DC recently wrapped up “Zero Month,” a period where every book in the New 52 lineup (along with a few temporarily resurrected titles) received a standalone #0 issue. These issues flashed back to the early days of the characters in question and explored their origins in the context of DC's new continuity.
But unless you're as fabulously wealthy as the IGN Comics crew, chances are you didn't read every one of these dozens and dozens of issues. Maybe you avoided DC's lineup entirely for the past month because you don't like origin tales. Either way, we've compiled a list of the most interesting revelations to come out of Zero Month. Be sure to let us know what you liked or didn't like about Zero Month by posting in the comments section below.
Scott Snyder's main feature in Batman #0 showcased a Bruce Wayne who had recently returned to Gotham and was still searching for a method of inspiring fear in the hearts of criminals. But it was James Tynion IV's backup feature that was more revelatory. There, Tynion explored the night Commissioner Gordon first activated the Bat Signal and the ways it inspired Barbara Gordon and the first three Robins.
Contrary to the law-abiding Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, Jason Todd was spending that night robbing convenience stores. As we saw in the story, Jason's partner actually killed a store owner and fled into the night. Though Jason didn't commit the act himself and was clearly remorseful, the fact remains that he was an accessory to murder. We have to wonder if Batman knew this when he recruited the troubled teen. He tends to have a zero tolerance policy on such matters.
Green Lantern #0 bucked the trend by not flashing back in time, but rather continuing right where August's Green Lantern Annual #1 left off. The issue introduced readers to Simon Baz, the new hero who will assume the mantle of Green Lantern of Sector 2814 while Sinestro and Hal Jordan are trapped in the realm of the Black Lanterns.
Simon isn't exactly as clean cut as his fellow Earthling Lanterns. His childhood was plagued by racism and xenophobia in the wake of the 9/1 attacks. Rather than rise above adversity like his sister, Baz is now a professional car thief who uses his ill-gotten gains to support his family. That's morally dubious, but the real problem came when Baz accidentally stole a booby-trapped car and wound up blowing up the abandoned factory where he used to work. Still, the act proved he had no fear, and that seemed to be enough to attract the wayward Green Lantern ring.
Incidentally, Baz's ring doesn't appear to be functioning at 100% efficiency. The ring is a hybrid of Sinestro and Hal's rings, and the imperfect fusion seems to be making the ring stutter and malfunction. This may explain why Baz is so often depicted carrying a pistol. He needs a more reliable weapon for when the ring fails him.
In DC's FCBD issue this year, readers first met the Trinity of Sin – three legendary criminals who were punished by the Circle of Eternity. One of these was the biblical figure Judas Iscariot, whose crime was betraying Jesus to the Romans in exchange for sixteen pieces of silver. Though Judas begged for the mercy he felt Jesus would have shown him, the seven wizards were not so easily swayed.
The Phantom Stranger #0 picked up where the FCBD issue left off, as Judas was banished back to Earth and forced to live as a wandering nomad, never aging or forming any sort of human attachments. Around his neck he wears the sixteen pieces of silver that symbolize his greed. However, 2000 years later, Phantom Stranger finally learned his purpose. He will be called upon by the wizards to perform various deeds. Each successfully completed task removes one of the coins from his neck. His first task turned out to be escorting Jim Corrigan to the site of his murder, allowing the Spectre to be born.
The end result is Spectre's introduction into the New 52 and a Phantom Stranger with a much more defined origin than before. Whether the latter is actually a good thing remains to be seen.
Ann Nocenti kicked off her Catwoman run with the #0 issue. Nocenti offered a new take on Selina Kyle's origin that, oddly, struggled to merge various elements of past stories together in a new whole. It didn't work so well, as we noted in our review.
One of these elements wasn't even pulled from a comic, but rather the movie Batman Returns. As in that film, Selina was pushed from a building and fell to what should have been her death. But after being licked by a band of alley cats, Selina was alive and well again. That kind of origin worked in the context of Tim Burton's world, which was essentially a Gothic fairy tale take on Batman. As far as the New 52 universe goes, it didn't mesh so well.
What remains to be seen is whether there's an actual mystical element to Catwoman now. Does she actually have nine lives, as the script hints and as she claimed in Batman Returns?
As with most Gotham villains, Penguin's criminal habits are influenced by a particular obsession, in this case his love for birds. He's long had a habit of naming his thugs after species of bird, but it turns out that he's had an influence on Gotham's heroes as well.
Birds of prey #0 showed the original team-up between Black Canary and Starling, neither of whom had actually taken on those codenames at the time. It was the ever-helpful Penguin who suggested the names, as well as the “Birds of Prey” moniker itself. It was a clever, logical way to tie Dinah's team to a major Gotham player.
Jason Todd's journey from Robin to Red Hood depicted in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 didn't necessarily differ that much from what Judd Winick established in the mini-series Red Hood: The Lost Days. The real shocker came in Scott Lobdell's backup feature. The fact that this tale was narrated by Joker was novel enough. But the Clown Prince of Crime revealed that he was the one responsible for Jason Todd becoming Robin.
How does that work? Well, having decided that, “The Bat needs a bird like I need a punchline,” Joker set about murdering Jason's parents and making the youngster as attractive a proposition to Batman as possible. Once Jason had donned the tights, then Joker enacted his plan to murder the Boy Wonder and really cheese off Batman. It worked, at least until Jason came back to life and stole Joker's Red Hood disguise.
Batman continuity was less affected by the New 52 relaunch than most franchises. Among other things, that means that The Killing Joke still happened and Barbara Gordon was still shot and paralyzed by Joker.
The surprise in Batgirl #0 was in learning just how early in Babs' career that incident actually happened. According to the issue, her first mission as Batgirl occurred four years before the present day. After only one year, an unknown incident caused her to retire the mantle and resume civilian life. Shortly thereafter, Joker showed up to wreck her newfound happiness.
With Babs only recently recovering the use of her legs and resuming her career as Batgirl, this means that she was only ever active as Batgirl for one year in the New 52 universe. One would think that would leave ample room for Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown to take over the mantle, but to date, DC hasn't confirmed whether those characters still exist.
One other interesting tidbit to take away from Batgirl #0 is the implication that James Jr. has known all along that his sister is Batgirl.
The revelation that Joe Chill killed Bruce Wayne's parents in itself isn't that noteworthy. Chill has often been a figure to haunt Batman's past. But DC tends to alter this portion of the Batman mythos frequently – pretty much every time there's a continuity refresh. The problem is that writers always disagree about whether it's better for Batman to know who killed his parents. If Batman tracks down the killer, will he eventually lose motivation to keep heading out every night to avenge their deaths?
Christopher Nolan had his cake and ate it too in Batman Begins when he positioned Chill as the killer but then robbed Bruce of his revenge by having Chill himself be killed by a mob hitwoman. In Batman #673, Grant Morrison revealed that Batman stalked an older Chill to the point of psychological breakdown, with the villain finally killing himself with the same gun he used to murder the Wayne family.
That's perhaps a bit too extreme even for Batman. Gregg Hurwitz offered a different take on the Wayne/Chill rivalry in The Dark Knight #0. The story explored Bruce's childhood obsession with unraveling the mystery behind his parents' murder. When he finally found Chill as a young adult, Bruce realized that there was no great conspiracy. Instead of taking revenge, Bruce left Gotham to find out what else the world had to offer.
In the old DCU, Tim Drake was the wealthy neighbor of Bruce Wayne who unraveled the mystery of Batman and became the third Robin. Unlike the previous two Robins, Tim didn't become an orphan until his father was killed by Captain Boomerang in Identity Crisis.
Tim's origin as seen in Teen Titans #0 was quite a bit different. Though not a child of fabulous wealth, Tim was a fabulous scholar/athlete who was destined for greatness. The trouble came when he devoted his free time to deducing Batman's identity. Though intrigued by Tim's potential, Batman refused to take him on as a sidekick. Tim then courted trouble by stealing Penguin's fortune via computer and putting his family in the crosshairs of a Gotham mob boss.
What Scott Lobdell revealed is that Tim's parents are both still alive, but they were forced to enter witness protection. Moreover, Drake isn't actually Tim's last name. Presumably Bruce legally adopted Tim just as he did in the pre-New 52 storyline “Face the Face.” This story also solidified the notion that Tim was never called Robin, but instead chose the codename Red Robin.
Ocean Master is arguably Aquaman's most important villain alongside Black Manta. And as with Manta, their relationship has evolved over the years and with changing continuity. Geoff Johns revealed the new Aquaman family dynamic in Aquaman #0. The two characters now share the same mother rather than father – Queen Atlanna. As the exiled Atlantean Vulko explained to Arthur, Atlanna left Arthur with Thomas Curry in order to safeguard the child from her people. She was then forced to marry an Atlantean and later gave birth to Orm. As cruel and petulant and his brother is kind and noble, Orm murdered his mother and claimed the throne of Atlantis for himself.
We know that Arthur eventually arrived in Atlantis and kicked his brother off the throne. However, in the present day he has abdicated his position. The current state of Ocean Master and who rules Atlantis will likely be a focus of the series moving forward.
One of the more interesting elements of Brian Azzarello's revamped Wonder Woman series is his portrayal of the various Greek gods. They're more eclectic in both appearance and personality. In his initial appearances, Ares took on the form of an old man in safari gear, seemingly weary of endless centuries of war and bloodshed.
As Azzarello revealed in his #0 issue, Diana and Ares have a much different relationship than the purely antagonistic one of old. As a teenager, Diana actually spent a year training in the art of war with its patron saint. More than just a mentor, Ares showed almost fatherly love for his student in these pages.
Inevitably, the relationship fell apart and the two parted ways. It should be interesting to see how this early bond colors their interaction as the series progresses.
Prior to the New 52, Hawkman could boast one of the more convoluted personal histories in superhero comics, which are already infamous for that sort of thing. It was a foregone conclusion that DC's writers would work to streamline Hawkman even more than Geoff Johns already did in his JSA days. But the scope of that revamp didn't become apparent until The Savage Hawkman #0.
This issue borrowed liberally from John Ostrander's Hawkworld mini-series. With the resurrection aspect completely tossed out the window, we learned that Carter Hall of Earth and Katar Hol of Thanagar are one and the same. As a lover to Princess Shayera, Katar was a de facto member of the Thanagarian royal family. But his peaceful nature didn't win him any points with his headstrong brother-in-law, Corsar. Katar found himself the chosen wielder of the legendary Nth metal and eventually fled to Earth to start a new life.
But as the final page showed, that new life is crashing down. Shayera has pursued her former lover to Earth, and she's not interested in rekindling their romance.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following Jesse on Twitter, or on IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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