Despite the changes a year ago in DC Comics with the launch of The New 52, Batman's origin has remained virtually untouched. In fact, it seemed as if his entire continuity managed to carry over while other characters have faced overhauls.

We might know Batman's origin but it turns out there are still some things that haven't been touched upon. His parents were killed as a child and Bruce vowed to train himself in order to fight the evil in the world. We haven't actually seen a lot of the years during his training prior to Year One.

With the 'zero' issues at DC this month, DETECTIVE COMICS has touched upon those final days of his training prior to returning to Gotham City. There are five revelations stemming from the issue. There will be spoilers from DETECTIVE COMICS #0 so be sure to read it first and to get the complete story.

Batman Trained in the Himalayas

Bruce Wayne didn't just train his mind to become the world's greatest detective, he also had to train his body. Gaining full control over his body called for him to seek out the legendary Shihan Matsuda. Bruce was willing to completely devote himself to Matsuda's teachings in order to complete his training. Not only was he taught martial art skills and swordsmanship, he also learned to control his body. He was no longer bound by the outside elements and could call up warmth from inside to survive extreme temperatures.

Embracing the Darkness

Batman is often seen as cold and unfeeling. We know this isn't completely the case. It is rare to see Batman or Bruce Wayne show any sort of emotion. This goes along with his final training. In order to be effective, the idea was for Bruce to give up compassion and joy and embrace the darkness within. Emotions made humans weak. Matsuda was trying to teach Bruce how to gain distance from his emotions.

Lesson in Love

How often does Batman allow himself to become close to someone? He's had the occasional girlfriend in both of his identities but he doesn't usually allow himself to get close. Settling down is completely out of the question as well. During these final days, Bruce couldn't help but accept a growing attraction to a local merchant's niece. Even though he was trained to abandon all semblance of human emotions, what he felt was too much.

This could have been a turning point in Bruce's life. It's possible he could have turned his back on his path of vengeance. Obviously this relationship didn't continue. Something happened that set Bruce back towards becoming a warrior against evil. Bruce may allow himself to get close or intimate from time to time but it's clear why he finds just about everyone so untrustworthy.

The Wayne Fortune at Risk

What was going on while Bruce was traveling the world? Alfred remained at his post and maintained Wayne Manor. It turns out this wasn't an easy task. Young Bruce Wayne did have surviving relatives. There were members of the Kane family interested in the Wayne fortune. Alfred insisted on sticking to his post, even when Bruce had been gone for years and many suspected he was dead. They had an attorney hound Alfred into turning over the Manor but Alfred wouldn't hear of it.

Bruce Wayne was Missing for Years

Now we're given more of a time frame in the New 52. While Bruce traveled around the world during his training, he didn't necessarily report back to anyone. Not even Alfred was fully aware where Bruce's travels would take him. We know from JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 that the team formed five years ago. Now we know that Bruce's return to Gotham occurred seven years ago. This gives him at least a couple years of being active before fully becoming a public figure when the League saved the world from Darkseid's invasion. You have to wonder what story he gave to the press.

Bruce was in the Himalayas 'ten years ago' and returned home 'seven years ago.' We still have the question of what happened in between. Bruce spent over six months with Matsuda but most likely not three years. We'll have to keep an eye out for the other Batman zero issues to see what other new developments pop up.

Loved this issue.

Great article, especially since I don't pick up Detective Comics anymore. To add to it, don't forget Batman and Robin revealed that he spent time training with Henri Ducard!

Can't wait to see how they continue his story on the next zero issues of Batman comics.

Interesting stuff, I guess the more obscure they leave the timeline it allows people to incorporate what stories they love into there own unique set of events pre 52.

Too GOOD

I didn't find any real use for this issue. The whole "bury your emotions" angle and distrusting people doesn't fit with the timeline that is being shown in the new 52. Taking out all the girlfriends Bruce has had over the years and his continued relationship with people like Selina Kyle and Talia, he's now running a worldwide organization in Batman Inc and is on his fourth Robin. Even if he's mellowed since this story, only two years later in the first Justice League arc he was willing to team-up with other superheroes almost without question and even went on a suicide mission to save Superman in the heart of Apokolips.

Very disconnected issue from everything else we've seen in the new 52 right now in terms of Batman's character.

The only real good piece of information was the re-affirmation that Bruce has a family connection to the Kane family through his mother. So he and Batwoman are cousins. I say this is interesting information because its not something that has been brought up in a number of years (even Batman: Earth One changed her family background) and not something that has been made a point of in the Batwoman series either. That it was so blatantly brought up for this issue I wonder if they'll make use of that family connection in the future.

A seven year timeline for Batman does make everything easier. That's a year alone, two years with Dick and Barbara, 6 months or so with Jason and then alone again, then two years with Tim which allows all those great 90s stories to happen, and then a year with Damien in which the Morrison and Snyder stories occur.

I like that they spelled out once for all that Bruce has uncles and first cousins on the Kane side which I would assume clears up how closely related Kate/Batwoman is on the family tree.

@DerfelMacklin said:

A seven year timeline for Batman does make everything easier. That's a year alone, two years with Dick and Barbara, 6 months or so with Jason and then alone again, then two years with Tim which allows all those great 90s stories to happen, and then a year with Damien in which the Morrison and Snyder stories occur.

I like that they spelled out once for all that Bruce has uncles and first cousins on the Kane side which I would assume clears up how closely related Kate/Batwoman is on the family tree.

I was thinking the same thing! When the New 52 happened, I was partially mapping out how long Bruce could have had each Robin.

@zachkastner: Yeah, five years just wasn't enough time for everything to occur. 7 years is at least a little bit more plausible.

wow...loook at thethe impact the nolan verse is having on comics

@zackattack529: What up Batman Begins lol I liked it. If it wasn't for Grant's Talia drugging him angle, it could've been written that Bruce met knocked up Talia posing as a shopkeeps' niece.

@DerfelMacklin said:

A seven year timeline for Batman does make everything easier. That's a year alone, two years with Dick and Barbara, 6 months or so with Jason and then alone again, then two years with Tim which allows all those great 90s stories to happen, and then a year with Damien in which the Morrison and Snyder stories occur.

I like that they spelled out once for all that Bruce has uncles and first cousins on the Kane side which I would assume clears up how closely related Kate/Batwoman is on the family tree.

Good, but Jason said he spent a year with Bruce

Getting this today!!

Despite DC's best efforts at trying to keep bruce wayne young he has to be in his early 30's. He needs time to travel and take in martial arts, establish himself as batman and raise Dick Grayson in his house until such time he could move out on his own or just stop working with bruce.

Give it up DC you failed at this task. just make him 32 and be done with it.

I still ignore this timeline and see Bruce as having been active for at least ten years.

Really cool, looking foward to seeing more of this hidden past

This looks very interesting.

I am so buying this.

The whole "inhale darkness" thing is a Zen koan. It doesn't mean give up your positive emotions and embrace darkness. It means take all the bulls*** people hurl at you - inhale it - and when you put energy back out into the Universe, emit light. Someone cuts you off in traffic, you don't then go yell at the next person, you then give a homeless guy five bucks. Inhave pain, exhale joy. Effectively "eating" "bad" karma and sh**ing out sunshine.

@KnightRise said:

@zackattack529: What up Batman Begins lol I liked it. If it wasn't for Grant's Talia drugging him angle, it could've been written that Bruce met knocked up Talia posing as a shopkeeps' niece.

@DerfelMacklin said:

A seven year timeline for Batman does make everything easier. That's a year alone, two years with Dick and Barbara, 6 months or so with Jason and then alone again, then two years with Tim which allows all those great 90s stories to happen, and then a year with Damien in which the Morrison and Snyder stories occur.

I like that they spelled out once for all that Bruce has uncles and first cousins on the Kane side which I would assume clears up how closely related Kate/Batwoman is on the family tree.

Good, but Jason said he spent a year with Bruce

he did,where? tht really sux even if the writer gave bruce one more yr and made it so he came back eight yrs ago rather than seven it would have been perfect.

@zackattack529: IKR. I'm like, meh not picking this up seen it all in Batman Begins.

Sorry, but the part where Bruce has to reject all emotions reminded me of this one "Last Air-Bender" episode. So, drama fail here.

@Trodorne: i dono about that one, Bruce would have been given Wayne industries and the manor and everything else when he turned 21, much like tony stark in Iron Man 1. he wasn't given it so you can assume he left before he was old enough. having return 7 years ago would put him in his mid to late 20s

the movie was great "Batman Begins" oh good they adapted it into comicbook, does it talk about how Slam Bradley taught Batman everything he knows about detective work?

@Trodorne said:

Despite DC's best efforts at trying to keep bruce wayne young he has to be in his early 30's. He needs time to travel and take in martial arts, establish himself as batman and raise Dick Grayson in his house until such time he could move out on his own or just stop working with bruce.

Give it up DC you failed at this task. just make him 32 and be done with it.

Batman's timeline makes absolutely no sense given his age.

And it never will.

And it doesn't matter.

@EdBlank said:

The whole "inhale darkness" thing is a Zen koan. It doesn't mean give up your positive emotions and embrace darkness. It means take all the bulls*** people hurl at you - inhale it - and when you put energy back out into the Universe, emit light. Someone cuts you off in traffic, you don't then go yell at the next person, you then give a homeless guy five bucks. Inhave pain, exhale joy. Effectively "eating" "bad" karma and sh**ing out sunshine.

Bump.

Can't want to get my hands on this issue! It looks Amazing :)

The 7 year timeline is a little better than 5, but it still just doesn't work. DC needs to give up on making Bruce so young, it doesn't even feel right for Batman to be 20-something. He should just be 32 in the New 52, after being Batman for 10 or 11 years.

@Miss_Garrick : the reason it seems similar is the same reason that everyone who becomes a Christian shares a similar philosophy and practice. This concept is a martial arts/eastern philosophy standard, not something the writer created or even lifted from another source... unless you count the ancient texts as the source, then yes. By that standard our whole civilization is "lifted" from more ancient mores.

@UltimateSMfan said:

@KnightRise said:

@zackattack529: What up Batman Begins lol I liked it. If it wasn't for Grant's Talia drugging him angle, it could've been written that Bruce met knocked up Talia posing as a shopkeeps' niece.

@DerfelMacklin said:

A seven year timeline for Batman does make everything easier. That's a year alone, two years with Dick and Barbara, 6 months or so with Jason and then alone again, then two years with Tim which allows all those great 90s stories to happen, and then a year with Damien in which the Morrison and Snyder stories occur.

I like that they spelled out once for all that Bruce has uncles and first cousins on the Kane side which I would assume clears up how closely related Kate/Batwoman is on the family tree.

Good, but Jason said he spent a year with Bruce

he did,where? tht really sux even if the writer gave bruce one more yr and made it so he came back eight yrs ago rather than seven it would have been perfect.

An issue of Red Hood & the Outlaws, I don't remember but I think Roy/Jason mentioned something like "in the year you spent with Batman, you/I

have picked up a few things". Maybe I'll look for it.

Also, Bruce being active as Bats for only seven years means that Clark got a much longer head start doing superheroics if you include his Mystery Strongman of the Midwest period. :)

I can't wait to read it. Spoilers be damned, good article. Bruce isn't gay Morrison, he's Buddhist!

Great issue

The stuff involving Matsuda is no doubt intriguing but really doesn't strike me as innovative or original since it just seems to mirror his overseas training and finding himself phase that we saw in the pre-Flashpoint reality. I do like the family squabbling for the Wayne estate in the time that Bruce was gone for it gives it a sense of reality. Just because Bruce went overseas to find himself didn't mean that his estate just went to sleep after all. The time discrepancies are what really interest me though. Bruce was in the Himalayas ten years ago and yet returned home 7 years ago. Six months with Matsuda. Makes him in his early 30s at least I would say. That means there is two and a half years unaccounted for during which unknown things occurred. And I'm just curious if during that 30-month period Bruce had a flashback at all in the deep recesses of his mind to the pre-Flashpoint reality. Just saying...

Was an awesome issue, a lot of good philosophy. Still care a f*ck about this damn timeline XP

i loved this comic. it was a good read and we get to see a better time line to work out this robin thing.

Honestly, it may just be in contrast to what Tony Daniel was doing, but this was by far the best issue of Detective we've seen in the DCnU so far. It worked so well. Alfred was awesome and the timeline stuff actually really helps (besides, Batman makes way more sense in his early 30's). 1 week into the 0 issues and with books like this, Phantom Stranger and GL, the New 52 may be catching it's second wind.

@ThanosIsMad said:

I still ignore this timeline and see Bruce as having been active for at least ten years.

This.

How many zero issues will there be?

I found the quotes on love almost a perfect thesis for a jungian .

I enjoyed the issue, but the timeline still doesn't make a damn bit a sense. At what point in his life was Damian concieved? When did he adopt Dick Grayson and how long was he Robin? It was stated in RHATO that Jason was Robin for two years, so how long was Tim Robin? I understand that they wanted to make Bruce younger, but this timeline is an epic fail.

MESS

ahh ya gotta love the fucked up continuity of batman now..went missing for years, has been batman for 10 years, somehow managed to raise dick from an 8 year old to a full grown nightwing, jason todd from a 12 year old to a full grown red hood, tim drake from about 14 to a fully grown red robin and still have had time to shack up with talia and now be raising damien! the stories themselves are great but this series needs to be sorted out because bruce has to be pushing 40 at this stage and been batman for at least 20 years

With continuity as convoluted and overlapping as Batman's, you'd have thought DC might have taken the New 52 opportunity to do some spring cleaning ...

There were no significant revelations from the main story in 'Tec #0. It was a throwaway story.

The backup feature, on the other hand, was actually pretty good.

@monkeyonurback_:

Very true. The Batman verse is a clusterf*** when you try to fit it into five years.

Here is my pre-DCNU timetable.

Batman starts fighting around age twenty-two and spend first two years alone.

Grayson joins at about age twelve. Fights for about eight years with the Dark Knight.

Around age twenty, Grayson becomes Nightwing. Batman is thirty-two.

Todd joins the team around age 14 and sticks with Bruce about a year before getting whacked.

Batman is thirty-three, Grayson is twenty-one, and Todd was fifteen.

Tim joins at age thirteen and fights with him until the past year at age seventeen.

Damian shows up in the past year.

Bruce is thirty-seven, Grayson is twenty-five, Jason is probably about eighteen, Tim is seventeen, and Damian is ten.

It does make Bruce a bit old, but not by that much. You can still join the military at age thirty-five.

The 0 issue was better than all of the other issues from Detective Comics so far but it wasn't that good either.