Year One: Batman/Ra's Al Ghul #1
Originally presented at Comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
From beyond the grave, the legacy of Ra’s Al Ghul threatens the entire world!
Writer: Devin Grayson
Pencils: Paul Gulacy
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Laurie Kronenberg
Letters: Phil Balsman
Editor: Nachie Castro
Cover Art: Phil Balsman
Publisher: DC Comics
Review: With Batman Begins poised to burst into theaters in just a few weeks, it’s inevitable that DC Comics will try to capitalize on it by releasing specials focusing on the villains of the piece. In this case, we’ve got a pair of two-issue Year One specials, two issues each for Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul. Calling this miniseries a Year One story is kind of a stretch, though. The main story takes place in the current continuity of the comic book, and although it does flash back, it flashes to neither the origin of Ra’s Al Ghul nor his first meeting with Batman. The flashback is, however, to a defining moment in the villain’s life, so that seems to be how it is to be justified.
As Batman thwarts yet another convenience store robbery (why do people even try to hold up stores in GothamCity anymore?), Alfred finds a mysterious letter addressed only to “The Detective.” It is a missive sent to the Dark Knight from his dead enemy, Ra’s Al Ghul. In the letter, the Demon’s Head recounts one of his earliest endeavors to thwart death, and explains why the final destruction of the Lazarus Pits that used to sustain him may not be such a great thing after all.
It would have been easy to churn out just a by-the-book, boring miniseries to try to capitalize on excitement for the movie (ask anyone who was suckered into buying the Spider-Man/Doctor Doom miniseries last year), but Devin Grayson put some real effort into it, turning out a very good, entertaining story that takes the current status quo of the Batman titles and uses it to tell a new story, something that even the Dark Knight hasn’t had to deal with before. Although there are probably half a dozen Batman minis at any given time, even without the movie in the works this would have been one of the better ones.
Paul Gulacy is no stranger to the bat-universe, he’s done some strong work on Catwoman lately, and he continues doing it here. Along with Palmiotti and some really innovative colors from Laurie Kronenberg, he creates two distinctive styles - one more-or-less standard superhero style for the contemporary scenes and a great, stylized vision for the flashback scenes set in the far east a long time ago.
The more cynical fans may pass this up, expecting it to be “just a movie tie-in.” The more valid reason to pass it up would be the hefty $5.99 price tag (did this really deserve the “prestige” format, DC?), but if you don’t mind dropping the money, the story is well worth it.
Rating: 8/10
An archive of all my reviews is online at Evertime Realms.