I actually really liked Death of the Family. Yes, the timeline of it was a bit questionable, but this is DC Comics. You have to remember that time is just an object to be bought, traded, modified, and sold like VW Beetle. Once you get over this, everything improves.

Well even thinking like that it doesn't help make the story better. I haven't liked Scott Snyder's writing since Dick Grayson was Batman. Even his Swamp Thing run nothing really happened for 18 issues and in 1 issue Charles Soule made me love Swamp Thing so much more.

Personally I find Peter Tomasi's Batman and Robin and John Layman's Detective Comics run of the New 52 Bat books.

Thanks for your help! But this has also really pissed me off.

Going by the back of the trades - as that is all I had to go on - Night makes it sound like it's tie in issues only while Joker presents itself as a compendium. In reality then it's the other way round? So by buying city and night, I've basically bought the same stuff twice? Grr. And now I need to go away and buy Death in the families trade as well? Sneaky bastards. I like supporting the artists but not when it feels like I'm being ripped off.

I've heard Batman and The Owls is the best of the New 52 stuff. Most people seem pretty meh on Batman and Robin but seem to praise how Batman is portrayed. Personally i like my Batman riding solo, with his sidekicks just cameos.

It seems everyone finds Dark Knight terrible, as they did with Detective Comics which apparently got loads better, Dark Knight apparently doesnt. Then the rest of the Bat books are still ground in their own continuity. So auto avoid from me.

Batman is to Robins and Batgirls what James Bond is to women. They always die horribly.

Well...not that many Batgirls have died. But still, that's kind of the point. It's Batman's war and a constant reminder why no one else should join in on it. But also that he can't do it alone.

The Robins and Batgirls are way more interesting than Batman though. Yeah it's a one sided war too because Batman doesn't kill or have his own Bat-Prison, Bat-Villains normally always come back.

Oh I agree, I was just explaining why they usually don't fare very well :lol

I'm in two minds on how to feel about Court of Owls. On the one hand, it's gorgeous and art really should be our main pull, right? Capullo ' s art is a little scruffy at times but artists who can be consistently heavily stylised do it for me. I love the subtle tweaks to the costumes and the way he captured that noir feel of Gotham.

Similarly the action is brief, but wonderfully staged using beautiful imagery and cool locations. This book is pretty light on the action but it never drags as it's always so visually interesting.

No, my main issues were with the writing. I get why they might have made Batman feel so human and I didn't care for the belt that could solve all problems either but I just think they went a little too far. There are quite a few character moments I wish happened internally, not externally, as at points he started to not feel like Batman any more.

Another disappointment were the fantasy elements, I think Talon would have been more formidable as just an anti - Batman assassin rather than some science jargon pseudo zombie. It's impressive that even Batman can jump the shark.

Plus although I liked the Court as a concept, they feel weird as the first villains. Since they are 'behind everything' and firmly integrated into everything it feels like there should have been more build up and context. A lot of the twists fell flat.

They either end up dead or crippled. He needs to do it alone, and hopefully he learns that since Damien and Spoiler both died.

although its the only one I read I rather liked batman death by design. I thought the art style and story were rather interesting.