A review by fandom4ever
Batman: Year Two 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition by Mike W. Barr

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Batman: Year Two contains both the four issue run of Year Two and its sequel Full Circle, both written by Mike W. Barr. In the introduction, Barr talks of how he and Frank Miller did not consult with each other for their Year One and Year Two. I don’t feel that this hindered the story at all for they dealt with different parts of Batman’s beginnings and in this book we got a new villain in The Reaper. 

While some of the dialogue and action seemed a little stiff at times, I enjoyed Year Two. I thought it was a good look at Bruce’s psyche when he was confronted both by another vigilante who operated similarly to him but didn’t hesitate to kill, both the guilty and those who ‘protect them’, and by the man who killed his parents. The Reaper’s final line to Batman was excellent. Batman has a gun in this, the very one that killed his parents. He still never kills with it and I thought that it worked for Batman’s conflicted feelings of whether he should stoop to the tactics of his enemies in order to beat them. 

Barr also talked in the introduction of how he and his artist, Alan Davis, had worked on many issues that helped to explore the relationship between Batman and Robin. He clearly cares about the character of Robin and I was happy to see that he featured in the Full Circle story. This one has the Reaper pop up again and is a great story about fathers and sons. 

Overall, I think that this should be a part of anyone’s Batman reading list. I’m glad I read it.