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This February, Batman will be publishing weekly for its upcoming “Joker Year One” story. Before that comes out, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at all the times DC has visited the “Year One” concept in the past. Ever since the massive success of Batman: Year One back in 1987, it seems that just about everyone in Gotham has gotten their own shot a fancy, prestige origin story. Of course, some attempts were more successful than others, so the internet demands that we must rank them. For the purposes of this list, we’ll only be looking at the bat comics that actually used the “Year One” moniker. There are plenty of origin stories beyond that, but we have to draw the line somewhere or we’ll be here all day. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how they all stack up:
- Year One: Poison Ivy
Coming out of the batch of annuals in 1995 where everyone got a “Year One” one-shot, Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #3 gives us a look at what turned Pamela Isley into the villainous Poison Ivy. This take on her origin hits all of the major beats one would expect from the character, but the awkward mix of “raging misanthrope” and “obsessive femme fatale” just comes off as juvenile and one-note. Its overall plot is fairly similar to her silver age debut story in Batman #181, but it was only six years prior that Neil Gaiman updated her origin in Secret Origins #36 with the far more compelling “Pavane”.
- Year One: Scarecrow – Masters of Fear
Batman’s primary tactic for dealing with the cowardly and superstitious criminals of Gotham is fear. That’s why scarecrow has so much potential as a villain – it’s a dark inversion of that same approach. Unfortunately this origin hardly uses that to its full potential. It starts out strong by focusing on that unifying element, but quickly gets bogged down with heavy handed references to his real life inspiration of Sleepy Hollow and out of place scarecrow-related puns. Neither the writing nor the art seems sure whether Crane is supposed to be scary or pathetically funny.
- Year One: Requiem
There’s perhaps no greater encapsulation of the extreme attitude of the 90s at DC than Azrael. If you’re all about of guns, purple prose, and lots of angsty brooding then this might be the title for you. “Requiem” isn’t actually an origin story for the Jean-Paul Valley Azrael that people might be familiar with (that story was told in Batman: Sword of Azrael) but rather his father’s last mission before dying at the beginning of JPV’s tale. For fans of the series it offers a bit more context to some reoccurring villains, but there’s not a lot here for anyone who isn’t already invested in the character.
- Catwoman: Year One
“Catwoman: Year One” tries to work her origin from Batman: Year One into the character as envisioned for her 90s series, but boy does it feel like shoving a square peg in a round hole. Her already being a master thief beforehand means that she was apparently just in disguise when Bruce met her in the East End, before going off to train with a secret dojo of ninjas. It’s also visually jarring jumping between the “flashback” scenes that took place in Batman: Year One because her skin color noticeably changes from the dark complexion she had when drawn by Mazzucchelli, and her much paler Jim Balent design. The actual ninja plot is fairly ridiculous, but in a way that can still be fun in an over the top sort of way.
- Year One: Batman/Ra’s al Ghul
Despite the name, this first of two 2005 tie-ins to Batman Begins really isn’t a “Year One” story at all. It has a handful of flashbacks to Ra’s’ earlier years wandering the Earth (though well after he had gained immortality), but this is mostly so Ra’s can spout his beliefs and lay out his plan for the rest of the story. These philosophical musings are actually the best part of the comic, because they do a good job of presenting his motivations for wanting to decimate life on Earth. Unfortunately, the actual plot involves zombies overtaking Gotham because there are no more Lazarus pits left, meaning no one can die (for some reason). It’s nonsensical, uninteresting, and tells us nothing new about Ra’s al Ghul.
- Year One: Robin
This isn’t the last time a Dick Grayson Year One by Chuck Dixon will show up on this list, but unlike the later entry, this comic is the more traditional tale one would expect: Dick’s circus parents are killed by Tony Zucco, Bruce adopts him, makes him his sidekick, and they track down their killer. While the overall plot is as solid a base as ever, it’s not served well by the comic’s presentation. The cartoonish art and simplistic characterization do little to utilize the emotional drama of Robin’s story. The same general premise would be retold in 1999 as a sequel to The Long Halloween in Loeb and Sale’s Dark Victory, but with the complexity allowed by a 14-part series.
- Huntress: Year One
Writer Ivory Madison set out to create an origin for Huntress that, unlike previous origins (such as Greg Rucka’s Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood), was not so connected to Batman himself. Instead, Helena Bertinelli’s turn to vigilantism revolves entirely around her family’s connection to the mob, the tragedy they suffered, and the sexism she faces in the face of Italian traditionalism. When bat characters do show up, it’s almost an afterthought and hardly affects the plot at all. This would all be a fine angle from which to approach the character, but Madison’s first attempt at writing a comic can sometimes be a slog to get through with dense narration of inter-family politics that fail to keep one’s interest.
- Year One: Wings
Aside from a brief bit of exposition drawing a parallel with bats’ “strength” and “force of will” (a zoological fact I was unaware of), this origin focuses very little on the fact that Man-Bat’s animal form mirrors Batman’s persona. Instead, it looks at the horror of Dr. Kirk Langstrom’s transformation into the beast. At its best it plays out like a Lon Chaney movie, with the protagonist slowly realizing the consequences of his ambition and fleeing society in fear and revulsion. It’s occasionally dragged down by relationship melodrama, but overall a solid origin for a rarely used character.
- Nightwing: Year One
Fitting in between the pages of Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Nightwing: Year One tells of Dick Grayson’s falling out with Batman and adoption of his new hero persona. In many ways it’s a showcase of all his (non-Titan) relationships from that era, from Superman to Batgirl. His unlikely mentoring of Jason Todd as his successor stands out as a memorable highlight. What drags much of the story down, however, is Batman. In order to justify the split, Bruce behaves like an irrational authoritarian totally unwilling to listen to reason. This isn’t the first time that he’s been written like that, but it’s never good and it’s especially bad here.
- Two-Face: Year One
If there’s any entry on this list with big shoes to fill, it’s this one. When this was written as a tie-in to The Dark Knight, Harvey already had not one but two celebrated origin stories (no pun intended). There was “The Eye of the Beholder” in Batman Annual #14 from 1990, and then of course there’s The Long Halloween. How does this one hold up? It’s actually pretty good. Certainly not enough to stand up to its predecessors, but it still follows the same general narrative of the honorable, if temperamental, DA being struck down in his crusade to clean up Gotham and going mad as a result. However, it puts most of its focus on the electoral politics for District Attorney, which lacks the conciseness of the 1990 annual and isn’t as interesting as the mystery of The Long Halloween‘s Holiday Killer (even if he does get a brief mention).
- Year One: Batman/Scarecrow
If the 1995 “Year One: Scarecrow” focused on the connections to Sleepy Hollow, this 2005 version clearly takes its inspiration more from the likes of Alfred Hitchcock.
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