1. Year One Just Doesn't Hold Up
Yeah, I said it. Look, I love Year One and am in no way trying to shun its importance to the overall mythos of Batman, but lets be honest as an origin tale for the current volume of Batman it just doesnt make sense. Like I said before, Bruce has only been doing this for around five years. So if we use Year One as our paradigm then James Gordon Jr. should only be five years old, and not terrorizing his mom and sister as an adult. Also consider that Year One is 26 years old and its been almost three decades since weve had a cannon origin tale. Yes, Batman: Earth One is fairly recent, but it's more of a standalone graphic novel series. Think of various other superheroes and how many times they've had their backstory redone and retold in the course of 30 years. No matter what, there is a core at the center of any Batman origin that only someone writing an elseworld's story would change - Thomas and Martha Wayne are still going to die. That will remain the catalyst that leads Bruce to become the Caped Crusader. What he does, the trials he faces, and villains that he encounters after donning the cape and cowl? Now that can change. Zero Year is akin to a re-imagining of what Bruce's first year was like, and honestly Year One is Gordon's book. It might say "Batman" on the cover, but it's more about Gordon showing up in a new town, his initial encounters with a new masked vigilante, and determining whether or not the Batman is a friend or foe. It's a great book, but who wouldn't mind a more Batman focused origin? None of Jim's infidelity, and none of Frank Miller's inability to write a strong female character without making her a prostitute. A Batman origin about Batman sounds good to me.