Miller has said he kept Bob Kane and Bill Finger's basic story for Year One but expanded it. He also reassured Miller that he and Mazzucchelli 'weren't going to lose anything' by serializing it.

O'Neil reasoned that Crisis on Infinite Earths had completely remade the DC Universe, so Miller would be able to have the same creative freedom that Dark Knight Returns provided. In addition, Miller's pacing would have to be altered because of ongoing series' relatively small page counts. Miller was initially reluctant he felt this would be hard because he had to ensure the story stayed canonical to the DC Universe, something he did not have to worry about when writing Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Reflecting on poor sales of Batman, O'Neil caught Miller one day while on a walk in Los Angeles and convinced him and Mazzucchelli to serialize the story in the ongoing series. O'Neil, who had been asked to edit several issues of Batman, was friends with Miller and was able to learn of the story. Year One was originally conceived as a graphic novel. Editor Dennis O'Neil also moved to work for DC.ĭavid Mazzucchelli autographing a copy of the 2005 trade paperback in 2012

Miller later on worked for DC and produced the influential four-issue limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986). He collaborated with artist David Mazzucchelli to produce Daredevil: Born Again together which was critically acclaimed. ĭuring the production of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Frank Miller was the writer of Marvel Comics' Daredevil. Wolfman's plans for the DC Universe after Crisis on Infinite Earths included relaunching every DC comic with a new first issue.

In an effort to resolve continuity errors in the DC Universe, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez produced the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The story recounts Batman's first year as a crime-fighter as well as exploring the life of recently transferred Gotham police detective James Gordon – eventually building towards their first encounter and their eventual alliance against Gotham's criminal underworld. Year One was also adapted into an animated feature in 2011, after efforts to adapt it into live-action following the failure of 1997's Batman & Robin didn't pan out. There have been several reprints of the story: a hardcover, multiple trade paperbacks, several deluxe editions in hardcover and paperback format, and an absolute edition. Year One was originally published by DC Comics in Batman #404–407 in 1987. Batman: Year One is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli.

Dark knight returns absolute edition