Hero Worship: Why It's Okay to Revisit Batman's Origin

Alongside Superman and Spider-Man, Batman’s origin is one that has permeated the boundaries of its comic book beginnings and is known the world over by nearly everybody. It’s simple and resonant; a young boy’s parents are murdered before his eyes and he swears vengeance against that superstitious and cowardly lot called criminals.

And yet, more than either Superman or Spider-Man, Batman’s origin has been revisited time and again on multiple occasions across many different mediums. While it remains to be seen what direction Warner Brothers will take with the inevitable Batman movie reboot – if they’ll go the Amazing Spider-Man route and redo the origin for the next generation or simply ignore it and introduce the character mid-career – the Batman origin is set to be retold in other mediums in 2013.

Batman: Arkham Origins aims to explore the younger days of the Arkham Asylum universe’s Dark Knight, while Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman: Zero Year will redefine the Batman origin for the New 52 continuity in the comics. While an origin video game has never been done before, Zero Year is certainly treading fragile ground as fans hold Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Year One in the highest regard; a story that is often cited as the pinnacle of Batman comics (including on IGN’s own 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels list).

I understand the concern. Everyone knows Batman’s origin, so what’s left to say? The obvious answer is that we can’t be sure, and we’ll have to reserve judgment until we actually read the story (not comic fans’ strongest attribute, admittedly). But it’s worth noting that when Year One came out, Batman had already been around for nearly 50 years. Certainly, fans of the time had similar thoughts of frustration as to why DC Comics was going to spend four issues “recapping” what they already knew. In fact, this is absolutely true, as uncovered by iFanboy and Comics Alliance a few years back. Observe:

The more things change...

Sound familiar? And yet, Year One is now universally accepted as the origin for Batman, splattered pearls in the puddle and all. But the fact remains that comics evolve and the timeline shifts. Such is the way of stories that never end. Continuity and circumstances change; it’s impossible to avoid.

The natural evolution of these characters necessitates a look back at their origin from time to time to re-establish context for the modern era. Just because it’s familiar territory doesn’t mean that it can’t be done in new and interesting ways. After all, that’s exactly what Year One did.

...the more things stay the same.

As Scott Snyder has professed in our chats with him about Zero Year, events of Year One simply don’t line-up with the current DC Universe in the New 52. While superhero comics are, to a degree, about respecting what’s come before, the fact is that – continuity-wise – this isn’t the same Batman we had in 1987. And that’s okay. If the character hadn’t evolved since 1987, there would be far more important things to worry about than a new take on his origin.

To put it in perspective, it’s been 26 years since Year One. 26 years prior to Year One, this is what Batman was up to:

Batman #138, March 1961

Batman evolved from his days of scuba diving and fighting sea serpents, and the eventual result was the modern masterpiece of Year One. While Batman has remained tonally similar to what he became in the 1980s, he’s also undergone massive changes. He became a father, his Bat-family expanded, he’s seen friends brutally maimed, he’s seen friends killed, he’s lost his son; the list goes on.

Though the changes of the New 52 left Batman’s history mostly intact, the world around him changed quite a bit and thus, so did his place within it. Hopefully, Zero Year will act as the Year One of this generation; bringing Bruce Wayne’s origins up to speed with the rest of the world and contemporizing the events that would lead him to become the Dark Knight.

The most important thing to remember in superhero comics is that no matter what changes may come for any character, it never negates anything else that’s been said about them in the past. Year One is, and will remain, one of the most influential comics of all-time – as much for its artistic achievements as for its in-universe storytelling ones – and nothing that Zero Year does will change that.

As for Akrham Origins, since we’ve never had the opportunity to actually play through these early days of the Batman – save for some of those trippy Scarecrow sequences in the first game – this is less of a concern. Games are an entirely different medium as we are active participants in the story rather than just voyeurs, inherently offering an alternative experience even if Origins were to lift its script directly from Year One (which it won’t).

The idea of superheroes as modern mythology comes from the fact that these characters are reinterpreted generation after generation; the origin serves as the fundamental basis of that notion. Retold comic book origins can only be additive, as the stories are physical entities that can be acquired and enjoyed regardless of the year of publication. Year One is a book that existed in 1987, exists in 2013, and will continue existing in 2039. Any other incarnations of the Batman origin simply add to the overall myth of the character.

These kinds of tales, no matter how many times they are explored, only reiterate how important these characters have become to the fabric of our society.

Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. He feels like he'll probably have to write a similar column in 2039 if he's not dead yet.