Episode 1239 Talkback: Batman - Night of the Owls
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Batman has been one of our favorite titles from DC's relaunch. 'The Night of the Owls' crossover spread the story to the rest of the Bat Universe. We review the story in Batman to this point and go through the crossover titles and discuss the reveal in Batman #10. SPOILERS! (1:53:50)
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Comments
I dropped Batman with issue #8, too many books, but I've been keeping up on it. The reveal left me underwhelmed do to the resemblance in issue #1. I had friends joking then that it was Bruce's brother, so it was already on people's minds at least somewhat. I don't have a problem with Bruce having a long lost brother, I just hope they continue to use Wayne Jr as a villian that can match Batman move for move both physically and intellectually.
in my opinion:
The important issues were found in batgirl and nightwing.
Batman & robin, the batman annual and Cato,an were good reads.
I know Mike and many others like it and am hoping to learn what it is I may be missing as a novice.
probably in a small group on that school of thought though
the episode was good though :)
Like most of the geeks are diggin mark bagley's work. I can't stand it. Is it professional? Certainly. Is he a good person? Irrelevant. Do I, in my opinion, think he draws simplistically and is a lazy storyteller? Hell yes!
I love frank miller. Even shitty frank miller. My wife hates frank miller. She loves Jim lee. I'm not crazy about Jim lee. I love p Craig Russell. No one else reads p Craig Russell
That is art, any art, in general.
Don't try to like something because someone else does. It is ok to give it a chance but make your own decision.
To speak to what you have said, I can see how the drawing is distracting it gets over exaggerated at times. Albuquerque's style is not for everyone. Hence him drawing a backup and a vertigo horror book.
When he was on blue nettle his work was more straight forward.
Who DO you like? I would love to know!
Red Skies crossovers and nothing that gave the story resolution in any of the tie ins. If all of their future crossover events are like this, I can easily pass by the books that I don't follow with is NOT what you want people to think when you do this sort of thing.
They said right upfront that the STORY of the Night of Owls was going to be in Batman only, and that the other titles were just how you could see the way it affected the rest of Gotham. Snyder and others were very clear ages before that the other titles weren't part of the story. you could buy what you wanted if you wanted it. The idea was that there are targets, but the targets themselves were not part of the main story, but you could follow the action there if you wanted to.
They can't win. If they'd said "it's only in this book" the cries of "How can this be happening in Gotham and Batgirl doesn't see it?" would have virtually cracked the interwebs in half ;)
Edit To Add:
I'm starting to see more and more where comics from Marvel and DC expect that you've read all of the publicity leading up to a story, which does not bode well for people who buy their comics in trades or without being part of the comics internet community.
It never fails, though: I read my Snyder Batman comics, think "Hey, pretty good!", then I listen to CGS and think "Whoa, don't you think you're overpraising it?"
Basically, my main "detraction" (not really a "complaint") to Snyder's story is just that it's way too similar to certain things Morrison did in "Batman R.I.P." and "Batman & Robin". So many plotpoints were already used in a very similar storyline just a few years ago: all those things regarding secret elite organizations and Gotham/Wayne family history. And, reading "Night of the Owls", just when I thought the parallels to Morrison were finally over, Snyder gives us a guy who looks a lot like Bruce who turns out to be related to him -- which is a LOT like Dr. Hurt (who turned out to be a different Thomas Wayne). And then we've got an upcoming "Talon" comic, just like after "R.I.P." we had a new "Azrael" -- and both of these titles will be based on "the one assassin that the evil organization lost control of".
I feel like hitting myself over the head with a hammer sometimes because so many aspects of this seem waaaaaaaaaaay too familiar.
That said, to be more positive, I still had a great time. And just because I think Snyder's plot reads like a streamlined version of some things Morrison did, that doesn't mean I don't like it. I love Morrison's Batman, so of course I'd like to read a redux/remix of it. And even if Snyder's tale isn't as, er, complex and highbrow as Morrison's, it certainly is crowd-pleasing and has awesome art. I'll take Capullo over many of the artists Morrison had to work with. (I'd take Capullo over Tony Daniel every day of the week.)
I also think that, for me at least, Snyder has improved as a writer (or as a "Batman writer") during the course of this arc. Up through issue 7 or so, I found myself getting pulled out of the story whenever Snyder would launch into "long-winded tangential anecdote" mode. It's not that I have a problem with wordiness (obviously, since I write long comments!), it's just that I found Snyder's narrative anecdotes to be kind of tedious and overwritten, sometimes, at least. And sometimes the earlier issues felt a bit too formulaic in terms of plotting and narrative-box "bookending" (hope that makes sense). In the last few issues, though, I think Snyder's prose captions have improved quite a bit and each issue seems like a hellish rollercoaster ride. Which is awesome, something I haven't felt in a comic since "Batman R.I.P.", actually.
Overall, Batman definitely has been one of my favorite New 52 titles. Other series that I once liked more than it, like Animal Man or Batwoman, have tapered off. And unlike other great artists (e.g. Chang on Wonder Woman), Capullo can do every single issue, month in and month out -- which is SO damn impressive. So, aside from Batman Inc. (of course), I find myself thinking that Snyder's Batman really is the best book DC has been offering. Can't disagree with that whenever people say it, which so many people do. I wouldn't say it's been as good as titles like Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine & The X-Men, or Prophet (the last of which is criminally underrepresented on CGS -- read the Prophet trade that's coming out in August, guys, please!), but Batman's still definitely in my top 10 current comics across the board. And six months ago I never thought I'd be saying that. But Snyder has, in my opinion, improved as a writer, and Capullo has remained consistent, and the story is fun and engaging, even if it is a bit too familiar.
I still have to smile a bit and throw my hands up when you guys wonder if Thomas Wayne Jr. was ever Owlman; in my mind I'm screaming, "Of course he was Owlman! In 'JLA: Earth 2'! So that's something else Snyder got from Morrison!". And when you say that for the first time in many years Gotham finally feels like a character, I have to do a double-take and think, "Gotham has often felt like a character in Batman comics, year in and year out. To me, anyway." So I guess I'm just not hugely impressed with this Batman series. I am impressed, just not as hugely impressed as you guys are. Still enjoy it quite a bit, though. Probably in my top 10 comics, as I said. Okay, I'm repeating myself now.
Good episode, guys.
The overall story has been ongoing since issue 1 the event was only a part of the bigger picture. The Night of the Owls was just the one night, hence the title. I'd be willing to bet, when the trade comes out, that it's Batman 7-12 in one volume, and the "crossover" issues will get put into a separate Night of the Owls trade. The trade readers will actually have it pretty easy.