BATMAN Goes to YEAR ZERO

courtesy DC Comics
courtesy DC Comics

After the smashing success of The Court of Owls and Death of the Family the Batman creative team is going back in time!

The Dark Knight is going back to basics with a nearly year-long storyline called The Year Zero starting in June 2013 according to the AP. The upcoming Batman arc by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo will focus on the beginning of Bruce Wayne’s crime fighting career in The New 52.

“It’s not ‘let’s redo the origin,'” Snyder clarified. The story will focus on how Bruce Wayne figured out how to be Batman, and what challenges he faced when he first wore the cape and cowl.

“We tried to preserve as much of Batman’s history as we could,” said the writer. Snyder promised this will be a story no one has told before, including how Bruce “built the cave” and “faced off with his first super villain.” He also says it won’t retread the classic Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli story “Batman: Year One.”

Snyder would not confirm the villain or villains of the arc but in a previous Comics Newsarama interview the writer hinted:

“I don’t want to give it away, but I tried to hint before that, like, Riddler is a character that we’re really going to be focusing on in 2013.”

Thanks to Comics Newsarama.

Before Year Zero begins Snyder revealed at ECCC that he will have two issues that are an homage to Batman: The Animated Series.

Snyder will take on DC Comics other big icon later this year in a brand new Man of Steel series with artist Jim Lee. Superman Unchained launches June 12th.