Read Between the Lines: Happy Turkey Day from the Batman Family

In a Thanksgiving image released Tuesday, we get a glimpse at the Batman: Eternal cast having the most awkward Thanksgiving I can imagine. But who are a few of the mystery faces? And who is missing? (Right-click to download enlarged version)

batman-eternal-thanksgiving_teaser-large

Left:

  • ? Older man with white hair: Philip Kane is the safe money. There have been teases that the family connection of Bruce and Kate will be explored soon. Long-short contenders are Carmine Falcone and Thomas Wayne Sr. (rumoured to be the mystery Batman of Earth 2).
  • Tiger Shark, Lucius Fox, Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer, Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock

Centre

  • ? In the hoodie (the hand makes me think it’s a woman): Stephanie Brown seems the most likely. We haven’t had the big reveal of New 52 Stephanie yet but we know she will be turning up early in Eternal. It could be Carrie Kelly but why keep her face hidden?
  • Harper Row, Tim Drake
  • ? Blonde man with domino mask: Best guess seems to be Dick Grayson with a post-Forever Evil make-over. Jon-Paul Valley is another contender. He has been absent from the family for a long time.
  • Batman

Right

  • Alfred, Batgirl, Red Hood, Batwing
  • ? Woman with dark complexion: Renee Montoya is a possibility. She’s been benched since the start of the New 52 but has been mentioned in early issues of Batwoman as a former GCPD officer.
  • ? Red head: Assume a GCPD officer but this could be a new character.
  • Catwoman, Professor Pyg, Penguin and Joker’s Daughter hiding under the table.

Missing?

  • If that isn’t a peroxide Dick Grayson, Nightwing is still missing (he wasn’t on the Batman: Eternal image already released). Some have theorized it is because Dick is no longer a Gotham hero, but neither are Red Hood or Red Robin and they are present. Or perhaps Nightwing doesn’t make it through the events of Forever Evil, which seems decidedly unlikely given the family is still recovering from the death of Damian.
  • Talon was on the first Eternal image but didn’t make the cut here.
  • The villains present are a bit random. Two-Face has been gaining prominence but is absent. It could be the characters shown will play specific roles in Gotham in 2014.

Easter eggs:

  • As pointed out in this week’s DC All Access, Jim Gordon is in handcuffs, a hint of the first story in Batman: Eternal.
  • The owl in the tree is a clear reference to the Court of Owls.
  • Twitter pal @ScarlettMi suggested the green growing on the building could be the work of Poison Ivy.
  • Penguin’s floating casino in the background (though it seems to have floated into the bay a bit far).
  • Catwoman brought a pet who seems to be getting along with Titus.
  • We also see Damian’s dog Titus, the robin on his back being very reminiscent of the cover of Batman #18.
  • There is a curious shiny spot on Batwoman’s hand, but it’s the wrong hand for an engagement ring.
  • The bones on the ground have some obvious gallows humour implications.
  • Any guesses on if the rose bushes mean anything? What did I miss?

Keith is the co-host of the We Talk Comics podcast and celebrated Thanksgiving in October like civilized people (who are in the throes of winter by mid-November).

 

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7 Comments

  1. Keith Callbeck said:

    Someone on the DC page spotted that it appears Alfred is wearing a straightjacket.

  2. Patrick said:

    The older man with white hair is Carmine Falcone. Three scratches on face and rose in his lapel. Looks just as he does in The Long Halloween.

  3. Keith Callbeck said:

    Zooming closer with today’s comics you can also spot that the red-haired woman has an id badge with what looks like a rising sun. Any ideas?

  4. Steve! said:

    The dude to the right of Tiger Shark is Roadrunner, who is another villain from Scott Snyder’s Detective run.

    The woman with the dark complexion is a new character according to James Tynion.

    The bowl at Batman’s side appears to be filled with bandages. Hush?

  5. Dibassio said:

    there is ice on penguins floating casino. possibly mr freeze?

  6. Dibassio said:

    also, where ever i have looked no one has ever mentioned the empty cauldron, i just wiki’d it and this is what i found
    “…celtic legend also tells of cauldrons that were useful to warring armies: dead
    warriors could be put into a cauldron and then be returned to life, save
    that they lacked the power of speech. It was suspected that they lacked
    souls….”
    maybe it is symbolising the lazarus pit and the bones are talia and damian? they may come back crazy, which reminds me of when jason todd got resurrected.

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