[Locke]

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.