Batman No. 153: Riddler and the Court of Owls vs Bruce Wayne
By Mark Lynch
Things are looking better in Gotham City. Crime is down and Jim Gordon says things feel calm. Wayne Enterprises is a big part of that. Naturally, Batman knows what comes after the calm. There's another contributor to the calm in Gotham. It's none other than villain and genius, Edward Nygma, aka Riddler.
After being exonerated for his crimes (for being experimented on during his time in Arkham Asylum), Riddler started a company called NygmaTech where he created a cryptocurrency (Questeum) and new ways to protect data. During an interview, Nygman proudly said his company brought good jobs to Gotham City. Of course, this isn’t being done out of the kindness of his heart. As Batman No. 153 continues, we see part of Nygma’s resources come from the Court of Owls who also has The Mayor of Gotham City (Christopher Nakano) in his pocket.
A representative of the Court of Owls named Leonid Kull arrives at Christopher Nakano’s office. Nakano says he did what he was asked by making Vandal Savage Gotham Police Commissioner and pushing all their applications through, but says he won’t let Riddler run free. Leonid remains calm but offers pushback by threatening to expose Nakano’s “indiscretions” to his wife. Nakano doesn’t budge, but there are repercussions.
Later, Bruce’s newest CEO Rowan Birkemoe pleads with Bruce to mirage with NygmaTech. For obvious reasons, he declines. It’s then revealed that Birkemoe is working with Nygma and possibly the Court of Owls. Birkemoe tells Riddler that Bruce isn’t agreeing to their terms and that it’s time for plan B. What that you ask? Bruce has a long-lost brother and he’s coming for half of Bruce Wayne’s shares.
The drama doesn't end there. On the last two pages of Batman No. 153, you see the consequence of Christopher Nakano denying the Court of Owls. Nakano is shot and killed by an unknown shooter.
This is the newest arc of Chip Zdarsky’s amazing run as writer of Batman. He’s taken the Caped Crusader to the brink of insanity and close to homelessness and he almost lost his family. Now he’s taking Bruce Wayne and testing him as a businessman. This should be another must-read series from a phenomenal writer.
Stay tuned to Caped Crusades to see where Chip Zdarsky takes the Dark Knight and Gotham City next.
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