Except for some flashbacks, we finally move out of the timespan of Miller's Batman: Year One, into new territory; Shaman covers some of Batman's first winter in Gotham, as artifacts from an Indian tribe where he trained to become the Batman reappear in Gotham. This is the first of a couple Dennis O'Neil "Year One" tales, and probably the best of them; O'Neil and Edward Hannigan are consummate comics storytellers, and know how to write a gripping tale. It's not an amazing tale-- there are definitely some odd leaps-- but it is a well-told one. I also liked the reinsertion of some details from Batman's Golden Age origin into Batman: Year One, and the joke at their expense. It's actually a kind of brazen poke at a giant in a way.

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I know I have read some Dennis O'Neil before, but this one stuck out to me. I really enjoyed the writing style for Batman in these issues. The story is sort of an alternate version of an origin story but not really, it's sort of confusing at first to tell when exactly this story takes place. But, the story of the Bat and the shaman really catered to the story of Bruce Wayne and Batman. I would definitely regard this as one of the better and darker tales of the Bat. Really enjoyed this villain/arc. ( )

"Shaman" was an interesting look at Batman's beginnings--a flashback to his disastrous first mission, as depicted a couple of years earlier in Batman: Year One, and how he chooses to wear the mask of a bat, re-imagined for this storyline, followed by a story with more drama than mystery, but still pretty good. ( )