Batman Year One

Batman Year One is a seminal comic, and is often mentioned along with Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns and Arkham Asylum as part of the graphic novel revolution of the late 80’s. Originally published over 4 issues of the ongoing Batman title in 1986, it’s a scrappy, lean, hard-boiled noir thriller that doesn’t even run 100 pages long. Frank Miller’s plot is ruthlessly efficient, wasting no time in introducing his characters and spinning them through a series of white knuckle set pieces. David Mazzucchelli’s artwork is fluid, cinematic and grounded in gritty reality, complemented perfectly by the muted sepia tones of Richmond Lewis’ painted colours. The USP though, is that for all it’s thrills, Year One is actually the ultimate bromance.

Bruce Wayne and Lieutenant James Gordon are co-leads of the story; both arriving in Gotham City on the first page, in early January. What’s truly refreshing is that the obstacle to be overcome by these two heroes is not some megalomaniacal super villain, but is the institutionalised corruption within the GC Police Force and Local Government. The thrust of the plot is the events over 12 months that bring Batman and Gordon together and forge their alliance; climaxing not in an explosive battle but in a heroic act of self-sacrifice. The results are enthralling, inspiring and, against the odds, even a bit optimistic.

So powerful are the story beats in Year One, that it has directly influenced such big screen releases as Batman Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Begins, and a full animated adaptation was produced in 2011. Although the cartoon version loses out by trimming much of Miller’s gorgeous narration from the script, it makes up for this by expanding the action sequences with some tremendous direction and fight choreography, so is still worth a watch.