DC Comics: Zero Year (The New 52)

This came in perfect condition and, considering the amount of content, is well worth the price. While not needed for the Batman storyline, it’s good to see how the other characters fit into the zero year storyline.

An interesting cash grab to see what other Batfamily and Justice Leaguers were up to at the start of zero year but it adds nothing to the overall Zero Year story

Not as good as I expected.Artwork is very good, but the stories aren't as standout as I was hoping.

I found most of the issues to be nonsense that was just here to pad it out. Most of it should have been cut, and then sold for cheaper. I would recommend just sticking to Batman Vol 4 and 5.

Very good

Bought this for a friends son turning 12 so was pleased it was dark but not ultra violent.

The stand-alone stories from issue #25 of the following New 52 titles from DC Comics - Action Comics, Batgirl, Batwing, Batwoman, Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Detective Comics (Gordon of Gotham), The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern Corps, Nightwing and Red Hood and the Outlaws - are collected, along with the framing issues of Batman #24 & #25, as  DC Comics Zero Year HC (The New 52) (Batman) .These stories are all "flashbacks" set roughly five years before the present, during the `Zero Year' events taking place in the framing Batman issues, in which, in #24, the Riddler causes a blackout of Gotham City as a superstorm approaches, which leads to looting flooding and associated panic, looting and mayhem. These stories are of varying quality and importance to the characters. The Red Hood story has so much packed into it that it is an essential Batman story, and is a direct sequel to Batman #24 and a lead-in to the later "Death of the Family" storyline, for example. The Flash story shows Barry and Iris's first meeting, in Gotham, during the storm. The Catwoman story sees the `origin' of the Catwoman's Modus Operandi (if that's how it is spelled). Action Comics tells us what happened to Lana Lang. The Green Lantern Corps story shows us John Stewart in a Marine Corps unit rescuing civilians from the storm.These stories, all set in Gotham, or in Action Comics' case, during the superstorm, don't interact with each other at all, or really with the Batman storyline - and they should be considered to be an extra `Issue Zero' for most of the characters.I read a library copy of this book; I don't know whether it is of any real importance, other than to completists, as I have seen some of the stories appear in their own title's collected editions, so there may not be any necessity to own it.THE SPOILER ZONETHE SPOILER ZONETHE SPOILER ZONEBatman #24 - a double-sized issue - opens with Bruce and Alfred busy in the Batcave - "So long as you don't install a fire pole, I'll manage, sir"- the (original) Red Hood busy setting up some nefarious scheme, and the first appearance of the Bat-Man! (Detective Comics #27 reference there.) Batman eventually works out that the Red Hood is planning a terrorist atrocity, and sends Bruce Wayne to make a TV appeal to the citizens of Gotham to stand up against him. He responds with an RPG attack, and Batman and Lieutenant Gordon storm the A.C.E. Chemical plant for an appointment with destiny...Action Comics #25 - "Stormbreaker" - sees the young Superman - in his t-shirt period - still learning about the extent of his powers. He sets off to try and stop the superstorm approaching Gotham City, but finds that it is too much even for him. However, he does find a ship in distress that needs help, the engineer of which happens to be Lana Lang...Batgirl #25 - "Zero Year - Homestead" - is a spectacular Zero Year story, set six years ago, during a major flooding emergency. Barbara has to rescue herself, brother James and a group of civilians from the flood, looters and assorted mayhem.Batwing #25 - "Keep Your Enemies Closer" - sees the young Luke (Batwing to be) Fox and his schoolfriend Russ (evil villain to be) as a martial arts class, where Luke is trying to toughen Russ up to face his school-bullying. They get into a fight with a street gang on the subway home, and Russ later gets beaten up by the school bully. This puts a strain on their friendship. Some tile later, during the superstorm, Luke has another run-in with the gang, and is helped by Batman, who takes note of his abilities; while Russ has cooked up a drug-related method to become a monstrous villain who murders his bullies and sets off to blow up the levees protecting Gotham, where Luke catches up with him...Batwoman #25 - "...Or High Water" - sees the young Kate Kane called home from West point to Gotham for the funeral of her Uncle Philip - murdered by the Red Hood in Batman #24 - where she is stuck at home by the storm. She goes out to do a bit of vigilantism, and, among other things, such as fighting crime and rescuing hostages, is arrested by Maggie Sawyer, who is in Gotham with a team of Metropolis police to help out in the crisis...Birds of Prey #25 - "Sunrise" - sees the young street kid Dinah taken in by a good Sensei Samaritan who runs a dojo in Gotham. In return for cleaning duties, she gets to live there and pick up some training. In due course, the sensei dies and she inherits the dojo. Come the storm, Dinah stumbles across a dying man, who passes her a small package and tells her to keep it safe... She is quickly pursued by a gang of ninjas (this is Gotham), with whom she fights a running battle, until the government agents tracking the parcel show up. Finding the dojo destroyed by the storm, and impressed by her martial abilities, the government agents offer her a job...Catwoman #25 - "Before the Claws Came Out" - is set during the superstorm in Gotham "six years ago", in which the non-costumed street thief Selina Kyle steals a backpack containing climbing equipment from an annoying Yuppie. Armed with this equipment, she seeks revenge on a crime-boss who has just looted the store of a friend and neighbour. During her break-in to the boss's penthouse party, and now disguised in a dress with a side-slit (for those of us who remember the original costume) she picks up a useful bullwhip... and so a costumed cat-burglar is born.Detective Comics (Gordon of Gotham) #25 - "Whistleblower's Blues" - features Jim Gordon, and is set during the Batman "Zero Year" storyline, illustrating Gordon's side of the story, as he investigates police corruption following the (literal) fall of the Red Mask in Batman #24, and the rise of the Black Mask gang, just prior to Batman #25.The Flash #25 - "Starting Line" - sees newly graduated forensic scientist Barry Allen on loan to Gotham City during the Riddler's blackout. He and Harvey Bullock are tracking down a new drug being distributed, and during the course of the investigation, they get involved with Iris West, interning at a drug rehabilitation clinic dealing with the addicts of said drug. A spark is lit...Green Arrow #25 contains two stories - "The Prodigal" and backup story "New Tricks"- which see Oliver Queen return to Seattle from his exile to find that his mother has dashed off to Gotham with a charity relief team to help out during the Zero Year blackout and approaching superstorm. He arrives to find that a costumed loony is trying to kidnap his mother. Ollie dresses up to disguise himself in his green archer outfit and has a sort of team up with Batman, who inspires him to hone his skills and take up professional vigilantism. One of his mother's bodyguards is John Diggle, and once home, Ollie recruits him as his partner-in-anti-crime, along with a young Roy Harper...Green Lantern Corps #25 - "Powers That Be" - shows us John Stewart in a Marine Corps unit rescuing civilians from the superstorm approaching Gotham City in the `Zero Year' storyline over in Batman. John is a sergeant with a gung-ho officer, who is quite happy to shoot civilians and rioters alike. The unit is tasked with herding civilian refugees holed up in Gotham stadium to the evacuation vehicles, but a costumed character called Anarky has recruited a gang of local ne'er-do-wells to seize control of the stadium as a protest, and who overpower the marines. John has to organise an escape, rescue the hostages, and depose Anarky while stopping his superior officer from going nuclear.Nightwing #25 sees the young Dick Grayson run away from the circus to go to the cinema. Unfortunately, this is Gotham City and the Riddler sets off his `Zero Year' blackout during the film. Dick is rescued from the stampeding filmgoers by some other youngsters, who stumble across a rampaging monster on their way home, as you do in Gotham. Anyway, Dick ends up saving one of the kids, who happens to be the son of Sal Maroni, who comes to the circus to collect him. Sal tells circus owner CC Haly to call on him if he ever needs a favour...Red Hood and the Outlaws #25 - we see the young Jason Todd involved with Talia, the original Red Hood gang, its former leader, who has just crawled out of the chemical bath, and is carrying a crowbar, and a member of the Untitled who is out to take control of the gang. It looks like the Joker was lying a bit, but he does get to meet the young Jason, as does Talia, who marks him down as someone worth remembering, and a lot of apparent loose ends are tied together here.Batman #25 opens with a framing sequence set in a Nigerian desert, featuring an American military unit hunting for, and finding, something... This will come back later in the storyline. In Gotham City, the police department is hunting for Batman, who has been found at the scenes of several grotesque murders. There has just been a terrorist attack that has shut down power in Gotham, but Commissioner Loeb is more interested in catching Batman than keeping the peace. The murdered scientists can be linked to an old Wayne Enterprises project, which Lucius Fox worked on. When Bruce questions him, he stabs Bruce with a hypodermic, just as the grotesque villain presents himself...