Last issue Batman managed to find his way back to the Batcave. The Court of Owls have made their next move. Poor Batman never gets a chance to rest.
The Good
Comic book stories often are cyclical. We see the heroes involved in a big epic battles and then they usually get some time off. There's moments we get some "quiet time" in order to gain a little insight or see some character development. With Batman barely escaping being trapped by the Court of Owls, he did get a little time to recover. But Scott Snyder is making sure the action continues to be at the forefront as the Court makes their next move.
If you've seen the cover (and the final page), you know the Court is indeed making their next move. It won't be Batman fighting them this time but Bruce Wayne…sort of.
What's great about the action here is there's a slight slow build. That's not meant to sound like it could be boring. It's quite the opposite. As you see each event unfold, the entire situation becomes more and more intense. There's also something to be said about seeing Bruce Wayne in action. We all know that Batman has moves but whether it was because we're seeing Bruce perform them, it almost felt like he had some new ones. Bruce may be at a disadvantage against the number of Talons the Court sends but at least he gets to fight on familiar territory.
Of course the crazy action is made so much sweeter with Greg Capullo's art cramming the action in your face. You can feel the intensity of each scene and I feel like Greg must go through a lot of pencils in bringing all the action to life.
As things heat up, we're left with a cliffhanger ending. What makes this issue even better is there is a back up story by Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by Rafael Albuquerque. It's not just a regular back up story, it's a continuation where the cliffhanger left off. Instead of having to wait a month, we get an immediate answer to 'what happens next.'
The Bad
The question I would have is how much time has gone by between the end of issue 6 and this one. Batman was missing for quite some time, at the mercy of the Court. He barely managed to escape and make his way back to the Cave. While he's still in the recovery stage, he is attacked by several Talons at the same time. But he is Batman after all.
The Verdict
Can Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue the consistent level of storytelling they've been doing since the "New 52" started? The answer is, "Of course!" If you think back to the old Batman stories, there's usually been a common theme. Many of the stories and storytelling have been similar. With Snyder, the presentation, storytelling and overall presentation has been varied from issue to issue. You might think you know where the story is going to go but Snyder manages to throw curve balls at you each time. The fact that it's Bruce Wayne taking part in the action rather than Batman adds another different element to the story. Capullo gives the art duties his typical furious vigor that adds the icing to the cake that Snyder delivers each month. There is a big cliffhanger at the end but to make it all even sweeter, this issue contains a back up by Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by Rafael Albuquerque. More Batman story with Snyder can only make a good thing even better. The Night of the Owls begins here and seeing the pieces all begin to fall into place is a glorious sight.