Top 3 favorite Batman Graphic Novels

[Mladen]

hmmm, k

Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
DKR (I can still get a kick out of reading it, so it has to make my list)
And something from Gotham Central, can't pick one in particular right now.

 

[OneKnight]

Year One, Long Halloween, and The Killing Joke.

I desperately want to read Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth but I can't find a copy any where.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Arkham-Asylum-Grant-Morrison/dp/0930289560

 

[Bruce_Wayne29]

The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Dark Knight Returns.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

Batman: Shaman
Gotham by Gaslight
Batman: Strange Apparitions

 

[Kevin Roegele]

 

[DocLathropBrown]

3. The Dark Knight Returns / Batman: Knightfall - Nothing needs to be said for DKR. A masterpiece. Knightfall, the first part specifically, is magnificent. Truly explores Bruce's drive. His plight in trying to contain the Arkham inmates is nerve-wracking, and you feel his pain every step of the way. For the rest of the storyline, you feel Jean-Paul's pain as he decends into madness under the pressure that the Batman mantle brings.

2. Tales of the Multiverse - Batman: Vampire - So sue me, I chose this new edition because it has all three original parts collected in it. So I could cheat and include Red Rain, Bloodstorm and Crimson Mist. A moving and engrossing trilogy, gothic, dark, and an exploration of humanity, nobility, heroism, and what drives Bruce Wayne to always do right. Even when he's farther down the abyss than ever before, beyond redemption, he still finds a way to fight some form of "the good fight."

1. Strange Apparitions / Dark Detective - Steve Engalhart and Marshall Rodgers' original run and it's sequel are tied for me at #1. Both are classic Batman with riveting stories, classic villains, pure portrayals and engrossing romance. Everything Batman should be.

 

[JokerLedger]

1. Batman Year 100
2. The Dark Knight Returns
3. The Long Halloween

 

[Comics N' Toons]

1) Batman: Arkham Asylum- a serious house on serious earth
2) Batman: haunted knight
3) Batman: the killing joke

 

[Superhobo]

These next two are a tie for third -

 

[Nepenthes]

This is hard, I couldn't really be bothered picking three. so much depends on my mood, phases etc.

DKR is absolutely on a level of it's own, no question there. Gushing, grovelling, DKR fanboy.

DKSA - severly under-rated, evidence of MENTAL ******ATION in general fanboy community. I find this consistently enjoyable.

All Star Batman - when it's all finally released the ASBR tpb's will be pretty alright I think. I'm counting this as an eventual body-of-work, not just issues 1-8 whatever.

The Cult - Hilarious, bewildering, Batman attacking strangers for food, Jason Todd slapping Batman around. I think of it as the forerunner to ASBR

Batman Black & White - All volumes. I'm not picking a standout right now but generally I love the BW tpbs and the short stories that appear in single issues. A higher standard of writing and experimentation.

The Killing Joke - If I had to pick only one from the obligatory classics (Arkham Asylum, Long Halloween, Year One, TKJ) then it has to be this.

 

[Nepenthes]

Harley & Ivy gets an honourable mention

Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean is one of my favourite tpbs in general, it features Ivy in a minor role and Batman makes an appeance at the end.

 

[Mladen]

agreed on Batman Black and White (both volumes, i've not yet picked up the third since i'm waiting for an oversized edition like the first two), though for some reason a lot of people enjoy telling others that 'crap' and that the 'artwork sucks'... Which I can't understand.

 

[Nepenthes]

Yeah I wish the Black&White's were a more regular thing, they should release a new collection once or twice a year with the singles appearing in back of monthly comics that need a boost. Done right they can be a quicker, easier, more experimental version of the All-Star books, great writers and artists paired for a one-shot where they can do whatever the hell they like. So many great stories have come out of the B&W format.


Harley & Ivy...lots stupid/funny moments in that book. It's very cute

. I was actually surprised how much I liked that book, I always figured I'd hate comics from the DiniTimmverse which is a pretty stupid assumption really.

 

[CaptainClown]

1. The Man who Laughs
2. DKR
3. Redson (I know it doesn't really count but I really liked the Batman in that series)

 

[Nepenthes]

Yeah I like that line in Red Son from the murderer "I will never forget the way that boy stared at me. Those weren't a childs eyes. They were too patient". Something like that. and Bruce keeps looking at him and freaking him out so he shoots him in the shoulder. ha ha. I don't like scary weird kids either

It's a good book but would you really put it in your TOP THREE Batman books ever? no, we can't really accept that Clown, choose again

 

[CaptainClown]

fine then Long Halloween.

 

[CaptainClown]

Actually the Killing Joke

 

[Mladen]

Done right they can be a quicker, easier, more experimental version of the All-Star books, great writers and artists paired for a one-shot where they can do whatever the hell they like.

I personally love that kind of Legends of the Dark Knight kind of format, I wish they'd bring it back. No continuity, no long-term storylines, just great experimental stories and artwork.

 

[Watson]

Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean is one of my favourite tpbs in general, it features Ivy in a minor role and Batman makes an appeance at the end.

What's Black Orchid about? I like McKean's art so I'd be interested in picking it up.


Top 3...I'm still accumulating a collection but right now:

1)TLH+DV...I really feel like this should be considered one story. I always read them together. Hopefully will pick up the absolute edition soon.
2)The Killing Joke...for obvious, classic reasons.
3) Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

I just bought the absolute edition of Hush (which I really enjoyed...great extras), and Gotham by Gaslight which looks interesting.

 

[Sparta*]

Long Halloween
Dark Knight Returns
Batman Vampire Trilogy (newly in a single collected trade)

honorable mentions
DKSA
Dark Victory
Year One
Killing Joke
The Cult

 

[Armored Avenger]

1. Batman: Dark Victory
2. Batman: The Long Halloween
3. Batman: Year One

Dark Victory is my all time favourite comic book story, followed very closely by Long Halloween. My third favourite would have to be Year One.

 

[CrimsonMist]

What's Black Orchid about? I like McKean's art so I'd be interested in picking it up.

I'm not too familiar with the character, aside from this book, but here's what it's about:

Spoiler

It's kind of confusing to explain, but there's a costumed crime fighter called The Black Orchid. She's killed in action by top-notch crime lords. With her death, a new one is born. Turns out The Black Orchid is a man made super- plant human with ties to the green, like Swamp Thing.

After that, it gets kind of hard to explain. But it's really worth getting. And i will say, for the 7 pages that he appears, Neil Gaiman wrote the best damn Swamp Thing since Alan Moore: Majestic, God-like and just plain fascinating. It's a shame DC and Rick Veitch had disagreements resulting in him leaving DC, resulting in Gaiman and Jamie Delano turning down the opportunity to write Swamp Thing.

 

[Nepenthes]

What's Black Orchid about? I like McKean's art so I'd be interested in picking it up.

A dead girl wakes up and doesn't know who or what she is. She's a plant and she's all purple and she goes around finding about about her past. Lex Luthor is a villain and Poison Ivy is written quite well, even though she's uglier than than hell

 

[Watson]

I think I may add that too the list of TPB to buy. Sounds really interesting

 

[CaptainClown]

Have you guys read Gotham Central?