Batman: Year Two 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Hardcover – November 28, 2017

I think I missed Year Two while rifling through my brother's comics all those years ago, but something about the art and story are so.comfortably familiar that I think I must have read it and forgot. So glad I picked up this collection, though! And extra points for seeing where Mask of the Phantasm drew its villain inspiration.

I loved the concept that Batman was new at his job in his second year. Only thing that is confusing is the story begins with Alan Davis penciling the first issue and Todd McFarlane penciling the remaining three issues. I love them both for different reasons. But there’s a huge contrast. It doesn’t hurt the story at all. And McFarlane’s over the top style adds drama and a very graphic visual language compared to Davis’s more traditional execution…. But it’s a must have for Batman fans and fans of these two great storytellers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel, and honestly can't believe I'd never heard of it before. While skimming through available titles on Kindle Unlimited, I came across this 30th anniversary edition that collects the original issues with a sequel that came many years later. It's interesting to note how the book uses two different major artists, as Alan Davis started it, Todd McFarlane picked it up when Davis left, and coming "Full Circle" in more ways than one, Davis ends up returning to finish the story off.The main villain in this one is one I'd somehow never heard of, The Reaper, who is the darkest version of Batman possible, hunting down criminals and brutally slaying them without mercy. I wonder if this character was the inspiration for The Phantasm in the animated Batman feature that is my all time favorite Batman story.I also thought the religious aspect of the story, while brief, was unexpected and welcome. I don't see that in any graphic novels, and it's more a layer to a character than anything else.I also found the entire Joe Chill storyline fascinating. True Batman fans will know that Chill is the character that murdered Bruce Wayne's parents, and not only does he return in this story, he plays a pretty important part, forcing Batman to summon strength and restraint like he's never had to before.The art is back and forth in this one, despite both artists being top craftsmen. Many panels are excellently, if simply, drawn, while a few others look like they could have been drawn by children. It's not enough to interrupt to the story or anything to that effect, but I definitely noticed it.Overall, this is definitely one of the better Batman stories I've read, and I'm glad I finally found it.

The book is pretty awesome for being a older book, it’s a shorter story but a good won , I enjoy the art and the fact that one of the artist that was apart of this book was Todd McFarland and it’s a small part but you can definitely tell that it’s his art , besides that the story deals with Batman on his second year as the cape crusader and he’s battling another vigilante that has been gone on top of that it goes into a back story with joe chill the man that killed batmans parents , I really enjoyed this book

Great comic book that the new 2022 has said it is drawing it's inspiration from. I love the story telling, strong dialogue, content and artwork. You don't see this in modern comics unfortunately. I could do less with batman using typical comic talk but it didn't take away from the overall great job.

If you're looking for a good successor to Batman year one, this isn't it, unfortunately. To me, it doesn't really even feel like Batman. The story could have been told just as well, and probably with more emotional impact, in half the space. There were some good stand-alone moments, and the artwork is great, but overall the book was disappointing.

I really thought this was a great story, great villain that I just found out about , definitely worth reading if your a batman fan.

Published at the same time as Year One this story tells of Batman's encounter with Joe Chill, the man that killed his parents. A strong story by Mike Barr with early art by both Alan Davis and Todd McFarlane.