Scott Snyder (1) (1976–)

It’s been a long time since I’ve read Hush or The Long Halloween, so the following statement might be incredibly present-biased:

Scott Snyder writes Batman better than anyone else.

I know people have issues with how dark Snyder likes to go, but that’s exactly what I love about it. Last I checked, Batman was dark. Gotham is dark. It’s supposed to be. If it’s light-hearted Batman you’re looking for, then I suggest looking up Adam West and Burt Ward. Otherwise, Snyder is definitely show more the way to go.

There are a decent handful of villains that Batman (Dick Grayson) has to chase after over the course of The Black Mirror - even the Joker shows up with a short cameo. It’s James Gordon, Jr., however, that steals the show. A psychopathic serial killer to beat all psychopathic serial killers, James Jr. is creepy to the bone. (No pun intended.)

I refuse to better-or-worse The Black Mirror with The Court of Owls, but they are both on my top 5 graphic novel shortlist.

Scott Snyder, my marriage proposal is still waiting an answer. show less

Despite my distaste for Romita Jr.'s art style and the ever-growing Bat-family's diminishing returns for every new sidekick and protege added, Snyder does as usual deliver the goods. This is a good story in the classic 'Batman is prepared for anything, so let's wear him down over time until he's out of answers' tradition, mining and deepening his relationship with Harvey Dent in the process.

What a dreary way to spend an hour or two. I was so disengaged from this awful story that I spent way too much time fixating on how often the art and the words don't seem to match. Was the artist also having trouble staying focused on the writing as he drew the script? (I see the copyeditor was having problems staying focused because he let a couple typos through. That may be due to the choice of the godawful typewriter font that takes up page after page after page.) Or maybe Lemire was show more working from a rough script and Snyder just didn't bother to look at the pictures closely as he slapped his final-draft drivel into the balloons and captions?

Most egregious example: In one scene we have a character spotting another character on the balcony of a "cape" house. In the illustration, there is no visible balcony on the Cape Cod style house. There is a balcony on the "geometric contemporary" house next to it, but no human figure is visible. Later illustrations in the sequence make it clear the characters are supposed to be meeting on the lower balcony on the front of the "geometric contemporary," a placement that then makes it unlikely for the protagonist to end the scene gazing intently at the backdrop behind the house, though I suppose he could be looking through the house entirely through two sets of windows.

(Oh, during the same scene, we have this awkward encounter: One character uses his right hand to hold the shoulder of the other [inference from a later picture says they are facing each other directly] and then sticks the pinkie of his left hand into his own right ear in order to display blood on the tip of his finger. This isn't impossible of course, but go ahead and act this out once or twice with a friend for a good chuckle.)

Other examples: One of the first illustrations in the book shows the protagonist spotting a balloon just a few dozen feet from a motel sign and palm trees while the text states, "The trees along this stretch of Florida are plain and bare. There were palm trees by our motel, but these look just like the trees at home to me." Later in the book we are told a mountaintop town is "situated on a lake" while the picture shows only a river or stream that's less wide than the length of a dump truck. An earlier picture of the same town from a higher and farther perspective also shows only a river and no lake.

Anyhow, this book is bad. If it is not too late for you, do not bother to read it. show less

I’m coming into this with very little knowledge of any recent Batman plot points, characters, and story arcs so perhaps my view is naive - but I thought this was excellent!

I was somewhat familiar with the whole Court of Owls premise from the TV show Gotham, but I think it’s all done much better here. It’s unsettling to see how badly Batman is roughed up (physically and mentally) by them in their underground layer, and the fact that it’s only going to get worse is blowing my mind. show more What a great cliffhanger ending for this first volume!

The art is also detailed and brutal, and does some fun things with layouts and panel formats. I tore through these first few issues in a single sitting, and I’m already reserving the next few from the library. Great stuff! show less