Frank Miller’s reimagining of Batman’s origin. Miller’s tale is dark, blunt, and introduces us to Bruce Wayne before he is Batman. David Mazzucchelli’s artwork is clean, sharp and distinct. Together the writing and art present a very interesting and dense story that crams in a lot of references to Batman and the DC universe.
Miller’s Batman is a little more mellow, and more in line with earlier depictions of Batman as opposed to his Dark Knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes Again character. He is more relatable. This was written after Dark Knight Returns, so hopefully Miller had a bigger picture in mind when he was writing this. It doesn’t feel like it is in the same timeline.
Bruce Wayne/Batman is the main character, but there is a lot of focus on James Gordon before he becomes Commissioner. Selina Kyle/Catwoman is also featured heavily, as well as a pre-Two-Face Harvey Dent and a cryptic reference to a villain known as the Joker.
This is a good book to start with if you want to see what Batman comics are all about. Frank Miller was amazing back in the day, and this is one of his best stories. It is smart, compelling and fun for newcomers and old fans of Batman. Batman stories are essentially of the detective/mystery genre, so even if you aren’t interested in superheroes it should still appeal to you.
Critically Rated at 14/17
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