For Wednesday: Miller, Batman: Year One, Chapters One and Two




Group “C” should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In Chapter One, why isn’t it enough to have strength and skill to be a superhero? Why does Bruce Wayne fail in his early attempts to dispense justice? Why does he ultimately adopt the costume as an essential part of his plan?

Q2: Surprisingly, the comic focuses even more on Lieutenant Gordon than on Batman himself. Why do you think this is? What does Gordon’s story help us to see about Batman’s world and origin? Could we argue that Gordon is Batman’s “Watson”?

Q3: Try to describe the artwork of this comic: how does it affect how we read the story, and how we feel about the story? Do you think it’s appropriate to the story Miller’s trying to tell? Is it too dark? Too cartoony? Too sketchy? Does it show too much, or leave just enough to the interpretation?

Q4: Unlike Sherlock Holmes, Batman doesn’t wait for cases to come to him, but actively seeks them out—even crossing societal boundaries. When he interrupts the dinner party of Gotham’s big wigs, he warns them, “From this moment on—none of you are safe” (38). Does this make him more of a “hero” and prove that he cares more about the people of Gotham? Or is he even more into ‘game playing’ and the thrill than Sherlock is? Which of the two do you think is more moral/ethical?

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