Batgirl #9: This issue is a bit of a mixed bag. In the plus column, Simone gives us the clearest expression of the Court of the Owls' goal for the "Night of the Owls," using a Court member's conversation with Commissioner Gordon to stress that the point is that Gotham won't have a savior to rescue it. In the "I'm not sure how I feel about it" column, I thought Simone gave us a controversial portrait of Gordon, showing him initially bowing to the Court's instructions not to take any action against it as it strikes against Gotham's elite. Thankfully, Simone has Gordon eventually dismiss those instructions when he first starts learning of the assassinations and the Court itself notes that it didn't really expect him to abide by them. (In fact, it was planning on him not doing so, so that he would eventually illuminate the Owlsignal.) But, I think that it's pretty easy to argue that his initial inaction cost the lives of several of the prominent persons, since Gordon probably had enough time to put protection on them. Simone portrays the conflict between his daughter and his duty well enough to make it work, but I think that it's still a stretch to imply that Jim Gordon would allow political leaders to be assassintated under any circumstances, regardless of the personal consequences. (Moreover, given that it was probably likely that Gordon would go to the Batsignal once the assassinations began, even if the Court hadn't manipulated him into doing so, it seems a little odd that the Court would decide to expose itself. The only reason I can think of Simone using to justify the Court approaching Gordon is that it was part of a psychological attack against Gordon. By getting him not to use the Batisgnal (and knowing that he would do so anyway) through its threat against Barbara, the Court made Gordon wait, throwing him off his game as the guilt in him built as the chaos started to erupt around him.) On the negative side, I'm still not really sure where Simone was going with the Talon not killing Barbara when they first fought. I'm particularly confused about the scene at the end where someone -- I think the Talon, but it could be Barbara -- writes about understanding because she, too, has a mask. If it was the Talon, am I supposed to believe that she's bucking her training? Because, I'm pretty sure, if she was alive enough to scrawl out that message, she's alive enough to re-engage Barbara in a fight. All in all, it's not a terrible issue (particularly given some of the other "Night of the Owls" issues), but it's not a particularly good one, since, as I did in "Batman" #9 with Bruce's decision to save Jeremiah Arkham over Lincoln March, I'm left questioning the characterization of a major character (Bruce there, Gordon here).
Batman and Robin #9: So far, to my mind, this issue and "Batwing" #9 have done the best job of addressing the main point of this cross-over event, namely showing the Bat-family members going about the task of protecting the prominent people on the Court's hit list to the best of their ability. Whereas "Batgirl" and "Detective Comics" swerved into odd moments of characterization, this issue and "Batwing" presented fairly accurate portrayals of their protagonists. Damian essentially takes over an entire battalion in order to keep Gotham's Adjutant General safe. Tomasi does a good job giving us some background on the Talon sent to kill the general, developing the idea that Talons are eventually deactivated in favor of another one. I think, before this issue, I assumed that the Talons that the Court activated were future Talons that had yet to be activated, not past Talons who were lying in stasis. Tomasi presents this important background in a way that doesn't distract from the action sequences or raise unnecessary questions about the overall cross-over event's plot. Just like "Batwing" #9, this issue isn't essential to "Night of Owls," but I think it does a good job of really capturing the spirit of it.
Birds of Prey #9: I think I'm missing something with this issue. Why was the Talon after the Birds of Prey? I'm not sure who Katana or Starling are, but I'm pretty sure that neither Canary nor Poison Ivy ranks on the hit list of Gotham's elite. Why attack them, then? I mean, this issue does a fine job, like "Batman and Robin" and "Batwing" #9, of giving us an engaging fight with a Talon, but I feel like Swierczynski needed to do a better job of letting us know why they were targeted.
Catwoman #9: Like "Birds of Prey," this issue falls a little short of the "Batman and Robin"/"Batwing" seal of approval due to a question I have about its tie to the larger "Night of the Owls" event. At the very end, Selina drops off the body of the Talon next to an illuminated Batsignal. The problem, however, is that, last we knew, the Batsignal had been changed to an Owlsignal (as depicted in both "Batgirl" and "Batman" #9). As such, either that particular problem has been resolved, which is entirely possible since the events of this issue happen at 2:03 am, or Winick goofed. I'm guessing it's the former, but it leads me to wonder why exactly DC wanted us to read this issue in this order. Beyond that problem, though, it's a perfectly fine tie-in issue.
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