Warning! Contains Spoilers For Batman: City of Madness #2!
Countless rogues have plagued Gotham City over the years, and Batman has defeated almost every single one. However, there’s one villain that has been around Gotham for much longer than the Caped Crusader, and even Batman admits that they might just be the one enemy that he’ll never truly defeat. No matter how much Batman fights against them, it seems the Court of Owls may be part of Gotham City forever.
Batman: City of Madness #2 – written by Christian Ward, with art by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou – finds Batman struggling to contain the chaos nleashed by the Batman Below, forcing him to do the unthinkable and to team up with the Court of Owls.
Batman isn’t exactly a stranger to teaming up with villains when he has to, but this example stands out, as the Caped Crusader make a surprising confession in the issue: that he doesn’t believe he’ll ever truly be able to defeat the Court. He states that simply managing to make a truce with them is the best way he’s found to deal with them.
This “Undead Batman” Form Proves the Court of Owls Is Still Gotham’s Scariest Villain
The Court of Owls is an intimidating force, but now they’ve created their own monstrous Dark Knight to take over for Batman and “save” Gotham.
Batman Admits The Court Of Owls Can’t Be Defeated
Considering the deep roots that the Court of Owls has in Gotham City, it’s no surprise Batman is pessimistic about defeating them. Defeating the Court might require reinventing all of Gotham City. The Court of Owls is the oldest villain groups to exist in Gotham City. The Court existed long before Batman came to exist in Gotham, and as he suggests in City of Madness #2, they’ll likely exist long after. While Batman has continually fought petty crime, and Bruce Wayne has worked to save Gotham City through his riches, the Court of Owls has worked to keep Gotham City corrupt and divided. The Court is made up of some of Gotham’s most wealthy and powerful elite.
Bringing down the Court, isn’t as easy as beating up someone like it is with the Joker or the Riddler. The Court of Owl’s corruption goes much deeper. The Court of Owls is made up of the ultrarich who live in Gotham City. Bruce Wayne is certainly rich, he’s not rich enough to offset the wealth of others. For every bit of money Bruce puts into improving Gotham City, members of the Court put twice as much money into making sure things never get better. This twisted tug of war hasforced Bruce into a bit of a stalemate, which is why he states that it’s unlikely he’ll ever defeat them outright.
Batman Must Compromise With The Court To Face A Greater Threat
Removing the Court of Owls from Gotham at this point would almost require completely re-inventing the entire city of Gotham from the ground up The Court of Owls stand out among Batman villain because they are the only ones who truly try to be Gotham City, rather than robbing or ruining it. The Court of Owls is made up of politicians, they’re the rich, and they’re the people deciding the laws and implementing new policies. They aren’t out on the streets committing crimes, they’re instead the insidious force that’s causing crime on a social level. Which is why Batman will likely never defeat them.
Batman: City of Madness #2 is on sale now from DC Comics!
Titans: Beast World Tour: Gotham (story, “Wild Thing”) | |
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