I picked up Gothic and, although I enjoyed it, I found it quite conventional for a Grant Morrison story.
I also bought Year One which I like a lot. It was weird reading it so soon after The Dark Knight Returns because that novel focuses on a much older Batman, who has come out of retirement and is constantly making mistakes and over-reaching himself by trying to match the things he did in his youth. In Year One he's also making mistakes but it's down to inexperience.
The biggest surprise I got from reading these novels was discovering what a cool character Commissioner Gordon is. Until I read Dark Knight and Year One my mental image of Gordon was of the guy from the 1960s Batman TV series.
In Year One I find Gordon to be a more intriguing character than Batman/Wayne. My favourite parts of that novel were watching how quickly he acclimatises to Gotham City and in a very short period of time realises the Batman is a necessary and decides to work with him.
