Batman (2011) #1-11

Batman #1-11

Originally released in 2011

Written by Scott Snyder

Art by Greg Capullo

The New 52 was intended as a fresh start for DC after Flashpoint, an attempt at making their comics more accessible. Some series, like Superman or Wonder Woman, wiped the slate clean, while others, like Batman or Green Lantern, kept some of the previous status quo, at least in a broad sense.

After the New 52, Batman had still been operating in Gotham long enough to have had at least four Robins - Dick Grayson (currently Nightwing), Jason Todd (who still died and came back; current Red Hood), Tim Drake (currently Red Robin), and Damian Wayne.  Of the four, Dick gets the most focus here by far, with the others having little more than cameos.

I like how this story characterizes Batman.  A lot of writers tend to have Batman as someone who's prepared for any possible scenario, who's meticulous and calculating.  Batman starts out the story like this, prepared for a mass break-out in Arkham and confident that he knows this city like the back of his hand.  This story quickly demonstrates just how wrong he is.

The Court of Owls are little more than a nursery rhyme, a Gotham-centric boogeyman.  However, they've been lurking in the shadows, and Bruce's plans to renovate Gotham have made him a target.  He's not the only person that they're after, though.

A mayoral candidate, Lincoln March, is also a target.  He looks so similar to Bruce that they could almost be brothers, to the point that if not for their outfits, it can be difficult to tell them apart at times.  The Court of Owls send their assassins, undead warriors known as the Talons, to carry out their will, and the art portrays some of the shots of them like something out of a horror movie.

Bruce is confident that the Court of Owls doesn't exist, because he investigated them as a child and found no proof.  However, he's quickly proven wrong when he's captured and tossed into what they dramatically refer to as "the Labyrinth".

Things quickly take a turn for the surreal, as the pages rotate and flip, showing Bruce's deteriorating worldview until eventually, they're turned upside down.  Batman seems like he's slowly losing his mind, becoming more feral and monstrous as he desperately tries to escape.

Scott Snyder definitely has Batman's voice down, with his narration spread throughout the plot.  I feel like it's a sign of a good Batman story when I can hear Kevin Conroy's voice saying the lines, and that definitely applies here.  The art by Greg Capullo feels like quintessential Batman, for the lack of a better word - he does an excellent job at capturing the character.

Batman freeing himself from the maze earns him the Court's wrath, or perhaps their desperation - they send dozens of Talons into the city, with the intent of killing any major figure who could possibly oppose them.  A call is sent out to Batman's allies in Gotham, including Batgirl, Black Canary, and Katana, to help defend the city, though this is handled in other series - the Batman issues handle the attack on Wayne Manor by what feels like a dozen Talons.

Once the Talons are frozen, which is seemingly the only thing that can stop them, Batman heads to save Lincoln March, one of the last people on the list who hasn't been saved or killed yet, only to be met with a surprise.

This is a fake-out, however, as Lincoln has a dying message for Bruce Wayne, and gives it to Batman to deliver.  He's discovered the identities of three members of the Court of Owls, so naturally, Batman follows up on this.

However, when tracing them to their headquarters, the place that he had looked into when he was a boy determined that there was a conspiracy that took his parents' lives instead of a lone gunman, he discovers that the Court of Owls went through with a mass suicide.  While there may be other branches of the Court out there, this seemingly puts an end to the conspiracy within Gotham.

...OR DID IT?  The story has several final twists and turns in the last issue or so, though it's ambiguous how much truth there is to them.  Snyder and Capullo do an excellent job at building up a sense of suspense and unease throughout the story, making the Court of Owls feel like a secret society that could have legitimately operated under Batman's nose for his whole life without him noticing and making them feel like a major threat to Gotham as a whole, along with giving them a valid reason why they haven't interfered until now since they benefit from the status quo.  It's an outstanding start to Batman's New 52 run.