Batman: Year One

I think that the real protagonist of Batman stories is Gotham itself. The corrupted, twisted city represents the perfect cursed place where everyone is forced into madness, but not only the chaotic one, but also the diverse spectrum of psychoses and the way people interact with it. Because the justifier, the inspector or the villain are three different mad dreamers in a destroyed world, a hell on earth where fear will always reign unchallenged. And yet, for a twist of fate, the actions of the “goods” of this story always makes Gotham return to their new happy dawn.
Batman Year One is an origin story which takes everything I have quoted and uses the personalities of Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon as the new arrivals in the city forgotten by God himself. Since this premise you can immediately see how these figures, so dutiful and obscure at the same time, are only the completion of a world made of different souls and characters, of enemies and criminal bosses, of masks and hard-boiled clubs, arriving at the menace of the Asylum, peering from upon its further reality. Frank Miller is exceptional in representing a terrific Gotham, unpredictable but colorful, powerful and alive while its fundamentals are dying. A great help arrives from the style of David Mazzucchelli, in which the lights and shadows are marked by a heavy china, in which pop tunes borrowed by the best Japanese productions mixes itself with expressive characters, iconic for costumes and appearances. The way all the main actors of Gotham are here represented has made school not only in the comics medium, but also in the cinematographic one, where “The Batman”, “The Dark Knight Trilogy” and even the Tim Burton's iterations on the crusader takes inspirations, for style and writing, from Year One. This labyrinthic, deep immersion inside the quoted city, however, weakens the emersion of the two faces of the quoted franchise. Because Batman and Gordon soon lose their interesting points for the human essence they shows, for being so run in and for the choices they make which never evades from their known archetypes. Furthermore, the absence of iconic Batman villains, substituted by escaped patients, violent military men and corrupted members of the police never evokes the extraordinary cases in which Batman has investigated in the past. In this sense, Batman Year One is a foundational comic about the superhero and its modern presence in Pop Culture, in an epic origin story which sees Gotham as the absolute selling point.

STYLE: 5
STORY: 3,5
WORLDBUILDING: 5
RHYTHM: 3
PROTAGONISTS: 5
ANTAGONISTS: 3
ARTISTIC FEATURE: 5
ATMOSPHERE 5
EMOTIONAL IMPACT: 4,5

FINAL VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

  As the tittle, the story depicted Batman's first year and James Gordon's first year as Lieutenant in Gotham. Batman met Selina Kyle here. The GPD was fulled of corrupted officers.
  As honest Gordon was towards his job, his infidelity made so human in this story.  (Kinda felt bad saying that)
  Almost every one in power wanted Batman dead. The scene in the building was very epic! And Batman saved a cat.

This is the very first comic I have ever read and I really loved it!
My main concern with comics is that I'm always worried about not being able to follow the different panels of the pages, especially when there is a fight scene happening, but I did not feel lost at all with this one. I was very invested in the story and, fortunately, had no problems with the panels at all.

The characters drew me in immediately. I have always been fascinated with Batman and all the sides there are to him but I found myself longing for the Gordon's side of the story more than Bruce's. Gordon had his flaws but grew throughout the comic, becoming more confident and comfortable with his decisions. I was also impressed with how much he stood out, he wasn't just waiting around for Batman to appear and help him, just the opposite; he got things done.

Even though I was captivated by Gordon's storyline, Bruce's side was very interesting as well. I really liked being in his head, to see his fears and doubts. It made him human and less the superhero with cool phrases I'm used to.

Alfred continues to be awesome and sassy in all the versions I come in contact with.
I also really liked the appearances of known characters of the Batman universe, as well as, references to other DC comics (Alfred teasing Bruce with Superman was awesome).

As regards the pacing, I thought it was very well done. I wasn't that much bothered with the events but more of the characters' reactions to them. I was more interested in how fighting thugs and small gangs help Bruce understand how his new life as Batman should be and how clashing with the other cops help Gordon realize what he needed to do to be a cop in Gotham.

Also, I really appreciated that there weren't any of the major villains and the story was focused on how Bruce perfected the Batman act. After all, he decided to become a “vigilante” to fight off the mops and gangs, not the psychopaths.

Year one is a very engaging comic with very interesting characters. I'm definitely going to read more of Batman comics.