Comic Books

BATMAN #0

• Bruce Wayne has returned from his worldwide quest to take the law into his own hands!

• This issue reveals the early steps of building everything that surrounds Batman – the costume, the cave, the car, the gadgets!

Written by Scott Snyder
Backup Written by Scott Snyder & James T Tynion IV
Art by Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Backup Art by Andy Clarke
Cover by Greg Capullo

Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 20.1%
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  1. i’m a sucker for any batman origin story that features his gadgets!!

  2. Might as well start reading Batman with this, since it’s so amazing.

    But honestly im excited to read this issue.

  3. This is one of 3 or so books that I read IMMEDIATELY. I love it. Scott Snyder is a perfect fit.

  4. I love Snyder and Capullo but….not sure about yet ANOTHER origin issue (of sorts) for Batman.

  5. The only DC book I am still reading, and look forward to every month!

    • Same here! I’ve dropped everything but this one. Although GL’s zero issue has me intrigued

    • I’m still reading Batwing, All Star Western, Blue Beetle, Batman — and looking forward to them. The Zero issues have been disappointing so far, with the exception of Batwing.

    • I am also down to only Batman (and Wonderwoman). I started with 10 of the New 52, and one by one they were eliminated down to these 2. Batman #12 was excellent!

    • The Flash is a constant good read and the art… the art is AMAZING! The writing (while it was never BAD) has picked up the last few issues (including the annual).

    • What books did you drop? I dropped Action Comics, Grifter, JLI, Red Hood, Teen Titans, Superboy but I’m still liking many of the New 52 titles and I believe at $2.99 (1.99 a month later), they’re quality comics.
      my top new 52 (in no order):
      1. Batman 6. Batman & Robin
      2. All-star Western 7. Aquaman
      3. Earth Two 8. Batman Inc.
      4. Animal Man 9. Swamp Thing
      5. Wonder Woman 10. Supergirl

      of course I borrow half that list from friends and I’m now trade waiting Wonder Woman, Animal Man & Swamp Thing. FYI: all DC trades, including Vertigo, are buy 2 get 1 free at Barnes and Noble.

  6. So what happened to this Joker story I kept hearing about?

  7. I take it this is the calm before the shit-storm?!

  8. Aint bothering with 0 issues but will be back next issue.

  9. I am looking forward to this, but with something as definitive and timeless Batman: Year One out there, I do wonder what Scott has to add here. Plus of course, this issue wouldn’t be here without DC’s decision to have every book do this. That said, Scott is one talented dude, so I expect something cool.

  10. I’m a bit confused, was Batman:Earth One the “New52” origin or was that just to make another origin for the sake of writing things??

  11. i think this will be cool. my first thought when i heard of a yr1, zero issue was “really? hasn’t Miller covered this thoroughly enough?” but then i read the solicitation and i think an “origin of gadgets” story will work well. well enough anyway to get me through until next month when the fun really starts.
    go team Joker!

  12. There are so many different pieces to the origin it would be hard to fit it all into one story. It’s kind of nice that they can expand on certain aspects of the origin in the zero issues.

  13. I’m glad this is the story of how he gets his stuff as opposed to how his parents die….again.

  14. As a Batman fan I’m always game for an origin story, especially one by the one and only Scott Synder! Never lets me down!

  15. So excited for this one!

  16. how he makes the stuff was always the most fascinating part to me. I don’t wanna see Crime Alley again but I do want to see him building the car

  17. I was a bit uncertain about another Batman origin issue, but I’m interested to see what this particular creative team will do with it.

    Seeing how Capullo draws a younger Bruce/Batman will be good.

    And the gadget angle could be cool, as long as Snyder doesn’t get too longwinded with it.

  18. I know I’m a total nerd, but I thought for quite a long time about this episode and determined that it could have taken place in between chapters one and two of ‘Batman: Year One’ (or at least before the end of chapter one).

    Although his methods are a lot more high tech in this story, we have to assume that Bruce was already experimenting with gadgets and gizmos or else he’d never have gotten around to inventing all of those neat toys in the first place. At the beginning of this episode, Bruce is still fighting crime in disguise, rather than as Batman. Plus, Jim Gordon is still a Lieutenant, as opposed to Captain or Commissioner. That’s where I fit this into the ‘definitive’ continuity that exists in my head, anyway.

    If the ‘Red Hood’ turns out to be The Joker (which is always possible, if a little unlikely), that actually fits with both Alan Moore’s ‘The Killing Joke’ and Ed Brubaker’s ‘The Man Who Laughs’, especially as Joker said in ‘TKJ’ that even he isn’t sure of his own origins (and the shrink says as much at the end of ‘TMWL’), he prefers his past to be “multiple choice” if you remember.

    I know, I know, its a new continuity and some stuff still matters whilst some stuff doesn’t, blah blah blah, but I enjoy tying it all in and forcing it to make sense.

    On another note, I think the backup feature was actually more enjoyable than the main story. Andy Clarke gave us some nice artwork and James Tynion found the voices of all three future Robins quite well (all except Tim, who seemed a bit cocky – but enjoyable nonetheless). Another good issue.

    • I used to do this all of the time. I loved trying to make a timeline of all the Batman stories (and by extension, all DC stories in general). The New 52 really ruined that for me. These characters aren’t the same characters they were before. Sure everyone treats Batman’s chronology like it hasn’t been altered, but the Batman from Year One is the same Batman who revealed his identity to Catwoman in Hush. He’s the same Batman who knocked out Guy Gardner in one punch. He was the Batman who watched his city collapse from a 7.6 earthquake and rebuilt it after saving it from becoming a No Man’s Land. These things are gone. This is a new Bruce Wayne. A new Red Hood Gang. Even a new Gotham. I don’t mind it as much as I thought I would. Quite frankly, I’m enjoying getting to know them all over again.

    • It fits in perfect with the Killing Joke…except then this Red Hood wouldn’t be the Joker. Remember the two thugs forced the soon-to-be Joker to wear the hood for the first time the night he turned into Joker, and Bruce was already Batman at that time and had been tracking down the Red Hood. This situation also makes me wonder now about the Joker’s New 52 origin. Has it turned up anywhere yet? If not the Red Hood and factory then what? However, I do like the idea of including the Red Hood gang into the story. It. actually reminded me of The Dark Knight movie opening scene, so maybe it is a new, reworked Joker origin in the making. I’m sure we will all find out soon enough.

    • @WAC – A really good point, but I now imagine that the criminals robbing the card factory were merely copying the Red Hood gang in order to take the heat off of themselves. That way, Batman is going after the copycats quite a while time after he first tangled with the original (and far more deadly) Red Hoods. You see the depths of my sadness!? lol.

      @ -buck2889 – Y’know, I hadn’t thought about ‘No Man’s Land’, but it was referenced in Grant Morrison’s run (at least twice) and Grant’s work must still be canon because Damian is Robin and Batman Inc is still ongoing. I’m sure you could keep it in mind if you so desired. The biggest challenge, of course, is the timing. I found that I had to disregard the apparent timeline of events, otherwise its just silly (and epics like ‘Long Halloween’ & ‘Dark Victory’ are very difficult to fit into continuity if you don’t). I’m so glad you replied mate! I feel a bit less alone in the Universe now! 🙂

    • i like the Joker’s origin being a multiple choice mystery. i like him telling a different origin story every other day of the week depending on his mood. keeps ya guessing. keeps it interesting. i like Morrison’s concept that the Joker has no definitive personality traits aside from psychosis. i especially like Nolan’s “do ya know how i got these scars?” routine which changes depending on who he asks the question to. i like a Joker who paints his glasgow smiling face. seems scarier to me, someone who takes the time to do that.
      i like the Killing Joke, EXCEPT for the Red Hood impersonation origin of a desperate comedian who falls into a vat of chemicals and goes insane. it’s OK, but doesn’t quite reach the itch.
      so i hope to hell that Snyder sidesteps his ego(not that he’s an egomaniac) and avoids trying to tell a DEFINITIVE Joker origin that all other writers must follow in the new52. i don’t mind a new version of the story, though.

    • I like Joker’s ‘Killing Joke’ origin, but I also like that it isn’t necessarily definitive.

      I also really like it that Alan Moore wrote the best known and most widely accepted version. Personally, I wouldn’t like to see it changed either, or even updated.

      I must say, though, that I really like the idea that Joker was once a shy and naive failed comedian. That way, he’s an example of what happens when a good man goes bad. It makes him far worse than Cornelius Stirk, Professor Pyg or Mr. Zsasz who are all uniquely mentally ill.

      Joker is elemental, he’s a force of nature and his past should always be wreathed in mystery and confusion. I agree with you about the multiple origins and I like Brubaker’s interpretation that Joker just can’t remember where he came from or who he was.

      However, I believe that there are more lucid moments when he almost feels remorse (like most serial killers). You can see this Joker in ‘Killing Joke’ or ‘Pushback’ by A.J Lieberman. There was a moment somewhere in Morrison’s run where Batman says something like “I need to watch him constantly…In case his original persona surfaces” and I think it does in small ways. Look at his ‘Oberon Sexton’ character in Morrison’s ‘Batman & Robin’ – he’s almost a good guy in the beginning of that arc.

      I’d like to see a story where Joker’s original personality comes back in a big way. We could see a very different Batman then (not unlike the ambiguous ending of ‘Killing Joke’), where he brings Joker to justice, but does so with remorse and mercy. If that story could still keep Joker’s origin a mystery, you’d have an excellent read, with some really interesting moments to savour again and again. Imagine you had a dream that you killed someone, but when you woke up you found out it was true. It would be like that for ‘Jack’. A real tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.

      It could also be read as the Silver Age Joker waking up to see what his Modern Age counterpart has been up to all these years. I’d love to see that.

    • actually Alan Moore didn’t come up with the origin of Red Hood falling into a vat of chemicals and surviving to become the Joker. Bill Finger wrote it way back in 1951 in Detective Comics #168(i had to wiki the year and issue#, lol).
      i think Moore tweeked it a bit by filling in some gaps that had not(to my knowledge) been covered like Joker being a failing comedian who needs money for his family and who is forced/blackmailed into a robbery impersonated another famous crook of the time.
      i believe it was a post-crisis retelling of his origin from when they decided to relaunch/reboot the whole DC line back in the 80’s and Moore just decided to add more details. like how DC is with the BW books. i wonder if Bill Finger was somewhere in ’88 bitchin’ how he told a complete origin and how no one added to Moby Dick’s origin. hahahahahaha

    • The 6 year timeline is the only thing that bothered me in this issue. Damian is 10 so……? DC, Snyder or Capullo: if you’re out there, fix that time to 11 years in the trade please. Year One and Talia could all fit if the timeline is stretched.

    • Hey Sitara – I know it wasn’t an Alan Moore story originally. I didn’t put that across as well as I could have. I meant that loads of people have read ‘Killing Joke’ but not so many have read the original (including myself). So Moore’s tweaked version is the version most people know. Thanks for the history lesson though, I didn’t actually know that Bill Finger wrote that tale. I always felt that he should’ve been acknowledged as Batman’s co-creator, personally. How about you?

    • he certainly should have been. seems like Bob Kane tried to fuck over everyone whoever contributed to Batman.

    • I always say “Bob Kane and Bill Finger” when I talk about who created Batman. Like “Stan Lee & Steve Ditko created Spider Man” or “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Fantastic Four”, though, where Kirby is concerned, I usually put his name first.

  19. Sorry, just did not care for this issue. I love the series, but this one really lacked substance. The backup was better than the main story, but there just wasn’t a ton there either. Oh well, I’m excited for next month and the return of the clown prince.

  20. Question about the backup: It starts ‘Five years ago.’ So, Batman went through three Robins and is on his fourth over the course of a mere five years? That just strikes me as a little odd.

    • Yes. The Batverse suffered the most from the decision to make the gap between Justice League and the other #1s a mere five years. Flash metnions in Justice League that Batman had been operating for some time before that, so I guess you could stretch it to six. Either way, it doesn’t make good sense. Apparently the office of Robin is capped at a one year term. We just have to roll with it.

    • That’s a very valid point. The numbers just don’t add up. I chose to disregard that part of it, personally.

    • I just consider it a new52 origin of the bat-family. 6 years ago, Bruce infiltrated the Red Hood gang. 5 years ago, Gordon puts up the bat-signal for the first time. Then within the next 5 years Jason, Dick, Tim, and Barbara all become their alter-ego’s.

      So basically, Nightwing started off as Nightwing and he didnt have to “graduate” from being a former Robin.

      I tend to seperate the JL stuff as its own entity, it just becomes too much at that point.

    • I could be wrong, but I think I remember reading somewhere that Tim Drake skipped over Robin and went straight to Red Robin

    • DC is really fudging up Batman and his Robins. I think it really lessens Dick and Bruce’s relationship to have been so short. All they had to do is say Bruce has been batman since he was 18 and make him 28 now. Then he could have had 1 year as Batman, 5 years with Dick, 2 with Jason, 1 with Tim and one where he was “Dead” and Dick was Batman. They still say that Dick was Batman so that really gives Bruce like 4 years as Batman which is crazy.

      The biggest issue is how is Damian 10 if Bruce has been Batman only 5 years?

      This issue had good stories but a bad timeline.

    • This was my only issue with the book, and thus the New 52 Batman chronology in general. I rationalize it with the fact that the Jason Todd and Tim Drake timelines have always been fudged. This is at least Todd’s third origin, and Drake’s second, and his first one didn’t even make a lot of chronological sense. Kinda confused where it puts Damian too. I would have like to have seen Jason Todd with blonde hair…that would have been real throwback. Good issue though, I really like Snyder’s Batman.

  21. I thought this was great. Liked the backup more than the main issue.

  22. POTW even if it was just the backup for $3.99.

  23. Someone get James Tynion IV on a Tim Drake solo book stat. great backup (and the main story was pretty good too).

  24. Loved issue 12, but this one not as much.

  25. Snyder is great but I’ve noticed he likes to use the line, “Well, well.” a lot. That and, “funny thing…”

  26. Ya, backup was way better but honestly, the fanboy base is screaming for a team robin ongoing! Snyder needs to make this happen!

    • You know, I had that thought too.

      A team book with Dick, Jason & Tim all working/fighting together would be very, very cool. The only problem I can see is the group dynamic, which may be a little unbalanced given that Dick & Tim are good friends and work very well together, but Jason is a little South of sanity and more than a little bit bitter. It may seem a little bit one sided.

      Still, it would be great to see Jason’s methods (killing, for example) conflicting with Dick’s (winging it, making jokes, taking unnecessary risks) and Tim’s (very cerebral, like a junior Batman). I really think there is mileage in this idea, it could even be a good way to reintroduce Stephanie Brown to continuity. Also: Maybe Batwoman’s father could be a supporting character, bringing him further into the Bat-family.

      Damian, (a character I really love) would be better off left out of it, IMHO. He’d be better served in ‘Batman & Robin’ or possibly with a relaunch of the ‘Robin’ series.

      I’d envy whoever got to write that series. What an assignment!

    • While a Team Robin book could be pretty cool, I was thinking the Batman & Robin title could be better utilized (I’m not reading it currently, so I’ll apologize now to those who are happy with that series). Basically, that title should jump back and forth to different periods of time within the 5 or 6 years Batman has been active, alternating story-arcs with different Robins. In addition to this filling in the blank time since the New 52 started, it’d show us how Bruce has evolved, as well as how he interacted with each new sidekick.

    • the backup was great. I think someone else suggested this already, but just a Robin series that does stories of the four Robins, various time periods, team-ups. That would potentially rock.

    • That was me. I suggested it a while back. I may not have been the first though. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we all agree it needs to happen. I’d be more than willing to forgive the ridiculous timeline if I can see all the boys in a book together, and see Tim Drake shine like he should.

    • Because of the 5 year timeline, I’m curious how the torch was passed from Robin to Robin. I can imagine a teary eyed Batman saying “Time to leave the nest….sniff….little bird.” (sorry)

      The backup kind of makes it seem possible that Dick, Jason and Tim could be Robin simultaneously. I know that flies in the face of past continuity, but I think it would be a lot of fun to see Dick, Jason and Tim as “classmates” in a sense, training and working with Batman together.

    • @WheelHands – I’m with you.

      @Sitara – As usual, I agree. (there’s not a ‘But’ coming, because I’ve gone with ‘However’ this time round…)

      However, I think DC could effectively incorporate all these ideas into one or two ongoing books. ‘Batman & Robin’ is an important book as it focusses on Bruce & Damian’s relationship – something that needs to be explored. It is potentially the most rewarding of all the Bat-Books, but this story requires time to grow and develop. I personally wouldn’t change it.

      Having said that, a book starring the three previous Robin’s would be able to explore these different time periods in flashback, as well as telling new stories. Especially so if the first story arc somehow tied all of the character’s pasts as Robin together (maybe a new enemy who preys on kid sidekicks because he was once a sidekick himself, or whatever…). If the story effected all of the previous Robins, it could be the motivation for them all to work together to solve a mystery that is deeply personal to each of them, but in a different way.

      This way, we would get the Robin series, the Batman interaction and the individual character development that we want to see, but Bruce & Damian could continue to develop and grow as a Dynamic Duo.

      So…What do you guys think?

    • Sorry Sitara, I meant Cornflakes. You aren’t even on this thread. D’oh! Epic Bat Fail.

    • i’m here in spirit.

  27. I thought this was uncharacteristically boring for Snyder. Anyone else?

    • I keep trying…zzz…to respond to your…zzz…zzz…post oopsxlandmine but I keep…zzz…falling asleep reading this issue.

      I agree. I gave it a 4 based solely on the backup. A rare misstep for one of my favorite comic writers, Master Snyder.

    • It did seem a little bit ‘oh was that it’, so next month hopefully?!

  28. 5 stars and PotW, if only for the first great Tim Drake story since the new 52

  29. I liked the beginning, but the rest of the main story was just talking. I thought the back-up was a better than the main story in this issue but its all good. Still don’t like the 5 year thing.

  30. This issue seemed like it didn’t need to exist. I got a very strong “Editorially mandated zero issue” feel from the story. Basically Red hood robs a bank, Bruce escapes on a motorcycle, talks to Gordon, and then there was no ending. The Red Hood Gang was cool and all, but there wasn’t really an arc to the story. I still love this title, and Capullo’s art was great as always, but overall this was much ado about nothing. The back-up was pretty cool, I’ll give it that, oh well.

    • There was a caption on the last page of the main feature saying something to the effect that this Red Hood story gets picked up again after the Joker arc. So instead of this being a one-off story with a complete arc, it’s kind of like a prologue to a story we’ll get to later.

    • Yeah the more I think on it, the less I am bothered by it. I guess my expectations were set up by the other zero issues. With Batman’s history, a straight-up origin story probably would’ve been boring and polarizing. At least with this we have more to look forward to.

  31. Really like Andy Clarke’s art and hope to see him take over once Capullo’s finished up the run.

  32. This was alright. At this point, I just sit back and enjoy this title. It’s so consistently great, that I honestly don’t pit one issue against the ones that came before. I’m perfectly happy soaking up the Capullo art, and knowing that Batman’s in good hands again.

    I am so excited for Death of the Family!

  33. that back-up was really somethin’. the main event seemed like a bit of a filler with little sustenance. it was very enjoyable nonetheless. solid 4 stars as usual.

  34. This was very weak. I think there is a lot of fanboy/glow being added into this run and especially this issue with the PotW numbers for what it is.

  35. Did anyone else think that Jason Todd was drawn in a way that looks a lot like Gordon-Leavitt, particularly in the second to last page? Maybe at least in his 3rd Rock but short hair days?

  36. Not everyone is talking about how nice the backup story was. In just a few pages, Tynion is able to define personalities for Dick, Babs, Tim, and Jason; they are so different from each other.

    Please check my mini-review of the backup feature in Batman #0 here:

    http://bit.ly/QhGefp

    Comments and feedback are always welcome!

  37. Though I was disappointed by this issue overall, I’m extremely happy that this issue has allowed me to accept the fact that this New 52 Batman is a new Batman entirely. This is not the ignorantly righteous street-Batman of Year One. This Batman was not ripped apart psychologically by the Black Hand, only to be ripped apart again by the Court of Owls directly after. This is a new continuity that does not fit with the old. And its only now, a year later, that I’m realizing this.

    Anyways….will anybody feel cheated if nobody dies in Death of the Family? DC should create a hotline in which we get to vote on who in the Bat-family dies…

    • Call me old fashioned, but as much as I love what Snyder’s been doing, this still reads as the same Miller Batman that’s been around since ’86. A little younger, sure, but he’s the same Bruce Wayne. Miller struck so resonant a chord that every writer has more or less followed his character mold since, including Snyder. If anyone, I’d say Grant Morrison writes the freshest Batman, and has been doing so since Batman and Son. Of course, we could argue that opinion all day, but this is far from an “entirely new” Batman, and it shouldn’t have to be.

      More than any other character with the arguable exception of Superman, Batman has had the good fortune to be refined over the last seven decades. Snyder’s Batman is just another signature on that long history. Another ingredient in an ever simmering stew. A very delicious ingredient, but nothing revolutionary. Nor should it be. Batman works the way he is. Snyder and Capullo are doing wonderful things with the character, and I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves with The Joker. They’re doing the most exciting stories that have come along in years, and I applaud their efforts, but I don’t think they’re out to reinvent the wheel.

      I have never once thought that there was anything “ignorantly righteous” about Bruce Wayne in Year One. In fact, Bruce’s naive and untried characterization has always been one of my favorite things about that story, but to each his own. One could argue that Snyder’s Batman is just as ignorantly righteous as he’s ever been, and that was more or less the entire point of the Court of Owls story. He took him down a peg, and he did it beautifully. Many have complained that it was too similar to the Black Glove storyline and too soon, but I disagree. On a more petty note, over in Batman Inc., they’ve referenced Dick’s brief stint under the cowl, so I’m pretty sure the Black Glove (or something like it) has happened in the “new” continuity.

      I’m glad you’re enjoying the New 52. Perhaps you’ve reached some epiphany that I have yet to reach. Personally, I think the relaunch has been a creative failure from which Gotham has suffered the most. At the end of the day though, we all make our own continuity. We all have a thousand different definitions of who Bruce Wayne is and how he should behave. It’s the writers that have the unique ability to tap into that elusive universal definition that become legends in this industry, and I wholeheartedly feel that Snyder is one of those talents. At the end of the day though, he’s still writing the same Bruce Wayne that we all (himself included) grew up with. He’s just putting his spin on it, which is how this whole thing should, and has always, worked.

    • @WheelHands, you aren’t alone. Snyder is a very formulaic and young writer and it shows to many people that are not blinded/dazzled by it (which unfortunately is a lot). He is competent but his work all suffers from the same issues over and over again and it seems like it just gets a big pass by otherwise savvy comic readers. I’m not a fan, this Batman run was as close as I had ever gotten but IMO he went way off the rails with issue #10 and never recovered. His story was very real and believable (in context) up to that point and then it went so absurdly over the top and far-fetched that it lost that grounding it had in spades. I find it frustrating more than anything.

    • @Zhurrie: I appreciate the support, but I’m not sure we’re on the same page. I consider myself a big fan of Scott Snyder. His work has been full of the kind of stuff I want from a Batman story. He’s got a firm grip on the character, and he’s taking Bruce Wayne to new heights while managing to preserve the essentials. I’m also an avid reader of American Vampire. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by him that I would consider “absurdly over the top”. In fact, I’d say he’s probably the most exciting young voice in comics right now.

      Maybe I wasn’t being clear in my ramblings above. I was just trying to explain to manwithoutbeer that I didn’t agree that this was an entirely new Batman, and that Snyder’s work on the title, while great, is still in line with the pre-relaunch characterizations.

      But hey, if you’re not enjoying the book, drop it like it’s hot. I don’t ever recommend buying and reading stuff you’re not enjoying.

    • I agree with Wheelhands here. His posts made a lot of sense and were very well thought out.

      @Zhurrie – I felt the same way you did after Batman Issue 10 (you can go back and read my essay about it!), but issue 11 was so good that it really changed my mind. I think that Scott Snyder is doing some very good work on Batman, although I would have liked something a little more welcoming to fresh readers for his first arc. Nevertheless, I loved ‘Court Of Owls’ as a story.

      He has said, on this very website, no less, that he is still learning and perfecting his craft. I think it is very difficult for a prose writer to enter comic writing. Initially, enthusiasm is your best asset.

      Speaking as somebody who has written both comics and novels (to absolutely zero acclaim – I hasten to add), the early pitfalls (too many panels per page, overly descriptive panel information leading to cluttered pages) are still occasionally there in Scott’s comics. Also, the biggest problem, overly heavy dialogue, is definitely still there as well.

      However, Scott has taken to comics like a duck to water in most other respects and he largely handles the form like a master. Even when an issue has annoyed me, I’ve still flocked to buy the next issue straight away in order to find out what happens next. His characterization is spot on and his contributions to the Bat-World have been more numerous (and, I suspect they will be longer lasting) than most veteran Bat-writers. He is also very brave, making big changes that may alienate some fans but still taking the risks and trusting us to go with him. This is something that is very tricky in comics and can only really be done by true masters.

      I also feel that he has found his own voice in comics remarkably quickly. As a ‘name’ writer who came to comics, Scott has been forced to ‘grow up in public’ a little bit. Most writers have entire backlogs of ‘early’ material for indy publishers under their belts by the time they hit the majors, but to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Snyder did not. He has made an incredible start to comics and established himself as a unique and exciting young voice. I’m glad to see DC placing so much faith in him, personally.

      Anyway, I’m not trying to change your mind on this one, I’m just saying that you might not want to give up on Scott’s work entirely. My theory is that if he is this good when starting out, then the best is yet to come…

    • I actually don’t disagree. He is young, he clings to some very rigid formulaic writing devices which IMO do him a disservice, he will most likely outgrow them but he may not either if he is never forced to. People are a bit too quick to make him the darling of the current writing scene, he’s good, he’s not a master. He also has a very academic approach to writing which again is mostly due to his age/experience/job but it fails him more than it helps. Severed, for example, was a very “real” and believable tale with some scary aspects tossed in in perfect measure, then the last issue it goes fully supernatural for no reason at all except my best guess that he got greedy and wanted to continue the sales/story when it clearly was meant to end. Batman went the same route, up until issue #10 it had been on the whole believable and realistic (to a degree) with a really good pace and tempo and then it came crashing down when it went too far into the unbelievable for what the story was (the sky hook fight, talking in a jet engine, crashing to Earth and the Talon on the exact same floor magically, the pin somehow missed for years in the painting right in his main living area, etc.) it just didn’t need any of that. It could have had a solid heavy suit to heavy suit battle on land and the possible relative angle could have been woven in with more skill and care. It just always seems like he has trouble ending on the same notes as the story. It gives much of his work an off-kilter feeling when you read it and almost come to expect it at some point near the end which is disappointing. It may change, it may not, I’ve enjoyed some entire Snyder runs I have been utterly frustrated by endings to the point that it brings the entire run down too though. I’m not writing the guy of entirely nor am I saying he’s without value.

    • Of course not. I understand that and your criticisms are totally valid. Still, I really think that Scott Snyder has a big future ahead of him in comics and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next. Peace. 🙂

  38. Awesome. That’s all I have to say about that.

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