Batman 2: The City of Owls

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 52). Batman was faced with the Court of Owls, an enemy that has been around since Gotham's earliest beginnings and had finally shown itself to the Dark Knight, to which was a powerful organization that had connections and resources Batman could never quite fathom, and the Batman paid for it--big time. But Batman pulled through it, just barely, and learned the error of his ways and got away to prepare for striking back. But the Court knows Batman is weak so it decides to attack Gotham while they can, sending out their entire army of Talon warriors to seize control once and for all......But Batman has had enough.Finally, the wait if over. Snyder and Capullo's volume 2 of the conclusion to the Court of Owls story comes full-speed ahead that is equal parts gripping and powerful, yet eerily familiar to Pre-52 fans.BATMAN VOL.2: CITY OF OWLS collects issues #8-12 with back stories "Fall of the House of Wayne" and BATMAN ANNUAL #1. Bruce Wayne has just starting to recover from days of torture in the Court's maze, to which suddenly the Courts Talons make a direct attack on the Wayne mansion. The ferocity of numerous Talons push Bruce to the point that he has had enough of owls and the Court and dons the Batman persona to finally put an end to the Court, by taking the battle back at them where it hurts.I will not give out any more info because there would be spoilers aplenty, but let's clear some stuff first. First, go read volume 1 before reading volume 2. Many little clues Snyder expertly lay out in volume 1 start to unravel itself and come full circle here in volume 2, so you might need to refresh your memory as to catch all of the little nuggets of information you might of missed. Secondly, the companion book Batman: Night of the Owls (The New 52) is not essential or needed to read with volume 2. Snyder's Court of Owls volume 1 and City of Owls volume 2 is the prime self contained story that is vital, while Night of the Owls was the tie-ins that take place during the Talons attacks on Gotham. Thankfully, Snyder's City of Owls only makes a reference to the Night of the Owls event with Detective Comics which might confuse readers a little, but everything important and story-wise the reader needs is right here. And thirdly, if you read the Night of the Owls event before hand, keep your expectations in check. You might be expecting a full blown, epic scale ending that involves the entire Bat-family, but this is just a Batman book. It's still epic in its own right; it just didn't need the tie-ins to sell itself.If volume 1 was the Court taking the fight to Batman, volume 2 is Batman taking the fight back to the Court. Snyder's Batman is raw with emotion about him as we saw with him going crazy in the Courts maze, to almost giving up, to volume 2 and his pandering of the Courts long existence and even getting overwhelmed by the Talons. But now Batman cuts loose his angry toward the court and the mastermind behind it all that we've all been dying to see. Added with the big reveal, Snyder's mystery and realization of the Court happens the exact same time the reader does, making Batman a character that reacts to the main bad guy in real-time with the readers. This makes volume 2 a great ending that gives readers what they want, seeing Batman get back at the Court and solve the mystery at the same time. Fans of Snyder's Batman: The Black Mirror will also truly appreciate the references to the big reveal and Black Mirror comparisons, further driving home Snyder's them of Batman being about Gotham itself.Besides a good bulk of the book going to the conclusion for the Court of Owls story, volume also holds the the Batman Annual #1 is a good retelling of Victor Freeze in the New 52 and Batman issue #12 as a stand alone tale about Harper Row, the girl readers were introduced in issue #7 that proves to be a interesting character that Snyder is building for the future some time down the road. It does give the familiar feeling Row might fall into the tech person similar to Oracle Pre-52 but we'll see when the time comes.Art is pitch-perfect by Greg Capullo. The fight in the Batcave against the Talons is exhilarating, to Batman's hatred of the Court, to the finally of the Main Owl leader. Everything is well done on Capullo's art and I have no problems with it at all. Jason Fabok does the Annual, while Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke do issue #12.As for complaints, I have a few. One real minor (and personal) one is the Talons are a bit too talkative this time around. The Talons keep their awe and mystique when they rarely speak, which they now sound like high school bullies. The main complaints involve readers who did actually buy the Night of the Owls book, because if you did, the only new issues you're getting are 10-12 when you buy City of Owls, so you feel a little bit cheated. Another is that the volume 2 has the prime Court of Owls conclusion story from issues 8-11, so you might read through the 4 issues reasonably quickly. And issue #12 and the Annual #1, which are good in their own right, feel a bit in cohesive, especially the Annual which is right in the middle of the book that hurts the flow of the Court of Owls conclusion. DC could of place the Annual the very end of the book as to not hurt the narrative.And final heads-up has to go to the conclusion of the Court of Owls story. The mastermind behind the owls might make readers have various degrees of thought and feeling because Snyder introduces something that has to do with the Batman mythos that I'm sure will have different opinions on it. Some might scream foul on Snyder and some might applaud him for it. I'm a little in-between on the subject, but I'll let readers decide that for themselves. And for a comic that is supposed about new beginnings in the New 52, long time Bat-readers might not find the big reveal all that fresh and new since it makes references to past Bat-stores and ideas (Grant Morrison's run on Batman is one of a few example). New readers won't have a problem with this at all, but old time readers might or might not feel as if Snyder is really reinventing Batman as they thought he is. But again, you be the judge of that.BATMAN VOLUME 2: CITY OF OWLS concludes on a high note that will either have you loving what Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have done or question it. Either way, the two make for a great team in the Bat-World right now that shows these men have the chops for it. Great writing, great art, and a overall great little mystery, City of Owls is great book if you enjoyed volume 1. But with the little drawbacks like the Court of Owls conclusion being 4 issues long, the Annual not fitting well fitting well here, or the questionable ending, I'll give the score a 4 ½ score, but round up to 5. Still a solid book worth checking and I'll see you Bat-readers around October for the next big arc with the return of the Joker in Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (The New 52).

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.

Ame esta saga de la corte, cada vez es más interesante y profunda, es tan interesante que incluso te hace sentir observado mientras lo lees. :D

Continuação ótima da Corte das Corujas.Traços bonitos, ótima história e finalmente a resolução do conflito e do mistério sobre a "família Wayne".

Deadly secrets are revealed as Bruce Wayne must come to terms with shocking news that connects Dick Grayson and himself to the Court of Owls.The artwork serves the story well. The darkness and use of flame and smoke as the story develops reminds us of the fundamental difference between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. The shadows define the Batman and Snyder and the art team work in lock step to ensure that readers are left in no doubt about it.'The City of Owls' is a conclusion to a dramatic storyline, but also an opening chapter for 'The New 52' Gotham City.

A good conclusion to the court of owls-arc. They switch artist towards the end which is a change for the worse in my opinion, but its still not bad and admittedly its hard to compete with Capullo.

Die Geschichte um Gothhams Court of Owls ist unbestritten eine der stärksten von Autor Scott Snyder. Der gesamte Snyder Run ist stark, die ersten beiden Bände sind aber besonders herausragend. Hier handelt es sich um Band 2 von insgesamt 10 Bänden in diesem Format. Tatsächlich ist dem Autor mit dem Court of Owls eine Erweiterung in der Historie des Batman-Universums gelungen, die man nicht ohne weiteres für möglich gehalten hätte. Und es passt einfach so gut! Man liest mit Staunen, Entsetzen und Begeisterung gleichzeitig. Das ist großes Kino für alle Batman Fans und solche, die es werden wollen.