Batman Comics FAQ: Best for New Readers, Current Titles, Top Trades & Recent Events

[Sigis]

Great questions.

4. Batman: Futures End #1 will be a self-contained one-shot with normal numbering to continue October. DC pull a stunt every September that interrupts their entire line with special issues as part of a broader event; 2012 were the Zero Issues retelling origins such as for Damian in Batman & Robin #0; 2013 was Villains Month with the titles becoming Batman & Robin: Killer Croc and so on; 2014 jumps forward to a disaster future.

6. It's rare for titles to truly crossover these days and when they do they'll be clearly marked and collected together in trade. The current era can be roughly seen as the "Batman Eternal Era": Damian has recently died, a gang war is raging, Dick Grayson has vanished and Selina Kyle is taking over the underworld. Batman's trying to recover Damian's body off-planet in the Batman & Robin title while coordinating the Bat-Family in Gotham over in Eternal; he's obviously not in two places at once but rather the stories are supposed to be happening within days or weeks of each other. Events will be referenced across multiple titles but not in a way that should be confusing.

Thanks man!

But some stuff stills bothers me:

4. So after Batman #035, there will be Future ends #1, which is like a stand alone issue, story, that is more for fun, than actually related to current continuity? And #036 will continue where it left off in #035?

6. I've read the Night of the owls arc, some time ago, now I'm re-reading it, with hope to continue reading Batman comics. I know that Damian was murdered in Batman Eternal, and now I'm on Batman #003, so, my question is: If I keep reading only Batman, will I learn about how and when Damien died (which happens on Batman Eternal)? Or should I start reading Batman Eternal parallelly? The same goes with Dick Grayson and his vanishing (which I know almost nothing about)?

Oh, and one more thing - IF some major stuff happens on, let's say, Action comics,(Like Superman or JL has an epic fight with aliens, that leaves Earth in ruins) will it be somehow mentioned in Batman, and other Bat family titles? Or will it be like, one issue Batman is in normal Gotham, then puff, the next issue shows Gotham in ruins, and it's impossible to understand a thing, if you read only Batman?

[nepenthes]

Thanks man!

But some stuff stills bothers me:

4. So after Batman #035, there will be Future ends #1, which is like a stand alone issue, story, that is more for fun, than actually related to current continuity? And #036 will continue where it left off in #035?

6. I've read the Night of the owls arc, some time ago, now I'm re-reading it, with hope to continue reading Batman comics. I know that Damian was murdered in Batman Eternal, and now I'm on Batman #003, so, my question is: If I keep reading only Batman, will I learn about how and when Damien died (which happens on Batman Eternal)? Or should I start reading Batman Eternal parallelly? The same goes with Dick Grayson and his vanishing (which I know almost nothing about)?

4. Short answer: yep the Future's End one-shots in general are not supposed to have much impact to their ongoing titles, regular story lines just continue thhe next month as usual.

Not so short answer: The one-shots are actually tie-ins to a main event happening over in the weekly series Future's End, which is setting up its own canon of sorts. However this future is also likely to be averted or is at least hypothetical.

Long answer: in the case of Snyder's Batman however it looks like he might be doing something a little more complicated (I'm sorry!...but yeah). In a short story contained in the Detective 27 anniversary issue, he introduced the concept of a future in which a series of Bruce Wayne clones carry on the legacy; this was long before Futures End was ever announced and at the time it had seemingly no relation to anything else, was just a cool little what if. However Snyder then confirmed he intends to return to this future in further stories. Now in the Batman: Future's End #1 solicit it looks like, yep, Bruce is building an army of clones, so we may actually be seeing the beginning of the 27 timeline in a way that somehow diverges from the broader Future's End. We'll know in September.

6. Damian doesn't die in Eternal, that happens before in Batman Incorporated: Gothams Most Wanted which is the final chapter of another huge thing that will intimidate and bankrupt you and you shouldn't really worry about right now (if you must then see Post #5 in this thread for The Morrison Run and Post #8 for an idea of the timeline leading up to Eternal.)

Good news is that Robin Rises: Omega out tomorrow will actually be a perfect jump-on for the whole Damian thing and set you up to continue the Robin Rises story beginning in Batman & Robin #33 next month. So just get that

[Legion564]

Hey I'm rereading dark knight returns and am paying more attention to it this time. Just in the first issue what happened to his mustache? 0.0

[nepenthes]

Hey I'm rereading dark knight returns and am paying more attention to it this time. Just in the first issue what happened to his mustache? 0.0

Alfred says "Sir you've shaved off your mustache" and Bruce is all surprised like he didn't even realise he'd done it. This happens after the scene where Bruce freaks out watching the news and goes down into the Batcave for the first time in years - it signals that the Batman is subconsciously breaking out.

Edit :Found the page in a pretty cool link Frank Miller’s influences on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

[BigT]

So I'm behind on my DC comics, haven't read any since Villains month about a year ago and I'm looking into getting back into some Batman comics. Now I know I'm going to want to check out Batman and Batman & Robin but I'm curious on Batman Eternal. How does Batman Eternal tie into everything? Is it in continuity with all the other Bat books or is it off doing its own thing? Do any of the the other titles tie into Eternal?

[Optimus]

Was Gotham by Gaslight collected in any trades or do I have to buy the original?

[nepenthes]

So I'm behind on my DC comics, haven't read any since Villains month about a year ago and I'm looking into getting back into some Batman comics. Now I know I'm going to want to check out Batman and Batman & Robin but I'm curious on Batman Eternal. How does Batman Eternal tie into everything? Is it in continuity with all the other Bat books or is it off doing its own thing? Do any of the the other titles tie into Eternal?

It's more the other way around, events happening in Eternal have ramifications across the entire line but you can read the series itself completely on its own. It's kind of becoming the backbone of continuity across the Batman Family at thd moment, so you'll have an idea of what most characters are up to by reading the one book.

Also, the new arc Endgame beginning in October Batman #35 will be based around a number of shake-ups that are occurring in Eternal so far - so excellent time to jump on that book as well.

Was Gotham by Gaslight collected in any trades or do I have to buy the original?

Gaslight was first published as an original Graphic Novel, never in singles. That said it was reprinted recently and should be fairly available.

[Vakanai]

I've just recently started collecting Batman stuff, and rather than haphazardly collecting from the list of 'The Best of...' I thought I'd do it a bit differently and collect it in a sort of loose chronology of Batman's career, starting with stuff before Dick becomes Robin, then Dick as Robin, the time between Dick retiring as Robin and Jason taking the mantle, and so on (cause hey, why not, seems an interesting method of collecting classic stories to me). I don't really care about what is or isn't in continuity, liking stuff from pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, New 52 and even Elseworlds. Also, while Batman is my favorite character I love the whole Batfamily, so I'm also looking for good Catwoman, Robin, Batgirl, etc. stories set in the time frame I'm currently collecting (although that's mostly not applicable at the moment since I'm still collecting pre-Robin stuff, but something to keep in mind when I get to the next stage of collecting).

Anyways, I made a post back in the old forum and version of this thread that proved very useful, but since I'm now about halfway through the list of early years Batman mostly before Robin stuff I though I'd ask again for people's thoughts and opinions on stories I should look for. To help, here's my current list of comics set in Batman's early career that I've been going by, broken up into the ones I have, plan to get, and that I'm thinking about getting (thoughts on the ones I'm unsure about would also be of great help too):

Here's the comics I've collected so far:

The Man Who Falls
Year One
Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper (I really enjoyed how it expanded on Year One from Catwoman's angle)
Zero Year – Secret City
The Man Who Laughs
The Monster Men
The Mad Monk
Prey
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory

The comics I plan to collect:

Gothic (already bought, just got to wait for Amazon to ship it)
Ego
Four of a Kind (currently all the ones I see for sale are kind of pricey, so this might wait till after I get the others)
Zero Year – Dark City (waiting for it to be collected in trade)
The Big Burn (waiting for it to be collected in trade)
All Star Batman and Robin (I know it's a bit controversial, but it was recommended and I really want to see what the fuss is about)

And the ones I'm kind of interested in but am not quite sure about:

Shaman (recommended because it has flashbacks to Bruce's training days, but is pricey and I'm uncertain about the rest of the story)
Earth One
Year Two

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

[Legion564]

Hey so i plan on getting no mans land so whats the reading order for no mans land? And is there a giant tpb that they made of it?

[Jknox]

Yes Legion, There are 4 big TPB's you'd probably want to get for No Man's Land unless you like collecting single issues.
Here's a link to the first one and you can find the others easily.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-No-Mans...ans+land+vol+1

I would get the ones with 500+ pages not the ones with 200 pages. Same with Knightfall if you plan on getting it. Get the "volumes" not the "parts".

Also, that was a GREAT list created by nepenthes. The only thing I would add are the Batman archives if one wants to dive into the early years.

Btw, I'm new to this forum so hello.

[Optimus]

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

Batman Legends of the Dark Knight was made to tell stories about Batman's early years. The first volume: Shaman goes into him discovering the bat cave and some other things he did for the first time. The first issue is free on Comixology. That's followed up by Prey, and Gothic which are both on your list. After that is Venom which is highly regarded and eventually leads to Bane's origin. For story ideas the currently running best 75 batman stories of all time on the Comics should be good blog is a good source for finding the must-haves.

Gaslight was first published as an original Graphic Novel, never in singles. That said it was reprinted recently and should be fairly available.

It's $2.99 on Comixology so I just went ahead and got it that way. Thank you.


Detective Comics 500 looks like something I'd like to read, judging by what I saw on the 75 greatest list. Is that collected anywhere by any chance? It's not even on Comixology so I can't get it that way.

[nepenthes]

Detective Comics 500 looks like something I'd like to read, judging by what I saw on the 75 greatest list. Is that collected anywhere by any chance? It's not even on Comixology so I can't get it that way.

I have it in Batman in the 80's and I know for certain it's in the earlier editions of Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told (editions up to to 2005 - the ones with the Alex Ross cover I'm not so sure about)

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

Personally I would skip Earth One until you really feel like scraping the barrel - it's terrible and made no where near the impact it was supposed to, very much forgotten.

Shaman is available on Comixology, is decent but not worth the $50+ unless you're into collecting for the sake of collecting.

I'd definitely hunt down all of the remaining stuff on your shopping lists - from there as Optimus mentioned the LoTDK series is a treasure trove of fantastic stuff and most of loosely set in that vague "early days" period. Other great trades are;
Monsters (featuring an excellent Warren Ellis arc)
Collected Legends of the Dark Knight (early Poisobn Ivy which follows on directly from her Year One in four of a Kind)
Dark Legends collecting classic Masks, Tao and Sanctum - this on the other hand easily worth it's price

Btw, I'm new to this forum so hello.

Welcome to the board

[Vakanai]

Batman Legends of the Dark Knight was made to tell stories about Batman's early years. The first volume: Shaman goes into him discovering the bat cave and some other things he did for the first time. The first issue is free on Comixology. That's followed up by Prey, and Gothic which are both on your list. After that is Venom which is highly regarded and eventually leads to Bane's origin. For story ideas the currently running best 75 batman stories of all time on the Comics should be good blog is a good source for finding the must-haves.

Personally I would skip Earth One until you really feel like scraping the barrel - it's terrible and made no where near the impact it was supposed to, very much forgotten.

Shaman is available on Comixology, is decent but not worth the $50+ unless you're into collecting for the sake of collecting.

I'd definitely hunt down all of the remaining stuff on your shopping lists - from there as Optimus mentioned the LoTDK series is a treasure trove of fantastic stuff and most of loosely set in that vague "early days" period. Other great trades are;
Monsters (featuring an excellent Warren Ellis arc)
Collected Legends of the Dark Knight (early Poisobn Ivy which follows on directly from her Year One in four of a Kind)
Dark Legends collecting classic Masks, Tao and Sanctum - this on the other hand easily worth it's price

Thanks both of you, got some more books to add to the list. Any more good villain introductions from the early years worth mentioning?

[Ultimate Spider-Fan]

Wow, this thread is awesome, thanks for creating it.

I have several questions, so I'll just post them in a list format. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Oh, btw I collect trades and hardcovers, so please keep that in mind when making recommendations.

- Is Dini's Detective run from a few years back worth getting? What about his "Streets of Gotham" series?
- How about "Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul"? I know Morrison wrote some of it, but I've heard very mixed things from fans.
- Do I need to keep up with the Bat-family books to know what's going on? I like Batman, but some of the spinoff characters (Nightwing, Batgirl, etc) don't really interest me much unless they're working with Batman. Do they show up in the main Bat books much?
- Most people seemed to have a negative opinion of Tony Daniel's Detective run, but what about the stuff after? Is Layman's run worth checking out, or should I just wait for the trade of the current run?
- Was anything in the cancelled Batman: Dark Knight title worth reading?
- Finally, are there any stories not regularly available in tpb or hc form that are worth reading, preferably via digital on comixology? Any era is fine.

Thanks to everyone for all the help in advance. I've always been a Marvel guy, but have loved Batman as well due to the classic animated show which aired when I was growing up. With all the buzz about BvS and Batman's 75, I've decided to dip my toe into the water and try some stuff out.

[DemonRin]

I would get the ones with 500+ pages not the ones with 200 pages. Same with Knightfall if you plan on getting it. Get the "volumes" not the "parts".

Exactly this about No Man's Land and Knightfall, the 500 Page No Man's Land Omnibus books collect the whole thing in the correct order, tho, one note I feel the need to add on Knightfall.
While the new "Volume" editions are easily BETTER than anything that's come before, and it collects the vast Majority of the story, there is a chunk that isn't included and in fact, has NEVER been reprinted by DC in any format. The middle volume, KnightQuest was originally two parallel stories, one called "The Crusade" telling what Jean Paul Valley and Robin were doing in Gotham during this time, and the other called "The Search" telling what Bruce Wayne was doing abroad during this time. The Volume 2 TPB only collects The Crusade, it entirely omits all but the last issue of The Search, so when it comes time for the stories to meet up leading into the third volume, Bruce just shows up with no explanation for anything he was doing, ESPECIALLY (Spoiler)how he can walk again after Bane broke his back. So keep that in mind, you may need to find a synopsis for that part online as to my knowledge, there is no version of "The Search"

Also, May I try my hand at helping to answer questions?

- Is Dini's Detective run from a few years back worth getting? What about his "Streets of Gotham" series?

I like that particular run, but then again, I like Paul Dini. If you want to dip your feet in without diving full in, pick up This trade. It's decently representative of his run as a whole, but it's also all issues drawn by J.H. Williams III. I swoon for J.H. Williams III! He's one of the BEST modern Bat artists around. There's a reason Neil Gaiman grabbed him to draw the new Sandman.

- How about "Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul"? I know Morrison wrote some of it, but I've heard very mixed things from fans.

Morrison and Dini's parts were easily the best written books, but yeah, the arc is actually a little uneven.
It's not HORRIBLE, and the events in it can be seen as important because it brings Ra's Back and gives some moments between Bruce and Damian, so it helps the overall narrative of Grant Morrison's Batman run more than it hurts, but it's otherwise a bit forgettable TBH.

- Do I need to keep up with the Bat-family books to know what's going on? I like Batman, but some of the spinoff characters (Nightwing, Batgirl, etc) don't really interest me much unless they're working with Batman. Do they show up in the main Bat books much?

I assume you mean the currently running books, as in the New 52. The Tie-ins for Court of Owls are largely un-needed and forgettable, you can easily skip them. The one thing they add is a sense of scale to the Night of the Owls, as it makes you feel the whole city is being attacked, but other than that you can ignore most of them. Tho, if you're not entirely adverse to it, I'd say checking out the Nightwing related stuff wouldn't be a bad idea. Issues 8 and 9 Tie into Court of Owls, and I'd say he's the only one that ties in enough to justify reading it, however, nothing in ANY of the tie-ins is required reading and can all be skipped.

Death of the Family... I LIKED the Tie-ins here simply because the Joker was specifically attacking the "Bat Family" so it kinda helps to see how he goes after each of them individually, because they do all eventually factor into the primary plot, but luckily DC has you covered on this one.

You can pick up the main story here and a perfect consolidation of JUST the relevant tie-in material here. When I say JUST the relevant stuff, I Mean JUST. Sometimes, only a portion of an issue tied into DoTF (usually the endings) and when that happens, it's edited to trim all the fat out. What you get in this book is the relevant material ONLY, nothing else.

Zero Year... I LIKED the tie ins, they added the same sense of scale of the event as I think the Court of Owls tie ins did, only here they are written much better... however, other than that, they are all EASILY skippable. Out of the three Batman arcs in Snyder's run so far, I'd say this is the ones where the tie ins are entirely unnecessary and serve no point whatsoever other than the aforementioned sense of scale. Skip unless you're curious.

- Most people seemed to have a negative opinion of Tony Daniel's Detective run, but what about the stuff after? Is Layman's run worth checking out, or should I just wait for the trade of the current run?

His run isn't stellar. It's not horrible, but it felt a little eh. That whole Emperor Penguin thing was a little weird to me... Basically, I'd say, if you end up checking out Batman: Death of the Family, pick up Tony Daniel's Detective #1 and read that before starting DotF and then skip the rest of his run.
After him it gets much better. I'm loving the current run by Francis Manapul.

- Was anything in the cancelled Batman: Dark Knight title worth reading?

There's some good to be had in there, but I'd skip it. It's overall unimportant to what else is going on in the universe and there's a lot more to catch up on lol.

- Finally, are there any stories not regularly available in tpb or hc form that are worth reading, preferably via digital on comixology? Any era is fine.

As I said before, I'd wait for a sale and pick up Detective Comics #1 in digital just so you don't have to pay for the TBP. Otherwise, I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Most of the best stories get included in trades. (Except Knightquest the Search... Grumble... grumble...)