Stat of something special?
Batman has a very special place in comic and general folklore. Even people who dont read comics can probably tell you how he got started and except for the likes of Spiderman and Superman thats a rare thing. The people who do read comics and watch the various Batman cartoons and movies have seen his origins numerous times and can state the film that young Bruce and his parents where going to see, the name of the mugger etc. So you may ask why another origin? I'am getting ahead of myself so i will get back on track. Earth one is new/alternative origin story of the Bat and whilst it has very similar structure its fleshed out in a very different way. Expect to see characters in a different light and twists of the mainstream Batman back history covered in this book.
The Good
Lets start off with the creative team Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. The books art is steller i absolutely loved it form the get go. It work so well that even pages without text still keep you firmly focussed on the book(see below for spoiler less example) peopel say you should never judge a book by its cover but iam sure you would agree its a dam good cover and it sets the tone for the whole issue. The art is what truely sold me the book in the first place, i wanted it from seeing the concept stuff alone. The interior art mets the calibre of the cover and surpasses the concepts easily. But art is subjective some people may not like the style (crazy people mostly) so the fact that the writing is also very solid makes the book that much better. Sometimes as a reader you have to but up with either great art and naff writing or visa versa. But in Earth one you get an excellent middle ground in which neither drags the other down they work exceptionally well together.
The changes to characters will intrigue you, you will wonder how they work in the grander scheme of things and you will enjoy the pay offs you get by invest in the story. Its great to see people such as Alfred Pennyworth , Dective Jim Gordon and Lucius Fox getting time to shine (look out for a in joke refrence to Batman Begins). I will try and be as spoiler free as a cover the main story info. The plot is as you would expect being an origin story. Famous scenes are recovered but shown in their very own altered ways and even the recovered areas of the story are enoyable to read through even when you know whats coming. But its where the wholey new parts kick in you will be really intrested since you wont be 100% sure where its going or why things are as they are. There are several moments in which you will probably think hell yeah or that was great and the end of the book will tease you to invest further into the story.
Basically the stuff you know isnt exactly as you remember and then new stuff will suprise you. Which makes for a great recipe for continued interest.
The Bad
I mentioned it before and i will state it again its an origin story. People out there in the wolrd will say that its covering ground travelled before many times in the likes of year one for example. This will put some people off investing into this story.
The Verdict
As you can guess i loved the book, the only reason its not a 5/5 is because whilst its a truely great mordern Batman story its to early to see how well it sits with the rest of the great batman stories and the book has clearly been left to set up a sequel. Sequels are tricky business look at Dark knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes Again for example. This book is great and leaves you wanting more, iam just hoping we get more of the same in terms of quality and we dont end up with a simular scenario. This series has great promise and your should read it yourself and hopefully we will all see a continuation of this story soon.
Edward Windsor AKA Lazystudent signing off
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