Customer Reviews

Batman: Year One - Ra's Al Ghul (Batman (DC Comics Paperback))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everything has gone very bad for Batman recently. He is being blamed for just about all of the gangland crimes of late, particularly the brutal murder of Stephanie Brown, AKA The Spoiler, AKA Robin, AKA a teenage girl who didn't know any better. There's more than one player in this game, and it's going to take all of Batman's detective abilities to figure out who did what, and why.

OK. Well, you can't please all the people all the time. Just recently I wrote a scathing review of a very popular Batman graphic novel, I just didn't like it. This one, on the other hand, really spoke to me. Batman is certainly the Dark Knight in this story, pummeling the bad guys, still seeking justice for what was done.

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting read. I liked the action, the mystery, the angst, the search for justice in a world gone more than slightly insane. So, as for me, I thought that this was a very good Batman story, one that I really enjoyed reading. I don't hesitate to recommend it.

I was out of comics for a while, and picked this Graphic Novel, great way to catch up! Batman finally gets some answers following the WAR GAMES saga

I bought all three War Games Acts (along with War Drums, Prelude to War Games), and as with a lot of stories (at least the ones I've read), the climax is a worthy sendoff to the series.
***If you have not read any of the comics preceding WG:A3 [the Cataclysm story arc (Prelude - Part 16), the No Man's Land story arc (Vol. #1 - Vol. #5)...see List of Batman comics at Wikipedia under the section Reprint Collections for more (they are listed according to the chronology of the different story arcs as they flow from one to the other)], then I would hold off reading WG:A3 (and my review) until having read the aforementioned "lead-up" material (unless you read a summarization of those comics, which is just as effective, but less interesting).***
WG:A3 is a fantastic comic that ties up the loose ends of Batman's failed contingency plan, sent into motion in WG:A1 by Stephanie Brown (aka, the Spoiler/Robin #4).
*Recap from WG:A1 and 2:
Batman, Nightwing, Robin #3 (Tim Drake), Catwoman, Tarantula, Onyx, and Oracle have been running themselves ragged trying to restore order to Gotham following such a horrific debacle. A long thought dead nemesis of Batman's, Roman Sionis (aka, Black Mask) has returned to Gotham to take control of all crime in Gotham; becoming the city's singular, all-powerful crime lord. He has since killed Batman's agent, Orpheus (who was suppose to be the one to take over Gotham's criminals, with Batman pulling the strings), assumed his identity and brutally tortured Stephanie Brown for any additional information. Now working as part of Batman's plan, Black Mask is about to unleash a new wave of chaos upon Gotham.*
All of Gotham's criminals have gathered together under the assumption that "Orpheus" is about to unite them; but all is lost when when "Orpheus" instead riles them into a frenzy and turns them lose on the city. Batman discovers that it is really Black Mask who is behind this, but is forced out of fighting him as he and his team split up to try to prevent Gotham's criminals from razing the city to the ground. Black Mask escapes and after an encounter with the villain Hush, is given vague information that he takes to the press to reveal what he erroneously believes to be the Batcave; but is in fact the clocktower HQ for Oracle. In the meantime, Stephanie Brown has escaped her captivity and made her way to Dr. Leslie Thompkins' clinic in "Crime Alley" were her prognosis is anything but hopeful. After Batman and his team have dealt with the majority of the more dangerous criminals, they head for the clocktower to stop Black Mask and save Oracle.
Loved and loathed by fans and critics alike (for whatever reasons), I defer to a positive review of this comic; even though the story ends in a way that leaves the reader with a sense that there was no real resolution (that comes in the next installment to this series Batman: War Crimes); but that aside, this is a phenomenal comic that should not be missed by anyone. Given the nature of some of its content, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under the age of 13 (for the violent aspects of the story) and under the age of 16 (for some of the story's complexity).
***I would still recommend that you read the prelude/follow-up comics listed above if you wish to truly enjoy this story as part of the greater saga.***

This tale of the aftermath of Rha's al Ghul's death is great for fans of the character. It provides some excellent insights into his motivations and origins. I don't think it will be spoiling things to tell you he was always nuts! The tale is told between flashbacks to the past and scenes in modern Gotham, where people have become mysteriously unable to die. Besides an overly brisk pace, my problem with this book is the art. The artist does not have a good understanding of the human body, resulting in many panels where people have oversized heads. Look for it and you'll see it. Also, despite the "Year One" in the title, there was no direct connection with Batman Year One, a disappointment. Anyway, still a good read if those quibbles don't bother you.

WAR GAMES -- a year-plus serialized event in the history of Batman -- was a terrifically compelling yarn. Everything that could've gone wrong WENT wrong: alliances were forged and fell apart, enemies were made that shouldn't have been made, and people died. That's rare in the comic book universe, but it's one of the traits that strongly separates the Batman and his stories from most other DC "superhero" tales ... Batman is human, and, as a result, he's bound to make mistakes, just like any other character within the Bat-universe.

WAR CRIMES -- at the most basic level -- is about just that: mistakes. Gotham City is well on the road to recover now that the games have ended, and yet the Batman finds himself looking back in order to try to continue piecing together much of what still doesn't quite add up. In doing so, he uncovers a startling secret that sheds light on the disappearance of one of his oldest confidantes, and this discovery shakes him to his foundation.

Compared against the entirety of the WAR arcs, CRIMES fits nicely but perhaps the shock that such discovery should've sent through the Batman wasn't significant enough for my tastes. While I've always appreciated any tale of the Bats largely because of the human factor, there's still a larger-than-life presence to some of his villains (such as the Black Mask) that borders on immortality. CRIMES has a terrific, almost cinematic feel to most of it, and some of that payoff is sacrificed in the conclusion involving the Joker and the Black Mask taking on one another and then involving Batman because the Black Mask has been impersonating the Dark Knight. In cases such as this, I'd rather Batman pull up his sleeves a bit more and rough'n'tumble these two blokes instead of arbitrarily turning them over to the police: sometimes, that solution just grows a bit too safe for my tastes, and it feels out of touch here especially given all that's happened in the past year with these two villains.

Still, it's a solid reliable effort all around.

I'm not sure if this was released when Batman Begins came out just to give new readers a look at Ra's al Ghul but this really missed the mark. I don't know why this was titled Year One because lacks everything that some of the great Year One stories had. Batman is faced with a crazy plot about death no longer existing and he solves it without batting an eye, no pun intended. Now, is that because Batman is the best or because of sloppy unimaginative writing? I'm guessing the latter. The only thing that keeps this book above 1 star was the phenomenal art by Paul Gulacy. He's able to draw Batman completely classic and modern at the same time. Excellent work on his part. Sadly he had to deal with this script. If interested in Ra's al Ghul or Batman fighting the supernatural, there are far better collections than these meek one.

This trade is the Batman Year One: Ra's Al Ghul mini put out by DC in what looks to be 2006.

The first thing that can be said is this really is not a year one book. It deals with almost nothing to do with the origin of Ra. It also does not use the classic way of writing that most other batman year one books use. I think for this title the "year one" title should have been left off.

Overall, the story is quite fragmented. The start of the book is pretty story driven, but as you get into the second half, things start to fall apart. The plot quickly goes from rather heavy to really loosely put together towards the end. The issues I think that is happening here is that the writer wanted to tell a longer story then the pages he had to tell it in. To make up for not moving things fast enough in the start, the ended got speeded though so fast that the plot stops really connecting.

The art is nothing to really write home about, but not bad either. Pretty standard DC work.

Overall, I would suggest picking up another bat title over this one. It just does not offer much.

Beware. If you ever receive an envelope from Ra's al Ghul, do not open it. Unfortunately for Batman, it is already too late. Ra's once again uses his private knowledge of Batman's domain to open up a virtual Pandora's Box of mayhem for him, all with the goal of enticing him to provide the means for his return. He can certainly write an intriguing and especially foreboding letter, and from the grave no less. From its' contents, Batman has learned that eliminating all of the Lazarus Pits has created far more serious problems than he had previously. Through an imbalance in the earth due to the absence of the pits, their life giving benefits will now be bestowed on every living creature on earth. No one will die, with resurrections of the dead also occurring. The frustrating and bitter irony for Batman is that this apparent miracle is in reality far from it, and the only way to return things back to their natural order is to find or create another pit. Talk about a horror movie. On the surface the plot seems a bit far fetched and fantastical for a Batman tale, although this direction has been explored often in Elseworlds books. Of course, any story with Ra's will have those unreal elements in them anyways. Devin Grayson's entertaining story ends with a neat little twist that illustrates why Batman, even when confronted with a new and distinct dilemma, is rarely outsmarted and is always determined to prevail. Bats, the next time you receive a letter from Ra's, return to sender.

this book sucked. this book suppose to take place a year after death and maidens but i would skip this and settle for the resurrection of ra's al ghul

Yes, the Bat is struggling to stop the damage that happened in the beginning of the story line, Hush came and go just to remind us about him, so that an introduction for Hush returns takes place.
I was very sad when a certain member of the bat family was killed, but it was logical to happen since that member has done his role, and has no other thing to add.
DC insists that people used to treat him as an urban legend, as if no one knows about JLA or about what he has done in his previous storylines, but any how that is not a big issue, and is not related to this volume.