DC has been touting up the first major event of the New 52, a cross-over amongst all of the Bat-titles called ‘Night of the Owls’ for a while now… and it all begins right here!

Spinning out of Batman’s confrontation with the Court of Owls in ‘Batman’ #7, this issue opens on Bruce Wayne hiding in the dark and licking his wounds. As Bruce discusses his failure with Alfred, a noise comes from somewhere within the house… their’s an intruder at Wayne Manor! Worse… it’s an army of Talons!

It quickly becomes clear that the Court of Owls are out to kill Bruce Wayne, but as the battle moves deeper and deeper into the mansion, they realize that they might be able to take out two birds with one stone and get Bruce… and the Batman! As the main story wraps up, Batman looks like he’s about to show the Court of Owls why they made a mistake invading his home.

Yes… I said “main story”. As has become common in a lot of New 52 titles, this issue has a back up tale. Why this one is a separate story though, I don’t know since it continues right out of the main story and follows Batman and Alfred as they continue to fight the Talons and Alfred puts out a call for assistance. It’s written by Scott Snyder (who does the main story) so, other than a change in artists, there’s no reason it couldn’t have just been more of the main storyline.

That said, Snyder has delivered the goods throughout both stories this issue and started ‘Night of the Owls’ off with a bang. It’ll be interesting to see how the landscape of Gotham City changes in the wake of the Owls’ plans (which I won’t reveal here).

The art for the main story is from Greg Capullo and it continues even more to get better with each issue… or am I just becoming accustomed to it? The backup tale is penciled by Rafael Albuquerque and it’s a bit more gritty and heavy than Capullo’s highly-stylized work. But, since the backup features a lot of fighting and death, the grimy looks is very fitting.

Verdict: Buy

BATMAN #8
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES T. TYNION IV
Art by GREG CAPULLO and RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
Cover by GREG CAPULLO and FCO PLASCENCIA