Batman: Court of Owls (MUST READ)

I am in the process of re-reading The Court of Owls and I would like some opinions on the story. I really liked it the first time, but now that I am re-reading it, something doesn't make sense; why is the Court showing up out of nowhere? There is a number of New 52 Batman stories I have not read, has there been an explanation as to why they just randomly show up within the mythos? Thanks for the help.

Batman got to OP so that's why they showed up. Batman though he knew Gotham and they proved him wrong.

They showed up to show Bruce he really doesn't know his city like he thought he did.

While the Court never "showed up", they were always in action and doing stuff from behind the scenes. The court was so secretive, and so were all their assassinations. They'd kill people and make it appear as a suicide or an accident to maintain control of their city. Bruce Wayne's new Gotham initiative was (unknowingly) a threat against their control and so Bruce was marked for death and he was supposed to be just another victim of the Court. Thing is though, Bruce Wayne happened to be THE BATMAN, and once they messed with him, it was only a matter of time before they got exposed. And seeing how Batman was getting stronger and more dominant over Gotham, the Court decided to put him down.

I guess I am asking this because I am unsure of what counts as continuity from before New 52. It just seems with everything that went on before New 52, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Killing Joke, etc. why would Bruce's new initiative for Gotham be the catalyst that the Court of Owls needed to finally surface? That is what is most confusing. Thanks for your help.

@tcrighton: Bruce wanted to re-shape the city for the better, this would of resulted in the Court losing control of the city which they would not want. Thus the Court decided to try and take out Bruce.

Why didn't the Court appear prior to this story? The real answer is they didn't exist because Snyder only introduced them. The story answer would be that they never needed to appear, they operated in shadows so we never saw them, it is only when they went after Bruce/Batman that we are introduced to the idea they have been around Gotham for centuries.

Its a bad storyline. Thats about it

@edgejohn:

They are a secret organization.

And the story is amazing. Definitely in my top 5. Snyder masters the tone and mood.

@edgejohn, what did you not like about the story? I thought it was very enthralling. Keep in mind, I have not read Endgame yet, but Court of Owls is my favorite Batman story from the New 52.

^ 100% correct ^

@tcrighton: To get the full story you should read the complete crossover :

• Batman: The Court of Owls
• Batman: The City of Owls
• Batman: Night of Owls (crossover)
• Talon: Scourge of the Owls
• Talon: The fall of the Owls