Review by Ben Avery
Here’s what the critics have to say about Batman Earth One,
by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank:
“. . . new, breathtaking . . .” – Brad Meltzer, important
writer guy
“. . . the right stewardship . . . awesome . . .” – David
Goyer, big time movie writer
“Original, surprising and emotional . . . must-read . . .” –
Damon Lindelof, co-creator of the best TV show to ever be on TV and the guy who
made Prometheus less alien-y
“Sigh . . .” – Ben Avery, stranger and alien
I really had high hopes for Batman Earth One. Maybe too
high?
DC Comics’ Earth One series is, in concept, perfect: High
quality, hardcover graphic novels, telling a stand alone story that takes the
classic character and starts fresh with a new story. The characters still exist
in the regular comic series that come out every month, but the Earth One graphic
novels are for fans of the characters who don’t want to be bogged down by all
the continuity that comes with thousands of back issues.
It’s such a great idea, that Marvel immediately copied it
with their series of “Season One” hardcover graphic novels. That copying, of
course, probably had something to do with Superman Earth One, the first in DC’s
series, becoming a bestseller. As in New York Times bestseller.
But while Marvel has managed, since Superman Earth One came
out, to churn out five Season One graphic novels, DC seemed to be taking their
time. Part of that may be due to the New 52, which rebooted many of their
characters, including Superman. Part of that may be because they were concerned
about quality and not rushing the job. Part of that may be that they used super
popular and super talented creators for their Earth One books (Superman is by
J. Michael Stracynski) Part of that may be because the second character to get
the Earth One treatment is Batman, and synergy being what it is – wanted to
release this new Batman graphic novel to coincide with, oh, I don’t know, a big
budget summer tentpole movie or something.
I really enjoyed Superman Earth One (you can read my review
here: http://strangersandaliens.com/2012/05/comic-review-superman-earth-one/
). And when I heard Geoff Johns was writing this one – a writer who is
worshipped by some for his work on titles like Flash, Green Lantern, and
Justice League and who finally gave Aquaman exploits and a characterization
that regular people AND fans of the king of the seven seas could appreciate and
enjoy – I thought I’d enjoy Batman Earth One just as much.
I was wrong.
Batman Earth One strains to make the familiar story of
Batman’s origin something new. But that’s the problem: it can’t be. It’s one
of, if not THE, most well known origin story in comics. Spider-Man: bit by a
mutated spider. Superman: rocketed to earth to escape his home world’s
destruction. Batman: parents killed by a criminal, so he devoted his life to
fighting crime.
All that can be done is to put a new spin on it or change
it. And when Batman Earth One does this, it fails. It bounces back and forth
between repeating things we’ve already seen before, changing things to make them
new and fresh, and trying to update things we’ve already seen before by making
them edgier and darker.
Perhaps I’m being harsh when I say it fails. Perhaps it
would be more accurate to say it just doesn’t succeed. Geoff Johns gets the
unenviable task of taking a series of iconic moments and trying to make it feel
like we haven’t seen it before.
So we get changes: Alfred didn’t serve the family as their
butler, he served with Thomas Wayne in a desert war; Gordon isn’t the
upstanding cop fighting an uphill battle, he’s a cop bowing to criminal
threats; Martha Wayne isn’t the heir to the Kane cosmetics empire, she’s part
of the Arkham family; Joe Chill’s crime against the Wayne family was as a hired
hitman specifically targeting Thomas Wayne.
I don’t mind changes. If you’ve read Flashpoint, I’d love to
talk with you about that alternate universe – the changes there were surprising
and interesting. And some changes I liked. Penguin is exactly the take I would
have expected Christopher Nolan’s in his realistic Batman universe. Barbara
Gordon is a breath of fresh air, and Gordon’s love for her is nice to see.
Bruce fumbling as Batman the first few times he goes out is humorous, and
there’s just enough of it not to get annoying. And a couple things happen,
lasting consequences of people’s actions, that could never be done in the
regular series . . . without being undone in a year or two.
Two other problems that I didn’t have with Superman Earth
One, and both problems are related: first, there are too many characters
running around, getting introduced, and vying for “screen time”. Second, a lot
of this book felt like set up for the sequel. Characters pop in, get
introduced, and do things that have no repercussions for the plot . . . in THIS
book. I would have liked a more streamlined cast.
Now, the artwork? I have NO complaints there. None. It is a
beautifully drawn book, full of quiet, character moments in some panels, and
awesome, action-packed splash pages and double page splashes.
I give it a quality score of 8.
On the relevance side, there many themes in the book that
arise from just being a Batman book. Bruce’s story arc alone hints at ideas of
justice verses vengeance, as he seeks the murderer of his parents, and
commitment to your cause, which sees just how far he will go in pursuit of
justice. It’s interesting, because on one hand he seems to go too far, but on
the other hand that is portrayed as a positive thing. Jim Gordon’s arc has him
dealing with the consequences of his decisions, as he knows right and
wrong but is forced by outside pressures
to do wrong. I didn’t feel sympathy for him, because it seemed to me he could
have just walked away to protect his family instead of compromising himself.
Penguin is there to be a nasty bad guy – and he IS NASTY. Not Batman Returns
perverted, but ugly evil nasty. Alfred is there as a support, but ends up
taking a more proactive role in caring for Bruce than I expected, as he acts as
father figure, sidekick, and protector. But the changes to the character make
it less poignant.
All these themes are common in superhero fiction, although
this one explores them with a darker view than is commonly seen.
I give it a relevance score of 7, mainly because these
things are there, but only as background elements. Some of these elements are
brought to the foreground, but it feels like when they are it’s only to use the
negative to show the positive.
If this was the only Batman origin story out there, I
probably wouldn’t judge it so harshly. But it’s not. This story has been told,
and told often, and told in better ways. I will read a volume two of this
series, and maybe when read together with some pay off to the set ups, I’ll
enjoy it more.
Quality:8/10
Relevance: 7/10
See more of what Ben is up to at Strangers And Aliens!
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