Gotham City: Year One
The Good: That cover is beautiful. Fantastic detail, great 'first issue' positioning, fantastic mood set with dusty tones of orange. Everything.
The artwork inside is deceptively simple, yet done by the same artist as the cover. I'm impressed, and I love the style of the interior art. Different colors are subtly emphasized to help accentuate the mood of the various scenes. It looks kind of simple from a glance, but when you're reading it, it really sets the tone amazingly.
Jonah Hex is the real star of this book, but everything's told from the perspective of psychiatrist Amadeus Arkham. This gives us an outsider's perspective into the mind of the main character. A great way to introduce new readers to the character.
And for old readers, there's tons of easter eggs that don't hinder the story for new readers. Lots of old fans will know where Amadeus is going to end up, even better when his mom makes a cameo. Then we get mentions of the Gate family as well? Brilliant.
The pacing of the mystery is phenomenal. Every adjustment in the mood is timed perfectly, leading into an amazingly tense and creepy cliffhanger.
This issue feels REALLY long, WELL worth the extra dollar.
The Bad: Some people might be turned off by the deceptively simple artwork.
The story feels a bit unoriginal. The murders share blatant similarities with Jack the Ripper.
In Conclusion: 5/5
If you have the tiniest interest in Westerns, you'll love this. If you're a Jonah Hex fan, you'll love this. A western with the main character a little behind the times in a city a little ahead of the times; both being thrown into chaos due to a murder mystery. That's a winning formula. If you had even the tiniest inkling of buying this book, DO IT. You won't be disappointed.
