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Batman Eternal # 26
Writer: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, and Tim Seeley
Artists: R.M. Guera, Juan Ferreyra, and Giulia Brusco
Cover Artists: Clay Mann, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Publisher: DC Comics

Hush, or Tommy Elliot depending on who you are in Gotham, seems like he’s just about ready for the final stages of his evil plot to begin. While he was revealed to readers as being the mastermind behind the chaos in Gotham a while back, it is only in this issue that Batman reveals this fact to his inner circle. The result is a great little bit of family banter that has been otherwise missing in the Bat-Universe. Unfortunately, that’s just about the only thing good in this issue. That and the plot twist involving Spoiler. One of the problems with this issue is that Hush, who has been around for about eleven years, gets himself a new origin. Gone are the days when Tommy was Bruce’s childhood friend who grew jealous of Bruce’s freedom and family, and enter the days of the creepy, stalker Tommy who was obsessed with Bruce. With such a great origin by Jeph Loeb and further development by Paul Dini, it’s unfortunate that the Eternal writers have decided to change things. The art in these past issues has been a real sore spot in a series that has otherwise had such amazing art. The style is distinctly dated, the characterizations unrefined, and the backgrounds unfinished. 2.5/5

Green Arrow #35
Writer: Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski
Artists: Daniel Sampere, Jonathan Glapion, and Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Artists: Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC

With a brand new creative team, it feels almost as if the series has rebooted, again. For the time being at least, most of the previous cast has left, leaving Green Arrow with only Diggle. As a fan of comics, it is only natural to enjoy the stories told in other mediums, such as TV shows and movies, however, it feels a bit strange to have characters created for those mediums introduced into the comics themselves. Now obviously a good story is a good story, and the origin of a character shouldn’t prevent a good story from existing. However, when a TV show’s characters begin to dominate the comic book, it feels almost intrusive and forced. Jeff Lemire did such a great job of building Green Arrow a diverse supporting cast, one that he didn’t carry over from the old DC Universe, and with one fell swoop they’re cast off in favor of these characters from a show that are forced into a book that they don’t really fit into. It reads like a pointless ploy to try and get fans of the show to read the book. The only highlight of this issue was the news that Mia Dearden would be returning to the DCU. 2.5/5

Swamp Thing #35
Writer: Charles Soule
Artists: Jesus Saiz and Matt Hollingsworth
Cover Artists: Jesus Saiz
Publisher: DC

Anyone reading comics right now is probably reading a book written by Charles Soule, because he’s writing about half of them. An exaggeration of course, but he is writing about half a dozen books. And while it is certainly a personal bias, Swamp Thing is probably the best book he’s writing at the moment. At this point, it’s difficult comparing Soule’s run with Scott Snyder’s run, because they are accomplishing completely different things. Snyder did an amazing job developing and introducing Alec Holland, whereas Soule has done the same for Swamp Thing. While that may seem like the same thing, the difference is clearly evident in the story. Soule has done a truly fantastic job opening up the series outside of just the Red and the Rot, bringing in the Grey and now the Machine. Issue after issue, this series continues to deliver a wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated comic book. 4.5/5

Be sure to check out previous editions of Crisis of Infinite Reviews by clicking here!

Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net