Batman: Earth One Vol. 1 (Batman:Earth One series) Kindle & comiXology

I have to admit at first I was a bit hesitant about this work. I wondered if Johns could do Batman. After he did Superman so well. (wish he was still doing him outside of JLA). Sure he has had dark and tragic elements but there is always that silver lining. This is partly due to Superman's uplifting nature. But I read this book and my 'fears' were unfounded. This was a dark work to a degree. Johns and Frank are the perfect combination of writer and artist. Each doing their part to tell the story. With Johns it would take him a few sentences to tell us who a charterer is. He has that real sense of how people talk. There is the quirky humor, the tragic elements, and so on. Frank can really show the depth of emotion to a person. Simply by facial expressions and they way the chatures act and look. Gordon is a good example of this, but I will get back to that. Since this is another 'universe' I did not feel it was his Batman Secret Origin. Although I did feel it was touching on some elements of Year One. However, I didn't feel it was his version of Year One either. But there is that base. Just as I feel that he is using elements from the Nolan verse. In point of fact. Am I alone in feeling that Alfred looks superciliously a lot like Lieam Niessan? Over all I found the story interesting. The first few pages are jarring to a regular batman fan. This is not the batman you are more familur with. Who was well trained by many people over a course of a few years. Before Year One Bruce trained himself. That was good for the Batman of that area. Also Alfred being an experience soldier would give him at least some fighting experience to pass on. But still Bruce doesn't come off as the Batman we are familiar with. Sure in Year One he was an amateur as he himself admitted. But he got better. He practiced built his way up. Here I think he just isn't ready. He is working his way to becoming the legend. I don't feel he is a familiar. It's that he just isn't there yet. He needs to focus more. He is just starting to go on his way on his journey. Its not the batman we are familiar with but thats not a bad thing. He feels more human in that he dosent allways do things right. Sometimes batman gets away with too much stuff in comics. Oh he's batman he could easily get out of such and such situation. He could easily do such and such thing. Johns dares to say no he cant. He is human he can make mistakes like everyone. I like this! We need more of this! Snyder has a bit of this to a degree. There are other things were Bruce is just not seeing things. But I wont go too into that. Moving on. I also liked the angle of Bruce being related to the arkhams. It is first mentioned that Martha works to cure the mentally ill. I didn't think of anything of that at first. (it reminded me a bit of a book I have read about, but not read. Batman the Ultimate Evil. Where Martha worked to stop child pornography). I felt it was a noble cause that she was doing. Something that Bruce would inherit. That noble spirit. But then I read the arkham reference. I turned back the pages and reread the original statements. It all made sense. The element was there being set up I just didn't see it. there are other examples of this. Setting us up for when we actually see it. It is interesting to have Bruce connected to Arkham like that. For one thing it makes us question his own sanity. Even more then before. The Arkham history is different here but still same elements. Also this is the FIRST time I have EVER heard Martha being given a maiden name. How come no one else ever thought of giving her one? As for Cobblepot as mayor. Returns and the Adam West show both had him attempt it. To actually see him as mayor is interesting. It's the type of 'respectability' Penguin wants in the comics and now gets. It also lets the audience now how rotten things are in the state of Gotham. But Johns dosent always relay on well known villeins. The Birthday Boy is a good example. Who by the by scared the Frak out of me!!! would not want to be alone in a room with him (especially since my bday is coming up. Lol). Now getting back to Gordon. I felt so deeply sorry and sad for him. Here again we see Johns using the base of Year One and Begins. Gordon the good man in a town so corrupt that there is nothing he can do to change it. Johns takes that and builds upon it. He is a bit different here, but its understandable why he is that way. Seeing him like this was again something that made him three dimensional. Id did like Bullock in this one. A nice new twist on the charterer. so in conclusion buy this book buy it now!

Batman's first venture into costumed crimefighting is a story that's already been told before, and told well, most notably in Batman: Year One and Batman: Zero Year. But Earth One remains fresh and intriguing from start to finish, and is a worthy retelling of the Caped Crusader's origins.The main draw of this book (as well as one of its critics' chief complaints) is that it shows Batman as human and and flawed, and then slowly shows his progression into the Batman we've all come to know. This is a very down to earth portrayal of Batman, and honestly that's why I like this story so much. He's not a ridiculous badass who knows every martial art in the world, speaks a dozen languages, and has advanced degrees in forensic science, chemistry, criminal psychology, and engineering like his mainstream counterpart. He's a moderately skilled fighter trained by a former British marine in hand-to-hand combat who has to initially rely on luck, wits, and sometimes faulty gadgets. In Volume 2, he has to ask Gorgon to train him in basic criminal investigation after he realizes that punching people can't solve all his problems, as opposed to the usual incarnation of Batman who is usually hailed as the World's Greatest Detective. And he isn't a stalwart paragon of moral virtue; initially he just wants revenge for the murder of his parents, but slowly comes to realize that he's not the only one who has suffered at the hands of Gotham's criminal element, and resolves to protect the innocent. I love this interpretation because the main appeal of Batman is that he's supposed to be an ordinary, if exceptionally talented, man who regularly goes up against impossible odds and still comes out on top, but all too often Bruce Wayne is portrayed as being so over-the-top intelligent and tough that it strains believability and edges him near Marty Stu territory. This book brings the Batman legend back to basics and then modernizes a lot of concepts.The best part of Earth One, however, has got to be Alfred. What Frank Miller's Year One did for Gordon, Earth One does for Alfred. He's a fully fleshed out, three-dimensional character here, maybe even moreso than Bruce himself, but he's also been given a series rehaul. This time around, he's drawn to resemble a mixture of Sean Connery and Christopher Lee, and reflects his new design with a new attitude. He's tough as nails and possibly the biggest badass in the book, having been the one who trained Batman in fighting in this retelling. What stands out most, though, is his loving and well written fatherly relationship with Bruce, who is a frustrated and angry young man who feels lost in the world. Alfred is the one who grounds him in reality and lifts his spirit, in a gruff, cranky sort of way. Also of note here is this book's interpretations of Harvey Bullock and Penguin, but I don't want to give away too much of the plot.All in all, this is an excellent revamp of the Dark Knight Mythos, and the series only gets better with Volume 2. I eagerly await the continuation of the series with baited breath.

This is a very interesting take on the Bruce Wayne - Batman origin we all know. It takes a few creative liberties with a lot of the we quintessential Batman characters, like Alfred and Thomas and Martha Wayne, while keeping the necessary aspects of classic Batman lore. It shows us a very early Batman who fails, takes hits and screws up, which in my opinion is a super refreshing look at this character. He's really human in this story, and his relationship with Alfred is really interesting to see. With amazing art and some of the best batsuit designs to grace a comic book, this is a must read for classic Batman fans that like fresh takes on beloved characters.

At the end of a campaign to win election as Mayor of Gotham, Thomas Wayne and his wife are gunned down in alley way. A distraught Bruce is raised by an Army comrade of his father's, Alfred Pennyworth. Years later, a vigilante stalks the streets of Gotham City, bringing justice back to all.Geoff Johns has created an amazing origin for the Caped Crusader and the artwork brings the characters vividly to life. This is a great introduction to the Batman in comic form.

googling and amazon searches that you have a huge amount of Batman types from standard and dark knight through to incorporated and so on. Whilst these pretty much all link together in the same universe, earth one doesn't. Like the earth 2 this is an alternative universe imagining of the general story so expect some similar and some huge differences to the standard. So, is it good? definitely. Is it printed/bound well? Yes, standard DC strong glossy interior with a hard cover, the design is actually printed onto the hard cover so which is different but nice. I would strongly recommend not just this book but all the other Batman ones which I can vouch for.As to writing, it is very well produced. Rather than being split into issues it is just one big story which flows from start to finish in such an enthralling way that you can't put it down. I read volumes 1-2 in the same afternoon as I just wanted to know what was going to happen. I am not sure when volume 3 and on wards will come out, or if there will be but fingers crossed.

"Earth One" puts Batman in a parallel universe where his well-known story is flipped around so different aspects of it read differently to the Batman canon. This is "Year One" written another way and Geoff Johns does a fine job with it.Bruce Wayne's parents were killed by an unknown murderer and Bruce was raised by his parents' faithful friend Alfred. When he becomes a man he decides to hunt down his parents' killer and bring him to justice while wearing a suit designed to terrify. He will become - the Batman. Sound familiar? Well that's where the similarities end and where "Earth One" takes off.Bruce Wayne is figuring out how to be Batman but he's having a lot of problems. He's finding out how to manoeuver in the suit, he has troubles with the grappling hook, his footing on Gotham's rooftops is clumsy, and he's amateurish in all the ways Batman is perfect in other books such as fighting, subterfuge, and detective work. It's refreshing to see he's not so good at being Batman as he is in other books.There are lots of other changes too with less focus on the gentle butler aspect of Alfred and more on the retired SAS/hard man side, Bullock is a complete 180 from who you'd expect, and Gordon's legendary bravery and dedication to the job is entirely absent here.In short, the Gotham presented in "Earth One" is a scarier, more uncertain place because so much of what makes it appear safer in other Batman books is missing - GCPD are corrupt and Batman is useless. But that's what makes this book stand out, because it's a fresh take on Batman and reads like a more exciting book because of it.Gary Frank does a fantastic job as always with the artwork, all of his books - most of them with Geoff Johns - look amazing and he does no less than his usual stellar job with this book. His Batman Earth One suit design is particularly good but every page looks gorgeous.Johns does a fine job of setting up this new world and putting this new Batman on track to discovering all of the famous villains in his rogues gallery all over again with the added possibility that they will be different because this isn't regular Batman, this is "Earth One" Batman. I for one found this to be one of the best Batman books I've read in ages and am thrilled at the prospect of reading future books in this series.

Interesting new take on Batman's origins. This was the darkest take on the penguin,that I have ever seen in the comics, which is a good thing because normally he does not have to much going for him and seeing this version of him definitely makes him more interesting. Alfred is not the same as he normally is, he is similar to how he is portrayed in Gotham, with a military history but still this version is tougher and just has more of a impact. All in all I would recommend this if you want to see a slightly darker and different version of Batman's origin. 8/10

Wasn't sure what to expect, but was not disappointed. Sat down and intended to have a casual flip through to see what I'd bought, but ended reading the whole thing in one hit as I couldn't put it down. Very satisfying story, good twists on accepted origin story, different enough to Year One, though it draws upon that heavily in places (no bad thing) and really nice art. Also, this is a *very* nice hardcover to handle, feels very solid and high quality and the contents warrant it. This one will get re-read. It's not Year One or The Killing Joke or TDKR, but it stands up pretty well in their company.