Week 7: November 8-14
The battle against Hush continues as we reach the halfway point of this event! We’re looking at issues 25-28 this week, which include a cameo by the Outlaws! (Yeah, Jason Todd has already been in these issues, but Kori and Roy pop in for a moment.) We also get an appearance by a Catwoman villain, Louis “Bone” Ferryman, who appeared in the opening three-issue arc of Selina’s New 52 series. (Batman Eternal really loves exploring her conflicts with the mob, doesn’t it?)
Week 8: November 15-21
Do I spot a Spectre? We’ve reached issues 29-32, and things aren’t looking good at Arkham Asylum. In fact, it gets so bad that DC had to give us a spin-off series, Arkham Manor #1-7! But we do get one wonderful thing out of it: the long-awaited team-up of Alfred and Bane. I wonder how the two of them are getting along nowadays…
Week 9: November 22-28
This week, we’ve reached issues 33-36. Batman and Julia team up on a mission! Hush tries out a new costume! Wayne Enterprises runs into trouble! Vicki investigates Bard’s past! And the Batmobile loses more than a wheel! Find out how by reading along with us!
I figure today is a good day to bring this bit of art made for the series and to say Happy Thanksgiving! 
Anyway, since it seems like I’m eternally behind, my thoughts on a big chunk of issues:
17-20:
The truncated version of The Cult was nice to see – like Knox said, would have been nice if they showed it was around Jason’s era, at least, but hey, I like that they were at least trying to find ways to put some of those classic stories in this truncated timeline.
The stuff in Brazil with Batgirl, Red Hood & Batwoman was also cool – an interesting combo you wouldn’t have seen that often (hell, I don’t think Jason interacts with Kate at all after this until Rebirth). Though the thing with Babs telling Jason that he’ll “never be Dick Grayson?” Kind of a d-bag move. Though I guess you can say that’s just her being upset that her kinda-sorta-maybe boyfriend/bat-school sweetheart is probably off with some form of the Titans boinking Starfire at this point.
The story with Batman, Bard and Killer Croc was cool because it helps further Croc’s arc to being less of a big dumb evil guy for Batman to smack around and more into a morally grey, sometimes-good-sometimes-bad protector of the Gotham Underground.
Also, the break-in to Blackgate was a neat story beat, giving Jim something to do while also formally introducing the Celebrese family into things. I thought it was funny that Harper Row’s dad was in here, like literally, the only reason why he would be around and now cowering in a corner wetting himself is because of her daughter playing a bigger role in the story.
Finally: Alfred, I know at times it seems like you just were born a Gentleman’s Gentleman ready to serve your charge, but come on. You were young once. You should know that is NOT what Julia meant when she said she was going for “high tea.”
21-24:
Speaking of, this is the part where Julia FINALLY gets into the Cave, starts working with the family under “Penny-Two.” With this, I have to say that this is probably my favorite take on the character, and I kind of wish she was still around. I mean, with Alfred currently deceased, this would be the perfect time to bring her back, DC, just sayin’…
And speaking of truncating and adding classic stories, now we get the addition of Hush in here, which is…okay. At this stage, he kind of feels like an empty shell that could have been anyone. Maybe it’s because I don’t think he and Batman haven’t fully met yet? Or maybe it’s because I know he’s not the real villain of the piece. I dunno, either way, it’s certainly not in the pantheon of best Hush stories.
Another big thing in this story is Selina being revealed to be the daughter of Leo Calabrese and being charged to lead the crime family to save Gotham. I rather liked this moment – it sets the seeds for a VERY GOOD run of Catwoman later. However…I do find it a little odd that they don’t just bite the bullet and make her a Falcone. I guess the writers thought that it would be a surprise (which to their credit it is), but having her be the daughter of a new crime family never mentioned before this story and likely never really mentioned again kind of gives the reveal less teeth.
Finally, the other big thing is Stephanie Brown’s first real venture as The Spoiler going after and beating her father. It was a cool action scene, with a nice bit of symbolism to her past with her falling as a child. I dunno, it was just really good to see Stephanie back.
Dipping my toe in the new 52, for the first time; and catching up on these, over the long weekend. There have been a couple of 
moments; but I’m just going with it.
Thanks for notes and status updates, @AlexanderKnox- I was wondering where Master Dick was.
It’s going to be a wild ride, I’m sure
Cool, glad to see you’re enjoying it! May I ask what the 
moments were?
Also:
It looks like everyone ( well, Bruce and Commissioner Gordon) is relatively young; and that makes some sense if they have only been defending Gotham together for five years. However, at the same time Jason and Tim are fairly developed and years into their evolution. Which begged the question, ‘where is Dick?’ Thankfully @AlexanderKnox gave directions to unraveling that knot. ( is their a limit to how many reading lists we can create 
)
Batwing- who? Thank you, internet, for your incalculable knowledge.
Oracle is gone 
. She was the character that really solidified my love for all things DC. I can’t be mad at Barbara; and I’m ecstatic she’s getting some major playing time in this series.
I don’t know what I’m suppose forget and what memories are real. It’s a weird self induced amnesia; and I’m trying not question it. It’s all going to be fine… it’s all going to be fine… it’s all going to be fine.
Yeah, the way ages/time worked with the Bat-Family during New 52 was weird. I mean, it never worked, really, but they were REALLY stretching it there.
Yeah, Batwing is kind of a lesser known character, but that may change fairly soon, between him being on the Batwoman show and him being the star of The Next Batman for Future State.
I kind of get what you mean with Oracle, but for me I will always associate Barbara more with Batgirl than with Oracle. I agree that so far she’s had a great spotlight role in this series.
Weeks 10-13 (December)
We’ve reached the third and final month of Batman Eternal with the @WorldOfBatsBookClub and @RenegadeRobinsClub! Instead of the weekly updates, I’ve decided to give a monthly update this time and avoid any potential spoilers for the last third of the story.
First, let’s look at the parallel stories you can read alongside these issues:
I’ve already mentioned Arkham Manor, but it warrants a reminder.
Batman #28 is already listed in Week 11 (as it directly ties into the events of Batman Eternal #43), but you can read Batman #34 right after those two issues (or at the very least before Batman Eternal #48).
The developments with Selina Kyle are paralleled in Catwoman #35-40.
Then you can follow up Batman Eternal with the storyline Endgame in Batman #35-40. That arc should prepare you for some of the plot points in Batman & Robin Eternal.
Caught up, at last 
What page turner; I haven’t been able to put it down.
With so many characters and parallel story lines it could’ve gotten real messy; but they did a really good job of letting each arc feed into the other while still maintaining their own integrity. Each thread is given plenty of breadth to delve into the relationships and themes, really letting the entire bat world come alive-literally an entire world; the issues in Brazil were aces.
Japan was fun too.
)
For me Oracle was sort of a compliment to Nightwing’s evolution. Like Dick was able to shed his Robin mantle and become an independent hero, oracle allowed Barbara to step out of Batman’s shadow and be her own person and leader of others. It also really fit with her librarian identity/temperament. As batgirl she’s kind of left bringing up the rear. She’s still a force. I will always be her number one fan.
25-28:
Really starting to heat up here. It was great after a long time in terms of this series to see the Family working together again. It was also fun to see Julia interact with the family and have her fully established as Penny-Two. She was a source for a lot of good humor – got a good chuckle out of her trying to get Batman to spill the beans on him and Catwoman’s sordid romance. Speaking of, the moment that causes Selina to go forward with her father’s plan works really well.
This was also a good section art-wise. R.M. Guera, who did a good half of the issues was a pleasant surprise. I only remember him doing Scalped at Vertigo, and while it’s a little odd at first (his Batman just screams Dashiell Bad-Horse in a mask to me), the mood and tone of it just fit so well with Batman. I’d love to see him do more work with the character at some point. The issues by Javier Garron and Meghan Hetrick were also great.
The flashback pages by Juan Ferreyra for Hush was also good and the…I’m not sure if I’d call this a retcon or an addition to the original work, but it reminds me of a post I saw…I forget if it was here or on Reddit, but it talked about how Tommy shouldn’t be a childhood friend of Bruce, but more of a crazy stalker. This take on it I think did a good job of basically doing both.
Hmm…that’s an interesting way of looking at it. Never thought of it quite that way.
I don’t know, for me I think I just never really liked how she was written a lot of the time. Like, unless Gail Simone was writing her, half the time I just thought she was a bad imitation of the 90s A-Hole Batman that a lot of fans didn’t like.
I suppose the emotional and physical anguish of having your spine severed; and working with Amanda Waller, might dim your sunny disposition a bit
She was definitely an angry woman for a long time.
True that, though I think it’s something that only goes so far. Like, to me, much like how Wonder Woman is sometimes said to have the best qualities of Batman and Superman, Barbara has the best qualities of Bruce and Dick. She has Bruce’s intelligence, strength of will and drive, but also Dick’s eternal optimism and ability to work with and inspire others. So to me it would be sort of like seeing Dick being written as a forlorn, edgy figure for…30-ish years?
To sort of bring it back to Eternal, I think what happened to Barbara with her father being framed makes sense to see her being much more darker and obsessed than normal, but stuff like having Red Hood seemingly let Bard drop and her catching him is a good example of what I’m talking about there.
Also also – considering what we see in this series, it is so WILD and honestly kind of dumb that Barbara was dating Bard near the end of her Rebirth series. Like, I get that Bard is second only to Dick in terms of Barbara’s love interests, but they needed to retcon that stuff A LOT to make that even remotely make sense.
That scene was wicked! True, classic Barbara.
Perish the thought 
29-32:
Nice to see a solid end to the whole “Arkham Asylum is possessed” storyline. It had been kind of put in the background in a way that’s kind of odd (I know Luke isn’t exactly the biggest member of the family, but you would think it’s odd no one had seen him in a while).
Also a good spotlight for Alfred, both between his team-up with Bane and his reuniting with the family, including her daughter.
This lady is quickly moving up the ranks to bona fide champion. I would definitely want Bluebird on my team, whether defending the city from criminal lowlifes or family game night. Harper has some serious skills.
Yeah. The only gripe I might have about Harper is that she makes Stephanie feel redundant, but that’s mostly DC’s fault for temporarily removing Stephanie from the timeline.
Here’s an interview with Scott Snyder about Harper:
