Batman Vol. 1: The Court of the Owls

Scott Snyder is no stranger to the Dark Knight before the New 52 he wrote one of the all time favorite Batman tales in Batman: The Black Mirror.  I do think that the New 52 hurt Batman in terms of continuity the only series that came through unscathed was Green Lantern because that was Geoff Johns baby, but I digress.  Snyder's opening salvo with Batman in the New 52 is one of the great lessons of mining the material something that all writers are able to with Batman & friends easily.  In this case Snyder creates a new threat for Batman that is built into the very city itself & has an even richer history than Batman does.  The Court of Owls is one of the greatest Batman creations since the League of Shadows was created.  

The first seven issues of the series can be found in this first volume.  Bruce Wayne is trying to add a more modern look to Gotham by addressing some of the infrastructural problems of the city.  Gotham has always looked old fashioned compared to Metropolis.  Snyder builds a sense of suspense in his writing that Grant Morrison was unable to in his run on the character.  Snyder plays off the natural relationship between bats & owls.  Snyder's first story-arc is broken down into two volumes this first sees that court push Bruce Wayne to the limit.  Batman has underestimated the court he went searching for them after they tried to kill Bruce Wayne.  However the court was to crafty & Batman wakes up in an underground maze.  This maze is used to play with the court's victims before the Talon dispatches them.  Snyder has even crafted a very catchy rhyme to strike fear into the reader similar to Nightmare on Elm Street & other scary movies.  Batman finds a way to escape the maze after having a final showdown with the Talon.  There is a big reveal at the end of this volume that Dick Grayson was in line to be trained as one of the new Talons.  The court has a plan to demonstrate their power in Gotham & they release all of their Talons to take out Batman & the city's leaders.  Snyder makes the reader want more with the cliff hanger at the midway point of this story.