Comic Review: Night of The Owls Week 1
Night of Owls came out fighting last week but coasts through the first big week of the crossover.
Book: Detective Comics # 9 & Batwing # 9 Written By: Detective Comics - Tony S. Daniel Batwing - Judd WinickPencils By: Detective Comics - Tony S. Daniel Batwing - Marcus ToPublisher: DC ComicsRelease Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)Rating: 
This week the Night of Owls continues in Detective Comics #9 and Batwing # 9. Looking at the crossover checklist Detective Comics is the first issue to hit and were in a location that I love seeing Batman play in, Arkham Asylum. With Doctor Jeremiah Arkham on the Owls hit list, a full lock down of the facility is underway, even though Dr. Arkham is a little too confident in his asylum to get too flustered. 
Being in Arkham we get to see a few of the rogues gallery, with quite a chunk of page time dedicated to Black Mask and Arkhams special treatment of this patient. Surprise, surprise The Owls get in and all hell breaks loose but our caped crusader is quick on the scene and its all running and fighting and an insight into what Dr Arkham thinks of The Dark Knight. Theres a bit of focus on Batman himself, giving us some internal dialogue regarding his survival in the Asylum but this issue doesnt really venture much into where this crossover is going to go beyond the basic set up of the Owls have a list of big names in Arkham they want to assassinate and Batman (as well as the extended Bat-family) is trying to get their first. The story here is quite routine, with some okay art work that has a few striking poses and moody Batman images but nothing that really lives up to the big event that is Night of the Owls . The big set up and crossover spectacle over in Batman and Nightwing last week levels off somewhat here and despite the action and great Bat-location this issue wasnt exactly the event I thought it was going to be. The issue is also backed up with a Two-Face short story but that wasnt much to write home about either. 
Next up theres Batwing #9. The first in this crossover event that made me pick up a comics I wouldnt usually get. Batwing has done little for me so far in DC 52. I think I read two or maybe three issues at the start but I just didnt warm to this character with his weird metal bat suit. Nothing really changes my mind with this Night of Owls issue. Were given a Court of Owls flashback story set in 1856 and then were just back to the formula. Owl targets big name (in this case its Lucius Fox at a high class get together and surprise, surprise Batwing in on scene to fight off the Owl (who were a told fights like Nightwing?). The fight between the owl and Batwing is pretty good, with a reminder of how unstoppable these assassins are and what it takes to beat them but once again this one doesnt propel The Night of Owls crossover to anywhere new or all that exciting really. It just continues to underline what we already know about Gothams latest attack. 
I'm not the biggest fan of the artwork by Marcus To here. Once again it has its moments and a few striking images of the Owl assassin but its a bit flat for my tastes, especially in the dialogue scenes pre-attack. Same goes for the writing really. This issue winds up being a fairly weak entry into this DC event. Theres usually one or two when it comes to Batman crossovers because someone in the Bat-family usually feels like their given a story just for the sake of including them. Hopefully Batwing #9 will be the only Bat-title that suffers from that curse and we can start mixing it up again next week with Batman and Batgirl. 