My ongoing post-crisis Batman read-through

[Shaggy]

So about 3 months ago I started a Batman read-through beginning with Year One. Been reading superhero comics on and off for about 11 years (The New 52 and Marvel Now were what got me started around 2011/2012) but I have never delved deep into Batman. I had previously read Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, the 4 Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale books, Hush, The Man Who Laughs. The Black Mirror and about 24 issues of the New 52 Scott Snyder run (Court/Night of Owls & Zero Year) but that was it. In other words, I was a filthy casual.

For my personal reading order I looked at Near Mint Condition's Batman reading order videos on Youtube and various reading orders posted online: https://ultimatebatmancomicswebsite....om/page-1.html
https://www.comicbooktreasury.com/ba...he-modern-age/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...irst_complete/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...reading_order/)

The general idea was to (re-)read the essential early (post-crisis) Batman stories starting with Year One (Batman 404-407) and then go back to Batman Second Chances (Batman 402-403, 408-416) and read all issues of Batman and Detective Comics from that point on (I'm currently reading Second Chances and will then go into Batman The Caped Crusader Vol 1 & Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vol 1).

What I've read so far:
Batman Year One TPB (1987)
Catwoman v1 1-4 (Her Sister's Keeper) (1989)
Batman and the Monster Men (2006)
Batman and the Mad Monk (2006-2007)
Batman The Man Who Laughs (2005)
Batman Journey Into Knight 1-12 (2005-2006)
Batman Year One Annuals 1-4 (Four of a Kind) (1995)
Batman Legends of the Dark Knight v1 1-20 & 137-141 (Shaman, Gothic, Venom, Prey & Terror) (1989-1991, 2001)
Batman/Catwoman Trail of the Gun 1-2 (2004)
Batman Haunted Knight (1993-1995)
Batman The Long Halloween (1996-1997)
Batman Dark Victory (1999-2000)
Catwoman When in Rome (2004)
Batman The Long Halloween Special (2021)
Batman Chronicles The Gauntlet One-shot (1997)
Robin Year One (2001)
Batman Tales of the Demon (1971-1972, 1978-1980)
Batgirl Year One (2003)
Catwoman Defiant One-shot (1992)
Huntress Year One (2008)
Birds of Prey Batgirl Catwoman/Catwoman Oracle 1-2 (2003)
Batman Batgirl One-shot (1997)
Nightwing Year One (2005)
Batgirl Girlfrenzy One-shot (1997)
Batgirl Special One-shot (The Last Batgirl Story) (1988)
Batman Son of the Demon (1987)
Batman bride of the Demon (1990)
Batman Birth of the Demon (1993)
Batman The Cult (1988)
Batman The Killing Joke (1988)
Batman Arkham Asylum (1989)

So I figured I'd make a thread to share some of my thoughts as I go and perhaps get some recommendations if I miss anything important.

Two of my favoourite books that I hadn't previously read were Robin Year One & Batgirl Year One (Killer Moth almost lends the comic a Venture Bros type feel). Just great stories (my only criticism would be that Batgirl is a bit heavy on the foreshadowing) with likeable characters and wonderful art. I've seen people argue that it's hard to pull off a young live action Robin who isn't Damian because it makes Batman seem irresponsible and unrelatable (Frank Miller's All-Star Batman & Robin is a good example of that) but Robin Year One would be a great blueprint for a comic-accurate adaptation of the character.

Anyway, I really loved the Robin and Batgirl books and I wish there were more modern retellings set in that era. Especially regarding Batgirl. As you can see I tried to read the modern Batgirl stories that take place before The Killing Joke and there were only a handful of one-shots (and none of them were particularly good imo). It was a bummer to go from Batgirl Year One to the Killing Joke.



Nightwing Year One was okay but a marked step down from the Robin and Batgirl books both in terms of story and art. Batman comes off as a bit of jerk to put it mildly. The story makes the mistakes that Robin Year One managed to avoid which is odd because both books are written by the same writer.



I have to also give a shout-out to Matt Wagner's Monster Men & The Mad Monk stories. Once again, great artwork (Dave Stewart's colors really enhance Wagner's drawings) and it gives off the same sort of vibe as Batman Begins (to this day my favourite Batman movie).
In contrast, Journey Into Knight which I read right after The Mad Monk & The Man Who Laughs was godawful. It was honestly tough to finish. The writer (an editor at DC at the time, I checked) decided to take the Wayne Enterprise corporate story and the love interest from Bruce's childhood story from Batman Begins (both came out in 2005) and stretch it to the limit while throwing in some truly meh original baddies. The Wayne Enterprise execs were also cartoonishly evil. And the artwork is the worst I've come across so far (lifeless backgrounds, hilarious faces).

Another really bad comic was Batman/Catwoman Trail of the Gun by Anne Nocenti (I know she had a Catwoman run during the New 52). It's only worth reading for the hyper-detailed art by Ehtan van Sciver (too bad he's just the worst in real life). This is not so much a story as it is the author ranting about gun violence and lack of gun control laws. Every character that Catwoman or Batman come across immediately launches into a big speech about guns over and over and over again. Maybe this was novel when the book first came out but reading it now it's just all your regular talking points regurgitated by characters on the page. I'm anti-guns (European over here) but I just couldn't take it.

As for the rest, I'm glad I read them but I don't think I would read most of them again. Take the Legends of the Dark Knight and Ra's Al Ghul books, for example. The Ra's stories all felt very outdated (even the ones written in the late 80s and early 90s). Ra's and Talia are mostly ill-defnied as are their schemes. In terms of quality there's not a lot of difference between the Tales of the Demon stories and the Son/Bride of the Demon, which is surprising. I was kind of taken aback by the fact that Ra's is portrayed as more of a bond villain with high tech bases and technology as opposed to a mystical character. Birth of the Demon was the best story and seemed to go more towards a mystical direction though (and the book is worth it for the art alone).

Out of the Legends of the Dark Knight stories my favourite was Shaman, which serves as a pretty neat companion piece to Year One. Gotham feels very lived in and real, there are pages in that book that look fantastic. Venom was the worst one. It was neat to see the origin of the drug Bane will use later on (or so I'm told) but the story itself is lackluster and often unintenioally comical (Batman goes roid crazy).

Something that I also quickly realized during my read-through is that these year one stories really don't work that well together in terms of continuity. The Hugo Strange in Prey & Terror is a completely different character from the one we meet in Monster Men (I guess we have Zero Hour and Infintie Crisis to thank for that) and the two versions really can't co-exist. I also read the 2021 Long Halloween Special by Loeb & Sale and it flies in the face of what happened in Robin & Batgirl Year One. The special was a nice coda to Long Halloween and Dark Victory though.

If someone came asking me for an essential early Batman book list then I think I'd tell them to read
1. Batman Year One
2. Batman The Man Who Laughs (the book has a lot of energy)
3. Batman The Long Halloween (the Loeb & Sale books are all still very good imo and the art keeps getting better with each book)
4. Batman Dark Victory
5. Catwoman When in Rome
6. The Batman Chronicles The Gauntlet
7. Robin Year One
8. Batgirl Year One

I guess you could throw in books like Shaman and Monster Men/The Mad Monk but they're not really essential.

P.S. I forgot Batman The Cult. I don't know if this was the inspiration for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises but it sure feels like it. I also never knew I wanted to see Batman and Robin assaulting Gotham in a monster truck Batmobile but here it is. Some absolutely stunning pages. Felt like it needed to be longer though, the Frank Miller-style TV broadcasts do a lot of heavy lifting.

[bat39]

So about 3 months ago I started a Batman read-through beginning with Year One. Been reading superhero comics on and off for about 11 years (The New 52 and Marvel Now were what got me started around 2011/2012) but I have never delved deep into Batman. I had previously read Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, the 4 Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale books, Hush, The Man Who Laughs. The Black Mirror and about 24 issues of the New 52 Scott Snyder run (Court/Night of Owls & Zero Year) but that was it. In other words, I was a filthy casual.

For my personal reading order I looked at Near Mint Condition's Batman reading order videos on Youtube and various reading orders posted online: https://ultimatebatmancomicswebsite....om/page-1.html
https://www.comicbooktreasury.com/ba...he-modern-age/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...irst_complete/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...reading_order/)

The general idea was to (re-)read the essential early (post-crisis) Batman stories starting with Year One (Batman 404-407) and then go back to Batman Second Chances (Batman 402-403, 408-416) and read all issues of Batman and Detective Comics from that point on (I'm currently reading Second Chances and will then go into Batman The Caped Crusader Vol 1 & Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vol 1).

What I've read so far:
Batman Year One TPB (1987)
Catwoman v1 1-4 (Her Sister's Keeper) (1989)
Batman and the Monster Men (2006)
Batman and the Mad Monk (2006-2007)
Batman The Man Who Laughs (2005)
Batman Journey Into Knight 1-12 (2005-2006)
Batman Year One Annuals 1-4 (Four of a Kind) (1995)
Batman Legends of the Dark Knight v1 1-20 & 137-141 (Shaman, Gothic, Venom, Prey & Terror) (1989-1991, 2001)
Batman/Catwoman Trail of the Gun 1-2 (2004)
Batman Haunted Knight (1993-1995)
Batman The Long Halloween (1996-1997)
Batman Dark Victory (1999-2000)
Catwoman When in Rome (2004)
Batman The Long Halloween Special (2021)
Batman Chronicles The Gauntlet One-shot (1997)
Robin Year One (2001)
Batman Tales of the Demon (1971-1972, 1978-1980)
Batgirl Year One (2003)
Catwoman Defiant One-shot (1992)
Huntress Year One (2008)
Birds of Prey Batgirl Catwoman/Catwoman Oracle 1-2 (2003)
Batman Batgirl One-shot (1997)
Nightwing Year One (2005)
Batgirl Girlfrenzy One-shot (1997)
Batgirl Special One-shot (The Last Batgirl Story) (1988)
Batman Son of the Demon (1987)
Batman bride of the Demon (1990)
Batman Birth of the Demon (1993)
Batman The Cult (1988)
Batman The Killing Joke (1988)
Batman Arkham Asylum (1989)

So I figured I'd make a thread to share some of my thoughts as I go and perhaps get some recommendations if I miss anything important.

Two of my favoourite books that I hadn't previously read were Robin Year One & Batgirl Year One (Killer Moth almost lends the comic a Venture Bros type feel). Just great stories (my only criticism would be that Batgirl is a bit heavy on the foreshadowing) with likeable characters and wonderful art. I've seen people argue that it's hard to pull off a young live action Robin who isn't Damian because it makes Batman seem irresponsible and unrelatable (Frank Miller's All-Star Batman & Robin is a good example of that) but Robin Year One would be a great blueprint for a comic-accurate adaptation of the character.

Anyway, I really loved the Robin and Batgirl books and I wish there were more modern retellings set in that era. Especially regarding Batgirl. As you can see I tried to read the modern Batgirl stories that take place before The Killing Joke and there were only a handful of one-shots (and none of them were particularly good imo). It was a bummer to go from Batgirl Year One to the Killing Joke.



Nightwing Year One was okay but a marked step down from the Robin and Batgirl books both in terms of story and art. Batman comes off as a bit of jerk to put it mildly. The story makes the mistakes that Robin Year One managed to avoid which is odd because both books are written by the same writer.



I have to also give a shout-out to Matt Wagner's Monster Men & The Mad Monk stories. Once again, great artwork (Dave Stewart's colors really enhance Wagner's drawings) and it gives off the same sort of vibe as Batman Begins (to this day my favourite Batman movie).
In contrast, Journey Into Knight which I read right after The Mad Monk & The Man Who Laughs was godawful. It was honestly tough to finish. The writer (an editor at DC at the time, I checked) decided to take the Wayne Enterprise corporate story and the love interest from Bruce's childhood story from Batman Begins (both came out in 2005) and stretch it to the limit while throwing in some truly meh original baddies. The Wayne Enterprise execs were also cartoonishly evil. And the artwork is the worst I've come across so far (lifeless backgrounds, hilarious faces).

Another really bad comic was Batman/Catwoman Trail of the Gun by Anne Nocenti (I know she had a Catwoman run during the New 52). It's only worth reading for the hyper-detailed art by Ehtan van Sciver (too bad he's just the worst in real life). This is not so much a story as it is the author ranting about gun violence and lack of gun control laws. Every character that Catwoman or Batman come across immediately launches into a big speech about guns over and over and over again. Maybe this was novel when the book first came out but reading it now it's just all your regular talking points regurgitated by characters on the page. I'm anti-guns (European over here) but I just couldn't take it.

As for the rest, I'm glad I read them but I don't think I would read most of them again. Take the Legends of the Dark Knight and Ra's Al Ghul books, for example. The Ra's stories all felt very outdated (even the ones written in the late 80s and early 90s). Ra's and Talia are mostly ill-defnied as are their schemes. In terms of quality there's not a lot of difference between the Tales of the Demon stories and the Son/Bride of the Demon, which is surprising. I was kind of taken aback by the fact that Ra's is portrayed as more of a bond villain with high tech bases and technology as opposed to a mystical character. Birth of the Demon was the best story and seemed to go more towards a mystical direction though (and the book is worth it for the art alone).

Out of the Legends of the Dark Knight stories my favourite was Shaman, which serves as a pretty neat companion piece to Year One. Gotham feels very lived in and real, there are pages in that book that look fantastic. Venom was the worst one. It was neat to see the origin of the drug Bane will use later on (or so I'm told) but the story itself is lackluster and often unintenioally comical (Batman goes roid crazy).

Something that I also quickly realized during my read-through is that these year one stories really don't work that well together in terms of continuity. The Hugo Strange in Prey & Terror is a completely different character from the one we meet in Monster Men (I guess we have Zero Hour and Infintie Crisis to thank for that) and the two versions really can't co-exist. I also read the 2021 Long Halloween Special by Loeb & Sale and it flies in the face of what happened in Robin & Batgirl Year One. The special was a nice coda to Long Halloween and Dark Victory though.

If someone came asking me for an essential early Batman book list then I think I'd tell them to read
1. Batman Year One
2. Batman The Man Who Laughs (the book has a lot of energy)
3. Batman The Long Halloween (the Loeb & Sale books are all still very good imo and the art keeps getting better with each book)
4. Batman Dark Victory
5. Catwoman When in Rome
6. The Batman Chronicles The Gauntlet
7. Robin Year One
8. Batgirl Year One

I guess you could throw in books like Shaman and Monster Men/The Mad Monk but they're not really essential.

P.S. I forgot Batman The Cult. I don't know if this was the inspiration for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises but it sure feels like it. I also never knew I wanted to see Batman and Robin assaulting Gotham in a monster truck Batmobile but here it is. Some absolutely stunning pages. Felt like it needed to be longer though, the Frank Miller-style TV broadcasts do a lot of heavy lifting.

Great breakdown!

A lot of books I've read here over the years, and a few I haven't and should check out.

You're absolutely right that there aren't a lot of 'modern' retellings of Barbara Gordon's first stint as Batgirl. This is actually indicative of a larger point - the vast majority of Post-Crisis retellings of Batman's past career are focused on Batman's pre-Robin solo days, or the early days of the Dynamic Duo - with the arrival of Batgirl being the endpoint of that. With a few exceptions like Nightwing Year One, or the odd arc in Batman Confidential, there's nothing much revisiting, say, the Bronze Age. Part of the reason for that I suppose is that the Bronze Age stories were notionally supposed to still be 'in continuity' (the inclusion of Tales of the Demon on your list is testament to that), while a lot of Golden Age/Silver Age stuff needed to be updated or 'replaced'. Also, I suppose perhaps creators are simply more interested in doing Year One Batman stories about hardcore vigilantism than in trying to revisit the more balanced Bronze Age Batman. That is slowly changing though, with stuff like the current World's Finest series, but yeah, the vast majority of 'retroactive' Batman content remains focused on those early years.

Glad you spotlighted The Cult...a truly underrated gem!

[Shaggy]

Done with Second Chances. Reading Batman 416 after Nightwing Year One was pretty interesting because they kind of have the same story beats (conflict between Batman and Dick & Nightwing and Jason teaming up for the first time). Batman comes off more sympathetic here than in Nightwing Year One but you still feel bad for Dick when he confronts Batman.

spoilers: end of spoilers

I also have to give it up to Batman 408 for a twist I did not see coming (and the cover for the next issue got me laughing hard).

spoilers: end of spoilers

The stories here were pretty kid-friendly overall (at least by today's standards) but Jim Starlin's first issue (Batman 414) was a clear outlier. The subject matter is much darker (serial killer that dismembers women and leaves their bodies in dumpsters across Gotham) than anything else in this collection and there's an actual "What's in the booox?" moment here for Batman. Considering that Starlin did The Cult then this issue makes sense, but I'm surprised this story made it into the regular Batman title. And Batman doesn't even catch the killer (apparently the story will be continued in the first Caped Crusader volume).

spoilers: end of spoilers

On to Batman The Dark Knight Detective volume 1.

Edit: Is there a way to hide large images behind spoiler tags so they open only if you click on them?

[Bantams]

Batman Annual 14 is probably worth a read as an alternate two-face origin. Great story and art and a big influence on the animated series. 614607C2-2520-4EDE-8232-FB5DC584F91D.jpg95E5AFBB-3E71-4AA3-A77D-2DAD964B80B3.jpg

[Bantams]

Also ‘the choice’ from BLOTDK 100 is a not often mentioned Robin origin
3BBC8873-D618-483D-BAE5-1A64C0745B76.jpg50C9FB45-5C6E-4B45-B286-5DCFF8EE7085.jpg

[Bantams]

I’m also partial to any training stories, like detective annual 2 for instance or blind Justice, many deaths of the Batman etc. if anyone has recommendations for such stories I would love to hear them

[Shaggy]

Batman Annual 14 is probably worth a read as an alternate two-face origin. Great story and art and a big influence on the animated series. 614607C2-2520-4EDE-8232-FB5DC584F91D.jpg95E5AFBB-3E71-4AA3-A77D-2DAD964B80B3.jpg

Also ‘the choice’ from BLOTDK 100 is a not often mentioned Robin origin
3BBC8873-D618-483D-BAE5-1A64C0745B76.jpg50C9FB45-5C6E-4B45-B286-5DCFF8EE7085.jpg

I'll keep these in mind, thanks.

[Shaggy]

Got done with Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vols 1-2 and Batman Year Two (Detective Comics 568-591, Annual 1).

Dark Knight Detective Vol 1 is mostly made up of Batman and Robin stories written by Mike W. Barr (with the exception of Detective Comics 568, which is part of the Legends crossover and Detective Comics 582, which is part of the Millennium crossover).

I feel like there's not much to say about these stories. Batman comes off as more playful here than he does in the Second Chances collection (mostly written by Max Allan Collins). There's some fun banter between him and the bad guys and there are also some weirdly awkward moments involving Robin.



I had never actually seen the Catwoman design used here (seen on the book's cove) but I kind of like it. It's not as cat-themed as some of the later costumes but it has a lot of flair. The story with Catwoman is a little bewildering, however. Apparently, Catwoman has reformed and is working with Batman (and they both know each other's secret idenities). Was this part of the status quo at the time? Anyway, the story ends with the Joker brainwashing Catwoman so she would love crime again and there's no real resolution to the story. I guess Catwoman loves crime again lol.

Something noteworthy is the cover for Detective Comics 574.


It's a fakeout here but will become a reality in only 1.5 years and the imagery is so similar to what we see in A Death in the Family. They really shot their load early with this cover.

I also have to mention the last issue in the collection, which is part of the Millennium crossover. Ending your issue with the reveal that Nancy Reagan has been replaced by a space robot is a bold move haha.

[Shaggy]

Batman Year Two by Mike W Barr.

It's...not good. It feels like just another Batman arc by Barr and with a few changes in dialogue it could be. But it's billed as Year Two and it's honestly baffling that editorial at the time thought this would be something that could live next to Year One on the shelf.
In the introduction Barr explains that Alan Davis left the book after editorial interference and that McFarlane then took over. Seeing McFarlane's name actually got me excited at first but this is clearly the work of a younger and less experienced McFlarlane because it doesn't look particularly good. Not nearly as good as Davis' art for the first issue or for the follow-up story The Circle, which is also collected here, anyway. It was fun seeing McFarlane draw Batman's cape like Spawn's though.




But overall the two stories here were meh. The Reaper was a boring villain and Barr bringing the character back for the follow-up felt like he was desperately trying to make fetch happen.

[Shaggy]

Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vol 2.

Whereas vol 1 has Robin appearing in most of the issues then here Batman goes solo (even though Jason Todd is still alive at the time). Most of the issues are written by Alan Grant and John Wagner. The highlight for me was the two-part Ratcatcher story (first appearance of the character, apparently).



The idea that there's this guy out there who's quietly kidnapping people who've supposedly wronged him and keeping them imprisoned in the sewers for years is really creepy. The fact that he can command an army of rats to eat you only adds to the horror.

There's also a two-parter about Batman trying to stop the spread of a new drug called Fever. The story really gives you an idea what the general sentiment regarding drug abuse must have been at the time. Some of it comes off quite dated as you can see from the pages below.



Then again, I think the writers' hearts are in the right place. They clearly want to tackle issues that were relevant at the time. In addition to drug abuse there's also a story about colonialism (more specifically, the effects of colonialism on aboriginal Australians) and islamic terrorism (no way sth like this would ever get published in a mainstream superhero comic today). And even the one about Islamic terrorism momentarily turns the mirror on the West's colonialist past.

[BatmanJones]

Got done with Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vols 1-2 and Batman Year Two (Detective Comics 568-591, Annual 1).

Dark Knight Detective Vol 1 is mostly made up of Batman and Robin stories written by Mike W. Barr (with the exception of Detective Comics 568, which is part of the Legends crossover and Detective Comics 582, which is part of the Millennium crossover).

I feel like there's not much to say about these stories. Batman comes off as more playful here than he does in the Second Chances collection (mostly written by Max Allan Collins). There's some fun banter between him and the bad guys and there are also some weirdly awkward moments involving Robin.



I had never actually seen the Catwoman design used here (seen on the book's cove) but I kind of like it. It's not as cat-themed as some of the later costumes but it has a lot of flair. The story with Catwoman is a little bewildering, however. Apparently, Catwoman has reformed and is working with Batman (and they both know each other's secret idenities). Was this part of the status quo at the time? Anyway, the story ends with the Joker brainwashing Catwoman so she would love crime again and there's no real resolution to the story. I guess Catwoman loves crime again lol.

Something noteworthy is the cover for Detective Comics 574.


It's a fakeout here but will become a reality in only 1.5 years and the imagery is so similar to what we see in A Death in the Family. They really shot their load early with this cover.

I also have to mention the last issue in the collection, which is part of the Millennium crossover. Ending your issue with the reveal that Nancy Reagan has been replaced by a space robot is a bold move haha.

That Alan Davis art though. I feel like neither he nor Don Newton get enough love as Batman artists. Davis is better known for the excellent The Nail and Another Nail, involving the whole JLA/DCU, which he also wrote. Newton on the other hand is just forgotten and that's really a shame.

That Catwoman costume had a good long life in pre-Crisis stories.

[BatmanJones]

Something noteworthy is the cover for Detective Comics 574.


It's a fakeout here but will become a reality in only 1.5 years and the imagery is so similar to what we see in A Death in the Family. They really shot their load early with this cover.

Pretty sure that each cover was a callback to Superman carrying Supergirl's dead body in CoIE. Some covers are so iconic they just keep coming back in different ways.

If these covers were homages though, you're right, it's still interesting that this one predates the one where Robin really died.

[bat39]

Got done with Batman The Dark Knight Detective Vols 1-2 and Batman Year Two (Detective Comics 568-591, Annual 1).

Dark Knight Detective Vol 1 is mostly made up of Batman and Robin stories written by Mike W. Barr (with the exception of Detective Comics 568, which is part of the Legends crossover and Detective Comics 582, which is part of the Millennium crossover).

I feel like there's not much to say about these stories. Batman comes off as more playful here than he does in the Second Chances collection (mostly written by Max Allan Collins). There's some fun banter between him and the bad guys and there are also some weirdly awkward moments involving Robin.



I had never actually seen the Catwoman design used here (seen on the book's cove) but I kind of like it. It's not as cat-themed as some of the later costumes but it has a lot of flair. The story with Catwoman is a little bewildering, however. Apparently, Catwoman has reformed and is working with Batman (and they both know each other's secret idenities). Was this part of the status quo at the time? Anyway, the story ends with the Joker brainwashing Catwoman so she would love crime again and there's no real resolution to the story. I guess Catwoman loves crime again lol.

Something noteworthy is the cover for Detective Comics 574.


It's a fakeout here but will become a reality in only 1.5 years and the imagery is so similar to what we see in A Death in the Family. They really shot their load early with this cover.

I also have to mention the last issue in the collection, which is part of the Millennium crossover. Ending your issue with the reveal that Nancy Reagan has been replaced by a space robot is a bold move haha.

I think those Mike W Barr stories (which I read ages ago) were notionally set in the Pre-Crisis continuity, or at any rate, during that vague period where the Post-Crisis continuity hadn't fully settled in. This explains the lighter tone (IIRC, virtually a throwback to the Dick Sprang era, albeit with modern sensibilities) and the Catwoman stuff.

[Shaggy]

I think those Mike W Barr stories (which I read ages ago) were notionally set in the Pre-Crisis continuity, or at any rate, during that vague period where the Post-Crisis continuity hadn't fully settled in. This explains the lighter tone (IIRC, virtually a throwback to the Dick Sprang era, albeit with modern sensibilities) and the Catwoman stuff.

It's kind of wild that they seemingly didn't have a concrete plan for some of the characters after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then again DC has never had a concrete plan post reboot.

[bat39]

It's kind of wild that they seemingly didn't have a concrete plan for some of the characters after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then again DC has never had a concrete plan post reboot.

Yeah, there definitely wasn't a cohesive plan beyond "Get rid of the Multiverse and doppelgangers". COIE was then used as a rationale for character reboots on a case-by-case basis - which is why Superman got a hard reboot while the New Teen Titans were still kicking around unchanged.

I don't think they even thought in terms of a 'reboot' for Batman, soft, hard or otherwise. The success of DKR probably got TPTB thinking that Frank Miller was onto something with this darker, grittier take on Batman, so they approached him to do Year One and gave him carte blanche continuity-wise. And then they had Year Two in 'Tec, and gave Jason Todd a new grittier origin after Year One was done in 'Batman'. While all this was going on, it was business in usual in books not actively telling one of these 'reboot' stories.