Batman: Year oneHe will become the greatest crimefighter the world has ever known....it won't be easy.
This is the revised origin story of Batman told in all its noir glory. In one great tale, we get two great beginnings - of Batman and police lieutenant Gordon. The comic plays out like an Altman movie script, the principle characters waltz around one another, never coming into contact. The first person narrative shifts from Bruce Wayne to Gordon and back again. Its amazing how Miller laces his characters dialogues and thoughts in sarcasm that isn't just funny to read but also gives us access to the characters depth of thoughts and temperament. Consider the part when Bruce Wayne, at the start of the story, returns to Gotham after a 12 year absence on a plane, and tells himself 'I should have taken the train, I should be closer. I should see the enemy.' That lines give us, in many ways, the true face of the nihilistic Miller, who channels his knowledge of the crime world in magnificent, near majestic ways. Its a simple story, told in Miller's eloquent style - Gotham is in trouble, it is infested with crime and decadence and Falcone along with dirty cops are at the centre of it. A saviour, brimming with repressed intolerance for evil, steps forward to help it out, along with the assistance of a clean cop. That is the crux of what really happens, but it is full of moments that leave imprints in your memory about who or what Batman is - especially a middle segment, where a swat team attacks a newly costumed Batman, who injured and bleeding, turns to a fleet of bats to help him out using a sonic device to call on help from these nocturnal creatures (a moment expertly rendered on screen in Nolan's superb
Batman Begins).
Year one is the perfect noir comic book; it has a femme fatale in the making (Selena as the future Catwoman), dirty cops, drug kingpins, pimps, a detective, a reluctant hero, even an extra marital affair - everything. The simplicity of its plot structure and overall narrative may not make it seem extraordinary, but in its restraint lies its power. There is no big resolution - there is a chase, and gunfire, and wounds and mortal loss. This is the most humane book about Batman. And one of the absolute best.
Rating: 5/5P.S. In my third read, has joined the ranks of
Dark Knight returns as a book that has become a compulsory annual read. Ends on a note that will bring a smile of familiarity on anyone remotely aware of the Batman mythology in popular media.
