Batman #2

Batman had been on the trail of an organization called the Court of Owls, whom claim to be the true underworld rulers of Gotham City. Originally he brushed them off as an old Gotham legend, part of a nursery rhyme he grew up hearing. Things somewhat changed when the Court sent one of their assassins called a Talon to kill Bruce Wayne. Batman wasn't totally convinced of their existence though, until they forced a full confrontation with him that almost cost him his life. Batman recovers from the battle very weak, but the Court of Owls aren't anywhere near done with him or Gotham. -summary

Batman Volume Two: City of the Owls is also the direct follow up to Batman Volume One: Court of Owls, as it continues and ends the storyline involving his conflict with the Court of Owls organization. The story had also continued as a crossover into the other Bat-Family books in Night of the Owls, which I think should be read before this. That book was the actual fight with the underworld organization plus it lead to further character development in regards to the group. The major flaw with Night of the Owls is that it lacked the conclusion; this book, City of Owls, provides all the closure one needs bringing an end to the storyline. Scott Snyder expands on the Batman mythos for sure with his revelation towards the end, plus provides an entertaining feud with the Court. Unfortunately for me, I do not see what others see here in regards to the claims of this being a masterpiece. City of Owls loses plenty of punch, and it's not completely as deep or atmospheric as Batman Volume One. People are so mesmerized by Snyder's run that some are blatantly ignoring damaging flaws to this follow up story arc. It isn't bad at all, but to me, there are key elements holding it back from being great. This book collects Batman issues 8 - 12 and Annual #1.

Batman barely escaped the mental and physical torture the Court of Owls served on him. Although he barely won the battle, the war had just begun as the Court of Owls now unleashes their assassins the Talons on Gotham, with their mission being to assassinate all major figure heads in the city. Alfred sends the distress call to the Bat-Family with a list on whom to protect. Meanwhile, the Talons invade Wayne Manor to kill Bruce Wayne who happens to be on their list.

The conflict with the Court is indeed this books major selling point, and it delivers some good action and story. Batman defends his home from what seems to be an army of Talons. Later he leaves the Batcave to try and prevent them from killing some of their targets, which includes mayoral candidate Lincoln March, whom was introduced in the first book. Batman then feels it's time to take the battle to them. This feud feels very personal; Batman definitely hates the Court and he plans on burning their home down to the ground since they invaded his.

If there's anything I enjoy it's the mystery behind the Court itself. We not only learn in Night of the Owls that they are the true rulers of Gotham's underworld, and their reach stretches as far back as the 19th century, but they have been enemies of the Waynes for maybe as long. To include, they are a very powerful organization with far-reaching resources that leaves Batman baffled. Even if he defeats them in Gotham, he knows more are out there and they're crossing paths again some day. I also give points to Snyder going that extra distance cementing the fact that Batman is still just a man, and even he can be wrong. There's this possibility that his hatred towards the Court stems from him underestimating them. He didn't want to believe that they actually existed, simply because he didn't want to be wrong, nor did he want to accept that Gotham didn't belong to the Batman or he truly knew Gotham. It adds more development in helping him grow as a person, which is something characters need in order to continue being interesting. I wonder how this experience is going to effect him in later stories, and I'm very interested in learning how the Court will retaliate some day. Gotham itself is once again slightly developed as that person you think you knew all along, only to later learn you didn't know anything about them. The city has its secrets with the Court of Owls being one; I'm sure there's more to the place.

Now the things that keeps this story from being the untouchable masterpiece some wish it to be, is actually some of the pacing. Snyder introduces a Mr. Freeze story that pretty much comes out of nowhere. It's a great story, I like it a lot, I won't take that away, but it could have been saved towards the end, and not injected into the middle of the story arc. I think it hurts the momentum of the main story. Readers wanted to see Batman take on the Owls in this story, and not really anything else.

I also didn't like how the Talons were handled. The first Talon in the very beginning of the story in the first book barely said a word, in which this added to the mystery of the character, and when he did speak it felt evil, there was a terrible feeling of Batman not making it. Now, they are shouting threats and one-liners, thus coming off as mere grunts, in fact, they feel like bullies and I just wasn't feeling them anymore. They were handled slightly better in the crossover to be honest. Characters like these work extremely better as the silent and deadly type. The main culprit is even more talky then they are; it worked on some occasions, while on others I was waiting for this to end.

Artwork duties are shared between Greg Capullo, Jason Fabok, John Glapion and others; with the exception of maybe one segment in the beginning boasting some obvious inconsistency that results in bad designs and backgrounds. The rest of the artwork is fine, crisp, and as dark as it should be for a story taking place at night. Gotham City still looks like a nice place to maybe visit and that's about it. The dark hallways almost look supernatural like, pretty damn creepy at times. The Mr. Freeze chapter looks very good; it feels as if an icy death is all that's waiting for anyone who crosses him. The action here, the less said the better, but one thing is for sure though; this story, artwork, it further establishes that even after all these years Mr. Freeze is still DC's best cold-based villain, greatly surpassing the likes of Captain Cold and Killer Frost. I'll take a story with him over them any day.

The use of darker coloring shades brings out the sinister atmosphere on every turn, and even works well into the characters stances and facial designs. It truly feels like Batman hates Mr. Freeze and the Owls, and the feeling is mutual. The illustrations are a joy to look at most of the time. I especially enjoy the inner dialog from Batman. Scott Snyder definitely knows how to rope you into this world without sounding pretentious or overly cool, Batman is just cool to read without him trying to be. Everyone sounds quite down to Earth, with Mr. Freeze just sounding angry and prepared to kill everybody, the super-villain jargon just doesn't exist with him.

There's one other problem with this book though, and it's issues 8 - 9 along with one more additional story in this book already collected in Night of the Owls. Some people may not like the idea of buying the same stories again. I can understand this, but I also enjoyed Night of the Owls, in fact, I enjoyed it more than this despite being unfinished. This story stands very well on its own, yet it's obvious some stuff can be missing. Fortunately it isn't damaging though. You will still know exactly what's going on, therefore more than likely you will enjoy the story.

My recommendation is this, if you want the full Court of Owls experience then get all three books, Batman: Court of Owls, Night of the Owls, and this. Read Court of Owls first, then Night of the Owls up until The Fall of the House of Wayne issue, skip that story completely, and then read this book. If you only care for Batman's point of view, don't care to buy a story with material that collects some of the stuff from here, then just buy Batman Volume One and Two; with those two stories, you get a beginning, a good chunk of middle portion, and a solid conclusion. Overall, the decision is up to you.

I don't regret getting all of the books, but it would be nice if some day DC collected this entire story arc in omnibus form in correct order for future readers. It's a solid story though, and I can't imagine anyone walking away disliking it if they're a fan of Batman or comics in general. This entire storyline is also newbie friendly, you don't need much prior knowledge.

[3.5]

Pros: Some great artwork, solid conclusion, good writing for the most part

Cons: Story placement is questionable, Talons lose a lot of appeal