As the title suggests, this story takes place during the second year of Batman's crimefighting career. At the start of the story, Jim Gordon has recently been elected Commissioner and the mobs that had such a large foothold in Year One and Long Halloween are ancient history. Batman's adversary this time around is the ghostly masked vigilante called the Reaper. He started out with motives similar to Batman, but he has now become a psychotic killer. The guy that killed Batman's parents is also back, the mob has hired him to take Reaper out. This answers two questions common asked by freshman Bat-fans: Why doesn't Batman use a gun, and why has he taken an oath to never kill anyone. And it sort of answers the question, why does he seem to avoid serious relationships with women. As a special bonus, we have artwork by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. My only gripe is that NONE of the traditional enemies appear. Two-Face or Catwoman could've easily have made a supporting appearance. All in all, a good read, and when combined with Y1 and TLH, fits into the larger tapestry of Batman's earlier years, taking place after TLH but before it's forthcoming followup, Dark Victory.