Batman Annual #1

For the title's first annual as part of the New 52, writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV give us a new origin story for Mr. Freeze. Honestly, Freeze isn't my favorite Bat-villain. I've often thought of him as a less interesting Captain Cold (who got his own reboot a couple months back). The only version of the character I've really cared for was the version from Batman: The Animated Series which balanced the tragedy and nobility of the character so well.

After Freeze escapes from Gotham he heads right to Wayne Enterprises for his revenge. Victor Freeze blames Bruce Wayne for shutting down the cyrogenics experiment which was his only hope of ressurecting his wife Nora and which caused the accident which turned him the man he is today.

I'm not fond of the idea of putting Wayne right in the middle of Freeze's obession to the point where he personally shut down the project and was present for the accident (he is, after all, a very busy man), but the choice to change Nora from Victor's wife into an unknown woman with whom he's become obsessed is interesting.

Although the story follows events from Night of Owls, the recent crossover isn't directly addressed here. And at $5 it's a little pricey for a story that simply makes the character a little less interesting to me once again, but I'm willing to give Snyder a chance to play with the character's new history and motivations (as long as he keeps the flashbacks of Victor as a child to himself - ugh!). Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $4.99]