordon confronts Rex about why he helped him. Rex explains he did it because of atonement and the fact he didn’t want Gordon’s daughter to lose him, just as Rex lost his own daughter.
Finally, we return to Stephanie Brown’s storyline. She has reached a decision after everything that has happened to her; she’s not going to sit back and take the crap her father and his goons have been pulling any longer. She’s donning a costume and heading out to expose/spoil to the world all over their dark plans.
Thoughts:
Now one of the big things I’ve been hearing recently about the comic is that there hasn’t been much happening. While I disagree with that notion (there’s been a ton happening), that is a complaint no one will be able to place on Batman Eternal #20. A lot has been accomplished and so many stories have been moved forward or brought to a close. Either way, this issue was super exciting and a lot of fun and has me wondering where the story will go from here. The action, dialogue, the character moments, and that ending were fantastic. The only thing holding back is the lackluster artwork. Oh well.
Best Moment:
Hello Spoiler!
9.0Overall Score
Futures End #16
Writers: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, and Keith Giffen
Artist: Jesus Merino
Story:
In Washington D.C., Stormguard manages to prevent a suicide bomber by talking him down after he busted the guy trying to buy Earth Cards. Meanwhile on Cadmus Island, Faraday and the rest of the cast find out more about the mysterious Stealth OMACs appearing.
Spoiler Corner:
As he gets more things going on his uSphere project, Mr. Terrific talks with Brother Eye about all the pressure he has been feeling. As the two talk, Brother Eye tells him that he can’t wait to meet face to face when he arrives on the planet. So… Brother Eye is not what he seems to be then.
Lois Lane arrives at another scene where Rampage and Masked Superman are going at it. During their fight, as Supes tries to calm his adversary down (while also speaking rather differently than he normally would), Rampage smashes part of his mask off and then knocks him into a building. She then sees Lois and starts going after her.
As Frankenstein informs the group about his vision of the dark, cyborg/robot future the three of them are confronted by the Engineer, who is still under the control of a mysterious force. The Engineer has come to take them to her master, but they confront her about what is going on. She then reveals that they are not on a planet, but a gigantic spaceship. The owner of the spaceship and who commands all of these forces? It’s none other than Brainiac.
I called the twist ending a few Weekly Weeklies ago with who this big villain would turn out to be. (I mean, it wasn’t hard to figure out once I saw that symbol.) Besides that, there’s not much to say about this issue. We got some minuscule progress with only a few stories, leading to another lackluster issue. Admittedly, there is some good writing here with the characterization and the dialogue; but that’s really not enough; there needs to be more excitement and things actually happening.
Best Moment:
I thought you normally liked that.
5.5Overall Score
Genius #3
Writers: Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman
Artist: Afua Richardson
Story:
After getting some more backstory with Destiny, we return back to the present where the gang members are upset with her decisions from last issue getting friends and members killed. Although, it’s a bit confusing that they are more angry about their friends/fellow gang members being killed instead of being used as bait (I mean, using them as tools is A-OK and all, but them dying? That’s bad!). She manages to dissuade them from capping her, but only for the moment.
Spoiler Corner:
Detective Grey returns to headquarters and fills in Captain Hardy about Destiny and what he has figured out about her. As they talk the governor shows up and tells them all to back out until the National Guard shows up. Grey continues doing research and remembers who Destiny is, being a cop who helped process the crime scene of her mother’s murder. He can’t help but think he could have helped make a difference with her.
Izzy is still in the neighborhood with her camera and manages to convince some of the members to take her to Destiny to do a report on her. Destiny agrees as long Izzy doesn’t air the report until all of this madness ends.
A group of the gangsters apparently decide to go rouge and take some guns. Apparently, they are going to open fire on the cops patrolling the perimeter of the neighborhood, even though there is a ceasefire.
Thoughts:
Genius #3 was a pretty dull issue. If not for the ending and a few tiny bits sprinkled throughout, it would’ve been completely filler. There’s not much in the way of character growth or development outside of seeing Destiny commit her first murder. The comic still doesn’t make a stronger case for Destiny’s side being in the right due to a lack of likeability (which extends to almost all of the characters besides Detective Grey). The storytelling is also rather wonky at points with superfluous moments and scenes that don’t add anything, feel almost out of order, or poorly transition from scene to scene. At least the artwork is pretty strong.
Best Moment:
Even hardcore gangstas are easily distracted and manipulated by a wet t-shirt.>
5.0Overall Score
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