Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Batman Year One by Frank Miller Batman: Year One. There have been several reprints of the story: a hardcover, multiple trade paperback editions (one in standard comics paper with simpler coloring and one deluxe version with rich detailing in the colors and both colored by Richmond Lewis) and it has been included in The Complete Frank Miller Batman hardcover. Contents. Synopsis. The story recounts the beginning of Bruce Wayne's career as Batman and James Gordon's with the Gotham City Police Department. Bruce Wayne, aged 25, returns home from training abroad in martial arts, manhunting and science for nearly twelve years. In Gotham, he bides his time, waiting for the right moment to strike, all the while preparing himself. Gordon, meanwhile, has moved to Gotham from Chicago with his pregnant wife, Barbara Kean-Gordon, and pursues a career in law enforcement. His first time out patrolling reveals to him the disturbing nature of law enforcement in Gotham as a senior officer, Detective Flass, assaults an unsuspecting teenager for "staying out late". Gordon is disgusted with his partner's behavior towards all the "offenders" Jim feels that he has to straighten things out. Bruce makes preparations - registering at a hotel to provide an alibi, giving himself a fake scar to disguise himself - before going out for his first street mission. He enters the Red Light District of Gotham. A young prostitute named Holly Robinson tries to proposition him. Her pimp, angry because he knows Bruce isn't the type to hire prostitutes, forcefully drags her away. Bruce confronts him and gets into a fight, and a few others join in. Selina Kyle, a dominatrix in the slums of Gotham, jumps from her window and fights with Bruce; he is stabbed in the thigh by Holly. The police arrive on the scene, shoot Bruce and then throw him into the back seat of their car. On the way to the station, he manages to escape by causing the corrupt officers to wreck their squad car. After pulling the unconscious officers out of the car Bruce returns home, bleeding from his various wounds. There he sits, looking for inspiration, something he feels will strike fear into the hearts of criminals. A bat crashes into the room through a window and perches on a sculpture of his father, to which Bruce immediately responds. He has found what he is looking for, stating the words "Yes Father, I will become a bat." Gordon tries to clean up GCPD, but on the orders of the corrupt Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, is attacked and threatened by fellow officers. After recovering, he visits the house of one of these officers, where they have gathered to play poker. He waits for Detective Flass, who he knows is responsible for organizing the attack. Flass is the last to leave, and Gordon tails him into the woods, where he proceeds to attack the drunken officer. Bruce goes out for the first time as Batman and stops a trio of teenagers from stealing a television. A brief struggle ensues, resulting in the Dark Knight's first victory. The legend quickly grows with Batman attacking criminals with increasing boldness, including Flass, who was present at one crime, receiving a pay off from the criminals. One night, when the corrupt city leaders and gangsters like Carmine Falcone gather for a dinner party, Commissioner Loeb explains why Batman is politically advantageous to themselves, assuming he would never bother them; meanwhile, Batman sneaks onto the grounds, puts the guards to sleep and sets up stage lights around the window that comprises one of the dining room walls. He cuts the electricity, throwing the room in darkness, blows a hole in the outside wall and then activates the lights. He gives the men and women a dire warning that he is just as determined to deliver them to justice as well, then leaves. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle is inspired to become a costumed cat burglar when she sees Batman in action and becomes Catwoman. The police try to capture Batman numerous times, but Bruce is too elusive and alert to fall for their traps. In addition, the maverick district attorney, Harvey Dent, becomes Batman's secret ally. After a night of following useless leads, Gordon and his partner, Detective Sarah Essen, see a truck barreling down the street. They give chase and Gordon hands the wheel over to Essen as he tries to get into the vehicle. An old, homeless woman stands in the way of the truck and is about to be run over just as soon as Batman jumps in and shoves her out of the way. The bus runs into a wall and Gordon briefly blacks out, only to awake moments later and find Essen holding Batman at gunpoint. She is momentarily distracted when she turns to ask if he is all right and Batman takes advantage to disarm her and flee into an abandoned building. When cops arrive on the scene, the commissioner is quick to call in the trigger-happy Branden and his squad to drop a bomb on the building, which the Commissioner claims has already been scheduled for demolition. While dodging the fire from the explosion, Batman's belt (which contained explosives) catches fire, and he is forced to discard it. After suffering two dizzying gun wounds, Batman escapes into the secure basement and survives the blast. A crowd gathers outside the building. Stuck with only a blow gun and 3 darts, Batman uses a small device in his boot to summon thousands of bats from his cave to the building. A battle occurs as the police storm into the building and hunt him down. He incapacitates some and even saves a cat, jumping out of the building (after throwing a police officer forcefully through a wall) and takes advantage of the chaos that occurs when the bat colony arrives to speed away on a police motorcycle and escape. Gordon has a brief affair with Essen. During the affair, he is confronted by the Commissioner, who threatens to inform his wife of the affair if he doesn't comply. Gordon, after bringing his wife to an interview with Bruce Wayne, whom he and others suspect of being Batman, stops the car in the driveway on the way back and tells her about his affair. Essen later leaves for New York. Months pass and Batman overhears the local mafia boss, Carmine Falcone, planning revenge against Gordon. Selina Kyle, frustrated because she feels her petty crimes aren't enough, interferes and attacks the group. Batman does not appear, but helps Selina from the shadows, throwing small bat-shaped blades laced with tranquilizers at some of the men. Bruce, while working out, figures out the plan based on the part of the conversation he was able to record. Gordon is called away by the police to investigate a robbery. On his way out, a mysterious motorist entering his garage raises Gordon's suspicions, as Gordon has never seen the motorist. He returns to the garage only to find his wife and baby being pulled into a car. He shoots and kills the men trying to take his wife, who survives; however, one assailant is unharmed. The car leaves with Gordon's baby in it, and Gordon shoots the motorist, takes his motorcycle and follows. The motorist, Bruce, is unharmed thanks to a bullet-proof vest. He attempts to leave, but not before Barbara threatens to shoot him. She lets him go when he promises to save her baby, takes a bicycle from a passing stranger, and pursues Gordon and the car. Gordon shoots out a wheel on the car and it crashes into the side of a bridge. The don's hired knife, his nephew, exits the car, baby in hand. A struggle ensues and the baby is thrown off the bridge, followed by Gordon. However, Bruce had already arrived and dived after the baby before Gordon even falls over the rail. Gordon, having lost his glasses in the struggle with the hitman, thanks Bruce (whom he claims to not recognize due to his aforementioned missing glasses) and makes it clear that he won't turn him in. Dent and Batman's efforts bear fruit with Flass, who is persuaded to turn damaging states evidence against his superiors, including a disgraced Commissioner Loeb, who is forced to resign. Although his immediate replacement, Grogan, is apparently worse, Gordon is content for the moment with receiving a job promotion and family counseling with his wife. The story ends with the new Captain Gordon waiting on the rooftop of the GCPD headquarters for Batman, to discuss somebody called the Joker and his scheme to poison the reservoir. The story also includes the first appearance of Mafia don Carmine Falcone. Frank Miller’s Batman: Every Major Storyline (In Chronological Order) Frank Miller’s take on Batman was poignant, introspective, and eventually downright insufferable with time. Few writers influenced Batman as radically as Frank Miller. 1996’s The Dark Knight Returns was a mature reinvention of the character, a farewell to Adam West’s campiness and an embracing of the decades of darkness that would soon follow Bruce Wayne in virtually every facet of his life. Frank Miller’s take on Batman was poignant, introspective, and eventually downright insufferable with time. For as much good Frank Miller did to the Bat-Mythos, he’s also penned some of the absolute worst stories in the character’s history. Frank Miller’s original depiction of Batman was jaded, but not devoid of the light that made Bruce Wayne shine– not so for most of his follow ups. The Dark Knight Returns ’ canon is notably cruel, gradually draining Batman of the optimism that defined Year One . All the same, even Miller’s worst Batman stories tend to say something about the character in relation to our world. That alone can make his lesser books worth reading. 8 The Dark Knight Returns (1986) The Dark Knight Returns was a complete reinvention of Batman at the time, dismantling the character’s friendly persona in order to take a more realistic approach on the concept of a masked vigilante. Focusing on Bruce Wayne 10 years out of retirement, The Dark Knight Returns is an introspective story about iconography and growing old in a world that’s constantly changing– for better or worse. What makes The Dark Knight Returns stand out in particular over the rest of Miller’s work is just how beautiful the dialogue is. From Clark’s prayer to Mother Earth, to Bruce’s own musing on what it means to be Batman and his life thus far, DK never falters when it comes to making a moment land with the right emotional impact. 7 Batman: Year One (1987) If The Dark Knight Returns is a reinvention, Year One is a full on recontextualization. Miller’s darker atmosphere from DK is still present, but Year One attempts to reconcile the healthier elements of Batman’s persona. He’s still a traumatized man dealing with obsession, but he’s conscious of what he needs to do to keep others alive and to stay sane. Year One is The Dark Knight Returns other half, detailing where Batman came from while reinforcing his relationship with Jim Gordon. The book is ultimately more about Gordon and Gotham than it is Batman, but that in itself is important– sometimes to best understand Batman, the reader should only observe from a distance. 6 Spawn/Batman (1994) Although Spawn/Batman has little narrative consequences on the events and world of The Dark Knight Returns , it’s a stylistically important step in bridging the gap between Frank Miller’s early Batman work and his mid-2000s publications. Spawn/Batman is darker, more violent, and generally lacks the heart that was present in The Dark Knight Returns and The Year One . At the same time, this is not just a Batman book but a proper Spawn crossover that transplants Bruce Wayne into Todd McFarlane’s more hostile world. It is nonetheless difficult to reconcile Spawn/Batman as a storyline that happened at any point within The Dark Knight Returns ’ canon, but it’s totally harmless compared to the likes of The Dark Knight Strikes Again . 5 The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001) The Dark Knight Strikes Again is a mean-spirited, borderline cruel story that makes an active effort to punch down, belittle the nuanced relationship between Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson for jokes that were already offensively dated in 2001, and destroy just about anything narratively worthwhile that was left standing at the end of The Dark Knight Returns . The book itself reads like a direct response to 9/11, which had a deep impact on Frank Miller, but the jingoistic fervor that seeps through DKII ’s back half makes an already chore of a read downright laborious. Not helping matters is the extremely poor art, from character designs to simple paneling. 4 All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder (2005) Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman is a beautiful run that serves as a genuine love letter to Clark Kent and the universe he’s sworn to protect. Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder is a slap in the face to Batman fans who were expecting anywhere near the same level of quality Miller demonstrated during DKI and Year One . Although ASB&R ’s art is genuinely beautiful and the penultimate issue actually manages to tie Batman’s arc up with an emotional bow, most of the book is spent with Bruce Wayne torturing Dick Grayson, preventing him from dealing with his grief, and Miller hammering in the fact that Robin is a child soldier. There’s some solid commentary here about the mindset a man like Bruce Wayne would need to have in order to train a young child into a soldier, but it’s lost underneath juvenile dialogue and a storyline that's frustrating to follow more often than not. 3 The Dark Knight III: The Master Race (2015) The Dark Knight III: The Master Race is a massive step up from both The Dark Knight Strikes Again and All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder , but it doesn’t quite hit the same highs as The Dark Knight Returns or Year One . The Master Race ’s main problem (beyond the title) is just how dry it reads at times. That said, The Dark Knight III is nowhere near as literarily offensive as its predecessors, which is really all it needed to be. The Master Race places care in fleshing out the relationship between Bruce Wayne & Carrie Kelly while managing to wrap up The Dark Knight trilogy on a surprisingly positive & optimistic note. DKIII almost feels like the last book of a different trilogy, but it arguably needed to be after the mess DKII made. 2 The Dark Knight Returns: Last Crusade (2016) The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade almost reads like a redo of All-Star Batman & Robin , in that it’s a story that examines the uncomfortable implications of Batman taking on a ward like Robin. Unlike All-Star Batman & Robin , however, Last Crusade doesn’t lose itself in immature dialogue or downright baffling storytelling. Instead, The Last Crusade is a somber story about the passage of time, getting old, and losing everything that once defined you. Bruce Wayne cannot handle the pressures of being Batman anymore, and Jason Todd’s career as Robin inches ever closer towards death’s door. 1 Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child (2019) Frank Miller’s Batman has already been political, but Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child loses itself in grounding the story in a semblance of our reality. While this is true for the original Dark Knight Returns as well, its political commentary is not only handled with greater tact, it’s framed specifically through the lens of Batman and pop culture’s relationship with him. The Dark Knight Returns makes the bold choice of politicizing Batman and analyzing how he would fit into a real world. Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child wants to analyze current dissent flowing through American culture– to the point of featuring Donald Trump as a character– but the message ends up drowning the character work that made The Dark Knight Returns so compelling. A pity considering The Golden Child was the perfect opportunity to make some great use out of Carrie Kelley as Batwoman while fleshing out her supporting cast. 5 Reasons That Year One Is Frank Miller’s Best Batman Story (& 5 Why The Dark Knight Returns Is) Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Year One are among Batman's greatest stories, but which of the two is the author's best? Frank Miller's two back-to-back Batman books, The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 and Year One in 1987, are often credited with creating the modern interpretation of Batman, turning a character previously most-associated with the Adam West television series into the Dark Knight. While Miller's modern work has proved more divisive than his 20th-century works, his earliest Batman books are still held in high acclaim and have influenced almost every other interpretation of the Caped Crusader. Let's compare which of these two books are the best. 10 Year One: Jim Gordon. Despite what the title indicates, Year One is more a story about Jim Gordon (not yet police commissioner) than Batman himself; both the story's opening and closing panels are focused on him. The bulk of Year One 's page-time is given to Gordon, with focus on his home-life, his conflict with his hopelessly corrupt colleagues in the GCPD, and his initial skepticism to an eventual partnership with Batman. Almost always a supporting character throughout his history, giving Gordon the spotlight was a refreshing turn. 9 The Dark Knight Returns: Batman. Unlike many of its imitators, The Dark Knight Returns earns its darker tone by probing deeper into the psychology of Batman himself. The book first allegorizes Bruce's crime-fighting as an addiction; he's picked up drinking in his retirement but gets over it immediately once he puts the cowl back on. From there, the book examines Batman's world-view, differentiating it from Superman's while at the same time critiquing the authoritarianism of that world-view. If a new reader wants to understand what makes Bruce Wayne tick, The Dark Knight Returns is the book for them. 8 Year One: David Mazzucchelli's Art. David Mazzucchelli is one of the most reliable artists in the business. Fresh off his 1986 collaboration with Miller on Daredevil: Born Again , Mazzucchelli drew all four issues of Year One . A comic can live or die with its art, so thankfully, Year One 's aesthetic is a perfect fit for the tone. Year One is about a Gotham City before the arrival of the "freaks" that populate Batman's rogues gallery, and neither the city nor Batman himself had ever looked more photo-realistic. The second chapter's scene where Batman crashes a dinner party of Gotham's elite makes beautiful use of shadow, while the third chapter, when Batman is hunted through a tenement by a SWAT squad, has excellent character blocking and use of the setting. 7 The Dark Knight Returns: Splash Pages. Miller both wrote and penciled The Dark Knight Returns , and while his art is overall nowhere near as cleanly drawn as Mazzucchelli's, the mini- series does demonstrate his strength at drawing immediately iconic still images. The collected edition's famous cover – Batman posed and shrouded in shadow as lightning strikes – uses the same core compositional effects as Miller's later work on Sin City to striking effect, while the interior work doesn't disappoint either. Some of the most (deservedly) famous splash pages include Chapter 3's image of Batman and Robin posed in mid-air, or in Chapter 4 where the armored Batman decks Superman. 6 Year One: Grounded Villains. Due to being set during Bruce's early days as Batman, none of his traditional rogues gallery of colorful super-villains, aside from Catwoman, appear in the book. Instead, Batman fights villains emblematic of Gotham's systematic corruption; mobsters, cops, and corrupt politicians. The most significant such characters are Gotham's resident Mob Boss Carmine Falcone and several members of the police force. These are Police Commissioner/Falcone's frequent dinner party guest Gillian Loeb, Gordon's partner Arnold Flass - introduced beating a black teenager with flimsy-at-best justification - and Branden, leader of the GCPD's resident gang of psychopaths (aka the SWAT team). 5 The Dark Knight Returns: The Joker. W hile the majority of Batman's rogues gallery have long since retired, Batman's final chapter wouldn't be dramatically fulfilling without resolution to his greatest feud, with The Joker. Having spent a decade catatonic since Batman's retirement, the Joker re-emerges during TDKR' s third chapter upon hearing of Batman's return. Miller adds homoerotic subtext to the Joker's fixation on Batman, and this manages to be insightful. It makes a statement about Batman himself, for he is so consumed by his mission, the closest thing he had to a friend in life was his most hated adversary. 4 Year One: Tighter Story. Each chapter of The Dark Knight Returns is double-length from a standard comic issue, and as such, each chapter functions as a story in-and-of- itself, with a separate primary antagonist for each issue to boot. In contrast, Year One is a much simpler story with a less grand scale. However, the relatively un-heightened nature of the book results in a tightly- written, brilliant-in-its-simplicity story. 3 The Dark Knight Returns: Politics. Year One isn't without social commentary (the depiction of Gotham's police as thugs complicit in the city's corruption and who keep Gotham's downtrodden that way has aged quite well) but The Dark Knight Returns goes much more explicitly. The US president, though never named, was drawn as the then in-office Ronald Reagan. Miller found time to critique Reagan's imperialist foreign policy by showing a US invasion of fictional South American island Corto Maltese, with Superman leading the charge. 2 Year One: A Beginning. Every legend has a beginning, and though Year One wasn't the first story to tell how Batman came to be, it refined his origin so well that it became the standard-bearer for the Caped Crusader's beginnings from there on out. Films that touch on Batman's origin, both live-action like Batman Begins and animated like Mask Of The Phantasm, all include homages to Year One . The story's influence is so strong that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Zero Year , a rewriting of Batman's origin for the New 52 continuity, purposefully broke away from Year One 's grounded aesthetic towards the fantastical. Though Zero Year is an excellent comic in its own right, it felt as if the story was trying to justify its own existence by being so different. 1 The Dark Knight Returns: An Ending. True legends need not just beginnings but endings as well, and as Alan Moore wrote in a glowing essay on The Dark Knight Returns , that's where the book's true strength lies. Moore writes, better than anyone else could, that ". with Dark Knight , time has come to the Batman and the capstone that makes legends what they are has finally been fitted. In his engrossing story of a great man's final and greatest battle, Miller has managed to create something radiant." The Dark Knight Returns provided closure in a way that felt definitive for Batman, even if his legacy as a comic character did not end in 1986. Frank Miller’s Batman Part One: YEAR ONE, or How Legends are Made. I’ll admit, I feel like I’m being thrown in at the deep end a little bit here. Frank Miller’s Batman, indeed. When my friend/boss Travis told me he was looking to do an overview of some Batman stories by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, I was honestly really excited. Not only have both of those men written some of my favorite Batman storylines ever but they were also some of the most hugely influential on my own work. I was all excited until Travis then said ‘So you’re going to do YEAR ONE for the Frank Miller series of books? Cool? Cool *Travis runs away laugh manically*. What do you say about a book that is so hugely influential that it is not only considered one of the best Batman stories ever (arguably THE best) but one of the best comics ever produced (arguably THE best?). People have been talking about BATMAN: YEAR ONE since its release in 1987 and they frankly, have never stopped. There have been other stories that covered Batman’s origins before and since but none I think have made the impact that the Miller year one did. There’s a lot of ground to cover so I figure I’ll start at the comic’s background. The storyline came about when DC required a new take on Batman’s origin following their major storyline, ‘CRISES ON INFINITE EARTH’S’ which was intended to not only simplify their dense continuity but usher their iconic characters into a new age. Characters were given bold new interpretations that have nowadays, mostly become the status quo and some major creators got a much needed new vision brought to them. Batman was a character who was still recovering from the campy TV show from 20 years prior and was returning to the characters dark roots. Gone were the colourful costumes and the red telephone that connected him to Commissioner Gordon, here was the Dark Knight returned and who better to write his renewed origin than the man who’d written DARK KNIGHT RETURNS a year prior? To pair with Batman’s Omega, Frank Miller, who was at this point already a big deal due to the aforementioned DARK KNIGHT RETURNS but also DAREDEVIL at Marvel, was tasked to write Batman’s Alpha story. Unlike DARK KNIGHT RETURNS which Miller wrote and drew, he was paired with comic artist David Mazzuchelli, who he would later team up with again to deliver the equally classic and influential ‘BORN AGAIN’ storyline in DAREDEVIL. Why Miller did not choose to draw the story himself, I am not sure of. I can only think that perhaps they wanted a look to the book that differentiated it from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS which is something that Mazzuchelli delivers in spades. The art quality in the book is incredible and does an amazing job of drawing the reader in. I’m not sure what else Mazzuchelli may have done apart from BATMAN: YEAR ONE and BORN AGAIN, but his art is stunning on both books. He delivers high quality work that is equally on par with the writing that Miller delivers on both works. I’m digressing however, we’re not talking about Born Again, not today anyway. We’re talking about BATMAN: YEAR ONE. The comic runs only over 4 parts, which I think is amazing in itself. For a comic to make such an impact in 4 issues is quite a feat and there is probably more story in each subsequent part than some modern stories tell in 6-8 issue story arcs. The story itself does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. It covers the period of Batman’s first year in crime fighting along with dates of how the year progresses. I really like the coverage of the dates in the book as it really feels like you’re going over the entire year with not only Batman but also the entire supporting cast. Speaking of the supporting cast, although YEAR ONE is a Batman story first and foremost, it is also partially a Jim Gordon story. Although this isn’t in continuity anymore, YEAR ONE depicts Jim Gordon as a cop coming from Chicago to Gotham after some controversy in his career. It’s basically seen as a punishment because Gotham is well…Gotham. Even before the days of psychopathic clowns, masters of fear and strangely attractive plant lady’s, Gotham is no picnic. What Miller does is reimagines Gotham as a corrupt cesspool of the city that clearly needs help. The mob who run the story are led by Carmine ‘The Ramone’ Falcone, and they rule the city by having the police force and even the mayor’s office in their pocket. It is this level of dirt in the city that makes Gotham such a crime-ridden city, and although in previous interpretations it seemed that the police were just incompetent, here they are just corrupt. So largely YEAR ONE is not just about how Batman gets started but how he comes to build a relationship with Jim Gordon which, even today is one of the best comic friendships ever. There’s a lot of other ground to cover in YEAR ONE, including characters like ‘The Roman’ that was a major part of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman stories but has also recently reappeared as part of the major weekly event ‘BATMAN: ETERNAL’. There’s also characters like Commissioner Loeb (no connection to the writer as far as I’m aware) who also featured in those aforementioned stories, but has also seen himself adapted to other media inspired by this influential story (more on that later). YEAR ONE shows a Batman who, unlike his DARK KNIGHT RETURNS interpretation, is not as confident and is obviously far more untested. Here we see his first true attempts at crime fighting, as well as his first battles with police, which has some callbacks to his fights with the force in DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. There’s also a lot of other reflections on Miller’s other major Batman work, such as a callback to Batman referring himself to as ‘lucky’ when he narrowly avoids getting shot or wounded. These are small scenes that are easy to miss but to me, really elevate the story. There’s also a brilliant moment (one of my favorite in comics ever) where Batman is in battle with the police force. When they try to hit him with a spray of bullets and hit his cape they speculate that he is some otherworldly being who cannot be killed. It’s a brilliant moment where you see the legend of ‘the Batman’ start to finally take hold. There’s also his ingenious method of escape from the police that was copied and pasted for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’. There are a lot of great moments in the story that I could spend all day going over. The infamous Mob dinner scene, the ending referencing the Joker, Gordon confronting Bruce Wayne about being the vigilante and many others I’m probably forgetting. If you’ve read the story (which I would safely assume the vast majority of you have) you’ll know them and if you haven’t, go and read them because I’m jealous that you get to discover them for the first time. One other moment I would like to mention is close to the end. Batman saves Gordon and his son and loses his mask in the process. While they speak underneath the bridge, Gordon clearly sees Batman without his mask but claims he can’t see a thing without his glasses. It’s a brilliant moment that you can take either as Gordon being genuine or lying through his teeth. The subject about how much Gordon truly knows about Batman is hotly debated and given that it was depicted in DARK KNIGHT RETURNS that the future Commissioner knew all along, we know what side of the debate Miller falls on. He doesn’t force the point here but you can take it either way. This also delivers some major set up for Gordon’s son, which current bat writer Scott Snyder would take advantage of some 24 years later. Before I talk about the continued influence that BATMAN: YEAR ONE has, I want to talk a little about another major Batman character that makes an appearance in the form of Selena Kyle, who Batfans everywhere know better as Catwoman. Although no major Bat rogue’s appear in YEAR ONE (The Joker is briefly mentioned at the end), Miller decides to include Catwoman in his story by showing some of her early days as a thief. It is Selena’s appearance in this story that I feel is the weakest part of YEAR ONE overall. Now don’t get me wrong, her dialogue is written well but it is her apparent role as a prostitute I never felt comfortable with. Miller had shown Selena in DARK KNIGHT RETURNS as an aging Madam well past her physical prime; it is clear that the writer intended for this to be yet another callback. There is some ambiguity as to how ‘involved’ Selena gets involved with her clients and it is definitely in Catwoman’s character to get what she wants but her depiction as a prostitute is not something I find easy to swallow. Selena is a very intelligent woman who respects her own self above all others and even though, yes she is very poor, I can’t quite see her selling her body for monetary gain. Some of her dialogue in her initial appearance, while strong otherwise throughout the story, is a bit off. It is more reminiscent of the back and forth that will become Miller’s norm in years to come in his later works such as SIN CITY and ALL STAR BATMAN. It’s a brief blemish on an otherwise near perfect book but one I think warrants mentioning, though some people may not care about what it is Selena gets up to in her spare time. I will say that since Loeb and Sale’s follow up to this in the form of LONG HALLOWEEN and DARK VICTORY featured Selena in a major way; the pair went a long way to explain her characters actions and fill her out. In those two storylines, as well as the spinoff ‘WHEN IN ROME’, Loeb and Sale do fantastic work with the character that upon retrospect when reading this along with YEAR ONE makes Selena’s depiction here, easier to bare. That leads me nicely into how much of an impact this story had, not only on the characters, but on other works and even other media. The story led to the creation of the Bat title ‘LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT’ which also took place over the early period of Batman’s career. That title led to some of the first pairings of Loeb and Sale on the character which led to THE LONG HALOWEEN and DARK VICTORY, which I pair with this story. Of course, as well as serving as the official canon for Batman’s origin until FLASHPOINT in 2011, the story also serves as the first part of Miller’s own strange Batman continuity which includes ‘ALL STAR BATMAN’, ‘DARK KNIGHT RETURNS’, ‘DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN’ the upcoming ‘DARK KNIGHT: MASTER RACE’. How much of that you want to take on board is of course, personal preference. With DC comics, there are many frequent changes to what does and what does not count. In regards to this, I always advise to take the story on its own merits, but if you can pair it with something else (even if its not obvious to anyone else or officially connected) that enhances your enjoyment of the story, then I don’t see why you shouldn’t. Along with the obvious, YEAR ONE’S influence is vast and probably incalculable. Its impact on Batman in the comics can be seen over the 28 or so years since the storyline occurred, but this influence probably extends over a lot of other books completely unrelated to the character. The comic has also had major influence on other media as well. It was going to be the subject of its own adaption as a movie during the gap in Batman films between Batman & Robin and Batman Begins with a script by Miller but like most of the projects during that time, it never came to light. There is a lot of the story in Batman Begins but also in Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm, the Batman Arkham games, and finally an animated adaption of the story released some years ago that received a lot of good press and critical acclaim, particularly due to actor Bryan Cranston’s voice performance as Gordon. I think it’s probably impossible to go every aspect of this storyline and the impact it had in one article. It’s one of those lightning in a bottle moments that most creators can only dream of attaining but of which Miller seemed to make a habit during this period. The story continues to receive multiple new printings and people are still talking about it (like now) far after its closing lines were written. This will, I think, always be a book we look back to as not only fans, but as those that want to be creators themselves. It might not be the in-continuity origin any longer, but BATMAN: YEAR ONE is something that transcends silly matters like what counts and what doesn’t. There is something special in those pages and there will be a lot of stories that try to equal it. I think it is a story that not only reimagined a legend but has also become a legend in and of itself. Stay tuned next week for the next chapter in ComicsVerse’s Frank Miller Trilogy! Next week, Travis Czap takes you inside ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN! ReadComicOnline.li. A force of men is assembled, so massive it shakes the earth with its march -- an army, vast beyond imagining, poised to devour tiny Greece, to snuff out the worlds one hope for reason and justice. Only . The armies of Persia-a vast horde greater than any the world has ever known-are poised to crush Greece, an island of reason and freedom in a sea of madness and tyranny. Standing between Greece and this . From that first issue of Dark Horse Presents to the most recent issue of Sin City, Dark Horse has been bringing you the finest in comics entertainment for ten years. To commemorate our 10th . A self-published anthology from Alan Moores short lived Mad Love Publishing. AARGH! (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia) was a 76-page one-shot, only Mirror of Love has . The all-new saga of Batman and Robin begins here! The people responsible for some of comicdoms greatest tales, Frank Miller (BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, Sin City) and Jim Lee (BATMAN: HUSH) team . 49 pages! Jason, a little boy who comes to realize his parents arent his parents, and that hes part of a sterile experimental community. Originally produced as a strip for the British Edition of GQ, . It is ten years after an aging Batman has retired and Gotham City has sunk into decadence and lawlessness. Now as his city needs him most, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of glory. Joined by Carrie . BATMAN NOIR: THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN continues writer and artist Frank Miller’s dystopian Batman tale in gritty black- and-white inks as it has never been seen before.It has been three years . A new era for The Dark Knight and Gotham City begins here from writer Scott Snyder (AMERICAN VAMPIRE, BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM) and artist Greg Capullo. Batman and the Bat-Family continue their quest to . Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is set 20 years in the future. In the absence of superheroes, criminals run amok, and a gang called the Mutants terrorize Gotham City. Bruce Wayne has been retired from . The unforgettable world of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight saga—reimagined by the comicsindustry’s greatest artists with a collection of variant cover art—is brought to life in this . This masterpiece of comics storytelling brings to life a dark world. and an even darker man. Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in his saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, . The most eagerly-awaited sequel in comics begins! Three years after the events in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, Batman knows the world is nowhere near the perfect little place it pretends to be, and he sees . A young Bruce Wayne has spent his adolescence and early adulthood, traveling the world so he could hone his body and mind into the perfect fighting and investigative machine. But now as he returns to Gotham . In 1986, writer Frank Miller joined with artist David Mazzucchelli and colorist Richmond Lewis to create one of the most groundbreaking superhero tales ever to see print—BATMAN: YEAR ONE, now available . Young Matt Murdock is the son of Battlin Jack Murdock, a down-on-his-luck boxer who has been forced to become a mob thug in order to pay his bills. Matt Murdocks life forever changes the day he saves . Collects Daredevil (1964-1998 1st Series) #158-167. By Frank Miller. Years ago, with sales sagging on Marvels Man Without Fear, creative reins were handed over to a young writer/artist named Frank Miller. . The definitive Daredevil tale, by industry legends Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli! Karen Page, Matt Murdock’s former lover, has traded away the Man Without Fear’s secret identity for a . The legendary, premiere anthology is back! The 80-page spectacular, Dark Horse Presents returns with all-new stories by Neal Adams, Howard Chaykin, and Richard Corben; a newConcrete story by Paul . I love anthologies. Whether its the horror anthologies of film and TV or seminal comic publications like 2000AD. Dark Horse Presents had a long run from the mid 80s to the early 2000s. This is the third . Frank Miller once again turns to The Dark Knight in this follow-up to classic Batman comic books The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again. The next chapter you never saw coming is here because you demanded it! The Dark Knight rises again to face the dawn of the master race! Frank Miller returns to the Dark Knight Universe!It’s been three years since the events of Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Lara has spent the time learning to be more human, and Carrie Kelley has . Batman’s 75th anniversary celebration continues with another promotionally priced special presenting one of the Dark Knight’s greatest tales plus related pages from the 2014 DCE Essential . Batmans 75th anniversary is here, and to celebrate, DC Entertainment is offering a series of promotionally priced specials that capture the Dark Knights greatest moments! Frank Millers all-time classic . The blind lawyer Matt Murdocks heightened senses detect a familiar scent comes on the wind. Can it be? Has his murdered love Elektra returned from the dead? But what do the assassins known . Elektra Natchios was once Matt Murdocks first love. Then, her father was killed and something went cold inside her. She studied the deadly arts of ninjitsu under the Asian order of the Hand. Then, she . An untold chapter in the life of Elektra unfolds, as Marvels most mysterious assassin begins her journey in an asylum for the mentally insane. Reality and dreams blur together, as Elektras once-impenetrable . Meet Elektra Natchios. This intriguing young woman has played equally intriguing roles throughout her life: gymnast. Martial artist. Ninja. Assassin! Trained in the deadliest of arts and renowned as the . In 1991, visionary creator Frank Miller continued his shakedown of the comics industry when he premiered his visceral and powerfully charged Sin City series. With Sin City, Miller sent a . Theres a deadly menace somewhere in Empire City, and The Fixer only has until dawn to save his town - and civilization as we know it! Legendary Comics presents an all-out, head-busting, bone-breaking, . At long last, Frank Millers never-before-seen full Robocop epic finally sees light of day! Robocop was one of the truly great bits of movie and pop culture magic from the 80s, and the cult of Robocop . The Twenty-first Century: in the squalid corridors of a maximum security Housing Project she takes on a gangland Enforcer; on the war-torn streets of Chicago she fights the murderous Health Police; but . On March 11, 1995, something hopeful happened in the slums of Chicago. On that day, Martha Washington was born. Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons began the chronicles of Martha Washington in the 1990 miniseries, . One of the works that helped cement Frank Millers reputation as one of the most innovative creators of the comic book industry! Join Nixon, a "Hard Boiled" Tax Collector who stops at nothing to get . On Earth, the battle for freedom rages on. The year is 2095 and the day is the one-hundredth birthday of Martha Washington. She is the leader of a small, resolute band that will not forfeit the pursuit . Martha Washington -- prisoner, runaway, lunatic, soldier, and now seditionist -- has seen the future. It looks great on paper, but it doesnt work. The U.S. government is controlled by power-hungry nutcases. . Finally! Martha Washington is back, and in trouble right from the start -- trying to crash-land a space shuttle! But no sooner is she on the ground than she has to take off for space again on a top-secret . All her life she has fought for freedom, tried to make her imperfect world into something perfect. Now, on the far edge of space, Martha Washington has found the road to her utopia. Theres a perfect world . In the machine-dominated future of 2029, a human rebel gains access to the Skynet computers Time Displacement Equipment and sends herself into the past on a desperate mission to kill officer Alex Murphy, . The police force has disbanded. The people of Detroit have been evicted from their homes. ED-209s and OCP officers run the streets. With OCPs vision for Delta City well underway, Robocop may be his citys . In medieval Japan, a young samurai is dishonored at the hands of the demon Agat for killing his master and letting him live. Now, after years of training with a magic/cursed sword, the now masterless Ronin . The hulking tough guy called Marv has assigned himself to avenge the only lady he ever loved. He must uncover a huge conspiracy that stretches from the Basin City PD to the highest echelon of the city . In Sin City, its easy to hide from the present, but impossible to forget the past. Frank Miller makes a return trip to Sin City and brings eager readers along for the ride. On the way, meet Dwight, a . This 126-page epic spilled out of Frank all at once. He doesnt want to serialize it -- he wants you to read it in one sitting. So were bringing it to you in a single package! It features Miho on roller-blades, . In the Town Without Pity, good deeds and honest men are in short supply. Enter Wallace, mysterious man of integrity and strength. Out for an evening drive along the beach, he meets the woman of his dreams--and . It began as an ordinary Saturday night for Marv. He started out at Kadies, watching Nancys show and having a few drinks, but everything after that is a blur. What is he doing in the projects with a fresh . Just one hour to go. Hartigans polishing his badge and working himself up to kissing it good-bye, it and the thirty-odd years of protecting and serving and tears and blood and triumph that it represents. .