Batman: Volume 5: Zero Year – Dark City [The New 52] by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and Fco Plasscencia (graphic novel review).
‘Batman: Volume 5: Zero Year – Dark City’ is a big book, reprinting Batman # 25-27; 29-23. Quite what happened to # 28, beats me if it’s a filler.
Now in costume, Bruce Wayne as Batman faces multiple challenges. The Riddler has already disrupted Gotham City’s electrical supply once and is planning to do it again. Bruce must also evade Commissioner Loeb and his police force, who are out for his blood, and determine whether Lieutenant Jim Gordon is corrupt or not. Additionally, dead bodies of Wayne Enterprises scientists have been discovered with extended bones, a situation that becomes slightly more manageable once the killer is identified as Dr. Death. One does have to wonder where Wayne finds the time to build his equipment and various modes of transport.
Ultimately, it’s Edward Nigma, aka the Riddler, pulling the strings, using these events as a smokescreen for his real plan: taking over Gotham City’s electricity supply and using Pamela Isley’s plants to clog the city and keep it shut down. He promises to release the city only if someone can present him with a riddle he can’t solve. He declares this period as “Zero Year.”
Bruce Wayne has also been unconscious for over a month, kept alive on a drip by a family who took him in. Now, he must coordinate the attack on the Riddler while bomber jets are sent from outside the city to strike.
That’s the gist of the plot, and it is intense. The Riddler is even more megalomaniacal than the Joker, truly raising the stakes and nearly succeeding. Don’t forget, Bruce Wayne as Batman is still only starting out, relying on determination and luck to pull through. He’s a fast learner, but the story works because you’re never quite sure if he’ll win in this New 52 reality. I can see why it attracted readers. No matter the reality, we need to see fallible heroes, even in ongoing series, learning from their mistakes rather than always getting the upper hand.
GF Willmetts
June 2024
(pub: DC Comics, 2013. page graphic novel softcover. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-4012-5335-6)
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