"YEAR ONE": WHEN THE BATMAN WAS REBORN

Written by Rayhan Bengougou

A homage artwork piece inspired by the front cover of Year One. Artwork by Rayhan Bengougou

It was the dark of the night near Wayne Manor, as the grandmaster clock was ticking down the halls and a young Bruce Wayne was bruised and bleeding out in his father's chair, defeated after a botched effort of crime-fighting.  

Just as when he was about to give in and throw his crusade away...it came. 

The bat landed on the bust of his late father, almost as poetic sign from the dead, to tell him to become the creature Gotham needed for salvation and for all wrong-doers to be afraid of. A symbol of vengeance. 

It was the night that Bruce Wayne succumbed to the crusade of darkness and became Batman. 

David Mazzucchelli's famous concept art for the titular character. Image by Rayhan Bengougou

This sequence of events comes from the 1987 four issue comic series "Batman: Year One" which was a fresh retelling of the Dark Knight's origin story, adding a layer of gritty realism, Greek-like tragedy, and giving us a version of the character that audiences were blown away by. To many it is considered to be the definitive beginnings of the character and the reason he is so beloved today. It also marked the first time I ever read a Batman comic, and I can remember, and it made me fall in love more with the world, the story, and the characters, including the main man himself and for that it will always hold a special place in my heart.

One particular reason for the success of this series was done to the partnership between legendary comic book writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzuchelli, who returned following the critical acclaim of 1986's "Daredevil: Born Again", which reinvented the character of Matt Murdock as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and adding a complex layer of insanity, loss, love and compassion, and those two carry over that same mentality and complexity to Batman.  

Miller's exceptional writing makes this more than your average, run-of-the-mill origin and creates a Gotham that is full of life. Crime-ridden, flawed, and frankly at times, repulsive, but life none the less. It also helps that David Mazzucchelli artwork shines through to add to the story and world building. Filled with strong inks, vibrant colors and making its main hero, less of a man wearing a funny costume, and more into a monster that the criminality of Gotham birthed and created.  

It is just beautiful and is one of the reasons that I adore this mini-series and without this artwork, I believe it wouldn't have worked nearly as well. 

Bruce Wayne walking through the neon-filled streets of Gotham. Image by Rayhan Bengougou

In this center of that life that I mentioned above is Bruce Wayne, who prior to this story everyone knew his background story, but it never went into full detail about how he became the crime fighting vigilante. At the start he is a broken, lost and wandering soul finding his foot in a city he doesn't recognize anymore.

However, with Year One, we learn how much Bruce wants to avenge his parents and to make the criminal underworld fear him. We follow him from arriving back to his home city of Gotham and trying to make a difference yet stumbling horribly on his way, to being the titular hero that DC fans love and cherish.  And we come back to that scene. In his father's chair praying and pleading to the beyond for a sign until he got one. The bat.  

The comic also highlights the rise of Officer James Gordon who eventually becomes an ally to the Caped Crusader. He too returns to a Gotham that is unrecognizable and learns of it's deception and cruelty. And similar to Bruce, Jim is a police officer who wants to do good in a city full of dirty and corrupt law enforcers. But that isn't to say he is a perfect man. Miller deliberately shines the crooked little things that make Jim Gordon far from a saint like for instance, cheating on his wife Barbra. This doesn't necessarily make him a bad person but rather a fool who has been corrupted by the city he wants to fight for. 

It is with these two characters, that oddly enough despite the darkness, the hurt, the macabre the dirt, and muck, lies hope. Hope for someone to do the right thing even in a world of wrong. The relationship between the two characters is what makes the story so wonderfully brilliant to read, it feels whole and complete, you see them from when they are distant and from world far different to them, to being partners who usher in a new era of justice to give hope to those who need it most. 

To end this grand tale of vengeance and rebirth, Mazzucchelli creates one of the most iconic pieces of artwork that people associate with the DC legend. The bat-signal on full blast, shining in yellow, the wings of the Batman now flying in the Gotham sky. Leaping into the abyss, ready to fight for the good of Gotham. 

The final panel by David Mazzucchelli that brings Frank Miller's tale, to a bold conclusion. Image by Rayhan Bengougou

Featured Image by Rayhan Bengougou