YMMV / Batman: Year One

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Gordon saying he's practically blind without his glasses when he gets a look at Batman unmasked. Is he telling the truth or can he see it's Bruce but is letting it slide out of gratitude? Slightly fueling the latter, The Dark Knight Returns (which Miller has claimed to be in the same continuity) outright states that Gordon knows.
• Broken Base: There are still arguments over the comic's Post-Crisis origin story subplot for Catwoman, as a professional Dominatrix who saw Batman in action and decided that costumed villainy would be less degrading than sex work. At the time, and to a degree today, there were accusations that it was sexist and degrading to the character, but over the years a significant faction of fans have developed who feel that later writers have developed it into a much more sophisticated and feminist-friendly depiction of sex work and how a former sex worker might deal with her past.
• Complete Monster: In the film, Commissioner Gillian Loeb is the ultimate representation of Gotham's corruption. Under Loeb's purview, crime runs rampant and crooked cops populate the streets, flooding the city with drugs while the police engage in routine brutality against even children to quell protests. When Batman begins disrupting Loeb's criminal enterprises, the latter corners the hero in a derelict building and firebombs it with no care for the homeless people inside who burn alive; citizens note this kind of overkill is par for the course for Loeb's administration. In his attempts to silence Gordon's investigations into his corrupt ways, Loeb has the man viciously beaten; threatens his pregnant wife; and works with Carmine Falcone to kidnap Gordon's wife and newborn baby to use as hostages and, eventually, kill them all to silence them.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Intentionally done with Harvey Dent, who appears several times as the honest and incorruptible reformer DA and an ally of the Batman, long before his tragic, never truly undone transformation into the monstrous gangster Two-Face.
  • One of the cornerstones of Bruce's character in this book is his strong commitment to his no-killing rule, as highlighted when he refuses to let a delinquent fall to his doom even as two other criminals brutally assault him. However, the next chronological story in the "Dark Knight Universe" would show that his activities as Batman would eventually cause him to lose his morals, making him devolve into a hardened vigilante who relishes in killing his targets.
  • A good portion of Jim Gordon's inner monologue is about how unenthusiastic he is about raising his soon-to-be born son in a crime-ridden city like Gotham. In Batman: The Black Mirror, his fears prove to be justified, but for all the wrong reasons: James Gordon Jr. goes on to become one of the most sadistic Serial Killers Gotham has ever seen.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: While the animated adaptation was praised for being a faithful adaptation, some criticised it for being too faithful to the comic.
• Memetic Mutation: The storyline's title has become as memetic as Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo's subtitle for describing Superhero Origin stories. Unlike Electric Boogaloo however, these nicknames are more affectionate than mocking.
• Moral Event Horizon: The Roman ordering a hit on Gordon's son and Loeb firebombing the drunks are the two main examples.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: You can find DVDs of this film about corrupt cops, vigilante justice, and prostitutes sharing shelves with Spongebob Squarepants.
• The Woobie: Jim Gordon. He's a lower level good cop in Gotham without Batman for most of the story struggling with his desire to do the right thing and also rightly worried about the very real danger his family is in if he thinks to stand up. Thankfully things start to get better for him when Batman shows up.

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