Batman's Best (and Worst) Decade?

[Comics N' Toons]

In terms of publishing and other media, what are Batman's best and worst decades?

I think Batman's best stories came out in the 1980's. I also think that was his apex as far as popularity... due in no small part to the 1989 Batman movie!
His worst decade? I'm not sure? The 1950's? 2010-2020?


What do you guys think? What are Batman's best and worst times AND Why?

[JBatmanFan05]

Worst is a lot easier for me. As far as comics (as opposed to considering TV), I think most comics and Batman comics scholars and diehards would say, and I agree, that the 1960s were the weakest decade. For me, not even Adam West can save the decade overall for Batman because the comics were so dull and forgettable.

The best I'd say might be the 1980s because it offered half lighter Bronze Age Batman and half "modern" (Post-Crisis) Batman. Frank Miller (Dark Knight Returns, Year One), Alan Moore, Alan Grant, Grant Morrison (Arkham Asylum), Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, Denny O'Neil, Jim Starlin, Mike W Barr, Max Allan Collins, etc.

[Comics N' Toons]

Post 1964 tho, the New Look era came in and... Infantino's art improved the books... then later in the decade, the stories started their trajectory toward modern Batman under Frank Robbins and later Denny and Neal.

[Jim Kelly]

My favourite comics were in the 1960s. This is when I discovered the character and the comic books were really good, in my opinion--better than the T.V. show. After that it's hard to say, since I like the 1940s, 1970s and 1950s about equally as much. From there the 1980s weren't as good as any of the decades before, the 1990s weren't as good as the 1980s and the 2000s weren't as good as the 1990s. But I haven't read that many of the comics from 2010 onward so there might be a worst decade that I haven't read. There's no chance of being better--for purely sentimental reasons, of course.

[babyblob]

Worst is a lot easier for me. As far as comics (as opposed to considering TV), I think most comics and Batman comics scholars and diehards would say, and I agree, that the 1960s were the weakest decade. For me, not even Adam West can save the decade overall for Batman because the comics were so dull and forgettable.

The best I'd say might be the 1980s because it offered half lighter Bronze Age Batman and half "modern" (Post-Crisis) Batman. Frank Miller (Dark Knight Returns, Year One), Alan Moore, Alan Grant, Grant Morrison (Arkham Asylum), Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, Denny O'Neil, Jim Starlin, Mike W Barr, Max Allan Collins, etc.

I agree with everything about this statement. the 80's were fun because he was lighthearted at the start then became more serious but not overly serious that it killed the enjoyment for me.

Yes the 60's were forgettable but to be fair to Batman almost all of Dc 1960's is forgettable. And Marvel had a lot of forgettable stuff in the early days of the 60's. Antman throwaway Ironman stories etc.. Dont get me wrong I have a blast reading them. But not a lot of land mark issues.

[SiegePerilous02]

Best would be either the 70s or 80s. 80s he was mostly balanced between being too light and too dark, but TDKR was created then. And while that is obviously a major and influential work, IMO it isn't for the better, so my bias dictates that I like the 70s more

Worst would probably be the 50s and/or 00s.

[Tzigone]

Yes the 60's were forgettable but to be fair to Batman almost all of Dc 1960's is forgettable. And Marvel had a lot of forgettable stuff in the early days of the 60's. Antman throwaway Ironman stories etc.. Dont get me wrong I have a blast reading them. But not a lot of land mark issues.

I find GL and Flash better in the silver age than Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman (I'm particularly a silver age Flash fan). I like Ray and the Hawks, but can't say much for their titles (or '60s JLA). Same for original Teen Titans. Adore '60s Ralph and Sue, but I agree they aren't landmark. Late '60s has some good Bat stuff, though I do think '70s are better.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Best: 1980s for Batman: Year One, TDKR and Batman: The Killing Joker. Fan of the 2010s though through Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin with Batman: The Black Mirror. Rebirth wasn't good for Batman though.
Worst: Have to think on that.

[Jim Kelly]

I don't agree on the artistic assessment of the 1960s. But that aside--the 1960s is where everything starts to happen. So even if you don't like them, you have to give them their due. Everything about Batman later, first developed in the 1960s, with the changeover from Old Look to New Look. This is when Batman, Robin and Gordon were refreshed to become the characters we know today. This is when Barbara Gordon was created. This is when all the old villains from the 1940s were brought back. And this is when Batman's role as a detective was given greater emphasis. Yes, it's also when Batmania happened--but Batmania is the thing that made everything else possible because Batman actually sold lots of products and millions of comic books--he broke through as a valuable property.

[Vordan]

The 00s were his best decade. That was the decade we got:
-The first two Nolan Batman movies
-The Arkham Asylum game, the first great Batman video game
-DCAU JL and JLU which were peak Batman
-Brubaker, Rucka, Morrison, and Dini on the Batman books

Literally everything he was in was gold. It’s never been that good before or since imo.

[ShutUpLutz]

Best would be either the 70s or 80s. 80s he was mostly balanced between being too light and too dark, but TDKR was created then. And while that is obviously a major and influential work, IMO it isn't for the better, so my bias dictates that I like the 70s more

Worst would probably be the 50s and/or 00s.

The '50's had dozens of the weird 'imaginary stories' comics where bats and Robin would go to outer space or to Mars or Batman would have an insect head.

[Pohzee]

I don't agree on the artistic assessment of the 1960s. But that aside--the 1960s is where everything starts to happen. So even if you don't like them, you have to give them their due. Everything about Batman later, first developed in the 1960s, with the changeover from Old Look to New Look. This is when Batman, Robin and Gordon were refreshed to become the characters we know today. This is when Barbara Gordon was created. This is when all the old villains from the 1940s were brought back. And this is when Batman's role as a detective was given greater emphasis. Yes, it's also when Batmania happened--but Batmania is the thing that made everything else possible because Batman actually sold lots of products and millions of comic books--he broke through as a valuable property.

I grew up on the black and white reprints of comics from this era, but it was fascinating to read the interviews of how revolutionary the now seemingly campy and dated comics were at the time. I appreciate them a lot. They feel a lot more like Batman to me than most of the stuff that has come out in the past 10-20 years.

[Comics N' Toons]

Am I wrong that the Batman from the first 65 years of his history is not the same Batman once Morrison took over? It seems that Morrison's Gothic, JLA and Arkham: Serious House Batman is pretty much in the same vein and is not the same Batman from his actual run. I just see such a contrast, such a stark difference between the guy that was in Brave and the Bold with Aparo art or Grant/Breyfogle or Denny O or Englehart/Rogers worked on compared to the Batman of the last 15 years. Am I wrong? Why is it such a shift?

[bat39]

The 1980's are definitely one of, if not the, best decades. Three of the most influential Batman stories ever - DKR, Year One, The Killing Joke - and Burton's movie which redefined the character forever in wider pop-culture and finally ended the dominance of the Adam West incarnation. Basically, this decade created the 'modern' Batman who's a pop-cultural behemoth today, both in the comics and beyond.

The 2000's refined and doubled down on what the 80's (and the 90's) gave us. You had the start of the Arkham games, a bunch of Batman cartoons and a continuation of the BTAS version in JLU, Nolan's first two movies, Dini, Brubaker and Morrison, among others, working on the comics. Truly a 'golden age' for the Dark Knight.

In terms of worse decade, I guess it'd have to be the 1950's. It's really a HUGE credit to Morrison that he managed to find a lot of the weirder sci-fi stuff from this decade to recontextualize as part of the backstory for his run, and actually make it work! Of course, some of the more 'grounded' comics from this decade helped inspire the '66 show, so its not like they had zero contribution either...

[Jim Kelly]

Like with most decades, the 1950s are broken up into different phases. The pre-Code period is different from post-Code. Most of Dick Sprang's best art was in the 1950s. And to me he's the greatest Batman artist.

Batwoman is introduced in 1956, but the Batman Family doesn't really take off until 1960 with the introduction of Bat-Mite and Bat-Girl. Then you get a lot more of those stories with the whole family and you get the imaginary stories written by Alfred about Batman II and Robin II. Some of the bizarre science fiction that Grant Morrison drew upon was from the early 1960s not the 1950s. The early 1960s is when they really start to go for broke, in hopes of reviving flagging sales, before Julie Schwartz is brought in to save Batman.

I like the Animated Batman in the 1990s more than a lot that was going on in the mainstream comics at the time. And I love the work of Mike Parobeck in the comics that adapted the Animated Series. What I appreciate about that Batman is it does go back to the 1940s and 1950s for a lot of its inspiration. The look of Batman is similar to that by Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson and Sheldon Moldoff.