The series featured Batman, his allies, and Gotham City, with a writing team led by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, and Tim Seeley.
The story begins with a major incident that reshapes Gotham City, exploring various subplots and characters, including the Bat Family, James Gordon, and several villains.
Additional writers include James Tynion IV, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, and Tim Seeley, with art at the beginning handled by Jason Fabok.
[1] In November 2013, Snyder released a teaser image by Fabok, titled "Happy Batsgiving", inspired by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris' The First Thanksgiving 1621.
Later in the month, DC confirmed the addition of Kyle Higgins on the writing team, who wrote The New 52 series Nightwing up to its penultimate issue in March 2014.
He revealed that issue 34 would act as a way to catch readers up to the events of Eternal, without spoiling the conclusion, while also setting up the new story arc that will run from Batman #35-40.
Learning where to go next from a mysterious girl in the Batcave, Harper begins to help Batman remove the remaining security teams, working under the name Bluebird.
2) #28, that Harper Row "is all over this book"[18] and later said that one of the "spines" of the series is the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon, putting "them in situations you've never ever seen before where the conflicts and challenges they're up against are different than anything they've experienced on the page."
[29] At the 2014 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Tynion revealed that the creative team almost included Renee Montoya, who has yet to appear in The New 52, but they decided against it, saying, "We cut her out because we didn't want her to just be in the background of the GCPD.
"[30] Additional characters that saw their New 52 debut in the series, played a significant role overall or within an individual writer's arc, or were included in the "Batsgiving" teaser, include: Batwoman,[2] Jason Bard,[31][32] Harvey Bullock,[33] Catwoman,[2] Deacon Blackfire,[29][34] Carmine Falcone,[29][34] Jack Forbes,[31][32] Hush,[35] Joker's Daughter,[2] Killer Croc,[36] the Penguin,[2] Alfred Pennyworth,[33] Professor Pyg,[31] Road Runner,[33] Maggie Sawyer,[2] and Tiger Shark.
Mayor Hady, under the guidance of Falcone, promotes Major Jack Forbes to interim commissioner of the GCPD, who shifts the department's priority to stopping Batman.
[38] Doctor Phosphorus destroys Pyg's lab, while Catwoman visits Penguin at the Iceberg Lounge to learn about disappearances in the Gotham Underground.
[42] With no end to the gang war in sight, Bard approaches Harvey Bullock, Maggie Sawyer, Vicki Vale and Batman with an idea on how to stop it: lead an assault on Falcone's men to capture them, and wire tap Forbes to learn more about his role in the fight.
[49] Searching for the actual person, Red Hood, Batgirl and Batwoman[50] reach a toy factory in Rio de Janeiro and find Dr. Falsario.
Batwing is able to escape and meets back up with Corrigan to discover that a resurrected Deacon Blackfire is the cause of the Arkham disturbance,[54] who is able to unleash his attack on Gotham.
Batman meets with Falcone and accuses him of framing Gordon, as the knife that killed Dr. Falsario belongs to the crime lords of Hong Kong.
Julia Pennyworth enters the Batcave, contacts Batman, tells him about Alfred's condition and assists him in rescuing the hostages held in the Tower.
With the help of Jade, a girl living on the streets under the protection of Killer Croc, Selina Kyle enters Blackgate Prison to meet with her father, Rex Calabrese.
When Jade is taken by child services and placed with her only living relatives, a group of Romanian mobsters, Selina makes it her mission to rescue her.
Although Deacon Blackfire's plan to open Gotham up to the influence of hell has been thwarted, he still retains corporeal form and is able to overpower Jim Corrigan.
As each of Batman's allies heads off to thwart the individual criminals, the Penguin starts a riot at Blackgate Penitentiary to try and kill James Gordon.
March and a physically and mentally exhausted Batman fight as Jim Gordon rallies the people of Gotham to rise up and support him.
[57] In February 2014, Batman Eternal, along with DC's second weekly title launching in 2014, The New 52: Futures End, were featured on IGN's "Most Anticipated Comics of 2014".
[60] Despite some "clunky dialogue" at the start of Batman Eternal #1, Mike Logsdon of IGN gave the issue an 8.6 out of 10, due to its "cinematically-scaled layouts, strong themes, an interesting use of a new character, and an intriguing new mystery.
[68] Lydon expressed similar sentiments, giving the issue a 6 out of 10 and adding, "We’re still firmly in building mode but we’re starting to lose sight of the inciting incident.
"[71] Lydon also spoke positively, giving the issue an 8 out of 10, and saying, "The chains are really starting to move in Eternal... [and the series] is changing the landscape of Gotham quite literally, and it’s exciting to watch.
"[73] McElhatton gave the issue 2.5 stars out of 5, saying, "The problem with Batman Eternal #22 is that this recent shift, bringing the Architect and Hush back into continuity, hasn't had time to settle in with everything else around it.
2) #28 4.5 stars out of 5, saying he was "onboard and locked in to see how Snyder and crew weave the not-so-distant past with the near future... [and the] issue is a nice break from "Zero Year," a change of pace, a switch in visual impact, a breath of fresh air and a sign of hope for the Gotham of tomorrow as Snyder continues to construct and deepen the legend of Gotham City and its role in the mythology of Batman.
"[77] For April 2014, Diamond Comic Distributors announced that Batman Eternal issues #1–4 were the fourth, sixth, ninth and 10th best selling titles of the month, respectively.
It features Tynion as the lead writer, along with Snyder, Seeley, Genevieve Valentine, Steve Orlando, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Ed BrissonIt, with art from Tony Daniel, Paul Pelletier and Scot Eaton.