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Rating: 
Summary: Mike Barr tells the story of why Batman does not use a gun
Review: "Batman: Year Two; Fear the Reaper" consists of issues #575-578 of "Detective Comics," which originally appear in 1987. The story follows "Batman: Year One" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, but is not really a sequel although it is consistent with the spirit of revisionist continuity inspired by Miller's "The Dark Night Returns." The four issues are written by Mike W. Barr with different combinations of pencillers and inkers (Alan Davis and Paul Neary on the first issue, Todd McFarlane and Alfredo Alcala on the middle pair, with McFarlane inking his own pencils on the last one), which makes for quite a change from star to finish on the artwork. Barr's goal in this story line is try and make sense of the early years of Batman, guided by the modern version of the character. Specifically Barr was interested in exploring Batman's relationship with the new Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon and answer the big question as to why Batman does not carry a gun. Barr also revisits the fate of Joe Chill, the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, who was originally killed by other criminals when he admits he is the one who inspired the Batman (they also shoot him before he can tell them Batman's secret identity). Clearly that is too impersonal a finale for Chill and Barr takes care of that in these stories. Barr also goes back to the beginning and works in Leslie Thompkins into the Batman mythos. The other significant development is that Barr takes the DC Golden Age villain the Grim Reaper and makes him not only Batman's predecessor as Gotham City's resident vigilante, but also the representation of the road not taken with regards to how Batman fights criminals. The Reaper's genesis parallels that of Batman, with the key difference that it might have been what Thomas Wayne would have done under slightly different circumstances (which, of course, creates a whole father-son paradigm for the Reaper and Batman, which is totally reinforced by who the Reaper turns out to be). "Batman: Year Two" does indeed revisit the death of Joe Chill and provide a different context for essentially the same fate, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed because with our modern perspectives on the Batman as a comic book superhero I was convinced Barr was going to have Batman step over the line. However, that was not the payoff for this story. Still, the revisionist continuity offered serves its purpose and makes this worth reading for fans of the Dark Knight.
Rating:
Summary: Mike Barr tells the story of why Batman does not use a gun
Review: "Batman: Year Two; Fear the Reaper" consists of issues #575-578 of "Detective Comics," which originally appear in 1987. The story follows "Batman: Year One" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, but is not really a sequel although it is consistent with the spirit of revisionist continuity inspired by Miller's "The Dark Night Returns." The four issues are written by Mike W. Barr with different combinations of pencillers and inkers (Alan Davis and Paul Neary on the first issue, Todd McFarlane and Alfredo Alcala on the middle pair, with McFarlane inking his own pencils on the last one), which makes for quite a change from star to finish on the artwork. Barr's goal in this story line is try and make sense of the early years of Batman, guided by the modern version of the character. Specifically Barr was interested in exploring Batman's relationship with the new Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon and answer the big question as to why Batman does not carry a gun. Barr also revisits the fate of Joe Chill, the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, who was originally killed by other criminals when he admits he is the one who inspired the Batman (they also shoot him before he can tell them Batman's secret identity). Clearly that is too impersonal a finale for Chill and Barr takes care of that in these stories. Barr also goes back to the beginning and works in Leslie Thompkins into the Batman mythos. The other significant development is that Barr takes the DC Golden Age villain the Grim Reaper and makes him not only Batman's predecessor as Gotham City's resident vigilante, but also the representation of the road not taken with regards to how Batman fights criminals. The Reaper's genesis parallels that of Batman, with the key difference that it might have been what Thomas Wayne would have done under slightly different circumstances (which, of course, creates a whole father-son paradigm for the Reaper and Batman, which is totally reinforced by who the Reaper turns out to be). "Batman: Year Two" does indeed revisit the death of Joe Chill and provide a different context for essentially the same fate, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed because with our modern perspectives on the Batman as a comic book superhero I was convinced Barr was going to have Batman step over the line. However, that was not the payoff for this story. Still, the revisionist continuity offered serves its purpose and makes this worth reading for fans of the Dark Knight.
Rating:
Summary: Mike Barr tells the story of why Batman does not use a gun
Review: "Batman: Year Two; Fear the Reaper" consists of issues #575-578 of "Detective Comics," which originally appear in 1987. The story follows "Batman: Year One" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, but is not really a sequel although it is consistent with the spirit of revisionist continuity inspired by Miller's "The Dark Night Returns." The four issues are written by Mike W. Barr with different combinations of pencillers and inkers (Alan Davis and Paul Neary on the first issue, Todd McFarlane and Alfredo Alcala on the middle pair, with McFarlane inking his own pencils on the last one), which makes for quite a change from star to finish on the artwork. Barr's goal in this story line is try and make sense of the early years of Batman, guided by the modern version of the character. Specifically Barr was interested in exploring Batman's relationship with the new Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon and answer the big question as to why Batman does not carry a gun. Barr also revisits the fate of Joe Chill, the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, who was originally killed by other criminals when he admits he is the one who inspired the Batman (they also shoot him before he can tell them Batman's secret identity). Clearly that is too impersonal a finale for Chill and Barr takes care of that in these stories. Barr also goes back to the beginning and works in Leslie Thompkins into the Batman mythos. The other significant development is that Barr takes the DC Golden Age villain the Grim Reaper and makes him not only Batman's predecessor as Gotham City's resident vigilante, but also the representation of the road not taken with regards to how Batman fights criminals. The Reaper's genesis parallels that of Batman, with the key difference that it might have been what Thomas Wayne would have done under slightly different circumstances (which, of course, creates a whole father-son paradigm for the Reaper and Batman, which is totally reinforced by who the Reaper turns out to be). "Batman: Year Two" does indeed revisit the death of Joe Chill and provide a different context for essentially the same fate, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed because with our modern perspectives on the Batman as a comic book superhero I was convinced Barr was going to have Batman step over the line. However, that was not the payoff for this story. Still, the revisionist continuity offered serves its purpose and makes this worth reading for fans of the Dark Knight.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Placeholder Between Long Halloween and Dark Victory
Review: As the title suggests, this story takes place during the second year of Batman's crimefighting career. At the start of the story, Jim Gordon has recently been elected Commissioner and the mobs that had such a large foothold in Year One and Long Halloween are ancient history. Batman's adversary this time around is the ghostly masked vigilante called the Reaper. He started out with motives similar to Batman, but he has now become a psychotic killer. The guy that killed Batman's parents is also back, the mob has hired him to take Reaper out. This answers two questions common asked by freshman Bat-fans: Why doesn't Batman use a gun, and why has he taken an oath to never kill anyone. And it sort of answers the question, why does he seem to avoid serious relationships with women. As a special bonus, we have artwork by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. My only gripe is that NONE of the traditional enemies appear. Two-Face or Catwoman could've easily have made a supporting appearance. All in all, a good read, and when combined with Y1 and TLH, fits into the larger tapestry of Batman's earlier years, taking place after TLH but before it's forthcoming followup, Dark Victory.
Rating: 
Summary: the best Batman story ever!
Review: I first got this book when I was about 4 years old. It was the first time I heard of Batman as a comic book character. I hadn't learned how to read yet, so no matter how millions of times I saw the movie, I couldn't read that it was based on a DC character. But since I couldn't read, how could I enjoy this story? The art!! The first chapter in the book was drawn by Allan Davis, with the remaining chapters drawn with incredible grace by Todd McFarlane. I was able to figure out about 95 percent of the story, because of the art. Many stories need both art and writing to funcion, but this book is great on both. It is written by Mike Barr and it is great! Rather than reading like a typical comic book, it reads like one of the best action movies. Yes, Frank Miller and Geph Loeb are better writers (see Year One and Hush), but Barr is still one gifted writer. Year Two is obviously a sequel to Batman: Year One. And since he finished corrupt cops in the original, we can now have fun with colorful villains. Here, we get the Reaper. He was vigilante like Batman, but before Batman came. He had much more brutal methods than Batman, so after a several decade hiatus when Reaper returns to "fight" crime, he crosses paths with Batman and they clash. Reaper is so dangerous, that Batman can't fight him off by himself. Batman needs help and he gets it by none other than Joe Chill, the man who killed Batman's parents! It is incredible seeing Batman fighting the temptation to shoot him! Yes, Batman uses a GUN! The question of why he never used a gun before gets answered in this story! What makes this story great is the fact that as much the villain as Reaper may seem, in his way, he's the hero. And he believes he's the hero and Batman's the villain. This grey area adds so much dimension and this is something I just love thinking about. Mike Barr should write a prequel about the Reaper fighting crime before Batman came on. That would be cool. This copy of the book also contains "Full Circle," which is the sequel to Year Two. Here, we get Robin, more Alfred, and the return of the Reaper! I was wondering how Reaper would come back, but he came back in a very clever way and Full Circle is a very good story. Well, Batman: Year Two-Fear the Reaper (that is this version, the one that contains both stories) is my all-time favorite Batman story and I'm sure when you read it, you will like it too!
Rating: 
Summary: Weak followup to Year One - an opportunity squandered
Review: I was disappointed in Year Two; it failed to convincingly follow the groundwork developing Batman's formative years as laid down in Year One (a STRONG story) and The Long Halloween. In Year two, I would have hoped to have the emergence of a longstanding Bats villian, even if a minor one such as The Ventriloquist or The Riddler, but sadly that's not the case. While new villans can be entertaining, the so-called "Reaper" reminded me too much of the "Phantasm" from the animated Bats movie "Mask of the Phantasm"; there was no real depth provided to the villian, and the back-to-pick-up-where-I-left-off bit is a tad stale, even at the time this was written. The art was fine; the story good as a standalone tale, but there was really no reason the tale needed to be set in "Year Two".
Rating:
Summary: New Reasons to Fear the Reaper
Review: I won't spend too much time discussing the quality of Batman: Year Two, save to say that while it doesn't have the charm or quality of Year One(a tough act to follow), it is well-written and has fantastic art. It also provides the Batman mythology with an intriguing villain culled from the Golden Age of DC Comics: The Reaper. While The Batman has always had one of the best rogues galleries in comics, there's always room for one more, and I'm disappointed that The Reaper hasn't been revived somehow since this tale. FYI, The Reaper inspired the Phantasm character from the excellent "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" animated film, as did the overall Year Two storyline. There are also rumors now that the new Batman film may also be inspired by Year Two, with a young Batman going up against The Reaper. If this is the case, "Batman Year Two: Fear the Reaper" may become a hot item. Whether this proves true or not, I highly recommend this story.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak storyline fails to capture the essence of Batman
Review: The book begins simply enough. Batman goes up against a gun toting maniac. However this isn't just any gun toting maniac its his predecessor vigilante the Reaper. The Reaper has no mercy for anyone and is more of a menace than a vigilante. My big problem with this book is that Batman is supposed to have trained for twelve years and be a human paragon. He is also supposed to have the resources and skills to stop a maniac with a gun, no matter how insane. The fact that he decides to work with the man who drove him to become the man he is and use a gun is ludacris. Batman is a Dark Knight. He is called a knight because he posesses chivalry. He's known from the moment he was conceived in crime alley that he can never become what he fights. That is what makes Batman a true hero. However just to see the idiocracy of this horrid book pick it off of the rack. The real Batman Year two is Long Halloween I highly recommend that book instead of this one.
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