Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (The New 52) Paperback – Illustrated, October 15, 2013

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. -summaryBatman Volume Two: City of the Owls is also the direct follow up to Batman Volume One: Court of Owls, as it continues and ends the storyline involving his conflict with the Court of Owls organization. The story had also continued as a crossover into the other Bat-Family books in Night of the Owls, which I think should be read before this. That book was the actual fight with the underworld organization plus it lead to further character development in regards to the group. The major flaw with Night of the Owls is that it lacked the conclusion; this book, City of Owls, provides all the closure one needs bringing an end to the storyline. Scott Snyder expands on the Batman mythos for sure with his revelation towards the end, plus provides an entertaining feud with the Court. Unfortunately for me, I do not see what others see here in regards to the claims of being a masterpiece. City of Owls loses plenty of punch, and it's not completely as deep or atmospheric as Batman Volume One. People are so mesmerized by Snyder's run that some are blatantly ignoring damaging flaws to this follow up story arc. It isn't bad at all, but to me, there are key elements holding it back from being great. This book collects Batman issues 8 - 12 and Annual #1.Batman barely escaped the mental and physical torture the Court of Owls served on him. Although he barely won the battle, the war had just begun as the Court of Owls now unleashes their assassins the Talons on Gotham, with their mission being to assassinate all major figure heads in the city. Alfred sends the distress call to the Bat-Family with a list on whom to protect. Meanwhile, the Talons invade Wayne Manor to kill Bruce Wayne who happens to be on their list.The conflict with the Court is indeed this books major selling point, and it delivers some good action and story. Batman defends his home from what seems to be an army of Talons. Later he leaves the Batcave to try and prevent them from killing some of their targets, which includes mayoral candidate Lincoln March, whom was introduced in the first book. Batman then feels it's time to take the battle to them. This feud feels very personal; Batman definitely hates the Court and he plans on burning their home down to the ground since they invaded his.If there's anything I enjoy it's the mystery behind the Court itself. We not only learn in Night of the Owls that they are the true rulers of Gotham's underworld, and their reach stretches as far back as the 19th century, but they have been enemies of the Waynes for maybe as long. To include, they are a very powerful organization with far-reaching resources that leaves Batman baffled. Even if he defeats them in Gotham, he knows more are out there and they're crossing paths again some day. I also give points to Snyder going that extra distance cementing the fact that Batman is still just a man, and even he can be wrong. There's this possibility that his hatred towards the Court stems from him underestimating them. He didn't want to believe that they actually existed, simply because he didn't want to be wrong, nor did he want to accept that Gotham didn't belong to the Batman or he truly knew Gotham. It adds more development in helping him grow as a person, which is something characters need in order to continue being interesting. I wonder how this experience is going to effect him in later stories, and I'm very interested in learning how the Court will retaliate some day. Gotham itself is once again slightly developed as that person you think you knew all along, only to later learn you didn't know anything about them. The city has its secrets with the Court of Owls being one; I'm sure there's more to the place.Now the things that keeps this story from being the untouchable masterpiece some wish it to be, is actually some of the pacing. Snyder introduces a Mr. Freeze story that pretty much comes out of nowhere. It's a great story, I like it a lot, I won't take that away, but it could have been saved towards the end, and not injected into the middle of the story arc. I think it hurts the momentum of the main story. Readers wanted to see Batman take on the Owls in this story and not really anything else.I also didn't like how the Talons were handled. The first Talon in the very beginning of the story in the first book barely said a word, in which this added to the mystery of the character, and when he did speak it felt evil, there was a terrible feeling of Batman not making it. Now, they are shouting threats and one-liners, thus coming off as mere grunts, in fact, they feel like bullies and I just wasn't feeling them anymore. They were handled slightly better in the crossover to be honest. Characters like these work extremely better as the silent and deadly type. The main culprit is even more talky then they are; it worked on some occasions, while on others I was waiting for this to end.Artwork duties are shared between Greg Capullo, Jason Fabok, John Glapion and others; with the exception of maybe one segment in the beginning boasting some obvious inconsistency that results in bad designs and backgrounds. The rest of the artwork is fine, crisp, and as dark as it should be for a story taking place at night. Gotham City still looks like a nice place to maybe visit and that's about it. The dark hallways almost look supernatural like, pretty damn creepy at times. The Mr. Freeze chapter looks very good; it feels as if an icy death is all that's waiting for anyone who crosses him. The action here, the less said the better, but one thing is for sure though; this story, artwork, it further establishes that even after all these years Mr. Freeze is still DC's best cold-based villain, greatly surpassing the likes of Captain Cold and Killer Frost. I'll take a story with him over them any day.The use of darker coloring shades brings out the sinister atmosphere on every turn, and even works well into the characters stances and facial designs. It truly feels like Batman hates Mr. Freeze and the Owls, and the feeling is mutual. The illustrations are a joy to look at most of the time. I especially enjoy the inner dialog from Batman. Scott Snyder definitely knows how to rope you into this world without sounding pretentious or overly cool, Batman is just cool to read without him trying to be. Everyone sounds quite down to Earth, with Mr. Freeze just sounding angry and prepared to kill everybody, the super-villain jargon just doesn't exist with him.There's one other problem with this book though, and it's issues 8 - 9 along with one more additional story in this book already collected in Night of the Owls. Some people may not like the idea of buying the same stories again. I can understand this, but I also enjoyed Night of the Owls, in fact, I enjoyed it more than this despite being unfinished. This story stands very well on its own, yet it's obvious some stuff can be missing. Fortunately it isn't damaging though. You will still know exactly what's going on, therefore more than likely you will enjoy the story.My recommendation is this, if you want the full Court of Owls experience then get all three books, Batman: Court of Owls, Night of the Owls, and this. Read Court of Owls first, then Night of the Owls up until The Fall of the House of Wayne issue, skip that story completely, and then read this book. If you only care for Batman's point of view, don't care to buy a story with material that collects some of the stuff from here, then just buy Batman Volume One and Two; with those two stories, you get a beginning, a good chunk of middle portion, and a solid conclusion. Overall, the decision is up to you.I don't regret getting all of the books, but it would be nice if some day DC collected this entire story arc in omnibus form in correct order for future readers. It's a solid story though, and I can't imagine anyone walking away disliking it if they're a fan of Batman or comics in general. This entire storyline is also newbie friendly, you don't need much prior knowledge.[3.5/5]

I think it is safe to say by now writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo have become synonymous with Batman, especially within the DC New 52, and it all started with Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52). Batman was faced with the Court of Owls, an enemy that has been around since Gotham's earliest beginnings and had finally shown itself to the Dark Knight, to which was a powerful organization that had connections and resources Batman could never quite fathom, and the Batman paid for it--big time. But Batman pulled through it, just barely, and learned the error of his ways and got away to prepare for striking back. But the Court knows Batman is weak so it decides to attack Gotham while they can, sending out their entire army of Talon warriors to seize control once and for all......But Batman has had enough.Finally, the wait if over. Snyder and Capullo's volume 2 of the conclusion to the Court of Owls story comes full-speed ahead that is equal parts gripping and powerful, yet eerily familiar to Pre-52 fans.BATMAN VOL.2: CITY OF OWLS collects issues #8-12 with back stories "Fall of the House of Wayne" and BATMAN ANNUAL #1. Bruce Wayne has just starting to recover from days of torture in the Court's maze, to which suddenly the Courts Talons make a direct attack on the Wayne mansion. The ferocity of numerous Talons push Bruce to the point that he has had enough of owls and the Court and dons the Batman persona to finally put an end to the Court, by taking the battle back at them where it hurts.I will not give out any more info because there would be spoilers aplenty, but let's clear some stuff first. First, go read volume 1 before reading volume 2. Many little clues Snyder expertly lay out in volume 1 start to unravel itself and come full circle here in volume 2, so you might need to refresh your memory as to catch all of the little nuggets of information you might of missed. Secondly, the companion book Batman: Night of the Owls (The New 52) is not essential or needed to read with volume 2. Snyder's Court of Owls volume 1 and City of Owls volume 2 is the prime self contained story that is vital, while Night of the Owls was the tie-ins that take place during the Talons attacks on Gotham. Thankfully, Snyder's City of Owls only makes a reference to the Night of the Owls event with Detective Comics which might confuse readers a little, but everything important and story-wise the reader needs is right here. And thirdly, if you read the Night of the Owls event before hand, keep your expectations in check. You might be expecting a full blown, epic scale ending that involves the entire Bat-family, but this is just a Batman book. It's still epic in its own right; it just didn't need the tie-ins to sell itself.If volume 1 was the Court taking the fight to Batman, volume 2 is Batman taking the fight back to the Court. Snyder's Batman is raw with emotion about him as we saw with him going crazy in the Courts maze, to almost giving up, to volume 2 and his pandering of the Courts long existence and even getting overwhelmed by the Talons. But now Batman cuts loose his angry toward the court and the mastermind behind it all that we've all been dying to see. Added with the big reveal, Snyder's mystery and realization of the Court happens the exact same time the reader does, making Batman a character that reacts to the main bad guy in real-time with the readers. This makes volume 2 a great ending that gives readers what they want, seeing Batman get back at the Court and solve the mystery at the same time. Fans of Snyder's Batman: The Black Mirror will also truly appreciate the references to the big reveal and Black Mirror comparisons, further driving home Snyder's them of Batman being about Gotham itself.Besides a good bulk of the book going to the conclusion for the Court of Owls story, volume also holds the the Batman Annual #1 is a good retelling of Victor Freeze in the New 52 and Batman issue #12 as a stand alone tale about Harper Row, the girl readers were introduced in issue #7 that proves to be a interesting character that Snyder is building for the future some time down the road. It does give the familiar feeling Row might fall into the tech person similar to Oracle Pre-52 but we'll see when the time comes.Art is pitch-perfect by Greg Capullo. The fight in the Batcave against the Talons is exhilarating, to Batman's hatred of the Court, to the finally of the Main Owl leader. Everything is well done on Capullo's art and I have no problems with it at all. Jason Fabok does the Annual, while Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke do issue #12.As for complaints, I have a few. One real minor (and personal) one is the Talons are a bit too talkative this time around. The Talons keep their awe and mystique when they rarely speak, which they now sound like high school bullies. The main complaints involve readers who did actually buy the Night of the Owls book, because if you did, the only new issues you're getting are 10-12 when you buy City of Owls, so you feel a little bit cheated. Another is that the volume 2 has the prime Court of Owls conclusion story from issues 8-11, so you might read through the 4 issues reasonably quickly. And issue #12 and the Annual #1, which are good in their own right, feel a bit in cohesive, especially the Annual which is right in the middle of the book that hurts the flow of the Court of Owls conclusion. DC could of place the Annual the very end of the book as to not hurt the narrative.And final heads-up has to go to the conclusion of the Court of Owls story. The mastermind behind the owls might make readers have various degrees of thought and feeling because Snyder introduces something that has to do with the Batman mythos that I'm sure will have different opinions on it. Some might scream foul on Snyder and some might applaud him for it. I'm a little in-between on the subject, but I'll let readers decide that for themselves. And for a comic that is supposed about new beginnings in the New 52, long time Bat-readers might not find the big reveal all that fresh and new since it makes references to past Bat-stores and ideas (Grant Morrison's run on Batman is one of a few example). New readers won't have a problem with this at all, but old time readers might or might not feel as if Snyder is really reinventing Batman as they thought he is. But again, you be the judge of that.BATMAN VOLUME 2: CITY OF OWLS concludes on a high note that will either have you loving what Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have done or question it. Either way, the two make for a great team in the Bat-World right now that shows these men have the chops for it. Great writing, great art, and a overall great little mystery, City of Owls is great book if you enjoyed volume 1. But with the little drawbacks like the Court of Owls conclusion being 4 issues long, the Annual not fitting well fitting well here, or the questionable ending, I'll give the score a 4 ½ score, but round up to 5. Still a solid book worth checking and I'll see you Bat-readers around October for the next big arc with the return of the Joker in Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (The New 52).