DC New 52: Scott Snyder's Bat-Verse

Been awhile coming.  Attempting to do it without huge spoilers.


So remember my Batman RIP review where I ripped Grant Morrison for turning Batman into Batgod, time traveller extraordinare? Luckily, DC gave another writer a chance.  He's had 3 big storylines so far and they've all been good to great.

I wasn't that interested in Snyder's run but I kept hearing good things from friends.  While checking out a new comic shop, I decided to give it a go when I found a hardback of "The Black Mirror." I read fast so usually buying comics in hardback is a huge mistake for me as I read it in an hour and never pick it up again.  35 dollars for an hour?  Thats several drinks worth of money!

I can honestly say The Black Mirror was worth every dime.  Its the last big Batman arc before the New 52 and Dick remains in Gotham as Batman while Bruce runs around setting up Batman Inc.  As I've said in many other reviews, Dick is the light to Batman's dark.  He brings humor and optimism to the cowl because his tragedy has made him more than he ever would have been.  The police and villains have even noticed this "new" Batman is different..he actually smiles.  Without spoiling too much, the city of Gotham is such an evil and corrupt place that it forces Dick to look at himself and the city while trying to keep it all in one piece.

Great right? Execution, story, art all nail it and its a beautiful example of why I love comics.

After the success of The Black Mirror, DC handed the keys to the Batverse to Scott Snyder.  While each book functions independently, Snyder oversees all crossovers.  From listening to him on Fatman on Batman (a podcast all Batfans need to listen to), he just tell the other authors what story element to work in and he gives them freedom from there to do it their way.

Even the weak books like Batgirl tend to be better when tied in with a crossover and I think a lot of that has to be Snyder's doing.  As I said, trying to not be spoilerific here so here goes a quick synopsis of the two story lines Snyder has done so far.

Court of Owls-Gotham is Batman's City.  He knows it as well as he knows himself.  Or so he thinks.  An old wives tale starts to come to life, and they want their city back.

Death of The Family-Joker's back in town and announces he's going to come at each and every member of the Batfamily individually. Not only that, but he knows their secret identities.

Neither arc is short and both are fantastic even as they go off into other books.  Batman is back to being a human being pushed to the limit getting through on determination and deduction. This is the best Batman's been in years.  If you didn't like the Morrison stuff, but need a Batfix you haven't read hundreds of times, hit up the Snyder stuff now.  It's worth it.

I promise the next ones won't be about Batman
-Oz