A review by crookedtreehouse
Batman: Year Two: Fear the Reaper by Mike W. Barr
2.0
A few years ago, I made a chronology for how to read modern Batman. I was focused quite a bit on creating the order, as opposed to just reading the books for enjoyment, so now I'm going back to see how the chronology holds up.
I've never liked this enough to make it part of the chronology. The first half of this collection is actually "Year Two: Fear The Reaper" (my original review of it is here. It takes place pretty much anywhere in my Season One. It's filled with wildly out of character decisions, such as Bruce Wayne using guns, and Batman teaming up with the guy who killed his parents. It would introduce Leslie Thompkins to the continuity, but I just can't recommend anyone read this.
The second half of the book is "Full Circle", which takes place shortly after the beginning of Season Two, where we get to see Dick Grayson be Incredibly Annoying. The art is also a step down from the original series, which is not a huge surprise as I much prefer [a:Alan Davis|15089|Alan Davis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1522157724p2/15089.jpg]'s work to [a:Todd McFarlane|26019|Todd McFarlane|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1210968056p2/26019.jpg]'s, and probably always will. I'm trying to put as many Dick Grayson Robin stories in this chronology as I can, but this just isn't worth it.
I recommend this to Batman completists, people with scythe fetishes, fans of the Blades storyline who wish it was grittier but not as well drawn or written, people who like to laugh at Todd McFarlane art, and people who will read any comic here someone has a bad-ass skull instead of a head.
I've never liked this enough to make it part of the chronology. The first half of this collection is actually "Year Two: Fear The Reaper" (my original review of it is here. It takes place pretty much anywhere in my Season One. It's filled with wildly out of character decisions, such as Bruce Wayne using guns, and Batman teaming up with the guy who killed his parents. It would introduce Leslie Thompkins to the continuity, but I just can't recommend anyone read this.
The second half of the book is "Full Circle", which takes place shortly after the beginning of Season Two, where we get to see Dick Grayson be Incredibly Annoying. The art is also a step down from the original series, which is not a huge surprise as I much prefer [a:Alan Davis|15089|Alan Davis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1522157724p2/15089.jpg]'s work to [a:Todd McFarlane|26019|Todd McFarlane|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1210968056p2/26019.jpg]'s, and probably always will. I'm trying to put as many Dick Grayson Robin stories in this chronology as I can, but this just isn't worth it.
I recommend this to Batman completists, people with scythe fetishes, fans of the Blades storyline who wish it was grittier but not as well drawn or written, people who like to laugh at Todd McFarlane art, and people who will read any comic here someone has a bad-ass skull instead of a head.