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[QUOTE=millernumber1;4799457]I've already put it on my Top Five, but Batman Chronicles #5: Oracle Year One is a masterpiece that isn't reprinted anywhere. I'm also a big fan of the final volume of Manhunter that was never reprinted because it was originally published as backups in Streets of Gotham - where Kate Spencer becomes DA of Gotham and fights Harvey Dent, Jane Doe, and a bunch of other villains. A really great little story.[/QUOTE]
Aw snap; I completely forgot about this! Wasn't Brian Stelfreeze on art? What an amazing story that was completely upended by the New 52
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[QUOTE=charliehustle415;4799561]Aw snap; I completely forgot about this! Wasn't Brian Stelfreeze on art? What an amazing story that was completely upended by the New 52[/QUOTE]
Yes, Stelfreeze was on art. It's actually not my favorite art of his - but I did get it signed!
However, it actually wasn't the n52 that upended Oracle Year One - that origin was retconned a few times - the big one (and the most unfortunate) was Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle, which turned Bruce into Oracle's creator, instead of someone who just helped her. I was really not a fan of that one shot. (The Batgirl one shot from the same line was gold, though.) :)
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That Oracle Year One story had that great, really painful line about TKJ, where Babs asks if Batman and Joker were sharing a laugh *at her*.
I can feel that burn decades later.
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[QUOTE=godisawesome;4799636]That Oracle Year One story had that great, really painful line about TKJ, where Babs asks if Batman and Joker were sharing a laugh *at her*.
I can feel that burn decades later.[/QUOTE]
That line expresses how I feel about Killing Joke. I also 100% agree with what Dixon said about it. And to be fair, Moore has basically agreed as well.
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[QUOTE=millernumber1;4799580]Yes, Stelfreeze was on art. It's actually not my favorite art of his - but I did get it signed!
However, it actually wasn't the n52 that upended Oracle Year One - that origin was retconned a few times - the big one (and the most unfortunate) was Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle, which turned Bruce into Oracle's creator, instead of someone who just helped her. I was really not a fan of that one shot. (The Batgirl one shot from the same line was gold, though.) :)[/QUOTE]
Ah, I meant he not longer being Oracle.
I think the DC universe is poorer for it; because Oracle gave a connection to the DC universe that Batman alone couldn't achieve. She was the backbone for the Justice League and a lot of other heroes which in turn benefited Batman by having him always be in the know.
I also loved her opposite The Calculator.
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[QUOTE=charliehustle415;4799678]Ah, I meant he not longer being Oracle.
I think the DC universe is poorer for it; because Oracle gave a connection to the DC universe that Batman alone couldn't achieve. She was the backbone for the Justice League and a lot of other heroes which in turn benefited Batman by having him always be in the know.
I also loved her opposite The Calculator.[/QUOTE]
I mean, I ALSO feel the burn of her no longer being Oracle. It's a bloody shame. She was inspirational and powerful and had relationships people loved. As Batgirl, it's like they've made Barbara a priority, but consistently given her sub-par stories.
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[QUOTE=godisawesome;4799347]Anyone got any “lost gems” they’d like to recommend? Little, forgotten stories that deserve a look or two?
There’s “Heat” in Legends of the Dark Knight - it’s basically a pretty good of grimy “grindhouse” type of Batman story. A “Catman” with a Freddy Krueger glove starts going Jack the Ripper on a super hot summer, and Batman and Catwoman have to team up while Gordon has to keep a racist mayor from trying to paint the “Catman” as a black guy to stoke racial tensions and gets slugged isn’t he face by Gordon for it.
It’s grimy, but engrossing.[/QUOTE]
Heat is great! I want to go back to it now.
There's a one-off issue of LOTDK — "Sanctum" — that I thought was soooo scary as a kid. It was the Mike Mignola art, I think.
[url]https://comicvine.gamespot.com/batman-legends-of-the-dark-knight-54-sanctum/4000-38131/[/url]
The "Primal Riddle" story from LOTDK is a hidden gem, too, one of the better Riddler stories.
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[QUOTE=gregpersons;4799832]Heat is great! I want to go back to it now.
There's a one-off issue of LOTDK — "Sanctum" — that I thought was soooo scary as a kid. It was the Mike Mignola art, I think.
[url]https://comicvine.gamespot.com/batman-legends-of-the-dark-knight-54-sanctum/4000-38131/[/url]
The "Primal Riddle" story from LOTDK is a hidden gem, too, one of the better Riddler stories.[/QUOTE]
For great lesser known stories I'll put in:
[LIST][*][B]Batman Ego by Darwyn Cooke[/B] - Batman and Bruce argue about the kill of a henchman of the Joker.[*][B]Arkham Asylum: Living Hell by Dan Slott[/B] - Explores stories form Arkham's lesser known vilains.[*][B]Joker by Brian Azzarello[/B] - Joker is officially released from Arkham. Some thugs wan to kill him. He comes back as darker as ever.[*][B]Streets of Gotham by Paul Dini[/B] - Great street stories with lesser used vilains. (Great watercolors by Dustin Nguyen)[*][B]Batman: Jekyll & Hyde by Paul Jenkins[/B] - Examines the psychology behind Harvey Dent's split personality.[*][B]Dark Knight, Dark City by Peter Milligan[/B] - Batman vs. a very dark version of the Riddler.[*][B]Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka[/B] - With award wining art by J. H. Williams III.[*][B]Detective Comics #651: A bullet for Bullock by Chuck Dixon[/B] - Someone put a price on Bullock's head.[*][B]Batman Adventures: Shadows & Masks by Ty Templeton[/B] - Bruce Wayne goes undercover as his alter ego Matches Malone.[*][B]Joker's Asylum: Penguin by Jason Aaron[/B] - The Joker tells a story of The Penguin's life from when he was a child and of him recently. (with awsome art by Jason Pearson)[/LIST]
[IMG]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/7/73/Penguin_0001.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/329?cb=20140725171557[/IMG][IMG]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/9/98/Batman_Dick_Grayson_0048.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/306?cb=20111205211530[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.little-asylum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/batwoman-hydrology-blog-comics-.jpg[/IMG]
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[QUOTE=jb681131;4799990]For great lesser known stories I'll put in:
[LIST][*][B]Batman Ego by Darwyn Cooke[/B] - Batman and Bruce argue about the kill of a henchman of the Joker.[*][B]Arkham Asylum: Living Hell by Dan Slott[/B] - Explores stories form Arkham's lesser known vilains.[*][B]Joker by Brian Azzarello[/B] - Joker is officially released from Arkham. Some thugs wan to kill him. He comes back as darker as ever.[*][B]Streets of Gotham by Paul Dini[/B] - Great street stories with lesser used vilains. (Great watercolors by Dustin Nguyen)[*][B]Batman: Jekyll & Hyde by Paul Jenkins[/B] - Examines the psychology behind Harvey Dent's split personality.[*][B]Dark Knight, Dark City by Peter Milligan[/B] - Batman vs. a very dark version of the Riddler.[*][B]Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka[/B] - With award wining art by J. H. Williams III.[*][B]Detective Comics #651: A bullet for Bullock by Chuck Dixon[/B] - Someone put a price on Bullock's head.[*][B]Batman Adventures: Shadows & Masks by Ty Templeton[/B] - Bruce Wayne goes undercover as his alter ego Matches Malone.[*][B]Joker's Asylum: Penguin by Jason Aaron[/B] - The Joker tells a story of The Penguin's life from when he was a child and of him recently. (with awsome art by Jason Pearson)[/LIST]
[IMG]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/7/73/Penguin_0001.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/329?cb=20140725171557[/IMG][IMG]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/9/98/Batman_Dick_Grayson_0048.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/306?cb=20111205211530[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.little-asylum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/batwoman-hydrology-blog-comics-.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Some great ones! I'd say all of Dini's work, from his Detective Comics run, to Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens, is so fun and well written (though often inconsistent, as he rarely wrote monthly). I think Elegy is actually pretty well known - I'd suggest Cutter, but Rucka and Jock, the three issue arc that followed Elegy, and was reprinted in Batwoman by Rucka and Williams (a great trade).
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[QUOTE=millernumber1;4800050]Some great ones! I'd say all of Dini's work, from his Detective Comics run, to Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens, is so fun and well written (though often inconsistent, as he rarely wrote monthly). I think Elegy is actually pretty well known - I'd suggest Cutter, but Rucka and Jock, the three issue arc that followed Elegy, and was reprinted in Batwoman by Rucka and Williams (a great trade).[/QUOTE]
Indeed all of Dini's work is very good, even what he did on Batman Adventures.
About Rucka, all his work on the Batman Univers is great: New Gotham, Turning Point, Gotham Central, Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive, Batwoman, ... - Probably the best run ever on Batman.
I also missed:
[LIST][*][B]Gotham Girls by Paul Storrie[/B] - Action stories involving all of Gotham's Girls: Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya and Batgirl.[*][B]Batman: Snow by J.H Williams III[/B] - The sad origin story of Dr. Victor Fries (aka Mr. Freeze).[*][B]Catwoman: The Catfile by Chuck Dixon[/B] - Catwoman is captured and Blackmailed.[*][B]Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance by Brian Azzarello[/B] - Bruce Wayne died, Thomas Wayne takes on the Cap and Martha lost her mind and becomes the Joker.[*][B]Josie Mac by Judd Winick & Cliff Chiang[/B] - A great Backup about agent Josie Mac in Detective Comics #763-772[*][B]Gates of Gotham by Scott Snyder & Kyle Higgins[/B] - Involves the past of Gotham and it's historical families as well as a new vilain "The Architect".[/LIST]
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I’m so glad I got DC Universe; I’ve been pulling up some of your guys’ recommendations and generally enjoying them.
I also finally got around to reading Vengeance of Bane #2.
I actually really like Bane kicking his Venom addiction.
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[QUOTE=godisawesome;4801182]I’m so glad I got DC Universe; I’ve been pulling up some of your guys’ recommendations and generally enjoying them.
I also finally got around to reading Vengeance of Bane #2.
I actually really like Bane kicking his Venom addiction.[/QUOTE]
The two Vengeance of Bane one shots are really good stories. I wish Azrael were a bit more self contained - I don't really enjoy reading the ongoing, but would like some one shots that gave me his status quo like Bane got.
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Also, just dug up and read “Dead Reckoning” from Detective Comics. I remember it was being bandied about as an alternative to Hush at the time... and I think it’s the last Post-Crisis story to feature a Catwoman who doesn’t know who Batman is, and the last appearance of Two-Face right before his face got fixed for a few years.
It’s got some classic moments, like Batman interrogating Joker by uncuffing him in a prison yard so Joker can attack him with weapons, otherwise he won’t talk, and easily handling him.
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[QUOTE=godisawesome;4801560]Also, just dug up and read “Dead Reckoning” from Detective Comics. I remember it was being bandied about as an alternative to Hush at the time... and I think it’s the last Post-Crisis story to feature a Catwoman who doesn’t know who Batman is, and the last appearance of Two-Face right before his face got fixed for a few years.
It’s got some classic moments, like Batman interrogating Joker by uncuffing him in a prison yard so Joker can attack him with weapons, otherwise he won’t talk, and easily handling him.[/QUOTE]
Where is that arc found? Numbers wise, I mean.
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TEC #777 onwards. I lost count after I started just going through issues and clicking the next one.
The covers are all these legit Tim Sale designs.