The origin of one of the more interesting villains from the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams era of Batman stories. Ra's Al Ghul (described elsewhere as an "Eco-terrorist") is one of the few Batman villains without a garish costume so therefore comes across as one of the more realistic of his rogue's gallery (except for the fact that he is almost immortal!)
The title of this graphic novel is slightly misleading in that I expected a story set in the past during Batman's first year of crimefighting. It IS set in the past, but begins centuries before Bruce Wayne was born, specifically - closer to the time of Ra's birth.
This story partly deals with the "Lazarus Pits" Ra's uses to recover from fatal wounds, and looks back in time to Ra's experiences in feudal Japan. There is also a contemporary story in which Batman struggles to cut off Ra's' access to the various Lazarus Pits around the world and without giving anything away I found that this reached a fairly satisfying conclusion.
However, aside from the story, the slick Paul Gulacy art is a major selling point of this graphic novel. Paul achieved popularity in the 1970's illustrating Marvel's "Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu" and has previously illustrated Batman in the "Batman:Prey" and "Batman Vs. Predator II" trade paperbacks. Some may find his illustrations too posed and unrealistic, but I find him one of those artists whose work is rewarding even if (as in this case) the author is one who's work I haven't sampled before. It's a joy to simply pick up this publication and enjoy the artwork on it's own merits. The feel of the feudal Japan sequence is noteworthy for being different to anything I recall seeing from Paul earlier, and the colorist deserves praise for the very pastel-hued pallette used here to good effect.

In conclusion: good story, above average artwork. ( )