Batman: Night of the Owls #1

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: Night of the Owls is the sequel to Batman Volume One: Court of Owls, as it follows up on the cliffhanger that saw the Court of Owls awakening all of their Talon warriors and launching a full scale assault on Gotham City. The main story is written by Scott Snyder, but it crosses over into the other titles of the remaining Bat-Family, thus roping in several other writers such as Gail Simone, Judd Winick, David Finch, and Tony Daniel. The book provides a broader scope on what exactly the Court of Owls represents. The organization proves to be a serious threat, as they bring chaos on to the populace. Do not come into this title searching for the mystery and crafty detective work found in Batman Volume One; instead, this book provides a big chunk of the fight that settles it all. It's nothing but a crossover that delivers small pieces of the main story yet delivers plenty of action and character development. The great thing about this collection though, is that the stories are in correct order, and it follows the proper timing of the Talons attack which takes place in one night. The titles collected here are:

All-Star Western #9, Batman #8-9, Batman Annual #1, Batman: The Dark Knight #9, Batman: Detective Comics #9, Batgirl #9, Batwing #9, Birds of Prey #9, Nightwing #8-9, Batman and Robin #9, Catwoman #9, and Red Hood and the Outlaws #9.

For those whom were heavily roped into the Court of Owls, for the most part, you get a nice fix on the organization. The Talons eventually attack Wayne Manor, thus learning that Bruce is Batman, even though there's a possibility the Court already knew. From here, Alfred sends the call to the rest of the Bat-Family alerting them that the Court of Owls actually have a mission; the Talons are to kill the major figure heads of Gotham City such as judges, the Mayor, Army General, anyone with some type of status. They even go after a couple of villains, and they refuse to go down without a fight. Admittedly the book does follow a repetitive pattern, with a member of the Bat-Family encountering their Talon. I normally hate repetition, but most of the various writers piggyback Snyder's story slightly enhancing his overall vision. The Court of Owls organization is still well developed, and plenty of their origin on how they found their warriors links back to Haley's Circus, where Dick Grayson aka Nightwing and former Robin had once lived. To include it's established that they had been in operation since the late 1800's. The Court of Owls are very interesting villains, and personally I feel they're DC's best creation in a long time.

The battles are very fun to read; the Talons are more than mere grunts. They have incredible regeneration abilities that allows them to heal from broken backs and even bullets to the brain. Plus they come close to killing several Bat members. The bodies pile up with some brutal action here and there. One of the flaws I can think of though, is that some of the crossovers feel very pointless. Books such as All Star Western, Birds of Prey, Batwing, and even Catwoman are simply added here just because; Batwing isn't too bad, but the others add absolutely nothing and they even dampen the narrative's flow. Birds of Prey and Catwoman were so boring to me I felt like skipping them completely. All Star is done so badly from artwork to development of main characters, to the point I can't imagine anyone unfamiliar with the book wanting to give it a shot. Hell, I'm confident enough to bet that it will push away all possible readers, because nothing cool takes place there at all, and this boring story starts the book.

There are so many artist flaunting their skills I'm not even going to point them out. Some books such as Red Hood and the Outlaws is very close to average with some almost blocky like character designs that really don't look very good. Mr. Freeze looks way too scrawny and awful looking. While in the Batman books he looks terrifying and awesome. Batgirl's title looks every bit as gorgeous as the first 8 issues in her own book. There are some gorgeous designs, beautiful coloring, and nice backgrounds. The Batman books are still dark, with very fine details in the character designs and backgrounds. The action almost all around is pretty damn good with many stabbings and even decapitations.

My final gripe with this book though has to be the formatting and presentation. For some reason DC decided to double dip some stories here, plus not give readers the full conclusion. This book does not contain the complete Night of the Owls storyline; it's missing Batman issues 10 - 12, which are found in Batman Volume Two: City of Owls. Some people feel that like Blackest Night, the crossovers here are not necessary reading. Well, there is some truth to that, but I don't feel like my time was wasted though. I especially enjoyed reading the Nightwing crossovers since the Court of Owls do play a role in his origin down to his very name. I like how DC has introduced the Court into his life now, when originally I didn't like it at all, so there is some good here.

Now if you only want Batman's side of the story, then you can skip Night of the Owls completely in favor of City of Owls. However, if you do plan on reading Night of the Owls, I highly recommend skipping the final story The Fall of the House of Wayne, because it is one massive spoiler and in its place read City of Owls issues 10 -12, which contains House of Wayne for a proper ending. Personally, the double dip kind of annoys me. I would have preferred DC adding those final Batman issues giving us a complete storyline, and they could have started his own book at issue 13. I find it impossible to believe that anyone whom began this story would have just skipped Night of the Owls due to it crossing over.

Overall, this is a solid book, but if you plan on picking this up you need City of Owls for the big finish. If you're a fan of Batman or DC in any way, shape, or form, then this is a story you need in your collection. It's one of the better storylines of the New 52, with Death and the Family and Throne of Atlantis being much better though. Recommended.