BATMAN: ZERO YEAR Announced

@XxHeavyRainxX said:

If it were any other writer I'd be skeptical, but after Night of the Owls and Death of the Family, I trust this dude nearly implicitly.

I agree...smh around here, I've loved Snyder and Capullo so far on Batman. Both arcs delivered great stories, challenged Batman, but didn't try to deliver some earth-shattering change. That's exactly what good comic books do. I'm stoked.

@Impala said:

11 issues? Isn't that little too much for a story like this.

Agreed. Had this been the arc they opened the book with, I would be fine with it being 11 issues, but since we will have been dealing with the current day for 20 issues by the time this story starts, it really feels like going back in time for a whole year's worth of story will really break-up the narrative. Not to mention that the more they highlight thel fact that Batman has only been around for six years, the less sense his timeline makes.

Had this been 2 or 3 issues I would have gladly welcomed another peak into the past of the New 52, but for 11 issues? I'm out.

If it were any other writer I'd be skeptical, but after Night of the Owls and Death of the Family, I trust this dude nearly implicitly.

So is #21 just the first issue of Zero Year then the rest of the Batman series goes back to present continuity, with Year Zero being a seperate monthly book? Or will Batman be Zero Year for a whole year issues #21-32??

I really like the premise of Zero Year, and it is going to be a huge gamble and I know that Scott and Greg are up for it. This is something that this character neeeds in the new 52, and for Snyder to be the one to realize it and put what he says is his best work in it, well damn it there is no way I can miss this.

At least this will give the other titles time to breathe for a while. But why does Snyder feel the need to tell another Batman origin story when Year One works so well? It does make sense in continuing on from Batman 0. I'll give Snyder the benefit of the doubt for now and see how this works out.

Bout time! I still think a 52 like series would be better for the whole New 52 timeline as a whole.

Should be interesting. I thought Mad Hatter it was going to be a Mad Hatter story. Maybe he might be involved half way through the story. Still looking forward to Scott Snyder's Batman.

How is year one, not in actuality, year zero. Snyder needs to try something original. Bruce Wayne getting arrested and spending time in prison would make a good story or maybe a war of his major enemies, where only one survives. Something that doesn't get to the end of the story and make you go "Huh, so back to the status quo then...:

@shackle: I couldn't agree more. This character has run his course and become, dull, self important and over used. Kill Bruce and see a dozen titles suddenly get more interesting. And for those die-hard Batman fans. Re-release old titles with updated artwork; there are loads of great stories that many younger fans haven't read. These do no need to be re-hashed just given a make-over. Oh well, suppose I'll take a look in a years time and see if anything interesting is going to happen in the Batman, sorry I meant DC universe...

@Krissyjump said:

I like the idea of this, but it also has me extremely pissed off at them. So the entire family gets broken apart by Death of the Family, and then Damian gets killed in Batman Inc, so instead of showing the repercussions of these things they're just going to gloss it all over...just great... I'm sorry but TOO much has happened recently in Batman to just 'forget about it' and go back to do this in this title. It also means Harper Row won't be showing up for like another year, and that's got me rather upset as well. I hardly ever get angry or pissed off at anything, let alone DC (which is surprising with how messed up their editorial staff is, and all the continuity issues) but this just feels like they're brushing so much under the rug, and I am NOT okay with it.

That being said, I do like the idea and I have some faith in Snyder for this, I just think they shouldn't be doing this right now.

Keep in mind that there are four other Batman books that will be covering the mainline continuity, where you can see plenty of fallout from the events of DotF and that other thing (are we still treating that like a spoiler? Really?) outside the main book proper.

Man i wish BATMAN was bi-weekly. I can't wait a month for each issue!

@microwave25 said:

Why does Snyder always feel the need to say his new run will be "the biggest, most ambitious, that will shake the character and his world to the very core". Honestly its getting irritating.

Because It's true.

AWESOME.

@shackle said:

Does anyone else get the feeling that Batman the character is in dire straits? Retell the origin, yet AGAIN. Kill a major supporting character, yet AGAIN. They simply cannot come up with enough new, original stories to keep the character going, certainly not enough to fill, what is it now, 5 books?

I know the solution, but none of you are going to want to hear it...Kill Bruce Wayne. Not a comic book death, when he comes back again and everything goes right back to the status quo--they've already done that this decade. He needs to die for good. His death would actually mean something in the DC Universe (instead of just offering up another sidekick to the "comic sales gods") with REAL repercussions, not just relaunching books. And Wayne could have a little dignity.

My question is: what's wrong with maintaining the status quo? There seems to be a desire shared by many comic fans for big, game changing events to occur rather frequently. Batman is an awesome character because he a) has no superpowers in a world full of Supermen and b) is the world's greatest detective. Batman books don't need earth shattering events and revelations to be good - they need to simply keep creating new stories of Batman defying overwhelming odds and solving the problems no one else can figure out.

That being said, I agree that these half-assed attempts to create game changers need to stop. Damian shouldn't have died, Batman shouldn't have had a "comic book death" to begin with, etc. At the end of the day, these are imaginary stories and characters, so desiring big repercussions is kind of silly. Bruce/Batman is a character that most already know and love - no need to keep throwing "major" changes at him, they simply need to bring him back to his detective roots (which this story may be doing...)

I like the idea of this, but it also has me extremely pissed off at them. So the entire family gets broken apart by Death of the Family, and then Damian gets killed in Batman Inc, so instead of showing the repercussions of these things they're just going to gloss it all over...just great... I'm sorry but TOO much has happened recently in Batman to just 'forget about it' and go back to do this in this title. It also means Harper Row won't be showing up for like another year, and that's got me rather upset as well. I hardly ever get angry or pissed off at anything, let alone DC (which is surprising with how messed up their editorial staff is, and all the continuity issues) but this just feels like they're brushing so much under the rug, and I am NOT okay with it.

That being said, I do like the idea and I have some faith in Snyder for this, I just think they shouldn't be doing this right now.

@iaconpoint: No need to be a dick about it.

@ObsideonDarman said:

Am I the only one thinking that Harper Row will be the next Robin?

Well, since Batman has only like, 3 fans, chances are good you are "the only one" who thinks this. Consider yourself a genius! However, since these stories are going backward in time rather than forward, your genius is misplaced. Sorry!

@shackle said:

Does anyone else get the feeling that Batman the character is in dire straits? Retell the origin, yet AGAIN. Kill a major supporting character, yet AGAIN. They simply cannot come up with enough new, original stories to keep the character going, certainly not enough to fill, what is it now, 5 books?

I know the solution, but none of you are going to want to hear it...Kill Bruce Wayne. Not a comic book death, when he comes back again and everything goes right back to the status quo--they've already done that this decade. He needs to die for good. His death would actually mean something in the DC Universe (instead of just offering up another sidekick to the "comic sales gods") with REAL repercussions, not just relaunching books. And Wayne could have a little dignity.

Do this PLEASE DC

I wanna see how he built the Batcave! Thats always bugged me, like it would have required a lot of heavy construction.

Hm... I'm skeptical. But, Snyder and Cap have earned some patience and some indulgence. I don't like the title - and that won't change. But, we'll see.

@DarthShap said:

"It’s not ‘let’s redo the origin.' It’s time for a new story showing how Batman became who he is in the New 52."

This sentence is actually hilarious.

We are not redoing the origin, we are telling a new origin story. ^^

I laughed at that one,not cause of the statement itself but because of the idiots who are eventually gonna hail it as the best Batman origin story ever.

Oh and Zero year? Death of the Family? I like how these are supposed to evoke classic stories like Death in the Family and Year:One,nice way to market them,they're already classics and I couldn't care less for these mediocre,repetitive stories.

Bleh.

Who is willing to bet that Bruce will fight crime motivated by the death of his parents.

Yet another origin story for the B-Man. Snyder, you better make this good.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I love DC. They're the best.

"It’s not ‘let’s redo the origin.' It’s time for a new story showing how Batman became who he is in the New 52."

This sentence is actually hilarious.

We are not redoing the origin, we are telling a new origin story. ^^

Does anyone else get the feeling that Batman the character is in dire straits? Retell the origin, yet AGAIN. Kill a major supporting character, yet AGAIN. They simply cannot come up with enough new, original stories to keep the character going, certainly not enough to fill, what is it now, 5 books?

I know the solution, but none of you are going to want to hear it...Kill Bruce Wayne. Not a comic book death, when he comes back again and everything goes right back to the status quo--they've already done that this decade. He needs to die for good. His death would actually mean something in the DC Universe (instead of just offering up another sidekick to the "comic sales gods") with REAL repercussions, not just relaunching books. And Wayne could have a little dignity.

I trust Scott Snyder to make this new and interesting

Does not matter if it is The New 52 origin it is not necessary to spend a year telling a story that is already being retold somewhere else. It seems Snyder never liked progressing the character now he doesn't have to.

Now we get to experience the magic of Bruce getting nearly beating to death all over again. Not much different from every other Snyder arc so far. I'm really fascinated to see if Scott can write Bruce as the crazy person that he is. Because he IS a crazy person. Call me excited.

Too long story and we already have year one its from 1987 and it was a perfect origin story

**Spoiler**

Bruce's parents die.

Actually this sounds really interesting. Looking forward to this.

I thought the next drawn-out Batman story was going to be about the Riddler?

And really, a year dedicated to telling a story everyone with even rudimentary knowledge of Batman already knows...that's not what I would call ambitious.

@Jacobin_Wisdom said:

Ah, then this means their will be no crossovers that'll mess up the other bat titles storylines for a while.

Unless they give all of the family an issue each, showing what they were all doing during Bruces' Early Batman days.

A bit like #0 month part 2.

I don't get it. How is this NOT redoing the origin yet again?

I love Batman and his clan but Year Zero on his self titled book and history lessons in Batman/Superman? I hope Detective and The Dark Knight will stay "current" in DCU.

Batman Zero Year : because Year One is, you know, old and as a result, by DC's definition, bad.

A whole year dedicated to an origin arc. Too much I say.

"It’s not ‘let’s redo the origin.' It’s time for a new story showing how Batman became who he is in the New 52."

Yeah, how many times have I heard that before. Seriously DC just stop.

Who is willing to bet that Bruce will fight crime motivated by the death of his parents.

I was wondering how Snyder was going to follow up on the cliffhanger from #0, this makes sense. And if #0 counts as the first issue, technically, this will end up being a full 12 issue arc.

Well let me guess this will be a long ass 11 issue run. That starts slow builds nicely then has an ending that feels like it was thrown together in about 5 minutes. DC just loves to give us the same crap we have already seen 1000 times before and this is no different.

@Jacobin_Wisdom said:

Ah, then this means their will be no crossovers that'll mess up the other bat titles storylines for a while.

I'm pretty excited by this proposition. Let the other titles breathe on their own for a while.

Why does Snyder always feel the need to say his new run will be "the biggest, most ambitious, that will shake the character and his world to the very core". Honestly its getting irritating.

Can't wait for this!!! Of course the writing will be top notch. You can bank on that. OMG what will that mean for the look of the book. Capullo is a master. I can't help but get excited wondering what he has in store for us. The suit. The batmobile. Will we get to see Capullo draw Dick Grayson as Robin? SO MUCH TO BE EXCITED ABOUT!!!!

Well, if this new one don't mess with Year One, I'm okay. I really don't care with the ''continuity'' of the New 52.

Am I the only one thinking that Harper Row will be the next Robin?

I'm sure this will be a fun ride with Snyder in the driving seat, I do get the feeling that we see the origins of characters a lot these days though