Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One | |
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ISBN 9798887240039 |
Batman: Year One is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli. Year One was originally published by DC Comics in Batman #404–407 in 1987. There have been several reprints of the story: a hardcover, multiple trade paperbacks, several deluxe editions in hardcover and paperback format, and an Absolute Edition. Year One was also adapted into an animated feature in 2011, after efforts to adapt it into a live-action film were cancelled following the failure of 1997's Batman & Robin.
The story recounts Batman's first year as a crime-fighter as well as exploring the life of recently transferred Gotham police detective Jim Gordon – eventually building towards their first encounter and their eventual alliance against Gotham's criminal underworld.
Publication history
Development
In an effort to resolve continuity errors in the DC Universe, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez produced the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths.[1] Wolfman's plans for the DC Universe after Crisis on Infinite Earths included relaunching every DC comic with a new first issue.[2]
During the production of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Frank Miller was the writer of Marvel Comics' Daredevil. He collaborated with artist David Mazzucchelli to produce Daredevil: Born Again together which was critically acclaimed. Miller also worked for DC and produced the influential four-issue limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986). By 1986, editor Dennis O'Neil moved on from Marvel to work for DC again.
The contract Miller signed to produce Dark Knight Returns also required him to write a revamped Batman origin story. Miller's past projects overwhelmed him since he had to handle both writing and illustration duties simultaneously. For Year One, he simply wrote the story and the script, with Mazzucchelli signed on to illustrate the artwork. The team also consisted of Mazzucchelli's wife Richmond Lewis who was in charge of coloring, Todd Klein as the story's letterer, and O'Neil editing the overall story.[3] According to O'Neil, the contract Miller and Mazzucchelli signed to produce Year One in the ongoing Batman series guaranteed publication within 6 months.[4]
Year One was originally conceived as a graphic novel. O'Neil, who had been asked to edit several issues of Batman, was friends with Miller and was able to learn of the story. Reflecting on poor sales of Batman, O'Neil caught Miller one day while on a walk in Los Angeles and convinced him and Mazzucchelli to serialize the story in the ongoing series.[4] Miller was initially reluctant; he felt this would be hard because he had to ensure the story stayed canonical to the DC Universe, something he did not have to worry about when writing Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In addition, Miller's pacing would have to be altered because of ongoing series' relatively small page counts. O'Neil reasoned that Crisis on Infinite Earths had completely remade the DC Universe, so Miller would be able to have the same creative freedom that Dark Knight Returns provided.[3] He also reassured Miller that he and Mazzucchelli "weren't going to lose anything" by serializing it.[4]
Miller has said he kept Bob Kane and Bill Finger's basic story for Year One but expanded it.[5] In writing the story, Miller looked for parts of Batman's origin that were never explored. He left the core elements, such as the murder of Bruce's parents, intact, but reduced them to brief flashbacks. Bruce's globe-trotting adventures were removed, as Miller found them uninteresting. Rather than portraying Batman as a larger-than-life icon as he had in The Dark Knight Returns, Miller chose to characterize Batman in Year One as an average, inexperienced man trying to make a change in society because Miller believed a superhero is least interesting when most effective. Examples of this include Batman underestimating his opponents, getting shot by police, and his costume being too big. The story's violence was kept street-level and gritty, emphasizing noir and realism.[3]
In illustrating, Mazzucchelli sought to make Year One look grimy, dark, and muted. His interpretation of Gotham City was designed to symbolize corruption, featuring muddy colors that gave the impression of the city being dirty and needing a hero. The newsprint paper used in Batman was unable to reproduce the bright coloring and visual effects of Dark Knight Returns, so Mazzucchelli took on Year One with a more grounded and darker approach.[6]
Publication
In accordance with Wolfman's plans,[2] O'Neil initially saw "Year One" as the start of the second volume of Batman and expected the first part to be its first issue. However, Miller rejected this idea. He explained: "I don't need to slash through continuity with a sharp blade as I thought. Doing The Dark Knight Returns has shown me there's been enough good material... I didn't feel that fleshing out an unknown part of Batman's history justified wiping out 50 years of [adventures]."[6] Thus, the four "Year One" issues bear no continuity to past issues of Batman.[6]
Title | Issue | Cover date |
---|---|---|
"Chapter One: Who I Am – How I Come to Be" | Batman #404 | February 1987 |
"Chapter Two: War Is Declared" | Batman #405 | March 1987 |
"Chapter Three: Black Dawn" | Batman #406 | April 1987 |
"Chapter Four: Friend in Need" | Batman #407 | May 1987 |
Collected editions
Several years ago, DC asked me if I'd help put together a deluxe edition of Batman: Year One, and Dale Crain and I worked for months to try to make a definitive version. Now whoever's in charge has thrown all that work in the garbage. First, they redesigned the cover, and recolored my artwork — probably to look more like their little DVD that came out last year; second, they printed the book on shiny paper, which was never a part of the original design, all the way back to the first hardcover in 1988; third — and worst — they printed the color from corrupted, out-of-focus digital files, completely obscuring all of Richmond's hand-painted work. Anybody who's already paid for this should send it back to DC and demand a refund.
—Mazzucchelli criticizing the 2012 Deluxe Edition[7]
According to Mazzucchelli, Year One was designed to be a graphic novel without advertisement pages. In 1988, DC finally gave the approval to publish Year One as a graphic novel in
In 1989, Longmeadow Press published "The Complete Frank Miller Batman" (
In April 2005, DC released the "Deluxe Edition" of Year One in hardcover (
The hardcover deluxe edition was re-released in 2012 (
In November 2014, to celebrate Batman's 75th anniversary, DC released a sample of Year One as a part of its DC Comics Essentials line of promotional comics.[8]
In 2015, DC released a hardcover of Year One (
In November 2016, DC released a 288-page
In 2017, the hardcover deluxe edition was re-released again (
In March 2022, to coincide with the release of
In May 2023,
Plot
Billionaire
Bruce believes he is still unprepared to fight against crime despite having the skills he learned abroad. He goes in disguise on a surveillance mission in Gotham's
Crimes significantly decline after weeks of Bruce striking as Batman. He even goes after Flass, who is in the middle of accepting a bribe from Jefferson Skeevers, a drug dealer of
Gordon and Essen have a brief affair and spend two months dating. Essen, however, chooses to leave Gotham upon learning he is going to be the father of Barbara's child. Gordon is left alone to investigate Bruce's connection to Batman. He travels to Wayne Manor with Barbara to interrogate Bruce, who uses his playboy charms to divert suspicion. While leaving the manor, Gordon confesses his affair with Essen to Barbara. Skeevers gets bailed with the help of a hired lawyer but is attacked by Batman shortly after, who convinces him to testify against Flass. Skeevers is drugged with
Bruce sneaks into Falcone's manor as Batman and overhears the private conversation between Falcone and his nephew, Johnny Viti. He surmises their intent to target Gordon's family, so he disguises himself as a motorcyclist to help Gordon. Gordon leaves home on Loeb's orders but becomes suspicious and turns back, only to discover Viti and his men already holding his family hostage. Viti flees the scene with Gordon's infant son. Gordon chases after him on Bruce's motorcycle. The two men end up fighting on a bridge until the baby falls. Bruce catches up in time and leaps over the bridge's railing to save the baby. Gordon thanks Bruce for saving his infant son's life and lets him go. Flass supplies Assistant
Reception
Popularity
DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths revamp was a major success, raising sales 22% in the first year, and DC beat Marvel in direct market sales for the first time in August and September 1987.[10] The four "Year One" issues were no exception to this. Two years before the relaunch, Batman had all-time low sales of 75,000 copies per month; "Year One" sold an average of 193,000 copies an issue, numbers not seen since the early 1970s. Despite this, it did not outsell other books like Uncanny X-Men, and the collected edition sold well but never matched the sales of The Dark Knight Returns.[3] The story, with the noir-inspired narrative and ultra-violent tone, quickly caught the attention of readers.[11] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Year One" offered an interesting and entertaining update to the origin of Batman.[12]
Critical response
Year One's characterization of Batman and Gordon, has been praised. Hilary Goldstein (IGN) compared their journey to friendship to the plot of the film Serpico; they found that the two characters' respective story arcs—with Gordon's "illustrat[ing] the corruption in Gotham" and Batman's detailing "the transformation from man to myth"—offered an exploration of Batman's world like no other.[13] Glenn Matchett (ComicsVerse) wrote that, unlike The Dark Knight Returns, Batman in Year One is more vulnerable and inexperienced, which made the story more memorable.[11] Nick Roberts (Geek Syndicate) thought the characters seemed believable,[14] and comics historian Matthew K. Manning called the characterization realistic and grounded.[6]
The story's depiction of Gotham and darker, realistic, mature and more grittier tone and direction, compared to other contemporary Batman comics at the time, has also been acclaimed. Journalist James Lovegrove described "Year One" as a "noir-inflected pulp tale of vigilantism and integrity, focused on a good man doing the right thing in a dirty world" and noted the brutality of the fight sequences.
Mazzucchelli's art was noted as a standout by many, praising the minimalistic, noir-influenced and realistic art-work.[13][11]
Continuity
Before
After
Launched in 1989, following the success of the film Batman, the title Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight examines crime-fighting exploits primarily, not exclusively, from the first four to five years of Batman's career. This title rotated in creative teams and time placement, but several stories directly relate to the events of Year One, especially the first arc "Batman: Shaman". In 1996 and 1999, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale created Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory, two 13-issue maxiseries that recount Batman's early years as a crime-fighter following the events of Miller's original story and retold the origins of Two-Face and Dick Grayson. The Year One story was continued in the 2005 graphic novel Batman: The Man Who Laughs, following up on Gordon informing Batman about the Joker, and thus recounting their first official encounter. Two other stories, Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk tie into the same time period of Batman's career, filling in the gap between Year One and the Man Who Laughs. The comics Robin: Year One and Batgirl: Year One describe his sidekicks' origin stories.
Sequels
Two sequels, titled Batman: Year Two and Batman: Year Three, were released in 1987 and 1989.
Adaptations
Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever, although set during another timespan, adopts some elements directly from the graphic novel. Schumacher claims he originally had in mind an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. The studio rejected the idea as they wanted a sequel, not a prequel, though Schumacher was able to include very brief events in Batman's past.[19][20]
The DC Animated Universe film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, adopted elements of the storyline, depicting flashbacks of how Bruce Wayne became Batman and also combines it with elements of Batman: Year Two and shows Batman's personal connection with original character Phantasm inspired by the Reaper, another character in the comics with a connection to Batman.
After the critical failure of Batman & Robin, several attempts were made to reboot the Batman film franchise with an adaptation of Year One. Joss Whedon and Joel Schumacher both pitched their own takes.[3] In 2000, Warner Bros. hired Darren Aronofsky to write and direct Batman: Year One. The film was to be written by Miller, who finished an early draft of the script.[21][22] The script, however, was a loose adaptation, as it kept most of the themes and elements from the graphic novel but shunned other conventions that were otherwise integral to the character.[23] It was shelved by the studio in 2001,[24] after an individual who claimed to have read Miller's script published a negative review on Ain't It Cool News.[3] In 2016, Miller explained that the film was canceled because of creative differences between him, Aronofsky, and Warner Bros:[25]
It was the first time I worked on a Batman project with somebody whose vision of Batman was darker than mine. My Batman was too nice for him. We would argue about it, and I'd say, "Batman wouldn't do that, he wouldn't torture anybody" and so on. We hashed out a screenplay, and we were wonderfully compensated, but then Warner Bros. read it and said, "We don't want to make this movie." The executive wanted to do a Batman he could take his kids to.
In 2005,
In 2011, an
While not a direct adaptation, the video game
The second half of the
Director Matt Reeves cited Year One as one of the inspirations for The Batman, with Robert Pattinson portraying a younger Bruce Wayne who is in his second year as a crime-fighter.[32]
References
- ^ Greeberger, Robert (August 2015). "Crisis at 30: A Look Back at the Most Influential Crossover in Comics History". Back Issue! (82).
- ^ ISBN 978-0306825477. Archivedfrom the original on 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4767-5669-1.
- ^ a b c Greenfield, Dan (September 22, 2014). "The DENNY O'NEIL INTERVIEWS — Batman: Year One". 13th Dimension. Archived from the original on October 14, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- ^ "'Batman' Author Frank Miller". NPR. June 15, 2005. Archived from the original on October 14, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
Melding Miller's noir sensibilities, realistic characterization, and gritty action with Mazzucchelli's brilliant iconic imagery, "Year One" thrilled readers and critics alike... as well as being one of the influences for the 2005 film Batman Begins.
- ^ a b Schedeen, Jesse (March 28, 2012). "Batman: Year One – Deluxe Edition Hardcover Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ "DC Comics Essentials – Batman: Year One Special Edition #1". DC Comics. November 5, 2014. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ "Absolute Batman: Year One". DC Comics. November 2, 2016. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ISBN 978-0306825477. Archivedfrom the original on 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
- ^ a b c d Matchett, Glenn (September 4, 2015). "Frank Miller's Batman Part One: YEAR ONE, or How Legends are Made". ComicsVerse. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ISBN 978-0290204890.
- ^ a b c Goldstein, Hilary (June 17, 2005). "Batman: Year One Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ Roberts, Nick. "'Classic Comic' Review – Batman: Year One". Geek Syndicate. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ Lovegrove, James (2016). "Batman: Year One". The 100 Greatest Graphic Novels of All Time (1). Future plc: 92–93.
- Complex. Archivedfrom the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- ^ Sanderson, Peter (2006-02-06). "Comics in Context #119: All-Star Bats on IGN". Comics.ign.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ "THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Announces BATMAN: ZERO YEAR". dccomics.com. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015.
- ISBN 9780786468911. Archivedfrom the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "Batman Forever: How to Be a Superhero | The Reverse Gear". Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ Dana Harris (2000-09-21). "WB sends Pi guy into the Bat Cave". Variety. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Greenberg, James (2005-05-08). "Rescuing Batman". Los Angeles Times. p. E-10. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
- ^ Brian Linder (2000-10-16). "The Bat-Men Speak". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Dana Harris (2002-06-30). "WB: fewer pix, more punch". Variety. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Kit, Borys (March 3, 2016). "A Rare Interview With Frank Miller: 'Dark Knight,' the Unmade Darren Aronofsky Batman Movie, and Donald Trump". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- ^ Dodd, Michael, "Back to the Beginning: The Evolving Influence of Batman: Year One Archived 2017-07-12 at the Wayback Machine," The Missing Slate.
- ^ "Batman: Year One Animated Update". worldsfinestonline.com. June 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- ^ Kit, Borys (April 20, 2011). "'Batman: Year One' Lines Up Voice Cast, Sets Comic-Con Premiere (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ^ "BATMAN: YEAR ONE Animated Film Sneak Peek Video & Character Designs". The Daily BLAM!. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
- CraveOnline. April 12, 2013. Archivedfrom the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "Gotham Season 4 Draws from Long Halloween & Batman: Year One Comics". Screen Rant. July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ^ Davis, Johnny (2022-02-08). "Director Matt Reeves on the Iconic Comic That Influenced 'The Batman'". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
External links
- Batman: Year One movie official site
- Batman: Year One @ The World's Finest
- Current edition at DC Comics Archived 2008-07-18 at the ISBN 0930289331
- Deluxe Hardcover edition at DC Comics Archived 2008-07-18 at the ISBN 1401206905