Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Batman #7Batman #7
DC Comics
Snyder, Capullo & Glapion

Batman retreats from his encounter with the Court of Owls. However, his healing takes a backseat to his detective work. Batman is focused on finding out the origins and the reach of the Court. Batman is visited by his former Robin, Dick, but it is not your typical meeting. This book is definitely a "rest" issue between the climax of the previous one and the coming battle. It's an entertaining read, but does contain some odd character traits. I suppose this is par for the course in the New 52 though. If you are looking to jump on to Batman then this is your issue because it gives you everything you will need to know to launch into the next big arc and then the crossover.

Batman basically gets lucky in this issue. Not only because some random stranger (where is this character from?) finds him and hooks up some jumper cables to him to revive him, but Alfred does some prep work for the detective. Alfred finds the "body" of one of the talons and that turn of luck is all Batman needs to figure out the whole Court of Owls origin.

The oddity in the issue is Bruce and Dick's relationship. It's very angry and feels out of place. Obviously if every Bat-book treats the relationship this way then we have a new status quo. For me, reading only this book it felt out of left field. Especially the physical violence, even when used to prove a point.

Batman's new villain class seems to be a formidable opponent. They have essentially robbed Batman of his ability to use the city as his partner. However, how is that the Court of Owls can align themselves with the city so easily? This is the next piece that I hope gets explored in the coming issues.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsCapullo has completely reinvented himself with this book. Though, this issue doesn't break any new barriers as he seems to settle into the tedious detective work of the story. It works well for this issue and his depiction of the Owls is magnificent. It's not easy to create a unique looking villain for Batman these days but Capullo has done a very good job of it here. Capullo has established himself in a long line of incredible Batman artists in just a few short issues.

Batman is really in trouble. This issue gives him a breather and allows him to piece together what his new adversary is all about. Armed with this knowledge does he realize what he is up against? We shall see. Snyder and Capullo represent the best of the New DC and this issue is no exception. I can't emphasize this enough: if you want in on this title then this is the issue to jump on with. I definitely recommend reading this comic book.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles