Batman: Earth One, Volume 3 by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank

​     Wow. I can’t remember if I ever binged a comic series like this. I read all three books back to back in one day. Frankly, I’d continued reading them but there’s only three out right now. And the way those publication dated were spaced out, no idea when the next one will be out. But wow…what a ride.
      This series combines Tim Burtoneque gothic grotesque undertones with the profound character driven darkness of The Dark Knight trilogy and then puts its own spin on it for good measure. Mind you, Batman movies have always stood out among the typical superhero fare for being that much darker than the rest. It’s always gloomy in Gotham City. The adaptations that forget it, tank, no matter how many nipples you stick on a batcostume or how many muscles you stick under it.
      This version is just right. In my review of book one I referred to it as riveting…that stands. It’s difficult to put down, bingeable, mesmerizing.
       This volume reimagines Two Face, throws in everyone’s favorite catburglar (though not loving that costume) and absolutely emotionally devastates Bruce, among other things. The next book promises the greatest of all Batman’s foes, The Joker himself. Very exciting.
       But seriously, this was excellent. Moreover, it was genuinely thrilling and exhilarating. Much like a well done superhero movie would have been.
        So here are some of the things this book got perfectly right…
1.Facial expression. They are present. Prominently featured. So much so that mask or no mask, you can always see people’s eyes. It makes a huge difference. It humanizes the characters to a relatable degree no matter what sort of super things they are up to.
2. The writing. Johns really gets it. It seems so many superhero comics rely on the late great Stan Lee’s model, which is overwrite, overwrite, overwrite. If you read those old comics, it looks like they got paid per word. Every panel is overwhelmed by text and overexplained to death. It’s tedious and, frankly, it nearly defeats the purpose of graphic novel. A format specifically designed to convey the story in both art and text, with heavy reliance on visuals. Johns does this right, there’s just the right amount of text, never overpowering Gary Frank’s excellent visuals.
3.The tone and the city. It was never meant to be a happy story. It was never meant to be a simple story. Johns takes it all the way down to the murky bottom, making Gotham mythical, bestowing Bruce with a dark inheritance of his ancestors. And the rest of the characters…they struggle to cope with the demands of a violent world around them, to find their place within it, to just make it through the day.
Gotham wounds them, scars them, kills them. Gotham turns a bright eyed bushy tailed cop into an alcoholic, upright law driven politicians into madness, moral detective to immorality and back. Gotham is a force, a character in itself, the darkest ugliest version of a metropolis comics can render. Making it all the more difficult to live in, to fight for, to save. That’s what makes for such an interesting and compelling story dynamics.
So yeah, this was awesome.  I’m glad I checked it out, had no idea I’d ended up liking it this much, would definitely read more.  Recommended.