Batman: Year One (Film) – Review

By: Tab Murphy (writer), Sam Liu & Lauren Montgomery (directors), Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku, Benjamin McKenzie (voice actors)

The Story: Uplifting a depraved city takes more than just putting on some tights, you know.

The Review: No matter how grim cartoons get, we still rarely think of them as truly edgy or dangerous, at least enough to satisfy the adult palette.  Japanese animators have been doing this kind of dramatic work for years, basically, but of all the American producers, only DC has ventured into that territory with commercial success.  With each yearly release of their animated films, they’ve shown a willingness to take bigger risks, yielding more fruitful results each time.

You can see the evolution in the animation.  All-Star Superman showed subtle signs of moving toward an anime standard of production, but in this film, it’s unmistakable, beautiful, and fitting.  By now, DC has grown quite formidable at depicting action, but here they show surprising aptitude for subtle body movements and changes in expression that gives a whole new level of craft to the “acting.”  The animation itself shows emotion, even without the voice actors’ help.

But then, we’re working with a pretty excellent source to begin with.  Anyone who’s flipped through Frank Miller’s original story arc knows what a groundbreaking piece of work it is.  So much of its success derives from what Miller left brilliantly unspoken; as aggressive as it seems, most of its tension feels almost subconscious.  This film is about as faithful an adaptation of all those qualities as it can get, and remains gripping nearly its entire length as a result.

If you want to capture the Miller spirit, you better just go for it, and Murphy, Montgomery, and Liu pull no punches.  Fifteen minutes in, you’ve got violent cops, corruption almost visibly festering in all places, fist-fights with pimps and prostitutes, underage hookers stabbing men in the thigh, even (unless I misheard it) an F-bomb at one point.  Heck, you even get to see a couple stark-naked men, bound up and lying (privates-side down) around.

Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance #2 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (writer), Eduardo Risso (artist), Patricia Mulvihill (colorist)

The Story: There’s only one way to hurt Batman’s feelings: keep him out of the loop.

The Review: When DC announced plans to relaunch their entire line in September, I wrote that it didn’t really matter how much continuity they keep or discard, so long as they simply produce good stories.  Batman – Knight of Vengeance is a perfect example.  Even though it turns the entire Batman universe upside-down, leaving virtually no character or element unchanged, the story still works—in many ways even better than some of the Batman titles we have now.

Part of this series’ success has been Azzarello’s ability to create a completely realized world and draw you deep into it without reservations.  He doesn’t waste time explaining who’s who and why some things are the way they are.  He just lets the characters interact with each other and their environment as naturally as possible, trusting you to deduce some of the continuity details for yourself.  In other words, he assumes you’re smart enough to catch on without explicit help.

This may explain the brevity he applies to his script, which features no narration to speak of and very sparing dialogue.  As in life, a lot of the most significant information you get out of the issue comes from what’s left unsaid than anything in particular the characters say.  Oracle doesn’t have to explain why she reacts, “…No.  Jim, no,” upon the discovery Commissioner Gordon didn’t deliver her intel to Batman; she and you both know what he plans to do with it.

Detective Comics #863 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writer), Jock & Scott Kolins (art), David Baron (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Kate hunts down Cutter in an effort to save her cousin Bette.

What’s Good: Much like the rest of the “Cutter” arc, this issue is all about mood and atmosphere.  Everything feels dark, gritty, and generally unpleasant.  It’s an effective mixture of noir and horror that is both brooding and slick.  Everything feels smooth and modern, yet definitely nasty.   The book’s tone is definitely heavy and the atmosphere is thick.  As an experience, this issue is a job well done.

A lot of this has to do with the artwork, which is generally well-done by Jock and Kolins, though a lot of this success is owed to David Baron’s colors.  The dichotomy of blue and red is still flawlessly employed and only aids that sense of moody tension.  Both sides feel menacing, but distinct.  The layouts are also brilliant, echoing this color opposition.  There are a couple of times that opposite pages are divided between Batman and Batwoman, with images of both down the centre.  It’s really fun stuff and works well with what Baron is doing.  It also gives Rucka’s narrative structure some real life, realizing it in a very literal way.

The last scene of the book also sets up Batwoman’s future quite nicely.  The dialogue sort of encompasses much of what Rucka has been trying to get across regarding the character. Furthermore, this issue’s cliffhanger will have you salivating for what Rucka has ongoing.