by Joey Esposito

In 2007, Warner Brothers moved beyond the beloved DC Animated Universe and has been loosely adapting storylines directly from the comic books in straight-to-DVD animated films ever since. While they've taken on some notable storylines with Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, and All-Star Superman, none of them have quite the legacy, importance, or watchful eyes of comic nerds everywhere that their latest, Batman: Year One, has.

While the debate between the supremacy of Year One over The Dark Knight Returns is fodder for another day, Year One stands to be an evolutionary film for DC Animation. Not only is it the most lofty adaptation yet, but it's also the first that could potentially change the very notion of what these movies are capable of. In my humble comic-book-loving opinion, the only project as ambitious in pedigree is All-Star Superman, which was understandably forced to narrow down lots of high concepts and story beats into a digestible chunk of movie. Year One the comic, however, is merely four issues. Four intelligently streamlined issues, at that. Compared to All-Star Superman and The New Frontier, that should be child's play.

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's iconic Batman tale is held in such high regard (in fact, it's #1 on IGN's Top 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels) that any adaptation of it is going to be scrutinized beyond belief by the comic book faithful. And while it's natural for certain story elements to change in an adaptation from comic to screen, there's no reason that any important story beats should have to be truncated. The structure of Year One is rather linear, and the stories bleed together naturally. The intertwining story of three of Gotham's most famous residents -- Batman, Jim Gordon, and Catwoman – is the crux of the tale and underserving any one of them would be a disservice to the material.


Judging from the trailer that debuted earlier this week, it's fair to say that the movie is sticking pretty close to its comic book counterpart. While we obviously can't say for sure until we see it, Mazzucchelli's style is entirely present in the animation and the voiceover narration keeps with Miller's tone. While it's disconcerting that the trailer leads with Bruce Wayne over Jim Gordon – who is Year One's primary anchor and the reader's object of attachment – it's too early to say if this is simply a marketing tool or a fundamental change.


In some ways, Year One is the animated film that will determine the merit of these adaptations moving forward. For a story that has served as the inspiration for so many current works (look no further than Scott Snyder, Jock and Francesco Francavilla's current Detective Comics run), I would argue that holding an adaptation to a similar standard is entirely fair. Once DC crosses this threshold (and then again next year with a Dark Knight Returns adaptation), there's no going back. Especially if Batman: Year One is a critical and financial success, a hollow display like Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths or Green Lantern: Emerald Knights isn't going to cut it.

I'm not saying that everything from here on out has to be a masterpiece. It's doubtful that the Year One adaptation will come even remotely close to being as effective as the comic. But as comics have grown through the years to become accepted in the literary community, so too can these films follow that tradition. That approach obviously won't work for everything; trying to give artistic weight to something that is nothing more than a throw-down between two super-humans is not going to work. But selecting things like Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, or Sandman – stories that have proven to have appeal to a brand new audience already in comics – could be beneficial not only to DC's animated movies but also attracting new readers.


Perhaps that's a lofty hope, and I'm not above simply enjoying some good ol' adventuring with huge explosions and a test of my home theater system. But Batman: Year One is one of the few comics that gets to enjoy being the cornerstone of one of the most popular superheroes in the world; something very few comics can lay claim to. Opening the floodgates to animated adaptations of something like this shouldn't be taken lightly. Then again, this goes off the notion that Year One will be good. It could turn out to be garbage. But given the stature of both the source material and the people involved, I think we can expect a new level of achievement for DC's animated films.


But where to go from here? What "untouchable" classics would you like to see adapted into this format? Will Year One be as profound as the source material? Sound off in the comments below or follow me on Twitter.

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