My first impression: meh. I understood when Scott Snyder announced in December (read it here) that he wanted to give Batman artist Greg Capullo extra time to complete issue #28 of the run. That being said, he bumped THAT issue to next month, and did a “spoiler” issue instead, showing us a look into the future, and what we can expect with Batman:Eternal.
The issue begins with Harper Row scheming her way into “The Egyptian”, Gotham’s last night club, to find the new “Kingpin”. She sneaks her way further into the building before finally being caught. Enter The Dark Knight. He takes out the crew and proceeds further with… “Bluebird”!!!
They meet the “Kingpin”, exchange some banter and work their way to an ultimate reveal that is supposed to get us all excited and intrigued.
Fans have been looking forward to this issue because they think it’s the debut of the new “Nightwing”, aka Harper Row. That is where Batman #28 fails. I’m not interested in Harper Row, who isn’t Nightwing, but “Bluebird”. The comic book world is always looking for the next big shocker, and I think Dick Grayson is going to die by the end of “Forever Evil”, leaving one less bird in the DC Universe. That must mean we need someone to take his place, and fans have believed that person to be Row since she was introduced in Batman #12…and they are right.
This issue does set up a few interesting questions: “Why is there a curfew in Gotham?” “How did the ‘Kingpin’ become the ‘Kingpin’?” “What is ‘it’ that Harper Roe’s brother has?” “Why is the Spoiler so important?”
I’m just not worried about finding out the answers any time soon. I was excited for Batman:Eternal, and still am, but am ready to finish “Zero Year” first.
Verdict: Skip it