I’m a big Bat-fan. As I’ve written on here before, I came to the Caped Crusader via Batman: The Animated Series. Fox’ groundbreaking show elevated both the Bat and children’s cartoons to an unexpected level of prestige. This was thanks in large part to Andrea Romano’s voice casting and Bruce Timm’s art style, which more of less influenced DC’s animated shows for two decades. I dialed in my Bat-comic collection through garage sales, trial and error, and word of mouth. Dini is still one of my favorite authors, but I’m also a fan of the work of Geoff Johns, Tom King, Denny O’Neil, and several Detective Comics authors from issue #790s-850 or so. I’ve heard a lot about Scott Snyder but haven’t read a lot of Snyder, mostly because I think his Joker is really dumb. Thanks to some word of mouth, though, I thought I’d give his run a try. 
The Court of Owls collects issues 1-7 of Snyder’s recent run, which is around seven years old. In this iteration, Bruce Wayne seems to be in his mid- to late-thirties, on friendly enough terms with Nightwing, Tim Drake, Damien Wayne, Batgirl, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and good ol’ Alfred. Wayne is launching a new initiative to help clean up Gotham and raise it to new levels of prosperity. For some reason, this charitable work has drawn out murders by a shadowy organization having to do with…owls. Not actual owls, but people who see themselves as the symbolized by owls. They’re rich, powerful, and they control things in Gotham on a level no one understands. Or, so the legend goes. Bruce/Batman isn’t so convinced. Is someone using the myth of the Owls to strike fear in the city, or is it a real-life Illuminati?
The best part of this book is the Gotham that Snyder builds. It’s old and full of forces of light and dark. Or gray and black. I still would move to Metropolis if I were in this world. Not a great place to live. I’m not sure how the Gotham Chamber of Commerce would lure conventions to this city. In any event, Snyder’s Batman feels a strong loyalty to the city. That’s more or less what the book is about – What’s Gotham City?
While not a classic for me, this story is fun and I’ll definitely pick up the next volume!
Is this really seven years old? #thingsOldPeopleSay.