Batman: Earth One
by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank (Illustrator)
Earth One (2), Batman: Earth One (1), Batman
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"A dark knight for a new generation. You only think you know his story. Batman is not a hero. He is just a man. Fallible, vulnerable, and angry. In a Gothan City where friend and foe are indistinguishable, Bruce Wayne's path toward becoming the Dark Knight is riddled with more obstacles than ever before. Focused on punishing his parents' true killers, and the corrupt police that allowed them to go free, Bruce Wayne's thirst for vengeance fuels his mad crusade and no one, not even Alfred, can show more stop him."--Back cover. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Another re-imagining of Batman and Batman mythology. This time it seems (at least at the beginning) to be less about justice and more about vengeance. It goes back to before the nineties re-imagination where it was less about becoming Batman to find Joe Cool, and more about 'the greater good'.
I liked what they did with most of the characters, making them slightly different. Harvey Bullock's journey, who Cobblepot was, who Detective Gordon was. In one of the last GCPD panels there were even some familiarish looking faces there too.
But of course the biggest change was Alfred. Wow, and yet, I really really liked the change. Then again, he's one of my favorite characters, so I think someone giving him a deep and interesting back story is show more always awesome. show less
I liked what they did with most of the characters, making them slightly different. Harvey Bullock's journey, who Cobblepot was, who Detective Gordon was. In one of the last GCPD panels there were even some familiarish looking faces there too.
But of course the biggest change was Alfred. Wow, and yet, I really really liked the change. Then again, he's one of my favorite characters, so I think someone giving him a deep and interesting back story is show more always awesome. show less
Batman: Earth One is essentially a reworking of Batman’s origin with enough tweaks to recognize it, but with enough differences to make it quite different than the origin we’ve all read hundreds of times. It seems to combine elements from Frank Miller’s [b:Batman: Year One|59980|Batman Year One|Frank Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940389s/59980.jpg|2501570] and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, adding more material to make the story unique. At the start of his crime fighting career, this Batman is far less experienced; he’s quite human and gets hurt, alot. This makes the character much more interesting, and makes the stories much more tense. Geoff Johns’ Batman is fallible and that makes this volume very show more compelling.
Placing Earth One out of continuity allows the authors to do pretty much whatever they want with the characters and settings. Obviously, Johns can’t kill Batman, but other characters aren’t necessarily safe. He also has the flexibility to alter characters as he sees fit, with the biggest change making Alfred a former Royal Marine. Oswald Cobblepot is definitely inspired by Tim Burton’s revolting Danny Devito-Penguin who ran for Mayor of Gotham City.
Gary Frank’s artwork was very consistent throughout this volume; Batman, in particular, looks great. Overall, I enjoyed this volume and look forward to the second one. show less
Placing Earth One out of continuity allows the authors to do pretty much whatever they want with the characters and settings. Obviously, Johns can’t kill Batman, but other characters aren’t necessarily safe. He also has the flexibility to alter characters as he sees fit, with the biggest change making Alfred a former Royal Marine. Oswald Cobblepot is definitely inspired by Tim Burton’s revolting Danny Devito-Penguin who ran for Mayor of Gotham City.
Gary Frank’s artwork was very consistent throughout this volume; Batman, in particular, looks great. Overall, I enjoyed this volume and look forward to the second one. show less
I've enjoyed Geoff Johns' past work and I've also enjoyed Gary Frank's artwork immensely. So, where does this book fail? Probably from the real world odds and real world unlikelihoods. If I wanted to read about the real world I'd read the newspaper. Batman is the symbol... an archetype of a perfect man. A perfect man that's studied martial arts, chemistry, and so on. "He becomes a master scientist" reads an excerpt from his earliest origin, for example. In contrast, Earth One shows him.... well, I'm not going to give away spoilers, but he's a man in a bat-suit that hits people. Pass on this one. You have many other - better - Batman graphics novels to read instead.
Not a bad book but problematic from a storytelling perspective.
It's not bad if you already know a lot of Batman mythology and backstory, but if you're looking for a complete story, it's not here.
Johns skips way too many details and just assumes that the reader doesn't need to know what happened to Bruce beyond losing his parents. Next to no explanation as to why he decides to become Batman, nothing from when Bruce is 9 until he's 19 or so, and the biggest changes are to Alfred, the Penguin (or at least Oswald Cobblepott) and Bullock (and the latter eats up too many pages for a book entitled Batman).
So an interesting take but not a good starting point for anyone (if you want them to become fans of Batman, that is).
It's not bad if you already know a lot of Batman mythology and backstory, but if you're looking for a complete story, it's not here.
Johns skips way too many details and just assumes that the reader doesn't need to know what happened to Bruce beyond losing his parents. Next to no explanation as to why he decides to become Batman, nothing from when Bruce is 9 until he's 19 or so, and the biggest changes are to Alfred, the Penguin (or at least Oswald Cobblepott) and Bullock (and the latter eats up too many pages for a book entitled Batman).
So an interesting take but not a good starting point for anyone (if you want them to become fans of Batman, that is).
You'd think I'd get tired of the "origin" stories. Especially one that has been re-told in so many ways as Batman. This one was really good though, art and story both wonderful. At this point there's no point in calling any particular Batman story as the definitive one, but this one would certainly be in the running.
"Batman: Earth One" goes back the beginning of the Batman saga, revisiting and recasting the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents and his eventual development into Batman. While the story remains basically unchanged, the brilliance here is in the details. Writer, Geoff Johns, creates a Gotham riddled with crime and hamstrung by political corruption on all levels. Bruce Wayne's father is in the midst of a mayoral race, but still takes the time to take Bruce and his mother to the movies. When the electricity goes out in the movie, a disappointed Bruce dashes into the alley way, followed by his parents. There Bruce watches his parent's murder. The story, told in flashbacks, shows the development of Bruce into Batman, seeking to discover the show more secret behind his parent's death.
Johns and Frank introduce us to old character favorites, such as Detective Gordon and his daughter, librarian (and soon to be Batgirl) Barbra. Johns remixes these old characters, giving them new back stories and motivations. His new characters including gung-ho new detective and media celebrity Harvey Bullock and Mayor Cobblespot (who looks a lot like the classic Batman villain The Penguin, right down to his umbrellas and his birds). He even throws in a nod to the most recent "Batman" film franchise by using the character of Fox, the scientist. Probably the biggest change (and to my mind the most interesting character) is Alfred. No longer the steadfast and proper butler, Alfred becomes a military trained guardian the challenges and helps Bruce become Batman.
"Batman: Earth One" is filled with surprises that even the even a die hard Batman fan will find enjoyable. The art is colorful, crisp and neat, displaying a wide range of colors that help suggest the mood of the story. With a new volume coming out this in May, this is a great way to start reading Batman's story or to revisit a classic.
Johns and Frank introduce us to old character favorites, such as Detective Gordon and his daughter, librarian (and soon to be Batgirl) Barbra. Johns remixes these old characters, giving them new back stories and motivations. His new characters including gung-ho new detective and media celebrity Harvey Bullock and Mayor Cobblespot (who looks a lot like the classic Batman villain The Penguin, right down to his umbrellas and his birds). He even throws in a nod to the most recent "Batman" film franchise by using the character of Fox, the scientist. Probably the biggest change (and to my mind the most interesting character) is Alfred. No longer the steadfast and proper butler, Alfred becomes a military trained guardian the challenges and helps Bruce become Batman.
"Batman: Earth One" is filled with surprises that even the even a die hard Batman fan will find enjoyable. The art is colorful, crisp and neat, displaying a wide range of colors that help suggest the mood of the story. With a new volume coming out this in May, this is a great way to start reading Batman's story or to revisit a classic.
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Julie K. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.
I enjoyed Batman: Earth One just as much as Superman: Earth One. The Earth One series retells classic superhero stories in a more realistic, modern-day version of Earth. As with Superman, I think a great job was done making the ideas of the staple character work within a modern context.
Lots of changes were made, and I enjoyed seeing how various characters were reimagined to make them more believable, especially Alfred. Bruce Wayne has just taken up the cowl, he's young and inexperienced, but he wants to get to the bottom of his parents murder, thinking it was a conspiracy. It never feels like there are too many over-the-top action sequences, and there's a great deal of depth and emotion at work over the course of the book.
One thing I show more liked in particular was that Geoff Johns doesn't use this retelling in an isolated graphic novel as an excuse for the typical "cavalcade of batman villains" like most do. There are some classic villains, updated for this version, but it's not like there are rogue cameos every 4 pages. In fact, there's not even a single appearance by The Joker.
Overall, Batman Earth One is a great retelling of the classic Batman story in a modern day, it's very similar to Year One in that it largely focuses on Batman's origin story, but it's very well-written in terms of character drama (the dialogue is a bit hokey). Definitely worth a read. show less
Lots of changes were made, and I enjoyed seeing how various characters were reimagined to make them more believable, especially Alfred. Bruce Wayne has just taken up the cowl, he's young and inexperienced, but he wants to get to the bottom of his parents murder, thinking it was a conspiracy. It never feels like there are too many over-the-top action sequences, and there's a great deal of depth and emotion at work over the course of the book.
One thing I show more liked in particular was that Geoff Johns doesn't use this retelling in an isolated graphic novel as an excuse for the typical "cavalcade of batman villains" like most do. There are some classic villains, updated for this version, but it's not like there are rogue cameos every 4 pages. In fact, there's not even a single appearance by The Joker.
Overall, Batman Earth One is a great retelling of the classic Batman story in a modern day, it's very similar to Year One in that it largely focuses on Batman's origin story, but it's very well-written in terms of character drama (the dialogue is a bit hokey). Definitely worth a read. show less
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Geoff Johns was born in 1973 in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, Johns and his brother first discovered comics through an old box of comics they found in their grandmother's attic, which included copies of Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, Batman from the 1960s and 1970s. Johns eventually began to patronize a comics shop in Traverse City, recalling show more that the first new comics he bought were Crisis on Infinite Earth and Flash, as the latter was his favorite character. As Johns continued collecting comics, he gravitated toward DC Comics and later Vertigo Comics, and also drew comics. After graduating from Clarkston High School in 1991, he studied media arts, screenwriting, film production and film theory at Michigan State University and graduated from Michigan State in 1995. Johns met up with DC Comics personnel Eddie Berganza who invited Johns to tour the DC Comics offices, and offered Johns the opportunity to pitch ideas, which led to Johns pitching Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., a book based on the second Star-Spangled Kid and her stepfather, to editor Chuck Kim a year later. John's soon became a regular writer on such series as The Flash and The Avengers United. He also writes for series such as Teen Titans and The Future is Now. His title Earth One made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Gary Frank was born 1969 in Britain. He began his professional career in 1991, illustrating covers and interior short stories for publications like Doctor Who Magazine and Toxic!. This led to a stint at Marvel UK in 1992, as regular series' artist on Motormouth & Killpower. In 1992, Frank was recruited by Marvel Comics to illustrate covers for The show more Incredible Hulk, beginning with issue #400. Shortly thereafter, he was hired as the series' ongoing artist. During his initial time at Marvel, Frank also contributed covers, interiors, and pin-up illustrations for various series, such as X-Men Unlimited, The Sabretooth Special, X-Men Classic, X-Men Prime, and Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, among others. He also provided covers for Acclaim Comics' Ninjak and Harris Comics' Vampirella. In 1996, Frank moved to DC Comics, where he worked on various loose assignments that included a Birds of Prey one-shot and covers for the mini-series. The same year, Frank was hired as part of the art team on DC new Supergirl series. Frank has also worked on other series such as Gen¹³, Tom Strong and Top Cow. He has teamed up with author Geoff Johns for such works as The Avengers and Batman Earth One which made The New York Times Best Sellers List for 2012. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Batman: Earth One
- Original title
- Batman: Earth One
- Original publication date
- 2012-07-10
- People/Characters
- Batman (Bruce Wayne); Alfred Pennyworth; James Gordon (Commissioner ); Batgirl (Barbara Gordon); Harvey Bullock; Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot) (show all 13); Thomas Wayne; Martha Arkham-Wayne; Jessica Dent; Harvey Dent; Birthday Boy (Ray Salinger); Jason Weaver; Lucius Fox
- Important places
- Gotham City, New Jersey, USA
- Dedication
- For all his shining gentle spirit and the light it cast all around him. This book is dedicated to the memory of our beloved archivist Roger Bonas. He was the guardian of DC's past and he will be forever part of its legacy.
- Geoff Johns
For Ian Meek.
A great friend, an inspiration to many and walking proof that adversity can lead some men to become heroes.
- Garry Frank - First words
- Batman:
"Ow." - Quotations
- Alfred Pennyworth [as he beats up Bruce Wayne]:
"You've never been in a war."
"I have."
"NNG!"
"You're emotional."
"Sloppy... (show all)>"
"And soft."
"No guns? No recon? No tactics? Just a stupid bat costume?"
"A useless cape?"
"This is Gotham City. The cops aren't your allies. The people aren't your friends."
"It's everyone for themselves in this town. In this world."
"You can't do it--"
"--Because you aren't willing to do everything you're going to have to.
"You aren't willing to sink down to Gotham's level."
Harvey Bullock:
"C'mon, Axe. I get it now. This is Gotham City."
"It's bad cop, bad cop." - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Bruce Wayne:"Then we need to build a better Batman."
Alfred Pennyworth:"More than that."
"We need to build a legend."
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Unnamed:
"Who is Batman?"
"What a riddle." - Blurbers
- Meltzer, Brad; Goyer, David S.; Lindelof, Damon
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- Graphic Novels & Comics, Teen
- DDC/MDS
- 741.5 — Arts & recreation Drawing & decorative arts Drawing and drawings Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips
- LCC
- PN6728 .B36 .J64 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Collections of general literature Comic books, strips, etc.
- BISAC
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