While superhero origin stories have mostly been overdone in modern-day comic books, films, and television shows, there is one story that remains the touchstone to which all others try to imitate. Frank Miller helped cement Batman's acclaimed status in the pantheon of comic book characters with the publication of his groundbreaking Year One storyline in Batman #404-407.

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The 1987 story showcased a realistic tone and film noir-like atmosphere that proved influential in modernizing the nearly 50-year-old character and setting the standard for all other superhero origin stories to follow. Miller's work also changed the way the Dark Knight was portrayed in other mediums as filmmakers like Christopher Nolan used Year One as the blueprint to make one of the most successful film trilogies in movie history.

Diving Into Crime-Noir

Split image of a couple being served in a diner and Gordon smoking on his bed in Batman: Year One.

Much of the 1950s and 1960ss saw Batman take part in comedic, over-the-top campy stories mirroring Adam West's popular iteration on television. But after the sales numbers for his comics dwindled, creators such as Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams helped reinvent Batman in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Miller's Year One was part of the superhero's peak creative overhaul in the '80s alongside other influential graphic novels such as Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's The Killing Joke.

Returning to the character's grittier, pulpy roots from the late 1930s, this origin story was a great example of a crime-noir movie imagined within the context of the superhero comic book genre. Using the dark criminal underbelly of Gotham as the basis for the Caped Crusader's beginnings proved an excellent backdrop that made for a thoroughly engaging story.

David Mazzucchelli's Artwork

Batman crashing the five crime families dinner party

Writing is one important component in comics, and David Mazzucchelli's artwork complements Miller's prose masterfully to convey the noir atmosphere of Year One. His art isn't the flashiest, but the way he illustrates Batman and the rest of the cast of characters strikes a great balance between realism and a slightly exaggerated comic book aesthetic.

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It's a sort of minimalist approach that doesn't emphasize detailing every rippling muscle but does well feeling at home in this grimy world. Even more so is the way Mazzucchelli brings Gotham City itself to life, effectively blending characters with the setting to feel like a 1950s crime drama that's updated with modern flourishes.

Bruce's Trials & Tribulations

Bruce getting the inspiration to become Batman in Year One

Origin stories typically show the protagonist's rough start, but how Year One chronicles the Dark Knight's start feels particularly intimate. Batman is arguably one of the most popular powerless superheroes and given this return to the character's darker crime roots, it makes sense that this story arc would take things this personally.

Bruce stumbles often, trying to figure out what he wants to be and how to get there, ultimately underestimating how deep the rot of the city reaches when going into one of Gotham's most undermined neighborhoods. A watershed moment in the story is when Bruce gets the inspiration to "become a Bat" and strike fear into the hearts of the city's crime families. This seminal moment is often ranked as one of Batman's best comebacks in the comics because it shows Bruce overcoming his early setbacks and becoming the hero he was always meant to be.

Organized Crime As Batman's First Foes

Batman crashing the crime families dinner party

Another one of Year One accomplishments for Batman is showing how he became one of DC's best martial artists and developed into the veteran crime-fighter he is today. The story justifiably doesn't include any of the character's popular villains; instead, he's tasked with dealing with Gotham's first enemy: organized crime and systematic corruption.

If Miller had included the Joker or Two-Face this soon in Batman's history, the focus would have shifted away from Gordon, Gotham, and the central theme of corruption in public authority figures. The story handles its own scope perfectly so that these threats feel genuine through the perspective of a novice who hasn't yet earned the epithet of "the Dark Knight."

Excellent Starting Point For Future Comics

Covers for Year One, The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory

Another aspect of Year One's lasting legacy is how well it functions as a narrative starting point that other writers have used to build Batman's mythology. The best example is The Long Halloween, which some consider as the best Batman story ever written. It's another well-known member of the Batman classics vault, and even got an animated adaptation with The Long Halloween, Part One and Two in 2021.

This comic uses Year One as canon and advances the story into Batman's second year, with Falcone and Gotham's mafia even more in the spotlight as the antagonists of a dying age of "ordinary" mobsters that is being replaced by outlandish villains like the Joker. Year One, The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory form an "unofficial trilogy" that serves as a superb chronicle of Batman's formative years.

Grounded Story

Batman runs on the rooftops in Gotham City in the Batman: Year One comic.

Another strength of Year One is its realistic plot. The story never deals with the supernatural and super-powered, and though Batman will later deal with those kinds of enemies, it sticks to realism and is a better origin story because of that focus.

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Realism is another reason why the mobsters in Year One feel like such genuine threats. Carmine Falcone and his cronies wield only guns and attitude when they face Batman and in Year One's world, that's enough to intimidate and nearly kill the inexperienced hero. The crime-noir tone likely wouldn't have been executed as well if it was trying to incorporate metahuman elements immediately in the character's origin story.

Gotham City's Visual Representation

Split image of Bruce walking on Gotham's streets and Batman jumping into a gang hideout in Batman: Year One.

In addition to his excellent illustrations of Batman, Gordon, and Selina Kyle, Mazzucchelli also deserves praise for the way he masterfully brings to life Gotham City. That '50s-era noir wouldn't be achieved if the setting the characters populated didn't look and feel the part, and the illustrated panels of the city represent it vividly.

Since this Gotham City was a starting point for many fans, the first impression of the city was crucial for setting the stage, and the city's grimy streets are practically palpable through the pages. With the aid of Richmond Lewis' neon-tinged coloring, Gotham is visually represented almost as if it's another character, one that's exhausted, near surrender, and desperate for relief from the crime that continually plagues it.

The Foundation Of Batman Begins

Cover for Year One and official poster for Batman Begins

Year One asserted its status as a comic book landmark by becoming the foundation for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, which launched the most financially and critically successful series of Batman movies. The Nolan trilogy is among the most revered superhero movies, and the quality of the comic was instrumental to Batman Begins' realistic approach.

The writing and direction took all of the comic's best elements and made the most of them, like Bruce's training and the embryonic relationship between him and Gordon. It's the mark of a great piece of work to transcend influence across multiple mediums and Year One accomplished that like no other origin story before or since.

More Indicative Of Batman Than TDKR

Mazzucchelli's art of Bruce over his parents and as Batman

The Dark Knight Returns is another Miller classic that's resonated deeply in the character's history, but it can be argued this origin story better embodies his most celebrated traits. While its own canon, Miller's dystopian story was very much written with the "Elseworlds" concept in mind and thus portrayed a Batman that was burdened by the constraints of continuity. The more cynical, jaded vigilante isn't the end-all-be-all for what he is and what will become.

In contrast, the Year One version is a bit more indicative of his most well-received characteristics by humanizing and humbling him. The "Dark Knight" that criminals fear isn't present yet; instead, there's a neophyte hero who makes mistakes, gets injured, and doesn't yet have the knowledge or skill to overcome any obstacle. Year One ultimately emphasizes the good, flawed man that's doing the best he can in seemingly impossible situations and that's why it's not only the better of the two seminal Miller works but also one of the best superhero origin stories ever written.

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