Ever since Scott Snyder brought the idea of the Court of Owls to Gotham City, we've been seeing bits about their history. The Court has supposedly existed for over a Century yet Batman was certain there was no truth to that. He discovered their true nature the hard way.
With the upcoming Night of the Owls crossover in all the Bat-Family titles, it's not just today's heroes of Gotham that will be dealing with them. We'll also be seeing the Court's existence going back to the 1880s in the pages of ALL-STAR WESTERN.
Late last week, DC's The Source revealed some of the plans in how Jonah Hex will be dealing with the Court in his time period. ALL-STAR WESTERN co-writer, Justin Gray, said the following:
'Plans within plans.' That’s one of my favorite lines from Frank Herbert’s eco-sci-fi epic, Dune. It is also one of the hardest things to convey in a monthly comic where readers are often second-guessing the outcome or direction of a series. There is always a larger plan at work and things are never quite what they seem. Both Batman and Jonah Hex have been discovering this fact in their own unique ways. Having chosen Gotham City as the unlikely setting for ALL-STAR WESTERN, Jimmy and I thought long and hard about the different ways we could make the book interesting to both new readers and the Jonah Hex faithful. To do that we began our initial arc with the secret society called The Crime Bible trying to establish its roots in 1880’s Gotham. At the same time over in BATMAN, readers were introduced to The Court of Owls.
By now you know both organizations existed long before the caped crusader launched his one-man campaign to save the soul of a city. So starting in May, The Court of Owls, the Talon, the secret history of Gotham, Crime Bible, Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham…some of the most unlikely and surprising elements start falling seamlessly in to place. It has been months and months in the making, but the plans within plans are coming to fruition and even the most cynical fan has to admit this New 52 thing is pretty damn exciting.
If seeing the Court back in the 1880s wasn't enough, DC has also shown Greg Capullo's designs for a 'mid-Victorian' era Talon that will be a threat in the pages of BIRDS OF PREY during the crossover.
Capullo commented:
Now I’m thinking Jack the Ripper. Cloaks and lots of layers. A bird’s feathers are all layered. Perfect.
Guess we'll be finding out a little about the Court from the 1840s as well. This appears to be DC's first major crossover since the "New 52" started and it's shaping up to be one of the best we've seen in a while.