Review - Night of the Owls: Batman Annual #1 (2012)

The first annual to come out DC’s NEW 52 cannon happens to be nestled right within Scott Snyder’s Night of the Owls crossover, and manages to introduce Mr. Freeze to the new continuity while simultaneously tying him to the Court of Owls. On the whole the annual does exactly what it aims to do, but there are several sections where improvements and character truisms could have been adhered to rather than eliminating them to make way for another Night of the Owlstie-in.

The annual opens up with a flashback. A young Victor (Mr. Freeze) joyously plays in the snow while his mother follows. In single, near silent moment Victor’s mother plummets through the ice and disappears without a word.

The issue then transitions to an interrogation session of Mr. Freeze. He uses this as a window to escape his cell successfully subduing and killing several guards. In an act of trickery he eventually obtains his specialized armor, which allows him to escape Arkham Asylum. Mr. Freeze’s first thought is to quickly locate the Penguin in order to re-obtain his equally specialized weaponry, which he plans to use against his nemesis, Bruce Wayne.

An informative segment explaining why Mr. Freeze despisesBruce Wayne is presented in another flashback. And, like the lore of before, Victor is driven by his near-dead wife, Nora Fries, which Bruce Wayne unceremoniously took away fromVictor causing him to break and become Mr. Freeze. In search for Nora, Mr. Freeze finds another cryostasis chamber and is shocked by the inhabitant’s aged appearance.

At this moment, Nightwing and Robin take the opportunity to enter in an effort to stop Mr. Freeze in the sublevels ofWayne Tower. They briefly squabble, but unfortunately the two are thwarted and Mr. Freeze escapes unscathed. He proceeds to climb Wayne Tower eventually finding Noraalone and still frozen in a large empty room. Batman enters in his traditional fashion, and plans to finally end Mr. Freezesrampage once and for all.

The issue concludes nicely adding a couple of twists for the benefit of the reader slightly altering the mythos surroundingMr. Freeze and his origins. I won’t spoil it, but it was definitely a classic Snyder touch; it was much appreciated. It was incredibly symmetric and a great way to structure Mr. Freeze’s origin story. Also, Snyder and Tynion take an obvious and logical avenue to explain Mr. Freeze’sinvolvement with the Court of Owls, and within the issue they do a great job of portraying his reaction to his interaction with them.

Personally, I found the issue to be enjoyable, but there were a couple scenes that disappointed me, and on the whole this annual didn’t feel much like an annual. It could have very well been the next issue of Batman or a giant-sized issue, rather than an annual. The scene that troubled me the most was how easily Mr. Freeze defeated Nightwing and Robin as well as his subsequent escape. Together, Nightwing and Robinare more than a match for Mr. Freeze, and if Mr. Freeze is as cruel and ‘cold-hearted’ as to be believed he would have just killed them when he had the chance.

Nevertheless, I thought that Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV’s plot was tight and coherent, and I really appreciatedJason Fabok’s pencilings and Peter Steigerwald’s corresponding colors. I give Batman Annual #1 four-and-a-half stars out of five.

(SOURCE: Review - Night of the Owls: Batman Annual #1 (2012))

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