Book Review: Batman: Eye of the Beholder

Book: Batman: Eye of the Beholder (issues: #704-707, 710-712) by Tony S. Daniel

Edition: Single print issues

Description:

Bruce Wayne may have returned, but when an aging but wealthy technology developer comes to Gotham with his beautiful daughter, it turns out he's in search of a joint project with WayneTech. DNA tracking is the name of his game, and there are others interested in his proposal. But when the developer goes missing, Batman finds that his tracks stop in the city's violent Chinatown neighborhood, where a new deadly Triad gang has taken root.Batman joins forces with a new hero who's as dangerous as she is beautiful. When members of a secret order turn up dead and tortured in Gotham City's Chinatown district, I-Ching informs Batman that he fears an ancient relic is the target. Batman connects this case to that of a missing satellite architect. With few clues to go by and the stakes getting higher, Batman races to locate the surviving members of the order before it's too late.

A powerful relic, hidden and protected by an ancient order, falls into the hands of one of Batman's deadliest foes! The Dark Knight and his allies are outnumbered and outmatched as they struggle to free themselves from their merciless adversary. With death and destruction imminent, Batman must make a crucial sacrifice.



Rating: 4 stars

My Review:

I read the individual issues including issues #708, 709 ("Judgment on Gotham", a cross book story with Gotham City Sirens and Red Robin series) and the finale issue #713 which I'm not sure the trade includes. These were the last ten issues of Dick Grayson as Batman in this series. Since Batman is Dick Grayson, I thought the writers did a great job of writting him in character and incorporated a good amount of humor when it was necessary.

The first story "Eye of the Beholder" had a lot going on (including dealing with Tam Fox being abducted, dealing with Riddler and his sidekick Enigma and much more) but it was interesting. In the story, Batman was trying to stop an ancient relic from falling into the wrong hands. He also got a little help from I-Ching and Peacock. A surprise in the story was Catwoman's new sidekick Catgirl a.k.a Kitrina Falcone which caused a few disagreements between Catwoman and Batman.

The second story "Judgment on Gotham" (not included in the trade) as I stated above was a cross over story with Gotham City Sirens #22 and Red Robin #22. In this story Azrael is trying to judge Gotham city and it's protectors: Batman, Catwoman and Red Robin. The three of them go through various trials to see if they are worthy. I thought the story was great and shows how in my opinion how unstable Azrael really is.

The third story "Pieces" mainly focuses on Two-Face and the Riddler. Batman is trying to track down Two-Face who is on a murder spree trying to retrieve something important to him. There are quite a few surprises along the way for Harvey in this story. Even though this is about Two-Face, I like that there was a nice conclusion for Catgirl (Kitrina Falcone), seeing as she's no where to be seen in the New 52.

The last issue #713 "In Storybook Ending" was a great way to end the series. It was told in a story format, the narrator tells a story about Batman and Robin. You find out who the narrator is at the end.

In the end, I have to say that this had a great group of stories and I thought Dick Grayson was great as Batman.