Batman:Eternal released its sixth issue today (already?!), and has added yet another layer to its already deep story (and there’s still 46 issues left!). We all know the title is a team effort, with Scott Snyder leading the pack of merry men (James Tynion IV, John Layman, Tim Seeley, Trevor McCarthy and Ray Fawkes are the less-known, but equally important teammates). MTV is back again this week, speaking with Ray Fawkes about the supernatural element thrown at us this week. If you haven’t read this week’s issue, come back after you do because spoilers lay ahead.
Among the topics Fawkes could speak on, he elaborated on the theme of this week’s issue: supernatural.
If you go back and read through amazing material of the past 75 years, Batman has got at least one foot in the supernatural world. Every once in a while a villain crops up who turns out to be a vampire, or a werewolf, or a ghost. It’s got a lot to do the fact that Batman, mythologically, lives in darkness.
The look of Batman, and the mythology of Batman have to do with fear. It’s inevitable that the books would occasionally touch on traditional horror stories, or less traditional ones.
We were first talking about “Eternal,” and Scott [Snyder] and James [Tynion IV] mentioned they wanted to cover all of the Batman bases, and all of the Gotham bases we knew there had to be a supernatural element involved.
Of course, I was at the end of the table waving my arms frantically because I’m way into that stuff.
Another element that fans of the 1988 hit Batman:The Cult may have spotted, was the brief appearance of Deacon Blackfire. So what’s his purpose?
It was more of a mutual idea to bring him, a tossing around of names. But Blackfire… “The Cult” was such a great story about the cultural effect that Batman has, and Deacon Blackfire has a deceptive, devilish figure. The sort of figure that would inspire people, and manipulate in perhaps the wrong direction.
He seemed like a really great character to explore the supernatural side of Gotham with. I keep wanting to return to the word devilish, or diabolical. He’s not the kind of villain that you can just punch out, because he has a lasting effect on the impressionable characters, and villains, and people he comes across. He inspires them to behave in ways they wouldn’t normally behave.
I thought he’d be a great root for a lot of the trouble that’s going on in Arkham Asylum, and Scott and James went for it. The whole gang put something together around that, which I think is really cool.
I loved the first three issues of this series, and the last three have been okay. I hope it picks back up, because I love weekly Batman series.
Are you on board?
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Source: MTV
