Review – Batman #9

Batman #9 Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV Art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Rafael Albuquerque, FCO Plascencia, Dave McCaig, Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt Covers by Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia, Dale Keown Released: May 9th, 2012

We’re 100% into the Night of Owls now, no more lead up, no more talking about it. The Court of Owls has sent their assassins to kill the top names in Gotham city. On the list is Bruce Wayne, and the Talons have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. Now Batman and his allies are spreading out across Gotham trying to put a stop to this mysterious enemy and their undying Talons.

This issue picks up right where we left off in issue 8 with a group of Talons in the Batcave, Batman in an awesome bat-armor, Alfred putting out a call to arms, and all the while chilling the batcave to knock the Talons out. Now if you’re lost you should probably go back and read the last 8 issues of Batman before you even think about jumping into issue 9. As you’ve probably figured out, a lot is going on in Gotham right now and it doesn’t look to be slowing down for any of the bat-family.

Scott Snyder has really given us a story that is surely going down as a classic. It’s not easy to take 70+ year old character and create a new villain with such a huge history in the city, and the family of the title character. Snyder has managed to pull this off with the Court of Owls. He figured out the perfect way to assimilate them into Gotham without raising the question of where they’ve been in the last 70 years worth of stories. And yes I know a “secret society” isn’t cutting edge, or revolutionary. But the way Snyder and the rest of the writers working on Night of Owls (ie: Higgins, Simone, Daniels, etc) have managed to make them such a force and wrap them into the history of the town is just mesmerizing.

The issue’s main focus is Batman’s continued fight at home and his drive to end the Court of Owls. On top of that, it’s also a great issue to show off Greg Capullo’s artwork. Capullo has a way of drawing Batman that just seems right. The expressions fit this character that everyone has grown up knowing. From a few issues back when Bruce looked insane after his encounters with the Court, to now with them attacking him in his home, he looks enraged and rightfully so. This guy has even managed to make a suit of armor look angry. I’m looking forward to see what Capullo gives us next, and I really hope he doesn’t leave the title anytime soon!

Where can I get one of those suits?

You can pretty much go to any comic site on the internet and hear how good this issue of Batman is. But there’s something else to it then just a fun story and great art. Snyder and Capullo, along with James Tynion IV, Rafael Albuquerque and the rest of this great team are weaving a story that is on the road to make everyone rethink what they know about Batman. Between the history and revelations in the main story, and the eye opening side story about Alfred’s father. All of this is pointing to a huge change in Bruce Wayne and Batman’s lives. And with all the twists and turns so far the most obvious answer probably isn’t the right answer. And it’s killing me to find out what’s going on.

All in all this is another great issue from Snyder and Capullo’s Batman team. It’s not the best of the series so far, but it does what it’s meant to. It showcases exactly how big and bad of a night Batman and all of his allies are going to be having.

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

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