DKR was a lot more like what Miller seemed to want Batman to be, Year One felt like he still understood what batman should be but all contributions after were no holds barred unhinged.
What I find so incredible about this was how Miller and Mazzucchelli were able to produce both Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One, two of the most influential stories ever told for their respective characters, within the span of a year from each other.
Of all Frank Miller's works with Batman, Year One is easily my favorite and one of my Top 3 favorite Batman stories, the others being Arkham Asylum and Ego. Frank Miller dug deeper into Batman's origins to make him more relatable and likeable than in either The Dark Knight or his own DK installments. Plus, it helped turn Jim Gordon into one of the most important characters in Batman's lore and showed a corrupt police department. Besides, it was the basis of Batman Begins, my favorite Batman film of all time.
Year One is such a great book, and I feel like it doesn't get enough credit for all the influence it's had on Batman stories and media in the years since it was released. Thanks for highlighting it, Owen - terrific video!
This is by far my favorite origin story of any superhero. My favorite thing about this story is that it's not just Batman's story it's Jim Gordon's story too! (Also I really love the animated film! Especially the soundtrack!)
The thing that has always resonated most with me in this story is that Batman is depicted as just that: a man, in a costume. Not the later "Bat-God". The almost invincible force that can do/defeat anything _with enough prep-time._ Similarly, Jim Gordon is equally as fallible. Not the almost saintly Commission of GCPD.
Year One and Born Again were formative books for me as a teen. All these many years later, I still relish hearing people talk about them. Great video, Owen.
Thank you, Owen! And that animated clip you used at the beginning is so, *so* good. I'd of course love to see your take on TDKR and what followed. I hope your holiday was happy as well!
Thats one my favorite Batman stories (losing only to War on Crime). what helps this story standout from the other super hero origin books is how most of the story is told through the perspective of character Jim Gordon and how they change once Batman appears in Gotham, highlighting Batman more as mysterious creature of the night, a myth created by those who see and interact with him.
Though Batman year one isn't my favorite story in batman's catalog it's still one of the most prominently prolific batman comics an insightful video as always thank you Owen I love you take care continue reading and have a happy new year
The ABSOLUTE best. I read this at 20 and it BLEW my mind. So simple. Full of poetry, power and promise. I could read this everyday and be satisfied. Miller wasa goddamn genius.
As much as I don't like alot Frank Miller's writing rather it be his mean spirited sense humor, repetitive dialogue, racism, sexism, homophobia, consent Batman worship, and Superman bashing. Stuff like Batman Year One and Daredevil Born Again remind me that he used to be a good writer. I miss this Frank Miller what happened to him.
Year 1 deserves the praises that comes its way when other similar genre stories post-Y1 reference it. Though it’d be more apt to say that Geoff Klock’s ending statement should be changed to “Pre-Miller or post-Miller; every story for the character before & after “is born from the shadow of Miller’s Bat”
There is also the Post-Post Miller Bat as well, with All-Star Batman & Robin. That has to be one of the most interesting runs on the character, with Vicky Vale being almost completely removed from Bat-Fiction as prominently as before.
Hey Owen can you please do a video about one of Batman storylines centred on the Red Hood: Man Behind The Red Hood, The Killing Joke, or even Under The Red Hood.
Might be in the minority but I prefer year one over dkr. Love both but I found Batman and Gordon’s starting point and vulnerability along with the world of a crime ridden Gotham more interesting. Mazzucchelli’s art is also fantastic
Year One is a true 10/10. And every attempt to replace Year One as the definitive origin has been an abject failure; Snyder's Batman Zero Year sucked. Same with other attempts by DC to replace classic origin stories. Everything started going off the rails for DC with the New 52. It gave the company a temporary stimulus, but at what cost?
I just found this video today. I’ve always been a diehard Batman fan. I read all the Frank Miller Batman series. Year one, The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Against, The Dark Knight MasterRace, The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade, and The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child. They were all really good. I also read the sequels , The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. I also bought the animated movies for Batman year one, and the Dark Knight Returns, and also The long Halloween. I loved the realism and grittiness of it all. Great video. I didn’t know Frank Miller also took some inspiration from the tragic event that happened in Philadelphia. That was terrible. I also heard he took inspiration from 9/11 to write The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Anyway happy holidays 🎄🎉
I think the post-crisis era was peak DC. They could merge character from other companies they acquired into the new universe and retool origins from the ground up, unlike marvel, which has been working to make sense of Spider-Man's and The Hulk's radiation based origins for years. They even reintroduced the multiverse in a neat and fun way for new stories. Then the New 52 happened. Not a bad idea mind you in and of itself, but the constant timeline mixing and weird reintroduction's of pre-flashpoint characters, along with constant DC relaunches, make it impenetrable for new readers to get in, not knowing which character ver. we're working with. Like, don't kill of N52 Superman, replace him with Pre-flashpoint Superman, Lois and Jon, then merge them in Superman: Reborn? Just retcon in Supes post-crisis history into New 52 Superman's history, along with guys like Superboy and Power Girl.
fun fact, apparently I'm the one person who saw that panel in the kevin smith run and died my ass off laughing. I want my batman to be a "man" too sometimes, and him being so anxious and scared about what's he going to do, that he pissed himself, is exactly my batman
I think Kevin Smith's retcon of Batman p*ssing himself during that elite Gothamites' dinner scene did more to harm opinions of Smith's writing than it did opinions of Batman. That whole story was a complete mess. But, it could be largely forgotten and I could totally be wrong.
Great video Owen and obviously one of the best origin comics ever made. Just a slight correction on Davids name, it is actually pronounced Mazzuckelli. There's a fun clip (and amazing video) of him explaining this around the one minute mark of ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oz3q8XQV7lU.html Keep it up, really enjoy your video's!
Maybe it’s not as big a deal in the 1980’s but I always found it interesting that Batman 404-407 do not have the comics code authority seal of approval. No one ever talks about it but I’m curious why. What’s the story behind that?
Maybe once but around the 2000's and especially 2010s Batman has too much of a foot in the sci-fi on his everyday adventure and default status makes the change in style makes year one feel more like an elseworld and Zero Year the organic origin as it has more of what you'll see in Batman comics reading forward