Top 10 Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo Batman issues

[Alfreds Butler]

With the Batman series coming to the big issue 50 I thought it would be fun to do a top 10 of they're run. Not in any order and just my opinion .....

Issues
10. The reveal of "WHO" Lincoln March is

11. The big fight between brothers? And emotional chat with Dick

14. Not knowing what was happening to Alfred and Jokers reveal at the end all very tense

16. Bats fighting through Arkham and seeing Capullo's design of the rogues

17. The finale misunderstood by many but I loved the cruel joke played on the characters and fans. And the battle between joker and bats that I thought couldn't be matched.

24. For me the best could be origin of the joker. 'This is just the beginning'

30. So adventurous like nothing I had seen with bats before. Capullo's double page spread of gotham and those colours!!

36. Batman vs Superman, the joker reveal at the end so hyped.

40. Bats vs the joker the ultimate showdown in my opinion was very satisfied with the ending.

43. Loved the tie in to Snyders other story '27' and seeing Bruce's happy ending (for now).

Honourable mention issue 44 but not in the list as was illustrated by Jock.

[Alfreds Butler]

No one else up to the task??

[K. Jones]

Interesting tack. Both Snyder & Capullo, aye? I'll give it a shot.

1. Batman # 1. Why? Well it's about as broad a Batman issue as they've ever done, picking up essentially right after Snyder's pre-New 52 output and depicting Batman and Nightwing beating the heck out of Arkham's worst in a riot with the odd shock of the Joker costume Grayson was wearing. Here we get a Capullo "inmate" take on all kinds of excellent Bat-villains. We get a Batman & Gordon rooftop meet. A double page Bat-Cave spread. A Bruce Wayne socialite party. Dick & Damian & Tim (no Jason yet). Vicki Vale and Leslie Thompkins. The barest hints about Lincoln or Harper. A murder crime scene with some antagonistic banter with Bullock, and a shock twist Grayson DNA match at the end. It has a lot going for it and could have gone in any direction.

2. Batman # 5. Why? It's the labyrinth issue. All that hallucinogen water and white marble. All those feathers. The Bat-family wondering where Bruce is and ending with Talon stabbing him. Court of Owls might have eventually devolved into an overly symbolic "cherry-picked pieces of Gotham's past are literally coming back to life to attack Batman" story that culminated in the ultimate bit of over-written, overly-coincidental hackery that is a "This is personal for Batman, ZOMG it's his brother!" soap opera moment that makes the non-reveal in 007: Spectre look truly nuanced by comparison, but it started with so much palpable tension and visceral drug-addled danger and really peaked in issue # 5.

3. Batman # 16. Why? I'm not the biggest DOTF fan, famously (HA!) having written an essay implying that the only way to take it seriously is as a satire of crossover events, but issue sixteen features Capullo's take on the kind of seminal "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House" scenario and for that it's worth the price of admission to see him do all the glass cells, the hallways, stairwells, loose bricks, cobblestones, B-List villains in the lead-up to encountering the A-List villains in Joker's electric chair lair.

4. Is it a cop-out to want to include 19 & 20 together? Batman # 19 & Batman # 20.. While #20 is the issue with the more fun art, the various bat-costumes and taking down Clayface, # 19 has the V.R. flashback with Bruce & Damian fighting a version of Reaper. Capullo's Reaper is amazing to behold. I'm in the camp that will argue that Nowhere Man is the strongest Snyder/Capullo story because it's a punchy two-parter and Damian requiem story that features Cap drawing the heck out of Clayface, as well as heavy involvement from Bullock, Gordon and Fox. But mostly it's another situation where it's the cameo inclusion of a B-List (well, C-List, really) villain that makes me wish Snyder would get around to doing some smaller stories and ignore just doing more Joker nonsense. Come on! See also: Bane. Give Capullo a damn Bane story. He's so perfect for Bane it hurts.

5. Batman # 25. I'm a sucker for the whole Red Hood Gang story, from # 0 through # 25, but 25 is the one where it goes all out, where FCO drops the hammer with the Killing Joke style coloration, where we get the Joker baptism, the Batman on the scene, the inside of Ace Chemical, the whole shebang. I was always unsure why they called it "Dark City Part I" though, when it's blatantly "Secret City Part IV."

6. Batman # 29. Okay, recurring theme here. I think Snyder really stuck the landing for the final issues of each Zero Year chapter, and that's true as well of the extra sized # 29. And even where he doesn't, Capullo does. This one has the bat-blimp, the hurricane storm, all those red FCO colors, the lightning, the Doctor Death fight, it's a really strong outing.

7. And so of course, Batman # 33. Neon Riddler psychedelics. Gimmick after gimmick. TDK Rises style weirdness. That odd Julie ending that has come back into play.

8. Batman # 36. Part II of Endgame. The JLA fight in the first one was surprising but it was the second issue that had the best bits. The Superman fight, the wrap-up on that, the mystery, and then the shocking reveal. Capullo's artwork really sold that part the best. The rest of the arc is okay, devolving very much into a chaotic chemical attack/zombie apocalypse cliche with a bogeyman at the center and a 'finality' ending, but it opened stronger than it ended.

9. Batman # 42. Superheavy Part II. Gordon fights Gee Gee, the gangster with the cobblestone and brick earth-elemental powers. Literally fighting the "streets" in his robot costume, and we go right to the community center to hang out with Bruce in his new status quo, before we have all the answers regarding what's up with him. But really the best bits are Capullo drawing a Bat-Mech fighting a rock monster.

10. Batman # 43. Superheavy Part III. Because it's the one with the sharks. I nearly chose the last issue, it was a toss-up between the shark scene and the scene where we get to see Capullo draw Black Mask, Scarface and Great White behind Penguin. Had to go with the sharks.

[Alfreds Butler]

4. Is it a cop-out to want to include 19 & 20 together?.

I'll allow it just a bit of fun

[Dispenser Of Truth]

In order of release rather than preference: 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 24, 33, 35, 36, 37.

[AlexanderLuthor]

I think Batman #24 is the best of this run, and one of the best single issues of the New 52

[blackbolt396]

I think Batman #24 is the best of this run, and one of the best single issues of the New 52

That and #40 , this is as a whole one of the best runs in comic book history.

[K. Jones]

That and #40 , this is as a whole one of the best runs in comic book history.

It's an understandable and not uncommon opinion. I'm not sure I'd use "best", primarily because to be my favorite it would have to utilize my favorite particular bat-mythos elements, but it's incredibly cohesive. Capullo has missed very few issues, Snyder has spun material out for all kinds of other writers to pick up and run around with. There is an undercurrent linking the various large arcs together into a greater whole, that is sometimes subtle and sometimes a direct continuation. Snyder has improved and grown out of his literary tendencies into a much better Batman writer than he was when he began.

There are runs I hold far more dear. Morrison, Rucka & Brubaker, Denny & Neil, Grant, Moench, Barr, and even Dini. But I'm not complaining.

[blackbolt396]

It's an understandable and not uncommon opinion. I'm not sure I'd use "best", primarily because to be my favorite it would have to utilize my favorite particular bat-mythos elements, but it's incredibly cohesive. Capullo has missed very few issues, Snyder has spun material out for all kinds of other writers to pick up and run around with. There is an undercurrent linking the various large arcs together into a greater whole, that is sometimes subtle and sometimes a direct continuation. Snyder has improved and grown out of his literary tendencies into a much better uBatman writer than he was when he began.

There are runs I hold far more dear. Morrison, Rucka & Brubaker, Denny & Neil, Grant, Moench, Barr, and even Dini. But I'm not complaining.

For me my all-time favorites in order O'Neil and Adams,Englehart and Rogers , Miller and last but not least Snyder and Capullo .