Batman Year Zero, 1st arc Review

Having just finished reading the first arc of the BATMAN YEAR ZERO storyline in the new DC universe I find myself looking back at the comics that pre-date it but are epilogues to this story. We have seen the return of Bruce Wayne from a long absence from Gotham City and his preparations to become THE BATMAM. The story begins by focusing on the antagonists for this arc, the Red Hood Gang lead by the notorious Red Hood 1, who we all know will go on to become the Joker but warn ourselves away from that conclusion due to changes in the DC continuity and roles of certain characters. We see how he develops his headquarters, his moral choice as to whether reveal he has returned to Gotham or just work from the shadows hidden from everyone and then how he selects the animal that will be his avatar to scare the criminal element of Gotham city. We also get to meet his Uncle Phillip who has been running the massive Wayne Enterprises since Bruce vanished years previously and the struggles he has had to face in Bruce’s absence.

The double sized final issue for this arc really confused me, why did they make it so long and hence the increased retail price (£4.99 on the iPad if you must know). However it does tie the arc up pretty nicely, we finally get to see Batman in action and him fighting his first major criminals. We get to see some ties to the Killing Joke comic with regards to the Red Hood story and how they come to wear the infamous helmet. The apparent “Blackmailing” to force people to wear the red hood mask is used in the Year One arc just the same as it is described in the Killing Joke story and even expands further than just the “Leader” of the gang but expands into a lot of the other members who are blackmailed into signing up such as Bruce Wayne’s uncle who has been running Wayne Enterprises while Bruce has been missing.

They also reveal the name of the “Leader” of the Red Hood gang in this arc; however they certainly don’t give you the satisfaction of letting you think this is the Joker’s real name as they quickly turn it around to leave you still in the dark over the true identity of the clown prince of crime. This mini arc has been fairly entertaining to read and wastes no time after Batman defeats the gang to introduce the next bad guy into the equation for the Dark Knight to contend with, this villain is actually introduced as early as the first issue if I remember correctly but truly reveals himself in the final panels of the double sized conclusion issue and informs Gotham that the Riddler is in town.

For anyone who hasn’t read the new 52 Batman should certainly do so, Scott Synder has written some great stuff and has done a great job so far with the character and I’m looking forward to seeing what else his Year One arc will produce. The Night of Owls arc at the beginning of the run was reasonably good and the Death of the Family arc was absolutely fantastic to read and I’m sure it will appeal to any Batman fan, but be warned it does cross over into almost every other Batman related comic running parallel.

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I’m Big Boss and I’m out… Peace.