View Poll Results: Best Batman origin (other than Year One)?

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  • Earth One

    11 16.42%
  • Zero Year

    15 22.39%
  • Batman Begins

    31 46.27%
  • Gotham

    1 1.49%
  • Golden Age ('Tec # 33 & Batman # 47)

    12 17.91%
  • Untold Legend of Batman

    13 19.40%
  • Golden Age Retold (Secret Origins # 6)

    5 7.46%
  • Post Zero Hour

    3 4.48%
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  1. #16
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Anything that does not include the Waynes going down a scary alley, for starts. It's a whole neighborhood, not an alley, dammit.

    After that Leslie Thompkins has to be present first as the comforter. Alfred can come later, Gordon optional, since I haven't decided if he should be on the other side of town shooting Wrath's parents or we can move that scene sometime later.

    For Batman, the ones that start with low tech, since he's alone, Alfred optional, Lucius optional. So not Zero Year, but I also want it to be cool enough that he doesn't potentially break his back because of the grapple malfunction, even though it's realistic, so no Earth One either.

    What's the difference between Zero Hour and Year One?

  2. #17
    Extraordinary Member TheCape's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Restingvoice View Post
    Anything that does not include the Waynes going down a scary alley, for starts. It's a whole neighborhood, not an alley, dammit.

    After that Leslie Thompkins has to be present first as the comforter. Alfred can come later, Gordon optional, since I haven't decided if he should be on the other side of town shooting Wrath's parents or we can move that scene sometime later.

    For Batman, the ones that start with low tech, since he's alone, Alfred optional, Lucius optional. So not Zero Year, but I also want it to be cool enough that he doesn't potentially break his back because of the grapple malfunction, even though it's realistic, so no Earth One either.

    What's the difference between Zero Hour and Year One?
    As far as i remember, neither version contradicts the other, but Zero Hour was when they established for a while that the murderer of the Waynes was never found, that was changed after Infinite Crisis thought.
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  3. #18
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheCape View Post
    As far as i remember, neither version contradicts the other, but Zero Hour was when they established for a while that the murderer of the Waynes was never found, that was changed after Infinite Crisis thought.
    Oh, that's when Year Two was retconnned. Got it.
    I'm not sure how hard it is to find a robber, so this is entirely based on personal preference. I can go with either, as long as Joe Chill is just a random mugger.

    Speaking of a random mugger, I like Lew Moxon's inclusion simply because I like to include as much as possible, but I prefer him to have a separate hitman than Joe Chill.
    Last edited by Restingvoice; 01-13-2021 at 01:45 PM.

  4. #19
    Astonishing Member The Kid's Avatar
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    Batman Begins for me. I also liked Zero Year

  5. #20
    Mighty Member SixSpeedSamurai's Avatar
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    Begins I guess. Zero Year was full of what has become Snyder's trademark of way over stacked odds and a poor payoff (I still like him though).

    I didn't like the Zero Hour made the killer unknown, glad that's been retconned. I have not read Earth One.
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  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheCape View Post
    As far as i remember, neither version contradicts the other, but Zero Hour was when they established for a while that the murderer of the Waynes was never found, that was changed after Infinite Crisis thought.
    Also, the Zero Hour issues filled in a few other gaps not covered by Year One...such as how Bruce got his equipment or how he ensured that Alfred got to be his legal guardian.

    Plus, of course, the big change being that the killer's identity is unknown. That was an interesting retcon...a previous Zero Hour tie-in had Batman in an alternate timeline where Joe Chill wasn't the Wayne murderer, which made him wonder if he wasn't the murderer in the main timeline as well. So the previous stories about Joe Chill remained in canon - its just that they'd now been called into question. But then the zero issue came out with the new origin, and Joe Chill was wiped from continuity altogether...until IC.

  7. #22
    Incredible Member Mark Trail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robanker View Post
    Mask of the Phantasm's flashback arc if we're embracing all media.



    I'd also nominate O'Neil and Adams' version from "Daughter of the Demon."

  8. #23
    Incredible Member Mark Trail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timothy Hunter View Post

    I've never read Untold Tales of the Batman, but I look forward to tracking it down.
    Tales of the Batman: Len Wein has it, along with a number of other excellent bronze-age stories.

  9. #24
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    So it seems like Batman Begins is the clear winner so far, with Zero Year as a significantly popular second, and Earth One and Untold Legend of Batman also getting some love.

    I must say, I love the fact that 'Untold Legend' has its fans, and frankly I'm a bit surprised at myself for not voting for it as well It's probably the most comprehensive guide to Batman's origins and his mythos in general in the Pre-COIE era, and the framing story is great as well! In fact, I'd love for it to be adapted to an animated movie down the line...

  10. #25
    Better than YOU! Alan2099's Avatar
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    It;s nice to see Untold Legend getting some props. I've always thought it was vastly underrated. The idea that a slightly unhinged Bruce was the one trying to destroy Batman is really an idea that should have made it into the movies or cartoons or something by now.

  11. #26

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    Untold Legends. Had some elements I disagreed with when I first read it but now I've started to prefer that version more and more.

  12. #27
    The Superior One Celgress's Avatar
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    OP Question -

    Batman Begins, IMO
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  13. #28
    Astonishing Member Adekis's Avatar
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    I quite like Untold Legend. Yeah, it narrows in on weird trivia of Bruce's backstory, not unlike "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck," and most of that trivia was later retconned away, making it very strange to read nowadays when you're used to the idea that Alfred raised Bruce and not some uncle or whatever, but...

    Frankly, I think that's what makes Untold Legend kinda great. It's a deep dive into the minutia of a long forgotten history.
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  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adekis View Post
    I quite like Untold Legend. Yeah, it narrows in on weird trivia of Bruce's backstory, not unlike "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck," and most of that trivia was later retconned away, making it very strange to read nowadays when you're used to the idea that Alfred raised Bruce and not some uncle or whatever, but...

    Frankly, I think that's what makes Untold Legend kinda great. It's a deep dive into the minutia of a long forgotten history.
    Yeah, I get what you mean. Stuff like Uncle Phillip raising Bruce or Bruce being the first Robin seem like weird Elseworlds today, but once upon a time, they were official canon.

    I particularly loved how Untold Legend depicted the start of the Batman-Gordon alliance. I think it was one of the few parts of the mini's 'flashback' sections that was an original story and not adapted from any previous telling.

  15. #30
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    Honestly each origin has its strength and something i like. Honestly I even prefer fan fiction takes based on how it's done (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1970510/1/Batman-Reborn and http://scripts-and-comics.com/wp-con...e-and-Fall.pdf in particular are my favorite takes of how The Batman has been done and added a grounded element and needed touch to the Batman mythos).

    But I think my favorite takes of Batman's origin has been Batman Begins, Earth One, Zero Year and Untold Legends of Batman. Untold was the perfect showing of everything that made the silver/bronze Batman an interesting combination and depicted the start of how Batman's legend really comes together. Plus the idea of Bruce subconsciously trying to destroy his own legacy, which the closest thing I remember being done that well is in Batman: Ego.

    Zero Year and Earth One were both also very good and interesting modernizations of Batman. Earth One really took an unprofessional and barely trained Batman and exploring how corrupt Gotham really is in an rather interesting way. I think the main reason I like Earth One especially is the take with Alfred as the reluctant guardian and his military background taking a more prominent part in his personality. I honestly prefer the murderer of Batman's parents never being discovered. Something about the twist makes other stories (like the search for Tony Zucco) more impactful, just because he never got that closure, means he fights harder so no one ever has to suffer through the same pain.

    Zero Year is definitely full of a lot of Snyderisms, but if I include the Batman's zero issues (Detective Comics, The Dark knight, Batman). It felt like a complete origin and was an overall good read. The motive of why Bruce wanted to go training and his first detective case, finding Joe Chill and learning it was just a mugging gone wrong which really made his mission more impactful. I think New 52 Batman origin definitely was enjoyable as a complete tale. The Red Hood arc was especially a gold mark in the arc.

    Begins was fun seeing how Nolan took a lot of elements and told a fantastic tale in a elevated real world setting.

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