Originally Posted by
brandnewfan
Batman (get this from the beginning, issue 0-current. Finding the single issues will be difficult because the book is so popular but finding them all in trade, or digitally if you're into that, will be your best and easiest bet.)
Batgirl. ***ONLY** pick up the current run starting at issue 35. You can skip everything before it, and in fact I would recommend that you do. The run prior to the current one, simply put, wasn't that good. The current creative team, however, has made this book a lot of fun.
Batwoman. This book has been canceled but if you want to read it, I would suggest only reading the initial run by the first creative team, JH Williams III and W. Haden Blackman. It goes from issue 0 to the early or mid 20s and should be easy to find in trade.
Catwoman. As with Batgirl, I would strongly recommend beginning at issue 35 and ignore everything that came before it, which is some of the worst comic stories ever written, IMO. The current writer though is pretty good so you should give it a shot.
Robin. There are so many Robins but they're some of the best characters in the Batbooks. The current Robin, Damian Wayne, is featured in Batman & Robin and Batman Incorporated (vol.2). Read those. Then in June Damian is getting his own ongoing book. For the first ever Robin, Dick Grayson, his ongoing book, "Grayson", is fantastic and you should get it, but before you start it read the Forever Evil event (just get the main FE series, and don't worry about all the many tie-ins). However, to fully understand FE, you probably should read Trinity War. Both trades should be easily located. Also with Dick was his Nightwing series which was good. Tim Drake is the third Robin. He doesn't currently have his own book, but he is in the current Teen Titans (vol.2) book that just started. It's enjoyable. Whatever you do, don't read any Tim Drake stories written by Scott Lobdell because they're awful. Jason Todd was the second Robin. He will have a new book in June but it's written by Lobdell, so..meh.
Okay. So if you're going by trades, here's what I would suggest in roughly this order (somebody correct me if I leave anything out):
--Batman, Vol 4: Zero Year: Secret City
--Batman, Vol 5: Zero Year: Dark City
--Justice League, Vol. 1: Origin (centers on the Justice League but features Batman heavily. You don't necessarily need to read the other JL stories but I would suggest this one if for no other reason than to establish Bruce as a member of the team...plus I recommend this book as a starter book for anyone looking to get into DC).
--Batman & Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill
--Detective Comics, Vol. 1: Faces of Death (It's not the best book but it establishes an aspect about the Joker important for later stories. Not including other Detective trades as they're all pretty mediocre.)
--Red Hoods and the Outlaws, Vol. 1: REDemption (I'm only including this first volume to give you a feel for where Jason Todd, the former Robin, is at right now, but it's not really NECESSARY if you want to skip it completely.)
--Batman, Vol. 1: The Court of Owls
--Nightwing, Vol. 1: Traps & Trapezes
--Nightwing, Vol 2: Night of the Owls
--Batman, Vol 2: The City of Owls
--Batman & Robin, Vol. 2: Pearl
--Batwoman, Vol. 1: Hydrology
--Batwoman, Vol 2: To Drown the World
--Batwoman, Vol 3: World's Finest
--Nightwing, Vol 3: Death of the Family
--Batman, Vol 3: Death of the Family
--Batman & Robin, Vol 3: Death of the Family
--Batwoman, Vol 4: This Blood is Thick
--Nightwing, Vol 4: Second City
--Batman, Incorporated, Vol. 1: Demon Star
--Batman, Incorporated, Vol. 2: Gotham's Most Wanted
--Batman & Robin, Vol 4: Requiem For Damian
--Nightwing, Vol 5: Setting Son
--Justice League: Trinity War
--Forever Evil
--Batman & Robin, Vol 5: The Big Burn
--Justice League, Vol 6: Injustice League
--Batman, Vol 6 (comes out May 5)
--Batman & Robin, Vol 6: The Hunt For Robin (out June 30)
--Grayson, Vol 1 (out July 7)
--Batman Eternal, Vol 1
--Batman Eternal, Vol 2 (out July 14)
--Batgirl, Vol 6 (out June 2)
--Catwoman, Vol 6 (out August 4)
--Teen Titans, Vol 1: Blinded By the Light (out August 11)