Batman: Earth One

A few years back I was at the Toronto FanExpo and was stoked to get Stan Lee's autograph. My ticket inluded a lithograph from Gary Frank for his then upcoming release of Batman: Earth One. Personally, I wasn't planning on getting his autograph because I wasn't familiar with his work, but my wife offered to stand in line while I was in a panel (bless her heart) so I really only had to wait about 10 minutes. Thankfully I did because not only was he great to talk to, but he also drew one of my favourite batman books ever.

Batman Earth One takes a great human approach to the birth of Batman. This is of course a premise similar to Frank Miller's "Year One", but I felt that Miller had taken the brooding character of the "Bat God" in training. Geoff Johns seemed to take a more human approach and made Bruce Wayne more like angry young man on a mission. Throw in some character re-imaginings, a surprisingly dark crime twist and some great Jim Gordon moments and you have an unmissable Batman story