Batman Graphic Novel Chronological Order?

Oooh boy. That's a doozy of a question.

There's a crapton of graphic novels out there but depending on whats going on at the time it differs. There's the 'classic' Pre-Crisis stuff from the 30's-80's, the post Crisis stuff up to the New 52 and the New 52 that we're in now.

If you're just looking for some good books that sort of follow the Year One books, there's the Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Haunted Knight.

There's a bunch of stuff from Batmans Year Zero (or whatever it's called) in the New 52 and I've stopped following the New 52 at all.

 

When it comes to successors of Year One, you should check out Monster Men, Mad Monk, Prey and then The Man Who Laughs (Batman's first encounter with the Joker).

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_and_the_Monster_Men_(Collected)
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_and_the_Mad_Monk_(Collected)
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman:_Prey
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman:_The_Man_Who_Laughs

And then move on to TLH and DV like KevanG suggested. You can also read Venom after Prey if you wish.

 

Ah. A question as old as time.

The truth is, the order really doesn't matter.

Comics, largely, aren't like movies that follow some strict chronology. Most books are successful within themselves or their own creative runs. And half the time, the comic publisher is erasing the character's continuity every decade anyway.

The lists given are good. They're the classics. But don't get too tied into them being sequels or prequels of each other. For the most part.

 

After Year One, read:

Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: Dark Victory

In that order. They all follow Year One, and basically cover Batman's early years. If you're a Catwoman fan, check out Catwoman: When in Rome too, which runs concurrently with the second half of Dark Victory and is done by the same creative team.

 

This is pretty close to the truth of the matter, though I will second Black Adam's recommendations...

Essentially, 'Long Halloween' functions very much like a 'Year Two' and it's very much like a sequel that's not a sequel.

There is a reason 'Batman Begins' borrows extremely heavily from 'Year One' while 'Dark Knight' does so with 'Long Halloween'. ('Dark Knight' also has the introduction of the Joker, though, while 'Long Halloween' doesn't have that, so reading 'Man Who Laughs' in between is a pretty good next step).

'Dark Victory' is a somewhat lesser story than 'Halloween', but it's a mostly worthy follow-up, is definitely a sequel, and also serves as a new origin story for Robin.

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That being said, I mostly agree with CConn's advice. Just grab whatever Bat-story tickles your fancy next and try not to read them as being too related to other entries in his canon.

If you are really interested in a contained, logically progressing Bat-universe, you're better off sticking with the Nolan films (though I would argue about how logical the progress is in 'Rises') or the Animated Series.

Or the Arkham games, though the timeline presented by 'Origins' screws things up.

 

I do think it's an interesting exercise, though, to try and piece together a loose chronology of graphic novels chronicling Batman's life and career. Even if some details might not line up 100%, it could be fun. "Hush" builds on things established in Jeph Loeb's other storylines, right? And then "Under the Hood" is based off of a small seed planted in "Hush." Where in Batman's timeline would those fall?

Other stories I can think of that might ought to be included would be The Killing Joke, A Death in the Family, maybe Knightfall... What do you guys think?

 

Take a look at my timeline on the Ultimate Batman Comics website:

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Here is the list of GN's I own. I'm open to criticism if you guys think they aren't in the right order.

Year One
Shaman
And the Monster Men
And the Mad Monk
Prey
The Man Who Laughs
Gothic
Haunted Knight
Rules of Engagement
Venom
Four of a Kind
The Long Halloween
Snow
Dark Victory
The Bat and the Beast
Tales of the Demon
The Killing Joke
The Cult
A Death in the Family
Vs Predator
Birth of the Demon
Knightfall
Cataclysm
No Mans Land
Hush
Under the Hood
Face the Face
Detective
And Son
RIP
Batman and Robin by Morrison
Batman Incorporated Delux
B & R Born to Kill
B & R Pearl
The Court of Owls
Death of the Family
B & R Death of the Family
Batman Incorporated Demon Star
Gothams Most Wanted
B & R Requiem for a Damian
B & R The Big Burn
B & R The Hunt for Robin
B & R Robin Rises
Endgame

Others
Black & White
The Dark Knight Return
Year 100
Zero Year (haven't read this yet, not sure where I'll put it until I do)