Review by Sabrina TVBand
The success of Batman: Year One meant that a Batman: Year Two was inevitable. Writer Mike W. Barr and artist Alan Davis were tasked with creating this follow-up but delivered not only a poor sequel, but an all-around lacklustre Batman story.
Year Two concerns a vigilante named the Reaper coming out of retirement. The Reaper kills every criminal he comes across, which puts him at odds with Batman, but Batman, finding himself unable to defeat the Reaper, decides he needs to start using a gun. The specific gun he starts using is the one that was used to kill his parents. Batman also decides to form an alliance with Joe Chill, the man who killed his parents, in order to defeat the Reaper.
This story violates so many sacred parts of Batman’s ethos, yet if Barr had intelligent things to say about Batman’s relationship with guns this wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately Batman’s gun usage is treated as him crossing a line without much real commentary or psychological probing beyond that. Likewise, the Reaper is supposed to be a dark reflection of Batman, an example of the kind of vigilante that Batman isn’t. This is acknowledged, but once again, nothing particularly insightful comes from it.
It might just be these themes, especially contrasting Batman with other vigilantes, have become such well-trodden territory in the years since Year Two‘s publication. It’s possible the beats relating to these themes felt like enough in the 1980s, but they certainly don’t in the present day.
Alan Davis illustrates the first quarter. He can be counted amongst the best Batman artists; his art is legible, a touch cartoonish, and very pleasant to look at due to how well-realised it is. It’s obvious that he’s good, but his qualities are emphasised when a young Todd McFarlane takes over for the remainder.
McFarlane’s art is messy where Davis’ is clean and overworked where Davis’ is assured and steady. Nor can he convey character as well, and moments where Davis would’ve carried off are clumsy under McFarlane’s pencil. When one of Batman’s confidants challenges him about his gun usage, Batman comes off far more uncaring than Barr surely intended. Featured image pages are by Davis and McFarlane respectively, and take note of McFarlane having Bruce Wayne tent his fingers like he’s Mr. Burns.
It needs to be acknowledged that Batman: Year Two was originally conceived as a comic called Batman: 1980. It was changed into Year Two because of the success of Year One, but because of this, it doesn’t resemble Year One on a formal level. The storytelling is different, it doesn’t have the same focus on Commissioner Gordon, and it doesn’t even take place over the course of a year.
None of this would be a problem if Batman: Year Two was good. Unfortunately, it isn’t.
More recent editions of Year Two include a follow-up story titled ‘Full Circle’, which reunited Barr and Davis. It’s an incredible piece of work that lives up to the quality of their collaborations before Year Two. Barr manages to expertly weave plotlines and Davis’s art is more mature than before. The only flaw is that it’s a sequel to Year Two.
On its own Year Two is a two star story. Full Circle ranks far higher. For the editions that contain both a three star rating is reasonable.
Batman: Year Two, not including Full Circle, is included within the pages of the DC Finest: Batman – Year One & Two volume.
