Favorite DC "Year One" books?

[Will.S]

From what I've noticed, DC has put out quite a lot of Year One style books and stories over the years in spread out spurts such as Teen Titans, Metamorpho, Black Lightning, JLA, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Huntress, Green Arrow, and even with stuff like Geoff Johns Green Lantern Secret Origin and Superman Secret Origin.

The only ones that have been sort of left out are Batman and Wonder Woman but they seem to already have their own definitive origin story or might have ones upcoming. So which ones were your favorites, which ones failed miserably, and which ones just succeeded in updating the character for a new era?

[Armadillo]

The only ones that have been sort of left out are Batman and Wonder Woman but they seem to already have their own definitive origin story or might have ones upcoming. So which ones were your favorites, which ones failed miserably, and which ones just succeeded in updating the character for a new era?

Are you kidding?
Bats year one is the first and probley the most popular of the 'year one' line.

[Will.S]

Are you kidding?
Bats year one is the first and probley the most popular of the 'year one' line.
Right, but they didn't try to update it like they have with Green Lantern and Superman just yet.

I think it's among the top 3 Batman must have stories myself but it looks like we might not be getting a more updated version anytime soon given how popular and well regarded it is among comic fans.

[ryerye17]

I love the JLA one

[T Hedge Coke]

Batman: Year One still holds up as tight and energetic, heroic and moving. "I shall become a Bat" has real weight to it here and, y'know, the bits about Gordon's runny nose and Batman singling out the SWAT dude who shot at the cat helped.

I was really happy with Mark Waid's redo of the Superman origin. It was nicely comprehensive, brought in some perceptual and sensory nuances I liked, and the biggest complaint against it seems to be that Clark Kent covered a story in Africa for parts of two issues (how dare he!).

Batgirl: Year One had some very suspect reasons for her to not be a cop, among other problems.

I'm not a big fan of the current Flash repositioning and some origin-y stuff (additional crime pathos is go!) but haven't read the whole story, so I'll give it a fairer chance later.

The recent Teen Titans mini focusing on their origin was fun enough, though brief.

JLA: Year One was tight and character driven for about eight issues, then went a bit off-kilter when it began to explore the team's relationship to other teams and DCU elements, but not in a way that killed the book or anything. It just seemed to lose a little steam once the big crisis was there on the page, which is odd.

[supamike]

Batman:Year was the best Year one to date, and some of the Year one annuals they did were good.

[carabas]

The Batman one, obviously.
Green Arrow one reunited Losers team Andy Diggle & Jock, and is noteworthy just for that.
The Batgirl one was a pretty good.
I remember the Nightwing one to be awful. And I think that's all I have read.

[JumpingJupiter]

Huntress: Year One was very strong for me. Loved it!

[neverman]

My favorites Year Ones are Batman, Batgirl, Robin and JLA.

Conversely, I hated Huntress Year One, even though I love that character. Ivory Madison is a cruddy writer!!!

[Alex Smith]

Huntress: Year One was very strong for me. Loved it!

I loved it too! I don't think that we're in the majority there though.

[Carter Hall]

- Batman: Year One is my favorite comic of all time. Miller at his best.

I also love:

- Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn
- Flash: Year One (it began Mark Waid's run on the Flash ongoing)
- Hawkworld

I've only read some of JLA: Year One but it looked great, too.

[Desaad]

Batman Year One is hands down, far and away the best.

After that I dug JLA: Year One, and Green Arrow Year One, but neither of them come close to the high quality of Batman Year One.

[carabas]

Huntress: Year One was very strong for me. Loved it!I forgot about that one. I really liked it back when Greg Rucka wrote it and it was called "Cry For Blood".
The more recent version not so much. It started out strong, but in the second half it descended into outdated feminist preaching.
Also, the writer's (her name is on the tip of my tongue...) questionable fangirlism for the old Helena Wayne Huntress made her squeeze in a really hamfisted and unnecessary plotline that made Helena Bertinelli the spiritual if not the actual daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

[Anxy]

Gotta hop on the Batman: Year One bandwagon, though I'll say that both Batgirl and Metamporpho's Year One mini-series gave us some great covers (especially Batgirl).

[neverman]

I forgot about that one. I really liked it back when Greg Rucka wrote it and it was called "Cry For Blood".
The more recent version not so much. It started out strong, but in the second half it descended into outdated feminist preaching.
Also, the writer's (her name is on the tip of my tongue...) questionable fangirlism for the old Helena Wayne Huntress made her squeeze in a really hamfisted and unnecessary plotline that made Helena Bertinelli the spiritual if not the actual daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

Cry for Blood rocked.

[JumpingJupiter]

I loved it too! I don't think that we're in the majority there though.

Actually, the single issues nearly sold out.

[Brack360]

Batman: Year One has a very timeless feel. It is a classic and does not need to updated.

Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing's Year One were all mediocre at best. Robin: Year One read like something I would have enjoyed when I was eight years old but was not really for older readers. There were also a few things that bothered me about Batgirl: Year One, namely the very sexist depiction of Jim Gordon, the retcon of Black Canary inspiring Barbara just as much as Batman, and too many tongue-in-cheek references to Barbara's future as Oracle and with the Birds of Prey.

[mata-leao]

thanks for posting this since i was actually planning on creating the same thread.

i've never read any of the Year One books and was interested in seeing which ones were good.

i was particularly interested in the Metamorpho book, Metamorpho is an underused character whom i believe has potential with a good writer.

i've read one review on amazon which was a bad one unfortunately, any one read this book? opinions?

[Will.S]

Well with Batman: Year One, it almost goes without saying since that book is among the best of the bunch.

But I'm very interested in what you guys think about the other more under the radar Year One stuff like Black Lightning and Huntress.

[JakeJarmel]

I"m Not big on Huntress year one. I liked batman and Green arrow year one. didn't read any others by DC. oh, wait, loved green lantern secret origins

[carabas]

Actually, the single issues nearly sold out.That's not really saying much considering they printed like ten or so of them.
Okay, perhaps a bit more than that, but don't kid yourself, thos mini was an failure, saleswise.

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/09/11/dc-month-to-month-sales-july-2008/

144/147 - HUNTRESS: YEAR ONE
05/2008: Huntress: Year One #1 of 6 — 21,279
05/2008: Huntress: Year One #2 of 6 — 19,089 (-10.3%)
06/2008: Huntress: Year One #3 of 6 — 16,589 (-13.1%)
06/2008: Huntress: Year One #4 of 6 — 15,816 (- 4.7%)
07/2008: Huntress: Year One #5 of 6 — 14,822 (- 6.3%)
07/2008: Huntress: Year One #6 of 6 — 14,281 (- 3.7%)

[Rev. Calibos]

JLA Year One.

As much as I love the old school JLA issues from early on in the series (or even the very first appearances in Brave and the Bold) they just didn't age well imo.

My two favorite titles from early on have always been the JLA and the Avengers and comparing JLA 1-10 with Avengers 1-10, it's not really a fair comparison, the Avengers was just a much better book.


So to see those characters and that familiar time represented so well in a massive 12 part series was just a real treat. When I heard that the JSA, the Challengers of the Unknown, the Doom Patrol, the Blackhawks, etc. would make some major cameos later on in the series I was a bit worried because I felt it would be distracting and take away from what we were all there to see, the JLA.

But it was unfounded because what they did was just re-affirm what I've always felt, the JLA is (and should be) the center of the DCU, the front line of defense against the biggest threats to come down the pike.

[earl]

Mark Waid did a good job on JLA Year One, but it always going to be odd because DC had that goofy idea to re-write the JLA origin without the big three.

DC did a bunch of goofy stuff like that, as Hawkworld would have been excellent just left as a Year One tale like the creators intended.

I thought Robin Year One was really good telling the story from Dick Grayson's point of view. The sequel of sorts in Nightwing was pretty good too, as it tied together so many different stories. The Gauntlet one-shot is another one you should read if you like the Robin and Nightwing Year One stories.


The Green Arrow Year One was good, but honestly not better than Grell's origin story. It was a nice modern recap and I would honestly be even better to tell a Green Arrow sequel story telling the tale afterward up until he ends up broke, kind of filling in the gap to the classic O'Neill/Adams story. That would be a good story for someone to tell in the regular Green Arrow book kind of like what Johns did with Secret Origin in Green Lantern.


There are a few of these tales I would love to see told -

Justice Society of America Year One -- I'd make this a long maxi-series of a dozen or more issues and do the origins of the classic golden age characters, then lead to the formation of the JSA about midway leading up to the end with WWII getting ready to start.

Legion of Super-heroes Year One-- This one kind of depends on how Johns tells the current Superman origin, but this one would be excellent to follow upon next.

The Question Year One-- I'd like to see a tale inspired by Steve Ditko that kind of leads up to the O'Neill series. With the right creative team, this would be really interesting. It probably won't happen, but it could be cool if done right and maybe those Question trade paperbacks are doing OK.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Batman, Batgirl, & Green Arrow.

Honorable mention: Black Lightning.

[Hawk_fan]

Well I haven’t read all of them, but I did like Black Lightning, Green Lantern and Batgirl Year Ones. I’d like to get around to reading Huntress and Green Arrow. Of course Batman Year One is at the top without question.

JLA Year One was good, but now the parts with Black Canary would be great for a JLofA Year Two mini. I doubt we’ll see a new JLofA Year One any time soon.

A few Year One minis I'd like to see:

- The Question (Vic Sage)
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
- Hawkman & Hawkwoman (Katar & Shayera Hol)
- Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
- Spy Smasher (Alan and Katarina) A year long mini with 6 issues devoted to each.
- Captain Comet
- Titans West

[Mister Blisterfists]

JLA Year One and Teen Titans Year One are the only ones I have on my trade shelf.

I do own Teen Titans Year One, and Robin Year One in single issue format as well.

[Seven_Ride]

Batman Year One is the best of them. Other good ones are Green Arrow Y1, the Wonder Years and Hawkworld. DC The New Frontier may be non-continuity, but it blows the pants off any other JLA origin by a million miles.

Oh, and Superman Secret Origin has all the makings of a classic.

[numberONE]

Green Lantern: Secret Origin is my favorite, but I haven't read many.

[mgs]

hands down, Batgirl: Year One, art and story amazing! :smile:

[dupersuper]

Don't forget Legends of the DCU, Secret Origins, Legends of the Dark Knight, Emerald Dawn 2, Brave & Bold, Batman year 2, Batman year 3, Man of Steel, Birthright, Man for all Seasons, year 1 annuals, Catwoman year 2, etc. etc....I love seeing early years stories with heroes just getting started and meeting each other...

[kello]

I think from the more current batch of Year One stories, the Green Arrow story was the most straightforward and readable.

But I'm partial to the Robin and Batgirl stories.

[DetectiveDupin]

Batman: Year One is one of the best things ever written in the medium. It doesn't need to be updated.

[superchick]

Teen Titans. It was light Johnny DC in the DCU and the teen teams could use a bit more of that

[ScottyQuick]

Huntress: Year One was very strong for me. Loved it!

Same here!

Also, I loved Batgirl: Year One and Oracle: Year One.

[Ilash]

Batman: Year One
JLA: Year One
Flash: Year One

All three are seriously wonderful superhero comics.

[Infernorhythm]

Green Arrow Year One. So. Freaking. Brilliant. I am a huge, huge Green Arrow fan, and, no disrespect meant to the people running his series, but after Kevin Smith left, he really got stuck with bad stories and mischaracterization. Diggle and Jock crafted a masterpiece of an origin that stayed true to the character and delivered some excellent action.

If they don't make that into a Green Arrow movie I'll be really bummed. Supermax, bleh. If they have enough faith to make the Losers into a film, give us Green Arrow Year One!

[Ilash]

Mark Waid did a good job on JLA Year One, but it always going to be odd because DC had that goofy idea to re-write the JLA origin without the big three.
.

Goofy? Maybe but I think it was an infinitely better read because the Big 3 were, at best, periphery characters in it.

[DarkWarrior]

JLA and Nightwing

[dupersuper]

Same here!

Also, I loved Batgirl: Year One and Oracle: Year One.

Oracle Year 1? I missed that. Was it a mini or a BoP story?


Goofy? Maybe but I think it was an infinitely better read because the Big 3 were, at best, periphery characters in it.

I think it was a great read because it was well-written. Waid has written plenty of great trinity stuff to.

[Greg Anderson]

Robin: Year One. Just for that brutal ass beat down Harvey gave. Sheesh! :eek:

[carabas]

Oracle Year 1? I missed that. Was it a mini or a BoP story?Eh, yeah. What"s 'Oracle: Year one'?

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Eh, yeah. What"s 'Oracle: Year one'?

A short story way back in Batman Chronicles #5. It was co-written by John Ostrander & the late Kim Yale, with art by Brian Stelfreeze.

[carabas]

Ah. I have that, actually. I was expecting something a bit longer.

[dupersuper]

A short story way back in Batman Chronicles #5. It was co-written by John Ostrander & the late Kim Yale, with art by Brian Stelfreeze.

Oooo, the same team that had Babs join the Suicide Squad. Thanks, I'll wanna' pick that up.

[Carter Hall]

hands down, Batgirl: Year One, art and story amazing! :smile:

I forgot about that one! That was a solid, enjoyable story.

[Munkiman]

Batman and Green Arrow. And I did love Green Lantern: Secret Origin, but that's more than his first year.

[dupersuper]

Batman and Green Arrow. And I did love Green Lantern: Secret Origin, but that's more than his first year.

I missed the Green Arrow mini. :frown:

[Infernorhythm]

I missed the Green Arrow mini. :frown:

Get it! The trade isn't expensive, and it's Andy Diggle and Jock crafting the best Green Arrow story since Quiver. If you like Ollie you're in for a treat. If you aren't a GA fan, you'll be after reading it.

[paulski]

Teen Titans. It was light Johnny DC in the DCU and the teen teams could use a bit more of that

And the artwork was fan-tastic! Great art and the coloring was just as good.