Batman 0

"Slime like you made me. You earned me."

- Batman

"Creature of the Night" is the title to the special zero issue of the first Batman ongoing comic book series published by DC Comics. The story was written by Doug Moench with artwork by Mike Manley and inks by Joe Rubinstein. It was colored by Adrienne Roy and lettered by Ken Bruzenak. The story was edited by Denny O'Neil with Jordan Gorfinkel as assistant editor. This issue shipped with an October, 1994 cover date and carries a cover price of $.150 per copy (US).

Synopsis
Batman tracks down a serial mugger that has been stalking victims in the Park Row section of Gotham City. While he investigates the case, his mind reels back to his childhood.

When he was four-years-old, Bruce fell through a cistern on the Wayne estate and discovered the cavern that would one day become the Bat-Cave. Soon after this event, Alfred Pennyworth came to work for Thomas and Martha Wayne.

When Bruce was eight-years-old, he was returning home from the movies with his parents, when a mugger, Joe Chill, accosted them, killing both Thomas and Martha Wayne. This event would drive Bruce towards an isolated existence and a life spent studying the law. Using his knowledge of computers, he manipulated the local bureaucracy allowing him to become the sole ward of Alfred Pennyworth. Child psychiatrist, Leslie Thompkins soon became a frequent fixture at the Wayne estate helping young Bruce through his darkest years.

As an adult, Bruce traveled the world, learning various crime-fighting skills from venerable masters. All of these would one day become part of the arsenal of the Batman.

Appearances




















Notes & Trivia

 * Batman was created by comic book writer Bill Finger and graphic artist Bob Kane. He first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May, 1939.


 * This issue shipped to retailers on Wednesday, August 18th, 1994.


 * This issue is UPC barcode 761941200057 00011.


 * This issue was published under the special "Zero Month" banner, which carried through all DC Comics titles from October, 1994.


 * This issue was published in between Batman #511 and Batman #512.


 * The flashback story from this issue continues in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #0.


 * This is the earliest chronological appearance of Alfred Pennyworth.


 * This is the earliest chronological appearance of Leslie Thompkins.


 * This issue includes flashbacks of scenes taken from Batman #404 ("Year One"), Batman #429 ("A Death in the Family"), and Batman #497 ("Knightfall").


 * Unlike previous versions of Batman's origin, this version establishes that the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne remains unidentified to this day. In Pre-Zero Hour continuity, the man responsible for the double murder was Joe Chill. This story renders the events from "Batman: Year Two" apocryphal.


 * Batman appears as Matches Malone in this issue.