Editing Batman: Year One (section)

===Development===
In an effort to resolve continuity errors in the [[DC Universe]], [[Marv Wolfman]] and [[George Pérez]] produced the 12-issue [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]] ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]''.<ref name="backissue30">{{cite journal|last1=Greeberger|first1=Robert|title=Crisis at 30: A Look Back at the Most Influential Crossover in Comics History|journal=[[Back Issue!]]|date=August 2015|issue=82}}</ref> Wolfman's plans for the DC Universe after ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' included relaunching every DC comic with a new first issue.<ref name="Slugfest152">{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Reed |date=October 2017 |title=Slugfest |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |page=152 |isbn=978-0306825477 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoyYDgAAQBAJ |access-date=2020-12-07 |archive-date=2024-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308084652/https://books.google.com/books?id=hoyYDgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Frank Miller Fan Expo Wiki.jpg|thumb|left|Frank Miller, the author of ''Year One'', at the Fan Expo 2016 in Toronto, Canada]]
During the production of ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', [[Frank Miller]] was the writer of [[Marvel Comics]]' ''[[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]]'' where he finished his long run with the character in issue #191. He went on to work for DC and produced the influential four-issue limited series ''[[The Dark Knight Returns|Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]'' (1986), but was put on hold due to unsuccessfully developing ideas for the story. In 1985, Miller returned to Marvel to resume his role as the writer of ''Daredevil'' starting with issue #219. At some point, he fully committed himself into developing ''The Dark Knight Returns'' as ideas came to fruition. By the time the ''Daredevil'' series reached to issue #226 in 1986, editor [[Dennis O'Neil]] who was the regular writer for Daredevil at that time moved on from Marvel to work for DC again where he helped Miller to edit ''The Dark Knight Returns''. For Daredevil #226, Miller and artist [[David Mazzucchelli]] collaborated for the first time and then they collaborated again on the critically acclaimed seven issues #227-233 which eventually titled as ''[[Born Again (comics)|Daredevil: Born Again]]'' in the collected edition.

The contract Miller signed to produce ''Dark Knight Returns'' also required him to write a revamped Batman origin story. Year One was originally conceived as a [[graphic novel]]. O'Neil, who had been asked to edit several issues of ''Batman'', was friends with Miller and was able to learn of the story. 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.<ref name="ONeil13th">{{cite web|last1=Greenfield|first1=Dan|title=The DENNY O'NEIL INTERVIEWS — Batman: Year One|url=https://13thdimension.com/the-denny-oneil-interviews-batman-year-one/|website=13th Dimension|access-date=May 20, 2018|date=September 22, 2014|archive-date=October 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014113625/https://13thdimension.com/the-denny-oneil-interviews-batman-year-one/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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''. In addition, Miller's pacing would have to be altered because of ongoing series' relatively small page counts. 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.<ref name="nerd">{{cite book|last1=Weldon|first1=Glen|author-link=Glen Weldon|title=The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture|date=2016|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=978-1-4767-5669-1}}</ref> He also reassured Miller that he and Mazzucchelli "weren't going to lose anything" by serializing it.<ref name="ONeil13th"/>

Miller has said he kept [[Bob Kane]] and [[Bill Finger|Bill Finger's]] basic story for Year One but expanded it.<ref name="NPRTalk">{{cite web|title='Batman' Author Frank Miller|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4704766|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=May 22, 2018|date=June 15, 2005|archive-date=October 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014113637/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4704766|url-status=live}}</ref> In writing the story, Miller looked for parts of Batman's origin that were never explored. He left the core elements, such as the murder of Bruce's parents, intact, but reduced them to brief [[Flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]]. Bruce's globe-trotting adventures were removed, as Miller found them uninteresting. Rather than portraying Batman as a larger-than-life icon as he had in ''The Dark Knight Returns'', Miller chose to characterize Batman in Year One as an average, inexperienced man trying to make a change in society because Miller believed a superhero is least interesting when most effective. Examples of this include Batman underestimating his opponents, getting shot by police, and his costume being too big. The story's violence was kept street-level and gritty, emphasizing [[Noir fiction|noir]] and realism.<ref name="nerd"/>