Batman: Year One - Fantastic!

[JayC]

Hey Guys,

Finished Year One for the first time - man was it great.

I was a bit concerned as this is the first 'older' art book of Batman I've read but it didn't fail to impress, at ALL! It was so good, I will for sure read this again down the road.

Is Batman: Year Two as good??

[carabas]

No. I think it's not bad, but definitely not in the same league.
It is also completely unrelated to Year One. If you're lookng for more of the same, try The Dark Knight Returns or The Long Halloween.

[Luseus]

Yeah, Dark Knight Returns and Halloween is amazing too. You should try them out.

[Rattlehead]

Yeah, JayC, you've already read the far superior version of Year Two, the Long Halloween. Fear the Reaper is OK, but DC can't decide if it's still in continuity or not, and the animated movie "Mask of the Phantasm" told pretty much the same story in a much better fashion.

[jgiannantoni05]

I was a bit concerned as this is the first 'older' art book of Batman I've read
And let me guess, you won't watch black & white movies or movies older than 1990 (or later?). I'm guessing you're probably a young folk.

Is Batman: Year Two as good??
1) it sucks, contrived and Batman is out of character
2) thanks to Morrison, it is now out of continuity for certain (even though it's been out of continuity since Zero Hour)
3) Long Halloween is better as Year Two, and Mask of the Phantasm is Year Two only much much better (I have Mask of the Phantasm in my comic continuity)
________
Mazda furai (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Mazda_Furai)

[JayC]

Thanks for your responses.

Admittedly I'm young, 25, and I did judge the art but I was into it from page 1 on so I appreciated it regardless.

I'll stay away from Year 2.

Thanks for the recommendations but you can see in my signature I've already read those suggestions - and loved them :P

[dreyga2000]

Maybe this is a bit left field but I suggest you check out Robin Year one... great story alot of development in Batman, Alferd and Robin, IMO continues that dark noir feel of Year 1 quite perfectly, it's still very early in Bats career, you get to see a rarely feature modern interpretation of his early partnership w/ Dick, and it really does Two-Face justice as a warped villain.

You probably want to pick Long Halloween and maybe Dark Victory first... but trust me it's a brillant read.:D

[the-wolf]

I liked Year 2. And I thought Bruce's and Batman's characterizations were right on. Is it in the same league as Year 1? No, but then not much is.

I also loved Year 3. In fact, it's that story that got me hooked onto Batman and into comics full-time as it were.

Neither are literary must-haves, but they're a much better read than most of the crap turned out now.

[Choppa]

Is Batman: Year Two as good??

In one word? No
In two words? Hell No
In three words? Good god no
In Four...well you get the idea

[Punch]

The Long Halloween is similar in style to Year One but no where near it in quality.

[Manta]

Thanks for your responses.

I'll stay away from Year 2.



No, don't do it. Year Two is far by a longshot from Y1, but it's a must IMHO. Mike Barr was very inspired at that time, along with Alan Davis he wrote wonderful stories in Detective Comics.

I suggest you to read also Batman: Full Circle, the conclusion of Y2, years after the first one.

Bye

[jgiannantoni05]

Read everything else by Barr, but stay away from the non-canon Year Two and Full Circle.
________
Extreme Vaporizers (http://www.vaporshop.com/extreme-q-vaporizer.html)

[TMM Writes Lego]

Yeah, Dark Knight Returns and Halloween is amazing too. You should try them out.
I think that the Dark Knight Returns was kinda perverted. In one part with james gordon, it says something like "a clean boy walked by me, you dont know what I was thinking."
There were other perverted seens too. Just saying

[Punch]

I think that the Dark Knight Returns was kinda perverted. In one part with james gordon, it says something like "a clean boy walked by me, you dont know what I was thinking."
There were other perverted seens too. Just saying

There's nothing perverted in that scene, Gordon is commenting on how a cop starts to see things differently after a while. A young kid on the street can remind him of the young kid who killed his own family, or the young kid found dead in a dumpster.(for example)

[TMM Writes Lego]

There's nothing perverted in that scene, Gordon is commenting on how a cop starts to see things differently after a while. A young kid on the street can remind him of the young kid who killed his own family, or the young kid found dead in a dumpster.(for example)

What about Bruce Wayne being nude through out almost the whole thing as himself and on one page in book 2, page 36. It looks perverted, I know thats true, and the kid is right infront of him. That is very perverted.

[4thHorseman]

I'm going to be one of the few I'm sure, but I only found Year One...ok. I guess I heard so much hype about it, how it was one of the greatest batman stories ever, and it just appeared overhyped to me. The art was decent, but not catchy enough for me, the story seemed alright, and it didn't make me wanting more.

Favorite scene of the entire book was Gordon beating the piss out of that one cop. That did put a smile on my face.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

No, don't do it. Year Two is far by a longshot from Y1, but it's a must IMHO. Mike Barr was very inspired at that time, along with Alan Davis he wrote wonderful stories in Detective Comics.

I suggest you to read also Batman: Full Circle, the conclusion of Y2, years after the first one.

Bye

I disagree.......I felt both Year Two and Full Circle were pretty lame.

[Volume11]

What about Bruce Wayne being nude through out almost the whole thing as himself and on one page in book 2, page 36. It looks perverted, I know thats true, and the kid is right infront of him. That is very perverted.

Please stop.

[Paul Dee]

What about Bruce Wayne being nude through out almost the whole thing as himself and on one page in book 2, page 36. It looks perverted, I know thats true, and the kid is right infront of him. That is very perverted.

To be honest, your inference shows the result of a perverted mind more than anything in DKR. Well, except for Nazi Breasts maybe


I really liked Year Two for the record.

[metalhead_dave743]

I thought Year One was great with a shitty climax. Having Bruce save Gordon's kid out of costume during the daytime was pretty anticlimatic.

[Nics23]

batman year two was not as good as year one but it is not the peice of trash everyone clainms it to be. it really is differant tastes with differant people. I for one dont think that Dark Knight Returns is the best thing out there like a lot of people say it is. Was it bad? No Was it the greatest batman story ever? God No. So it varries on who you ask

I do agree with the above poster. Robin year one was very good so I would look into that as well.

[Punch]

I thought Year One was great with a shitty climax. Having Bruce save Gordon's kid out of costume during the daytime was pretty anticlimatic.

I have to disagree, I thought that was a great moment that cemented the bond that was forming between Gordon and Batman.

[metalhead_dave743]

I have to disagree, I thought that was a great moment that cemented the bond that was forming between Gordon and Batman.

Yeah it worked on a storyline standpoint, but when I'm reading something as major as Batman's first apperance, I want to see the final action scene involving Batman in full costume kicking the shit out of the badguy. Maybe I'm shallow or something, but to end it with that just made it feel incomplete... though continuing it with Mad Monk and Monster Men helps.

[Liberty Belle Fan]

Batman: Year One is an excellent read. I'm glad you had the chance to enjoy it. Hopefully you'll take some of the suggestions these other posters have given to you and continue to find other tpb's of equal quality.

[Rock It Raccoon]

had to hop over from the marvel forums to mention that batman: year one was the first trade paperback i ever got, around age 13. although i liked comics before then, none had (or have since) changed how i thought about comics so significantly. not that its definitively the most important comic ever, but as far as im concerned it might as well be. david mazzuchelli's artwork is absolutely amazing, especially on the glossy reprinted pages. i think its probably the most flawlessly executed comic i've ever read. and i'm no frank miller junkie. but damn.

just had to mention.

[dancj]

I thought Year One was great with a shitty climax. Having Bruce save Gordon's kid out of costume during the daytime was pretty anticlimatic.
It's one of the finest climax's I've ever read. It might not have had a big badass fight scene, but that would have really clashed with the rest of the story. What it did have in spades was emotion and atmosphere.

[The Batman]

It's one of the finest climax's I've ever read. It might not have had a big badass fight scene, but that would have really clashed with the rest of the story. What it did have in spades was emotion and atmosphere.

You'd run into the same problem of tone that Batman Begins did where all the gritty psuedo-realism of the first bits of the movie go out the window for a climax involving over the top convoluted cartoon supervillian plot #14.

The climax was great. It fit perfectly in with the rest of the story. As was mentioned, it helped to cement Gordon's relationship to Batman not only by having Batman save his son, but also by showing Gordon that Batman wasn't just some guy looking to get off on wearing a funny outfit and beat people up but rather someone who was driven to help people. Also, by stripping Batman of the costume for th climax Miller tells us that it's Bruce Wayne that's the real driving force here and that "Batman" - the name and the costume and the gadgets - are just tools that he uses to fight his war and carry out his mission.

Year One was great stuff. Probably my favourite Batman story.

[Punch]

It also demonstrates, in one panel, how much Bruce trusts Gordon. That's masterful storytelling.

[PamGrierOverdrive]

Hey Guys,

Finished Year One for the first time - man was it great.

I was a bit concerned as this is the first 'older' art book of Batman I've read but it didn't fail to impress, at ALL! It was so good, I will for sure read this again down the road.

Is Batman: Year Two as good??


I found another back issue from about 10 years ago in my collection which you might enjoy: Batman Chronicles - Robin: The Gauntlet. Written by Bruce Canwell with fantastic art by the great Lee Weeks, it recounts Robin's first adventure.

[dancj]

It also demonstrates, in one panel, how much Bruce trusts Gordon. That's masterful storytelling.
I don't know a single comic that squeezes so much story into so few issues without becoming stilted at any point. There are whole scenes in that book that take up a single panel - and get across everything they need to perfectly.

[Midina^_^]

I happend to pick up this book recently as well and I have to say I really enjoyed it.
I really liked that most of the story was in Gordon's pov. It made him look so real.
The one thing that I didn't really like is that he cheated on his wife but he redeemend himself.
Oh I did notice that in the "Batman returns" movie they just straight up jacked the "Back up" part with the bats.

Oh and I had no Idea that Holly Robinson and Selina went back that far. O.o?