Reviews

Batman, Volume 2: The City of Owls by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV

tawfek's review against another edition

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4 star

verydazedragon's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Not as good as the other volumes that cover this arc. The way the stories were collected, made little sense in comparison with the other two.

wisteriaearl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

_tea_'s review against another edition

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5.0

4.5 stars

sandeeisreading's review against another edition

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4.0

Review: Batman, Vol 1: The Court of Owls

Because I'm currently addicted to Sherlock, and this Batman has Sherlock's sleuthing skills, I'm going to use Sherlock gifs on my review. Yaay!

I've always believed the best way to know the city is to stay close to the ground. To fell the cracks in the sidewalk under your shoes. The strange bright silence of the park under snow. The hissing rain of sparks that come down when the elevated train passes overhead on Third Avenue. The late night ticking of traffic lights. It's only been in the last few weeks that I've come to understand how wrong I've been. I kow now that you can spend your whole life learning Gotham from deep inside and still know nothing at all.

REACTION AFTER READING THE BOOK


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That was really good!

I love plot twists, and boy did this have a fucking plot twist.

MY REVIEW

Scott Snyder...

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I was going to say brilliant, but I couldn't find a Sherlock gif that says brilliant, so this would have to do. Don't complain.

But seriously though, I think Snyder has a good grasp on who Batman is as a character, and he build his story around that, which I think is really fantastic.

Let's talk a bit about the story.

Like in the Court of Owls, we still see Batman investigating this secret society, which apparently, has been shadowing Gotham for hundreds of years, and has been living and meeting under Batman's nose for a long time.

This volume started immediately from where the first volume ended, which was Wayne manor about to be attacked by the creepy owl assassins. I'm bad with names, so don't judge me if I forget those guys name, I'll "try" and remember it next time.

So these owl assassins were out to get Bruce/Batman, but Batman wasn't running away. We all know Batman by now, and he isn't the type to just run away and hide in his mansion, right? Of course he won't do that. He was going to fight, and he was going to get revenge, no matter what it fucking takes. That's Batman for you.

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I can't really provide you with any more details than that, because it would definitely spoil those who have not read volume one yet.

All you have to know is that there were a lot of anger, death, and vengeance involved.

Like the first one, this is just as brutal, if not more.

I thought this book was great, but I'm not going to say it was perfect, because it wasn't.

On this volume, there were some parts that I felt could have been left out from the narrative because it really took me out of the story. There was one in the middle involving Mr. Freeze. His story felt a bit unnecessary for me. It could have been removed, and the story would have been just fine. I didn't need him in this volume. I was okay with Batman's feud with the Court of Owls. Yeah, I get the Mr. Freeze has a connection with them, but it wasn't enough of a reason for me to care about reading it.

Like I said earlier, this book had a big plot

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Well it wasn't really a plot twist, not really, but it was a big WTF momen for me, and I almost had a heart attack. Crazy writers. It was something totally, unexpected. I like unexpected, so kudos to you Snyder.

Do I have further thoughts about it?

Nope. That's it for me. I really loved it. If you haven't read any Batman stories yet, I can recommend reading volume 1 first and then this volume. You don't have to have any prior knowledge of Batman to enjoy this.

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This is Sherlock and Dr. Who approved! So you better read it.

unladylike's review against another edition

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4.0

I started reading this volume, then stopped after the first issue or two in order to read all the crossover stories within the Night of the Owls event.

Once I finished that and came back to this book, I was very satisfied with the consistency of Snyder's writing.

I think it was the last issue included in this hardback trade that took a completely unexpected turn by telling the story of a young, punk-light girl who has trained herself admirably in the work of electrical systems. She stands up for her younger, gay brother, who keeps getting bashed by violent youth in their neighbourhood, and at the same time she starts deducing and becoming involved in some of Batman's systems of stealth and communication throughout the city's underground electric grid. The story doesn't particularly fit with anything else in this book but I'm glad it was included nonetheless, and I hope to see those characters again.

ericthec's review against another edition

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3.0

This is an accidental reread and didn’t enjoy it quite as much. The court of Owls storyline is good but a few detours along the way. And not all the art was to my taste.

trashgobby's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

mollysticks's review against another edition

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3.0

Good story, but I liked the first one better. There are so many twists so quickly, maybe that is just how comics go? It was a good little read.

joelprior's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5