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As Oracle continues to research the resurgence of the Court of Owls, she discovers that the latest Talon may be someone close to the Bat-Family.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Joker #9, on sale now from DC Comics.
For centuries, the course of Gotham City has quietly been steered and manipulated by its sinister secret society, the Court of Owls. Operating from the shadows and existing as an urban legend to the general public, the Court has employed a small army of undead assassins, known as the Talons, to enforce their agenda by any means necessary. This has pit them repeatedly against Batman and his allies over the fate of Gotham, with several Talons possessing alleged familial links to the Bat-Family. As the Court of Owls unveils its latest plan, involving retired police commissioner Jim Gordon and his daughter Barbara, the latest Talon appears to have a shared history with the veteran lawman and Batgirl, with the newest undead assassin heavily alluded to be Gordon’s son James Gordon, Jr.
James has always been the black sheep of the family, revealed to be a murderous psychopath who initially menaced Dick Grayson while the original Boy Wonder spent time under the cowl as Batman. By the start of the crossover event “Joker War,” James was taking medication that kept these homicidal tendencies in check but the machinations of the Joker and mounting pressure from the Clown Prince of Crime’s attack on Gotham caused James to slide back into his old, bloody habits. This culminated in James’ death, plunging to his demise before the horrified eyes of his father and Barbara, with his traumatized sister leaving behind the superhero mantle of Batgirl for a time as a direct result. Now The Joker #9 (by James Tynion IV, Stefano Raffaele, Romulo Fajardo, Jr. and Tom Napolitano) has just revealed that James may be the undead man behind the mask as the Court’s latest Talon.
After “Joker War,” Commissioner Gordon was approached by a mysterious benefactor to track down and kill the Joker after the supervillain fled Gotham; with Gordon still grieving his son and blaming the Joker for his son’s death, the lawman tacitly agreed. Gordon’s financiers were revealed to be the Court of Owls, with Barbara using her resources as Oracle to learn more about the Court’s return and their latest agenda. This investigation makes Oracle and her friends a target as the Court looks to keep their existence a secret, with a Talon menacing Oracle and her allies inside of her base of operations, the Clocktower. The assassin’s attack having failed, Barbara recovered a DNA sample from him that she has since revealed to match with her late brother James, Jr.
Barbara isn’t the only member of the Bat-Family to have a familial connection to the Court of Owls. On several occasions, Batman has squared off with a Talon who revealed himself to be former Gotham mayoral candidate Lincoln March, who claims to be Bruce Wayne’s long-lost brother. The Court also has longstanding plans to convert original Robin Dick Grayson into a Talon, following in the footsteps of one of their most prolific assassins William Cobb, who is an ancestor of Dick’s that now fervently serves the Court.
Should the Talon that attacked the Clocktower truly be James Gordon, Jr., Barbara and Jim Gordon’s fight against the Court of Owls has just gotten a lot more personal.
With James already a danger to his own family whenever he was off of his behavior-balancing medication, this iteration of the Commissioner’s son could be the most terrifying yet, as he is now an unstoppable killing machine who is fully aware of his family’s secrets and wholly dedicated to Gotham’s most powerful secret society.
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