I wasn’t kind to Scott Snyder’s New 52 “Batman” run from a few years back. I must have been in a pretty bad mood when I wrote what I wrote. I wasn’t WRONG, mind you, but I wonder what motivated me to do that kind of extensive listing of a book’s perceived transgressions. Re-reading “Batman” this week, in a different mood, I glossed over the things that bothered me then. I still find this an overrated book, but it’s clear that I was more critical of Batman saturation than of the story itself, which does manage to come up with a new and powerful enemy for a Batman that had spent way too long dealing with the usual suspects and the revolving door policies of Arkham Asylum.
So sorry for calling you a dick, Batman. I’m back on Bat-mode.
After a long Bat-break and from another critical viewpoint (I had previously addressed Batman’s fascist, self-righteous violence) I went back to “City of Owls” (issues 8-12, with art by Greg Capullo). Dismissing all that, what makes the story interesting is the fact that Batman, who usually hovers above his villains figuratively, morally, or literally (sometimes all three at once) is here under-powered by forces that predate even this all-powerful millionaire. The word “predate” does double duty here: pre-date as an adjective, as in: the Owls were there before Batman, and also PREDATE as a verb: Owls prey on bats. So seeing the whole scheme come together really does make it a pleasure. Batman is off his game. Gotham wasn’t a Bat City, it was an Owl City all along. He just didn’t realize it. That’s potentially powerful stuff. But of course, this is still a DC graphic novel and Batman does have to triumph.
Imagine a world where someone taps Batman on the shoulder and says: “Forget it, Bruce. It’s Gothamtown.”
RATING: COOL!
HANSEL CASTRO'S HALLUCINA 
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