DC Comics
Creators: Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Jon Sibal and Brad Anderson
Release date: June 2021
I bought and enjoyed the first two volumes of the Batman: Earth One series. The twists and turns these creators took with the familiar Batman origin tale kept me guessing a little bit, entertained even when I saw twists coming, and left me feeling satisfied with the final product. This third and final chapter is still a good read. But something feels just a little bit off or not quite as good as the first two installments.
I’m not a fan of the Earth One idea, in general. I tried the first two volumes of Superman: Earth One, and while I found them — especially the first one — entertaining, the stories just didn’t quite feel like "my" Superman. They didn’t feel quite right. Your specific reaction might have been different. That’s part of the fun of comics. Not every comic is every reader’s cup of tea. But for me and Superman: Earth One, something was off.
I tried Teen Titans: Earth One and hated it. Several of my favorite characters were excluded, and the story was so different, that I didn’t recognize the characters that were “included.” Based on those two experiences, I’ve never even tried Wonder Woman: Earth One or Green Lantern: Earth One. Flash: Earth One and Aquaman Earth One graphic novels were planned at one point, but neither has been printed to date.
But when I decided to give Batman: Earth One Volume 1 a try, I was pleasantly surprised.
First, the creators wisely opted to ignore the Joker right out of the gate. Too many similar projects feel a need to make the Joker the premier Bat villain, and that has led to the Joker being way overused. He’s no longer exciting if he’s everywhere and in every story.
Second, this Gotham was different from previous iterations of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne was different from previous iterations. And Alfred was introduced in a different way. That set the stage for many great changes to come — changes to heroes, to villains and to supporting cast members.
I normally try to keep spoilers to a minimum on this blog, but there will be a few here, especially for the earlier volumes of Batman: Earth One. Stop reading now if you want to avoid spoilers, and just know that I liked the series overall, but the most recent chapter a little less than the others.
******** SPOILER WARNING! ********
You’ve been warned.
The first volume of Batman: Earth One begins with Thomas Wayne running for mayor against a corrupt opponent. His campaign staffers are celebrating some early polling victories when Alred Pennyworth arrives at Wayne Manor. Alfred is a former member of the Royal Marines. He and Thomas Wayne served together or worked together in some unspecific capacity. They forged a friendship, and Thomas has sent for Alfred to head up his campaign security team. But first, Thomas and Martha have promised their young son a night at the movies.
That sense of foreboding you now feel is well-deserved as Bruce’s parents never make it back home from the theater. But rather than being killed by Joe Chill or a random mugger after seeing “The Mark of Zorro,” the Waynes never even see the film they planned to see. Instead, the theater’s electricity is cut before the movie begins, and the Waynes are attacked as they exit the theater through an emergency exit.
Bruce is left an orphan. Alfred, who wasn’t even certain he wanted the security job, now finds out that the Waynes have entrusted Bruce’s care to him in their wills. He feels honor-bound to accept the responsibility to keep the boy from becoming a ward of the state, but he has no real interest or knowledge of caring for a child.
Bruce vows vengeance as readers expect and is firmly convinced that the corrupt mayor was behind the hit on his parents. That mayor — Oswald Cobblepot — wins re-election, at least a couple more times, as he is still the mayor of Gotham when Bruce returns from boarding school a young man with a plan built on revenge.
The Batman that begins his career in this tale is new and inexperienced. He makes some mistakes. He has very few detective skills to draw upon, but he is smart. Alfred thinks the entire idea is ludicrous and tries to talk Bruce out of his plans. When that tactic repeatedly fails, he insists on training Bruce in a number of fighting techniques.
The big bads of that first volume are a new creation called The Birthday Boy and Cobblepot, who I don’t believe is ever referred to as Penguin in the story at all. But there are a number of other familiar names with not-so-familiar backgrounds and roles. Some of these include Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Lucius Fox, Harvey and Jessica Dent and Killer Croc.
The second volume continues the trend of giving readers familiar names and faces, but often throwing them into the mix in unfamiliar ways. For instance, I strongly suspected that Barbara Gordon might become Batgirl in the second volume of the series. She was introduced in Volume 1 and was shown to have a keen interest in the Batman’s activities. Instead, the creative team sidelines her throughout this second story with an educational trip abroad.
The villain of this second installment is the Riddler, but he sets himself up as a punisher of Gotham’s ongoing corruption. Mayor Cobblepot is no longer in the picture, but others have taken his seat of power and continue to benefit off the citizens of the city.
Batman faces off against the Riddler, but he does not do so alone. He continues to grow his team of misfits, or Outsiders, as more familiar names and faces are added to the mix. And along the way, the creators do a bit of foreshadowing that easily telegraphs the villain for the third installment, at least in my mind.
The third and final original graphic novel under the Batman: Earth One banner begins with a new “mystery” villain supplying weapons and materials to all the criminals of Gotham. No secret is made about this being Two-Face; but who is Two-Face? That is the question the characters in this story face. But most any reader who read Volume 2 already knows the answer to this question. There’s no mystery here.
Johns, Franks and the crew try to mask that fact by also adding a long-lost relative of Bruce’s and some Wayne/Arkham family history into the mix. But ultimately, while this is still an engaging read, this third installment in the series feels weaker, in my opinion, because of the too-early reveal.
As I said at the top of this post, this is still a worthwhile read. More familiar faces make an appearance, including some not usually associated with the Batman family of titles. More characters are introduced or fleshed out within the story itself. The wrap-up also shows where the story would likely head next, further expanding Batman’s team of Outsiders and finally bringing the Joker into the mix.
Overall, this is a good series, and the best of the Earth One titles I’ve read. But if I’m being honest, this third installment is the weakest of the Batman series.
