Batman: Year One

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s 1988 four-issue prestige series for DC redefined Batman’s origin with a gritty, grounded realism. Striping away decades of camp, it follows Bruce Wayne’s first year as the Dark Knight and Lieutenant James Gordon’s parallel struggle against a corrupt Gotham City. Mazzucchelli’s stark, expressive art and Miller’s hard-boiled narration created a definitive, character-driven crime saga that remains a touchstone for the modern Batman mythos.