Year One

This is a great that paints a very competent Robin fighting crime alongside Batman. The family dynamic between Alfred, Bruce, and Dick is beautiful and like all families, they have their ups and downs. It's a great read that's highly recommended if you're a Batman or Robin fan.

I just loved this book. Robin here is depicted as a competent crime-fighter instead of the bumbling child he is so often relegated to. I don't know how I missed this one, I suppose it's a "sleeper hit". Rather than explaining and over explaining his origin story the book starts with Robin new at, but in the thick of his partnership with Batman. Most of the story is narrated by Alfred who's character achieves a deepness here I don't think I've read anywhere else. It is almost the story of Alfred as a father and his two sons Dick and Bruce, rather than the usual father/son relationship with Batman and Robin. The coloring in the book is amazing. Yellows, greens and oranges are used instead of the standard blue, gray, and blacks. I though that was a fascinating choice. The pencils seem like an ode to a 40's or 50's Batman era. I can't say enough good things. If you've been let down by "year one" books before give this a shot, it might make a believer out of you.

This story recounts some of Dick Grayson's earliest adventures as the Boy Wonder, his first (of many) falling out with Batman, and his first meeting with Barbara Gordon (who later has her own first year chronicled in Batgirl: Year One- by the same creative team.) The Robin featured in this trade is not the pun-slinger seen on the 1960's TV show, he's intelligent, well-written and intriguing. Having recently witnessed his parents fall to their deaths and then spending a year under Batman's shadow, Dick Grayson still has to deal with normal teenager problems such as girls and school. How can he go to the Homecoming Dance when he has to go out that night and bust up a prostitution ring? The art is spectacular...it has the feel of something out of the 40's but is much cleaner and more refined than most of the stuff from that ear. The use of shadows makes this fit perfectly into the Batman universe. I only wish the same artist worked on the recently released Nightwing: Year One-. The story there is very good, but it would be nice if all these stories had the same look to them. I'm a huge fan of the Batman Family, and Dick Grayson is my absolute favorite comic character. I've been pretty disappointed so far with the new All-Star Batman and Robin title; I wish the creative team from Robin: Year One had worked on that. This trade and the Batgirl trade feel more like the iconic versions of these characters to me than the "goddamn" Batman currently being portrayed by Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Hopefully Dixon, Beatty and Pulido, Martin, and Campanella will have their turn at that title sometime in the future. But for now, there is always Robin: Year One.

In his crusade against crime, Bruce Wayne (Batman) meets a young man whose parents are murdered. Moved to deep compassion, Bruce adopts the boy and trains him as a crimefighter. Dick Grayson shows great potential and promise. However, many have doubts. Alfred fears that another boy has had his childhood stolen, and Commissioner Gordon heartily disapproves; what if the child is hurt? Alfred, as the narrator of the story (great choice) relives the difficulties of raising Bruce. Can Robin prove he is worthy of superhero status? "Robin: Year One" does a great job of showing the relationship between Alfred, Dick, and Bruce. Alfred is the father of the two men, giving aid and support that make Batman and Robin possible. Dixon does a magnificent job making it feel like a "family." Using contrast, Dixon portrays a brooding Batman whose darkness is brightened by the undying optimism and good cheer of Robin, the Boy Wonder. While Bruce did not have many friends growing up, Dick is extremely well adjusted socially. Together, one complements the other, and a truly dynamic duo is born. However, like any family, there are moments of strife, tension, and sorrow. Dixon paints such a believable and identifiable picture of the Robin character that readers will feel as Robin feels. Can he prove that he is worthy? Will he lose his childhood in a scramble for justice? "Robin: Year One" is one of the best Batman universe graphic novels out there.

The ?Year One? story has become commonplace in comics today, and far too often the writers attempt to retell or update the character?s origin, failing in the attempt. (For a perfect example of this see ?Spider-Man: Chapter One.? Better yet, don?t.) This story evades that trap entirely and turns into a great character study of the boy who would become Nightwing and his relationship with his shadowy father-figure.Chuck Dixon, between his work on Robin, Nightwing and the Birds of Prey, has got to be the most successful writer of Batman?s ?family? there ever was. In this book he teams with Scott Beatty to craft a tale not of the origin of Dick Grayson?s Robin, but of his early adventures after he already secured the job. It shows off a new villain, makes it clear that things were not as easy as it would seem, and showcases the precarious nature of the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in a fashion as good or better than any I?ve ever seen.Dixon and Beatty also fill in a few blanks along the way. In encounters with later Robins -- Jason Todd and Tim Drake -- we learn that the criminal Two-Face was obsessed with Batman?s junior partner. This story shows off how that began. We get to see a lot of the lamer villains -- the Mad Hatter in particular, in a far creepier light than usual. We even get some good character moments between Robin and then-Captain Jim Gordon, who is one of the best supporting characters in the history of comics.All in all, a really good book for the Batman or Nightwing fan.