Batman: Year One is Frank Miller’s follow up to The Dark Knight Returns. We go back to the return of Bruce Wayne in Gotham City after a lengthy, unexplained absence and watch as he turns into the malevolent legend that is Batman. The origin story is much like Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and follows a similar trajectory. One key difference is motivation. While Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins seeks justice, Miller’s novel weaves an anti-capitalist motivation into his story. However, Miller’s ‘capitalism’ is the corrupt organized criminals of Gotham City, specifically Carmine ‘The Roman’ Falcone and his ilk.
Batman presents himself to these elite of Gotham by crashing a dinner party hosted by the Roman and then announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have eaten well. You have eaten Gotham’s wealth, its spirit. Your feast is nearly over, from now on–none of you are safe!” He leaves, and the impression is certainly made upon the crooks and politicians who dine with the Roman that night.
Two things are striking about this key scene. The first is that in many ways Wayne can count himself among those crooks; not through his actions (of course) but through his heritage. Wayne must hide behind the mask to give his actions meaning, or else Bruce Wayne (or any elite member of society) attacking those at the dinner would be seen as a spoiled rebel of some sort. No, Wayne must attack the elite from a distance under the guise of a symbol, to become as he says in Batman Begins, “incorruptable.”
Secondly, this scene echoes one in The Dark Knight where Joker crashes a fundraiser for Harvey Dent. Though the motivations are different, their actions are surprisingly similar. Joker and Batman are both pieces on the game board that is Gotham City but are opposites. They have different goals but play by similar rules, they will both intimidate and rile their foes into submission. They are both willing to topple those in power, but for different means.
The story of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Year One is paralleled by the story of newly transferred Lieutenant James Gordon. A ‘hero cop’ now working in Gotham City. As a hero cop he is immediately hated by everyone on the Gotham force. From Detective Flass to Commissioner Loeb the force is corrupt and the last thing they want is a goody-goody like Gordon spoiling all the fun for him. But Gordon was always going to spoil their fun. After being violently attacked several times by Flass he retaliates and strikes a blow against Flass, making him a threat. But once that threat is realized, Flass and Loeb execute a plot to scare Gordon into submission, blackmailing him with an affair and kidnapping his young wife and child. Batman helps from behind the scenes, but Gordon proves that he is a force to reckoned with and is promoted; the novel ends like Batman Begins, teasing the rise of the Joker.
Batman: Year One really is more of Gordon’s story than Batman’s. Wayne’s return to Gotham is convenient, but as Gordon moves to the city we see it’s ugliness fresh through his eyes. It’s corruption and the hell he has brought his family to from Chicago. With the new blood of Gordon, Batman is free to evolve on his own without Miller exhausting his story. The great thing about these early Miller novels is how he uses the world of Gotham City. The characters are surrogates and Batman doesn’t have to be the whole focus. Like Christopher Nolan’s films, Gotham offers plenty of room for a crime saga/epic to evolve where several characters have their part and Batman can take a secondary role. We see how Gotham as City fares with Batman, not just how Batman integrates himself into the city. By shifting narrative perspective on a popular story we open up the world and create a wider expanse to explore. We explore how the politics of corrupt officials mingle with organized crime rather than the tunnel-vision view of Batman, where criminals are bad and must be stopped. Batman Year One tells us how Batman interacts because we see him from such a distanced perspective, often across buildings or in shadows.
If you haven’t yet read it, do so. It’s a very large influence on Nolan’s world and especially Batman Begins. The recent animated rendition is fantastic as well– Bryan Cranston does the voice of Gordon and it couldn’t be better (I’d watch Cranston in anything these days!).
*No bits this week, I’ve said all I need to on Year One. Next week, back to the movies with a Double header: Batman Returns and Batman Forever: The Times They Are A Changin’
Paul Sawchuk 