Batman and Robin Eternal #3

By Scott Synder, James Tynion IV, Tim Seeley, Paul Pelletier, Scot Eaton, Tony Kordos, Marc Deering, Wayne Faucher, Rain Beredo

“Hey…Cheap Trick put out a new album? Oh, that’s from like 2009. *Sigh*. That’s what happens when you spend all your time traveling the world, getting yourself into wacky adventures. You get a little out of touch. The other thing that happens is…Japanese military cyber-armor wholesale shopping.” – Red Hood (Jason Todd)

Red Hood is turning into a DC version of Deadpool, except without the healing factor. Yeah, yeah, yeah Deathstroke and Deadpool, but it’s the quips…the witty quips that really make the man.

Tim Seeley in on scripting duty again this week for the story written by the dynamic duo of Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV. Once again, Seeley keeps the action rolling while infusing plenty of humor into the story. A lot of this issue’s funniest lines coming from the one and only Red Hood – as we see so conveniently placed at the top of this review. Seeley does a great job this issue dealing with the different personalities of the former Robins as they all reconvene in order to figure out the “Mother” situation. Grayson being the “Big Brother” of the group often takes the lead while Red Hood just shrugs off the commands and continues to let his attitude direct his actions,and Red Robin just mans the computer and keeps to himself…nerd stuff.

This issue has quite a few artists pitching in, as pumping out a weekly comic can have its time constraints. So working on the majority of the pencils this issue is Paul Pelletier, with Scot Eaton taking pages 18-20. On inks there is Tony Kordos, with Marc Deering on pages 11, 15-17, and Wayne Faucher on 18-20. The colorist on this issue is Rain Beredo, and he does a great job right from the start. One of the first scenes we get this issue is Red Hood face to face with the girl he met at the end of last issue. He’s feeling confident about the situation since she looks so small…but…she’s actually pretty strong. A great panel sits atop the spread where the title of the issue is (Seeing Red), as the young girl delivers a devastating kick into the gut of Jason Todd, sending him flying back into a jukebox (the scene of him getting back to his feet is where the above quote comes from). The detail Pelletier puts into this scene is quite impressive. From the expressions on the bystanders faces in the background to the dart board falling from its hook, it’s clear this was one hell of a kick.

This week’s issue puts Team Robin (yeah, that’s what I’m going to call them) in a tight spot as Bruce finds himself becoming a target. Seeley gives a lot of laughs leading up to a dramatic ending this issue as he’s accompanied by an array of talented artists – and there’s just so many great Red Hood lines!

Worth mentioning since it wasn’t included in last week’s issue – The “Batman created by Bob Kane” line that accompanies every Batman comic now includes “with Bill Finger” as well. It’s been long overdue! Thanks Bill for helping make Batman the man he is today.