Scott Snyder: writer
Greg Capullo: penciller
Jonathan Glapion: inker
The Solicitation
Trapped far beneath Gotham City and hunted by the Talon – the Court of Owls' unstoppable killer – Batman lies bleeding and broken. With no way out and no one to help, is this the end for The Dark Knight?
Preview
The Story
Now this kicks some ass.
Take the trippiness that the last issue had, and mix it in with some Batman kicking some ass and this comic is golden from the first panel until the last image.
We start off with Batman having a knife sticking through his stomach. Talon, the assassin for the Court of Owls, telling him that the Court has sentenced him to die. Talon holds Bruce up high and asks the Court how the wish for Batman to die. The youngest member gets to decide what happens to him, and she decides to hurt him...more.
Bruce is going through some spotty visual depictions around him and we continue to see him how he is hallucinating at the same time that we see the reality of what is actually there.
And then Batman decides he has had enough and he is sick of owls.
Thus begins a beat down of epic proportions that you have to see to believe. The dialogue back and forth is spot on, and the end leaves you knowing that Bruce will make it out alive, but he will have taken a huge beating.
We then get a little more insight into the Court. It appears that the Talon they have will be disposed of, and the other Talons they have in waiting will be woken up.
Snyder has done an amazing job setting up the strength of the villains. What I thought at the first issue would just be some generic villain to introduce us to the New 52 Batman has become one of the strongest villains around.
There are a lot of tones to this story that strike a very familiar tone with me. The Court of Owls seems to play out as a much stronger take on the old Azrael story. Azrael was the guy that became Batman years ago when Bane broke Batman's back in Knightfall. Azrael was an assassin with training that was rooted in his childhood, waiting to be activated so he could become a mindless killer for the Order of St. Dumas. Talon seems to be the same thing presented here, but I don't think that the story will go the route of replacing Batman with him.
But this is a much, much stronger story than the old Azrael one, and that's coming from someone whose first experience buying Batman comics on a regular basis started with the Knightfall story, so you know that places the story very high in my perspective.
The Art
Delivers. This is the kind of art that words can't describe. Much in the way that Snyder used Jock's skills in The Black Mirror Batman story, Greg Capullo is given his chance to shine. If the preview doesn't entice you, nothing will.
The Cover
Scary. Reminds me of the Batman: Red Rain cover that showed Batman as a vampire. Who knew that an Owl/Bat hybrid could look frightening? The trick is in the eyes, they just stare at you.
Grades
Words: 10/10
Pictures: 10/10
Recommend: If you are familiar with Batman comics and want to give this a go, the only thing that you would be missing out on is wondering why Batman is hallucinating half the time. If you take that part out, even a new reader could connect with this issue.
Buy Next Issue: HAHAHAHAH! Now that's a funny one.
Previous Issues
Batman #5
Batman #4
Three Issue Trial
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