Reviews

Batman: Year Two: Fear the Reaper by Mike W. Barr

vicaaaaaaaaa's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

fandom4ever's review against another edition

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. 

daileyxplanet's review

4.0

Mike Barr definitely had his work cut out for him in this sequel to the seminal Year One.

There are some references to Year One, but this doesn't feel like Barr is trying to be Frank Miller or anything. The art is great, especially McFarlane's work, but Davis' contributions are good as well. Not essential, and I don't even think it's canon now, but a good character study of Batman overcoming his hatred and desire for revenge on Joe Chill.

shadow_monarch's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

gothicteletubby's review against another edition

1.0

Good concept for a villain, okay art, but a truly terrible story. Batman using a gun is the worst interpretation of his character, him holding a gun to Joe Chill's head is so dumb. 

crookedtreehouse's review

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.

violet_reads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

dozmuttz's review

1.0

1.5 Stars.
Yea, long story short-Great artwork, terrible story.

zlwrites's review

2.0

Batman doesn't use guns. You picked one up far too quickly and willingly in this. And I felt, while some of the Batman I knew was there, they vastly missed what I expected this to be.

thelaurakremer's review

2.0

It ended well, but otherwise...