Batman Eternal #23

By Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Tim Seeley, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs & John Kalisz

“The beacon is a monstrosity! It’s Bruce Wayne’s metal middle finger, thrust into the heavens at the Gate family who built this city…”

Something to be aware of when approaching an issue of Batman Eternal if Tim Seeley is scripting: it will be hilarious.

This week brings us back into Gotham’s underground and feeds us stories all the way to the top of its highest tower. Tim Seeley returns to scripting and delivers another great story along with the humor he’s been providing each turn he’s had at the series. He juggles us back and forth between stories featuring mostly Catwoman and Batman as the two of them deal with some of the issues facing the city. Catwoman in this issue meets with a situation that will inevitably elevate her status, as she’s made aware of a Gotham necessity perhaps even Batman has overlooked.

Batman continues his encounter with the Architect at the top of Beacon Tower as the city below is dealt a cruel fate. A line of Seeley’s humor coming from Architect during this scene (the quote shown above) shows how he is able to successfully blend his action scenes with satisfying quips, and continues to do so throughout the issue.

Providing the artwork this week is Dustin Nguyen on pencils, with Derek Fridolfs on inks, and John Kalisz as the colorist. Nguyen’s take on Batman is a bit less detailed than we’ve seen in issues past, but in an issue that’s a bit more Catwoman heavy, his scenes were met with somewhat of a different tone, darker as usual, as Catwoman’s taking place in the light called for more detailing. A scene everyone brings to life really well is the Gotham below Batman and the Architect. Batman may have averted one catastrophe, but such luck doesn’t always present itself everywhere. The streets of Gotham are met with devastation on a full page layout. Kalisz’s colors explode alongside Fridolf’s inks as Nguyen creates an angled scene at some of the damages caused by the events set in motion last issue from atop the Beacon Tower. Kalisz takes the opportunity to compare the raging fire from a car to the blood red sky as smoke rushes out from nearby building tops.

This issue brings humor, action, as well as pushes the story into yet another big event – this time involving Selina Kyle, or should I say Selina…Calabrese…(Seriously, should I?).