History YMMV / BatmanEternal

* CharacterShilling: Harper Row gets a ''lot'' of this. She [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality gets praised for actions that the other Bat-family members have been chewed out for in the past]], and many characters, such as Sergei, start arbitrarily gushing about her within minutes of meeting her.

** Barbara attacking and nearly killing Jason Bard is amusing, given that prior to {{Flashpoint}}, Bard was a love interest to her.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Harper Row has some strong similarities to pre-Flashpoint Stephanie Brown, ones that unfortunately become even more clearer and seem less original during part of Eternal's early plots. Both are girls from the wrong side of the street with loser fathers in Blackgate, and both become unwanted partners to Tim Drake before he accepted them. This is kind of justified, as Harper was originally conceived as a replacement ''for'' Stephanie and Cassandra Cain back when they were benched.

* CharacterRerailment: Some consider the parts with Tim Drake to be this for the character.

** Cullen Row is largely well liked for his NiceGuy personality and being ''far'' more sympathetic to Stephanie than Harper has been. Though, he was already one before the story started too.

** As noted above in CharacterRerailment, some consider this for Tim Drake, who's New 52 counterpart has largely been derided for being a JerkAss InNameOnly to his previous, rather popular self. The book put him more in-line with his traditional characterization from before the reboot, making him more likeable for older fans.

** For some fans who were initially disappointed with New52 Bat family stories, this series is a WinBackTheCrowd moment. Others, however, have found the art and writing quality to be inconsistent, and do not like how each weekly issues jumps around from [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters character to character]] while tackling an [[FourLinesAllWaiting absurd number of subplots]].

** Jason Todd's role in Eternal seems to alternate between [[TheWorfEffect getting beat up]], or harboring a [[StalkerWithACrush one-sided stalker crush]] on Barbara. The latter appears to be a [[NoYay universally hated "ship"]].
** Batwing's story arc is generally considered be forgettable, and many readers find his placement in the story to be a waste of time.

* CreatorsPet: While she was previously accused of such when Scott Snyder was using her, many are starting to call Harper out for being this to James Tynion IV (who writes the story parts dealing with Harper, Tim, and Steph) as well. He gushed a lot at the beginning about the character, had her showcase how she was a better computer tech wiz than Tim (despite Tim being a genius and TheSmartGuy of the family while she'd previously just been a self-taught electrician), butt heads with Steph and portrayed as the morally righteous one in the conflict (despite it being her who instigates the head-butting in the first place), and beats one of the many possible big-bads when Tim and co couldn't.

** Lord Death Man's brief appearance is considered by many to be SoCrazyItsAwesome.
* Cullen Row is largely well liked for his NiceGuy personality and being ''far'' more sympathetic to Stephanie than Harper has been. Though, he was already one before the story started too.

* Cullen Row is largely well liked for his NiceGuy personality and being ''far'' more sympathetic to Stephanie than Harper has been. Though, he was already one before the reboot too.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Harper in the final issue for those who resented her CreatorsPet treatment; she actually shows sympathy towards Steph and lets her live with her and Cullen, and many are expressing interest in the idea of an ongoing book between the two from this set up.

* CharacterRerailment: Some consider the parts with Tim Drake to be this for the character, considering the... [[SoBadItsHorrible less than pleasent]] reception of ''Teen Titans'' in the New 52.

* CharacterRerailment: Some consider the parts with Tim Drake to be this for the character, considering the... [[SoBadItsHorrible less than pleasent]] reception of ''Teen Titans' in the New 52.

* ArcFatigue: A lot of the plot points move slowly thanks to so many plotlines being involved in the story, making it feel like some stories don't go anywhere; to compensate, around issue 20, the issues have decided to focus on one or two subplots at a time and develop those, then rotate between which story gets focused on.

* BrokenBase: There's a split between those who think Gordon ''should'' be locked up for the train accident and those who, like the Bat Family, see him as not responsible. Mainly, regardless of seeing a gun or not, Gordon still tried to shoot the gun out of the perp's hand, which as well as being a dangerous shot, also breaks police protocol and was just generally a risky move that he shouldn't have done, along with the fact that the charge, "manslaughter", means that people died by accident from his actions, which is precisely what happened. However, its pointed out that the fusebox being shot shouldn't have caused the accident (backed up by the trains apparently already having trouble before Gordon fired the shot) and that its possible that whatever messed with his mind also made him think making such a shot was a good idea.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: [[spoiler: The revelation that Jason Bard is manipulating everyone makes all of his heroic moments now cast in very different light. On top of that, his conversation with his mother over the phone in the first issue that seemed to be to acknowledge how young and naive he is, now has considerably different implications now that we know that 'Mother' is actually the codename for TheManBehindTheMan.]]

* TheWoobie: Stephanie Brown. When introduced, she stubles upon her father's role in the villains plot, and with that, discovers what is going on, forcing her father to attempt to kill her. She's forced to go on the run, unable to go home as her mother sells her out, and the only friend she could go to [[spoiler: is blown to kingdom come in the same issue they're introduced]]. During this time, she attempts to get word out by reporting on Cluemaster's activities onto a gossip blog, but noone believes her warnings and just laugh off her father's previous criminal activities. Eventually it seems the other users stop paying attention to her posts entirely when she tries using fake post titles to get attention, making her realize that now, she's completely alone. Its this realization that prompts her to finally don a costume and take down her father herself, but while she's able to take him down, her attempts to expose the full plan backfire, resulting in a million dollar bounty being placed on her head by the BigBad, forcing her to go on the run once more, this time with no place to hide.As with the pre-New 52 universe, despite these turn of events, [[ThePollyanna she continues to fight on, and is still able to joke and take this all in stride]].

** The implication that [[spoiler: Cluemaster]] might be the BigBad from the ending of issue 50 proved divisive from the comic's day of release. Some find it a fun {{Deconstruction}} of the large-scale Batman events and a great NotSoHarmlessVillain / CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass moment, while other thought it was a seriously anticlimatic AssPull.

* FridgeLogic: Given how often the sidekicks (Batgirl, Red Hood, and Red Robin) get captured or compromised, one has to wonder why Batman hasn't called on his more reliable allies, such as Dick, who is the most capable of them and has access to Spyral's powerful resources, or [[spoiler:Damian, who had recently been resurrected with superpowers. Though to be fair, Eternal started before Damian's resurrection,]] and before Forever Evil #7 came out and it was discovered Dick survived.

** Cluemaster cheerfully skips across the horizon for his whole appearance here. For one thing, he's ''way'' too quickly jumps to "gotta murder my daughter cause she caught me being a bad guy". In fairness, he doesn't ''want'' to kill Steph, [[YouHaveFailedMe but if he doesn't]], his superiors are going to kill ''him.''

** [[spoiler:Cluemaster also is revealed to be this, having masterminded the entire plot from just under Batman's nose because ''nobody'', readers and characters in the comic alike, would ever believe that [[NotSoHarmlessVillain C and D listers]] could possibly be the true threat of a conflict this widespread.]]

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler: Jason Bard secures himself in this position; first by forcing Forbes to charge Falcone's men by having Vicky Vale around to report on any open displays of corruption, then taking down Falcone, Forbes, and Penguin, and damaging Hady's press, by using the previous act to get evidence of Fobres' working with Falcone and then tipping Penguin off to Falcone's location, resulting in all three being caught guilty. In #21, however, it turns out he's actually been playing ''everyone'' he's encountered, even Batman, and while Batman doesn't like him, he has no idea what he's actually doing.]]

* FridgeLogic: Given how often the sidekicks (Batgirl, Red Hood, and Red Robin) get captured or compromised, one has to wonder why Batman hasn't called on his more reliable allies, such as Dick, who is arguably the most capable of them and has access to Spyral's powerful resources, or [[spoiler:Damian, who had recently been resurrected with superpowers. Though to be fair, Eternal started before Damian's resurrection,]] and before Forever Evil #7 came out and it was discovered Dick survived.

* FridgeLogic: Given how often the sidekicks (Batgirl, Red Hood, and Red Robin) get captured or compromised, one has to wonder why Batman hasn't called on his more reliable allies, such as Dick, who easily the most capable of them and has access to Spyral's powerful resources, or Damian, who had recently been resurrected with superpowers.

** Harper Row is quickly becoming another fan favorite.

* BaseBreaker: Harper Row, as noted bellow, is a FanFavorite in some circles and an annoying Mary Sue in others.

* CreepyAwesome: Killer Croc is a pretty creepy looking being, due to his monstrous appearance and [[ImAHumanitarian habit of eating people]]. He's also the protector of the Underground, and will stop at ''nothing'' to protect the homeless vagrants who live there.

* TheWoobie: Stephanie Brown. When introduced, she stubles upon her father's role in the villains plot, and with that, discovers what is going on, forcing her father to attempt to kill her. She's forced to go on the run, unable to go home as her mother sells her out, and the only friend she could go to [[spoiler: is blown to kingdom come in the same issue they're introduced]]. During this time, she attempts to get word out by reporting on Cluemaster's activities onto a gossip blog, but noone believes her warnings and just laugh off her father's previous criminal activities. Eventually it seems the other users stop paying attention to her posts entirely when she tries using fake post titles to get attention, making her realize that now, she's completely alone. Its this realization that prompts her to finally don a costume and take down her father herself, but while she's able to take him down, her attempts to expose the full plan backfire, resulting in a million dollar bounty being placed on her head by the BigBad, forcing her to go on the run once more, this time with no place to hide.
** ThePollyana: As with the pre-New 52 universe, despite these turn of events, she continues to fight on, and is still able to joke and take this all in stride.

* RomanticPlotTumor: The ShipTease between Jason Todd and Barbara Gordon has been criticized for tainting what was otherwise interesting non-romantic character development between the two. While the book on the subplot has seemingly been closed for the time being, there are still implications for a potential inter-Batfamily love triangle that fans do not want to see.