I did not see that coming. Did you?
Batman Eternal #50 arrived this week with a huge payoff that will either have you exclaiming “say what!?” or “brilliant!”
We knew the ending of their massive weekly series in this first issue: Bruce defeated, tied to the Bat signal while Gotham City burned around him.
Who could so completely, methodically and cruelly defeat the Dark Knight like this?
The mastermind was in the early issues all along.
Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV are the masterminds/show runners of this epic story with a team of writers.
Nearly every character of the Batman mythos appeared in some way. Of all the Dark Knight’s rogues…the one who broke the Bat and Gotham City is one you never would expect and yet it makes sense.
In the final two issues we learn how this mystery foe pulled this off and if Batman can escape.
Before I continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not Batman Eternal #50 yet stop reading now.
Seriously.
Here it comes.
In this week’s issue 50 a beaten Batman climbs Beacon Tower as the city burns and the villain reveals himself….
One more SPOILER WARNING
Just
In
Case
To discover the identity all we and Bruce had to do was “follow the clues.”
Cluemaster! Cluemaster?
You might call this foe a Riddler ripoff but how did this minor rogue pull this off? In a way Cluemaster has nearly repeated what Riddler did in Zero Year.
It’s a genuine shock but but he’s tied to The Spoiler, a fan favorite character who made her long-awaited 52 debut in this series and may secure her a place in DC Comics after the big Convergence event.
In the next weeks and final issues we’ll see the master plan and maybe I need to speed re-read the previous issues.
The big question is how Bruce’s showdown with Cluemaster in the Batman Eternal finale and Joker in Endgame finale will tie into the all-new Batman coming in Batman #41 after Convergence.