This volume is instead a look at the early days of Batman. Bruce Wayne became Batman at the end of Volume 4: Secret City - besides gaining the familiar gadgets like the giant penny and the bat signal being created, there’s really nothing else to say about his origin. If this storyline had been shorter, I think the book would have been that much better.Īlso, let’s be clear: at this point, this is no longer a Batman origin story. Not to mention I’m not a fan of No Man’s Land so Savage City really didn’t work for me (except for the art). What’s more exciting: Batman fighting a monster on a blimp in the middle of a storm in the sky or Batman answering a riddle in a colourful room? Exactly. The story reaches a climax at the end of Dark City that the finale of Savage City can’t hope to match. Essentially it comes down to length: Zero Year, while hugely ambitious and largely successful, ended up being one arc too long, namely Savage City. So why not a full marks/rave review of the latest brilliant Snyder/Greg Capullo Batman book? It’s mostly great but I do have a few minor gripes, so I’ll get those out of the way first. If Secret City was a mixture of Year One and Killing Joke, Dark City is a mash note to the two Frank Miller classics, Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, while Savage City is a blend of No Man’s Land, the Arkham Asylum games and The Dark Knight Rises.

The two volume Zero Year storyline has been divided up into three mini-arcs: Secret City (Vol 4), Dark City and Savage City (Vol 5). He’s also enlisted the help of Dr Karl Helfern aka Dr Death, whose bone research has gotten a bit out of control, as well as Dr Pamela Isley’s research to turn the Dark City into the overgrown Savage City. The Red Hood gang has been dealt with but before Batman has a chance to catch his breath, the Riddler has taken the city hostage by taking away its power and plunging it into darkness.

Scott Snyder writes what has to be Riddler’s best book ever in this final part to the epic Zero Year storyline. Remember Jim Carrey in Batman Forever? I don’t think Riddler has ever recovered - until now.

Batman vol 4 zero year