74. Batman vs. Cops in Year One
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli were practically in another world with their work on Batman: Year One, telling a brilliantly detailed look at the early days of Bruce Wayne as Batman, with special attention paid to how poorly the corrupt Gotham Police Department takes the involvement of a do-gooder vigilante.
Really, in many ways Batman: Year One is about Jim Gordon just as much as it is about Batman, so it makes sense that the police interaction with Batman takes such a major role.
The conflict with the police has its spotlight moment when, after many failed attempts to catch Batman in a trap, Batman shows himself to save an old woman from getting hit by a truck. Gordon’s partner, Sarah Essen, has Batman cornered in the street, but loses him when she checks to see if Gordon is all right (Gordon tried to stop the truck by jumping inside, but he was in it when it smashed into a wall).
Batman escapes into an abandoned buidling where the police commissioner orders destroyed by a bomb. In the explosion, Batman’s belt catches fire and he has to discard it. He is also shot twice. Luckily, he makes it to the basement which is secure, so he survives the explosion.
Now armed only with a blow gun and three darts, Batman has to take on the Gotham SWAT team that is entered the remains of the building. Batman, naturally, kicks their collective asses, but to aid in his escape, he uses a device to call in a swarm of bats that cover his escape.
He jumps out of the building (carrying a cat he saved) and escapes on a police motorcycle.
Rarely has there ever been a Batman action sequence quite as cool as this one.
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