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A review by rhganci
Batman: The Night of the Owls by Kyle Higgins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Eddy Barrows, Patrick Gleason, Scott Snyder, Peter J. Tomasi, Tony S. Daniel, J.H. Williams III, Scott Lobdell, Justin Gray, Duane Swierczynski, Judd Winick, David Finch
3.0
The Court of Owls are the new guys in town--or rather, a bunch of super old guys who have been in town since before it was cool--and they're as cool and dangerous at large as they were in their own labyrinth. If there's one takeaway from this crossover book, it's that: the Court of Owls will prove more than an even match for Batman and his crew in the coming years.
However, what the collected NIGHT OF THE OWLS narrative really needed was the one thing that made so much of the 'gotcha' storytelling in the core BATMAN book functional when this arc appeared in BATMAN V2: the final conversation between Bruce and Dick about the mysteries that remain after the Night is over. Without that, the story weirdly jumps forward from Catwoman's coincidental run-in with the Court to the 'other' final conversation between Bruce and Alfred, still referencing a discovery of information that I cannot find in Snyder's main storyline.
The rest of the hodgepodge works okay, with the contributions from the NIGHTWING team really doing most of the work to tie some of the revelations at the end of BATMAN V1 together with the main event. Still, there doesn't appear to be any real climax or resolutional content to the crossover as a whole. This weakens the story considerably, making it better-enjoyed in the Snyder/Capullo book. What we the reader get instead is each member of the Batfamily's response to Alfred's call, and their subsequent actions, which aren't related to each other save a few, and those connections are very tangential.
The context and timeframes are well-managed by Snyder as the story manager, but the whole thing is very episodic, and it seems as if each member of the Batfamily, on patrol in his or her own section of Gotham City, suddenly stops whatever it is he or she is doing, fights an Owl, then gets back to work. Again, without the conversation between Bruce and Dick, any closure that Snyder was willing to give us with so many plot points open is gone from this arrangement of the "Night of the Owls" story. Exciting and action packed it may be, but it remains without conclusion, or at least the type of mystery-sustaining conclusion that BATMAN V2 offers.
The surprise chapter in this volume was the RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS issue, in which Red Hood, Arsenal, and Starfire go after Mr. Freeze. Freeze's connection to the Court of Owls is clarified by Scott Lobdell in this funny, startlingly stylish chapter that provides a welcome intrusion on the moroseness of the overarching event with a good, self-contained story, a lot of character depth for Red Hood, and the most significant crossover material of the entire volume, with Batgirl. The last two pages of this issue provided closure for her arc, a fascinating conversation between Barbara and Jason, and maybe the best-looking character rendering of Batgirl I've ever seen from Kenneth Rocafort (sorry, Adrian). If I was on the fence about adding another Bat-title to my backlog, this issue might have tipped the scales in favor of at least picking up the first volume of RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS, as Lobdell and Rocafort have piqued my curiosity with a well-structured story, some genuinely evocative moments, and some striking artwork.
As fun as it was to check in with other members of the Batfamily that I don't regularly read, and as much as the completionist in me enjoys having the "whole story" of THE NIGHT OF THE OWLS, this sizable volume didn't add anything to the core story and included some forgettable chapters, especially those from BIRDS OF PREY and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT. The scope of the story somehow seems smaller after reading this crossover volume, but the ferocity and violence of the Court of Owls, as a constant menace in Gotham City, is a welcome addition to the Batfamily; I sincerely hope we'll see more of them in the near future.
However, what the collected NIGHT OF THE OWLS narrative really needed was the one thing that made so much of the 'gotcha' storytelling in the core BATMAN book functional when this arc appeared in BATMAN V2: the final conversation between Bruce and Dick about the mysteries that remain after the Night is over. Without that, the story weirdly jumps forward from Catwoman's coincidental run-in with the Court to the 'other' final conversation between Bruce and Alfred, still referencing a discovery of information that I cannot find in Snyder's main storyline.
The rest of the hodgepodge works okay, with the contributions from the NIGHTWING team really doing most of the work to tie some of the revelations at the end of BATMAN V1 together with the main event. Still, there doesn't appear to be any real climax or resolutional content to the crossover as a whole. This weakens the story considerably, making it better-enjoyed in the Snyder/Capullo book. What we the reader get instead is each member of the Batfamily's response to Alfred's call, and their subsequent actions, which aren't related to each other save a few, and those connections are very tangential.
The context and timeframes are well-managed by Snyder as the story manager, but the whole thing is very episodic, and it seems as if each member of the Batfamily, on patrol in his or her own section of Gotham City, suddenly stops whatever it is he or she is doing, fights an Owl, then gets back to work. Again, without the conversation between Bruce and Dick, any closure that Snyder was willing to give us with so many plot points open is gone from this arrangement of the "Night of the Owls" story. Exciting and action packed it may be, but it remains without conclusion, or at least the type of mystery-sustaining conclusion that BATMAN V2 offers.
The surprise chapter in this volume was the RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS issue, in which Red Hood, Arsenal, and Starfire go after Mr. Freeze. Freeze's connection to the Court of Owls is clarified by Scott Lobdell in this funny, startlingly stylish chapter that provides a welcome intrusion on the moroseness of the overarching event with a good, self-contained story, a lot of character depth for Red Hood, and the most significant crossover material of the entire volume, with Batgirl. The last two pages of this issue provided closure for her arc, a fascinating conversation between Barbara and Jason, and maybe the best-looking character rendering of Batgirl I've ever seen from Kenneth Rocafort (sorry, Adrian). If I was on the fence about adding another Bat-title to my backlog, this issue might have tipped the scales in favor of at least picking up the first volume of RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS, as Lobdell and Rocafort have piqued my curiosity with a well-structured story, some genuinely evocative moments, and some striking artwork.
As fun as it was to check in with other members of the Batfamily that I don't regularly read, and as much as the completionist in me enjoys having the "whole story" of THE NIGHT OF THE OWLS, this sizable volume didn't add anything to the core story and included some forgettable chapters, especially those from BIRDS OF PREY and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT. The scope of the story somehow seems smaller after reading this crossover volume, but the ferocity and violence of the Court of Owls, as a constant menace in Gotham City, is a welcome addition to the Batfamily; I sincerely hope we'll see more of them in the near future.