I love it when a writer is able to expand upon the origin of a superhero, adding additional background and motivation without contradicting the original premise or beginnings. It's a difficult act, and the movie this graphic novel is based on did it admirably, setting the young Bruce Wayne up with a conflict between the vow he has made to his dead parents, and his love for Andrea Beaumont. Unfortunately, the graphic novel, while a nice effort, is too constricted by its brevity to do better than a choppy rendering of an excellent Batman animated movie. Points for the great job on the movie, which sort of carry over to the book. ( )