Reading this again, was actually a ton of fun. It’s been a while since I picked this one up. In fact, Batman Year One was the first comic my dad ever gave me, and the first one I ever read. It was my first adventure, my first hero, my first dive into a paged world where people in capes jumped off rooftops and saved the day. Shout out to my dad for making sure my first time was this epic.

This one’s coming from the heart, guys.

Year One is an origin story. (Duh) But for those of you who have never read it, it’s not just Bruce’s story of his journey to becoming Batman. It’s Jim Gordon’s story too. And that is what makes this story a game changer. Team BatJim has been so essential to the Batman universe as a whole, and watching them experience their beginnings, if you will, together, is deep, dark, heart wrenching, and downright badass.

Now, for a first issue, this story does a lot more than set a foundation and explain a lot of things, something many first issues are usually built on. Miller gets right into the action, and the dark, gritty cloud that always hangs over Gotham City. Bruce and Gordon, have both just arrived in Gotham City, Gordon relocating for work, and Bruce returning after a 12 year absence. Bruce is ready to be back, ready to start the mission of saving his city, even though he doesn’t quite know how yet. Gordon just wants to bail.

I mean, let’s just be honest. Would you be trying to move to Gotham City?

NOPE.

In this first chapter, Gordon is contending with his new department, and Commissioner Leob and Jim’s new partner Flass, kinda suck. They’re motivated by their own self interests, and even worse, their own greed. Gordon has never been that guy, though, and they try very hard to force him into submission. (Late night, baseball bats, threats – the works) But Gordon ain’t no punk. And his comeback beatdown, was epiccccc. They weren’t ready.

Man. I wasn’t ready.

Meanwhile, Bruce is busy getting his lay of the land, and training at home. i.e Breaking small structures made from brick and kicking down trees, because yes. Yes, he can. He also goes out on his first run in the East End, which was a lot less successful than he was hoping for.

Basically, he got his ass kicked.

He wasn’t ready. Too cocky, too reckless, too quick to start a fight.

When he gets home, injured, bleeding, dying, he can’t decide if he wants to survive this. Ring the bell and Alfred will come, but if he leaves it, if he just leaves it… it’s all over. No more of any of this. And it’s tempting. But Bruce is a fighter. For him there is no ‘I can’t.’ Hell, there isn’t even ‘I can.’ The only thing Bruce has is ‘I will.’

Needless to say he rang the bell. I’m sure Alfred had a fit.

The writing in this story is amazing. The personal narratives of Bruce and Jim, are telling, poignant, and sharp. It’s all the classic ingredients of a gritty detective story, but it’s been cooked a different way. Like, with saffron or something. Because it doesn’t read like something you’ve read before. It maintains a freshness that keeps you turning the page.

There are little things that make big impacts too. For example, Gordon’s narrative is one yellow paper, whereas Bruce’s is on white. And each narrative is in their respective handwriting. There are also a ton of one liners in here that are soooo good. The kind that you have to pause and think about, then read again, then try not to burn yourself on the heat coming off the page. I’m telling you, Year One is the real deal .

And the art is just friggin’ classy. It’s old school, and the colors are mellow. Feels like you’re in the heart of the city, covered in the filth, lost in the lights. It brings you in, no, it invites you in. They want you to come into this world.

Me? I’ve been chilling here for a minute.

But you should swing by sometime.

I promise, it’s one hell of a ride.

Yesterday, Jo Blo came out with a very spoilerish article stating that Ben Affleck’s Batman would make its way in Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman film. If this came to fruition, which it probably will not it would be interesting to see Ben’s Batman cross pollinate into another DC film. We already know that he will be making an appearance in Suicide Squad and the subsequent Justice League films, but a Wonder Woman film? Doesn’t that seem a bit much?

Our take on this is Ben will PROBABLY NOT make it into a Wonder Woman film, and regards to those other things that were spoiled on Jo Blo, we too also think that is false. Why? Well look at it this way, why after all this time of everything being on lockdown at Warner Bros. would we finally get a treasure trove of information about a film that has yet to begin production? Sounds like the studio, or whomever gave them this information could have done so to mislead them or to take them off the trail of something bigger in the works.

Whatever the case may be, we at Shanlian on Batman do not think in the slightest that Ben will be in a future Wonder Woman film, but many things could change over the course of the next few months as filming begins very soon.

Per DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation the first trailer for Batman: Bad Blood has finally made its way online. This is the latest DC-Animated film that comes to us an an original feature, that follows the likes of Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin.

Jason O’Mara reprises his role as the Caped Crusader for the fifth time with this outing. Sean Maher stars as Nightwing, Stuart Allen will play the boy wonder of Robin and Ghostbuster alumn Ernie Hudson rounds out the cast as Lucious Fox.

The plot for this film is still under wraps, but we will sure get more news on this film as the release of Batman: Bad Blood inches closer to us in early 2016. Check out the video from DC All Access at the 1:17 mark to play the trailer for the film.

With New York City Comic Con beginning today and running through the end of the weekend, rumors have been running wild on whether or not we would be seeing a new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer or any piece of marketing from the film. Might we see a new poster, stills from the movie or another trailer? The wait for that answer may end in a few hours or just a few days. Fortunately for fans the viral marketing of the film seems to be revving up, as we not only got our first inside look at Lex Luthor from a Fortune 500 article just a few days ago, and his own twitter handle. But looks like Lex Corp will be taking up a booth at NYCC, and giving all the fans free wi-fi as well. Now this morning via a Youtube video we could to see a nice minute long video that promotes the new Lex Corp/OS so definitely be on the look out this weekend as something in fact may drop.

Here is that video check it out!

A day late for this one…but with busy schedules and work it was decided to do this a day late anyway. This weeks “Movie Scene Monday” is a little bit out of left field, since this particular scene and this particular movie hasn’t even been released yet.

However, this scene that was shown in the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Comic Con Trailer encapsulates exactly what Batman/Bruce Wayne would do. In the midst of the attack on Metropolis between General Zod and the Man of S teel, it seems as though Bruce Wayne was actually there on that day during the devastation. He sees all of the chaos and destruction of the city and instead of heading for safety, he does what a hero would do. He runs toward the danger and doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t even as much as look back. Now without the ability to see the entire scene it looks like he is able to save a few people, maybe even one small child. But that imagery of the plume of smoke, and rubble that he runs into is powerful imagery that hearkens back not only to Man of Steel but 9/11 as well.

For all the critics of Ben Affleck being cast as Batman and all the naysayers this scene really points that not only is this Bruce Wayne a bit different from previous incarnations, but this Bruce is about helping save peoples lives even when he does not have the cape and cowl on. Really looking forward to this scene and hoping it takes place during the opening of the film.

By

Justin E. Shanlian

After months of speculation, Warner Brothers Pictures has found their man to tackle the next outing of Batman in Ben Affleck. Affleck who is hot off of directing “Argo,” “The Town,” and “Gone Baby Gone” will finally have his crack at tackling the caped crusader. According to the folks at Deadline this is a done deal, and great news for fans of the Batman on film. 

Ever since Ben Affleck was cast as the new Batman back in 2013, we at Shanlian on Batman have been hearing whispers from the corners of the movie world that indeed Affleck was going to direct the next outing of The Dark Knight. Before Affleck gets behind the camera on Batman, he will first tackle Affleck will first direct the film “Live By Night” that was originally going to film back in 2013. However, that project was pushed back so that Affleck could go film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” Now Warners has greenlit that project and after Affleck is done working on that film, he will move right into filming the next Batman film.

This is great news, and according to that same article from Deadline, he will be working closely with Geoff Johns on crafting the story for that film. It is unclear if Johns will write the screenplay with Affleck, as it was rumored that Chris Terrio would help pen that particular script with Affleck. More of that will come as we get closer to filming, and with the Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic Con coming in just a few hours there might in fact be more news regarding this developing story.

With any breaking news look to Shanlian on Batman with upcoming Batman news, and follow us on twitter @ShanlianOnBat and like us on Facebook at Shanlian on Batman

Justin Shanlian