by: Steve (@MisterJackal)
Batman: Earth OneWritten by: Geoff JohnsPencils by: Gary FrankInks by: Jonathan SibalColor by: Brad AndersonLettered by: Rob LeighPublisher: DC ComicsWhen it comes to Batman there have been so many different versions, whether in comics, television and movies, showing us the reasons and how he became the Caped Crusader. That being said, there have been dozens of different origin stories for Bruce Wayne, most following the same format, until last week in Batman: Earth One. Your probably thinking to yourself, "Ugh, another Batman origin story, blah, I'm over it." Don't jump to conclusions yet!Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have collaborated in the past with Superman: Brainiac, Superman: Secret Origins and Superman & the Legion of Super-Heroes and now bring us a modern twist to Bruce Wayne's origin. Johns slightly re-imagined Bruce's childhood and that horrible night when his parents were gunned down making much more relevant to today. Johns also did a great job adding one of Gotham's most notorious into this story, The Penguin, and making him extremely weird and creepy. One thing that I really enjoyed, was that in the beginning Batman didn't always succeed but when he did he makes it count. A really cool addition to this story was Alfred Pennyworth's new back story. Making him ex-military who became friends with Thomas Wayne after saving him during the war gives Alfred much more depth than just him being the family butler that has been around forever.With most books you get an amazing cover and then you open up and the pages aren't up to par, but Gary Frank like always did an amazing job in bringing these characters to life panel by panel. He does a great job showing emotion and facial expressions in every character. Along with the great character work, Frank astounding job with body movements in the wordless fight scenes.Batman: Earth One is a great look into the World's Greatest Detective's updated origin story and I recommend this to old bat fans and new fans as well.Rating: 4.5 / 5