After finishing Year One almost one month ago, it was time to continue my rereading of Batman's early years, and this one was the next stop. I know there are some great stories in between this and Year One(Shaman, Gothic, The Man Who Laughs and the "official" Year Two by Mike W.Barr), but i still didn't had the opportunity to acquire them, so i just jumped here since i have the definitive edition, and because this feels such an natural sequel to Year One.

I find myself constantly amazed by how much details Loeb and Sale are able to put not just in this issue, but in the whole series, every time i read this story i discover something new. A clue, a foreshadowing, a reference, all of them carefully placed in the amazing Panels by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb's great sharp dialogue, they don't waste anything, the pacing is just phenomenal, things are always moving forward in a very big or small way. The plot, the character arcs, all of these things have a very natural progression that doesn't make this story feel convoluted, which is an achievement on it's own since we have so many P.O.Vs here.

Bruce, Gordon and Harvey of course take the center stage as they form an alliance to take Gotham out of the hands of the mafia family's. We see Gordon's incorruptible spirit in so many great lines like "I'll let you bend the rules, but we can't break them. Otherwise, how are we different from him?" and how he try his best to see a future for him and his family in Gotham despite everything pointing to the contrary, we see Harvey's life outside of his job with Gilda, and we see that he is a good man with a lot of good intentions that is slowly starting to feel frustrated that he can't make things right following the rules, and of course we have Bruce, that is realizing that even him can't take this fight alone, he can't always fight in all fronts and he needs other players by his side, just like he says: "I trust Harvey Dent. I trust Jim Gordon.". Besides that, which should already by itself make a very convoluted mess, we also have Catwoman and the Mafia Families having a constant presence here, and again, none of them are wasted or feel out of place, they are moving forward in the story just like the main trio, and all of that is only in the 1st issue....wow. Also, it's just great seeing that it doesn't matter how much this or Year One are used as a inspirations in adaptations like the Dark Knight Trilogy or Matt Reeve's The Batman, they manage to take different aspects of the story to make each adaptation feel something unique. While both tackled the mafia families, TDK focused a lot on the trio taking down the bad seeds of Gotham, and The Batman focused more on Catwoman, the murder mystery and on more personal stakes regarding the Wayne family relationship with the city, which is only a testament to how much space Batman has for different interpretations, even in classic materials.

A killer 1rst issue that lets you grasping for the next chapter(without even considering the ending), can't imagine how people who were reading this at the time of release were feeling. A classic beginning to a classic story.

more

+ Like • Comments (2)

• Likes (2)

• MxFloof
• Hex

Hex - May 5, 2022

I started my own Post-Crisis read through a little while ago and it has been a ton of fun. Happy reading! I look forward to seeing what you think!

Julhin - May 6, 2022

Thanks man! I'm also looking forward to see your thoughts, love your reviews. You and @Daredevil write my favorite reviews on this site, always so sincere.

Sign in to comment