| Title | : | DC Comics: Zero Year |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 140124937X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401249373 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 448 |
| Publication | : | First published November 4, 2014 |
Journey back to the Zero Year to see the early tales of heroes and heroines such as Nightwing, Green Arrow, Batgirl, Superman, Birds of Prey, Catwoman and more!
Collecting: Batman 24-25, Detective Comics 25, Batgirl 25, Batwing 25, Batwoman 25, Birds of Prey 25, Catwoman 25, The Flash 25, Green Arrow 25, Green Lantern Corps 25, Nightwing 25, Red Hood and The Outlaws 25, & Action Comics 25
DC Comics: Zero Year Reviews
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There is a super hurricane that is on track to hit Gotham City. The Riddler struck the city with an EMP pulse leaving the city in a blackout with looting and plenty of crime. All the hero's in this book have an origin around this big storm that is about to hit and the people creating havoc in the city. There is a taste of each person and Batman is the only character who shows up randomly in other stories. We also see something with Superman and Flash here too. The Green Arrow makes an appearance. The other characters are Batman related and villains.
This was entertaining. The frustrating part is you wanted to go on with the story and see what the storm brings and they never really get there. They simply jump to another character and give another origin story. There is a lot of work with and it has the potential to be interesting, but it sure is a lot of threads to keep up with. When does the Joker surface? I'm curious. -
I'd read quite a bit of this trade in other trades elsewhere, and I'm going to break this one down into individual issues rather than review the thing as a whole, because like most anthology trades, this is going to have a range in quality.
Batman #24-25
Technically the end of the second act of Zero Year, this does read surprisingly well on its own, including the origin of everyone's favourite Bat-Villain, and leaving you hanging to entice you into buying the next volume of Batman to see where the story goes. Excellent art, as always.
Action Comics #25
I'm never usually a big fan of Superman, but this is a nice little story that shows he's not all-powerful, and that his more headstrong days of youth were quite formative as to how he approaches life nowadays. Great art from Aaron Kuder too.
Batgirl #25
Poor Babs can't catch a break. Even when she's not Batgirl, she has to deal with creeps, her psycho brother, and her dad not being there when she needs him. Even though Batman's not in this issue at all, there's already glimmers of Batgirl in Barbara here, which makes this a successful Zero Year issue too.
Batwing #25
I've not read any Batwing before, but Luke Fox makes a good protagonist from this issue alone. This issue also seems to inform upcoming plots in the main Batwing series as well as being a decent done-in-one story, so it pulls double duty that way too. Not too sure about the pre-teen villain developing what essentially looks like Venom in a school chem lab, but y'know.
Batwoman #25
Kate Kane's whole schtick is that she doesn't operate as a Bat, so it's nice to see that she doesn't actually meet Batman in this issue, since it's been established that she doesn't deal with him until much later. Her heroism comes across well though, and her relationship with her father, and with Maggie Sawyer, starts strong.
Birds of Prey #25
This is basically Black Canary's show, with none of the other Birds popping up at all. It's a decent if unremarkable story, involving ninjas whose identity is never revealed, and supporting characters I've no idea about. Maybe this would read better if I'd read any Birds of Prey, but it's okay otherwise.
Catwoman #25
Thank god this wasn't written by Ann Nocenti or this'd be awful. As such, it's written by John Layman, and is enjoyable enough. It's a typical Catwoman caper and doesn't really do anything spectacular, but it's a solid Catwoman story that shows the origin of her whip if nothing else.
Detective Comics #25
First off, superb art. Jason Fabok can do no wrong. And John Layman turns in an awesome Zero Year issue that weaves in and out of the Zero Year continuity to create a clever side-origin for the Bat-Signal as well as the beginnings of the Jim Gordon we know and love, as he takes down corrupt cops and makes an enemy of the Black Mask.
Flash #25
When I read this issue when it was released, it didn't really make much sense. It doesn't resolve itself, and focuses more on Harvey Bullock than Barry Allen, but looking back on it now, it's more of a primer for Bucccellato and Manapul's run on Detective Comics, introducing all of the story points that pop up in Icarus. On it's own, it's a bit naff. But read in that context, it's not bad.
Green Arrow #25
This issue features Batman for one single page, and that's really all it needs, since this is an Oliver Queen story at its heart. There's an introduction for a villain that returns later in Green Arrow, and we also get to meet John Diggle before he becomes important in the main GA series, so at least this issue works as an issue of Green Arrow instead of just becoming caught up in Zero Year's madness.
Green Lantern Corps #25
I don't particularly like John Stewart, but this issue isn't bad. It's hard for him to constantly say I'M A MARINE DID YOU KNOW THAT when he's surrounded by other marines, so that side of him gets dialed back. It's also fun to see a Green Lantern fight a conflict without his ring, plus Anarky is always a fun villain.
Nightwing #25
Dick Grayson is quite young when this issue takes place, so it's a bit difficult to have him involved in a lot of superheroics, especially since this is all pre-Robin, but it's not a bad story that shows us the corruption in Haley's Circus starting early, as well as the New 52 Amygdala, who is a bit gross.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #25
Probably one of my favourite Zero Year issues, this one ties Jason Todd into the Joker and Talia Al Ghul right from the get-go, and really hammers home what his relationships will be with them over the next five years or so. Great stuff. -
Want to sell a Batman/Gotham event book? Act like its full of Batman, when it's not. At all.
This is pretty much a collection of one shots that act as the non-brand-name Bologna in the sandwich between two pieces of gourmet artisanal organic Scott Snyder Batman bread.
The Batman stuff you've already read, and if not? FOR SHAME!
So we get: a pretty lame Superman/Lana Lang story about whales and oil tankers and never quitting...yawn, thanks ABC after school special.
A Batgirl faces the flood story that we already read in Batgirl...she's a chip off the Gordon block
An asinine story about Luke Fox, future second Batwing and fighting bullies, which ends up accidentally creating his nemesis...who is so stupid I want to go back and punch some 90s writer who inspired the costume.
A halfway decent Batwoman story about Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer in the flood.
Black Canary and her backstory and how she ended up working for the Feds.
Lame Catwoman, is this Nocenti? No, it's John Layman!
Layman redeems himself with the Jim Gordon story...dirty cops, Batman, Gordon and Bullock.
Flash from the TPB...already read...Barry meets Harv Bullock and Iris West, but only falls in love with one...
Jeff Lemire and a Green Arrow that seems to introduce Diggle...makes more sense to me, I thought the character was named after Andy...
John Stewart as a Marine vs. Anarky in a Katrina-sequel, with shades of civil rights? Hmm...
Dick Grayson ends up saving Sal Maroni's kid, and therefore Haly is introduced to Maroni....oops! Oh and we get first appearance of Amygdala! Who? Yup.
The best is saved for last, in my opinion...Jason Todd dons a Red Hood, runs into the Red Hood gang, the original Red Hood, now a man wrapped in bandages and laughing maniacally...hmmm...who could that be? Well if you want even more chills? There's also a scene with Jason and this fellow in a basement, and the fellow is standing above Jason with...yes, a crowbar...
The final panel of this character shows undoubtedly, this is the Joker! I found him pretty terrifying. Which means, it worked.
We also hear Jason say he never wants to be a Red Hood...how clever...not...but we find out the woman he crossed paths with is none other than Talia Al Ghul.
These are all issue #25 from each series. Tied in for Zero Year cash grabs, showing the heroes before they were, except it seems to indicate that Batman was the original in terms of timeline, with Supes, Flash, and Green Arrow close on his heels. it would be another 6 yrs before the rest of the gang show up in Gotham as wee heroes.
It's a decent collection, nothing to write home about. I'd stick with the Original Batman stuff, and maybe cherry pick your faves from the rest, but I'm sure many have already read most of these in other forms...I've read about 1/3+ or so...
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A collection of tie-ins to the Zero Year event collected in
Batman, Vol. 4: Zero Year - Secret City and
Batman, Vol. 5: Zero Year - Dark City. Utterly forgettable and with minimal addition to the storyline. Most of the issues I found to be distractions. The basic set-up for each was that each of the main DC titles (and especially the Bat-related ones) took a break from their continuing arc to show what was happening in their lives six years ago when the Batman first emerged on the rooftops of Gotham. Most of the tales are really lame and feel like filler. They don't add to the complexity of Wayne's character growth or the growth of their titular characters in any meaningful way. I read these mixed into the main Batman arc in release order to try and see how the event unfolded and I felt at the conclusion of each individual issue that it was a waste of my time.
What's odd to me is the newly compressed timeline of the New 52 universe. Batman has been around for six years by the time of Death of the Family, which means that in that time he trained four Robins, witnessed Barbara Gordon's crippling and then return as Batgirl, started Batman Inc., DIED, was gone for a year, came back from the dead and has been fighting crime on the streets of Gotham for one more year. The bit with the Robins makes no sense unless all of their ages are retconned and some spent mere months with Bruce before moving out on their own. Possible, but stretching things to be sure.
Skip. -
Response to this collection is likely dependent on one's expectations and preconceived notions about the volume. For me, it's difficult to rate this book, because I knew little about it before reading it, and it's a collection of New 52 issues from several series. There are both gains and losses to compiling the stories in this format. On one hand, I enjoyed having the New 52 origin stories of many of DC's best known heroes all in one place, as well as a volume that establishes the way in which the characters relate to each other in the rebooted universe. On the other hand, while I enjoy variety as well as (or more, generally) than the next person, this "tasting menu"of DC heroes left me wanting more of certain stories, and slogging through others just to finish. Due to the fact that this is a collection of issues by many creative teams, the quality of storytelling and art were uneven, with some issues shining, while others' drabness was accentuated by proximity to much stronger issues. Although the stories are connected narratively and thematically (chaos and darkness bring out both the best and the worst of humanity, symbolism of Gotham City for the individual as well as government, greater society, etc) via the Gotham power outage and impending storm, the connection sometimes feels tenuous or contrived. It also frequently left me wanting a longer study arc rather than merely vignettes. This goes back to expectations and purpose for reading a collection like this one.
P.S. This definitely drummed up my interest in some New 52 characters that I hadn't been following. -
Honestly, the best parts of this were the two issues of Batman. (24 & 25) I also liked the Superman story as well. other than that, I was not impressed. I really wanted to like this. Really, I did.
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I wasn't a big fan of the Zero Year storyline that ran through Batman but I thought I'd give this a try. This collection basically shows many of the Batfamily and friends during the time of Zero Year: right after Bruce Wayne returns, after Batman first begins to fight crime and when the Riddler first appears and blacks out the city, plus there is a major storm approaching the city. During this time, what are all of them doing?
Many of them were not "heroes" yet. Most of the stories were the same: showing how the goodness of each character shone through, even before they put on a costume. They demonstrated how they weren't scared to do something when they saw something wrong. Strong idea, but becomes formulaic and repetitive. The best part though is that it gives you a glimpse into their past in the New 52 which has a revamped timeline.
I liked the Superman and the Jim Gordon one, hated the John Stewart and disliked the Dinah Drake story. The rest were just average. The art varied as well but most ranged from good to excellent.
The trade also gives you the first chapter from Batman Zero Year and then another chapter, somewhere farther along in the story. -
What was the point of the "New 52" if we're trying to rewrite the new history that we just made less than four years ago? It doesn't make sense, and worse, it's lazy writing!
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It was nice reading some of the origin stories of the superheroes and supervillains.
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It's a great collection but sadly, the actual comics weren't that great. 3.5 stars.
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Gotta love when comics companies reprint content you have already read.
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As a compilation it was a decent read. We got to see the origin stories from Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl, Night Wing, and Dick Grayson to name a few. Some were more I testing than others and the artwork was stunning.
This would be a great stepping stone for those unsure where to start with DC heroes. You get a taste for there character and a brief look at what their story arc could be.
Fast read, fantastic art, and intrigue left enough if you wished to delve more. Would be interesting if they had one similar for the villains. -
There is a certain attractiveness that prequel stories have, as it brings us to the actualization of our what-ifs about our favorite characters.
However, it appears that there in the age of prelude, it seems that we are too saturated with it. I think this collection revealed us too much and too little with
DC Comics: The New 52. Some aspects of the narratives were too forced, although some came out naturally and fine (as with Batwing and Batwoman). Fine read overall, but don't expect too much. -
One of the reasons I love book collections is that you don't have to read 13 different comics to get the whole story - and that's how many are included here. It all revolves around a storm in Gotham 6 years ago, and 13 heroes are followed. Some of them are admittedly hokey. But prequels are a lot of fun. And for each, heroism is innate in them, even before they were heroes.
I especially liked the Gordon and Red Hood (but I have a special soft spot for Red Hood). And the John Stewart story was especially poignant in today's world. -
I don't know about this. It had some really interesting stories but a lot of confusion as well. I suppose there is a broader picture I am missing with some of the bit characters that were here and there, but overall it seems like the timing doesn't match up and the reboot of the Batman Family seems really contradictory.
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I think I may be the perfect reader for this book. I know enough about these characters to pick up a few interesting hints about their future, but I know little enough to not be two picky about any changes that might exist in their backstory. Fun re-start.
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3.5 stars
A nice large bindup of one shots set in the early days of the DC universe. There's an overarching plot throughout the book but the real draw for me was seeing how a lot of the characters behave and interact in the world before they became well known to the general public.
I can't say too much about this as I'm a very casual superhero fan and even more casual a DC fan. I know enough to converse with the laymans but beyond that I'd be lost. This felt like a nice jumping on point, which is something comics seem to put out a fair bit. Whether it continues from here I really don't know and whether I'll look and continue is also unclear at this point.
It was a good story, had some character moments but it didn't blow me away. I didn't love it but by no means did I hate or even really dislike it. -
Mm-hmm, pretty good but some of the Zero Year origin stories are a bit of a stretch or just too pat. The Black Canary and Catwoman ones were like that for me.
I'd read the Batman and Superman ones before, of course, so they weren't new. Also the Nightwing one. Although it's really a Dick Grayson story -- Nightwing doesn't come into it.
The one I liked the most was the Jim Gordon story. I like seeing Gordon develop into the upright force for good that he is in the DC universe. It's great to have some storylines of his own, even though this one still can't quite do without Batman.
The (Jason Todd) Red Hood one was just puzzling, the way it ended. Although it did foreshadow (I assume) the emergence of the Joker, especially in the scene where he menaces Jason with a crowbar. "A Death in the Family", anyone? -
This is a collection of tie-ins to DCs zero year event, with various writers and artists involved the quality also varies throughout. Nothing was awful, but then nothing was particularly amazing either, although if you want to become acquainted with DCs chracters in the New 52 universe I'd reccomend it.
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Mudeng
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I had read some of the Batman bits before but not the other character's stories. Definite mixed bag. Some were great, but since zero year takes place before a lot of characters are established, it's just basically them reacting to a major storm, which got old.
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3.5 stars, this was alright, a bunch of what ifs for our favorite characters. Aside from the power outage and storm it missed some overarching plot and conclusion.
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I approve of the rockerbat.
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A lot of problems with this collection. It is basically a collection of issue 25 of comics related to the Batman world and some not (Green Arrow, Flash, Green Lantern Corps). They are all set 6 years back from present day continuity (which is only a couple of years old anyway - so a little stupid to start a new Universe and then have an "event" where we look back. also, all set in Gotham City during a blackout caused by the Riddler and a fierce storm that will cause flooding, on its way.
Let's start with the positive. There are some interesting stories here and as stand alones they are nice little short stories of our heroes before they were heroes with costumes. Showing that even Flash or Green Lantern without their powers were still heroes. The art across the board is solid. Nothing amazing but all service the stories well.
The negatives...what a weird theme to pool a bunch of stories around - a blackout and impending flood in Gotham.I mean, on the one hand,good for them for not having a super villain or space crisis, but to see how heroes deal with a more relatable crisis of a blackout and storm but on the other hand the stories are not really super hero stories because of that. More Emergency 911 stories. The major problem is there is a theme to this collection but the stories don't intertwine. They are all stand alone stories so it doesn't come together as a satisfying collection. And while I would say the stories were okay, even after just reading it I would be hard pressed to say which one stood out as great or one that I would ever read again. They were all pretty simplistic. I guess I liked the Jason Todd Red Hood the best because I don't know much about the character and was interested in who he was...but that's the other problem..Batwing, Jason Todd, Batman, since we are going back in time before they were heroes and I don't follow their comics, I don't know who they are and the story didn't help me very much. Seeing Barry Allen before he is Flash..not really interesting, might as well have been "Joe Smith" since it wasn't really a Flash story.
The other irritating thing was the two Batman stories that bracketed it all by Snyder. They didn't fit in. They are before the blackout and..during? the blackout and then is ends on a cliff hanger with Bruce being knocked out. After reading 400+ pages you don't want to end on a cliff hanger. That is just poor planning. And you didn't even need t
Overall, the stories and art are okay but just that "okay" and since it is a mish mosh of characters I don't know BEFORE they were heroes I am not sure who this collection would appeal to. -
DC Comics: Zero Year takes place across the Universe with many of the DC Characters finding themselves involved in events taking place over the whole of Gotham whose central focus is a the worst storm in living memory that is due to hit Gotham! :D This works really well as a binding agent to the overall story arcs which serve as an introduction to the characters as they were six years previously and gives clever insights into what there origin tales are and how they become the characters that they are later! :D
Each character comes off as unique and very different! :D The character of Bruce Wayne and Batman is used to bind all the stories together featuring Batman tales accomplish this, but at the same time we get to see Barry and Iris meet, the beginnings of Batwoman and Batgirl and the origin of of Batwing plus as ever Clark gets to show up as well who is also starting to realise his powers! :D
The whole book though has a positive vibe to events with all the characters getting involved in do gooding but in a creative style that not only builds their characters up but engages in serious world building setting up events for later events as well as highlighting the bigger universe around them! :D
The art styles are dynamic and vibrant with the scrip being perfectly shown off by them and characters expression and actions are clearly and sharply portrayed against stunning backgrounds which really do the stories justice! :D
DC Comics: Zero Year is brilliantly done, artfully rendered, excellently scripted, full of adventure, daring do and action packed! :D Highly recommended! :D -
I heard Scott Snyder on the Imaginary Worlds podcast discussing this series, and I came away thinking he sounded charming and the series sounded interesting.
Unfortunately, I could not hack my way through this omnibus edition. The art in places is so distracting. Why does Bruce Wayne look like he has a head injury in some panels? What happened to Barbara Gordon's lips? Why does she look like a blow-up doll who ate a fudgesicle? Seriously, she has gigantic brown lips.
Why was I getting so fixated on the art, I finally asked myself. Because the stories weren't holding my attention. It's supposed to be the New 52 take on
Batman: Year One. It has crossovers with Batwoman, Batgirl, Black Canary, The Flash, and Superman, to name a few. It sounds awesome. But it was boring. Even when I liked the story (Barbara Gordon's for example), there were those giant, brown lips. Then other stories, like Superman's, didn't sound at all like Superman.
Some reads aren't meant to be.
