In April 2005, DC released the "Deluxe Edition" of Year One in hardcover ( ISBN 1401206905) and trade paperback ( ISBN 1401207529) to coincide with the release of Batman Begins. There’s no Joker, no Penguin, no Riddler, not even a mention of any of the Rogue’s gallery, except for focusing on Gotjam’s crime families and a cool reference to a certain villain on the very last page. In an essential story from the Dark Knight's early days, Batman struggles to instill fear in Gotham City's criminals, while expatriate Chicago cop James Gordon discovers that he may be the only honest cop in town.

Batman interrupts a dinner party held at the mansion of Gotham's mayor and announces that everyone in the party will be brought to justice for their crimes. First, they redesigned the cover, and recolored my artwork — probably to look more like their little DVD that came out last year; second, they printed the book on shiny paper, which was never a part of the original design, all the way back to the first hardcover in 1988; third — and worst — they printed the color from corrupted, out-of-focus digital files, completely obscuring all of Richmond's hand-painted work. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Skeevers gets bailed with the help of a hired lawyer but is attacked by Batman shortly after, who convinces him to testify against Flass. Essen, however, chooses to leave Gotham upon learning he is going to be the father of Barbara's child.That is one facet of the story, but the other side of this is the introduction and development of one Lieutenant Gordon. He left the core elements, such as the murder of Bruce's parents, intact, but reduced them to brief flashbacks. Flass supplies Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent with the evidence and testimony needed to implicate Loeb, who resigns in disgrace. As for Miller, his characterization of Batman-Bruce Wayne is intelligent and convincing, and his ability to mount an action scene is second to none. Having been sent a copy of the book by DC, Mazzucchelli was unhappy with the quality and opined that "Anybody who's already paid for [the book] should send it back to DC and demand a refund.

Launched in 1989, following the success of the film Batman, the title Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight examines crime-fighting exploits primarily, not exclusively, from the first four to five years of Batman's career.Melding Miller's noir sensibilities, realistic characterization, and gritty action with Mazzucchelli's brilliant iconic imagery, "Year One" thrilled readers and critics alike. The DC Animated Universe film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, adopted elements of the storyline, depicting flashbacks of how Bruce Wayne became Batman and also combines it with elements of Batman: Year Two and shows Batman's personal connection with original character Phantasm inspired by the Reaper, another character in the comics with a connection to Batman.