It’s difficult to overstate just how talented Scott Snyder really is. He entered comics at a time when it felt like the industry’s collective creativity was running out in regards to innovative Batman stories. But Snyder’s good at just that: innovation. He takes the Dark Knight in new directions without sacrificing his past. After reading this arc of Batman it seems he was just getting started with his widely praised run on Detective Comics (Batman: The Black Mirror).

In this arc Snyder introduces the Court of Owls, the focus of an old Gotham nursery rhyme. According to legend, the Court secretly controls Gotham from the shadows and has done so for hundreds of years by using an assassin named the Talon. Readers should be asking if this Court truly existed, wouldn’t the world’s greatest detective know about them? Snyder uses a conversation between Nightwing and Batman to address this point. The scene demonstrates the level of trust between the two, and for fans who don’t mind Bruce appearing human on occasion, it works well. What this conversation implies may have large implications for what really happened on the night the Batman persona was born.

As arguably the most popular character in DC’s lineup, anything Batman-related is hotly contested among fans. This includes exactly what happened on the night his parents are murdered and what that means for the nature of Batman. It raises the question: how much of Batman comes from grief over his parent’s death and how much comes from a need to prevent others from feeling that very grief? What Snyder begins to hint at in this issue will raise that and other thought-provoking questions about Batman in short order.

However, the issue isn’t all deep thoughts about Batman’s history; it’s also an engaging detective story as Bruce begins to piece together the clues suggesting the Court of Owls is more material than myth. It continues building the connection Snyder started in Detective Comics, with how important the relationship between Batman and the city itself really is. Also there’s also a nice bit of action at the beginning and again at the end of the issue.

Greg Capullo’s art makes the issue is gorgeous to look at. Mr. Capullo has a unique style that fits well with Snyder’s Batman. The only caveat about the art is the face shots of Bruce and Dick can make them look too young and a little dull, almost like the Adipose from Doctor Who. Here Bruce and Dick look more like father and son than ever before, but unfortunately they both look a little like babies. But one look at Capullo’s cover art erases any doubts one might have about him being the artist on one of DC’s most important books.

This issue is full of story and shows that Snyder really knows his Bat and isn’t afraid to take him down new roads. New roads paved by such an excellent pen should have any Bat fans really excited.

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