University of Panels

21: The Court of Owls

 

While quite easily the most recent entry to Batman's rogues gallery, the Court of Owls has already shook the dark knight's mythos to a considerable level. One of the key elements that Batman uses to combat the superstious and cowardly criminals of Gotham is the power of legends. Legends are abstract ideas that possess the ability to influence others due to their mysterious and ambigous nature that makes them feel supernatural or metahuman. In Gotham, Batman has established himself as it's legend, a mysterious dark knight that protects its citizens and strikes fear in the hearts of criminals. Batman always thought of himself as Gotham's true legend. Or so he thought...

 

The dark knight's mythos is rocked to it's core when a legend far older than Batman makes its emergance. Dating back 400 years to the founding of Gotham City, the Court of Owls is an elite society consisting of the city's most wealthy, powerful, and corrupt individuals. All who opposed them would be silenced by the Talon, an elite assasin garbed in appearance of an owl. Faced with a legend far greater and older than himself, Batman is unwilling to accept that they are the true rulers of Gotham. But just as owls are the natural predators of bats, the dark knight may be faced with the single greatest threat to his existance.