Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls TP (The New 52): 01 (Batman (DC Comics Paperback)) Paperback – 2 April 2013

I am on a reading bing of the Batman Graphic Novels. I simply love them and can't get enough of these graphic novels.A great read, great story line and finally, great colourful drawings.Overall a brilliantly written comic series. Best wishes

DC rebooted their entire mythos, and they were rightly concerned about screwing up Batman. The book opens with a Arkham breakout, and almost immediately this sinking sensation takes over... Is the New 52 an excuse to recycle all the old tropes for a new generation of teenagers? Will we see a retread of Year one next? Then Dark Knight. A new long halloween?Thankfully no. Well sort of, but this isnt a retread, a bland photocopy of ideas past.Snyder (American Vampire) and Capullo (Spawn) start from the ground up, immediately kick expectations to the curb and start telling a story that stands head and shoulders with the best batman storys ever told (and in doing so also create one the best multi-comic crossover stories - Marvel and DC both could learn alot from this model next time they come to design their "events").To start with the visuals, Capullos art is very dynamic, and i mean that out without any sense of hyperbole. One of very few artists that can fold such seperate influences and styles together, at moments overblown (showing his Image and Spawn roots), but more often quiet and alltogether more subtley expressive. His character designs vary from functional to fantastic, with the new 'Talons' taking the prize. His sense of space and timing bring Gotham alive and very genuinely compliment Snyders story and writing. Its very difficult to figure out who to credit with what.. but thats the point of comics as medium.Snyders story is superb, and i only hold two minor quibbles with it. The first isnt really a problem, but it feels like it deserves a better stage. As the reboot had just happened, the story heads straight into the court of owls and you cant help but be left thinkign "this was your 3d or even 4th story". Grant morrison built up the Black Hand and Eventually Leviathan so that when Batman is brought into confrontation, they feel suitably menacing. the court of owls are introduced as a concept, as a counter myth to Batman, and then established inside of 2 or 3 issues, and then ultiamtely dealt with over the next 8. Hardly the "we were there from the very beginning" sort of threat they are in the narrative.That minor quible aside, I think it speaks volumes about the quality of the writing that they are a threat anyway. IN a comic where we have never met (or even seen hints of the court of owls), and we know that Nightwing and Batman et all wont die, there is still a fantastic sense of dread that permiates the pages and drags the story kicking and screaming at full pelt through amazing issue after amazing issue. Gone is the batgod who rarely looks out of his depth, gone are the immortal sidekick who can dance through a haze of bullets untouched. This is a gotham where its denizens bleed, and knives cut heroes as deeply as anyone else. There were several moments where expression on a character face tells that story "this wasnt meant to happen to me", where major characters actually face down their mortality as people, rather than Supermen.Having read this book originally as single issues, i saved all three Owls books to read in one sitting, and could not have been more engrossed, and absolute page turner, the pace and detail exceeded all might highest expectations for the relaunch (unlike the Justice league reboot).Much like Grant Morrisons run before this, I know will be reading batman for as long as these two are writing him.

As someone entirely new to comic books, who wanted to dive in ever since watching quite a few of the comic-inspired movies that have come out in the past few years and having particularly enjoyed playing the Batman : Arkham Asylum/City games, I was daunted at first by the prospect of having to wrestle with the many layers of plots that have been developed over the years (Wikipedia seemed to illustrate the tip of the iceberg with the sheer volume of content it had on a page about any Batman charcter).But having read a comment on this very product, helpfully explaining the "New 52" reboot and presenting a very encouraging message to new readers, I thought I'd give it a shot.I was not disappointed. While some small details make more sense with a certain amount of backstory, the character of Batman and the supporting characters are presented swiftly and effectively for the new reader, their personalities established firmly within the first few pages. A grim picture of the city of Gotham is painted, with a tinge of hope that is dashed as the story progresses. Batman himself comes across as strong and confident, but is bruised and battered by events and truly shows a human side (without slipping into cliché). An amazing story, truly, and I am looking forwards to volume 2 for the continuation of it.But the art is what truly amazed me. The artstyle conveyed movement with great skill, and truly helped one immerse oneself in the action. The dark and grim nature of the surroundings didn't mean the setting was dull, quite the opposite : colour and light were used to great effect. But the pinnacle of the art is in the 6th issue within this volume. I won't spoil anything, but a moment of fear, despair and madness is represented in a mind-bending way that leave you as disturbed at the Batman himself is... Truly amazing.Of course, all of this comes from an newbie, so take it for what it's worth; maybe the novelty is making it seem more awesome than it actually is... I think not though, and at the very least and had a romping good time with this, and would heartily recommend it to all.