10 Best Moments From Batman: Zero Year – Dark City

6. Year One Redux

It would've been impossible for Snyder to have written a Batman origin without referencing the classic €“ and arguably greatest €“ Batman story, Year One. But he does put his own spin on it. Whereas in Year One where Batman goes up against the SWAT team in a building and gets shot a couple times, Batman suffers much more in Batman #27. The Riddler's tipped the GCPD off about Batman's whereabouts and the kinds of tricks Batman employs, giving the GCPD the upper hand when they face him. When the GCPD surprise Batman and open fire on him, Batman's cape is riddled with holes, his cowl shatters, he desperately attempts using gas but they're prepared with their own gas-masks, when he tries to leave via the Batboat, they blow it up and force him back inside. He barely escapes after improvising and gets picked up by Gordon in a non-GCPD boat. It's an action-packed, adrenaline-pumping sequence that shows an inexperienced Batman on the ropes beginning to learn to trust others in his crusade. Like so many moments in Zero Year, this is a brilliant hat tip and a nod to an acknowledged Batman classic that Snyder/Capullo pull off majestically while underlining the core themes of their story.