By Mark Rodriguez
The Court of Owls have unleashed an army of Talons upon Gotham and Batman has Alfred tell all their allies to be on alert and stop them from killing their targets! Now it's Batgirl's turn to take down one of the Talons!
"Night of Owls- In the Line of Fire" begins with a have a flashback to China 1944, as a schoolgirl named Ayumi, along with the rest of her class make balloons called Fusen Bakudan. These mini hot air balloons carry bombs. We then go to Gotham City 1946 as we see that the girl is now older and has her face covered in bandages. She’s in Haly’s Circus, the same circus that will someday have the Flying Graysons, and barely survived the balloon bomb attack. One of the Court of Owls went to see her and recruits her as one of the Talons.
We flash to the present as Batgirl faces one of the Talons, the time being 6:07 PM. A balloon bomb caused major damage during dinnertime, and Batgirl ran into this female Talon as she went to investigate. She comments on how fast and strong the Talon is, and how similar she moves like Nightwing. The Talon has Batgirl hanging on a ledge, but just runs off instead of finishing her off. All Babs has now is a piece of paper she snatched during the fight.
Meanwhile, one of the Court of Owls encounters Commissioner Gordon and threatens the safety of his daughter, already knowing of her past tragedy involving the Joker. He tells Gordon to not activate the Bat Signal that night and to go back to his office.
Babs arrives at her home and studies the paper she found, dating it back to 1944. At Gordon’s office, he is being informed of the attack General Burrow’s men, that happened in Batman and Robin # 9. As Babs continues to study the paper and realize it’s been used to make balloon bombs way back then… Gordon hears of the attacks in Chinatown, as seen in Red Hood and the Outlaws # 9.
As Gordon hears about more attacks throughout the city, he calls his daughter to make sure she’s alright. However, the Owls know and send lots of balloon bombs all over the police station. Just then Batgirl receives Alfred’s message and knows what she’s up against. She sees the police station up in flames and heads off to fight the Talon. Meanwhile, Gordon tries to get to the Bat Signal.
Batgirl fights the Talon, but isn’t doing too good. As the explosive balloons surround them, she has no choice but to knock the Talon off the ledge and right into one of the bombs. Batgirl lands near the Talon to find the woman still alive. She writes ‘I have mask to understand’ with, I assume, her last dying moments. Meanwhile Gordon manages to activate the Bat Signal, but finds out he was tricked by the Owls, as an Owl Signal now lights up the sky. Batgirl is shocked to see the Owl Symbol and thinks they just lots Gotham City, as the balloon bombs continue to fill the sky.
My Opinions
This was a pretty good issue, and introduces a new deadly tactic for the Owls to use, the balloon bombs. This issue really shows the madness Gotham is going through as other members of the Bat Family are facing their own Talons while Batgirl is facing this one. It's not too clear who the target was for this Talon in particular, it could have been Gordon or just the entire police station in general. It's interesting they chose to run off and complete their mission instead of staying to kill their opposition to make sure they don't interfere later on.
I was enjoying Batgirl's early run at this point, seeing her get back into the swing of things since she recovered the use of legs due to some sort of miracle cure that was left to be explained later on. The New 52 wanted to start off with Batgirl leaping through the rooftops from the first page, leaving the story behind her return to be explained later on. She had a decent fight with the Talon though it was a long night for her seeing as she had enough time to encounter her twice, while going home for a bit in between. I wonder if the other issues will show the balloon bombs as well as the Owl Symbol lighting the sky.
The Court of Owls have unleashed an army of Talons upon Gotham and Batman has Alfred tell all their allies to be on alert and stop them from killing their targets! Now it's Batgirl's turn to take down one of the Talons!
"Night of Owls- In the Line of Fire" begins with a have a flashback to China 1944, as a schoolgirl named Ayumi, along with the rest of her class make balloons called Fusen Bakudan. These mini hot air balloons carry bombs. We then go to Gotham City 1946 as we see that the girl is now older and has her face covered in bandages. She’s in Haly’s Circus, the same circus that will someday have the Flying Graysons, and barely survived the balloon bomb attack. One of the Court of Owls went to see her and recruits her as one of the Talons.
We flash to the present as Batgirl faces one of the Talons, the time being 6:07 PM. A balloon bomb caused major damage during dinnertime, and Batgirl ran into this female Talon as she went to investigate. She comments on how fast and strong the Talon is, and how similar she moves like Nightwing. The Talon has Batgirl hanging on a ledge, but just runs off instead of finishing her off. All Babs has now is a piece of paper she snatched during the fight.
Meanwhile, one of the Court of Owls encounters Commissioner Gordon and threatens the safety of his daughter, already knowing of her past tragedy involving the Joker. He tells Gordon to not activate the Bat Signal that night and to go back to his office.
Babs arrives at her home and studies the paper she found, dating it back to 1944. At Gordon’s office, he is being informed of the attack General Burrow’s men, that happened in Batman and Robin # 9. As Babs continues to study the paper and realize it’s been used to make balloon bombs way back then… Gordon hears of the attacks in Chinatown, as seen in Red Hood and the Outlaws # 9.
As Gordon hears about more attacks throughout the city, he calls his daughter to make sure she’s alright. However, the Owls know and send lots of balloon bombs all over the police station. Just then Batgirl receives Alfred’s message and knows what she’s up against. She sees the police station up in flames and heads off to fight the Talon. Meanwhile, Gordon tries to get to the Bat Signal.
Batgirl fights the Talon, but isn’t doing too good. As the explosive balloons surround them, she has no choice but to knock the Talon off the ledge and right into one of the bombs. Batgirl lands near the Talon to find the woman still alive. She writes ‘I have mask to understand’ with, I assume, her last dying moments. Meanwhile Gordon manages to activate the Bat Signal, but finds out he was tricked by the Owls, as an Owl Signal now lights up the sky. Batgirl is shocked to see the Owl Symbol and thinks they just lots Gotham City, as the balloon bombs continue to fill the sky.
My Opinions
This was a pretty good issue, and introduces a new deadly tactic for the Owls to use, the balloon bombs. This issue really shows the madness Gotham is going through as other members of the Bat Family are facing their own Talons while Batgirl is facing this one. It's not too clear who the target was for this Talon in particular, it could have been Gordon or just the entire police station in general. It's interesting they chose to run off and complete their mission instead of staying to kill their opposition to make sure they don't interfere later on.
I was enjoying Batgirl's early run at this point, seeing her get back into the swing of things since she recovered the use of legs due to some sort of miracle cure that was left to be explained later on. The New 52 wanted to start off with Batgirl leaping through the rooftops from the first page, leaving the story behind her return to be explained later on. She had a decent fight with the Talon though it was a long night for her seeing as she had enough time to encounter her twice, while going home for a bit in between. I wonder if the other issues will show the balloon bombs as well as the Owl Symbol lighting the sky.
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