這部作品與《Batman:The Dark Knight Returns》同樣由Frank Miller編寫故事,但由David Mazzucchelli繪製,本作也是他個人代表作之一。
本書也是奠定由心理轉折角度,談蝙蝠俠緣起前傳的里程碑作品,使得這位陰影裡的超級英雄,不只是個抽象的神話,而是個有血有肉的人物。
此書原定為本世紀蝙蝠俠系列電影《蝙蝠俠:開戰時刻》的改編原作,但後來計畫更動,電影對本漫畫並不是採用Frank Miller的劇本,進行直接改編,但風格與概念上依然有很多參考。
這部作品講的是關於年輕的布魯斯偉恩重返高譚市,並且化身為蝙蝠俠的那第一年,警察局長Gordan是重要的角色,由他的眼中去看布魯斯偉恩自我覺醒,成為黑暗騎士蝙蝠俠的故事。
A young Bruce Wayne has spent his adolescence and early adulthood, traveling the world so he could hone his body and mind into the perfect fighting and investigative machine. But now as he returns to Gotham City, he must find a way to focus his passion and bring justice to his city. Retracing Batman's first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante, we watch as he chooses a guise of a giant bat, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon, inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a corrupt political system that infests Gotham.