Cover: Greg Capullo & Danny Miki

Batman #31

Jul 2014 · DC · 3.99 USD

📊 ~107,499 copies sold its debut month

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“Zero Year: Savage City, Part Two”

About this Issue

Batman #31 is the second chapter of 'Zero Year: Savage City,' the climactic act of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's yearlong New 52 origin retelling — widely regarded as one of the most ambitious reframings of Batman's earliest days since Frank Miller's work in the 1980s. The issue crystallizes what made the entire Zero Year arc distinctive: it portrays the founding alliance between a still-green Batman, an equally inexperienced Lucius Fox, and Lieutenant Jim Gordon as an earned partnership under impossible pressure, rather than a given. Snyder's use of parallel flashback structuring — a young Bruce Wayne in a math class with the answer 'zero' mirroring his present crisis — demonstrates the kind of layered, symbolic storytelling that set this run apart from contemporaneous superhero fare. Narratively, the issue advances one of Zero Year's most creatively daring choices: positioning the Riddler, long treated as a second-tier threat, as a genuinely terrifying first supervillain capable of holding all of Gotham hostage.

writer Scott Snyder · artist Greg Capullo · inker Danny Miki · colorist FCO Plascencia · letterer Steve Wands · cover Greg Capullo, Danny Miki

ComicBooks.com Value

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CGC 9.8 · 59 in census $5,292*

CGC 9.6 · 8 in census $2,763*

CGC 9.4 · 4 in census $2,313*

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $2,313

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $1,444*

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CGC 8.0 none in existence

CGC 7.5 none in existence

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 $771

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 none in existence

CGC 5.0 $468

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

Variant $1.79 VF+ $2.99 VF/NM $3.96 VERY FINE $3.99 NM- $4.4 NM $5.19 NM $11.99 NM $24

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History

Batman #31 was published on May 28, 2014, written by Scott Snyder and pencilled by Greg Capullo, with inks by Danny Miki, colors by FCO Plascencia, and lettering by Steve Wands, under editors Katie Kubert and Mark Doyle. It sits within the broader Zero Year event, which ran from Batman #21 (June 2013) through Batman #33 (July 2014) and drew in tie-in issues across more than a dozen New 52 titles. The Zero Year arc itself had a notable production adjustment: Snyder expanded the material that had originally been planned for issue #28, finding it 'too cramped,' which pushed that chapter to #29 and gave Capullo the time needed to render the expanded scope properly — a workflow dynamic that shaped the pacing of the entire back half of the arc, including #31.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published May 28, 2014 (cover-dated July 2014); titled 'Savage City, Part Two' — the second chapter of Zero Year's third and final act.
Written by Scott Snyder, pencilled by Greg Capullo, inked by Danny Miki, colored by FCO Plascencia, and lettered by Steve Wands.
The issue features a variant cover by Mike Allred and Laura Allred, drawn in a Batman '66 retro style, contrasting sharply with Capullo's gritty main cover depicting a capeless, tattered Batman armed with a bow and arrow.
A key internal coloring choice by FCO Plascencia pays homage to Batman's very first appearance in Detective Comics #27: Batman's gloves are colored purple, matching their original Golden Age design.
Core cast in this issue includes Batman/Bruce Wayne, Lucius Fox, Lieutenant James Gordon, and the Riddler (Edward Nygma); a young Bruce Wayne also appears in a flashback school sequence.
The Batcycle appears as an early-era vehicle in the Savage City setting, consistent with Zero Year's mission of establishing the in-continuity first appearances of Batman's signature equipment.
Lucius Fox serves as a co-protagonist alongside Gordon, with the trio working to triangulate the Riddler's location while Batman engages the villain in psychoanalytical riddle combat — a dynamic that underscores Fox and Gordon's foundational roles in Batman's support network.
The issue was collected in the Batman: Zero Year hardcover (DC Comics, 2021, collecting #21–27 and #29–33), as well as the Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo Omnibus Vol. 1 (collecting #0–33, #23.2, and Batman Annuals #1–2).