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Rating:  -
Batman before he was Batman, great stuff. I love the part when Cat woman comes in and seeing Commissioner Gorden 10 years younger doesn't hurt much either. All in all a solid work, almost as good as Bruce Timm and all his work for the animation (the only guy who can draw batman the way he looks). But then hey, we all had a stab at drawing batman. Haha! Lol!
Rating: -
Written by Frank Miller and hauntingly illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, YEAR ONE was serialized in Batman #404-407.
It tells of the first calendar year in which Batman emerged in Gotham City, beginning with Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham after studying martial arts abroad. Wayne becomes a vigilante, at first without the Batman outfit, at first fumbling a bit. The sequence in which he conceives of the outfit takes the old cliché from Batman history of a bat crashing through the window and transforms it into a moving moment; YEAR ONE gives similar treatment to flashbacks showing the murder of Wayne's parents. In a city dominated by gangsters before the ascent of insane costumed criminals, Batman encounters Catwoman, here depicted as a whore who takes to the street with frustrations about gender, her sadomasochistic elements heightened. James Gordon becomes a fully-realized character for the first time, adjusting from his move from Chicago to Gotham, where the police force is dominated by corruption. He investigates Batman, suspects Wayne, has an affair, and ultimately has his child kidnapped and rescued by the vigilante he sought to bring down. In a tough city, he goes from crusader against Batman to the first stages of his relationship with Batman.
A masterful work, BATMAN: YEAR ONE possesses a level of realism greater than perhaps any Batman tale and, with a breakneck pace, does the hard work of describing the humble beginnings of Batman's career, performing in the process a remarkable process of infusing Bruce Wayne, James Gordon, and Selina Kyle with true character, personality, and history.
This is the second best Batman story ever made, second only (perhaps) to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
-- Julian Darius, Sequart.com (for sophisticated study of comic books and graphic novels)
Rating: -
Frank Miller opens this absolutely must own graphic novel classic from 1987-88 by telling us that if the only Batman we remember was Adam West on Saturday mornings, then we do not know the Batman he once met, a much darker batman, a more real batman, the kind of Batman that Tim Burton would succeed somewhat in bringing to the screen in 1989, but Batman: Year One is just so much better in so many ways, and probably will remain better than any movie or television program you can expect to see or have seen. If you want to know Batman, then you should really be meeting him right here.
I especially like the Batman: Year one story. It is an excellent beginning, lots of in-jokes and capturing moments, even on-the-edge of the seat suspense, almost 100 pages of intense artwork. It is about the beginning of Batman like you have never seen it before, but also and probably more importantly, includes the beginning of Commissioner Gordon, a Lieutenant Gordon here, with a pregnant wife, who comes to Gotham City and finds his whole department on the take. The millionaire Bruce Wayne, has been training to become a vigilante since his parents where murdered by a gang of thieves. It is a psychological condition of revenge. He is trying to find the right formula to scare his victims. When he does, he goes up against the same criminals and kingpins that Lieutenant Gordon finds himself up against, no Jokers or Penguins here, but regular underworld types making it all the more level-headed, and thus a more accepting Batman and story. Batman fails in first few attempts, but manages miraculously to survive and continue on, both Gordon and Batman building their careers as crime fighters in Gotham City throughout the pages, a surprise bonus Catwoman introduced in the final act which sees the new crime-fighting duo of Batman and Gordon finally meeting up, without any sign of Robin among the 96 pages, this is certainly an alternative Batman and probably the best one. Miller's look is a murky color bleeding hard edges and smears, resulting in a Batman graphic novel that takes your breath away. The action sequences are better than any movie I can think off to date, your eyes go wide open from frame to frame as this is the kind of animate Batman you have always wanted to see in action. It is not the kind of high quality artwork you see in advanced graphic novels, this was a series character that had to meet publication dates, but is still gloriously presented none the less. Just check out the sequence with Batman in the burning building fighting the SWAT team. It is the end of Chapter Two and most of Chapter 3. That is some of the best action sequences you have ever seen committed to the page.
I would suggest that you also try and get "Batman: The Dark Night Returns" as that was the other Batman graphic novel and "Batman: The Dark Night Strikes Again", totally different types of art to Year One, as these are both Frank Miller's work, the sequels to Batman: Year One, are mostly other artists, DC comics has a list at the back, very interesting ones at that also, like Alan Moore's Batman: Killing Joke, but get all of Miller's Batman before you try any other Year One or Year Two books. I would also recommend that you actually try a BEST OF GRAPHIC NOVELS before you venture down any path. And for those who are hearing that they must read and see some graphic novels to get to know Batman, let me ask you this. Do you like to read? Do you like movies? Then why don't you try Graphic Novels? Comics you say? Don't say that. This stuff is art. Do you like to read? Then why not Graphic Novels? Do you like movies? Then why not Graphic Novels? Why not? Why? Because it can be... "More fun than going to the movies" - Kevin Smith, Director Clerks. **At this time of writing I do not believe that the movie Batman: Begins is related to this classic piece of art**
Rating:  -
This is a well written batman story by frank miller, it mostly focuses on jim gordan's early career, and batman's first few appearances. Catwoman appears briefly but no other famous batman characters are featured. Very good art, but sort of a boring story.
Rating: -
If you want to get into Batman, and have no idea where to start, buy this. This book is considered one of the best Batman origins ever written. After witnessing his parent's death, Bruce Wayne left America to travel around Eurasia to learn crime fighting and detective techniques. The book starts right as Bruce hops off the plane at Gotham airport. Of course the press is there barraging him with questions in their usual fashion (Including asking him if there's any truth to the rumor about him and Princess Caroline, WTF?).
This may sound strange, but this book is as much about Jim Gordon as it is about Bruce Wayne (maybe even more). Gordon is a Lieutenant transferring from Chicago to Gotham following a pretty bad scandal back in Chicago. Anyway, Gordon learns right away that Gotham City is ruled by corruption. The officers, detectives, and commissioner are all bought. Jim learns how hard things are fast.
Bruce knows he wants to fight crime, but he doesn't know how. He tries to fight crime but he ends up failing because of the lack of fear the criminals have for him. The answer comes to him when a bat crashes through his window in his study. Batman is born. Meanwhile, the very mild-mannered Bruce Wayne is trying to shake suspicions that the single faced Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon have of him being Batman (imagine that). Throw in a dash of Batman action, a dash of a prostitute Selina Kyle, and a Jim Gordon that's not exactly faithful to his wife.
I do have a few beefs with this book though. It's a little short at just under 100 pages with only a few chapters. Also, I've never seen a bald Selina Kyle as a prostitute and Catwoman. I don't read the Catwoman comic, but that's new to me. I also don't see why Batman wouldn't carry a gun, it's his first week of crime fighting, I don't think he has his set morals yet. But all in all this is a great book, I definitely suggest reading this before seeing Batman Begins because Begins "borrows" a lot of concepts from this book (I read the script).
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