Batman Volume 5: Zero Year - Dark City TP (The New 52): 05 (Batman (DC Comics Paperback))

Edward Nygma has Gotham City in a stranglehold, somehow having taken control of the power supply and holding it to ransom. Bruce Wayne stands at a crossroads: he can leave Gotham and continue his life as a billionaire or stand in the shadows and fight as the Batman.Fantastically drawn, beautifully coloured and with a superb plotline which shows exactly what our heroes have given up to do the right thing. Snyder knows Batman, but he has quintessentially captured Bruce Wayne for the reader.

I am on a marathon bing reading of the Batman Graphic Novels series as I have already read them. I simply love them and it's just as equally adorable to reread them once again. I love the art work, the dialogue and the story plot as well.Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Now I am onto the next volume in the Batman series. Best wishes Sean

[Review mostly copied from my review of Volume 4]Zero Year is the continuation of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's excellent Batman run after Death of the Family, though it should be noted that the story is out of sequence and in fact takes place several years before Death of the Family. The creative team were burdened here with the unenviable task of retelling the origin of the Dark Knight. Well, kind of. There are some formalities that need to be addressed with any superhero origin story, but the impression Zero Year leaves is that Snyder wanted to retread as little ground as possible.The overall arc is delivered in three smaller arcs, this volume containing the second and third while volume 4 contains the first (it's probably worth buying both together, since neither tells a full story on its own). In Dark City and Savage City, the second and third mini-arcs respectively, we see both Batman and Bruce Wayne's relationships with other members of the Bat-family take shape as Gotham turns to Batman when all other options have failed them. The writing is at its best when Snyder is putting his own spin on well-established lore and, as ever, Capullo's art is gorgeous and kinetic. This volume has a slight advantage over volume 4 in that it is somewhat less concerned with the origin of Batman and has a little more room to spread its wings.That said, where the book falters is in recreating moments we've seen several times already, between other comics, movies and animation. The book is intentionally referential to many other Batman stories but as such struggles somewhat to create its own identity. It's for this reason I referred to writing another origin for Batman as an unenviable task above. Due to the nature of comics, the details can't be changed too much while not changing them at all would be a waste of ink. The reality is that a new origin story was just not needed.However, Snyder and Capullo should be given full credit for delivering a story that is still engaging despite those disadvantages. In fact, it's remarkable just how relevant the arc is, given the context. I would easily recommended it to any Batman fans, especially those who have enjoyed Snyder and Capullos' run so far, and it's worth the asking price for more casual readers too. If you're looking for Batman's origin, read Year One by Frank Miller first, but for a good stripped-down Batman story, you can't go wrong with Zero Year.

The 'New 52' Batman series are fantastic stories which are beautifully written and very well illustrated. Arguably a reinvention. However, in truth they stand on their own and hold a depth and quality that has kept me gripped for the five thus far. Simply great stuff.

Crying. Absolute sobbing. Like cannot deal with this. Major feels throughout. Backstories have broken me. Also, great writing and planning of a comic, feels like a movie but better. Basically... woah.

I love Batman and I'm trying to read everything there is with him in it.I love this genesis of batman. It felt very organic. It really made u understand why he will always be batman until death. It also gave the premise of why Jim Gordan and Batman are so close.I especially liked the parts between Alfred and Batman. It added more depth to both characters relationship and character development.Scott Snyder has utterly made his own with one of the best batman origin stories I've read.

Love this chapter of the new 52 run on Batman, I'd go as far to put it up there with year one but that's a personal thing

Excellent