Take notice that he pulls the stalker shit in a secluded environment. He could do horrible things even without the ring. How am I supposed to like him?

fuge this

There's nothing in here that isn't perfect. The tone, the dialogue, the paneling, the stunning art. Sale really stepped up his game for this project even though it was so long ago. The way he plays with shadows throughout the whole issue. Batman is an imposing figure in every panel he's in creating a depth and scale you don't see very often. He's a presence as well as a person. Aside from how well this story plays and how well it was adapted into The Dark Knight I think the best part is the very subtle framing on Harvey Dent's face from scene to scene. He's not always cast in shadow but when you examine the dialogue and his tone the shadows fill in to with the dichotomy we're so used to from him. He's running for DA but he takes exceptionally hard stances from time to time that make Gordon and even Batman have to reel him back. It's a wonderful book that actually carries a narrative and develops a case that Batman has to solve. There's nothing I like more than the World's Greatest Detective actually doing some detective work. more

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.

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