The Highlight Reel: "Yes, Father. I Shall Become a Bat."

"Before beginning, prepare carefully."
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Ancient Roman poet and philosopher

Few things in fiction are as memorable as beginnings and endings.  In the case of superheroes, whose stories never really end, it's their beginnings that stick with us.  Of the zillions of superhero origins perma-looping through my brain, none of them are quite as powerful...or as visceral..as the origin of BATMAN.

Of course, Batman's origin story has been told and retold a hundred different times by a hundred different storytellers over the nearly seven decade history of the character.  Of those multiple iterations and creative perspectives, my absolute favorite remains Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One (1986). Like nobody else before them (or since, for that matter) Miller and Mazzucchelli brought a real cinematic gravitas and grandeur to an origin story story that had traditionally been presented as brisk four or five panel flashbacks. Basically as an afterthought. Now, for the first time (at least in my experience), Bruce Wayne's crucial first steps as Batman were being told in "real time", providing insights and thought processes that had never really been explored in previous Batman origins.

Sharing the narrative spotlight with a young Gotham police lieutenant named James Gordon, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after a dozen years of training and preparation. Following an overconfident venture into Gotham's underworld, a seriously wounded Bruce returns to Wayne Manor seeking his father's silent counsel...

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Comments

[Thomas Aylesworth]

I know I'm a few days late catching up on your blog, but I can't believe you got half a dozen comments on Iron Man and none on Batman's origin!?! ;-)

Well, as a mostly DC fan (although I do have a secret passion for Spider-Man and Daredevil) who considers Batman his favorite character, I agree completely. Batman has the best origin story of any superhero. No aliens, chemical spills or radiation were needed to create the world's greatest superhero. And Miller and Mazzucchelli maintained the essence of that story while fleshing out the details masterfully.

I have most of the Batman and Detective comics going back to the New Look (1964), and Year One is easily my favorite Batman story. I also loved how Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale built on that foundation in The Long Halloween, my second favorite Batman story.

[Mark Engblom]

"I can't believe you got half a dozen comments on Iron Man and none on Batman's origin!?! ;-)"

Hi, Thomas! Yeah, that's the way it goes sometimes with posts. Stuff I think might generate a comment or two doesn't, and vice versa. Glad you liked the post!

"Miller and Mazzucchelli maintained the essence of that story while fleshing out the details masterfully."

Good point. You're right, they did a great job of keeping everything we'd seen before essentially in place, but just adding to it. Always the best approach for "modernizing" an origin, rather than just tossing the baby out with the bathwater. It's these "stories within the stories" that I find fascinating, and kudos to creators who can make them work.

"I have most of the Batman and Detective comics going back to the New Look (1964), and Year One is easily my favorite Batman story."

Wow...looks like I'm in good company! That's something if it's a big-time Batman fan's favorite story! Congrats on the extensive collection there, too. As someone with a giant Superman collection, I know how many years it can take to track the issues down (which I kind of miss sometimes).

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog!

[Wes C]

Okay, Okay I feel bad, I should have commented on this one when it was posted. I thought there'd be a ton of responses though.

I'll just say you''re absolutely right, this is a brilliant origin story.

Batman Year One is my favorite Batman story by far. I even talked my mom into reading it once upon a time, the only comics she EVER read of mine.

David Mazzucchelli is easily in my top ten comic artist list. His artwork continues to inspire and inform my own work.

Thanks again!

PS: Frank Miller's no slouch either I guess ;)

[Mark Engblom]

"Okay, Okay I feel bad, I should have commented on this one when it was posted. I thought there'd be a ton of responses though."

Hey, no need to feel bad. Glad to hear your input whenever you have something to say.

As for the story, in some ways, I think this was the movie "Batman Begins" should have been, without the Ras Al Ghul angle. Yeah, the Catwoman stuff from "Year One" could probably be removed, but the rest of it? Very cinematic in the way it reads.