Batman #5

Although I haven't been the biggest fan of Scott Snyder's "Court of Owls" storyline I do think this issue, which picks up eight days after the end of last month's issue, works well. Drugged and trapped in the labrynith of the Court of Owls, Batman struggles to keep his sanity while his friends and confidants wait for the missing Dark Knight Detective to reappear.

The structure of the book, the art starts to revolve from vertical, to horizontal, to upside down story-telling, works well with Snyder's tale of a Batman is slowly loosing his grip on reality but is still unwilling to give up or give in.

Although I don't think it's a great Batman story, it is well-told, with some strong artwork by Greg Capullo, and begins and ends with a couple of really nice moments such as the opening pages featuring Batman's friends wondering what has become of their hero and the comic's final panels which (finally) give us a glimpse that Damian may be more than the rebooted spoiled little shit we've seen so far. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]