Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul

Batman Post-Crisis #155

by Devin Grayson

14 English DC Comics When Gotham Citys hospitals. homes and streets begin filling with the undead. the Dark Knight is the only one with a chance to discover the secret behind their continued animation Ras al Ghul has left a world. filled with miserable. self-aware. reanimated corpses for the Batman to face. In order to do so. he must follow Ras al Ghuls centuries of secret world travels!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Fiction, Superheroes, Comic Book

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Devin Grayson is an avid gamer, former acting student, and enthusiastic reader fortunate enough to have turned a lifelong obsession with fictional characters into a dynamic writing career. She has a B.A. from Bard College, where she studied creative writing with novelist Mona Simpson. Best known for her work on the Batman titles for DC Comics, Devin has been a regular writer on Catwoman, Nightwing, and The Titans, and contributed to the award-winning No Man’s Land story arc. With the publication of Batman: Gotham Knights in March of 2000, she became the first (and, sadly, only as of 2020) female to create, launch and write an ongoing Batman title.

Additional career highlights include the launch of the critically acclaimed series Omni for Humanoids, Doctor Strange: The Fate of Dreams, an original novel featuring Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, and USER—a highly personal three-part, creator-owned miniseries about gender identity and online role-playing, originally published by Vertigo and newly available as a collected edition hardcover through Image. Devin is also the creator of Yelena Belova, a Marvel character staring in the upcoming MCU Black Widow movie (played by Florence Pugh), Damien Darhk, a DC character now appearing regularly in CW’s Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow (played by Neal McDonough), and Catalina Flores, a DC character recently featured as the super-villain Tarantula in The Lego Batman Movie.

Frequently cited for compelling character development and nuanced exploration of complex themes, Devin’s work has been showcased in mainstream media such as USA Today and Working Woman as well as in alternative press such as The Village Voice, The Advocate, and Curve magazine. Over the years, she has written in several different media and genres, from comic books and novels to video game scripts and short essays. She is currently working on an original graphic novel for Berger Books.

Devin lives in Northern California with her husband, step-son, devoted Early Alert Canines Diabetic Alert Dog, and somewhat less devoted cat. Openly bisexual, she is a passionate advocate for the GLBTQ community, as well as being a committed environmentalist, and a public speaker for T1 Diabetes awareness and Diabetic Alert Dogs. She is always happy to take on a new challenge, especially if it involves making some new fictional friends.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

For such a short Batman story it was extremely confusing. The narration is from a letter Batman receives after Ra's al Ghul's death. It explains how Batman has unset the natural order by destroying the Lazarus pits and now no one can die. Not only that but people are also returning as zombies. I guess Year One is in the title because some of Ra's early history is shown. The whole thing doesn't make a lick of sense. It only gets a second star because of Paul Gulacy's art.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short graphic novel entertains the possibility of Ra's al ghul returning from the dead but it's more of a focus on the life of this villain as well as the history Batman had with the arch nemesis. There's some good information about Ra's al ghul's path towards achieving immortality and his rationale for wanting to destroy most of humanity (he basically wants to return to when the Earth wasn't polluted). Even though dead Ra's al ghul puts Batman in a position in which nobody can die and the “dead” return as violent zombies and the only way to stop it all is apparently only if Batman brings the villain back.

Very nice artwork. They take advantage of Batman working the shadows which is one of his great strengths yet not always properly utilized in some of the other graphic novel tales. Story by Devin Grayson and artwork by a number of people (Paul Gulacy, Jimmy Palmiotti and Laurie Kronenberg).

ARTWORK PRESENTATION: B plus to A minus; CHARACTER/DIALOGUE: B to B plus; STORY/PLOTTING: B; ACTION: B to B plus; WHEN READ: early July 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus.


SPOILERS: nice touch with Batman icon cell phone; unlike other tales Batman uses the shadows to his advantage; the undead gave me mixed feelings. Why do the dead always have to come back as violent zombies? I am unclear why this is called “Year One” unless that title means the early years of Batman's life? No idea. I think the ending had a clever enough twist and some of the reviewers are demanding too much from the ending. But again, the zombies drops the story grade. Overused!

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 - Year of The Bat (366 Days of Batman)

Day 222: Using this for issue #1 since the one marked in GR as #1 has nothing to do with this two-issue mini. I have no idea what that book is supposed to be.

Batman, Ra’s al Ghul and zombies? Count me in! I liked the narration being Ra’s’ posthumous letter to The Detective with panels of Ra’s after a garden where immortal peaches grow. Pulled me in and I can’t wait to finish up next issue.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The story revolves around Batman receiving a posthumous letter from Ra's al Ghul explaining how the Dark Knight screwed up the natural course of everything. The consequences resumes to the dead coming back to life, and the old becoming young. The only way for Batman to undo this is by recreating a Lazarus Pit, something he made sure to take of in his past encounter with Ra's al Ghul.

Although the alternating artwork to represent different times, we weren't introduced to something that would blow people's mind. While the modern artwork relied strongly on shadows and a darker, more vibrant tone, the older artwork played around with fine, straight penciling and a paler color palette.

The plot itself was confusing and highly unnecessary. It's been told that this two issue paperback was a movie tie-in to Christopher Nolan's movie, but I definitely don't see the link. There's a lot of what the f*** moments, where you just couldn't grasp the idea behind the writing or the length of some story sequences (there were fight scenes that could drag for so many panels, making you skim through this volume faster than you can say ''Holy Lazarus, Batman!''). For example, I really didn't understand how the zombies happened or comprehend the whole satellite issue that was solved faster than the speed of light.

I have to say that I laughed when they took a jab at Superman in the newspaper article integrated into the story (at the very end). But that doesn't make this a great Batman story anyways. The only real plus for this volume is how fans get to have a little more insight in the philosophy by which Ra's al Ghul lived his life by. Otherwise, this isn't a must. No way...

P.S. A full review to come.

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting comic. It was short and to the point.
Ra's al Ghul created a massive problem for Gotham and for Batman, who rushed to find a solution.

The reader is taken back to see some of the history of Ra's.
I enjoyed reading about the things he had done and the places he went to.

The illustrations were very different from the last comic.
That is not a bad thing, just a little odd when you first open the comic.

Overall, this comic was fairly interesting with an engaging story line and featuring some of Batman's classic detective skills.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the connection to Ra's al Ghul was a bit tenuous. Oh, yeah, he was the mastermind of the troubles that Batman and Gotham faces in this book, but it wasn't about Ra's al Ghul. Bottom line: Don't read this as an origin story about Ra's al Ghul. You'll be disappointed. I admit I kinda was. Overall, this was interesting. More or less Batman versus the zombies. If you go into it to read about Batman kicking butt, you'll probably be okay.

Nothing too exciting, but not bad.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alfred Pennyworth : I do hope I'm not interrupting any excessively violent activities , Sir
Batman/Bruce Wayne : You missed the excessive violence by eight seconds.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so bad actually, but nothing that I would come back to. I liked the art in this, especially coloring was nicely done. But the whole monk-formula stuff at the end seemed weird to me.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a really confusing short Batman book. First the sub-title “Year One” – this book has nothing to do with Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s masterpiece. Apparently it relates to the first Chris Nolan Batman movie, “Batman Begins”, but doesn’t really as it has nothing to do with that either. The story makes no sense whatsoever. Ra’s Al-Ghul is finally dead and Batman has destroyed all of the Lazarus Pits – except one remains which means no one in Gotham can die? My understanding of the Lazarus Pits were that whoever went into them were brought back from death or near-death; the very existence of them doesn’t automatically mean people thousands of miles away are affected. Yet that seems to be the baffling premise sending Batman around the world fighting Ra’s henchmen.

This is as brainless a book as the zombies that appear in the story and makes no sense whatsoever as a Batman story or as a companion to any of the Nolan films. It’s both poorly conceived and written and is a complete bore to read despite its short page count. For readers looking to find out more about the mysterious Ra’s Al-Ghul, try “Birth of the Demon” instead and ignore this strange aberration of the Batman mythos.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ras al ghul is one of my favorite Batman villains. Often the stories involving Ras involve some mystery and detective work. That's why I found Batman: Ra's al ghul Year One truly disappointing. In reality it was just an overblown zombie story.

If you just have to read and buy every Batman Year One graphic novel, go ahead and pick it up, but wait until it is on sale. Save your money for Sandman Mystery Theatre.

[El Neo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable story! Batman vs. zombies. I loved it!

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting dive into the relationship between Raus and Batman

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We find out how Ra's al Ghul created the Lazarus Pits and what happens to Gotham after Batman destroys all of them. It's a light arc and quick to read. Batman doesn't kiss anyone, he's too busy.

[Paula ϟ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just read my review/analysis of this book and don’t bother reading the book itself.

Batman gets a letter from posthumous Ra’s after destroying all of the Lazarus Pits.

Portions of Ra’s Al Ghul’s letter to Batman aka the Detective are in quotes.

“Perhaps I made a miscalculation in approaching an urban creature such as yourself with this proposition. Alas, Detective, you have never tasted pure, clean water nor breathed air absent of pollutants. You have never stood on sand or soil previously untouched by the footprint of man. Never even ingested real food or, despite the apparent fitness, known the vitality of a body free from the tyranny of toxic onslaught. As a son of the twentieth century, you have never truly been alive. All you are, Detective, is miraculously not dead. That is a more common state of being than many suppose. In fact, it is customary.”

“We have been very slow, on the other hand, to recognize our impact on the environment and still fail to acknowledge our dependency. I, who have always craved emptiness and desolation, cheered the Copernican Revolution* in 1543. Enchanted by that new, heliocentric view of our universe, I failed, initially, to be alarmed by the increasing popularity of the mechanistic paradigm*. What do you suppose it is that makes us so determined to turn our back on the natural world? Why must we see reality reflected in the mechanics of clocks, rather than in the light that daily swells in and then diminishes from our patient sky? Why do we insist we are “on” a planet we are so clearly “of”?”

*Side note: The Copernican Revolution refers to the paradigm shift away from the Ptolemaic model of the heavens, which postulated the Earth at the center of the galaxy, towards the heliocentric model with the Sun at the center of our Solar System. It was one of the starting points of the Scientific Revolution of the 16th century.
*Side note: The mechanistic paradigm, also known as the Newtonian paradigm, assumes that things in the environment around humans are more like machines than like life. It was more common in the 19th century.

In William Blake’s Newton (1795), though Newton is in nature, he is seen as separated from nature and dependent upon formulated data. He is represented as merely on Earth rather than one of Earth.


My further analysis:
As the text of the Ra’s Al Ghul’s letter to Batman unfolds, we are placed within Gotham. Gotham, as a city, is a deformed travesty of nature. Batman himself represents a result of this travesty – he cannot and would never exist outside of the confines of the city. He fights as the dark knight against villainy; a branch of chaos that is outside of the Earth spirit – but created by the human mind. His very existence is disconnected from nature; therefore he is disconnected from an understanding that tampering with the natural world results in the destruction of balance.

“By destroying the Lazarus Pits in an effort to defeat me, you have destroyed the natural balance of the earth itself. Time is moving backwards, Detective, and you have been granted your dearest wish: no one, nothing, will die.”
Hence, introduce the main feature…

Zombies. For about four panels. Then, nothing else really. Overall, it was an inconclusive letdown. The story has such amazing potential as an elseworlds story, specifically NOT under the title “Year One”. I was very disappointed that the whole plot ended up deadpanning and going absolutely nowhere.

(And yes I read both part I and part II.)

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ra's tends to be a bit one-note usually, but the extrapolation of immortality here is novel enough to rise above that.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul is a two-issue miniseries exploring the past of Ra's al Ghul. Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul collects all two issues of the 2005 miniseries. It was written by Devin Grayson and penciled by Paul Gulacy and was published by DC Comics.

Batman received a posthumous letter from Ra's al Ghul positing that the Lazarus Pits were a force of nature, and that in destroying them, Batman has upset the natural balance – case in point, the dead begin to rise in Gotham, and it's soon overrun with zombies. A second level of Ra's letter gives Batman a series of clues to discover how to create a Lazarus Pit and after battling hordes of Ubus, Batman finally restores order and builds a pit – in the Batcave.

Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul is written and constructed moderately well. Devon Grayson writes a silent, no-nonsense Batman that's just the right mix of Dark Knight without the common smug superiority. Through Ra's letter, she offers a compelling moral argument, which runs throughout the two-issue prestige format issues only interrupted by fight scenes. Paul Gulacy does double-duty in the book, drawing not only modern Batman scenes, but flashbacks to Ra's early life. Reflecting ancient Asian artwork, Gulacy draws with thin lines, buffeted by Laurie Kronenberg's muted pallet for the past scenes.

All in all, Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul is an interesting, albeit mediocre look to the backstory of Ra's al Ghul.

[Tvrtko Balić · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is called Year One, yet deals with years of backstory and even after Ra's al Ghul is dead. As for Ra's al Ghul, in this he's just a deranged eco-terrorist. Except it turns out he's not deranged and Batman not listening to him causes the apocalypse. But of course Batman find a way to stop the apocalypse in a ridiculous way that defies both scientific and magical plausibility... because he's Batman.

There's not a lot of good moments in it, it's just a terrible book.

[Ashwin Ramaswamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of storytelling methods, this is fantastic. Much of the story runs as a letter from Ra's to the Detective. And the dual story proceeds with brilliance. With ironies interjected in a manner that borders on sublime genius.
One cannot help but be drawn to Ra's vision.

[Rao Javed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman for life. Amazing novel with a new concept and story line. Ras Al Ghul is all time fav after Joker and just the perfect full time amusing novel.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special. Ra is dead and sends a letter to bats post dead. No one can die without pit, bats creates one to re balance nature

[Sophia K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I'm not a big fan of Batman that was totally worth reading.

[محمد جابر · Rating 1 out of 5]

TERRIBLE!

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

[mayleh · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5

[madelyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the narrative is charming, I can't help but like this one because I appreciate Ras Al Ghul as the villain he is. A high 3 imo.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 2 out of 5]

The nearly 600 hundred-year-old Ra's al Ghul is finally good and dead. To prevent his resurrection the Batman had him cremated and then destroyed all of the world's Lazarus Pits, the source of Ra's near immortality. It seems that the terrorist leader has no viable way of returning to life. But when a letter from beyond arrives at Wayne Manor, it signals the beginning of a global catastrophe!

The dead have arisen and are mysteriously healing. Plus, those who have been brutally murdered or recently suffered fatal injuries aren't dying either. Now the hospitals are overrun with the infirmed and the streets of Gotham run red with blood and the regenerating dead.

It appears that mother earth doesn't like there not being any Lazarus Pits and thus thrown the world it out of balance. To restore entropy to its rightful place in the circle of life, the Dark Knight must embark on a global quest to recreate the Lazarus Pit formula or the entire planet with regress back into nothing. Should this happen al Ghul's dream of an earth unadulterated by the pollution of man with come to fruition posthumously.

I chose to read this book in anticipation as to when I'll be seeing Batman V Superman next weekend. I'm going to go out and say it- I don't like Ra's al Ghul! I love Damian Wayne. I'm fascinated by Talia al Ghul. But the man known as the Demon's Head just doesn't excite me like a Riddler or Penguin.

Filled with 'zombies' galore and not being rated for mature readers, this book is pretty graphic. Decapitations, blood, gore, and maimings in general, this book's favorite color appears to be scarlet. Plus, you add the incoherent ramblings of Ra's letter that act as the narration of this story- it all adds up to a really awful read, filled at least with a great couple of plot twists at book's end.

If I'm not a fan of Ra's, then why buy this book? Well, being a 'Year One' story, which I collect, I thought this would be a good addition to my plunder. With flashbacks that reveal Ra's al Ghul's origin story, as well as a look at one of the earliest encounters between the ecoterrorist and the Detective, this book fits the Year One guidelines.

But I would've like to have the very first meeting between the two characters, first explored by Denny O'Neill and Neal Adams back in Detective Comics #232 (June 1972) recounted in this book. Maybe it would've helped me to better understand and like the character of the Demon's Head. But, I doubt it.

[John Somers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ra's al Ghul is permanently dead. To prevent his resurrection the Batman has cremated him and then destroyed all the Lazarus Pits which Ra's al Ghul used to return. A letter from Ra's al Ghul which he arranged to be sent before his death arrives at Wayne Manor hinting at a coming catastrophe and a way to restore the Lazarus Pits, just as death begins to fail to take effect. Those who suffer horrific injuries live on, suffering and beginning to overwhelm the medical system. Then the dead begin to rise. Lots of the dead in Gotham hate/blame Batman and try to kill him so we get some zombie fights.

It seems the Lazarus Pits are a natural phenomenon putting restorative energy back into the world in a controlled manner and with their destruction the release of restorative energy becomes uncontrollable. Batman must track down the formula for the pits and recreate one to restore the natural balance.

Interspersed with Batman's day's long quest to find the secret of immortality we get a bit of a Ra's al Ghul origin story where he obtains peaches of immortality from a Japanese immortals garden and sails with Ponce De Leon looking for the Fountain of Youth which was kind of interesting.

Overall not a particularly bad book but it didn't really grab hold of me and there's a lot of better Batman stories out there. Perhaps if I had read the book where Ra's al Ghul was killed off this would have been more interesting.

The Year One in the title I think means that this contains an origin story but just seemed like a cheap tie-in to the Frank Miller Batman origin story.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The legacy of Ra's al Ghul comes back to haunt the Batman in this short graphic novel. A routine robbery in Gotham leaves one criminal in custody and one dead - except that the dead man is still very much alive. Across the city, no one has perished for over 26 hours. As the deceased begin rising from their graves, Batman receives a posthumous letter from Ra's al Ghul. The Demon's Head outlines his early travels in the search for immortality, claiming that the destruction of the Lazarus Pits has upset the balance between life and death. The Dark Knight must now uncover the secret of the Pits in order to end the final plot of Ra's al Ghul. Devin Grayson guides this Batman tale, dipping his toes into a story about the true horror of everlasting life. Unfortunately, the exploration fails to go further, instead veering sidelong into anecdotal instances of Ra's throughout history. The art chores from Paul Gulacy and Jimmy Palmotti are adequate, capturing the eras well and offering crisp linework on the modern-day Dark Knight. This book truly suffers from being a movie tie-in, pushed ahead in the wake of the use of Ra's for the Christopher Nolan films. Fans of both characters will probably find something to enjoy in this tale, while others will renew their reading elsewhere.

[Mouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just feels weird. I know it's supposed to be Year One, but it feels more like an Elseworlds take. The police cars look like they're straight out of the 30's with the running boards and all.
The art is good and the writing is decent but long-winded as Ra's babbles on and on. The story is kind of out there and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but basically people are turning into zombies! Batman vs Zombies! That should be like peanut butter and chocolate combo, but unfortunately it falls kind of flat.
There's a part where Batman throws a handful of bat-shurikens into a guy's face and he then kicks him! The guy had 8 of them sticking out of his face! Seemed a bit off and excessive to me! Then later on Batman chucks another sharp Bat-shuriken in Ubu's face and gets him between the eyes! What's with this Batman?
The dialogue is off a little too as in one part Ra's al Ghul is in Japan clearly 100's of years ago but the samurai that he meets call him 'buddy' and acts more like a gangster than samurai.
All in all not a bad book, but not a great book either. I really wish it had a better ending though...

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this was released when Batman Begins came out just to give new readers a look at Ra's al Ghul but this really missed the mark. I don't know why this was titled Year One because lacks everything that some of the great Year One stories had. Batman is faced with a crazy plot about death no longer existing and he solves it without batting an eye, no pun intended. Now, is that because Batman is the best or because of sloppy unimaginative writing? I'm guessing the latter. The only thing that keeps this book above 1 star was the phenomenal art by Paul Gulacy. He's able to draw Batman completely classic and modern at the same time. Excellent work on his part. Sadly he had to deal with this script. If interested in Ra's al Ghul or Batman fighting the supernatural, there are far better collections than these meek one.