This post will be the first entry in a series I’m going to call “Is it just me…?,” in which I'll take on a popular issue among gamers and comic book fans and argue a point that runs counter to the prevailing wisdom on that particular topic. Today, I’m going to focus on Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s critically acclaimed run on Batman.
This week saw the release of the tenth issue of the title since DC relaunched its entire line last year. I’m not going to argue with the common sentiment that each one of those 10 issues has been technically excellent. To do so would be folly. The writing for this series has been consistently intense, smart and well paced. And the art oozes with atmosphere and character while matching the writing style perfectly. Snyder and Capullo deserve the accolades they’re receiving, and I’m especially impressed that each issue has featured the same creative team.
However, I question the wisdom of opening the relaunched Batman flagship title with an 11-issue story arc. That’s almost a year’s worth of story and a lot of bandwidth to devote to setting up one new villain. I’ve been enjoying each issue as it comes out, but I’ve started getting a little itchy for a new story right around issue 7 or 8.
This speaks to a function of serialized fiction that I think is often overlooked among comic book fans: The time it takes to tell a story matters. I have no doubt that sitting down and reading the entire Court of Owls arc in one go would be a tremendously rewarding comic book experience. And, indeed, I think DC tried to address this concern by releasing the first six issues in a collected edition. They’re trying to sell this story as two consecutive story arcs rather than one giant story arc, but that doesn’t work for me. Every issue has involved Batman discovering and taking on the Court of Owls. The separation between the first trade and second trade is more akin to a break between acts in a single story than a break between two separate stories.
But, as a collector of individual issues, how DC markets the collected trades doesn’t matter to me. I’ve put down my $3.99 every month and waited weeks from one issue to the next to find out what happens. It’s a commitment both in money and time, and any title that takes nearly a year to tell a complete story had better pack one heckuva punch.
This topic makes me think back a few years to when the X-books were in the middle of their Messiah Complex crossover. It was a 12-issue series, but it shipped every week. Even though it was a long arc with a lot of issues, the weekly scheduling livened up the pacing. Contrast that with the Ed Brubaker’s Rise and Fall of the Shi-ar Empire, a story arc that ate up 12 issues of Uncanny X-Men on its regular schedule. That arc seemed interminable, and I couldn’t wait for it to end so the book could move on to something new.
That’s sort of how I’m feeling about the Court of Owls now. On the one hand, I appreciate the craft on display by Snyder and Capullo, and you’ll never hear me argue that this isn’t a well-made book. On the other hand, I’m growing impatient to find out what else these two talented creators have in store for us.
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