Batman. Where to start?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

But how can you tell if the Joker is telling the truth? He might just be making the story up, just because he can. He's crazy, right?

Of course. I mean its THE Joker origin story as in it's the best I've ever read by a light year.

Spoiler

Of coruse it may all be false, its been awhile since I've pulled it out of the bag, but I'm pretty sure he admits that sometimes even he gets how it happend all mixed up, he's an admitted nutter!

. But the theme of the book is great, the writing is top notch, and the art is amazing. Brian Bolland needs to do more Batman comics.

 

[Klaus]

IMHO, The Killing Joke is an amazing comic. But Alan Moore has said that if he knew people would use that story to permanently end Batgirl's career, he wouldn't have done it.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

IMHO, The Killing Joke is an amazing comic. But Alan Moore has said that if he knew people would use that story to permanently end Batgirl's career, he wouldn't have done it.

But that's part of what makes the story so damn good. Any other writer would have had their actions reversed or fixed at a later date. Someone would have put Batgirl in a suit of armor, operated on her to fix the injury (Holy Broken Back Batman!), or done something else to make the story irrelevent. But Moore wrote such a great story, and it made such an impression, that if anyone tried to change it they would ruin the enormity of what he did.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Not Batman related, but if you read Frank Miller's Batman stuff and like it, I'd recommend picking up his Daredevil material- probably the definitive Daredevil stories, certainly what most post-Miller writers have used as the basis for DD. There should be a couple of trades of it available, including the Elektra saga. The book Ronin by Miller is widely regarded as his best work- though it's not really a superhero book, and doesn't deal with any of Marvel or DC's characters (its wholly independent).

 

[Villano]

Not a Batman comic, but I loved Batgirl: Year One.

Also, if you liked the original animated series, the comic based on it was great. I'm not reading the current series since I don't care for the new cartoon.

 

[Viking Bastard]

BATMAN Trade Paperbacks
(that I've read and remember at the moment)

Those marked with a * I think rule
Those marked with a ~ I think suck
Those that are not marked with anything entertained me without really impressing me


Year One stories (that are available in TPBs)
Stories that take place early in Batman's career in chronological-ish order:

Batman: Year One* - by Frank Miller, the basic origin of Batman
Batman: Gothic* - by Grant Morrison, Batman takes on the mob and gets sucked into a mystery
Batman: The Long Halloween - by Leob and Sale, serial killer story & origin of Two-Face
Robin: Year One - by Chuck Dixon, the origin of the Dick Grayson Robin
Batman: Dark Victory - by Leob and Sale, sequal to TLH and overlaps with (and in some cases contradicts) R:Y1.


The Bat-overs
The big crossover events in chronological order:

Batman: KnightFall Part 1: Broken Bat* - Bane comes to town to break the bat
Batman: KnightFall Part 2: Who Rules the Night* - Azrael takes over the mantle of the bat
Batman: KnightFall Part 3: Knightsend* - Batman reclaims his mantle... by force
Batman: Prodigal~ - Knightfall epilogue, Batman goes away to find himself and meanwhile Dick Grayson takes over for him as Bats

Batman: Contagion - Gotham is overrun by a mysterious plague
Batman: Legacy - Batman and Co. track down the source of the plague

Batman: Cataclysm - the prologue to No Man's Land, Gotham is devastated by a massive earthquake
Batman: No Man's Land vol. 1-5* - Gotham City is abandoned by the government and Batman and Co. have to fight for control over it against the Arkham loonies, organized gangs and Lex Luthor

Batman: Officer Down - someones attempts to murder Jim Gordon, who is it and why and what will it mean for the relationship between him and Batman

Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer? - when an old flame of Batman is killed and all evidence leads to Bruce Wayne, what does he do?
Batman: Bruce Wayne, Fugitive vol. 1-3 - on escape from the law, Batman must clear his name and reheal the relationships with his allies
Batman: War Drums - the prologue to War Games
War Games Act 1: Outbreak - a massive gang war breaks out in Gotham... and it's his fault
Acts 2 & 3 are soon to be released


Other (in continuity)
Various Batman books, in an attempted chronological order:

Batman: Haunted Knight - by Leob and Sale, several short stories with a Halloween theme
Batman: The Killing Joke* - by Alan Moore, the Joker goes on a rampage trying to snap Jim Gordon's mind and Batman must confront him on more than one level
Batman: A Death in the Family~ - by Jim Starlin, the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd
Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying - by Marv Wolfman, introduces the current Robin, Tim Drake
Batman: Evolution* - by Greg Rucka, Batman vs. Ras Al Ghul
Batman: Hush, vol. 1-2~ - by Loeb & Jim Lee, a new enemy, Hush, is plotting against
Batman: Death and the Maidens - by Greg Rucka, Batman vs. Ras Al Ghul vs. Ras Al Ghul's long lost daughter
Batman: As the Crow Flies - by Judd Winick, the Scarecrow breeds a new villain, the Scarebeast, or does he really?


Other (out of continuity)
Various Batman books that for some reason, be they elseworlds or are just dated, are not in official continuity:

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns* - by Frank Miller, an aged retired Batman takes the cape for one last twirl
Batman: The Dark Knights Strikes Again - by Frank Miller, in the sequal to tDKR, Batman and his new army of allies take on the US government which has been taken over by sinister forces
Batman: Year Two~ - by Mike W. Barr, Batman must team up with his parents' killer to take down the misguided vigilante Reaper
Batman: Son of the Demon~ - by Mike W. Barr, Batman shags Talya, has baby


Please do remind me of more...

 

[Starman]

I don't like darkness of the sake of darkness, is all.

Miller takes the Dark Knight, and loses the Knight, entirely. He (often) abandons half of what makes the character unique, in favor of making him essentially the Punisher, but one that doesn't use guns.

Anyway - if you like the darker Batman, that's cool. A lot of people do.

One of the coolest things about comics can be seeing different interpretations of a character. One as deep as Batman can be taken a lot of different ways. A lot of people would say that Batman has a certain level of psychological trauma. Miller asked the question "What would happen if a character like this went over the edge?" DKR answers this. I loved the story, but I wouldn't want to see a Batman this dark all of the time.

I would also agree with the person that said the art in DKR isn't very impressive. I've always been far more impressed with Miller's writing than his pencils.

Starman

 

[The Human Target]

Follow creators, not companies or titles.


And the best comic internet community is at http://www.jinxworld.com/

Cruise the forums and ask some questions.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Besides the obvious ones everyone has frothed over, like DKR, Year One and Killing Joke, I will nominate The Long Halloween for "new classic" status. It's one of those mysteries, much like the film The Usual Suspects, that you'll want to go back and read again once you're done to see how it all fit together...and try to find plot holes.

 

[Viking Bastard]

...and it's far from devoid plot holes, like any of Leob's mysteries.
For mood and characterization, Leob is king. For mysteries, he's
the beggar. While LH is nowhere the mess that Hush was, it's
revelation falls short.

Of course, if you can forgive him this the other aspects of the
stories are among the best Batman work I've read.