Writer: Scott Snyder
Pencils: Greg Capullo
Inks: Jonathan Glapion
The Solicitation
Batman may have survived the Court of Owls' first strike (barely), but even as he recuperates, the Court is preparing to launch its most deadly and sweeping attack yet. Plus: The secrets revealed in this issue will change Batman's world forever! You won't want to miss the issue everyone will be talking about!
Preview
The Story
We open with the scene from Year One about Bruce getting the idea to become a bat. The bat then flies out the window and gets struck down by an owl. Nice.
I have seen way too many writers trying to invoke their image on what happened that first time with Bruce meeting the bat that inspired him. They always feel forced in some way and that scene in particular has had all the details about it squeezed out from the many other writers who have said something about that Bat-moment in history. Even giving that this is a rebooted universe and some of the stories count and others don't, I still don't feel good reading that part of the story.
After that though - the introduction to Harper, who I am sure will become a bigger character later on, is interesting.
The story just builds from there. You get Bruce returning to the cave and showing that he is still afraid of the Talon, even when he is in the cave and dead. Thankfully, the investigator part of him takes over and he sets out to know who the Talon is.
Enter Nightwing: and major Nightwing revelation. This one was sorta spoiled to me, I forget how exactly, but I like the idea of infusing this element into the story. Basically, Bruce got to Nightwing before Nightwing was to become a Talon. There is an owl engraved into the bottom of one of Nightwing's teeth to prove it, which Bruce punches out of his jaw. This is coming at the same time that Talon is revealed to be Nightwing's great-grandfather.
We then get a feature of dozens of Talons being revived and released onto the streets of Gotham in what looks like to be the beginning strike of the Court of Owls big play.
All in all, nicely set up. I am looking forward to a good Bat-crossover in the new 52, and i think this is the right story to go with.
The Art
Consistent as always. I like this art, it fits the story perfectly. Capullo has the ability to chow a crazed Bruce and then a crazed, yet determined to find the truth Bruce. While I still didn't like the opening chapter of the book, you have to be taken aback in awe of that wonderful owl snatching the bat shot. Just greatly done.
The Cover
I like the white silhouettes of the owl talons as they come to Bruce, or at least they are white on the copy of the book that I got and not the brown color that is shown in the picture here. The blood on Batman also helps show exactly what is happening in this book - we have a Batman that hasn't been through some easy times as of late and it shows. I would say that the talons took up too much space on the cover, but when you take out that banner that DC put on the top of their books and that stamp in the bottom right corner of the book that declares it to be a digital copy (which my shop only orders those version of the books and not the regular edition that cost a dollar less), then you get a much better version of the cover.
Grades
Words: 8/10 - who is this new character? I wish some more info was given for her. Quite frankly, I don't care about her and the one scene she was in really felt weird in retrospect.
Pictures: 9/10 - Good, solid, consistent work.
Recommend: This is the primer for the upcoming Bat-crossover that can get you caught up with the nitty gritty details of the event. If this was a line wide event ala Avengers Vs. X-Men or Green Lantern Blackest Night, this would be issue #0 for that series.
Buy Next Issue: Without a doubt.
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