When sound was added to movies in the early 20th century, filmmakers quickly realized that they had to do more than just replace title cards with a few bits of recorded dialogue. The silent era was more impressionistic, performances were broadened to the point of being cartoonish and the vast space between title cards afforded the viewer the opportunity/challenge to fill in the details as they wished. With sound, everything became more immediate, specific and gave the filmmakers more control over their stories. Practically a whole new art form had to be developed. BATMAN: YEAR ONE was a similar seismic shift for Batman in particular but also for graphic novels in general. Coming out about the same time as the legendary WATCHMEN comic, both of these works brought a complexity and depth previously not experienced reading about superheroes. For the first time the streets felt like ones you might walk down yourself in a city that was less Hollywood backdrop and more misshapen urban chaos. Characters appeared to have lives beyond the scenes they appeared in and motivations that reached beyond simple good and evil. Ostensibly an origin tale, for both Batman and policeman Gordon, the characters are allowed the space to grind through their days. Change doesn’t occur with a flash, instead it is the grinding that shapes us. When life provides a flash, it merely blows away the debris and reveals the changes that have already occurred. As referenced, in a savvy move this is as much the story of Gordon as it is Batman. Wonderfully rendered and revelatory of Gordon’s motivations (not always just a good guy), allowing Gordon space gives the whole city more breadth and depth. More importantly Gordon’s story-line allows Batman to lurk in the shadows and retain some mystery. Miller works it as a sleight of hand to keep the story moving ahead even while letting the fog drift in and shroud Batman. I was left with the feeling that everything I had seen or read about Batman before YEAR ONE was merely rumor and hearsay, and everything after started from this point.