Batman: Year 100 is one of the best Batman stories ever written alongside of Frank Miller and Scott Synder. Pope presents (like The Dark Knight Returns) a dark, dystopian take on the world of Batman and Gotham City. In Pope's reality, Gotham of 2039 is devoid of privacy - and is essentially a police state. Mixing crime noir with futuristic dystopian sci-fi, Batman Year 100 is essentially a play on Frank Miller's classic, Batman year one and is in many ways the spiritual sucessor to The Dark Knight Returns. The story centers on Detective James Gordon, grandson of the original Commissioner Gordon, who worked with Batman. He finds himself thrust between a Batman (who is he? Is he the same man?) falsely accused of murder, corrupt federal agents, and a plot by rogue agents of the government to create a weapon of unimaginable proportion after a federal agent is murdered and a contingent of Washington's top agents is hot on the suspect's trail. The Batman here is a forgotten icon from the past, who shouldn't exist at all. The mythic element of Batman remains. The art of Paul Pope is original and gritty and the storyline is very original. Highly recommended. This certainly deserves repeated readings.
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This was pretty good overall, but there are other Batman stories I have liked better, like the works by Loeb and Sale (some of which I have read and listed here). Having said that, this is an interesting look at the Batman. I did find a bit problematic that we never learn how exactly he is 100 years old, or if it is a different Batman. Once you leave that seemingly small detail out of the way, it is a pretty good story in a dystopian setting. In fact, I found that some of the gritty art and style reminded me of Orwell's 1984 setting where there is no privacy, and the government rules by fear. However, unlike Orwell, the Federal government here is constantly challenged by Batman, the one man they know nothing about.

The art is also interesting because Batman here does not wear the fancy suits you see in other comics or the movies. Initially, readers may wonder about that. However, the book includes a section where the author discusses the artistic process, including how he looked at Batman in more realistic terms: what kind of footwear he might wear and why; the kind of equipment in his belt, so on. Sure, there are some futuristic gadgets, but Pope put some thought rather than using the utility belt as a deus ex machina, which many other authors working with Batman often do. I personally found that interesting to read about, and it gave me a better appreciation of the art and Batman's look here.

As for the story, we are dealing with a government conspiracy, and in a world where there are telepaths working for the government, foiling that conspiracy may not be easy.

A note on reader appeal (mostly for me for reader's advisory): If you like Batman, this is a story to read. If you like dystopian literature, even if you are not a big Batman fan, I think you will appreciate this graphic novel as well. As a final note, there are some similarities with Frank Miller's work on Batman in terms of the gritty style, and I think if you have read Miller's work, you may like this one as well.
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Interesting looking book: Batman looks like a real, solid guy instead of a ballet dancer. Cool premise. ( )

I thought this would be what it sounds like. It isn't. It doesn't even make any sense. Bruce Wayne looks like he's at most, 45 years old. None of the chronology adds up. Bad writing, bad story. ( )

It was interesting to see this concept come to life because this story was vastly different than many of the Batman stories that I have previously read. There is a lack of colorful villains that we are used to from the franchise in this particular story, but we soon discover the reason within the story. This is a vastly different world than the one that we have seen in other stories featuring the character. This one is actually darker in a different way than the other stories.

There are moments in this particular series where you go OH if you have read other Batman stories and you feel like this is a good nod to that, but my one issue is that you never understand fully how some events could happen since this is 100 years of Batman. Not everything adds up and the writer doesn't seem to care to elaborate on them, but some of this is what makes the story also interesting. You are left with a sense of wondering how things came to pass in the series, but it feels also like you have questions that should have been answered.

This is definitely not my favorite artwork in a comic that I have read, but it lends itself to the style that was needed for this particular story, which sometimes is better than trying to fit into a more polished box. Overall this isn't my favorite Batman story, but it is one that I enjoyed reading. ( )