Batman Eternal #20

By Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Tim Seeley, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, Emanuel Simeoni, Blond

“Hope you’re feelin’ froggy, Batman. ‘Cus we best jump.”

This week’s issue of Batman Eternal gives a glimpse to each character’s journey and begins to tie up some of the chaos surrounding Jim Gordon. There’s action, Crocs (not the “shoes”), lions, and even a man dressed as a bat!

Scripting this week is done by Tim Seeley, with consulting from Ray Fawkes and John Layman. Seeley brings some more humorous lines into the mix (as seen above), as he blends the scenes through this issue and successfully pushes everyone (except Red Robin/Harper) forward. The troubles taking place in the prison has been growing and Seeley does a great job of giving Gordon well-deserved time to dish out some justice. Batman and Croc continue on their journey along with Bard who has his own tirade of justice.

Art this week is by Emanuel Simeoni, with colors by Blond and they do a fantastic job (Again!). Simeoni uses space and the panels in creative ways to showcase his artwork and Blond is a perfect fit to his style, with his approach to the colors. A great scene crafted by these two artists is one where Batman jumps to save Jade. In a red panel, he shoots from a gun (not a real gun), something probably named Bat-Rope, to snag Jade from the air. The panel explodes with the sound of the gun and contrasts well with one of the panels shown beneath it in negative. The red from this panel with the blue from the negative panel work well on the page as this rescue scene escalates the action in this story right from the start.

This week is another successful installment to this growing story. Some closure hits in this issue, as well as some new points for future issues (the last page!). Batman is going to need all the help he can get!