We all know the story: after attending a late-night movie screening one fateful night in Gotham City, young Bruce Wayne's parents were gunned down in a senseless act of violence. This tragedy inspired Bruce to travel the world, honing his body, mind, and will to become the world's greatest crime-fighter.

Now witness his early years, before he befriended an honest cop named James Gordon, as Bruce begins his crusade in a city that has forgotten the meaning of justice in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's groundbreaking "Year One." And in Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis's "Year Two," Batman considers quitting his crime-fighting career when he meets charity worker Rachel Caspian. But the reappearances of the Reaper, Gotham's original vigilante, will force Bruce to choose between his own desires and what the city needs.

Collecting: BATMAN (1940) #401-412 & ANNUAL #11 and DETECTIVE COMICS (1937) #568-579.