While the Batman, Alfred, and Gordon stuff in Earth One is all great, it’s the rest of the book’s supporting cast that I really latched onto. Thankfully, when he reconstructs them in a whole new way, he manages to provide a new view of the Dark Knight that actually feels like what the Earth One books are supposed to be: a modern take on classic characters. But again, Johns disassembles these familiar pieces with a purpose. In a similar fashion, the Batman/Gordon partnership is essentially non-existent, while usual “year one” story regulars like Harvey Dent take a back seat (though there is a humorous wink-and-nod to Dent’s destiny at one point). Most significantly altered is the Bruce/Alfred dynamic (and Alfred in general, who is now a total gun-toting badass), but the beauty comes as Johns is able to mold the characters’ tense dynamic into the one that we’ve come to know and love. Johns doesn’t change the circumstances so much as he does the characters themselves. I dare say that not since the seminal Batman: Year One have we gotten such a thoroughly fresh take on this story. There’s still a huge degree of freshness to it – like one major character in particular reaching a grim end – but by the time you close this book, you’ll have experienced an enlightening new approach to the classic Batman origin. However, the masterstroke is how Johns brings the entire story full circle to put these characters in their place in something of a series of 'ooooooh' moments. Characters feel wholly new and their dynamic with one another is, in many cases, entirely different. I won’t lie during the initial portions of this book I was taken aback by some of the liberties Johns takes with the Batman mythology.

Batman earth one 2