Sunday Spotlight - Batman: Court of Owls

So how did you all celebrate Batman Day? Personally, I hit up my local Eisner-award winning comic book store! Now, you may be tired of all the stuff about Batman over the last few months, BUT I'M NOT! Let's look at the first appearance of Batman in the New 52 – Batman: the Court of Owls.



Following an attack on Bruce Wayne's life, the wealthy socialite investigates further in the guise of his alter-ego, the vigilante Batman. What he discovers makes no sense to him – the assassin mentioned the 'Court of Owls', a secret organisation that is little more than an urban legend. It's so secret that Batman had investigated the rumour before and found absolutely nothing. But new revelations have emerged and what Batman discovers proves that the shadowy cabal is a real thing – and is currently poised to strike against Gotham City. In the search to unveil their plans, Batman must face his own demons as the Court of Owls challenges the uneasy order that Batman has managed to achieve in Gotham.

Scott Snyder had already established himself as an amazing writer with Batman: the Black Mirror and a lot of what made that great was carried over to Court of Owls. However, instead the of raw art style of Jock, Court of Owls is drawn by Greg Capullo. There's a very different style, fitting the pulp origin of Batman matched with the shadowy gothic feel that has been a part of the character for so long. The collaboration of Snyder and Capullo has been a highlight of the New 52. There's a brutality to a lot of the fight scenes, emphasising the rage that Bruce Wayne releases when he dons the mask of Batman. The more expository scenes still have a lot of action to them; there aren't a great number of these, which is interesting given the overall plot.

The 'dangerous conspiracy' aspect of the story has been incredibly well-developed. There's good explanations for why this has not been seen before and it draws on the history of Batman, as well as Gotham. Most of the focus is on the plot rather than explaining Batman's role in Gotham, which is a good way of introducing the character. It could have been tempting to show what Batman means to the city but instead, the reader is thrown right into the middle of the action with a centuries old conspiracy. There's hints of Batman's origin and elements explaining each character, but it's not straightforward exposition and is more about furthering the characterisation rather than simply explaining why they're there. This all makes for a much more exciting read than other first books and shows why Snyder and Capullo's Batman run has been so successful.

For someone just getting into comics, this is a perfect jumping on point. While it touches on other characters that can then also be read about, reading just this series means you get great adventure and great characters.

Batman vol. 1: the Court of Owls – 9781401235420 - $24.99 – 176 pages