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Title: Batman: Year Two : Fear The Reaper by Mike W Barr ISBN: 1-56389-967-1 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Mike Barr tells the story of why Batman does not use a gun
Comment: "Batman: Year Two; Fear the Reaper" consists of issues #575-578 of "Detective Comics," which originally appear in 1987. The story follows "Batman: Year One" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, but is not really a sequel although it is consistent with the spirit of revisionist continuity inspired by Miller's "The Dark Night Returns." The four issues are written by Mike W. Barr with different combinations of pencillers and inkers (Alan Davis and Paul Neary on the first issue, Todd McFarlane and Alfredo Alcala on the middle pair, with McFarlane inking his own pencils on the last one), which makes for quite a change from star to finish on the artwork.
Barr's goal in this story line is try and make sense of the early years of Batman, guided by the modern version of the character. Specifically Barr was interested in exploring Batman's relationship with the new Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon and answer the big question as to why Batman does not carry a gun. Barr also revisits the fate of Joe Chill, the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, who was originally killed by other criminals when he admits he is the one who inspired the Batman (they also shoot him before he can tell them Batman's secret identity). Clearly that is too impersonal a finale for Chill and Barr takes care of that in these stories. Barr also goes back to the beginning and works in Leslie Thompkins into the Batman mythos.
The other significant development is that Barr takes the DC Golden Age villain the Grim Reaper and makes him not only Batman's predecessor as Gotham City's resident vigilante, but also the representation of the road not taken with regards to how Batman fights criminals. The Reaper's genesis parallels that of Batman, with the key difference that it might have been what Thomas Wayne would have done under slightly different circumstances (which, of course, creates a whole father-son paradigm for the Reaper and Batman, which is totally reinforced by who the Reaper turns out to be).
"Batman: Year Two" does indeed revisit the death of Joe Chill and provide a different context for essentially the same fate, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed because with our modern perspectives on the Batman as a comic book superhero I was convinced Barr was going to have Batman step over the line. However, that was not the payoff for this story. Still, the revisionist continuity offered serves its purpose and makes this worth reading for fans of the Dark Knight.
Rating: 4
Summary: New Reasons to Fear the Reaper
Comment: I won't spend too much time discussing the quality of Batman: Year Two, save to say that while it doesn't have the charm or quality of Year One(a tough act to follow), it is well-written and has fantastic art. It also provides the Batman mythology with an intriguing villain culled from the Golden Age of DC Comics: The Reaper.
While The Batman has always had one of the best rogues galleries in comics, there's always room for one more, and I'm disappointed that The Reaper hasn't been revived somehow since this tale. FYI, The Reaper inspired the Phantasm character from the excellent "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" animated film, as did the overall Year Two storyline.
There are also rumors now that the new Batman film may also be inspired by Year Two, with a young Batman going up against The Reaper. If this is the case, "Batman Year Two: Fear the Reaper" may become a hot item. Whether this proves true or not, I highly recommend this story.
Rating: 1
Summary: Weak storyline fails to capture the essence of Batman
Comment: The book begins simply enough. Batman goes up against a gun toting maniac. However this isn't just any gun toting maniac its his predecessor vigilante the Reaper. The Reaper has no mercy for anyone and is more of a menace than a vigilante. My big problem with this book is that Batman is supposed to have trained for twelve years and be a human paragon. He is also supposed to have the resources and skills to stop a maniac with a gun, no matter how insane. The fact that he decides to work with the man who drove him to become the man he is and use a gun is ludacris. Batman is a Dark Knight. He is called a knight because he posesses chivalry. He's known from the moment he was conceived in crime alley that he can never become what he fights. That is what makes Batman a true hero. However just to see the idiocracy of this horrid book pick it off of the rack. The real Batman Year two is Long Halloween I highly recommend that book instead of this one.
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Title: Batman: Year One by Frank Miller ISBN: 0930289331 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Batman : Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale ISBN: 1563898683 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb ISBN: 1563894696 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore ISBN: 0930289455 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Batman: Death in the Family by Jim Starlin ISBN: 0930289447 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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