| Batman: Year One |  | Author: Frank Miller
Creator: David Mazzucchelli
Publisher: DC Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
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Seller: BRILANTI BOOKS
Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 6,784
Media: Paperback
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.3
ISBN: 1401207529
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401207526
ASIN: 1401207529
Publication Date: January 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Whether you grew up reading Batman comics, watched the campy television show, or eagerly await each new movie, this is the book for you. A retelling of the events that led to Bruce Wayne's becoming Batman, this book combines Frank Miller's tight film-noir writing with David Mazucchelli's solid artwork.
Product Description
A new deluxe trade paperback edition of one of the most important and critically acclaimed Batman adventures ever, written by Frank Miller, author of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS! In addition to telling the entire dramatic story of Batman's first year fighting crime, this collection includes reproductions of original pencils, promotional art, script pages, unseen David Mazzucchelli Batman art and more.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
 A great start for a great hero. August 18, 2010
Comic book worm. (Riga, Latvia.)
Batman:Year One is a story, which, as the title suggests details the first year of action for Batman and the inspiration for many of his methods, and, also, his mentallity, but it doesn't just foccus on a single character; a noticable part of the book is centered on James Gordon, the police comissioner we all know and love, and how he came to be where he is, and how his alliance with Batman was forged.
Of both characters I found myself rooting the most for the comissioner, who Frank Miller managed to make into a compelling, interesting, multilayered and, most importantly, flaved and humane character, and his segments in the comic, atleast I personally, found to be the most interesting(to say the thruth, this comic actually made Gordon my favourite character of the Batman mythos, yes, that's right, I prefer him to Batman).
Not to say that the Batman sections in the novel were bad or uninteresting, but his story is one most Batman fans(excluding some of the more specific details upon which this comic expands) by now pretty much know by heart, so it was James Gordons part of the story, that, atleast for me, had the most impact and had the most interesting setpieces, which I refuse to spoil here. What I can say is that, you'll witness some truly memorable moments, the transformation and evolution of both protagonists before your eyes and some new information regarding both characters, that will shed them in a much different light.
The story itself is structured over the time spane of a single year and shows how Batman was inspired to create his costume, how Catwoman(who also is an important part of the story) choose to lead a life of vigilantism and first met(perhaps not strictly in perosn)Batman, and just quite how deep did the corruption run in Gotham city. Frank Millers writing is as good as always, ussualy portrait in the inner monologs of many characters, that create a new and interesting angle into the characters mentallity. The story is riddled with many intense set-pieces, that, worry not, I will not spoil in this review, as much of their impact relies on surprise(also worth of mentione is the dark and brooding atmosphere which envelops much of the story and greatly helps the immersion).
I will say, however, that it is refreshing to see Batman actually be in mortal danger for once in a story and not just steam-roll his way through the opposition, relying on the "prepared for anything" gimmic, that he has been relying on so much in many modern comics(I know "being prepared" is part of Batmans character, but it destroys much of a tension a story can have, if you know that Batman just happened to be prepared for the exact type of trap The Riddler had for him, six years ago).
My only criticism of the story comes from the fact that, do to the stories structure which spans an entire year, it can often be the case, when entire months are given just one or two pannels of exposition , and the story often insists on jumping from character to character a bit too often, which can make the story feel a bit disjointed. For these flaws I deduct the comic a star.
Sppeaking of the art, I have heard many people calling it too simplistic, uninteresting or just plain simply bad, but I beg to differ with these oppinions - yes the art isn't overtly detailed, and the coloring may seem very simplistic and perhaps even primitive, but I think it does the story a favour, in the sense that it portrays a more simple time in Gothams history were there weren't no supervillains and hardly any superheroes or vigilantes. The colloring also helps enchance the depresing mood of the city, that suits the story well.
I also didn't particullary mind the simplicty of the art, to say the truth I even prefered it to many modern, overly detailed comic art, which may seem great individualy, but as a part of a coherent whole, they often can ruin the pacing of the story.
That wasn't the case in Batman:Year one, the art had a great pacing(despite the loose nature of the story) and was always portrayed from a great angle, and, most importantly it always had a great impact and punch to it, be it scenes of action or drama, the art seemed always able to portray the required emotion and power of them.
As far as the purchase recommandation goes, the question stands: should you buy this comic? In short - yes!
It doesn't matter if your a long time Batman fan or new to the whole mythos, or, perhaps, the whole comics genre; Batman:Year One is as good of a place to start as any. In fact Batman:Year One is one my highest recommandations as a starting point for comics(alongside Watchmen, The Joker and Kick-Ass), for people who are new to the genre:it contains great art, inteligent story, humane characters and great writing(and that is discounting all the bonus materials, such as scetches and parts of the script), and I believe almost anyone could find something worth of interest inside this great story!
 Severely Overrated August 13, 2010
M. burns
Really was disappointed in this novel especially considering all the hype it gets. The story is very short and is mostly about Gordon's rise through the ranks than it is about Batman. In fact, there is very little about Batman in the novel to begin with so do not expect to get the details about Batman like you did with Batman Begins. Also, as someone has mentioned, the novel seems to go nowhere and just when you think it is about to begin its over. The other major flaw is the artwork which is probably the worst you will ever see from a professional. The only positive I saw in this novel was the move towards realism. Other than that, there really isn't anything of value in this book.
 Batman and Frank Miller at their finest. July 20, 2010
Z. Reuter (Seattle, WA USA)
This was a great graphic novel all around. It has all the elements of great artwork and great writing that you could hope for. It's still great after all these years.
 Doesn't hold up to an adult reading July 18, 2010
ninjasuperstar (Iowa)
When I was young, I enjoyed Batman: Year One. I thought the story was exciting: Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon's parallel struggles to wrest Gotham City from the criminal and the corrupt was truly engaging. I still appreciate this aspect of Frank Miller's story, that human heroes are not created in isolation.
After a recent re-reading, I'm not so much a fan of Frank Miller's narrative style any more. Miller writes as little as possible to tell the story, and it's this minimalist approach that doesn't appeal to me anymore. I need more substance to digest, not a short romp, clipped of all but the essentials. Because the story moves so quickly, things get thrown to the wayside, like Bruce Wayne's characterization. The reader doesn't come away from Year One with a whole lot more information about Wayne/Batman than he or she doesn't already know. Jim Gordon, however, is well developed: Gordon doesn't have to put on a silly costume to fight crime and corruption; he merely has to be his hard-boiled self. The scenes with Gordon are well written, but Wayne/Batman too often comes off as an afterthought.
I am not a fan of David Mazzucchelli's illustration. In short, I find his drawing and most of his color schemes to be quite ugly. He makes humans look alien and twisted, except if the character in question is a beautiful woman (like Sarah Essen). I can't even understand some of his settings, especially if the panel is small and dark. Just because I don't like the look of it, however, doesn't mean Mazzucchelli's art isn't sometimes powerful. The illustrations are at times more compelling than the story. But Mazzucchelli's worldview prejudges Gotham City for the reader, instead of letter him or her decide. Or maybe Frank Miller wanted it that way.
Other than Jim Gordon's tale, much of this story arc didn't interest me. Bruce Wayne/Batman is underdeveloped: Batman just shows up and does things, and I was left wondering, how did he know to be there and know which toys to bring? The reader actually understands why Gordon is where he is and does what he does. This should have been called James Gordon: Year One, but that would have been too honest.
Made to be read Over and Over again... and than some! July 7, 2010
Peter Benjamin Parker
I've never been a big fan of DC comic books, I've always preferred Marvel Comics to DC. And I'm not even that big of a Marvel fan, I just like Spider-Man, and trust me I've got a helluva lot of Spider-Man so don't worry I'm no newbie to the world of comics. But if there is ONE DC character I really really like it's Batman. The Nolan Batman films have always been better than the Raimi Spider-Man films (well not really better there good in different ways, Nolan's films are really good serious movies and the Raimi are really good fun movies). So I was surfing the web one day and found a top ten list of Batman novels, this was number one. This was three years ago, I may be just a little bit late with this review. Now three years later I have amassed a large collection of Batman backissues (and current issues as I am currently enjoying Tony Daniels, as of this writing, current run on the Batman series) and graphic novels, and I can honestly say that Batman Year One my first Batman comic is still my very favorite.
This story captures the realism and grit of Gordon, and Batman, and Gotham. It's probably one of the most realistic Batman stories and cements Batman's place in the real world. The storytelling is skilled and it is probably Frank Miller's greatest work (it's definetly better than his modern stuff... DEFINETLY) and the narration switching between Gordon and Bruce feels like things these character's would say if they were real, and I just get an immense ammount of joy that Bruce's narration is written in script. But my favorite part of this stor is that it doesn't treat the reader's like there morons it doesn't explain everything becsause it knows that the mature readers reading the book will understand, my favorite example of this is when after being interviewed by Gordon Harvey Dent turns to behind his desk and tells Batman that it's safe to come out. The narration doesn't say "DENT IS WORKING WITH BATMAN, DURPA DURPA!" but you know that they are.
In short all I can say is... buy this book!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
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