Help Me - I am just getting back into Batman comic books....

[SchumacherFan]

Ok, so I've been collecting and reading Marvel stuff off and on for years. Just recently, I've been getting into Batman stories. The only thing I've really read from Batman is Batman HUSH since I was a fan of Jim Lee. I liked Hush a lot.

After research, I've discovered I have to read these asap:

-Batman Year One
-Batman Dark Knight returns
-Batman Long halloween (Is Dark Victory worth checking out ? )
-Batman Arkham Asylum (Morrison)
-Batman The Killing Joke
-Batman Knightfall
-Batman A Death in the Family

Questions....Which ones should I read first ? ? Am I missing anything ?

Second, can anyone explain the difference between the 'Batman' on going series and 'Detective comics'. It seems like all the important / good popular stories stem from Batman. My question is whats in Detective Comics that stands out ? ? ? Does that series story lines cross with Batman or are they two seperate things ? ? ? ?

Also, I'm a fan of Jim Lee and I loved Frank Miller's Sin City. Would I like Batman and Robin All-Stars ? ? ? I heard mixed reviews and wondering if I should invest in it ? ? Why was issue 10 recalled ? ? I noticed its a 10 issue series and the trade paper back only goes up to 9. What gives ? ?

So since Bruce 'died', Stephanie became Batgirl and has her own series, Tim Drake became Red Robin and has his own series, Damien and Dick have became 'Batman and Robin' and have their popular series...

I know Batman Beyond is a 6-part miniseries.

But what's going on in Detective Comics and Batman right now ? ? ? Is Damien Wayne in either series ? ?

Sorry for all the dumb questions, I just am wondering what I should invest my time and money into ? ? ?

 

[WompuM]

Ok, Batman crash course:

1. Year One
2. Long Halloween
3. Dark Victory
4. Death in the Family
5. The Killing Joke
6. Kinghtfall
7. Hush
8. As the Crow Flies
9. Under the Hood
10. Son of the Demon
11. The Black Glove
12. R.I.P.
13. Battle for the Cowl
14. Batman Reborn

I'm sure some people here will have stuff to add, like the Earthquake storyline. Not too essential. Also, check out Morrison's Justice League and Arkham Asylum for some Bat-God goodness. Identity Crisis is also pretty important to Batman I suppose.

 

[Ultimate_Superman]

Get Batman: The Man Who Laughs (the sequel to year one IMO and a very good one at that).

 

[Hound55]

No Man's Land is pretty underrated, really...

 

[WompuM]

Get Batman: The Man Who Laughs (the sequel to year one IMO and a very good one at that).

****, he's totally right. This story is ****.

 

[SchumacherFan]

thanks for the replies...

can anyone tell me the differences between Detective Comics / Batman on going series' ???

 

[JTStarkiller]

If you mean currently, David Hine is in the middle of a somewhat dull four part story called Impostors. After the final two issues come out, Scott Snyder is taking over the book with artist Jock. It's really taking Batman back to his "detective" side, and I for one am really excited about it.

Batman will once again fall back into the hands of Tony Daniel, both for writing and art. He drew a lot of Morrison's Batman run, wrote and drew Battle for the Cowl, and then had a brief run on Batman, and is continuing his run.

 

[Frankenmation]

Also, I'm a fan of Jim Lee and I loved Frank Miller's Sin City. Would I like Batman and Robin All-Stars ? ? ? I heard mixed reviews and wondering if I should invest in it ? ?

Weeeeeeeeellll, it depends on your point of view. If you're expecting a well-written classic Batman story with developed characters....All-Stars is not for you.

However, if you're looking for an over the top, modern day equivalent of the 60's Adam West show with Batman being an (even more so) grimdark jackass with insanity sprinkles on top, definitely pick it up, you won't be disappointed!

*waits for Drz to come back and accuse me of ignorance for not getting the brilliance of Miller*

 

[WompuM]

thanks for the replies...

can anyone tell me the differences between Detective Comics / Batman on going series' ???

Historically, not much. Loosely, Detective focuses more on, you guessed it, Batman as a detective and Batman focuses on Batman as a superhero.

Then for a while, Detective was Batwoman's book. Now it's back to Batman.

 

[Mystirious]

No Man's Land is pretty underrated, really...

Agreed Hound

No Man's Land was a really fab Batman story

 

[Drz]

*waits for Drz to come back and accuse me of ignorance for not getting the brilliance of Miller*

I don't see how you're not seeing the character development that goes thru the issues really. Each issue progresses Batman and Robin and shows how the world itself is reacting to Bruce being Batman for a 3rd year, and how things are even further changing with Robin coming to the picture.

I mean even the biggest Miller haters have admitted the last issues we're getting better with story pacing and so on, so i'd wait and see how Dark Knight: Boy Wonder goes.

 

[Frankenmation]

Hurrah! The prodigal son has returned! Let the bad taste wagon roll on!

 

[Mr. Earle]

Ok, so I've been collecting and reading Marvel stuff off and on for years. Just recently, I've been getting into Batman stories. The only thing I've really read from Batman is Batman HUSH since I was a fan of Jim Lee. I liked Hush a lot.

After research, I've discovered I have to read these asap:

-Batman Year One
-Batman Dark Knight returns
-Batman Long halloween (Is Dark Victory worth checking out ? )
-Batman Arkham Asylum (Morrison)
-Batman The Killing Joke
-Batman Knightfall
-Batman A Death in the Family

Questions....Which ones should I read first ? ? Am I missing anything ?

Second, can anyone explain the difference between the 'Batman' on going series and 'Detective comics'. It seems like all the important / good popular stories stem from Batman. My question is whats in Detective Comics that stands out ? ? ? Does that series story lines cross with Batman or are they two seperate things ? ? ? ?

Also, I'm a fan of Jim Lee and I loved Frank Miller's Sin City. Would I like Batman and Robin All-Stars ? ? ? I heard mixed reviews and wondering if I should invest in it ? ? Why was issue 10 recalled ? ? I noticed its a 10 issue series and the trade paper back only goes up to 9. What gives ? ?

So since Bruce 'died', Stephanie became Batgirl and has her own series, Tim Drake became Red Robin and has his own series, Damien and Dick have became 'Batman and Robin' and have their popular series...

I know Batman Beyond is a 6-part miniseries.

But what's going on in Detective Comics and Batman right now ? ? ? Is Damien Wayne in either series ? ?

Sorry for all the dumb questions, I just am wondering what I should invest my time and money into ? ? ?

1) No offense, but you could have asked in the "official batman titles thread".

2) Schumacherfan? I hope you re not talking about Joel.

3) Read "No man's Land". You dont need to read "Cataclysm" or whatever the story setting up NML was called. All you need to know from that is that an earthquake hits Gotham.

4) Leave Morrison's run for last. Read his Batman run, then Last Rites, then Final Crisis (just the 6 main issues without the tie ins. Concentrate on Batman and ignore the rest because you ll need extensive knowledge of the DCU and Morrison's writing techniques to fully understand it. FC is quite complex). Then read Batman 700, 701, 702. Then read "B&R" and "Return of Bruce Wayne" simultaneously. And then i guess we get to all the issues about Bruce's return, like "the road home" and all that jazz. There are tons of them and cant remember all their names. And then its "Batman Inc".

5) Dont miss Batman 703. Its a great bat-family issue. (read after you've started reading B&R)

6) Batgirl (Stephanie Brown. It started this year) is also fun, especially the issues with Dick and Damian. But you should get that when you're in B&R.

7) Has "the Killing Joke" been suggested by anyone else? Read that too.

 

[Drz]

Hurrah! The prodigal son has returned! Let the bad taste wagon roll on!

Oh first you miss me, now you try to play hard to get huh!

 

[Hound55]

Yes, check out Dark Victory as well

Jeph Loeb didn't become comics' one man suicide squad until AFTER he worked with Bats, so Dark Victory and The Long Haloween are both recommended.

 

[Drz]

Catwoman: When in Rome aswell.

 

[Frankenmation]

Oh first you miss me, now you try to play hard to get huh!

Well, I don't want to appear too easy, snookums!

Oh, and on topic, I'd also recommend Strange Apparitions by Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers and Walt Simonson, it's probably my favourite Batman story of all time. It was released in the 70s and featured the return of Hugo Strange, Deadshot, the debut of Clayface III (Preston Payne) and one of the greatest Joker stories ever made: The Laughing Fish. Worth picking up.

 

[Hound55]

Also, I'm a fan of Jim Lee and I loved Frank Miller's Sin City. Would I like Batman and Robin All-Stars ? ? ? I heard mixed reviews and wondering if I should invest in it ? ? Why was issue 10 recalled ? ? I noticed its a 10 issue series and the trade paper back only goes up to 9. What gives ? ?

Alright, here's the honest scoop on the Millerverse (Note: Does not include Year One since that is considered canon). Read them in order of when they were published and then move onto the next if you could stomach the previous. That means:

The Dark Knight Returns
then
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
then
Allstar Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder

IF you jump straight to Allstar without the other two it'll be pretty jarring and you'll find yourself thinking "F***ing hell... Batman's a monumental prick..."

Which he is in Miller's Universe... but that's because he's more of a pure concept than a character... someone who represents necessary order and understands his own role in life and accepts it. Allstar is then working backward from that conclusion to explain how things came to be that way.

The Dark Knight Returns is still one of the best written graphic novels I've ever come across, even if it's not the best representation of the character of Batman.

As for why the trade ends short... I'm pretty sure it was going to be just the first of a few trades and then the series stalled with Jim Lee's growing workload (though I could be mistaken) after issue 10.

 

[Drz]

Year One is canon in Miller universe. Year One is barely canon post Infinite Crisis with all the things Morrison has done to Batman. All-Star Batman and Robin seems to be a book that SchumarcherFan will enjoy as he likes Sin City. Tho the issues with All-Star Batman's slow pacing would become a problem and with still 5 months away until the actual series continues. I'd say he just waits patiantly to get the full collection of Dark Knight: Boy Wonder (All-Star Batman renamed) early 2012.

 

[Hound55]

Just because he likes Sin City is no guarantee he'll like ASB&RtBW...

 

[Ipodman]

Nowadays collections are always the best bet when buying characters you are not sure of... I hate all the cliffhangers at the end of every issue.. argh!

 

[Drz]

@Hound: Hence why i said it's best to wait for the whole run since All Star Batman's issues lie within the pacing.

 

[Hound55]

... and as has already been mentioned, he hasn't read TDKR yet. I couldn't in good conscience recommended Allstar to someone who hasn't already read AND enjoyed TDKR.

Edit: Writing this up on my PS3 so by the time I responded you made another post.

 

[SchumacherFan]

I read on wiki that Frank Miller's Year One, All Star Batman and finally Dark Knight Returns are all in the same continuity.....

With that said, I plan on reading Year One first, then All Star, then DKR because thats the chronological order, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Some of these stories, I've never heard, so I'm looking forward to some of them.

But everyone keeps telling me Killing Joke is better than the Frank Miller Bat stories. I loved Watchmen graphic novel and it is alan moore, so I am curious to see his take on Batman, errr, or Joker, which ever the story is focused on...

Does anyone read Gotham City Sirens - and if so, how do you rate it among Batman & Robin, Batman, Batgirl, and Red Robin ? ? ? ? ?

Oh and thank you for all for responding to my thread. I am happy that the noobs such as myself don't get crushed for asking dumb questions as I prolly am to you guys.

 

[Drz]

No point reading All-Star after Year One since the story isn't finished. Sadly it won't be finished until October 2011. So yeah i'd be patiant with it. They're all standalone stories that don't require you to read any of the previous books, but they certainly enchance the experience.

Batman|Spawn is also in Millerverse, it's pretty fun story and shows Batman as a detective.

I wouldn't recommend Gotham City Sirens. It's just a disgusting sexual perversion of 3 awesome female characters. Paul Dini seriously went low when starting that book.