Faster than a DC Bullet: Project Gotham, Part VII: Batman: Shaman

Comic hardcover, n.pag.
Published 1993 (contents: 1989-90)
Borrowed from the library
Read November 2014

Batman: Shaman

Writer: Dennis O'Neil
Penciller: Edward Hannigan
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: John Costanza

Colorists: Richmond Lewis

Year One, December
Except for some flashbacks, we finally move out of the timespan of Miller's Batman: Year One, into new territory; Shaman covers some of Batman's first winter in Gotham, as artifacts from an Indian tribe where he trained to become the Batman reappear in Gotham. This is the first of a couple Dennis O'Neil "Year One" tales, and probably the best of them; O'Neil and Edward Hannigan are consummate comics storytellers, and know how to write a gripping tale. It's not an amazing tale-- there are definitely some odd leaps-- but it is a well-told one. I also liked the reinsertion of some details from Batman's Golden Age origin into Batman: Year One, and the joke at their expense. It's actually a kind of brazen poke at a giant in a way.

Next Week: Green Arrow meets Green Lantern for the first time in The Ring, the Arrow and the Bat! Oh, and I guess Batman is there, too.