Batman #21

History

Snyder has spoken candidly about the creative pressure surrounding the project: in interviews he described the decision to build an entirely new origin — rather than simply nod to 'Year One' — as the most psychologically demanding risk of his Batman tenure, admitting it caused him significant stress during the writing process. His solution was a deliberate inversion of his own usual style: where his earlier arcs leaned on dense narration and shadowy atmosphere, he sent a creative brief to Capullo, inker Danny Miki, and colorist FCO Plascencia explicitly instructing them to do things that 'don't look like Batman,' resulting in a sunlit, high-contrast visual identity unlike anything in the preceding 'Court of Owls' or 'Death of the Family' runs. The backup story — set in Brazil during Bruce's pre-Batman travels — was co-written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, giving the oversized debut issue (40 pages) a self-contained second narrative that expanded the Zero Year world from its first installment. DC quickly released a special 'Director's Cut' reprint of the issue, presenting Capullo's uncolored pencils alongside Snyder's complete script.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published June 12, 2013; cover-dated August 2013. Written by Scott Snyder (main story and backup co-write), with backup script co-written by James Tynion IV; pencils by Greg Capullo with inks by Danny Miki (main) and art by Rafael Albuquerque (backup); colors by FCO Plascencia.
• First appearance of Philip Kane — Bruce Wayne's maternal uncle, who ran Wayne Enterprises during Bruce's declared-dead absence and had hired Edward Nygma (the future Riddler) as a business strategist. Philip Kane dies in Batman #24 (2013).
• First appearance of Duke Thomas — introduced here as a young Gotham teenager surviving the Riddler's Zero Year crisis — who later starred in 'We Are Robin' (2015) and became the Bat-Family hero the Signal, Gotham's designated daytime protector.
• Launches the 'Zero Year: Secret City' arc (issues #21–23), the first of three acts — Secret City, Dark City, Savage City — that together constitute the yearlong Zero Year crossover running from June 2013 to July 2014.
• Prior to Zero Year, Batman's in-continuity origin had not been retold since Frank Miller's 'Batman: Year One' (1987); this issue established the New 52/post-Flashpoint version as a distinct and separate account deliberately designed to coexist with, rather than replace, Miller's story.
• The issue shipped in three cover editions: a standard Greg Capullo cover, a 1:25 variant by Mikel Janin, and a 1:100 black-and-white variant by Capullo.
• A special 'Batman: Zero Year — The Director's Cut #1' reprint was published in 2013, reproducing the issue with Capullo's raw pencil art and the full Snyder/Tynion scripts, including Snyder's written creative brief to the art team.
• The entire Zero Year arc received widespread critical acclaim — Batman #21 averaged 8.5 out of 10 across 41 reviews per Comic Book Roundup — and elements of the storyline were later adapted into Matt Reeves' 2022 film 'The Batman.'

Full credits

Key issues in Batman

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#1 1st appearance — Court of Owls

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#1 Key event — Batman

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#50 Key event — Bruce Wayne

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#50 Key event — Bruce Wayne

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#2 1st appearance — William Cobb

Variants (5)