Snyder cleverly takes the costume that we all know a future clown prince of crime once wore and uses it for the basis of a theatrical crime syndicate who have their fingers in all of Gotham’s pies.

The main villains of this arc are the Red Hood gang. Against the wishes of a cranky Alfred (watching their relationship develop is one of the highlights of this chapter), Bruce shaves his head and prepares to do battle with a deeply corrupt Gotham City.

A cocky 20-something Bruce has returned to Gotham after years of training for his crime-fighting destiny. The story is essentially a fresh spin on Year One. But just like stepping out of a dank basement into the harsh realities of daylight, once your eyes adjust there’s a whole new beauty to be found. It’s almost jarring at first after the series of shadowy stories the duo have delivered to readers so far. Bright yellows and primary colors fill the pages, with much of the tale even taking place during the day (not particularly common for this nocturnal hero). The first thing that pops off the page as different is Capullo’s art. Instead, this is a lighter, colorful, and more adventurous Bat-tale that almost feels like Grant Morrison masterful Batman & Robin arc or even Bruce Timm’s 90s animated series. While it’s undeniably the work of the new great Batman author, this book isn’t nearly as nightmarish as his work has been in the past (especially the deranged Death In The Family arc that proceeded it). In particular, the big gearshift for fans of Snyder’s take on Batman is the tone of Zero Year. You know, the type of Bat-miracle that Synder and Capullo seem to be delivering every month in what will eventually stand as one of the finest Batman runs in history. To do that with one of the most widely repeated origins in comics is a minor miracle. You’ll get all the same basic beats in a way that feels fresh and unexpected. Snyder knows all too well how often this origin has been told, so his version is full of misdirection and redirection.

While it’s hard to fully judge a story still technically in development, this first arc does feel contained enough to be read on its own. The epic story has stretched on so long that while Snyder and Capullo are still filling out the third chapter of their massive origin trilogy, this trade of the first arc is sliding into stores as a graphic novel. Over the course of a year they have been teasing out a new origin tale for the caped crusader, one that’s deeply indebted to the character’s roots, yet very different and designed to fit their own unique take on the character. After taking over Batman at the turn of the New 52 and turning it into the top selling comic on the market, writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo decided to get ambitious.

Batman vol 4 zero year secret city