The Deep State
Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime.
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed.
Speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send the Talon for your head
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed.
Speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send the Talon for your head
Retconning in comics happens all the time. This insufferable need for fanboys to have an understandable continuity butts up against new writers and ideas. Storytelling in comics has become better, taken more seriously, and sometimes new ideas require backstory that may or may not come into conflict with already established continuity, hence reboots and retcons.
In 2011, Scott Snyder introduced the Court of Owls into the Gotham/Batman mythos. Borrowing from real world conspiracy theories of secret societies like the Illuminati, Free Masons, and Skull and Bones, Snyder created a clandestine group of rich elites that control Gotham's destiny through extortion and murder. They manipulate city politics to favor their own interests, and cultivate hitmen known as Talons to carry out murders on their behalf. Aside from the nursery rhyme above, Batman has no knowledge of the Court until he stumbles upon a Talon well into his vigilante career.
Terrible things have been done throughout history by the rich and privileged seeking to retain positions of power. It was only a matter of time before Batman, a character built upon ideals of philantropy, was confronted by a villain with opposing ethics. Because of its retconned history, the Court of Owls became an instant classic nemesis for Batman and allies.
It's a shame that such a compelling villainous group, on par with classics like SPECTRE from James Bond, HYDRA from Marvel and the similar COBRA from GI Joe (also Marvel?) took this long to be created within the Batman universe, and now can only be incorporated through retcons, reboots, and new storylines. I have lots of questions, like did Ra's al Ghul know about them? Had they been taking cuts of mob money through shell companies and middle men? Because how else would elitist power brokers allow criminal chaos to flourish for so long? Were they responsible for Solomon Grundy's original death? Did they kill the Waynes? Are they behind Harvey Dent's disfigurement?
Confirmed members of the Court of Owls include:
The Orchards
The Powers
The Wycliffes
The Moodys
The Clarks
The O'Malleys
Moloch the Orator
Dr Leviticus
Lincoln March
To be clear, none of those names are terribly interesting, or Easter eggs from previous Batman/Gotham continuity. If they are to be a believable all-powerful cabal that crafted Gotham's destiny, they'd have to be tied into everything that happens throughout the city's history. Through Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, and minisieries like The Return of Bruce Wayne, Gates of Gotham, and A Serious House on Serious Earth, we do have plenty of source material to go back and tie the Court into. I would like to see them retconned further into Gotham's shady past. Why are Gotham's "first" families not on the list of Court members? Surely the Kanes, Waynes, Cobblepots, and Elliots did not build their empires without the consent of or membership in this shadow organization. What about the architect Pickney? or the Gates? or the Arkhams? or the Sionis family? or The Falcones, Maronis, and other mobster/gangster families operating in Gotham? The possibilities for retconning are pretty limitless, secret societies and uncovering conspiracies can be fun!