Gotham City: Year One (2022-) #1

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Ex-cop turned PI Slam Bradley is hired to deliver a letter to the Waynes which turns out to be a ransom note. And, who better for him to take on than Slam Bradley, one of the first DC Comics characters ever (and possibly the oldest, older than Batman and maybe Superman). Hester and Gapstur, on the other hand, give their all with moody, dramatic shadows for the full detective noir treatment.

Gripping noir tale, drenched in rain, starring a beaten down guy just trying to find some reason in this world. Here, Slam’s fight into the manor is intercut with shots of the riots in Gotham as we get backstory as to what exactly made him become a detective in the first place. Superstar creators Tom King and Phil Hester team up for the first time to tell the definitive origin of Gotham City: how it became the cesspool of violence and corruption it is today, and how it harbored and then unleashed the sin that led to the rise of the Dark Knight. And where King could inject some more nuance and depth, within his character s, he often just lets them be just as tropey.

The bold lines and dark shadows are perfect for emulating that “city lights streaming in through a pair of blinds” aesthetic that one expects.

Constance reaches out to Slam to try and get him to help raise the boy so that he doesn’t do something stupid like “march down some alley at night”.Slam Bradley knows the truth, and he’s knocking at the door of Wayne manor looking for answers – or maybe it’s repercussions. Hester goes more Tothian than usual in this and Jordie Bellaire's stark, minimalist color palette is prefect for the tale. You might argue “well none of that matters because it’s an elseworlds” (and I’m not really even certain whether that’s supposed to be true for this story) but the broader context of the existing world is still relevant. That style is a staple of pulp detective stories, but only in the beginning sequences before everything kicks into gear. Overall, Gotham City: Year One is a mostly great story that is held back by its messy connections to the titular city.

The finale of a grand mystery is here this week in Gotham City: Year One, which promises answers to the murder mystery that rocked the Wayne family. But I hate that it comes at the expense of a broader point that I can ascertain and get behind, with characters that I've seen a million times. It will point to the injustices of society, and it will muck around in those injustices and really make you absorb them, and then offer little to no resolution. Set two generations before Batman's birth, the series will focus on Slam Bradley as he investigates the disappearance of a Wayne member. For everyone else, it's a wait-and-see to find out if King injects more originality into the premise.Tom has crafted a story that will echo across Batman lore past and present,” continued Hester, “and I hope the storytelling techniques Eric, Jordie, Clayton and I are bringing to bear will augment his razor-keen approach.