When I talked about “The Killing Joke”, which I love, I teased that it was time to discuss other Batman stories I love.
Well my friends I like to keep my word, so here are a few Batman stories that I love. I know, I did more for Superman but as I have discussed many times Superman is the character I love. Why is that? I think that the dark tone most love about Batman turns me off. I like the more upbeat and positive stuff. Which should come to no surprise considering how many “dark” movies I’ve discussed. On the other hand, the really old stuff is reaallly lame. That silver age junk is a little to upbeat, or ridiculous! Batman does need a little angst about him though i do love the Adam West TV show.
(one of the first Batman comics I ever remember reading)
So what do I love about Batman? First and foremost, I love the detective angle. Yeah so many of the movies forget that he’s the world’s greatest detective. And the fact he is just a regular guy is a cool thing, the skills he uses are really impressive. Comics have changed how and when he acquired his skills as the character evolved but it’s basically always been that he was trained by the best and brightest and pushed himself to be smarter than everyone.
(I talked about this before, I fantastic done in one)
So here is my list, and you’ll forgive me if there aren’t to many recent stories on here. Like the Superman list these aren’t the GREATEST Batman stories, just my personal favorites. But unlike the Superman list, I needed to open up the criteria a bit so it can be ANY Batman comic book story even if they aren’t in an official Batman book.
Detective Comics #457
Dennis O’Neil failed to revamp Superman in the 70’s, but he was successful with Batman. He managed to get the caped crusader out of the silliness of the 60’s and began the darker stories that would eventually become the norm. They could still be silly, compared to modern stuff anyway, but it was an improvement. For the record, Batman in the 70’s was a LOT better than Superman in the 70’s!! “No Hope in Crime Alley” is a great example, it’s probably been reprinted a million times because of how good it is. Even if it is dated. The issue introduced Leslie Thompkins who has come and gone from Batman lore (yes she’s appeared in “Gotham”) and shows an interesting angle on the whole murder of Bruce’s parents.
Untold Legend of the Batman
Before the Crisis on Infinte Earth’s changed almost everything in it, this Batman story came along and was awesome. Yeah it was basically a clip show but I loved reading this the first time because it covered facets of Batman which I had never read. This is when a clip show works, when it catches you up on stuff you missed (though to be fair almost everything in it would soon be retconned away forever). I talked a lot about Len Wein in a different article and his Batman stories were great. He also did Batman/Hulk which I loved, created Lucius Fox who would be around from then on, and created the third and most terrifying version of Clayface. Check out my full article for more on him.
Batman:Year Two/Full Circle
A few articles back I mentioned the lesser known Batman villain The Reaper. These are the two stories he was featured in. Year Two basically explores why Batman doesn’t use guns, and makes a few cosmetic changes like turning Leslie Thompkins from a kind old lady to a tough social worker who cares for victims of violence. Full Circle is really just fall out from Year 2. But I still like it. Doesn’t hurt they’re written by Mikw W.Barr one of my favorite comic writers.He’s on this list more than once.
And what about Year One?
Yeah I hate Frank Miller, even when he was good. I do admire what this story did and recognized the elements from it that made their way in “Batman Begins”. It was such a departure from the norm I hated it when I first read it but have grown to appreciate it.
Brave and the Bold #200
One of the comic I was crazy about when I discovered them was the old Brave and the Bold. I loved the team-up’s and I loved the Batman those stories gave us. I went nuts collecting the back issues, but as I have gotten older I have to admit those issues are not perfect. This was when Batman was still clinging to his goofier elements. Oh sure, Ace the Bat Hound was long gone (yes that was a thing) but we still had silly scenes such as one issue opening with Batmand and Commisione Gordon casually taking a stroll in open daylight. Huh??? Issue 200 was the final and they did a great job of contrasting the silver age goofy Batman to the more modern take that had been taking hold by 1983.
Batman & The Outsiders #1
Yeah as I said I have to open up he criteria a bit here, so here we go. As the 80’s rolled on the more darker tone was taking over. It reached a point where Batman in the JLA didn’t make sense anymore. Batman traveling the stars kept him away from the Gotham criminals he was supposed to be striking at. So he resigned and formed The Outsiders. I think that most know this team, though it has very different forms over the years. the funny this is after The Outsiders spun off into their own book the reason Batman left was the same rason he had left the JLA. Sort of full circle.
The Many Death’s of the Batman
Combine my favorite comic book writer with my favorite Batman artist, and what do you have? This 1989 three part story. Hey remember how Batman was trained by the best and brightest? What if a villain found this out, and decided to kill of the people who trained him? And what if, just for fun, the villain dresses all his victims up in a Batman costume? Not a bad premise but the really notable issue is Batman #431 which is a silent issue. Yep, only two words the whole issue but you know what, with Jim Aparo’s art you don’t need any more. It’s not perfect, writer John Byrne gets wordy and the story rushes the end. But it’s all about the mystery I love that.
Batman:In Darkest Knight
I talked in my Superman article about the Elseworld’s tale that had Superman becoming Batman. Only fair to cover an Elseworld here, in this case what if Batman became Green Lantern? It’s pretty good, though not perfect. I should mention that Batman has had TONS of Elseworld’s doing everything from turning into a vampire, setting in Victorian England to fight Jack the Ripper, team-up’s with Spider-Man and Captain America and Spawn, and even a King Arthur era knight.
A Death in the Family
Why isn’t this one mentioned more? It was a great story which was a landmark in a lot of way. After the events of The Killing Joke, Joker decides it’s best to leave the country and get into a arms deal with Ayatollah Khomeini. Umm, ok it’s a little dated. The important part is that Jason Todd is beaten and then murdered by the Joker in a warehouse explosion. It’s a great character study as we see Batman have to deal with this loss, add to that the amazing art of Jim Aparo and you have a real classic. Jim Starlin was a great Batman writer because he used to get right into his head and give stories from his point of view. I liked that. He also did the story “Ten Nights of the Beast” with KGBeast that i discussed before. The death of Jason Todd was decided by fan vote and while I did not vote I probably would have been that pro side if I had.
A Lonely Place of Dying
So a few months after Todd was killed it was decided to introduce the next Robin. And what a wonderful job they did of it. First we have Batman acting more and more reckless. Then rather than just throwing the new character at us, we got a chance to learn about him. First, it’s teased in a four part story called “Batman:Year 3”. And then we got the five part arc which crossed over (sort of) with New Teen Titans. In the end we got a new Robin who was awesome and so popular it didn’t take long for him to get his own series. Marv Wolfman was not primarily known for his Batman stuff but he obviously got him.
Detective Comics 633
Hey remember that great Batman:The Animated Series episode “Perchance to Dream” where Bruce Wayne wakes up one day to find his life perfect? Yeah welcome to the inspiration! It’s basically the same story though the ending and the person responsible is different. It’s always fun to wonder what Batman’s life would have been like if not for that one awful night. Written by Peter Milligan who did a lot of good Batman work.
KnigtsEnd
I talked before how I thought the whole Knightfall storyline was to damn long. It was good, a landmark story as we see Batman get beaten like he had never been before. Not to mention giving us a new villain which would become as popular as The Joker. That’s hard to pull off! But my preference has always been that follow up where we see Bruce Wayne recover and reclaim the mantle of Batman from the nutcase who had taken it over. Azrael is a story for another day. First of all, it's shorter! But second seeing Bruce reclaim what is rightfully his was very fulfilling. I don’t have much to say about Doug Moench, he’s a good writer but his love for Batman gets a little to much at times. But it does seem like he’s written stories I like more often than I realize.
Batman #0
After the events of Zero Hour and Knightfall we get this refreshed version of Batman’s start while he wonders what will happen next. And, this is where I stopped reading. While I have read the occasional story written after that, they are few and I couldn’t find one to add here.
Did I miss any? Are you serious??? Let’s start with The Dark Knight Returns which I did not like (again, I have never been a Frank Miller fan) all the way to The Long Halloween which I do want to read someday.And yes I know I’ve miss out on a lot of great stuff from great writers like Grant Morrison. Someday I’ll catch up.
Yeah Batman has some amazing stories (and yes some bad one’s. Ever read Batman Digital Justice? Ugh) and so my friends feel to comment and let me know which one’s you love to read over and over.
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