Batman & Robin Eternal vol. 2

Hrm…  When it was teased that Batman killed for the custom-human-trafficker known as “Mother” because he wanted a Robin more suited for the job than Dick Grayson, I knew it was all a fake-out.  As should anyone else who has been reading “Batman,” and superhero comics in general, for a reasonable amount of time.  My expectation was that the explanation behind what really happened was going to be the real surprise here.  That didn’t happen.  What Scott Snyder, James Tynion, and their co-writers came up with basically amounts to, “Of course he didn’t.  Now let’s move on.”  That’s pretty disappointing and part my problem with this concluding volume.

For all of its sprawl and excess, “Batman Eternal” still had a semblance of unpredictability to it.  Putting aside the fact that we knew everything would work out for the title character and his comrades in the end, there was still a feeling of “Where the hell are they going with this?” that lasted through the entirety of the series.  Even at its most filler-y parts I was still involved and my patience was rewarded in the end.  Theoretically, the fact that “Batman & Robin Eternal” was set to run for half of that series’ length should’ve given its writers the ability to deliver a more focused and entertaining story.  It is focused, and things did start off well.  However, the story being told here has a more conventional and predictable arc to it where the only surprises involve the characters that show up towards the end.

Not that the presences of Damien Wayne and the Midnighter aren’t welcome.  In fact, the spotlight this series casts on the supporting members of the Bat-family is quite welcome.  We get to see the various Robins — current and former — demonstrate the strengths that took them from sidekicks to star material (in their own ongoing titles).  Harper Row also comes more into her own as Bluebird and Cassandra Cain is brought back into the DCU in dramatic and worthy fashion.  There’s some good work mixed in amongst the formulaic here, which makes it a decent read over all but not an essential one by any means.