DC Comics probably could have called this Mr Freeze: Year One if they’d been feeling particularly unimaginative – they didn’t (or weren’t) but that’s essentially what Batman: Snow boils down to. In it, J. H. Williams (perhaps most famous for illustrating Alan Moore’s Promethea) and Dan Curtis Johnson look back at Batman’s first encounter with a super-villain. Freeze starts off as a scientist, trying to keep his dying wife alive in a near-frozen state of suspended animation. Failure is written in his destiny though, and is more than enough to tip him over the edge.
Johnson’s Batman is a breath of fresh air – there’s nothing of the Dark Knight about him, with a costume that looks decidedly Adam West era. However, it’s not played for laughs and there’s no goofy fights – this is serious Batman, just in an altogether brighter, old-school package.