The Court of Owls are one of the most interesting recent introductions to the Batman mythology. The secret society made of Gotham City‘s richest and most depraved struck a chord with readers in the early days of The New 52. Now, co-creator Scott Snyder is redeveloping the Court for the world of Absolute Batman, with a novel twist.
Absolute Batman #17 by Scott Snyder and Eric Canete ended with a shocking scene. Martha Wayne, who is still alive in the Absolute Universe, was shown making a phone call. The call was to members of the Court of Owls, who said they knew she would come back one day. This was not surprising given, in this reality, Martha Wayne was once Deputy Mayor of Gotham City. She was also (in the original reality at least) part of the wealthy Kane family that helped established Gotham City.
Absolute Batman #18 opens with Martha Wayne’s apparent abduction by agents of the Court of Owls. This comes as she is trying to call her son, after fleeing halfway across the United States. This would seem to be typical of how the Court in the main DC Universe operates. However, there is more to this scene than meets the eye.
How Absolute Batman’s Court of Owls is different
Martha Wayne is taken to an airplane hangar out in the desert. This is apparently part of a secret Court of Owls base. However, it is made clear that this Court of Owls is a paramilitary group rather than a secret society. It is also made apparent that Martha Wayne is a former Talon, one of the elite soldiers who serve the Court.
The details of how Martha came to leave the Court of Owls are not made clear. However, it is confirmed that she was told not to contact them again except in dire need. She considered the actions of Absolute Batman fighting against Joker in Gotham City to meet that requirement.
The big twist, however, is that this Court of Owls has a drastically different mission. The original Court existed to support the status quo of the corrupt elites who ran Gotham City from the shadows. Conversely, the Absolute Universe Court of Owls is devoted to fighting the interests of the rich and powerful. Indeed, they seem to harbor a special interest in Jack Grimm, aka Absolute Joker. This could see them eventually joining forces with Absolute Batman.
Absolute Batman #18 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
