Customer Reviews

Huntress: Year One

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

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).

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.

First the "confession" - I haven't read a comic book since I was a child and even then it was Archie, Dennis the Menace, etc. This is quite a departure for me. I've never before read a graphic novel.

The Huntress isn't your little girl's comic book. The story is more on the order of "The Soprano" meet "Batman." The entire premise of a series is set up in this book. We meet The Huntress as a little girl, watch with her as her family is murdered in front of her, follow her to Italy and then back to Gotham where she seeks to avenge the deaths and stop the mafia.

Among the surprises along the way are some very bloody scenes, dark ones in every sense of the word. Cliff Richards creates such strikingly dark artwork that it's often difficult to concentrate on the words. Ivory Madison's dialogue includes some surprises including a mobster's anti-Semetic dig at Mort Sahl and a "Silent Majority" political stab. Interesting to see in what is, essentially, a comic book. And a bit startling.

All in all, this is a fairly unusual experience for the person who thinks of comic books as fun entertainment. It's entertaining but the "fun" will depend upon your definition of the word.

It plays out like a film noir and, perhaps, that's exactly where it's headed.

I am embarrassed to admit I fell for a publicity stunt, paid and read (at least half) of this book. Gave it to a 13 year old neighbor girl whose response was 'this is just cr*p". Even the graphics are bad. Save your money unless you have money to burn.

As a general rule, I hate tinkering with a character's origins. I was originally LIVID with the changes to the DCU back with Crisis On Infinite Earths, even though that has led to some of the best work in comics that was EVER done. (Crisis On Infinite Earths) Helena has come a LONG way from her initial history of being the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. I can't go into too many details without spoiling an excellent plot and a mystery that spans the entire mini series, but suffice to say that the character of Huntress is born LONG before she dons the mask and cape. This goes into the history of why she's such a devout Catholic, which in itself adds amazing depth to the story, and is rarely seen in this day and age. But it brings the character to life, as she clings to her faith, even as she is driven by the need for revenge. It explains how Huntress learns to fight the way she does, and what makes her return to the city that truly birthed her, more than a decade before... Gotham. And that, of course, leads into conflicts with Batman, DELICIOUS chats with Catwoman, an encounter with Batgirl, with a tongue in cheek nod to their future in Birds of Prey, as it's stated that she and Barbara clearly aren't new best friends. LOL (Birds of Prey, Vol. 1: Of Like Minds) And underlying it all is BRILLIANT writing, and a truly tragic story of love found, love lost, and love replaced with hate, not to mention gorgeous art work. I turned the pages one after the other, and could NOT put it down until I was done. And honestly, when it comes right down to it, is there any better compliment for a review? If you love the Huntress, or are just a fan of a great story with great art, then this is absolutely something you won't be disappointed in.

Thanks so much for your time folks.
Sincerely, R.A. McDowell

Year One stories have one goal - to explain the intellectual and psychological/emotional underpinnings of what defines a character. Madison takes the origin template that Rucka created in "Cry For Blood" and does just that. Using all the characters and events from Rucka's book, she injects the character with a primal fierceness that defines her to this day. Madison herself is an unapologetic feminist, and her Huntress is no exception. In fact, it can be argued that this character component is vital in Huntress's development as she breaks out and turns on the rigidly structured male dominated culture that created her. It is her greatest strength and also her greatest weakness.

As I said, Madison uses Rucka's book as a blueprint. There is one difference worth noting that caught my eye. In CFB, Helen Bertinelli returns to Gotham for a brief family holiday, and this is when she first sees Batman, thus getting inspired by the symbol of the Bat. In HYO, Helena vows never to return to Gotham after the death of her family (and only does so when absolutely needed), so the Batman inspiration has been removed in this origin story. The origin of the costume is also different. Both changes made sense with the rest of the story.

With Rucka's story, there was a sense of beauty and elegance that made it a classic origin story. In Madison's version, it's the same story with a much harsher edge to it. The violence in this book equals the fierceness and determination of its primary character.

Cliff Richards pencils are immaculate, and the inkers/colorist did a very good job. I especially noted the color contrast between the bright and colorful young Barbara Gordon versus the dark and moody Helena Bertinelli.

Oh yeah, Batgirl gets her butt kicked here. I am guessing Sicilian martial arts trumps judo (or karate, depending on which side of the Crisis event you are looking at.)

This story does indeed have a dominant feminist tone to it, but then again it also is heavy on the Sicilian culture which is male dominated, so it all balances out. This reads like a modern day noir where the world is not quite black and white as we like it be, and the journey to the truth is a hard and violent one. This story reads differently than anything else out there because it IS different.

"Huntress: Year One"
by Ivory Madison
(DC Comics, 2009)
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Simultaneously action-packed and super-wordy, this retelling of the origin of Gotham's femme-Dark Knight, the Huntress, has a hefty dose of Mafia cliches, but takes them a bit further, tying the power and control issues of organized crime to broader issues of misogyny and molestation. Writer Ivory Madison also hones in on a through-line about Italian Catholicism which goes surprisingly soft on the Church, given the blunt-edged feminism of the rest of the book. Many of the plot elements are too heavy-handed, and major points are often left unresolved just so, it seems, the dramatic tension can be maintained. (For example, when the heroine, Helena Bertinelli, discovers that a local Mafia don is molesting her cousin, rather than tell the man's son, who up until that point is one of the few sympathetic male figures, she instead allows him to misunderstand the situation and to blame her for a crime she did not commit. This otherwise brash and unbending figure suddenly clams up and leaves the teenaged girl in the lurch, even though defending her becomes one of her reasons for becoming a superhero.)

All in all, though, this is an okay comicbook... It kept my attention and when the action finally moved from Sicily to Gotham City -- and Batman -- things picked up quite a bit. There is one great scene where Huntress meets Catwoman and in twenty seconds flat, Catwoman gives her new protegee a lightning-quick breakdown of Batman's strengths, quirks and weaknesses. Then she comments (in a funny nod to the original Huntress origin, in the pre-"Identity Crisis" DC universe) Catwoman comments how she likes Huntress because she reminds her of the daughter she never had. This is a good, quick read -- a rehash of stories told elsewhere, and with a few plot elements that seem a bit overblown... But hey, it's just a comicbook. I'm curious to see where Madison goes from here... (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

I enjoyed reading Ivory Madison's take on Helena Bertinelli, but it was not without its flaws which were significant and perhaps almost fatal.

The first thing to know is that despite the clarity of the title, Madison's story takes place in less than two months and only at the very end does protagonist Helena Bertinelli adopt the Huntress persona. Titles should say something about the story; in this case 'Origins' would have been far more appropriate than 'Year One', which since Frank Miller's use of it has become more like a name brand than a description of the story being told.

Second, as noted above, the book's time frame is less than two months, divided between Sicily and Gotham City, requiring a lot of exposition and action driving the characters rather than the characters driving the action. The final chapters with Helena dealing with her love interest and the Gotham mob's plot felt contrived and not organically growing from the earlier chapters. Batman's appearances were especially heavy handed and the resolution of the story didn't ring true at all.

Third, the portrayal of Helena's Catholic faith is troubling. Throughout the story, Helena is shown to be pious and is described as a good Catholic girl. At the same time, she is shown to be a strong female hero, a true feminist, fighting against a chauvinistic culture. These two aspects are certainly not mutually exclusive. Madison though brings them into conflict by showing Helena resenting the use of masculine pronouns for describing the Divine Person. This just seems false and contrived with all the other efforts to describe Helena as a real Catholic struggling with her faith as she fights the mob.

The art by Cliff Richards is what keeps the story moving. I especially liked Helena's costume with its darker tone compared to the usual lighter shade of purple. She was attractive and curvy without the feminine aspects of her form being exaggerated and Richards makes sure Helena is a true beauty. The action and fighting were well drawn and easy to follow.

Basically, I don't dislike Huntress: Year One. It has some major flaws in terms of story and pacing, but it is a good psychological look at Helena Bertinelli and has excellent drawing. I would recommend 'Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood' for the better origin story of Huntress and a good look at Helena and her relationship with Batman and the rest of the Gotham caped heroes.

Generating buzz on Amazon and beyond, "Huntress: Year One," the first comic from newcomer Ivory Madison, retells the story of Mafia princess Helena Bertinelli as she hunts down those who murdered her family. While you won't see Huntress deliver any low blows to her foes, Madison still hits the reader where it counts. Though some familiar faces make an appearance, this is clearly a one-woman show. It's just that while comic's feminist overtones make an interesting psychological profile for Huntress, it gets so stuffy at times, you wonder why Madison doesn't hook up the liberal Green Arrow with her instead of Black Canary! Rather, if Madison had focused more on Huntress' struggle with her bloodlust and religious faith (and the unwritten laws of superheroism), everything would've been perfect. At least Cliff Richards' artwork leaves nothing to be desired, except that Catwoman's ears make her look like Mama Bear. So if you're into that, and tough chicks, set this one in your sights.

This comic is unrated: Violence, Adult Situations.