Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (The New 52)

I think it is safe to say by now writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo have become synonymous with Batman, especially within the DC New 52, and it all started with Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New...

This volume collects issues 8-12 and Batman Annual 1. Bruce Wayne thought he knew Gotham City. The city he was born in. The city his parents died in. The city he became the Batman in. As the Batman he had to understand his city, know every nook and cranny in order to defeat the criminal element. Bruce felt he had that mastered. He was wrong. Enter the Court of Owls. Bruce dismissed them as just a myth but he was so wrong. They educated him on that and showed him just how much Gotham is their city. But now that the Bat knows of them and has suffered at their hands it's time to take the fight to them. Let me first start off by saying what a great time it is to be a Batman fan. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo follow up the first volume in heart pounding fashion as they continue to prove they are one of the best writer/artist duos working in comics today. Wow! Issue eight has Bruce licking his wounds back at Wayne manor with trusty Alfred by his side. They are hit and hit hard by an assault from the Court by their warrior class, the Talon's. It unfolds in great pulse pounding fashion a credit to writer and artist here as both men are forced into hiding in the Batcave. The backup feature follows appropriately here, co-written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, in which Bruce "suits up" to deal with the Talons as Alfred sends a distress call out to the other vigilantes of Gotham and members of the Bat-Family leading into Night of the Owls, a tie-in event that takes place across the various other Bat titles but you get the main story and all that is really important here. Issue nine is the dark knight triumphant! Batman fights back in such brutality amazingly drawn by Capullo. Bruce had underestimated the Court but regains his confidence and sets out to take them down. Next is the Annual. It is illustrated by Jason Fabok who is currently killing it on Detective Comics. This is a slight detour from the main story but not too jarring and plus who doesn't love an awesome Mr. Freeze story! Snyder gives good ole' Dr. Fries a New 52 remake that pays tribute to the classic Batman: The Animated Series origin but gives a few twists and surprises that make a satisfying and acceptable new origin. Also, Freeze has a bone to pick with the Court as well. Issues ten and eleven have Batman hunting down the Court and sticking it to them. A huge revelation is made shaking up the Wayne's origins but I found it to be a fascinating addition to the Wayne mythos as no family is without their shocks and secrets. The main villain does get a little too chatty in the climax and the conclusion with Bruce and Dick drags a bit as well. Minor flaws that took some tension and intrigue out of the end. The rest of the backups are then featured (9-11) illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque. A fascinating tale from Jarvis Pennyworth to his son Alfred warning him not to come to Gotham because the Wayne's are dangerous to be around. Issue twelve is a stand alone issue that actually dips in and out, time wise, of the previous eleven issues. It features Harper Row a bit of a punk teenage girl with a good heart. She lives with her gay brother who she has to protect from bullies and is a tomboy as well. She crosses paths with the Batman and gives her life new purpose. The first part is illustrated by Becky Cloonan, the first woman to draw an issue of Batman and a great job she does. The second part is done by Andy Clark who is a guy who has drawn Batman before and does a great job as well. Great art. Great story. Great Batman. Bring on Joker. Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (The New 52)

Following on from the excellent 'Court of the Owls' Scott Snyder continues to impress me with his interpretation of a character I have loved since childhood. I will try and avoid any significant spoilers in this review. This book follows on almost immediately from Volume 1 after Batman has just escaped from the court of owls and now while still weary from his last test must contend with a full scale assault on Gotham city by the courts foot soldiers, the Talons. The action is certainly intense though I feel this book suffers from a similar issue that the previous book did in that it just seems to end too quickly as though a part of the story is missing... I attribute this to the fact that this book is just the climax to the story which begun in volume 1, also I understand this story crosses over with a couple of other DC titles which while are not essential to enjoying this book have peaked my interest and led me to seek some of them out (I went with Batgirl and Nightwing for now, we'll see how they stack up). Overall this a thrilling and action packed conclusion to the story arc, I especially liked the climax when Batman finally confronts and does battle with the ultimate mastermind behind the court. The illustrations by Greg Capullo are once again incredible, there is one issue early on where the artwork switches to a different artist, it looks very good on its own don't get me wrong but its just for the one issue while the rest of the 'court of owls' arc is handled by Capullo, not really a complaint just something I found distracting. Also included in this volume are three backup stories, one which serves as an epilogue of sorts to the whole 'Court of Owls' saga and gives a little backstory in the courts obsession with the Wayne family. Another story deals with fleshing out a side character briefly introduced in volume 1, it's intriguing and I'm curious to see where it will lead. The final story in this volume is a confrontation between Batman and Mr Freeze, it is very "cool" (how witty am I right?) and I liked finally seeing some of Batmans established rogues turn up in this series. Mr Freeze looks awesome and the short story even puts an interesting twist on the popular origin of this supervillain. I've got to say I'm loving this series thus far and while I did have some issues with the pacing and the rather abrupt ending to the main story this was still a very good read and has actually encouraged me to try out some other titles from this lineup. This book is strongly recommended. Thanks for reading and I hope this review was helpful.

Volume 2 of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman picks up right where the last volume ended. After Batman uncovered their secrets and upset the normalcy that the Court of Owls have maintained in Gotham for so many years, the Court declares war on Gotham and of course Batman himself. This of course leads to a major crossover event for the entire Bat-Line of comics in DC. Major figures in Gotham are attacked by the Court to ensure that they are the rightful rulers and the superior legend of Gotham. Without a doubt, Snyder closes out his Court of Owls arc properly and his execution is flawless. Snyder wraps up most of his plotlines and settles the overall arc, but at the same time opens the door for more exploration in some of the areas that he has presented. Batman is still struggling with the prevailing theme in both volumes; that he doesn’t know his city as well as he thought. That Gotham is still mysterious to its defender and its favorite son, Bruce Wayne. In this volume, Bruce is confronted with many uncomfortable truths that change some aspects of traditional comic book lore involving the Wayne family. I am a purist for the most part and I don’t really like changes to established characters but this one was very unsettling and I really enjoyed it. Plus, Snyder leaves the revelation very ambiguous so what he presents may or may not necessarily be true, but it is based in the truth. Despite my high praise and my five-star rating there are a few things that I had some problems with. One, being in issue 8 without warning another artist takes over for the last pages and it is very abrupt and kind of jarring to not have Greg Capullo finish the issue which bothered me tremendously. I have nothing against another artist coming stepping in for Capullo, but for the final half of one issue? It becomes very distracting. Secondly, Batman Annual 1 is contained in this volume which presents the proper debut of one of Batman’s famous villains; Mr. Freeze. The artwork is good and how the character and the events tie into the broader scheme of things in the Night of the Owls event is very good. But, Mr. Freeze has become a tragic figure in the aftermath of Batman the animated series. His reimagining in the series led to the show winning an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an animated Program. At the beginning of the issue, everything is fine. The backstory is sound and slightly tragic involving Fries as a child and his mother. His experimentation on freezing animals is very much in line with Fries. Even changing his backstory to being a scientist who works with cryogenics at Wayne Enterprises instead of GothCorp is fine by me. But Snyder reveals that the woman that he loves and is obsessed with, Nora, is not his wife and is instead an obsession of Victor’s, he wrote his doctrinal thesis on her. To me I didn’t really like this take on Mr. Freeze because of that. I understand that the New 52 is essentially a reboot, but I think that the tragedy and the sympathy for Freeze was lost for this version of the character. The ending to issue 11 is very good. The issue wraps up the main story but the last half of the issue involves Alfred’s father, Jarvis……yeah, I can’t help but smile a little at that, even though Alfred is the superior butler and perhaps the name wasn’t necessarily intentional it’s still amusing to me. But the issue is a letter from Jarvis to his son Alfred and it is a very somber letter that goes over several events that take place in this issue involving the Wayne’s and it reveals a very upsetting mindset from Jarvis and it presents more mystery and intrigue. Greg Capullo is fantastic as always with the artwork and Snyder, as I’ve mentioned before, is still at the top of his game when it comes to writing. An amazing finale to the Court of Owls story arc.

Batman, Vol. 2: The City of Owls contains the beginning and ending of the "Court of Owls" Batman family crossover event. Picking up just a few hours after the last volume The Court of Owls ended, Bruce is recuperating at Wayne Manor from injuries and exhaustion he incurred while being tortured and played with for nearly a week by the villainous "Owls". He is far from at his usual peak. In fact, he is far lower even than he is after one of his more grueling nights battling crime in Gotham City or with the Justice League. This dramatically-lowered physical state will come back to bite him eventually. After repelling an attack at Wayne Manor, Bruce has Alfred enlist the help of all of his allies (Batgirl, the Birds of Prey, other heroes) and children (the Robins and Nightwing) to stop the attacks on prominent citizens of Gotham and it's infrastructure. What takes place (unfortunately in the other Bat family titles, and not here) is an epic battle across Gotham City. Even Superman makes an appearance to help out his friend in this crisis. As I said, the graphic novel included the beginning and end of the storyline, with some one-shots connected to the overall story or just showing the city through the eyes of a random passer-by. The ending, though, is worth it, as we are shown an enemy that may or may not be New Earth's (the Earth the main DC titles take place on) version of the Earth-2 villain Owlman. At first, it seems like this may not be the case, but then we are clued into information unknown to Batman and his proteges that suggests that this may be true. This comic started out a tad disappointing, as such comics that are part of an overall crossover will often prove to be. This is because it is frustrating to not have the whole story to read. When the narrative deviated to some other event, it really made me unhappy. But then, the tale went to the culmination with Owlman, and potential revelations (not certain ones, which gives it a fun air of mystery) that made up for that earlier disappointment. What I really enjoy about the Batman titles with DC Comics' "New 52" is that it keeps Batman brooding while still having him not be the absolute jerk and loner to suicidal, almost stupid levels, he was during the "Dark Age" of comics in the '90's. The current iteration of Bats has loved ones and doesn't push them away. In fact, he calls to them when he is in danger. And this is not just loved ones in the form of his Gotham City allies and family. This willingness to call for help includes non-Gotham heroes such as Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and so forth. The art was impeccable. The sinister feeling of the Owls lurking in the shadows to attack their victims, and the response of Batman hunting them back, really made the story feel much more suspenseful. You actually could feel creeped out by the Owls and cheer for Batman. The idea of making the Owls' speech bubbles black really added to this sense of creepiness and was a clever idea. This is probably the best Batman crossover in a long time, and one that I think anyone would enjoy.

Before reading this, you absolutely have to read Volume 1, The Court of Owls, as this continues the plot-line of Batman's encounters with the Court. Before I continue with the review of the actual contents of the story, I will mention the quality of the binding and other physical aspects of the graphic novel. As with Vol 1, this hardcover book is very nicely bound, with the cover being embossed with the bat symbol, and the title of the book. The book appears to be extremely durable, and will look nice on the shelf next to other "New 52" titles. The Story- We are thrust right into the action fairly quickly, as the Court descends upon Wayne Manor to try to take out a certain Bat who is still recuperating from the previous installment. We get to see a pretty well-handled scene with Bruce controlling a Batman stylized mech to fend off dozens of owl assassins. There are also plenty of Bat metaphors to be had here. After this scene, Batman finds out that the Court is targeting all the key political figures in charge of Gotham. Alfred sends out a call to all members of the Bat family (Nightwing, Batgirl, etc.) to help out in protecting the targets that hadn't already been killed. During this, we start to get a major plot-line with Mr. Freeze, as he is connected to the Court of Owls, in having helped them with certain aspects of their reanimation. This all starts racing towards a finish when we find out a twist about a certain owl assassin and his possible relation to Bruce. To cap it off, we get a very nice look at Alfred's father in the past, as he deals with the Court as it tried to hurt the Wayne family, and how Alfred's father tried to warn him to stay away from the "cursed town of Gotham." This was a fantastic thrill ride; full of the great art, wit, and clever writing that I have come to expect from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. This a great treat for any fan of Batman (as long as they've read the previous book).

This volume opens with a bang. It has been a while since I read Volume 1, but there is a one-page summary of what happened, so I felt well-caught up. Scott Snyder has established the Court of Owls as a formidable opponent for Batman. Their trained assassins, the Talons, are truly dangerous. So much so, that the first issues has Alfred putting out a call to the Bat Family for assistance. After finding a hit list, Alfred realizes that there are multiple people being targeted for assassination all at the same time. He needs help stopping all of these attacks, so he reaches out to Red Robin, Red Hood, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and the Birds of Prey. (Spoilers) Batman and the Bat Family are able to stop many of the attacks, but Lincoln March (a politician that we met in Volume 1) was unable to be saved. After tracking down the Court of Owls’ base, Bruce realizes there is something about the mystery that he hasn’t uncovered yet. After doing some digging, he puts the pieces together and realizes that Lincoln March wasn’t who he said he was. He follows the clues that lead him to Lincoln. There, Lincoln reveals his true identity. Yes, he works for the Court of Owls, but his real name isn’t Lincoln March. It’s Thomas Wayne Junior! He puts on his owl battle suit, saying that the Court developed it to specifically combat Batman. As they fight, we hear the story that Martha Wayne has another son prematurely, and he was being cared for at one of Gotham’s top hospitals. For some reason, the hospital didn’t know his true identity, and the Court of Owls took him in when his parents were killed in Crime Alley. Thomas Jr. is now back for revenge against Bruce for taking everything away from him. He claims to be Bruce’s dark reflection. Thomas is super-powered by the Talon serum, so it will be next to impossible to kill him, but Batman does when this first battle. Bruce is left unsure if he is able to believe Thomas’s story, but admits that only a DNA test will prove things one way or another. After the “Night of Owls” story concludes, we get a flashback starring Alfred’s dad. In this one-issue story, Jarvis Pennyworth writes his son a letter warning him not to work for the Wayne’s. Wayne Manor is cursed. At the end of the short story, (Spoilers) Jarvis is killed by the Court of Owls. The next story is about a sister and brother I’ve never heard of named Harper and Cullen. Batman saves them from some violent bullies, so Harper decides to use her technical skills to help Batman around the city. The final story, from Batman Annual #1, features Mr. Freeze. He breaks out during the Night of Owls, and we learn his New 52 origin story, which has been altered from Mr. Freeze’s original origin story.

Batman and the owls!!!