The Definitive Batman

[The Doctor]

I have been working on my Green Lantern list recently and while watching the movie Son of Batman, it got me thinking about the Batman trades and what are the major stories to be read in the Batman universe. So basically what I'd like to do is make a big chronological list (DCU timeline-wise).


The list will go on here and I'll add more information to the OP as people come in and give suggestions.

Here's just a small list of important stories off the top of my head. Info is what I found from Amazon so if you have a better trade recommendation let me know. I might add some info on each story as I build our list.

Batman Solo

Batman Vol. 4 Zero Year - Secret City (Bv2 #21-24 176 pgs.) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Batman Vol. 5 Zero Year - Dark City (Bv2 #25-27, 29-33 240 pgs.) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Batman Year One (Bv1 #404-407 136 pgs.) by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
Batman: The Long Halloween (Mini-series #1-13 384 pgs.) by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Batman: Dark Victory (Mini-series #0-13 499 pgs.) by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Batman: The Killing Joke (One-shot 64 pgs.) by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
Batman: A Death in the Family (Bv1 #426-429 272 pgs.) by Jim Starlin & Jim Aparo
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1 (Bv1 #491-500, DCv1 #659-666, SoBv1 #16-18 640 pgs.) by Various
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2 - KnightQuest (DCv1 #667-675, SoBv1 #19-20 24-28, Bv1 #501-508 656 pgs.) by Various
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3 - KnightsEnd (Bv1 #509-510 512-514, SoBv1 #29-30 32-34, DCv1 #676-677 679-681, LotDKv1 #62-63) by Various
Batman: Hush (Bv1 #609-619 320 pgs.) by Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee
Batman: Under the Red Hood (Bv1 #635-641 645-650 384 pgs.) by Judd Winick & Doug Mahnke
Batman: Batman & Son (Bv1 #655-658, 663-669, 672-675 384 pgs.) by Grant Morrison & Andy Kubert
Batman: The Court of Owls (Bv2 #1-7 176 pgs.) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Batman: The City of Owls (Bv2 #8-12 208 pgs.) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Batman: Death of the Family (Bv2 #13-17 176 pgs) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
The Joker: Death of the Family (Various Bat-titles 456 pgs.) by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Mini-series #1-4 224 pgs.) by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson

Bat-family



Justice League and other team ups

JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel (JLA #43-46 160 pgs.) by Mark Waid

Legend
B - Batman
DC - Detective Comics
SoB - Shadow of the Bat
LotDK - Legends of the Dark Knight

More to come!

[PyroSikTh]

This is my list of Batman chronology that I refer to frequently when deciding what to buy and where to put everything on my shelf.

Year One
Shaman
Batman and the Monster Men
Batman and the Mad Monk
Prey
The Man Who Laughs
Gothic
Venom
Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Killing Joke
Death in the Family
Birth of the Demon
Knightfall
Knightquest
Knightsend
Contagion
Cataclysm
No Man’s Land
Officer Down
Bruce Wayne: Murderer?
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive
Gotham Central
Hush
Broken City
War Games
Under the Red Hood
Heart of Hush
Batman and Son
Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul
Black Glove
RIP
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader
Batman Reborn
Time and the Batman
Batman vs Robin
Return of Bruce Wayne
Batman and Robin Must Die
Batman Incorporated
Gates of Gotham
Black Mirror
------
Born to Kill
Faces of Death
Court of Owls
Night of Owls
City of Owls
Death of the Family
Joker: Death of the Family
Demon Star
Gotham's Most Wanted
Requiem for Damian
Batman Eternal

Zero Year is sticky because it and Year One are kind of at odds. I'll be personally placing Zero Year after Requiem as a flashback of sorts.

[SocializingMogo]

The problem with Batman chronologies is that Batman history isn't a constant, it changed with every crisis and other retcons.
You basically have

Crisis on Infinite Earths -> Zero Hour Batman
Zero Hour -> Infinite Crisis Batman
Infinite Crisis -> Flashpoint Batman
And Nu52 Batman

Ie pre-Zero Hour Batman had Joe Chill as the killer of Bruce's parents, Zero Hour removed that (he never found the killer) and Infinite Crisis re-introduced Joe Chill. This is just one aspect. This is the way I sort my DC stories pretty much, chronologies only work between Crisis and other major events.
Also you should really treat Nu52 Batman as a completely separate beast, much of his previous history no longer makes sense.

To add to your list:
The current A Death in the Family already contains A Lonely Place of Dying (Tim Drake introduction) so you're good there.
If you read Knightfall then also read Prodigal (get it on ebay) which marks the end of loner-Batman and introduces a Batman that actually cares about his friends and family.
Most of my suggestions are already included in PyroSikTh's post. I'd add Final Crisis though, otherwise the stories afterwards don't make much sense.

[MykeHavoc]

My list would pretty much be post crisis to flashpoint.

DKR (a flash forward send-off to pre-crisis continuity)
Year One
Monster Men/Mad Monk
Man Who Laughs
Loeb/Sale stuff
Killing Joke
Death in the Family/Lonely Place
Arkham Asylum
Knightfall
No Man's Land
Azzarello stuff
Brubaker/Rucka runs
Hush
Under the Red Hood
Morrison/Dini runs
Black Mirror

That's strictly solo related material. Spin offs and team books are another story.

[exile001]

Oooh, an excuse to go through my TPB collection again. I'll try and post a list later this week.

[The Doctor]

Well as far as I go I'd pretty much try to make it in your mind as if you were going to fuse all of these great trade stories into one epic Batman lineage. Even if some people are missing in some stories or the mythos isn't completely matching because of error or within different DCU eras like Crisis on Infinite Earths, Flashpoint, etc.

I don't think besides the historical collections that there is much trade collections of stuff before Crisis on Infinite Earths anyway although I'm not 100% sure on that.

To Pyro (or anyone) what is the difference in between the Death of the Family and Joker: Death of the Family trades?

I haven't read any of these stories. Despite being CBFG before my experience with Batman was the Animated Series, the non-West movies, Zero Hour, and the New 52 everything after #21.

Of course I eventually ebay'd and got and read Long Halloween, parts of Shaman, and the Monster Men off of singles before I decided to move exclusively to trades.\

This is a list to not only help others, but something I can reference like my Johns Green Lantern thread which helps me tremendously when I'm in store on my phone trying to figure out what I need to get or what would be best.

[SocializingMogo]

Well as far as I go I'd pretty much try to make it in your mind as if you were going to fuse all of these great trade stories into one epic Batman lineage. Even if some people are missing in some stories or the mythos isn't completely matching because of error or within different DCU eras like Crisis on Infinite Earths, Flashpoint, etc.

If you do it your way, you're also mixing art-styles of different ages. It may be jarring going from Year One to Long Halloween and Dark Victory back to Death in the Family etc.

To Pyro (or anyone) what is the difference in between the Death of the Family and Joker: Death of the Family trades?

The Joker one only collects the tie-ins.

[Vinsanity]

I would add Strange Apparitions with Silver St. Cloud and Laughing Fish.

[MykeHavoc]

If you do it your way, you're also mixing art-styles of different ages. It may be jarring going from Year One to Long Halloween and Dark Victory back to Death in the Family etc.



The Joker one only collects the tie-ins.

I see that as a strength, personally. One artist, one writer would be awfully boring. Its the various visionaries giving unique takes on the material that keeps it fresh and interesting and allows it to endure.

[PyroSikTh]

If you read Knightfall then also read Prodigal (get it on ebay) which marks the end of loner-Batman and introduces a Batman that actually cares about his friends and family.

Prodigal is collected at the end of Knightsend, so there's no need to ebay an out-of-print trade if you're getting the complete Knightfall saga anyway.

I'd add Final Crisis though, otherwise the stories afterwards don't make much sense.

Not sure I particularly agree with this. RIP Missing Chapters (collected with Time and the Batman) covers everything in Final Crisis you need to know for Batman.

To Pyro (or anyone) what is the difference in between the Death of the Family and Joker: Death of the Family trades?

Death of the Family is #13-17 of the Batman title. It's the main story without any filler.
Joker: Death of the Family is all the tie-ins and filler material that, in my opinion, fleshes out the Death of the Family story really well. It also closes with Batman #17 so I often read the whole thing after the penultimate chapter in the Batman book.

[The Doctor]

Prodigal is collected at the end of Knightsend, so there's no need to ebay an out-of-print trade if you're getting the complete Knightfall saga anyway.



Not sure I particularly agree with this. RIP Missing Chapters (collected with Time and the Batman) covers everything in Final Crisis you need to know for Batman.



Death of the Family is #13-17 of the Batman title. It's the main story without any filler.
Joker: Death of the Family is all the tie-ins and filler material that, in my opinion, fleshes out the Death of the Family story really well. It also closes with Batman #17 so I often read the whole thing after the penultimate chapter in the Batman book.

I do want to collect final crisis anyways along with CoIE and Zero Hour (for Parallax and my Green Lantern stuff). So death of the family is Batman vol. 3?

[md62]

The reason Batman is so great is there is no definitive Batman. He works on so many different levels from pulp to campy to dark & brooding to less somber,,,etc.

[MykeHavoc]

Yup. Don't get me wrong, I love golden/silver/bronze age stuff. I just wasn't alive for it so it didn't have much impact on me growing up. I was born the year of DKR, and was mesmerized by the Tim Burton film at 3. So naturally that's what forever sticks in my mind. But all incarnations are valid and can coexist. Its a huge, wonderful world and I'm glad stuff like Batman '66 and L'il Gotham exist. Everyone deserves to share in the experience, regardless of age, gender, orientation, color or creed.

[The Doctor]

Another way to find some interesting trades for this would be to ask what are some of Batman's major villains best story arcs or what are some great scuffles between Batman and other heroes.

Best trade for Batman vs. Superman (or other heroes)
Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Clayface, Black Mask, Catwoman, Bane, Penguin, Riddler, etc. worthwhile stories.

[Sodam Yat]

I never understood how DC can cram all of that in a 5 year period in new 52 continuity. I'm loving what's listed here though.