I am quite sure that when you were perusing your copy of Previews a couple of months back and saw a“new” Batman origin story was being offered, everyone joined in a collective“eh” that was heard around the world. Along with Spider-Man, Batman’s origin has to be the most revisited plot in comic book history. But, Wait! Hold the proverbial Bat-Phone Boy and Girl Wonders, this one is being written by Daredevil scribe extraordinaire, Mr. Chip Zdarsky with art by one of my personal favorites, Carmine Di Giandomenico. Remember his amazing run on The Flash a couple years back? So now what was once lukewarm is now red hot. I quickly added the title to my subscription list. And after reading the debut issue, repeatedly, I am so glad I did.
As I said the origin of Batman has been done and done well by many of the best writers in the industry, so Chip Zdarsky had to hook us from the opening sequence, and it better not feature a broken string of pearls bouncing down a dark rain swept alley. Well, perhaps this is as good a place as any to place a spoiler alert, but it doesn’t! There is likewise no mention of Joe Chill or any of the other Batman origin tropes that have become almost as iconic as the character they pertain to. Instead of beating another Crime Alley vignette into our heads Zdarsky’s opening is nuanced beginning in the aftermath of the double homicide that changed young Bruce Wayne forever and set him irreversibly on a course to become Gotham City’s Dark Knight Protector. The formative years seem to be where Zdarsky’s narrative will be set for the first part of this ten issue limited series anyway, Bruce’s tumultuous adolescent years. This is the time in Bruce Wayne’s life when he must make some huge decisions, the most pressing issue being exactly how he is going to cope with the loss of both parents. That contains so many integral parts such as developing positive coping skills, but perhaps the paramount and most life-changing relationship he must address is with Alfred, his family’s loyal butler, but so much more. Exactly how much more, Bruce is on track to discover for himself.
Alfred isn’t the only supporting character to enter the narrative at this point, Bruce’s childhood friend Dana is obviously going to be a big part of his story going forward. The most dynamic character has to be Bruce’s psychiatrist and future nemesis Doctor Hugo Strange. The way Zdarsky uses Strange as a sort of narrator is brilliant. The chemistry between Bruce and Strange is unique and serves as a pressure cooker for creating some divine tension. We can almost see Batman being born right there in those therapy sessions. The adversarial tone is beautifully played like a violin in the hands of Itzhak Pearlman its a thing of perfection to behold. The dialogue plays out like a game of chess with a young boys frail psyche hanging in the balance. That unrelenting drive to do what is morally right if left unchecked could drive Bruce to some dark extremes and Zdarsky plays up that obsession just right at this early point in his development, however he tempers it with a kind of humanity we haven’t seen in a Batman origin narrative. Zdarsky uses pace like a musician uses tempo to vary the weight of individual moments and bring certain relationships into sharper focus, such as Bruce’s friendship with Dana.
Ultimately we see Bruce recoiling from the world, isolating himself light years from the carousing playboy we have seen so many times before. Zdarsky portrays The Wayne Family fortune and all the media attention that comes with it as a huge obstacle for Bruce to overcome before he can ever even think about taking the first steps on his crusade against crime. Almost diametrically opposite the Bruce Wayne we saw in the television series Gotham at a similar age, this Bruce is persistent in the face of the wealth he sees as an obstruction to be circumvented, while his television iteration leaned into that wealth making it a defining element of the character. I like what Zdarsky is doing, I believe it makes for a vastly more relatable and emotionally rich characterization.
Zdarsky brings some the tonal quality he used to such remarkable effect on his Daredevil run. The similarities these two characters share are equaled by their differences and Zdarsky seems the perfect writer for both vigilantes. In both series Zdarsky utilizes a fractured timeline to achieve an almost Quentin Tarantino-type vibe. The flashbacks feel incredibly organic and progress the plot in a way a linear timeline just doesn’t. It feels alive versus a more static feel. In just a single issue Zdarsky has called to mind the best of the Batman origin stories while never referencing any of them. In fact on the surface there is very little to compare, its the quality of the writing that puts this issue is such stellar company.
Visually this book is gorgeous. Carmine di Giandomenico has long been one of my favorite artists. His style is instantly recognizable, the angular features, the kinetic energy infues into the movements, every action is accented with an artistic flair that is visually poetic. His attention to detail and beauty in the way he renders the settings of this issue is nothing short of brilliant. There is a fine art vibe to his work that one can assume comes from his Italian roots and training. There is a kind of restrained lavishness to his work, his exact use of lines denote a sort urgency to each stroke. Carmine di Giandomenico is the perfect choice to illustrate Zdarsky’s complex narrative.
While the line work of di Giandomenico is stunning on its own, once you feast your eyes on them with Ivan Plascencia’s rich colors you see a complete masterpiece of sequential art storytelling. There is a dreamy feel to the color pallet used here, a warm nostalgic quality when needed as well as a vibrant urgency when called for. The complex interaction of color to convey a mood or emotional meaning is something Plascencia has always excelled at and that is definitely true of this issue.
As I said at the start of this review there has never really been a shortage of Batman origin stories. They run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous and all stops between. However, Zdarsky and company have managed to create a story within a story, an origin narrative inside a coming of age tale, a multilayered, complex story that explores the subtleties of an epic event. Zdarsky, like a master chef creates a reduction more flavorful than the sum of its parts. Carmine di Giandomenico and Ivan Pascencia combine talents to heighten the emotional impact of Zdarsky’s surprisingly inventive, original and stylized take on the biggest origin story in comic book history. That’s no small task and this team accomplishes it with panache and gravity. If this is the bar set by the first issue I can only imagine where the following nine issues is going to take us.
