Batman Eternal #39

Writer – Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Tim Seeley
Artist – Felix Ruiz
Colours – Dave McCaig

As is customary in Gotham, once the villains are all caught or locked up, it is only a matter of time again before they are set free and such is the case here as they have not even made it to jail before they are on the loose.  Of course, it has something to do with Catwoman, the new crime boss of Gotham and as everyone also knows, it was only a matter of time before Selina would start to do things no one expected.  While that is going on, Batman is asking and answering questions with The Riddler.  Trying to get a straight answer is almost impossible and Batman, who is feeling more rundown with each passing day, is getting frustrated.  Watching Batman with every new issue of this series has been a lot of fun because you hardly ever see him on the ropes anymore.  You know, no matter how strong or smart the villain is that Batman is going to come out on top.  It is a given, if anything can be in comic books.  With this series, Batman will eventually solve what needs solving and put things back on track, but as you watch him and his world fall apart, you find yourself doubting just a little that it can be done as everything is so far gone.  Another plot that kept running through the issue involved Vicki Vale and her editor at the Gotham Gazette where he puts forward the idea that everything that has happened in Gotham is connected.  He soon makes a believer out of Vicki but not before a very shocking cliff-hanger of an ending.  If there is one thing that this book does well, it is always leaving you wanting for more.

4 out of 5

Rasputin #3

Writer – Alex Grecian
Artist – Riley Rossmo
Colours – Ivan Plascencia

With this issue of Rasputin, instead of getting on to more of his actual biography or even trying to figure out why he was getting murdered by his friends, the book takes a turn into the mythological.  It is interesting to see of course, just how Alex Grecian has decided to explain away Rasputin’s powers.  Including and exploring the more mystical side of the man had to be looked at some point in time, whether it was explained as fact or simply done away with.  What Grecian does is tie it into the legend of Father Frost, the King of Winter in Russia and is a stroke of brilliance as it not only solidifies that magical component to our leading man, but also gives him a bit of legacy and lineage.  The artwork by Riley Rossmo is as brilliant as it was when the book first started and it just seems to get better as it goes along.  It is fantastic to see that most of Rossmo’s characters are not as cookie cutter as a lot of books tend to make people. Here they are all shapes and sizes, and no two people look the same.  So far, the book has delivered a good balance between what is happening in the present and the look back to Rasputin’s past, but if it should continue like that for the foreseeable future, finding out how Rasputin dies at the hands of these friends is going to be a long time coming.  Other than that one small thing, this book has been quite good so far.

3.5 out of 5