Thursday, January 12, 2012

Comic Book Alert: Batman Universe is getting bombarded by Owls!!!

So as I was checking Google News for stuff on South Carolina primaries, MMA and such, I ran a search for Batman and saw news that the Court of Owls from Snyder's Batman title will be expanded into the first bat-universe-spanning cross since the New 52 universal reboot.

"Night of the Owls" will be covering nine titles starting in May, eight of them in the Bat-universe and one strangely in the All-Star Western title.

For those who haven't been following the New 52, you are MISSING OUT. The true title of the Caped Crusader has been searching for a group responsible for some recent deaths. And they are none other than Gotham's legendary Court of Owls.

The Court, and leader Talon, had been believed by Bruce Wayne to be a myth (mainly because he had searched for them as a child and couldn't find them). However, recent events have shown that they not only have existed long before Wayne was born, but that they do not consider Batman a threat at all. (They allowed him to run around for years out of amusement and don't appear interested in even knowing the Bat family's respective identities.)

This is building towards the conclusion of the story in May (Issue #9) and has gained the support of nearly all the Bat-verse. Three titles will be sticking with their respective stories, but that should be good to allow some variety for those people who for some reason can't get into this storyline.

Now, this will not be a true crossover storyline (in that you don't have to buy all the titles in order for the story to make any freaking sense), but it is being cross-promoted. Besides Snyder's title, Batman & Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Catwoman, Birds of Prey and Batwing will all be part of the process.

Since the New 52 started, I've gotten 30 Bat books spanning across eight Bat titles, and thanks to this storyline, I'll finally have to invest in the three I hadn't looked into.

Don't get me wrong, every Bat title has a place, but I'm not emotionally invested into the Batwing character, Catwoman never excited me enough to buy a solo title, and BOP just doesn't warrant a purchase when team books like the Justice League and Teen Titans exist.

At least that's my view. That may well change in May when I make my first voyage into these titles since the reboot.

I was going to review three books in this blog, but it would be an eyesore to read at this point, so for those of you waiting for my B&R, Batman: The Dark Knight and Batgirl reviews, they'll be up later tonight. (Can I just say I'm REALLY glad TDK will not be inserting itself in this crossover? Thank you!)

Of course, you don't have to invest in all the May Bat books for the Court of Owls storyline to work for you. Actually, each of the titles is doing a different aspect, so no book necessitates the other. And Batman's arc can be figured out without going into any other side story (so for those of you who can only afford one Bat book, you'll be OK sticking with Snyder's arc).

Personally, I can't wait for May! I buy five of the titles anyway, so I look forward to all of them getting involved. Plus, with my graduation that month, I'll need a LOT of entertainment over the four-hour ceremony.

No comments:

Post a Comment