Rating:  -
**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
This is an excellent story, from any angle you look at it. It re-tells the story of Batman's origin, mostly keeping it the same but adding depth, and also focuses heavily on Jim Gordon; not only his relationship with the dark knight, but his inner-struggles as well.
What I love most about this book is the realism given to the story. Batman's no super-man (forgive the joke) and he actually screws up when he's new to the hero thing. He gets hurt, and he has morality issues, just like a real person. Gotham city is no heaven, either. Its police commissioner is a corrupt man employing a rogue detective Flass, who eliminates anyone that tries to reveal his wrongdoings. Even Jim Gordon, one of the good guys on Gotham's police force, is committing the wrong of cheating on his wife.
This air of very human evil gives the story a realism not found in a lot of comics. The art is reminscent of its time, but this re-painted 2005 edition improves it by tenfold. It goes hand-in-hand with the writing, which is very solid, down-to-earth, and entertaining. The bonuses in this edition include a short essay-strip by Mazzuchelli, and a bunch of production pages for the book.
Rating:  -
I neither loved nor hated this book. After having it recommended to me from various friends, I decided to get it. To be frank, (no pun intended) it wasn't spectacular on any level. The art was decent, but not that great. The writing was alright, and overall plot was enjoyable, but just not that interesting. It seems like Batman Begins - great movie- was highly inspired by this book, and yet, the book version just didn't quite feel so rivetting. The ending, was simply unsatisfying. I understand why it ended the way it did, but it just left me caring a lot less about the character and his exploits. It's actually so plain to me to make me wonder whether Begins would've been anywhere near as enjoyable without such a superb score(soundtrack).
I thought Catwoman's involvement in the story was completely pointless. She did have one good line but that's not really enough to justify her being thrown into this story.
Ultimately, I can't think of much to say because it wasn't memorable enough for anything to really stick with me. It was just.. ok.
Rating: -
Not the best art in my opinion (after all it is the mid 80's) but, since it is the first bat-graphic-novel I have read I can tell you that it is most definately five-star quality which makes up for the art-style ten-fold. Not everyone may feel the same way about the art. I just like modern-art better. More year 2000 style. But anyway, this is most definately a must have for any batfan. I can see where Batman Begins got its ideas from and if they follow this type of quality they'll rival even the spiderman franchise. And to me that's sayin alot! Definately get this.
Rating:  -
I am a fan of Frank Miller's other works like Sin City, 300, and Dark Knight Returns. He brings his trademark "gritty" style to this tale. This is an origin story, but more so, it is a character examination of the duality of of the Bruce Wayne/Batman character. Mazzucchelli's art is effective as always, if a little "dated" by today's standards.
I was surprised to see the majority of the story devoted to Lt. Gordon and not Batman. However, this is not necessarily a weekness in the story, it is just something interested buyers should be aware of. I enjoyed Miller's successfull attempt at fleshing out Gordon's character beyond the standard "Batman's ally."
Upon finishing the book, I couldn't help thinking about how Christopher Nolan and the rest of the crew who worked on Batman Begins did a great job of mining this book--and dare I say--improving on the origin story of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Although I enjoyed Batman: Year One, Batman Begins continues to be the definitive origin story of Batman in my opinion. With that said, the story is great and would be worthy of five stars if it wasn't for the compressed nature of the narrative. The new trade paperback from DC is high quality and looks good on the book shelf. I would recommend any interested Batman fan pick this up as long as they are aware of what to expect from the story.
Rating: -
Before he would write Sin City and 300, Frank Miller first achieved fame by his reinvention of Daredevil for Marvel before taking flight to DC. In 1986, he crafted the masterpiece that is the Dark Knight Returns, and a couple years later, he would lend his talents again in his re-imagining of the origin of Batman with Year One. The story centers around Bruce Wayne, who has just returned to Gotham City after spending twelve years honing his skills, as well as Lieutenant Jim Gordon who is new to town and apparently the only clean cop in the city. Both have rude awakenings as they cross paths in their efforts to fight in this lawless, decaying, urban wasteland. What really makes Year One so good is that Miller shows us a rookie Batman who has more than his share of troubles on his first forays in the costumed hero business, which in itself is entertaining. His depiction of Gordon is effective as well; humanizing the stalwart cop to great effect. You'll see plenty of familiar characters as well here in Year One, including Harvey Dent and Selina Kyle and her transformation into Catwoman; as well as many elements that were used in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins film. David Mazzucchelli's art is dark and dreary, which suits Miller's tone superbly and is wonderfully done. All in all, if you've never read Batman: Year One, you have been missing out, and it more than deserves a place in your graphic novel library.
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