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Kevin and I spent five hours on Wednesday driving back and forth to Cromwell, CT so we could watch the film Batman Begins on opening night with Brother Brian. Turns out Brian and Kevin have watched every Batman movie together on opening night. I was with them for only Batman and Batman Returns. Since I missed the last two, history says I could have skipped this. But upon realizing that we could solidfy this into a ridiculous tradition of going far out of our way for movie openings– I was more than on board for the trek up into central CT. As Brian pointed out, the Hines Bros. will skip a Thanksgiving or a Christmas, but a Batman movie opening? Well, that’s worth going out your way for.

The movie was okay. It took the story seriously, had a great cast and some great sequences. But I never really felt wrapped up in it. Maybe it was overexplained, or took too long to get to any action.

Regardless of that, it brought back fond memories of the comic book Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzuccelli, which I assume is the very loose basis for the movie. Besides being a story of Batman’s first adventure, there is almost nothing in common between the comic book and the movie. The movie, like I said, is okay. The comic book is spectacular and one of my favorite superhero stories of all time.

Year One came out in something like 1987, on the heels of The Dark Knight Returns, the Batman-at-50 epic which Miller wrote and drew. Dark Knight had been like a nuclear explosion in the superhero comics world. Everyone bought it and raved about it constantly. It had been published in a softcover book format, which would be known for years after as “The Dark Knight format.” It was an epic story, that recklessly altered classic characters (Superman an obsequieous weakling? The Joker not just a villian but a violent mass-murdering mythic force? Robin as a 12 year old girl? Batman as a brooding near-sociopathic vigilante instead of a cheery Spock-like detective?) It turned Miller into a comics superstar. Rolling Stone wrote about it. It was more of an event than a story. People are still trying to shock comic book audiences the way that book did, and no one has done it.

Year One, in contrast, was a simple quiet story about Batman’s first year. Although a big hit and still a fan favorite, it has never been revered in the way that Dark Knight has — probably because it’s just a less ambitious tale. If Dark Knight is The Godfather, then Year One is more like Ocean’s Eleven. Still, with all these years past, I now think Year One probably a far better book than Dark Knight. It’s simple, but it’s also very elegant. There’s room to breathe and digest the story as you go in Year One. I’ve definitely re-read it far more often than I’ve re-read Dark Knight, if that’s any indication.

It’s called a Batman story, but the comic follows Jim Gordon as he starts his new job as a cop in Gotham. He struggles to be a good cop, when everyone else on the force, including the commissioner he will one day replace, is unabashedly corrupt. Gotham City, like in all good Batman stories, is as much a character as any person. We see its decay, its corrupt criminals, the resignation of its citizens. In fact, although there are bad guys in the book, the main villian is the corruption of Gotham City. At the start of the tale, it owns the city. But at the end, Jim Gordan and Batman have managed to establish footholds that will help them battle it for the rest of their lives.

It’s Gordon’s story. We see Batman struggle as he learns to effectively scare and fight crooks. But really, he’s more like an unchanging elemental force. Gordon is the one who goes through doubt, is beaten down, must fight back, cheats on his wife, almost loses his baby — and still ends up as the best, strongest, purest good guy on the block. Batman gets stronger, but there’s no real introspection to speak of. You finish Year One wanting to know more about Gordon. Even watching Batman Begins I found myself thinking “More Gordon!”

The art is what really pushes Year One from “good story” into “great story.” Although written by Miller — and therefore containing his terse, cynical descriptions and super-noir characterizations (nothing is halfway for Miller — Catwoman is a karate-trained prostitute; the corrupt swat team demolishes a whole city block just to try and kill Batman) — it’s drawn by Dave Mazzuccelli. Miller’s art is bold and innovate, but Mazzuccelli’s is far prettier, more elegant and I think more powerful. I can’t stand most comics today, because they cram so much detail into each panel that it’s boring. Mazzuccelli is an artist — framing just a few images very well so they burn into your retinas. The coloring by Richmond Lewis is probably a big part of this, too, but I don’t know enough about how comics are drawn to know for sure.

I loved this story tremendously when it came out. Miller was untouchable back then. Kevin and I only just sold off the original issues in the past few months (we figure we have the trade paperbacks now to read). I remember sitting in high school on Tuesdays, knowing the next chapter was waiting for me at Outer Limits Comics.

Moral: If you like Batman, or if you like superhero stories, or if you like any tightly-written heroic journeys — skip the movie and get Year One.

Then come back here and read about my cats.