Comic Books

BATMAN #22

The second chapter of “Zero Year” delves into Bruce Wayne’s past with the Red Hood Gang and his run-ins with aspiring District Attorney Harvey Dent!

And in the backup story, a secret moment from Bruce’s training abroad is revealed for the first time!

Story by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, & Rafael Albuquerque
Cover by Greg Capullo & Mikel Janin

Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 17.3%

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Avg Rating: 4.5
 
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  1. I was surprised how much I liked the first issue. Think I may just stick with it!

  2. In Snyder we trust! Seriously, the decompressed storytelling tells me that it’s going to be good! And for all the haters, Year One isn’t going anywhere! It is an amazing book that still holds up, but thanks to continuity fuck-ups, we NEED this story. And I’m SOOOO glad that DC was smart enough to hand over Batman’s origin to Scott and Greg. If it flops, judge it then; but not a moment sooner.

  3. Last month’s issue was fantastic!

    I hope we get to see purple gloved Batman again!

  4. Moar Batman flipping the bird in zero year!! That is all

  5. After a really satisfying first issue, I take a lot of comfort in the knowledge that we get another 11 issues of a Scott Snyder Batman origin with fantastic Greg Capullo art. And apparently issue #24 is going to be double-sized with 64 pages? Can’t wait.

  6. If each issue is like the first one, i.e. amazing, then this year long origin will be fun as hell. Really looking forward to this.

  7. Problem with this series for me is I don’t think Snyder will ever outdo the kick-assery of court of owls. This should be fun though new origin for bats sounds cool.

    completley unrelated, does anyone know exactly what issue of what book the first new52 appearance of Jokers Daughter will be?

  8. Last month’s issue was excellent. Zero Year, Trinity War, an epic Nightwing story… this week’s going to be superb.

  9. Every panel in the last comic gave me the strange feeling that Capullo and Snyder are constructing their masterpiece. The last issue alone had a lot of layers, really interessted to see how the two will be further exploring these.

  10. Loved Snyder’s Detective run and enjoyed just about all of his Batman run but was thinking of dropping off for this long arc and just getting the trade. Last issue turned me around though, I thought it was a PERFECT first issue for a story like this and it has me very excited about what’s to come. Keep up the good work Scott!

  11. I am not a huge Riddler fan so I am hope he doesn’t ruin this story for me.

  12. Hey guys – thanks for the kind words on 21. Hope you enjoy!

    • Dang Snyder, you’re a hustler. Just podcasting and message boarding your ass off. It works…

      The Fatman interview made me buy your books.

  13. The few advanced reviews that are out rave about this issue; I can’t wait to read it tomorrow.

  14. rather enjoyed the ish. not sure what i feel about the bruce / alfred dynamic at this stage though. the ‘hook’ comment felt rather harsh.

  15. danananananana… BATMAN!!

  16. “Criminals are a SPOILERY and superstitious lot…Yes, Father, I shall become a SPOILER”

    I enjoyed this book immensely. From the beautiful cover, to the enigmatic opening and right through to the fascinating backup. The Russian bloke with the monkey was impossibly cool, this is exactly the type of character I hoped to see in this run. I have a minor quibble with the backup, but I’ll get to it later…Anyway…

    I’m sitting on a lot of anxiety over this story (as most of you know), but so far it has been very well done.

    The moment where Alfred slaps Bruce (complete with the pure, abject horror in his eyes immediately afterwards) was incredibly moving. It paralleled (and complimented) the moment in ‘The Court of Owls’ when Bruce smacked Dick. A moment like this can only (and should only) happen between them once, but it had to happen eventually. In continuity terms, it makes sense that it already did.

    Alfred voices his displeasure in sarcastic barbs and clever quips, but, in his quieter moments, he probably sees young Master Wayne as his biggest failure. He admires Bruce and his mission, he is proud of what Bruce has done with his life, but first and foremost, he loves the man like a son. How would you feel if you had to stitch up your son’s wounds every morning and spend every night praying that he makes it home safely?

    By the time we meet Alfred in the later episodes, he has gotten used to what he has to do. He, like Batman, has surrendered to his own personal mission, but for Alfred, it was a far bigger sacrifice to make. This moment was Alfred-as-Foster-Father, not Alfred-as-Butler. Glimpses of this Alfred are rare, but almost always rewarding. A heartbreaking, glorious moment between father and son. And no, Bruce, you weren’t talking to the hook.

    Loved the way that Snyder (literally and figuratively) toppled that wall between Bruce and Alfred. Excellent, proper writing.

    Now, random thoughts/observations:

    – I Love how Capullo draws Vicki Vale. Great characterization, we haven’t seen VV since Issue 1 (I think?) and its nice to see her again.
    – I really enjoyed the Bruce Wayne vs Edward Nigma battle of wits. This wasn’t Bruce pretending to be an over-privileged moron, as we’re used to, so it was nice to see Bruce as the character he can be on occasion, not the ‘mask for Batman’ (an approach that I don’t especially like 100% of the time), but as a man in his own right, separate and distinct from both ‘masks’. We shouldn’t see this man very often, but a story like this really opens up the potential for these types of moments.

    – I’m still hoping against hope that ‘Red Hood One’ does not turn out to be The Joker.
    – I’m still laughing at how many so-called ‘Advanced Reviews’ praised the characterization of Harvey Dent, a character mentioned in the solicits, but who doesn’t actually appear here. Such total BS. Almost all the ‘advanced reviews’ I read were totally made up.
    – Please, please don’t re-imagine the T-Rex story. Just work the original in somewhere (its far too good not to be canon). We’re already losing ‘The Penny Plunderers’ – one of my favorite classic Bat-tales, lets not try to claim all the trophies in the Batcave, they are important links to the past. The Joker card was good, though.

    Now, my quibble. In his earlier encounters with his mentors, Bruce Wayne used disguises and assumed identities in order to learn from experts in the field (read John Byrne & Jim Aparo’s ‘The Many Deaths of the Batman’ for more info). This makes sense, as Wayne is vastly famous and very well known around the world, if not back then, he eventually will be. He didn’t always hide his identity, but he usually did. It is more than a little silly for BW (even being considered as legally dead) not to be assuming false identities in these backups. I understand that he isn’t expecting to lead a public life in this version of the origin, but it still strikes me as a good way to avoid repercussions in the future.

    Overall, a great issue. POTW, in fact. Snyder continues to tell a fun new story by staying out of continuity’s way. Will it continue to be this way? I certainly hope so. There’s potential here for a sweeping, elegant, classic Batman story that deals with the early years in a way that doesn’t re-set every clock in town. I hope we continue on this grand path. A new type of origin, one that tells a new story without sweeping away everything that’s gone before. If Snyder & Capullo can pull this off, they may have discovered the holy grail or comics/sci fi/fantasy…The reboot that doesn’t piss anybody off. Here’s hoping.

    Also, to Scott, if you’re reading this:

    Thank you for caring so much about this character and his legacy. Your love for this world and its working really does bleed through every page in this issue. Even if this story eventually loses me as a reader, I must say that, as a fan, its really great to know that the creators care so much about the characters they work on. You’re putting your heart and soul into this one…and it shows. I, for one, appreciate your work. Thanks.

    • Damn it. You made me call my shop and have them hold me one. For the sake of my $4 I hope this delivers more than last issue. 🙂

    • Yes, it does. We even get a Penguin cameo and we get to meet Carmine Falcone’s cousin (briefly). You know I’m very skeptical about this series, but this issue, at least, is definitely worth a pull.

    • PS – Did you see my 80’s Batman timeline? I posted it for you during the discussion about ‘Batman Inc’ 12. LOT of recommendations in there (although I now realize that I missed a few out)…

    • hey bro, why not just use this LONG comment as a review and post it that way?

    • I dunno man, a review requires more than just my random thoughts and observations. A good review is a balanced critique, a good piece of writing in its own right. This is not a review, just a few thoughts and ideas. Its like, “this is what I liked, this is what I didn’t like, this is how I felt about it” – that sort of thing.

      When I post these things, its really just a ‘stream of consciousness’ – Its just how I felt about this particular story, the characterization, the set pieces, that sort of thing.

      I hope other people aren’t bothered by my mammoth posts. I just take my comics pretty seriously, that’s all.

    • This was REALLY good. Snyder writes a great Edward Nygma in this issue, and he and Bruce’s exchange was definitely the highlight for me. I liked this opening scene much better than the one last issue. I didn’t like the way Bruce in the hole was handled though, and I had a couple issues with the art (the hook position was wrong and I much prefered Glapion’s inks-anyone know what happened? Last I looked his web site was down too). Thanks a bunch Poet, this was definitely worth a pull. I haven’t been happy with two issues in a row in a long time, but unless this thing goes bonkers I’ll keep my New 52 Batman run whole and intact.

    • Well, your “comment” was better then half the “reviews” posted on here. 😉

    • @ Ghostmann – Thank you so much. I really, sincerely appreciate that. You just made my day, dude. Your check’s in the mail.

      @WAC1 – I’m really glad you liked it. I thought you would, to be honest. The issue was excellent and the creative team killed it. Capullo especially – the guy is a legend and I’m so glad he’s drawing Batman right now. Trying to get ‘Shaman’ online right now. 🙂

    • @APoet Awesome. Let me know how it is. Have you checked out mycomicshop.com? They have most of the Legends issues at usually cheap prices (as low as .90 an issue), but I imagine the shipping would be expensive. I just went through last night and made a list of the issues that interested me. Its a BIG list. Even some of the later ones sound really interesting and have good teams. There’s a Ras Al Ghul and Joker team up, another Hugo Strange story… I picked up the 2 issue Mr. Freeze story that came out just prior to Snow but haven’t read them yet. Lots of good stuff. Have you read the Mark Millar issue? I almost grabbed it the other day, but it was a couple bucks more than I wanted to pay. What about Mercy or Terminus? They’re all single issue stories that seemed good.

    • WAC – I don’t personally appreciate the work of Mark Millar. I can deal with him in small doses, but that’s about it. A big pull of DC for me is that Mark Millar is pretty much blacklisted from working with the company after the disgraceful way he treated Paul Levitz. I don’t have any time for Millar as a writer and I don’t think he cares about the characters he writes. He was a big factor in turning me away from Marvel, actually (but that’s an angry nerd rant for another time) lol.

      -Apologies to any Millar fans who might be upset by that, it just happens to be the way I feel about him and his work.

      Aaaaaaaanyway, I’ll have to check that site, but shipping to the UK is probably costly. Still, I live in hope. Thanks for the suggestion. ‘Inter Comics’ is pretty good for the more recent back issues, but I mostly use eBay.

      Its funny, I was on eBay and I put bids in on a bunch of Batman comics I want (mostly 70’s stuff), but later, when I checked my bank I found that I had next to no money! I’ve overspent on comics lately in a big way and now I’m gonna have to be a bit thrifty! I also had to explain to my GF why I had no money, which was embarrassing, although she was cool about it. I was actually quite ashamed of myself, though. I too have a long list of books to get, but I’ll get there in the end…

      I want to read the Joker/Ra’s story as well, but I can’t find it cheap enough. It looks like a lot of fun. Is ‘Cold Snap’ the Freeze story you’re referring to? If so, I’ve got that one and I have to say that the premise is better than the execution. Its a bit (if you’ll pardon the gag) lukewarm. Its not bad, but its not as good as the ‘one and done’ from ‘Gotham Knights 59’ (its called ‘Fire & Ice’ by Robbie Morrison and Charlie Adlard). That’s one of my favorite Freeze stories. Great Jae Lee cover as well.

      I haven’t read ‘Mercy’ or ‘Terminus’, but I’ll probably get around to them. I’m not exactly a completest of any one book. I tend to get issues that either have a lasting effect on the overall story of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s life (which, as you know, I pretty much see as one long story that spans multiple eras), or else I buy issues concerning minor villains, Bruce Wayne’s Mentors, or the Wayne family history.

      After that, I just go for great writers/artists that won’t let me down. If I see Paul Dini, Grant Morrison, Jeph Loeb, Dustin Nguyen, Neal Adams, Irv Novic, Gerry Conway, Don Newton, Gene Colan, Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Kelley Jones, Alan Grant, Denny O’Neil, J.H Williams, Jim Aparo, Denys Cowan, Mike Barr, Alan Davies, Chris Sprouse, Marshall Rogers, Steve Engelhart, Dick Giordano, Sheldon Moldoff, Bill Finger, Len Wein, Norm Breyfogle, Jim Lee, Bruce Timm (or any number of others) had anything to do with it, I know I’m about to enjoy it. There are a lot of others, but those are always guys who will sell a Bat-book to me.

      I got Batman 431 today, for example, which dealt with young Bruce learning from a Jujitsu master and took place against the backdrop of Jason’s death (it was pretty good, too). I’m a fan of all eras of the character, but the 2000’s mostly lost me after ‘Hush’ (which I loved, even though it gets a lot of hate). Jim Aparo drew the sh!t out of Batman fighting a bunch of Ninjas. It was awesome.

    • Sorry to bring up the Mark Millar topic 🙂 It might be the only Batman story he ever wrote so I was wondering if it was any good. Terminus is drawn by a younger Chris Bachalo (in his more Vertigo style) so its on my radar. I’m actually pretty completist, but with something as encompassing as Batman I tend to use discretion and take it in chunks, so its usually storylines that interest me, but with LOTDK its little chunks and no continuity so its really great. I guess Gotham Knights and Shadow are like that too, but I haven’t gotten around to those titles yet. I bought the entire “Batman” run from like 426(Death in the Family) til it ended (713 I think) for pretty cheap on eBay, and then went back to the 390s. I’m in the mid 500’s now and have been collecting the tie-ins for stories I like as I go, but lately I’ve been interested in other eras so I’ve been reading/ collecting more late 70’s early 80’s. I met a guy who has the entire amazing spider-man run, and just about every appearabce in a comic. I was impressed. I’m rambling now. Sell some stuff to buy some stuff, so you only spend out if the PayPal bank, and I like Hush too. Peace.

    • 426 – 713!? That’s an amazing deal. You’ll probably find that 95% of those were written by Chuck Dixon – that guy’s a machine!

      ‘Shadow of the Bat’ was a good title, as was ‘Streets of Gotham’ but both run hot and cold at points, not like LOTDK, which was almost always awesome!

      70’s & 80’s is just 20 years of great Bat stories. You can’t really go wrong there.

      Hush, like Morrison’s run, got me back into Batman comics after a period away, so I’ll always love it if only for that. However, I have a lot of great memories of that run. Meeting Jim Lee, debating the villain reveal with my friends endlessly (I was right, BTW), copying the art as best as I could. It was just…Awesome.

  17. Perhaps my favourite issue since the Labyrinth of the Owls. So many great panels here.

  18. So this is the arc where Capullo and Miki go for the Eisner right? With the cave sequences, the Riddler/Bruce discussion, and the final page I gotta imagine this is a no brainer for the judges. Seriously, great issue just like last month and this was so freaking close to be my POTW. Even the back ups are amazing with Tynion giving Albuquerque wonderful set pieces to draw. I wanna see more of Bruce/Batman in Egypt!

    5/5

  19. Snyder and Capullo keep topping themselves. This issue was amazing! the panel(you know which one) with the riddler was awesome. And the callback in the back-up was just masterful. Snyder just nails batman

  20. Snyder kills it again with this issue! This is as close to a perfect comic as you can get! my only problem with it is that I have to wait an entire month to get the next issue! 😀

  21. I am pretty worried about the Red Hood / Joker thing, hopefully SS is pulling a fast one on me. To go from a sociopathic criminal mastermind with a sense of humor to a… even more sociopathic criminal mastermind with a sense of humor? It kind of hurts the character to define him so specifically pre-accident, but I hope Snyder is reading this right now and chuckling to himself “ha, gotcha!”

    • I’ve been wondering the same thing, and how the whole “first time we met” from DOTF would play into it. Of course he could always be playing with The Killing Joke and doing the stuff that happened before the Joker. Then again it could all be brand-new and not tie into any of it.. Who knows?

    • Yeah, quite a few people have done Joker as a master criminal BEFORE he was Joker…But for some reason, it never feels ‘true’ to me…

      ‘Lovers & Madmen’ from Batman: Confidential springs immediately to mind. Really good story – But it didn’t feel like The Joker to me.

      Jack Nicholsen’s Joker study is another one, I loved his portrayal of the character, but he felt diminished somehow given that he had a very concrete origin story and he was tied so intimately to Bruce’s own origins. Whilst it made for an excellent one-off story, I was always glad the comics were never tempted to go down that route.

      It always rings the same with me when writers take that approach, even ‘Mask of the Phantasm’ which is, for me, the absolute best screen interpretation of a Batman story ever done, loses something when we see The Joker as a gangster in the flashback.

      Personally, I don’t feel like that approach speaks to the heart of the character. The whole idea that anybody can become a guy like him (at least, in his mind they can), a guy that pushes people’s buttons just to see what happens. I like the idea that Joker could BE anyone, like any guy in Gotham is potentially the next Joker. That’s a scary thought to me and it compels me to read more stories set in that city.

      The Joker has a childish side to him, as well as a lot of vanity, there’s a sense of fun with him which tends to be missing when he goes into it as a hardened criminal. I always liked Alan Davies’ interpretation of Joker, he captures that roguish spirit perfectly. Tim Sale’s Joker is awesome also. Bruce Timm, of course. A classic Joker, but still laden with menace.

      I worry about a new Joker origin, because any origin from Joker’s POV is open to interpretation, but when its from Batman’s POV, its a fact. Like ‘Man Who Laughs’ when Bruce visits the ACE Chemical plant and finds the hood. I think I read a DotF-era interview with Mr. Snyder where he said that he wasn’t a fan of the ‘failed comedian’ angle on The Joker as well. However, at least we know the hood/ACE chemicals story is canon to extent, because it was referenced pretty extensively in ‘Death of the Family’ and Harley Quinn’s new origin story from ‘Suicide Squad’.

      I feel better about this story as a whole after reading Issue 22. I read it again last night and it really holds up as a very solid issue, with a lot of care and attention behind it.

    • The tragedy that Moore brought to his origin resonates with me and I find it to be a powerful one. Im also a big fan of Morrison’s psychoanalyticical, “societal evolution” angle. I agree we would lose something if he used to be a “common criminal”. My favorite rogues are the ones with substance and/or tragedy in their origin story, but hopefully JokersNuts us right and SS is pulling a fast one. But damn, its hard not to read Red Hood 1’s dialogue in a Joker voice. And the whole blimp thing… On another note, “Mask of the Phantasm” really drove home my son’s Batman obsession. About 8 months ago I found my old VHS copy and we watched it pretty much daily for like 3 weeks(upon his request and much to my delight). Even my 6 year old daughter liked it. It’s a great story.

    • Oh God, its just awesome.

      I loved how they drew from all these different eras of Batman (both in the life of the character and in terms of comics) in that movie. Its the purest and best representation of Batman on film. Great movie, I have a beat up old VHS as well that I pull out whenever I get the chance.

      Even now, whenever I read Joker’s dialogue, its Mark Hamill doing the voice in my head.

    • I read his dialogue the exact same way.

    • @thewac1 In my honest opinion, Moore never should have written a possible origin for the Joker, it took away from the character he was supposed to be; a homicidal maniac with no known motives or back story.

    • @DeepSpace – Technically, the Joker/Red Hood origin as seen in ‘Killing Joke’ was a re-write of an earlier story by Bill Finger (Detective 168 I think) and was first published in 1951. So, it was a story that had been around for quite a while by the time Moore got to it. Just saying.

    • PS – Although, I do see what you mean. Personally, I like Moore’s version of the origin, but I find it best if it isn’t referenced very often. I agree with you that ‘less is more’ as far as The Joker is concerned.

  22. Another awesome issue. I’m really interested to see how this whole Red Hood gang story plays out. I loved the backup story too. I am glad we are able to see what Bruce was doing when he was ‘dead’ all those years.

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