Batman Eternal #32

By Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Kyle Higgins, Tim Seeley, Ray Fawkes, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson

“This is the first time you’ve been in the cave in days. It’s a bit surprising…even just from, you know, a hygiene standpoint…”

This week we’re reminded Hush isn’t such a nice guy, but also that he’s on par with Batman’s intellect. When Batman thinks he’s a step ahead, turns out Hush has a backup plan.

Scripting this week, from the story crafted by writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, is Kyle Higgins. Higgins does a great job with pacing as he focuses on three different characters for the most part. We have Bruce/Batman, Lt. Bard, and Hush. We already know Bard can’t be trusted, but not everyone in the story knows this yet. And he still has a friend with a lot of power in the city…well…a friend with the power of words (writers have a lot of powers, okay?). This is something that comes into play and will have a huge impact on upcoming issues (and it’s already starting towards the end of this issue). And it looks like Hush is about to have a lot of fun playing dress-up.

On the art side of this week’s issue is Jason Fabok along with colors by Brad Anderson. The art this week is fantastic and quite detailed (can Fabok join us more often?). A scene featuring Batman and Penny-Two in the Batcave (Penny-Two says the awesome quote seen above) focuses a lot on the details of facial expressions, more so those of Bruce Wayne. Fabok does a few close-up shots and we see the grizzled facial hair of a man who hasn’t been home to shave in days. His suit is covered in filth and bullet holes and Penny-Two makes sure to point this out to him.

Another great issue comes out of Batman Eternal #32 as Kyle Higgins keeps the story pushing forward with great momentum. Hush has been an opposing threat for a while now, but the magnitude of his agenda in Gotham has just been raised.