'Batman Eternal #47' Post-Game: Gotham Burns, And Batman Loses?
Each week, MTV News is breaking down the big moments in DC Comics' "Batman Eternal," the weekly series that is redefining Gotham City as we know it.
This week, we talked to writer Tim Seeley about Hush's ascendance, Gotham in flames, and just how close we are to finding out who the uber-bad is:
MTV News: Before we get into the story itself, I wanted to talk about Juan Ferreyra's gorgeous art in this issue... There's a lot of neat cross-sections and surprising layouts here, so how much coordination went out between you two; and what led to the decision to lay out the issue like this? Was there any particular part that surprised you when you got pages back?
Tim Seeley: The cool cross-sections are all Juan's idea! The script was pretty flexible in what it left for the artist, and Juan took advantage of that and ran with it.
MTV: Julia certainly goes through some interesting transformations here, from putting on a "bat" mask, to working the whole team through their paces, to getting rocketed out of the Batcave. Is she still in the process of figuring out what her role is, as Tommy says at the end?
Seeley: I think she's starting to get into the groove. She's a more hands-on version of Alfred, but also a less cool and collected version.
MTV: Julia also briefly takes down Selina... I mean, come on, there's no way she REALLY could take Catwoman in a fight, is Ms. Kyle giving up too easily here?
Seeley: Julia is a highly-trained military operative. Selina isn't. But Selina is also unarmed and out of her work-duds. Had she been in the full vinyl with her bullwhip, this could have gone differently.
MTV: We get to see each member of the Batfamily going in to take down their own Rogue, but don't actually see them wrap things up... And then by the end the city is in flames. Is everyone getting a little too over-confident here?
Seeley: Not overconfident...they just know they're the last line of defense against these villains. They've got their game faces on.
MTV: Let's talk about Mecha-Bane. What went into the design... And is that really Bane in there? Is he a cyborg now, or something worse?
Seeley: Bane lost a lot of his Venom to his fight with Croc, so he's canning himself up for now. Bane-in-a-box.
MTV: Why does Spoiler think she needs Vicki Vale? What makes a reporter the key to this?
Seeley: The truth!
MTV: Okay, so Hush has escaped his glass prison in the center of the hero's hideout... There's a certain bit of inevitability to this plot point, isn't there?
Seeley: I think Hush's interest in BECOMING Bruce Wayne means he needs to own the Cave at some point.
MTV: And we're now closer to the eventual uber-villain, someone who knows Bruce, knows Tommy, has nearly unlimited resources, and potentially looks like Bruce. Would you say that this Big Bad is bro-ing out with Hush a bit?
Seeley: Heh... perhaps. But I guarantee there's a plot point coming as far as the BIG BAD goes that no one will see coming,
MTV: With the whole family scattered, Gotham in flames, and the Batcave taken over, how much worse can things get?
Seeley: Oh, you shall all see. MWAHAHAHAHAH!
