Contents 1 Appearing in "Year One (Part I of IV): Who I Am - How I Come to Be" 2 Synopsis for "Year One (Part I of IV): Who I Am - How I Come to Be" 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 See Also 6 Recommended Reading 7 Links and References

Appearing in "Year One (Part I of IV): Who I Am - How I Come to Be"

Featured Characters:

• Bruce Wayne

Supporting Characters:

• Alfred Pennyworth
• Harvey Dent (Cameo)
• Holly Robinson (First appearance)
• James Gordon
• Barbara Eileen Gordon (First appearance)
• Selina Kyle 

Villains:

• Arnold Flass (First appearance)
• Gillian B. Loeb (First appearance)
• Carmine Falcone (First appearance)
• Stan the Pimp (First appearance)

Other Characters:

• Gotham City Police Department

• Renny, Stahnsen, Wilson

• Jackie (reporter)
• Joe Chill (flashback only)
• Martha Wayne (Dies in flashback)
• Morgan (Single appearance)
• Princess Caroline (mentioned only)
• Skunk (Single appearance)
• Thomas Wayne (Dies in flashback)
• Tom (reporter)

Locations:

• Gotham City

• Bay Ridge
• Crime Alley (flashback only)
• Chute's
• Finger Memorial (mentioned only)
• Gotham City East End (First appearance)
• Gotham City International Airport
• Gotham City Police Headquarters
• Robinson Park (mentioned only)
• Sprang Mission
• Wayne Manor
  
  

Synopsis for "Year One (Part I of IV): Who I Am - How I Come to Be"

Chicago police lieutenant James Gordon relocates to Gotham City and begins working under Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb.

Already he finds himself detesting the grime of the city, but his thoughts are on his pregnant wife, Barbara. Inwardly, he hopes her tests come back "negative".

Meanwhile, Gotham City's most eligible bachelor Bruce Wayne returns to the United States after nearly twelve years abroad ever since the age of thirteen. He plays up the role of billionaire playboy, but secretly he is anxious to begin a new career as a crime fighter. He wants to avenge the tragic deaths of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Across town, James Gordon meets some of his fellow officers, including the brutish Lt. Arnold Flass. It doesn't take Gordon long to realize that Flass represents only a tiny fraction of a trail of corruption that extends all of the way to the Commissioner's office. Gordon learns that Flass is reckless and is not above accepting the occasional bribe.

However, Gordon’s own moral code is strong and he refuses to buckle beneath the weight of corruption.

Flass grows concerned and tells Commissioner Loeb that Gordon may not be a "team player". Coyly, Loeb gives Flass permission to teach Gordon a lesson. That night, Flass and three other officers don ski masks and corner Jim in the parking garage. They mercilessly beat him with baseball bats, but Gordon recognizes the sound of Flass' laughter and vows to strike back.

Later, Jim takes his car and follows the crooked cops back to a place called Chute's. He waits for them outside until they are ready to leave. As Flass drunkenly stumbles out of the building, Gordon attacks him. He beats Flass up, strips him naked and leaves him bound with his own handcuffs on the side of the road. Jim is confident that the incident will go unreported.

Some nights later, Bruce Wayne disguises himself as a vagrant and begins patrolling the seedy streets of Gotham's East End.

He gets into an altercation with an albino pimp named Stan over an adolescent prostitute named Holly. Bruce and Stan's fight attracts the attention of another one of Stan's working girls – Selina Kyle. Selina tries to defend Stan, but Bruce lays her out with one blow across the jaw.

Suddenly, police officers arrive and take the disguised Wayne into custody. Bruce breaks free of his handcuffs and forces the police cruiser off the road. Wounded and bleeding, he manages to make his way back to his Porsche and return home to Wayne Manor.

He sinks into a wing chair in his study and begins stammering his father's name. Bruce feels that he has failed his parents. He reflects upon the night that a common mugger savagely gunned them down in the street, leaving him an orphan. Suddenly, a bat crashes through the open window. Bruce takes it as a sign and promises to avenge his parents' deaths by taking on the form of a bat.

Notes

• This issue is reprinted in the Batman: Year One trade paperback.
• The events from this issue take place in both Post-Crisis New Earth continuity as well as Earth-31 continuity.
• The flashback scenes from this issue take place with scenes shown in the issue Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1.
• This issue establishes that Bruce Wayne is twenty-five years old when he first begins his crime-fighting career as the Batman. In narrative, he states that he was only seven-years-old (possibly an honest error by the writer) when Joe Chill murdered his parents. This, however, contradicts other sources, such as the Zero Hour timeline, which establishes Bruce as eight years-old at the time of his parents' death. Batman's profile in Superman/Batman Secret Files and Origins (2003) confirms the Zero Hour timeline and establishes that Bruce is in fact eight years old when his parents are killed.
• It is briefly stated in this issue that James Gordon was forced to leave Chicago after an incident involving other corrupt police officers. This incident is expanded upon in greater detail in the Gordon of Gotham limited series.
• The title of the story is referencing the first Batman story 'Who He Is and How He Came To Be.'

Trivia

• In narrative, Bruce Wayne references several Gotham City landmarks, namely Robinson Park, the Finger Memorial and the Sprang Mission. These locales are named after creators Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger and Dick Sprang.
• Bruce's moment of inspiration in his father's study is a re-imagining of a scene first depicted in Detective Comics #33.

See Also

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss Batman Vol 1 404 on the forums
• Cover gallery for the Batman series
• Images from Batman Vol 1 404

Recommended Reading

• Batman Recommended Reading

• Batman (Volume 1)
• Batman (Volume 2)
• Batman and Robin (Volume 1)
• Batman and Robin (Volume 2)
• Batman Confidential
• Batman: Gotham Knights
• Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight
• Batman: Shadow of the Bat
• Batman: Streets of Gotham
• Batman Incorporated
• Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 1)
• Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2)
• Detective Comics (Volume 1)
• Detective Comics (Volume 2)
• Superman/Batman
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Volume )

Links and References

• Batman at Wikipedia.org
• Batman at DC Comics
• Batman at DCU Guide
• Batman at IGN Comics
• Batman at Newsarama
• Batman at Dark Knight
• Batman at DC Indexes
• Batman at Comic Book Resources
• Batman Yesterday Today and Beyond
• Batman at TV Tropes

Post-Crisis Reboot After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 1985-1986 maxiseries which completely reset the continuity of the entire DC Universe, all of DC's major characters and franchises needed to be updated to reflect the changes in the events of their lives. Multiple story arcs were put out to explain these rebooted versions of popular characters. Superman: The Man of Steel Man of Steel #1 • Man of Steel #2 • Man of Steel #3 • Man of Steel #4 • Man of Steel #5 • Man of Steel #6 Batman: Year One Batman #404 • Batman #405 • Batman #406 • Batman #407 Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals Wonder Woman #1 • Wonder Woman #2 • Wonder Woman #3 • Wonder Woman #4 • Wonder Woman #5 • Wonder Woman #6 • Wonder Woman #7 Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn Emerald Dawn #1 • Emerald Dawn #2 • Emerald Dawn #3 • Emerald Dawn #4 • Emerald Dawn #5 • Emerald Dawn #6

Year One
Part 1: Batman #404	Part 2: Batman #405	Part 3: Batman #406	Part 4: Batman #407

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