Who is the Best Batman writer

[The Kid]

I voted Dini but Morrison and O'Neill are right behind him for me

[Noodle]

Denny O'Neil, the man who created modern serious Batman is a distant second to the guy who created Bat-Cow.

It's a strange world we live in.

Morrison didn't even create Bat-Cow, he just brought her into the main DCU. The concept was created three years earlier in Tiny Titans.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I voted Denny O'Neil! I think I might love those Steve Englehart issues more because of the artwork but I can live with O'Neil. After that, I think it's Len Wein, Frank Miller, and then Morrison.

[Jim Kelly]

I certainly liked Denny O'Neil's Batman a lot in the first half of the 1970s. But Frank Robbins was the other Batman writer at the time (he may have even wrote more stories than Denny) and it always bugs me that O'Neil gets all the credit and Robbins gets none.

In addition to his run in 1977, Steve Englehart also wrote "Night of the Stalker" in DETECTIVE COMICS 439. Granted Vin and Sal Amendola provided the plot, but as I think this is one of the greatest Batman stories ever published, it's a feather in Englehart's cap that he was associated with that tale, even before he began his glorious run on DETECTIVE thirty issues later.

[Scott Taylor]

Well this is a toughie but I'd say Paul Dini. And you know why? Its weird because he captures the essence of "pre-Miller" Batman, Joker and Robin so well. Probably a tie with O'Neil truth to tell. Morrison is top ten for me, but Batman has had a lot of great writers and his stuff piggybacks off of some of that stuff. like Miller, I feel that a lot of Morrison's writing is more experimental than classically Batman.

Has Snyder just gone out of vogue now, are people re-evaluating his run and finding it lacking? Seems like during his run, he could do no wrong.

[TheBatman]

Denny O'Neil, the man who created modern serious Batman is a distant second to the guy who created Bat-Cow.

It's a strange world we live in.

Being the guy who arguably created modern Batman does not automatically make you the best Batman writer.

And let's not pretend O'Neil's Batman doesn't have goofy stuff in it as well.

[Restingvoice]

I love Snyder mainly because of the lore building and how he writes Dick Grayson. When he goes nuts he goes nuts, like in Metal and his JL. It's comic book insanity.

His Bruce, because it was in New 52, sounds and looks too young, and his Alfred worship is getting to the point it looks kinda creepy. Like I can't see Alfred writing a diary referring to Bruce as his son. He's too professional for that.

Then there's the whole keeping his family from him when he's amnesia. Makes for a good character flaw since Alfred's often too perfect, just not the one I like because it's so creepy possessive.

[JBatmanFan05]

I didn't vote, not sure I will, but Dixon, Morrison, Frank Miller (Year One, Dark Knight Returns, and nothing else),Denny O'Neil. Paul Dini, Jim Starlin are among the best listed.

Matt Wagner is also a top contender. Alan Grant. Steve Englehart. Archie Goodwin.

[Laufeyson]

From achievement points, the winner of this vote is supposed to be Dennis O'Neil. He writes the most consistent of any Batfamily member ever, but, on the other hand, Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder have the best Batman stories for this decade with them. Paul Dini is another great writer with the introduction of Harley Quinn and a defining moment for Mr. Freeze. Brubaker, Starlin, Alan Grant, Steve Englehart, Dixon, Miller, Jeph Loeb, Archie Goodwin, and Matt Wagner are among the best. But, the way from my enjoyment is something like this:

Paul Dini > Jeph Loeb > Scott Snyder = Grant Morisson > Dennis O'Neil >>>>>> The Other

[Fergus]

If a writer does great work writing the batman family characters while doing a crappy/mediocre job with batman himself do we class them as a good batman writer?

[Fergus]

I think Scott Snyder pissed away a lot of the goodwill he garnered with Death Metal. How is he just on 2 points?

[captchuck]

I have to go with Bob Kane and Bill Finger. There wouldn't be any Batman, Robin, Catwoman or Joker without them.

[Jim Kelly]

Where do people get this idea that Denny O'Neil created the "modern serious" Batman? I grant you that O'Neil had a hand in the development of Batman in the 1970s, mainly as a writer, and then again from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s, mainly as an editor. But during each epoch he was not alone in the creative process and there were many other writers, artists and editors that were just as important to those iterations of Batman.

And you can't even argue that O'Neil was the impetus for those Dark Knights and thus say "well he started the ball rolling."

The loner Batman that emerged circa 1969 was already being produced by the likes of Frank Robbins and Bob Haney--with artist Neal Adams playing a role, as well. And the whole trend--led by editor Julius Schwartz--was a cagey going back to basics approach, drawing on the work of Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff and Jerry Robinson from the very early days of the Batman.

The Frank Miller Dark Knight was begun under the aegis of editor Dick Giordano. O'Neil hadn't come back to D.C. when that "Return of the Dark Knight" project was green-lighted--he just had the good fortune to arrive as it was being released. And sure, as new Bat editor, he got Miller to do "Year One" and O'Neil had strong control over the creative direction followed by other writers (although Archie Goodwin was an important editor in that camp when he came on board BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT). But it was a group effort.

[JBatmanFan05]

Where do people get this idea that Denny O'Neil created the "modern serious" Batman? I grant you that O'Neil had a hand in the development of Batman in the 1970s, mainly as a writer, and then again from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s, mainly as an editor. But during each epoch he was not alone in the creative process and there were many other writers, artists and editors that were just as important to those iterations of Batman.

And you can't even argue that O'Neil was the impetus for those Dark Knights and thus say "well he started the ball rolling."

The loner Batman that emerged circa 1969 was already being produced by the likes of Frank Robbins and Bob Haney--with artist Neal Adams playing a role, as well. And the whole trend--led by editor Julius Schwartz--was a cagey going back to basics approach, drawing on the work of Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff and Jerry Robinson from the very early days of the Batman.

The Frank Miller Dark Knight was begun under the aegis of editor Dick Giordano. O'Neil hadn't come back to D.C. when that "Return of the Dark Knight" project was green-lighted--he just had the good fortune to arrive as it was being released. And sure, as new Bat editor, he got Miller to do "Year One" and O'Neil had strong control over the creative direction followed by other writers (although Archie Goodwin was an important editor in that camp when he came on board BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT). But it was a group effort.

You make some fair points there. Perhaps Denny gets too much credit for a direction led more by Julius Schwartz. I will say this, Denny was a better writer of loner Batman than Robbins and Haney though, really just a better writer period. One can say Denny offered the best of a Schwartz's new editorial direction for Batman.

But you're right about the group effort. Denny, Robbins, Schwartz, Haney, Giordano, Irv Novick, Adams, etc definitely were part of the group that shifted Batman back to a more loner Batman in 1969 and "modern" Batman after Dark Knight Returns.


On Tec #395 "The Secret of the Waiting Graves":

Another striking thing when reading this story is how much of an influence it would have on Batman for the rest of the 70s. Many of the elements that would define the decade such as The Caped Crusader going on globetrotting adventures and being portrayed as more of a pulp hero/detective are showcased in this tale. The Batman of this time is often referred to as “James Bond in a cape” and though it’s easy to see the 007 influence it’s clear that O’Neil was also pulling from the old pulp heroes such as Doc Savage, Zorro, and the Shadow. It makes sense as many of these characters and their stories were a huge influence on the creation of Batman. These elements would get used in later stories by O’Neil most notably with the creation of Ras Al Gaul but the seeds of those later tales are clearly planted in this one.

With over 1000 issues of Detective Comics having been published, you have to do something pretty special to stand out and this is definitely one of those stories. The story has been reprinted and collected many times over the years and often cited as one of the most important stories in the character’s history. Though the team of O’Neil and Adams would go on to produce arguably more iconic stories this tale is the one that started their collaboration and showed great promise of what was to come. For me this is really where Batman entered the Bronze Age, delivering on the promise of a new Dark Knight that was alluded to in Batman #217. The story may not have the same impact on new readers as it did when it was first published but if you look at how Batman was being portrayed just a few months before this tale, you’ll see why this story had the impact and influence that it did.

https://detectivecomments.wordpress....aiting-graves/

[MajorHoy]

Had to go with "other" since Len Wein would have been one of the people I would have put on this poll.

Maybe it would have been better to create multiple polls by decades first to narrow down to a final "Best of" list?