The second half of Scott Snyder’s Batman origin story-arc is
full of highs & lows. There is a lot
to like in this volume the first Batmobile for example is a prowler that is
purple & yellow that can jump like the Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan
movies & drive on the ceiling of the tunnel. The villain that is introduced in this story
is Dr. Death I can’t say l like him very much as he is a very outlandish
villain for Batman to go up against in this early set story. His motivations are that of a disgruntled
employee whose experiment has gone horribly wrong. He reminds of the Man-Bat in many ways but he
is just a pawn to the real threat. Even though I don’t like Karl Hellfern as a
villain I did a little research & he apparently is one of Batman’s early
villains so kudos to Scott Snyder for including him for a new generation.
It is during the first half of this collection that focuses
on Dr. Death & his supposed plan one of his victims is Dr. Isley so it was
nice to see Poison Ivy briefly before she goes all villain. Along with seeing the first Batmobile we get
to see the first Bat-boat & the Bat-blimp.
The big reveal at the end of the first half of this book is that Dr.
Death is not the big bag but instead a pawn of the Riddler. The Riddler is beginning to take center stage
as Batman & Dr. Death have their final showdown. One of the great things about this story is
that the Riddler is able to best Batman throughout most of this story & the
first half reads very much like a Batman story.
Batman crashes with the falling platform only to wake up to a whole new
city. This is where the first volume started.
With the second half of this book the we are introduced to
Duke Thomas who becomes a new ally for Batman later on in Snyder’s run. The Riddler has transformed Gotham City into
a Savage Land where nature is working to reclaim the city & parts of the
city are flooded. For me this is where
Snyder appears to have jumped the shark with his story. I understand how it is possible given the theft
of Pamela Isley’s research but at the same time it feels very fanciful. The Riddler is holding the city hostage while
also waiting for a citizen of Gotham to rise up & be a hero for the people. This entire scenario feels very old hat
especially since it was part of the plot for the Dark Knight Rises. Also it is never explained how the Riddler
was able to get all of his equipment as he doesn’t seem to have any henchmen.
Batman faces off against the Riddler in a battle of wits
multiple times in this book all are memorable but it is the last two that I am
most enthralled with. In their second
encounter Batman is stalling for time which the Riddler seems to see through
& pulls a Jabba the Hutt by dropping him into a lion pit. After Batman dispatches of the lions in a
cool & unorthodox way he is off to find the Riddler. The final showdown for Batman & the
Riddler takes place where Bruce Wayne first encountered Edward Nygma at the
museum in front of the Sphinx. The whole
entrance of the Riddler coming out of the shadows clapping reminds me of the
Joker clapping in The Dark Knight or the entrance of Silva in Skyfall. The Riddler has one final game for Batman to
play for the future of Gotham City. This
is straight out of the classic Batman stories of the past & the animated
series. A series of riddles & each
misstep is detrimental to the safety of the city; it is simply chilling as
Nygma explains the rules & says “rrrriddle me this, Batman.” That came straight out of Batman: Forever for
me with Jim Carry’s portray of the Riddler.
The giant penny makes a return in this story as well as the origin of
the Bat-Signal to warn the fighter jets.
The Riddler has the mother of all failsafe mechanisms that Batman has to
get around to save the city.
Again Snyder plays to his strengths which is character
development & conversations I like those moments of just talking between
Bruce Wayne & Alfred but also Bruce Wayne / Batman & Jim Gordon. There is some great backstory here that is
portrayed by all of the characters involved.
It is also great to see a younger Lucius Fox interacting with a young
Bruce Wayne. There is one splash page in
this collection that hints at many other characters & their involvement in
this event but their issues are not included in this story frankly I don’t see
why they were even alluded to because this is primarily a Batman story. There is a nice little back story about
Harper Row & it is still not clear what Scott Snyder has planned for her.
Again Greg Capullo shows us just why is the
artist for this book every page is amazing there is a great single image of
Batman performing a leap of faith from the blimp to the Riddler’s floating
platform with is a reference to The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Now what Batman origin story would be
complete without touching on the death of Thomas & Martha Wayne. Snyder does just that but he approaches it
from the perspective of Bruce Wayne which puts a new spin on it & the
potential trauma that it creates in him.
There are a lot of big reveals in this story as the Riddler is the first
official inmate in Arkham. But also that
Bruce Wayne checked himself in there many years before because he could not
cope with the loss of his parents & he was going through therapy to create
a new personality for himself. This is
truly an amazing & terrifying aspect to introduce into the Batman
mythos. The end of this collection is
truly touching & shows the great devotion Alfred has to protecting him when
an old girlfriend comes back to Gotham to reconnect with Bruce. As readers we see both scenarios of that
meeting & it is the real one that pulls on our heartstrings.
There is a lot to like in this story-arc as a whole the two
volumes of Zero Year but for everything I like there is something I
dislike. For all of the characters
involved there are a few decisions that they make that are either out of
character for them or reckless in their execution. For example Jim Gordon leaping off a building
into a flooded subway stairwell Batman drinking gasoline & blowing flame at
a lion while it looks cool it seems out of character for Batman. The failsafe that the Riddler has is again
another out of wreckless moment where Batman attaches it to himself to
defibrillate himself to save the city.
In the end Snyder & Capullo have crafted a great story & I have
no doubt that history will showcase them as one of the premiere creative teams
to ever work on Batman but this is still not a tail for everyone. If you love the Riddler as a villain then
this is a must read.
