The New 52: Batman #2 Review

Written By: Scott Snyder

Art By: Greg Capullo

Review Score : 9.5/10

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Wow..Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo up the ante in every way possible this issue. We start with a beautifully drawn Gotham Skyline as the sunsets. Scott Snyder continues to explain to us in great detail the inner workings of Gotham City and Wayne Tower in particular. We learn what the twelve Gargoyles around the tower represent and their importance to the city.

Bruce Wayne is then thrown through the glass at the very top of Wayne Tower, Fade to black and cut to 24 hours earlier. Last issue ended with the reveal that Dick Grayson may have been behind the grisly murder of an innocent man . Batman is now on patrol in pursuit of a train robbery and we are once again reminded that Batman is an overconfident sadist with a twisted sense of humor . Greg Cappullo draws this scene with such a sense of Kinetic energy that you cant help but feel like your watching a movie. He draws one scene at the end of the chase that starts with a smirk from Batman and ends with him launching his Motorcycle off of a train and into a helicopter . The henchmen cry out “He Wouldn’t” oh yes he would .

What follows is a couple of scenes of dialogue between Nightwing and Batman in the Bat cave . I’m glad that Snyder chooses to eliminate Dick as a suspect in the murder,  but more importantly  it seems in the New 52 Dick and Bruce are equals . I love this approach seeing that Snyder wrote Dick as such a strong Batman in his own right.  It’s nice to see a writer who doesn’t fall back on the tired approach of Batman not trusting anyone which ultimately pisses off everyone around him.

Every page is filled with moments that pay off in the last few moments of the issue. Bruce is attacked and caught off guard while trying to catch up with his new philanthropist friend Lincoln , who shares more than a few odd things in common with the Dark Knight . Bringing us to Bruce crashing  through the window with a very Owl Like villain in pursuit.  The court of Owls makes their presence felt but Batman ultimately survives the fall.  Lets just say there is another gargoyle that we find out about that prevents Bruce from becoming a pancake, our villain isn’t as lucky.

Batman doesn’t believe that The Court of Owls exist. He believes Gotham city is his playground and his alone. Scott Snyder is weaving an amazing story thus far that shows Batman’s overconfidence and solace as Gotham City’s protector may lead to his undoing. Which poses the question , What will Bruce do when he realizes he isn’t the only Legend in Gotham City? Two issues in and its looking like  Snyder has another classic Batman Story on his hands.

Mike DeVivo

Follow me on twitter @pandasandrobots

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