‘The Zoo’ Part One of Five

Written by Scott Snyder

Art by Nick Dragotta

Colours by Frank Martin

Letters by Calyton Cowles

Published by DC

If you’ve seen the ads for this book then you’ve seen Nick Dragotta’s incredible, monolithic Batman. Every line of the character screams violence and power. A colossal man doing colossal brutal things in brutal ways because PAIN AND JUSTICE! The worst excesses of grimdark written across the DC character most commonly associated with edgy violence. Fun, sure, but not that interesting.

That’s exactly what the character and the book want you to think.

Dragotta’s art is so stark and bulky because that’s what the world demands. It’s also Bruce’s choice, and some of the book’s best action beats are also its best action beats. Clashing with a group of brutal spree killers, Bruce uses his size and his costume to hide weapons in plain sight and in doing so to build his own myth. There’s a great beat with the varying size of ears on the bat suit and an even better one with the colossal, blocky Bat symbol doubling as an axe. That one embodies everything that makes the book work: Bruce being just brutal enough, but never fatal. A monster of noise and violence who is actually a deeply principled man building a future one step, one fight, one nightmare at a time. Frank Martin’s colours too give Gotham a heady atmosphere that’s one part Michael Mann sunset nightmare and one part clear-eyed, painfully stark violence. Cowles’ lettering too gives each of the surprisingly large cast distinctive voices, and in Bruce’s case, two.

Snyder’s script understands what we expect the same way Bruce understands what his opponents expect, and takes equal pleasure in upending them. One of the key questions of this line is ‘What happens to the greatest heroes of the DCU when you strip them of their resources.’ In this case, with Bruce Wayne reimagined as a penniless orphan who is learning the bones of the city he’ll give his life to save, the answer may be ‘better.’

Verdict: This is a deceptively complex book with a lot of surprises I carefully haven’t told you. It’s smart, tragic, brutal and to my huge surprise, deeply compassionate. If what follows is half as good, then this is going to be an incredible ride. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart