Huntress: Year One [Paperback]

Ivory Madison (Author), Cliff Richards (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009

As the last survivor of a crime family eliminated by bloody rivalries among the mobs of Gotham City, the orphaned Helena Bertinelli grew into the mysterious vigilante known as the Huntress.
New writer Ivory Madison shines a light on the dark underbelly of the mob world spanning from Gotham to Sicily, exploring exactly what led Helena away from a life in the Cosa Nostra criminal society and set her on a path of vigilantism. Also, find out more about Batman's first meeting with the fledgling female crime-fighter and why, to this day, they struggle to see eye-to-eye.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A regular in Birds of Prey, Huntress is the sort of character who needs a clear origin story. In her typical comic appearances, it's often hard to get a grasp of who Huntress is, aside from being a superhero who likes purple and uses a crossbow. That's a pity, because she's one of the rare superheroes who can defy Batman on his own turf and follow her own conscience. Madison and Richards's take on Huntress is fast paced and coherent—a strong, solid crime story that's a bit Godfather with capes. Helena Bertinelli lost her entire family to Mafia violence, but her family were Mafia themselves. Unlike her equally young and innocent brother, Helena was spared since the killer assumed that a girl was no danger. Obviously, they were wrong, and Helena becomes Huntress. Although she enters the world of the more familiar vigilantes of Gotham, by the time they meet, Huntress has killed without remorse and will kill again, and so can never join Batman's crew. Madison's focused writing, ably assisted by Richards's clean and striking art turn Huntress: Year One into more a mob story of misogyny, money, faith and betrayal than a superhero tale. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

This elegant and tight reinterpretation of the superhero Huntress’ story places the titular character in the role of an orphaned mafiosa girl named Helena Bertinelli, who grows into a vengeful but deeply religious young woman. A variety of interpretations across the past three decades have given this character a range of personas, including being Batman’s grown daughter. Bruce Wayne, Batman, and Batgirl all come into play in this rendition, too, but later in the game and in ambiguous moral roles. In fact, this take on Helena’s life is full of quite credible ambiguities, including an adoptive Mafia brother turned priest. Storyboarding is well worked, and both dialogue and the lush, full-color art help push the narrative forward. Lots of appeal here for superhero readers, but there’s also plenty to offer for teens and older readers who crave a good thriller but never imagined superhero comics could provide a satisfying fix. Helena is a superhero in many senses of the word, but she is also quite mortal and takes some actions here—including bloody violence—that may well haunt her conscience. Grades 10-12. --Francisca Goldsmith

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401221262
• ISBN-13: 978-1401221263
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.3 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helena as written by Madison is too interesting to disappear now, November 23, 2009

By 

GraphicNovelReporter.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Huntress: Year One (Paperback)

A little disclosure might be in order here: I loved the Huntress, the original one, Helena Wayne, first introduced about 30 years ago by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton. That Huntress, Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Earth-2 Batman, was infinitely more interesting than Batgirl on Earth 1 (if you don't have any idea what that previous sentence was talking about, trust me--it's complicated, but suffice to say that comics readers of the '70s and '80s were well-versed in theories of different dimensions and alternate universes). That Huntress (by the way, her mother was Catwoman) practiced law by day and took the law into her own hands by night. She was both tough and human; not one of the impossibly superpowered humans who, after a short stint with a sensei somewhere, are able to do just about anything a story requires them to.

So I approached Huntress: Year One with more than a little trepidation. I hadn't taken a liking to the post-Crisis Huntress (again, complicated, but in the mid-'80s, DC issued a series called Crisis on Infinite Earths that wiped out its alternate universes and left just one earth and one incredibly long and convoluted history intact), so I was resistant somewhat to any rendition.

To offer a quick recap: In the new universe, the Huntress is now Helena Bertinelli, daughter of a slain mafia boss. Her family is massively tied in to a large criminal organization, but Helena, being a good person, breaks with her ugly family past and fights crime in Gotham City as the Huntress. Her weapon of choice: a crossbow. Her plan of action: whatever it takes, even if that means killing, a viciousness that is not shared or condoned by Batman. This puts her in the Dark Knight's bad column, and he doesn't take kindly at all to her running loose and acting as a vigilante in his city.

But Huntress: Year One veers off slightly (and wisely) from the previous reboot of the character to provide a more interesting character. The jumping-off point--daughter of a mafia family--remains the same, with Helena the sole survivor after her parents and brother were gunned down before her eyes when she was 8. Only the cross hanging from her neck saved her, as the assassin had a change of heart upon looking at it and her.

After being orphaned, Helena is sent to Sicily, where she learns how to hunt and be a woman who is not fearful of any man. The story here begins with Helena, now 20, just days away from her next birthday--and the large trust fund that will come with it.

Writer Ivory Madison, herself a former lawyer, is clearly a student of several of the better mob stories. She makes Helena ruthless, cunning, smart, and, above all, tough, but also a "good Catholic girl" who frequents church regularly. The opening scenes of Huntress: Year One play out somewhat stereotypically, but it sets the scene for Helena's eventual rebirth as a costumed heroine (or hero--Helena thinks a heroine is just someone who gets rescued by the hero of the story, and she definitely doesn't need to be rescued).

Huntress: Year One redefines the character wonderfully, a much better reenvisioning than the previous version and one that sets her up to be a powerhouse character yet still relatable as a human being. Not only did I like this story, but I liked this Huntress and wanted to see more. Hopefully, Madison will keep writing this character and putting her through her paces. Helena as written by her is too interesting to disappear now.

-- John Hogan

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She is not your grandfather's Huntress, July 5, 2009

By 

G. Host (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Huntress: Year One (Paperback)

I am a big JSA fan and the elimination of the Huntress from DC's Continuity by Crisis was one of the sorest points in this otherwise excellent series.

I have seen the revamped character in JL and on TV's JL Unlimited series on Cartoon Network and while I thought most of the good points of the character were preserved it was not a character I thought I'd want to read about in background. I was given a copy of this and was very impressed with it.

Huntress is very much the same character but with more depth. Her motive is not just family business but personal history. The writer has made her different than the other women in "Batman family" and that is good. Huntress makes mistakes and has rough relationships with some other DC characters but it fits based on the new characterization.

Comic characters should not be interchangeable just by change their costumes and Ms. Madison does it by contrasting Barbara Gordon (Batgirl / Oracle) and Selena Kyle (Catwoman).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Less than mediocre, January 25, 2012

By 

klarissa - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Huntress: Year One (Paperback)

The narrative is sloppy, the writing is not great, and the Huntress is viewed as an irrational character. Basically, the story ends how it begins. There is a resolution, but it does not add to the Huntress's characterization and therefore, I think it is a poor representation of her.

I do not know what DC was thinking when they chose Ivory Madison. I am not aware of her other works, but this work is uninspiring.

Lastly, Catwoman, Batgirl, and Batman serve nothing to the narrative as well. Batgirl is shoved around, as mentioned in another review, and Bruce Wayne seemed to have served as a better fit to further action in the story rather than his alter ego. There was no purpose for Batman except for him repeating, "Gotham is mine" to the Huntress several times and having a fist fight.