Batman TPBs to stay away from

[CorpusBlack]

I liked DKR, took me a little time then I really loved it. Especially Joker twisting his own neck

My favorite Joker moment, well.. second to shooting Barbara Gordon.

 

[BubbaGump]

I liked DKR, took me a little time then I really loved it. Especially Joker twisting his own neck

Same here. For me...it "clicked" during the second reading.

if your suggesting things for people to read, theres a lot more stories out there that are under the radar and are better, like EGO for example.

Ego is definitely underrated.

 

[Nepenthes]

Count me as one who needed a few readings of DKR to understand it's full glory. That said i was only twelve the first time and coming off a staple diet of X-Men

DKSA seemed to be quintessential Miller to me. I love it too, it's one my favourite tpbs on the shelf.

Ego is a great one-shot distillation of Batman lore. It's funny that my least favourite thing about it is the art, which is fantastic.

 

[CaptainClown]

I feel that DKSA is not really essential batman reading, where as DKR is essential batman reading. Also ya I read DKR when I was younger and didn't quite understand it and really care. I also wasn't a fan of the art back then

 

[Nepenthes]

I feel that DKSA is not really essential batman reading, where as DKR is essential batman reading.

that's definitly true. in fact I'd only recomend DKSA to commited batman fans and not just your casual comic reader even. It's a huge WTF.

I hated the panel layouts especially in DKR. The little boxes looked so 'old and lame' and the time. ha

 

[CaptainClown]

ya I actually really don't mind DKSA you just really have to roll with it and forget all other batman lore.
If you follow the series you will be like ..grayson? what? batboys? plastic man most powerful person in the universe? Luthor? what?

 

[lixdexia]

I hated the panel layouts especially in DKR. The little boxes looked so 'old and lame' and the time. ha

aww, the talking heads are one of my favorite parts of dkr. it kinda gives you a regular gothamites view on what's going on in the story

 

[Nepenthes]

I meant the panel layouts in general not just the talking heads. the grid pattern is more heavily used in the first parts of the series. but yeah I love the art now and all the various techniques used. I'm one of those annoying people who hold DKR waaaaay high on a pedestal. it's irreproachable.

anyway, back on subject:
Batman:Absolution
War on Crime
anything to do with BruceWayne:Fugitive or War Crimes

 

[K.B.]

DKR is fine but is certainly overrated. As I said, YO is the better Miller book. DKSA is just typical lost his mind Frank Miller. They should have just made it a JLA title instead of a DKR sequel and it probablly would have been more well recieved.

I really liked Gotham County Line and wish DC would give Niles and his team a reg Bat book.

 

[BubbaGump]

I meant the panel layouts in general not just the talking heads. the grid pattern is more heavily used in the first parts of the series. but yeah I love the art now and all the various techniques used. I'm one of those annoying people who hold DKR waaaaay high on a pedestal. it's irreproachable.

Paul Gravett details that the tight grid layout was to induce claustrophobia and adrenaline, and exaggerate the following full-blown splash pages.

 

[Nepenthes]

it definitily works. where did he say that? is it in a book or online.

I don;t think Miller has ever used layout so effectivly as in DKR. why not, I dunno. but thinking about this definitly makes me look forward to that damn Al Qaida book again, when it happens. Who knows how that's going to turn out.

 

[CaptainClown]

i personally think its going to be really over the top

 

[BubbaGump]

it definitily works. where did he say that? is it in a book or online.

...I thought you said you didn't like the layout in DKR?

 

[Nepenthes]

yeah I said I didn't like it WHEN I WAS 12

but yeah I love the art now and all the various techniques used. I'm one of those annoying people who hold DKR waaaaay high on a pedestal. it's irreproachable.

 

[Dirt Like Me]

Well I think Year one is a perfect story. I had to stick up for it.

I agree with you on that, I wouldn't change a single panel in Year One.

I can't think of a better example where the art so perfectly matched the story, and I absolutely love the story. This is the book I recommend to people who express any curiousity in reading comics.

As for ones to stay away from, I was disappointed with Dark Detective. I love the Englehart/Rogers stuff from the 1970s (and I think Rogers' Joker from that era is one of the best ever drawn), but overall I was underwhelmed by the follow-up. Some decent Joker stuff, but Bruce is a bit whiny, and while Two-Face looked cool his story line--with his clone, "Harvey"--was lame.

 

[BubbaGump]

yeah I said I didn't like it when i was 12

Gotcha.

 

[The Joker]

As for ones to stay away from, I was disappointed with Dark Detective.

I agree. I thought that story was really, really bland.

 

[The Empire Ape]

I agree. I thought that story was really, really bland.

better than mutilated corpses on every page.

 

[The Joker]

better than mutilated corpses on every page.

Ok

 

[BingoJesus]

just finished DKSA, and found it far, far better than rDKR. I thought it was alot more fun, for a start, although, as others have mentioned I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't a regular with comics. But in the same circumstance I wouldn't recommend DKR either.

 

[itsthebatman]

DKSA, Secrets, War Drums - all poor. Dark Detective very disappointing. Gotham County Line was just awful crap altogether.
Any Batman fan worth his salt has to read DKR and Year One. They were the first two TPBs I bought, and they got me hooked right away. So little else matches up to their quality.

 

[RobC]

I thought DKSA was pretty good, it showed a lot more emotion and also had a bit more depth due its longer running time (Or should that be reading time...)

For me, the worst books are City Of Crime, I mean come on, what the hell happened there?

Also, Hush Returns... It's like OK here's the story, then bang half way through we'll miss out huge chunks that are in another book and come in, then bang, it's over, with no resolution whatsoever...

Seriously, in the second half, they could have parachuted into the scene for all the good it did...

 

[Victarion]

Where storyline is concerned, I surprisingly didn't really have a taste for The Long Halloween outside of Two-Face's birth. Yes, it pretty much ran the whole issue but after 1 read I found I really couldn't get myself to pick it up again.

My compliments to the artist--the renditions of Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Scarecrow were fantastic. Not so much so for Riddler, Joker, Catwoman, in my opinion.

Year One was a good origin story for Batman, but the artwork for the Bat wasn't to my liking. Again, Sale's is my preferred version. I also enjoyed the storyline elements with Gordon's transition to Gotham.

---Morzan

 

[RobC]

Yeah, I think TLH is kinda one shot read. I liked it, bu I don't think it's the mega classic that everyone hypes, but then, that's my opinion!

 

[souloffire]

I actually agree.

They hyped this one to death just before Batman Begins came out....so I bought it. It was ok but not nearly the life altering experience the hype would have you believe...

I think it's more of a "life altering experience" for the people who read it when it first came out. For me it's still my favorite comic arc ever.