What to read if your a dark/solo Batman fan ?

[wrestlemaniac]

Hi guys,

This is probably going to end up being a long read but please, take your time and share your thoughts on this with me.

Ok,so i've been a lifelong Batman fan and comics fan-reader ( not just batman but in general) and while growing up i loved most of it but even way back then i never really got into the supporting "bat family" thing, my love for batman really started with the movie Batman 89 and that is in large part still what i envision batman to be, a lonewolf type hero,defending his city on his own, no campy or awkward sidekicks.

yes i loved the animated series and yes i liked robin in there but that is a completly seperate thing and my nostalgia filled heart will always love that series but the thing is, in my mind, in "my" batman world, he's always dark and gritty/serious, and ALONE. To me that is what makes him appealing, as a kid i was sorta ok with a supporting cast even tho i didn't really love them, i read batman comics because i was a fan of batman, period.

Now, getting older this vision of mine only got stronger and i absolutely loved the serious-tone comics i've read where he is solo and would want to follow batman's comic adventures that way but how to do it these days ? i admit i had been out of comics for a good few years and Batman Begins is what really awakend my inner fan again and the entire Nolan trilogy is what brought me back wanting to read batman comics.

But none of the fantastical, magical sci fi stuff or no batgirl,batwoman,bat whatevers around please...to me it only confuses the mytholgy and makes the books read like a dang sitcom, which is not what i like about Batman at ALL.

Some comic book characters just don't fit with extented familys and to me batman is the most obvious one. I love HIS character, not some woman trying to be batman or some kids trying to upstage him, i just don't want nor can get into a family dynamic with the guy. there's Bruce/Batman,Alfred,the manor with batcave and him going out fighting criminals and villains.

Is there still a solo batman series being made or am i forced to just accept the family or either be satisfied with only being some old classic solo books like year one ?

This may sound like i'm just a nolan fan trying to get into comics but trust me i'm NOT,i'm 27 now and have a vast history of reading comics, but growing up has changed my enjoyment of comics and what i like about them a lot. i like the basic ideas of these characters, specially batman, but i don't want to get into muddled continuity issues and 100 versions of robin with each their own huge contuinity issue, it's all too...big. i just want to follow batman himself since that's what made me a fan in the first place and the little snotty sidekick thing was always a hindrence.

Basiclly it's like daredevil, he's another one of those guys that just wouldn't work with a "family" since that kills the entire basis of why he is what he is. you don't see Damedevil or Daredude or whathaveyou popping up and screwing up the serious nature of the brooding, serious hero now do you...right.

Bottom line, what should fans who like batman for being batman..read ?

 

[Mee]

Batman and Detective Comics tend to be mostly solo Batman, but of course members of the Bat-family pop up every couple of issues. I think Batman: The Dark Knight is geared more towards solo stuff as well.

But really you just have to accept the family I guess, there isn't a series being published that's strictly Batman on his own.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

Hm,well i'll have to think about it then,maybe i should just stick to being a fan of the movies and get myself a mini bookshelf with just a few of the classic batman books/novels that are important in the characters history and leave it at that.

I guess i have the same mindset that most movie makers did/do have like burton and nolan, they obviously just liked the primal idea behind the batman character and his gritty world and thus presented him that to us on screen, not thinking it was necessary at all to include others becuase the movie is about the big guy himself only. and that's just the way i feel about comic batman as well. i would've been ok if there was just "batman & robin" but multiple robins, a dead one comign back, some red hood guy, a daughter, other batwoman AND now a son....it's all just so backwards of what i have always known batman to be and loved about him, it's like somehow he isn't tough enough to defend his own city so he needs weaker versions of himself to get the job done.

i know i'm harsh and there are undoubetly brilliant bat family storys out there ( i read good things about nightwing comics over the years online) but creating an extended "family" for such an iconic character always felt like jamming a square peg into a triangular hole lol.

It's like 99% procent of the "normal" people liking superman and loving the icon for what he is yet not giving a crap about supergirl and power girl and whoever else is supposedly important in the comics,most people just love superman because it's f'n superman and thats all that needs to be said for most folks lol

 

[Mee]

Batman doesn't have a daughter in the main continuity.

Right now the Bat-family is


Batman, of course
Nightwing, the original Robin
Red Hood, the 2nd Robin, who was killed by the Joker but came back
Red Robin, the 3rd Robin
Robin (Damian Wayne), son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Gul
Batgirl

And then Batwing and Batwoman are less connected than the rest, rarely crossing over into the other stories.


I get where you're coming from, and it is hard to jump in and wrap your head around all that history, especially since DC hasn't really mapped out the history exactly for the New 52, but for solo Batman you're right...you'll basically just have to pick and choose what you buy. DC has a new Legends of the Dark Knight series that's online only, 99 cents an issue (they're fairly short), I think all of those have been solo stories so far. I bought one and it was pretty good.

Then there's the new Batman: Earth One graphic novel which is supposed to be a realistic, Batman Begins type thing, but I haven't read it so not sure about the quality.

 

[Venom 1988]

i know i'm harsh

That's putting it lightly....

I would go on and defend the bat-family's presence in the comics, but you already seem dead set in your way.

Also IIRC Robin was originally going to be in Batman '89

 

[emotiondetector]

That's putting it lightly....

I would go on and defend the bat-family's presence in the comics, but you already seem dead set in your way.

Also IIRC Robin was originally going to be in Batman '89

Wow, on the defense much? With the quadrillion different incarnations of Batman, you feel the need to criticize someone for pursuing the oh so stubborn notion of a solo Batman? Believe it or not, someone is allowed to have an opinion on Batman without being "dead set in their way."

Yes, there's really no getting around the Bat-family, but you don't have to get your panties in a bunch. So what if Robin was planned to be in B89? Some desperate attempt to prove the big bad solo-Bat fan wrong in regards to his taste in stories? Point is, he wasn't in it...therefore it's a Batman only story.

You don't need to defend the bat-family's presence in the comics, just like he doesn't need to defend his idea of a solo-Batman. Doesn't mean you're dead set in your way because you wholeheartedly accept the bat-family, does it?

 

[Venom 1988]

Wow, on the defense much? With the quadrillion different incarnations of Batman, you feel the need to criticize someone for pursuing the oh so stubborn notion of a solo Batman? Believe it or not, someone is allowed to have an opinion on Batman without being "dead set in their way."

Yes, there's really no getting around the Bat-family, but you don't have to get your panties in a bunch. So what if Robin was planned to be in B89? Some desperate attempt to prove the big bad solo-Bat fan wrong in regards to his taste in stories? Point is, he wasn't in it...therefore it's a Batman only story.

You don't need to defend the bat-family's presence in the comics, just like he doesn't need to defend his idea of a solo-Batman. Doesn't mean you're dead set in your way because you wholeheartedly accept the bat-family, does it?

lol First post to say this? An alt. account? Anyway I wasn't really being defensive as as you say, nor do I care that much what he prefers. Otherwise I'd just write several paragraphs like you and beat my chest in rage. But I guess my small post infuriated you so much, you couldn't resist. Oh well

 

[Mace Dolex]

For some good solo Batman tales you can try the Legends Of The Dark Knight title which chronicles Batman first couple of years as a loner, some arcs are a hit or miss and there is the occasional crossover with the modern titles.

Also sad to say it got cancelled around 2006 I think.

 

[Cain]

For some good solo Batman tales you can try the Legends Of The Dark Knight title which chronicles Batman first couple of years as a loner, some arcs are a hit or miss and there is the occasional crossover with the modern titles.

Also sad to say it got cancelled around 2006 I think.

It's been resurrected but the new volume is digital only.

 

[CConn]

It's not digital only, it's just digital first. Every three digital issues are released as a 40-page monthly print comic too.