Title: Beneath The Glass

Writer: Scott Snyder

Art By: Greg Capullo

Cover By: Greg Capullo

Release Date: February 15, 2012

Official DC Synopsis:

Trapped far beneath Gotham City and hunted by the Talon – the Court of Owls’ unstoppable killer – Batman lies bleeding and broken. With no way out and no one to help, is this the end for The Dark Knight?

Review By: Tim

Wow! What an issue! I think I can safely say that “Batman” #6 is my favorite issue out of Scott Snyder’s brilliant run on the “Batman” title so far. While issue #5 got all the hype about being Scott Snyder’s best written Batman comic ever, I think issue #6 easily surpass it, and was more deserving of the hype that issue #5 got. It had everything that I want out of a Batman comic. It featured a great continuing story, great art, fantastic villains who are proving to be great adversaries for Batman, an awesome fight sequence, and moments that show us why Batman will always be the coolest superhero.

This issue picks up right where issue #5 left off, where we continue to see Batman just get beat up by the assassin called Talon, in a way we haven’t seen since his fight with Bane in “Knightfall.” One of the things I really liked in this issue right off the bat, was how after Talon was finished beating up Batman, we finally get to see the other members of the Court Of Owls, and they were extremely creepy and disturbing! Especially when Talon asks them how they would like him to kill Batman, and they all start shouting out these incredibly nasty and horrific ways to kill him. But was probably the most twisted moment during that sequence, was how there is actually a little girl amongst the group, and that she was the one who had the final say on how Talon was to kill Batman. Greg Capullo’s work continues to be fantastic in this issue, as his art, as well as FCO’s coloring, really helped sell just how twisted and creepy the Court Of Owls were in this sequence. I loved how Capullo drew the members of the Court Of Owls in both the way they actually look with their owl masks, and how Batman was seeing them, which was as these twisted owl creatures perched on the ceiling above him, since he was still hallucinating from the poison water he drank in issue #5. It really added to the dire circumstance Batman was in at this moment, as a mob of Court of Owl members were now about to attack him.

But what I really loved about issue #6, and why it’s my favorite issue so far from this arc, was that we finally get to see Batman kick the crap out Talon! Just when it looked liked Batman was finished, he gets his second wind by being inspired to stop the Court Of Owls from a painting he sees of his great grandfather Alan Wayne, and goes into a rage that scares off the other members of the group, and then just goes off on Talon. After seeing Batman be subjected to all the horrible things he went through in issue #5, it was such a great moment seeing him get fed up with the Court Of Owls, as well as seeing him make Talon look like he was nothing more than an amateur fighter. It was a moment that really got you pumped up as a Batman fan. I also loved the bit of dialogue Batman had here, when he says to Talon as he punches him in the face, “I’m sick to death of Owls!” The fight that ensued between Batman and Talon was really cool to see, as in certain panels Batman was shown as this horrific creature who was just pounding Talon, letting nothing get in his way. The setting of this fight was also really cool, as it took place in a room that had a miniature model of all of Gotham city in it, which reminded me of the classic climatic fight between Batman and Joker in the “Mask Of The Phantasm” animated movie. The whole fight in this issue was just extremely well structured, and incredibly fun to read through.

Even though Talon is able to get a few hit’s in against Batman during this fight, Batman defeats him rather easily, and begins to make his escape underground, as he figures out a way to blow up part of the floor in the room he was in. But like Scott Snyder has been doing throughout this whole arc, he continues to show us that Batman still doesn’t know what he’s up against, as his escape plan fails when he realizes there is no way out of the Court of Owls lair. Not even by going underground and swimming his way out can he escape their clutches, as his exit is blocked by glass, and we just see him slowly fall deep into the water, panel by panel. The issue then concludes with an ending that looks to be setting up the crossover event that’s going to be happening in most of the other Batman books, as we see what looks to be an elderly Court Of Owl member in a wheelchair, enter a room full of closed coffins, and say that there are a lot more of their Talon assassins, and that all they have to do is wake them up.

Batman #6 is a fantastic comic. It has everything in it that has made this arc by Scott Snyder be so entertaining. The only nitpick that I found in this issue, was that all the wounds Batman suffered in the previous issue, as well as this one, seemed a little too extreme for him to bounce back from them so quickly. But that moment in the story when he does so, as well as the fight that followed, were just to cool and exciting to read, that it didn’t really take away from all the things that were awesome in this comic. So after six issues of the new 52 “Batman” title, Scott Snyder has yet to write a bad issue during this run, as I have scored all of them so far with either a 4 1/2, or 5 star rating, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to be changing anytime soon, as this story seems to just keep getting better and better.

Score: 5/5