Batman #10 Court of Owls reveal (SPOILERS)

[Hassan T]

I thought Batman #10 and the reveal was brilliant. I did not see it coming but it felt right to me. That said, we don't know if Thomas Wayne Jr is really Bruce's brother yet. He definitely thinks so and the backup suggests that, but it could also be a red herring.

It is funny that people mention how Lincoln March looked too similar to Bruce Wayne (including me) and that was Capullo's fault back when issue one was released and now it makes sense. Also, some people thought that the Court of Owls and the Talons could this Earth's version of Owlman without thinking that they are ultimately introducing the new Owlman.

Just to clarify some history that other have brought up.

In pre-crisis and a revised post-crisis history, Alfred wasn't there for the birth of Bruce Wayne as his father was the Wayne's butler at the time of Bruce's birth. In fact, the original story was that Alfred became the butler because of his father's dying wish. So while it might not feel right for others for Alfred not to be Bruce's first Butler, there is a precedent.

In addition, Thomas Wayne Jr was introduced previously in a World's Finest book as a throwaway character. Later, Morrison, being Morrison, uses the name and introduces him as Owlman in the Earth 2 Graphic Novel.

As for the Willowwood Asylum, that made it first appearance in Batman 702 is a single panel.

Yes, Morrison recently played with the Batman history very well but I feel that Snyder has done a great job with it as well.

[Kenney]

Karma Hassan for dropping some jewels.

[legion of daves]

did anyone have any inkling that snyder was moving towards a TWJr/Owlman reveal?  i had no idea that's where he was going, it was definitely a success on that level.

[Wood]

Mad props to Hassan.

Sounds to me like Snyder is playing fair, and rather than being 'lazy' is actually taking ideas from some of the greats to come before him and fleshing them out in an entirely new DC Universe.

 

[Jeff B.]

did anyone have any inkling that snyder was moving towards a TWJr/Owlman reveal?  i had no idea that's where he was going, it was definitely a success on that level.

I didn't have any idea either, the only thing that confused me about the early issues, as it seemed for others, was the choice to draw March the way they did, which is much clearer now.  But at the time, I didn't expect this to be the reveal.

If the reveal holds true, then there will be some other interesting stories that can come from it, and as he has shown with Swamp Thing, I think Snyder is comfortable toying with the status quo for character backgrounds/histories and shaking it up a little.  I am curious to know if this is Snyder driving this or was it possibly a conscious effort on DC's part to bring more weight to the New 52 by doing something like this.

[JoeyN]

Mad props to Hassan.

Sounds to me like Snyder is playing fair, and rather than being 'lazy' is actually taking ideas from some of the greats to come before him and fleshing them out in an entirely new DC Universe.

 

I didn't have a chance to post the last few days, but Hassan hit all the points I was going to mention. Spot on.

[zack kruse]

I had been way behind on Batman...I read the first issue when it came out and everything else went on the stack.

Yesterday I read #2-10.

I've gotta say, I suspected March from the start. There was always something off about him, and the fact that he was an entirely new character was the biggest give away. I don't know that I could say that I thought he would be revealed as Bruce's brother, but there were a lot of subtle clues to suggest some ties beyond the Owl conspiracy. So, the reveal wasn't entirely surprising.

That being said, I really don't know what to think about the reveal. Also, I think there's more to tell here...I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that Lincoln is not actually Bruce's brother and this was all something concocted by the Owls. I also wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that it's all true and they are brothers. Honestly, it's similar to the reaction I had to Damian when he was first introduced.

The Jarvis Pennyworth back-up story gives credence to the assumption that they are actually brothers...but, again, there is one part left of that tale and another part of the Owls arc to contend with.

I really like that I have all of these conflicting emotions about Bruce having a brother. To me, that's a sign of attachment to the character and the universe. I don't like fanboy rage, but I like when something uncomfortable happens to characters; it's a sign of depth and worth for the character. 

On the pro-side: I like that there is something that gives Bruce this kind of pause and that there are things that have been kept beyond even his formidable brain.

On the con-side: Even with the past stories and the Owlman angle, I still think it feels a bit cheap insofar that I think that it's something that could lead to some shoddy story telling in hands less capable than Snyder and Capullo. Thirdly, it feels like we've already done this...with Hush.

I'm all for building on the mythos and offering more entangling histories and bringing about new characters and threats. That's part of mythology. However, as several others have said, it feels like this is the go-to solution for Batman/Gotham/The Waynes...create as many new conspiracies and secret histories as possible. It's one thing to paint a rich tapestry and reveal new secrets, it's another to make that a character trait for a book...as though David Icke and Alex Jones were doing the writing.

Also, a cheap reveal is not necessarily a poor one. There are a lot of cheap reveals in fiction, particularly detective stories...doesn't make them not worthwhile or necessarily unsatisfying. A lot of times that just means that the writer(s) did his job in laying out all of the clues for the reader.

I don't think we've hit the Icke-Jones equilibrium yet, but it is rapidly approaching. In the mean time, I am loving the book and can't wait to see what happens next.

[Felt Martin]

I'll wait to see what the conclusion is but I was very disappointed.
It was bad enough that March was the main baddie - will we ever get a new character introduced in a story who doesn't turn out to be the secret villain?

The disappointment was compounded by making him a long-lost brother as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Snyder's Detective run and I've liked the Batman story on the whole but there have been more and more moments where I have been groaning out loud while reading.

Bruce karate-kicking the false tooth out of Dick's mouth stands out as the prime example!

[JoeyN]

Bruce karate-kicking the false tooth out of Dick's mouth stands out as the prime example!

punched

[legion of daves]

Bruce karate-kicking the false tooth out of Dick's mouth stands out as the prime example!

it was a backhand.  that moment stands out as one of the most ridiculous, so far fetched.

[Felt Martin]

punched

Oops. My mistake.
In my mind it had become even more ridiculous!

[Former Poet Laureate]

Sounds to me like Snyder is playing fair, and rather than being 'lazy' is actually taking ideas from some of the greats to come before him and fleshing them out in an entirely new DC Universe.

I would love it if the reboot actually made the Haney-verse canon. It's all on Earth-B!

[RobCVela]

I didn't like the reveal, but one thing I didn't like about the story is not gonna make me drop it. It has been great in terms of writing and art and he may make it up next issue. The reason I didn't like it is because this is Bruce Freaking Wayne, master detective, and he didn't know about a long lost brother. really.  I know he has been drugged, beaten and fatigued but he would have known something way before now. But, maybe it isn't his brother. Bruce certainly doesn't seem to think so or maybe Bruce turns him and that's where this new Talon book springs from. Either way I'm sticking with it.

[BobBretall]

Mad props to Hassan.

Sounds to me like Snyder is playing fair, and rather than being 'lazy' is actually taking ideas from some of the greats to come before him and fleshing them out in an entirely new DC Universe.

 

I agree.

That said, I personally did not care for the brother thing.   I'm personally underwhelmed by the whole "Court of Owls" which feels like a retcon even though we have a new52U because the general Batman family had so few overt changes.

I'd rather have had them introduce the Court of Owls as something new instead of embedding it as something that has been around for 100s of years to the point there are "gotham nursery rhymes" about it.

Anyway, I'm glad a lot of people are loving it, that is positive for DC comics even though I'm not one of the people who love it.

Lots of other comics out there for me to love.

[Kenney]

I'd rather have had them introduce the Court of Owls as something new instead of embedding it as something that has been around for 100s of years to the point there are "gotham nursery rhymes" about it.

See, I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, so I dig all of that. But like any far reaching conspiracy, it is hard to deliver on something that is as big as Snyder has made the Court of Owls. I'm just curious to see Snyder look forward in his next major arc, instead of looking back. He's really good at giving some life and texture to Gotham, but he's relied on Gotham's history quite a bit in the Batbooks he's written.

[Lawrence]

I had to wait till Saturday to finally read this issue (DCBS Customer).

I had been seeing this thread going on and I had seen people vaguely talking about it on twitter and I had assumed it was all positive stuff. As the previous issues have been. So when I set down to read this issue I was expecting a lot. I was pretty let down.

As most here I didn't care for the reveal but with one more issue to go "in Snyder I trust". I didn't dislike the issue as a whole just didn't care for the last few pages of the main story.

As mentioned before props to Hassan for making me think about the issue on a different level that does bring more to the table. Either way I wait for issue #11 with baited breath. As a whole its still a great Batman story.