When Scott Snyder starting writing Batman for DC's New 52 relaunch back in September, he mentioned in many interviews that there would be one issue in his first arc that he had wanted to write for a long time. He believed that this issue would be a game-changer in both the Batman mythos and the DC Universe as a whole. Months later, we are finally at that game-changing issue. The Court of Owls story is reaching an end, and Batman #10 does not disappoint.
SPOILERS FOLLOW!!
When you first see the cover to Batman #10, you know that this issue will be important. The depiction of Batman with the shadow of an owl behind him while holding a broken mask from the Court is a great way to show the theme of this issue.
The first scene of Batman #10 shows that Batman has tracked down two members of the titular Court of Owls. He confronts one of them in her home, trapping her inside of an elevator. Batman, being the masterful detective that he is, manages to trick her into calling her husband, another member of the Court. Thanks to Alfred's skills, Batman is able to track the call to 77 Irvington, a location in the south side of Gotham. This location, if you'll remember from an earlier issue in this arc, is where Bruce Wayne went to look for the Court of Owls as a child after the murder of his parents. He found nothing there as a child, but that would not be the case now. He rushes through the building, only to find a gathering of the Court. Unfortunately, the members of the Court that are present are all dead, seemingly from mass suicide.
A few days later, Bruce is still thinking about what he discovered. He can't seem to make sense of what happened to the Court. As he prepares to leave for a meeting, Bruce rushes out of Wayne Manor after noticing something when he looks at a portrait of his parents. At the morgue, Batman finds a note where the body of a Court member should be.
Batman heads to an abandoned Willowwood Home for Children. The Home stopped operating after a portion fell into a sinkhole eighteen years earlier. It had been discovered that the children had been neglected and abused. Batman enters a room, and discovers "Lincoln March". It turns out that this man was a member of the Court that acted as Lincoln March before faking his own death during the Night of the Owls.
"Lincoln" and Batman have a conversation where many details from earlier in the arc are explained before "Lincoln" finally reveals himself as Thomas Wayne, Jr., brother to Bruce and secret child of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Thomas dons a new Owl suit and prepares to fight Batman brother to brother, Owl to Bat.
This reveal has been a long time coming, and I absolutely love how Scott Snyder has crafted this story. Greg Capullo has fantastic pencils in this issue as has become common throughout this run. Many smaller details from earlier in The Court of Owls arc are explained in the conversation between Bruce and Thomas at the end, and I for one cannot wait until the epic finale to this arc next issue.
The backup by Snyder and James Tynion, IV is up to par with the backups in the previous issues, but it is definitely outshined by the greatness from the main story.
I give this issue, and the entire Court of Owls arc, a much-deserved 5 out of 5.