The Earth One line has been pretty hit or miss, with the Superman stories being mediocre (vol. 1 and 2) to poor(vol.3), Teen Titans was a lot of fun and the first Batman was a touch grim but decent. This latest entry how ever really sets the bar on quality, it wasn't just fun or decent but actually and genuinely enthralling. I'll say this, though it took nearly the whole first half to suck you in but when it did it never looked back giving us a good Riddler story and introducing a very interesting take on Two-Face and a sympathetic look at Killer Croc which I absolutely loved. The best part for me though is that this isn't a batman at his peak, sure he's fit and he can fight but he isn't the world's greatest detective yet, in fact we see him here actually asking Gordon to teach him forensics and police work which is an added dimension to their relationship that I really enjoy.


In addition to that I enjoyed a few of the minor tweaks we got here, the bat-signal is a cell phone with only a single button, appropriately shaped like a bat which was a fun call back to the hotline from the Adam West show, and they gave the suit another tweak:

It's subtle but I really like the change from the oval to a shield similar to Superman's and I love the design of the bat.


All together, this is a must read.