I know this is a stupid question, but where should I start with Batman comics/graphic novels? My favorite Batman series was the animated series from the early 90's because that's what I grew up with. I also really enjoyed the 80's Tim Burton movie, and the Nolan trilogy, so its safe to say that I like a darker/grittier Batman. The only Batman comics I've ever read were Year One, and Gotham By Gaslight.
I've heard lots of praise for:
>Dark Knight Returns
>Killing Joke
>A Death In The Family
>The Long Halloween
>The Man Who Laughs
>Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth
>Dark Victory
>Knightfall
Where should I go from here? Are any of these good starting points?
That certainly seems like a good starting point. If you wanna see Dick Grayson in a pretty gritty Batman story, Black Mirror is also pretty good.
Batman: The man who falls
Batman: Year one
Batman: Shaman
Batman: Dark moon rising
Batman: the man who laughs
Four of a kind (this one collects four annuals:Batman: Shadow Of The BatAnnual #3: Poison Ivy: Year One, Batman: Legends Of The Dark KnightAnnual #5: Wings, BatmanAnnual #19: Masters Of Fear, Detective ComicsAnnual #8: Questions Multiply The Mystery)
Batman: Venom
Batman: Tenses
Batman: Prey
Batman: Other Realms
Batman: Gothic
Batman: Going sane
Batman: Hounded Knight
Batman: The eye of the beholder
Batman: Long Halloween
Batman: Night Cries
Batman: Monsters
Batman: Terror
Batman: Mask
Batman: Images
Batman: Tao
Batman: Sanctum
Batman: Snow
Batman: Mr Freeze (or just watch Heart of Ice from BTAS)
Batman:Year Two
Batman: Dark Victory
Catwoman: When in Rome
Batman: The Gauntlet
Robin: Year one
Batman: Fortunate son
Batman: Tales of the Demon
Batgirl: Year one
Batman: Faces
Huntress: Year one
Nightwing: Year one
Batman: Ten nights of the Beast
BATGIRL Special: THE LAST BATGIRL STORY
Batman: The killing joke
Batman: the Cult
Batman: A death in the family
Batman: the many deaths of Batman
Batman: Blind Justice
Batman: Year three
Batman: Lonely place of dying
Robin: Tragedy & Triumph
Robin: Hero Reborn
Batman: the last arkham
Penguin: Triumphant
Batman: Sword of Azrael
Robin: Cry of the Huntress
Batman: Vengeance of Bane
------------KNIGHTFALL-----------
>>81249153
Put the second half
>>81249153
Knightfall part I: Broken bat
Knightfall part II: Who rules the night
Robin: Flying solo
Knighquest
Knightsend
Batman: Prodigal
>here goes that shit that was Zero Hour read if you want to
Batman: Troika
Catwoman: Catfile
Nightwing: Ties that bind
Devil's Advocate
Batman: Vengeance of Bane II
Batman: Bane of the demon
Batman: Contagion
Batman: Legacy
Black Canary/Oracle: Birds Of Prey
Nightwing: A knight in Blüdhaven
Nightwing: Rough Justice
Birds Of Prey: Old Friends, new Enemies
Batman: The Abduction
Batman: Dreamland
Batman: The Scottish Connection
Nightwing/Huntress
Nightwing: Love & Bullets
Batman: Anarky
Batman: CATACLYSM (shit starts to go south in Gotham from here)
-------------NO MAN'S LAND------------
>>81249570
This used to be a torrent, right? Or is it every 'major' Bat plotline or something? I definitely recall reading it almost exactly in this order.
It takes a while, but it's worth it.
No Man's Land is kinda complicated because it's all splattered up, I hope you understand though
Batman: Road to no Man's Land
Batman(Vol. 1) #555-559
Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #722-726
Batman: Shadow Of The Bat#75-79
Robin(Vol. 4) #54
The Batman Chronicles#14
Batman#560-562
Detective Comics#727-729
Shadow Of The Bat#80-82
Azrael(Vol. 1) #47-49
Now here's the real deal
Batman: No Man's Land 1
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 83
Batman 563
Detective Comics 730
Azrael 51
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 116
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 84
Batman 564
Detective Comics 731
Azrael 52
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 117
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 85
Batman Chronicles 16
Batman 565
Detective Comics 732
Azrael 53
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 118 - Balance
Batman 566
Detective Comics 733
Azrael 54-55
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 119
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 87
Batman 567
Detective Comics 734
Young Justice No Man's Land Special 1
Robin 67
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 120
Azrael 56-57
Nightwing 35-37
Batman Chronicles 17
JLA 32
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 88
Batman 568
Detective Comics 735
Catwoman 72-74
Legends of the Dark Knight 121
Batman: Harley Quinn One-shot
Robin 68-70
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 89
Batman Chronicles 18
Batman 569
Detective Comics 736
Azrael 58
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 122
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 90
Batman 570
Detective Comics 737
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 123
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 91
Batman 571
Detective Comics 738
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 124
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 92
Secret Files and Origins: No Mans Land
Nightwing 38
Robin 71
Nightwing 39
Robin 72
Batman 572
Detective Comics 739
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 125
Catwoman 75
Azrael 59
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 93
Robin 73
Azrael 60
Catwoman 76-77
Batman 573
Detective Comics 740
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 126
Batman 574
Detective Comics 741
Azrael 61
Batman: Shadow of the Bat 94
>>81249950
>>81249950
It is, I downloaded once and I was forced to stop right in the middle of this one because life happened. It's definitely worth it and I plan to come back one day.
>>81247982
Year One is probably the best starting point, followed by Long Halloween and Dark Victory. The three stories work very well as a loose trilogy of sorts.
If you grew up with the Animated Series, read Mad Love by the series creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini which covers Harley Quinn's origin, and also read Batman Ego by Darwyn Cooke, who worked as a storyboard artist on Batman the Animated Series.
>>81250234
Now no Man's Land is over and Gotham is trying to rebuild itself
Batman:Evolution
Batman: Turning Points
Batman/Scarface: Psychodrama
Batgirl: Silent running
Batgirl: Knight alone
Huntress: Cry for blood
Harley Quinn: Preludes to knock knock jokes
Nightwing: The hunt for Oracle
Nightwing: Big guns
Batman: Officer Down
Batman: False faces
Nightwing: On the edge
Nightwing: The target
Batman: Gotham County line
Batman: Jokers last laugh
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score
Catwoman: The Dark End Of The Street
Batgirl: Death Wish
Batgirl: Fists Of Fury
Batman: Bruce Wayne Murderer?
Batman: Bruce Wayne Fugitive
Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborn
Batman: In Barcelona
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
Batman: Hush
Birds Of Prey: Of Like Minds
Batman: Death & the Maidens
Batman/Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows
Batman: Hush Returns
Batman: Broken city
Batman: the crow flies
Robins: Unmasked
Batman: War drums
Batman: War Games (BIG event)
Batman: City of crime
>identity crisis takes place right here, you definitely need to check this one out
Catwoman #37-43
Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood
Batman: War crimes
Robin: to kill a bird
Birds Of Prey: The Battle Within
Nightwing: Mobbed up
Robin: Days Of Fire & Madness
Batgirl: Destruction's Daughter
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Red Hood: the lost days
Nightwing: renegade
Batman: face to face
Robin: Wanted
Nightwing: brothers in blood
Birds Of Prey: Blood & Circuits
Birds Of Prey: Dead Of Winter
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre
Batman: Detective
Nightwing: Love and war
Batman: Death & the City
Batman: Joker's Asylum
Nightwing: The lost year
Catwoman: Catwoman dies
Catwoman: crime pays
Birds Of Prey: Metropolis Or Dust
Batman: Gotham underground
Catwoman: the long road home
Birds Of Prey: Platinum Flats
Batgirl: Redemption
Batman: Impostors
Batman: Batman & son
Batman: the Resurrection Of ra's al ghul
Batman: private casebook
Robin: Violent Tendencies
Batman: The black glove
Nightwing: Freefall
Batman: Heart of Hush
Batman: Black casebook
Batman: R.I.P
Just finished reading Arkham Asylum. That was really fucked up lol
>>81251250
>read final crisis before keep goingor don't. All you need to know is that SPOILER ALERT:Batman is killed by Darkseid
Robin: Search For A Hero
Nightwing: The Great Leap
Oracle: The Cure
BATTLE FOR THE COWL
Batman: Long shadows
Red Robin: The grail
Batman Streets of Gotham: Hush Money
Gotham City Sirens: Union
Batman Streets of Gotham: Leviathan
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight
Batgirl: Batgirl Rising
Red Robin: Collision
Batman: Life After Death
Batman: Arkham Reborn
Gotham City Sirens: songs of the Sirens
Azrael: Angel in the Dark
Batgirl: The Flood
Birds Of Prey: Endrun
Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn
Batman & Robin: Batman vs Robin
Batman: time & the batman
Batman: the return of Bruce Wayne
Batman: Bruce Wayne the road home
Batman & Robin: Batman MUST die
Batman: The Return
Red Robin: The Hit List
Batman Streets of Gotham: The House of hush
Birds Of Prey: The Death Of Oracle
Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit
Gotham City Sirens: Division
Batman: gotham shall be Judged
Batman & Robin: Dark Knight vs. White Knight
Batman: Knight & Squire
Batman: eye of the beholder (the other one)
Batman #713 (goodbye issue before the New 52)
Batman: The Black Mirror
Detective Comics #881
Red Robin: 7 Days Of Death
Batgirl: The Lesson
Batman Inc I
Batman:Gates of Gotham
Batman the Dark Knight: Golden Dawn
Batman Inc II: Leviathan Strikes
---------------FLASHPOINT------------------
Here we got some stories out of continuity but they are really interesting such as
Batman: Knight Of Vengeance
Deadman & The Flying Graysons
Deathstroke & The Curse Of The Ravager
-------------------The New 52------------------
After Flashpoint is over the universe is rebooted into the New 52. Some of the continuity before the new 52 are still valid but nobody knows for certain what specific stories are in and what are out of continuity at the moment.
>>81251725
Dave McKean's artwork makes it. The Amadeus Arkham origin stuff is good, but the Batman story I can take or leave, other than the incredible art.
This should really be stickied, especially with the amount of people talking about getting into DC lately.
>>81251725
I love it. Only thing stopping it from being 10/10 is how anticlimactic the ending is
>>81247982
>tfw wanna read every single batman related thing from the beginning till now
>spin offs, related titles, team ups, everything
>can never find a complete list or where to even get them
I just want a cool batman shelf...
>>81252028
It's impossible unless you pirate, and even then getting a dedicated list is impossible. Huge chunks of spin off are out of print or unavailable, or not collected in their entirety. Also, I suspect it's physically impossible to read it all in a lifetime, especially once you start counting the Batfamily.
Detective Comics alone is already past 900. Batman is past 700. Then you're talking Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Gotham Central, Young Justice, Batman/Superman, World's Finest, not to mention endless minis and shorts.
And each week they add more
>>81251976
I completely agree, please sticky mods!
Damn were all those lists like every single Batman story in chronological order or something?
>>81251976
No it shouldn't, if any sort of rec thread is being stickied, it should be a link to a rec resource for every character.
>>81252263
Kinda, it's the complete reading order for Modern Age Batman canon. So everything that kind of matters to comics right now, but the list begins 50 years into Batman comics.
>>81252263
It's actually just one big list but thanks to character limit you can't put it all on one post. And it's not every single Batman story, just the ones that are canonicaly relevant or worth reading for the quality and yes they're in chronological order since the early days of young Bruce Wayne dealing with the death of his parents till the last story told in post crisis continuity
Let me just Morrison this shit up
>>81252351
To be honest, it's probably better that you took a break because a lot of those early stories kinda blend together for me now. It is a lot of Batman at once, and parts of it become kind of a slog -- >>81249570 THIS is where I hit a total brick wall, Cataclysm brought me back because I really loved seeing the Batfamily kinda work as EMS and all the stories about Gotham reacting to the quake were cool.
That said, I lucked out because I marathon read this and when I caught up to canon it was right after Batman and Son came out. Morrison's stuff was a lot easier to follow after all of this.
I can't wait to read the Bronze Age though, there's a lot of classic Batman writers and artists who are bypassed by this list.
>>81252572
>I can't wait to read the Bronze Age though, there's a lot of classic Batman writers and artists who are bypassed by this list.
YES, bronze age Batman is GOAT. Drops the Silver Age corn, but isn't full-on grim dark like post DKR Batman books, has a good balance.
>>81247982
If you liked Gotham By Gaslight you should check out The Doom That Came To Gotham
>>81247982
>http://corecommendedcomics.wikia.com/wiki//co/_Recommended_Comics_Wiki
use that, a popular character like Batman has plenty of recommended comics. If there isn't an article, make a thread, otherwise check the /co/ tumblr or whatever it is.
>>81247982
>where should I start
Do comics really need a page like this?
>>81249153
Seeing this makes one realize how cool Legends of the Dark Knight was. I miss that kind of thing.
