Over at The Source, DC’s official blog, they’re talking about backup stories. Starting in issue 8, the comic
will feature the first of a series of back-up stories exploring the dark history of the Court of Owls, the mysterious and malevolent secret society wreaking havoc upon Gotham City in the ongoing series.
The Source Blog, January 9 2012
SPOILERS AHEAD!
I love backup stories. The backups from the new Action Comics are wonderful. Steel has appeared, but the story of Jonathan and Martha Kent really shined, and made me hope that Action would keep doing little stories at the end of a larger comic. I’m happy to pay an extra dollar for these gems.
Now, back to Batman. The price goes up a dollar, and we get…more Court of Owls stuff. For those of you unfamiliar with the Scott Snyder run on Batman, the Court of Owls is a mysterious organization that has done bad stuff in Gotham since the town’s founding. They are responsible for the death of at least one of Bruce Wayne’s ancestors, and possibly more.
Why do we need a backup for this?
Look, I like the Court of Owls stuff. It’s nice to see Batman not completely controlling Gotham City. It’s nice to see him wrong. But to me, a backup story should avoid direct tie ins to the Main Event. A backup can work if it’s coming at the Main Event from another direction, but this sounds more like a history lesson.
If we need history, why not include it in the Main Event? At least some of the backup is told from the POV of Alfred’s father. Neat, but I’m paying an extra dollar? When that could be included in the Main Event as diary pages, flashbacks or any number of other bits?
Okay, I get that it’s cool. Snyder has a great history of doing backup stories. I would rather, though, get a feel for the story from other characters that I care about. Say, Detectives Harvey Bullock, Renée Montoya or Crispus Allen. Even Commissioner Gordon would work. Seeing them working the case from a different angle would be interesting, and allow Gotham to develop from a viewpoint we rarely get to see.
Gotham City is a character in most Bat titles. It needs another point of view to develop it. The Wayne family is important, but there are other people in Gotham. I’d like to know how they see the city and the stories that have shaped it so much.