Kelley Puckett

An excellent graphic novel, one of the best Batman books I've read. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and there isn't even a villain yet! The family dynamic of Batman and all his sidekicks is explored wonderfully, along with the Batman vs. Bruce Wayne concept which, while central to the character, isn't usually looked at so deeply or with such force. The art is great, stylized enough to draw you in and get you spellbound, but realistic enough to keep things gritty. There's a cliffhanger show more ending into the Bruce Wayne: Fugitive trilogy of graphic novels, so make sure you have those at hand if you read this one. show less

An excellent compilation in that great jigsaw puzzle style where they took the trouble to actually interweave the various issues into a near-seamless, single narrative -- this doesn't really seem to happen anymore. Constantly, this sort of collection will today present the issues with little more thought than publication order, causing them to outright spoil each other, and making beats and reveals happen at awkward or underwhelming moments. Not so here, and it adds immeasurably to the show more reading experience.

My main complaint, really, is that the early issues set this up as a murder mystery, but by the end of the volume, the investigation has gone by the wayside, and the story is a more personal one, centred on the character of Batman, and his relationship to his alter ego and to those few who know his secret and love him. This is a good story, and with a satisfying and emotional conclusion, but it is not what the story's beginning felt like it promised, and it is frustrating to have to read the three-volume "Fugitive" arc that followed to search for the eventual payoff.

But this is a minor gripe. There is great narration here -- I was genuinely moved by the last page of the issue "Timeless", for instance, as well as by Grayson's constant insistence that Bruce could not have done this when everyone around him start admitting doubts. I got chills from several Moments of Cool in the inner narration, especially that of Batman himself, not to mention Oracle's casual brilliance and Cassandra Cain's Batgirl's hyper-competence. And while they belong to the mystery plotline that fell by the wayside, it was exciting to see the Major Crimes Unit from the excellent "Gotham Central" show up to investigate such a high profile DC universe story beat. The various artist's art styles blend surprisingly well considering the jigsaw-nature of the compilation mentioned above, and all in all, this was a satisfying reading experience.

I'm already chasing down the long out of print "Fugitive" volumes to read the conclusion. Hopefully it will deliver. show less

Tom is a teen with a number of health problems that force him to lead a physically straitened, often painful life. Then one day he gets super-strength.

This could easily have been the usual origin story we see for superheroes. But instead, Puckett gives us something far more nuanced. Tom's disabilities are part of him and his identity, not just a problem to be overcome. He's not sure what to do with his new power, and is frightened that it makes his darker impulses so easy to fulfill. He show more struggles with his crush on a new girl, torn between thinking about her in a sexual way and feeling guilty for looking at her that way without her knowledge. His relationship with his mother is fantastic--I could immediately tell that they love each other, but there's tension there because he's trying to grow up and she's spent so much of her life devoted to protecting him. She's a character in her own right, with issues aside from his new superpowers, which I appreciated. Their conversations felt totally real to me.

The art could be better, but the characters are fairly recognizable from one page to the next, and it never pulls back from showing the less pretty aspects of Tom's disabilities. It's realistic--everyone looks like actual humans, instead of the wasp-waists and skin-tight clothes most artists rely on.

I was surprised at how good this was. Puckett is one of the few writers working today in comics giving us something beside the usual able-bodied straight white male protagonists (I'm thinking of Cassandra Cain as Bat-girl here) and telling stories that aren't the same ones we've seen in comics for the last 50 years. And he does it well. I look forward to reading more by him! show less

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

This weirdly titled book takes place early during Batgirl's career-- possibly during Batgirl: Year One-- and details Barbara Gordon's first encounter with the Joker. Obviously this an event of some retroactive significance, given what the Joker will later do to Barbara, and indeed, Kelley Puckett depicts the Joker as something outside of Barabara's experience or understanding. But it's still a moment of strength for her; show more Barbara refuses to be cowed by him, or to take his bullshitting, and she does what she does best, managing to hold it together and save some lives, even if this whole vigilante lark is turning out to be less fun than she imagined.

At 47 pages, it's a slight story, but enjoyable nonetheless. I really liked Matt Haley and Karl Kesel's art. They have a style I think of as very 1990s, but in a good way. Not the EXTREME, scribbly stuff, but realistic without being gritty, detailed while still retaining a certain cartoon-y boldness. Just as the kinetic style of Batgirl: Year One was perfect for it, so too is this perfect for this comic about Barbara Gordon moving through a darker world but refusing to be caught in it.

Batman "Year One" Stories: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less