The artwork by Mazzucchelli--from the Milton Caniff school by way of Alex Toth (-Zorro-) and Doug Wildey (-Jonny Quest-)--may be the best BATMAN has ever had. In addition to telling the entire dramatic story of Batman's first year fighting crime, this collection includes loads of reproductions of original pencils, script pages, promotional art, unseen Mazzucchelli Batman art and more!

In 2015, DC released a hardcover of Year One ( ISBN 1401260047) which included its 2011 animated film adaptation on both DVD and Blu-ray. Both Warner Books ( ISBN 0446389234) and Titan Books ( ISBN 1852860774) also published trade paperbacks in 1988.

It’s dark, gritty, contains copious amounts of monologue and centres around a detective (or two, in this case, as the story prominently featured Jim Gordon, everyone’s faviroute non-corrupt GCPD lieutenant, and Batman, the world’s Greatest Detective).

That is one facet of the story, but the other side of this is the introduction and development of one Lieutenant Gordon. I’d say it’s a great first Batman story, not requiring and previous knowledge and showing you what Batman is about, who he is, and also introducing you to Batman. It was the first time I worked on a Batman project with somebody whose vision of Batman was darker than mine. Bruce sneaks into Falcone's manor as Batman and overhears the private conversation between Falcone and his nephew, Johnny Viti.He also sends in a SWAT team led by a trigger-happy commander, Branden, to kill any survivors left in the building. Journalist James Lovegrove described "Year One" as a "noir-inflected pulp tale of vigilantism and integrity, focused on a good man doing the right thing in a dirty world" and noted the brutality of the fight sequences.