It's Not Easy Being the Bat That Went Through the Window

"It's Not Easy Being the Bat That Went Through the Window" from Batman vol.2 #7 (DC, 2012) by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion

Yes, yes, Snyder is a good Batman writer, and I loved his Detective Comics work a great deal. In particular, I loved how he wrote Dick Grayson as Batman. So why haven't I mustered up as much enthusiasm with his New52 Batman? I mean, I read it, and I like it well enough, but I'm not ENTHUSIASTIC about it. Part of it is Greg Capullo, who does good work, but just seems a bit too cartoony in comparison to the 'Tec artists who worked with Snyder. It's a bit like 80s Doctor Who, so brightly lit the monsters look hokey. I'd love to see Capullo on a happier comic, I think he'd bring the right kind of energy. But matched with Snyder and Batman, there's a cognitive dissonance for me.

Another problem I have is the whole New52 aesthetic. Individual issues are shorter (lower page count, absurdly higher splash count), making stories seem interminable. Case in point the Night of the Owls, an interesting idea, continuing Synder's exploration of Gotham's history and founding families, and a sign that Batman HAS gotten a twinge of reboot (though it's played as revelations that might have fit the old universe). The Owls suffered from being showcased in every Bat-family comic, still clinging on in books like All Star Western, and spinning off in the Talon ongoing. Given that the new DCU has yet to reboot very many of its villains, and that the villains/threats (new and old) who are featured can last and last and last (the Rot being the other one), it feels like a full year on, there just aren't very many villains in the New52. And furthermore, I was hoping that Earth-1 would gain its own Owl-Man, which I would have liked more than the more generic "Talon". Ah well.