Batman Eternal #34 Review

 

Batman and Hush clash, Julia gets a trashed, and Bruce Wayne loses his cash, all in this thirty-fourth issue of DC's weekly Batman hootnanny. This seemingly ends the Hush portion of the story, with the bandaged baddie's defeat after several issues of encounters. However, things are only going to get worse for Batman because Hush's plan to cut him off from his resources has been a resounding effect. The city has taken control of Wayne's assets, Julia is down after being injured by Hush, Alfred grows ever wearier, and there's an even more startling revelation.

 

 

First off, Julia, while a trained SAS operative, is taken down by Hush when he shoots her in the side. But instead of sharing the same fate Jason Todd did those many years ago (far fewer in the New 52) when Joker beat him and left him to blow up in a warehouse, some fast thinking and acid helps her escape with her life. Alfred is extremely concerned about her becoming involved with Batman's crusade and pleads with his boss to keep her out of things. But let's face it, by this point she's in fairly deep, and besides which, she's already a secret agent and was putting her life at risk before Bruce ever met her. We know that she's still around for Scott Snyder's Endgame storyline in Batman, so she obviously ends up sticking around, which I'm glad about, because she's become a favorite character of mine in this book.

 

"But Alfred, last night I heard her singing 'Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?'"

 

I have to kind of laugh at Hush, though. He made a huge blunder by just calling out Batman and challenging him directly and I don't know if I want to chalk this up to the character's sheer arrogance or just faulty writing. Kyle Higgins is an excellent writer, especially with Batman, but what does Hush stand to gain from a brawl with Batman in an enclosed area at this point? Dude, Tommy, you can't win in a direct fight with Batman. Most of his villains can't, except maybe Killer Croc, Bane, or one of the other massive powerhouse strength villains. There's a reason why Batman's archnemesis is the Joker, despite him being kind of spindly: because Joker doesn't just waltz up to the guy and punch him in the face. Granted, Hush does have some fighting skills, but he's not exactly Lady Shiva. Batman beats the crap out of Hush and it is extremely satisfying, but kind of head scratching.

 

Take his wallet, Batman. You need all the cash you can get.

 

What did Hush think was going to happen? He goes through all this trouble to destroy Batman's reputation, but then confronts him directly? Why? The fight's not even that close. Batman comes out of the fight just fine. I guess maybe he wanted to distract him just long enough for the financial take down to occur so he can gloat, but now he's going to be imprisoned. For a smart guy, he's acting like kind of a dumbass.

 

"Hm. Let's see the back... 'BYOB'. Cheap bastard!"

 

But ultimately it seems that Tommy received an invitation just as Carmine Falcone did, so it wasn't Hush pulling all the strings, after all. But who could it be? Who? Who? WHO WHO WHO?

 

- Penguin Truth
(2014)

 

Story: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Script: Kyle Higgins
Consulting Writers: Ray Fawkes & Tim Seeley
Pencils: Alvaro Martinez
Inks: Raul Fernandez
Colors: Brad Anderson
Lettering By: Steven Wands
Cover By: Rafael Albuquerque
Editor: Chris Conroy
Asst. Editor: Dave Wielgosz
Group Editor: Mark Doyle
Batman Created By Bob K--AHAHAHAHA, NO. Batman Created By Bill Finger

 


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