Batman & Robin #23.2: Court of Owls #1

They're baaaaack.

Who, you might ask? Who? Who? Who?

The Court of Owls.

Created by Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Swamp Thing) and Greg Capullo (Spawn, X-Force) for their initial story in Batman, the Court of Owls are Gotham City's Illuminati. They work in secret, behind the scenes, tightly controlling the inner workings of Gotham. They have been seen most recently in the pages of Talon, written by James Tynion IV (who also wrote this issue) which follows the exploits of a former Court assassin who is being chased down by his former employer.

Court of Owls follows two members, a man and his young daughter, as they make their way from their home into the underworld, where their organization calls home. As they travel, the father recounts stories of how over the decades the Court has used their deadly assassins, called Talons, to impost their physical will when scheming and manipulation weren't enough.

While James Tynion IV gives you bits and pieces of history through the pages of Talon, this comic gives us just what we've been asking for. We follow the Court throughout history, learning more and more about their way of life, their attitudes, and their philosophy.

Cutting back and forth between time periods can be a bit jarring at first, but once you have a handle on it, things start to even out.

Jorge Lucas' (Iron Man, Darkness) art lends itself very well to this story, slightly adjusting for the different times to better fit that period. My personal favorite was the art for the 1862 segment. His art combined with Dave McCaig's colors make these pages beautiful to look at.

My biggest gripe is a character from the 1862 segment known as the Gotham Butcher. He is one of the Talons from the past and frankly, his story felt a bit out of place, even if it did give a sense of how the Court would react to such a character.

Overall, this felt less like a chance to show off a great villain organization and more like an attempt to create interest in Tynion's Talon, whose readership has fallen steadily since it was introduced last October. Last month's sales fell below the 20,000 mark (which led to the recent cancellation of Marvel's Gambit), ranking in at 110th place, as reported by Diamond Comics Distributer. Comparatively, the top five comic series regularly sell over 100,000 copies, with 200,000 not uncommon.