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

[nepenthes]

I have several questions, so I'll just post them in a list format. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

DemonRin answered pretty much as I would already, however I can add a couple comments.

- Detective & Streets of Gotham are decent enough but hardly must read or especially unique. There's plenty of other great stuff to keep you busy before you get to these.
- Resurrection is worth grabbing if you're either a) right into the Morrison run or b) the big Ra's Al Ghul stories or c) interested in the entire arc of Damian Wayne as there's a few pivotal scenes to his story in here. Quality wise it is indeed very up and down, being a crossover.
- You don't need to keep up with any other Batman books. That said I'd strongly urge you to at least try Grayson; it's only 1 issue in so you're starting at the ground floor, and all signs so far indicate it's going to be a particularly excellent series. Also Eternal; it's not causing broader ramifications line-wide just yet, but certainly will over the next 6 months and again is one of the better books out at the moment, featuring a ton of Batfamily but also the main man enough to make it count as a "core book" (first trade is out December and you can keep up with the changes by reading threads here I suppose, if you want to go in trade).
- Don't even bother wasting thought on Daniels 'Tec. Layman's Tec on the other hand, while not exactly groundbreaking has been one of the high points on the New 52 so far; very little of it remains carried over in present books but if you're after something fun, solid and fairly recent continuity wise then you could check it out down the line. The current M&B run beginning in the arc "Icarus' is very cool, would definitely recommend you grab in trade (about a year from now )
- Dark Knight was okay while it was coming out but in bigger picture it's very far down the list of trades you have available to you as a new reader.
- There is indeed tons of great stuff not yet collected; that said I wouldn't worry about it just now as again there's hundreds of dollars of trades you can get through first . You'll begin to find your way around the uncollected stuff as you learn what you like and what interests you.

If it's Batman V Superman that's got you on a kick I'd also suggest

The Dark Knight Returns; the BIG one; if you've already read it somewhere a while back.. buy it, own it and read it again (and again!)
Red Son classic Superman story featuring him VS Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex all ganged up in key supporting roles. Yep it's Elseworlds but more importantly it gets to the heart of the character and concepts and sets up a credible reason for why you'd want to take a guy like Superman down. (also don't worry that it's Mark Millar...it's far and away the best thing he ever wrote and worth a chance despite his name)
Superman/Wonder Woman Vol.1: Power Couple portrays Clark, Diana and their broader supporting casts and backdrops in a very modern and "iconic" style perfect for new DC readers or anyone coming in from the Man of Steel film. Villains are Zod, Faora and the WW's familial Pantheon of Gods (who now take on modern appearances and are generally pretty cool), also several great appearances from Batman. Don't be put off by the romance angle - it's not as cheesy as it ought to be if you like modern Superman and Wonder Woman as seen here you can branch out into Superman Unchained Vol.1 and Wonder Woman Vol.1 : Blood - both excellent and likely to be very in-line with the Zack Snyder treatment.

[zsizzle]

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?

4. Yes

6. I only read batman each month and then read the others in trade occasionally. So far the impact if Damian's death hasn't really hit the batman book hat hard. I knew it was going on but that's only because at the end if each monthly issue they have a page at talks about all the stories going on in other books.

It's pretty easy to read only the books you are interested in without missing too much or feeling lost.

[MajorHoy]

By the way, how is Batman: Broken City generally received?

[jump]

By the way, how is Batman: Broken City generally received?

Decent but nothing special.

[Andru]

So I decided to start reading some Bat-family books and bought the first two volumes of Nightwing. I thought they were great! Especially liked the Night of Owls story.

I have never read anything from DC before, so it was a pleasant surprise. Now, I want to try some other books as well...

I did my research and read reviews and I am for sure going to pick up Batman. I was also intrigued by Batgirl.

Overall I was wondering how people who actively read the Batman books feel about these titles and if I should be reading anything else.

Just going by the titles of the trades, they seem to all somehow fit together. Would that be an accurate statement?

[ralphtown]

Being over 50 and hence brain turning to oatmeal,can anyone tell me when we get our next run of 3D lenticular covers??


RALPH.

[nepenthes]

So I decided to start reading some Bat-family books and bought the first two volumes of Nightwing. I thought they were great! Especially liked the Night of Owls story.

I have never read anything from DC before, so it was a pleasant surprise. Now, I want to try some other books as well...

I did my research and read reviews and I am for sure going to pick up Batman. I was also intrigued by Batgirl.

Overall I was wondering how people who actively read the Batman books feel about these titles and if I should be reading anything else.

Just going by the titles of the trades, they seem to all somehow fit together. Would that be an accurate statement?

Definitely go with Batman - you can skip straight to Vol. 4: Zero Year and I recommend you do, just a better arc all around. Batgirl you'd want to wait until the new team begin in October.

Outside of Batman I'd most recommend:
Eternal: innovative, fast paced and soldly entertaining, features a ton of contemporary Batfamily and vaillisn, you don't need to read anything else and is actually the backbone of the Batman U at the moments. Feels "important",
Grayson: crazy concepts and classic Dick executed brilliantly. Probably the best Batman book going at the moment.

Some of the earlier Batfamily trades have similar names tying them to the Court of Owls and Death of the Family events: they're largely cosmetic connections, mostly a marketing ploy. At most one or two of the issues will reference the main event, and they're absolutely non-essential anyway.

Being over 50 and hence brain turning to oatmeal,can anyone tell me when we get our next run of 3D lenticular covers?

A whole bunch of them next month http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/05...overs-week-one

By the way, how is Batman: Broken City generally received?

Jumps reply sums up my own feeling and what I've generally seen across the board. It's very street and noir and very Azzarello, so if that's your thing it's worth checking out. I also remember it being overly convoluted and dreary (imo the better book in this category is City of Crime - denser, darker, more relentless and bizarre). The best part of Broken City is when Bruce says "I don't cook. I grill" and then he stabs the steak and when blood pumps out his eyes widen in fear. Only scene worth taking away ha.

[ralphtown]

A whole bunch of them next month http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/05...overs-week-one





So,these are all #1s so I,m guessing either they (DC) are re-booting again or these are just one offs that don,t interfere with the normal running order.I.E Batman #35 followed by #1 followed by Batman #36.

I pre-ordered mine a few months back but can,t actually remember with who LOL!!

RALPH.

[MajorHoy]

A whole bunch of them next month http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/05...overs-week-one

So,these are all #1s so I,m guessing either they (DC) are re-booting again or these are just one offs that don,t interfere with the normal running order.I.E Batman #35 followed by #1 followed by Batman #36.

They're not new #1 issues in the regular series runs. They're all Future's End-related special issues, much like when we had "0 Month" in September 2012 and "Villains Month" last year.

And I believe this September's tie-ins will have names like Batman: Futures End #1 and Batgirl: Futures End #1.

[Andru]

Definitely go with Batman - you can skip straight to Vol. 4: Zero Year and I recommend you do, just a better arc all around. Batgirl you'd want to wait until the new team begin in October.

Outside of Batman I'd most recommend:
Eternal: innovative, fast paced and soldly entertaining, features a ton of contemporary Batfamily and vaillisn, you don't need to read anything else and is actually the backbone of the Batman U at the moments. Feels "important",
Grayson: crazy concepts and classic Dick executed brilliantly. Probably the best Batman book going at the moment.

Some of the earlier Batfamily trades have similar names tying them to the Court of Owls and Death of the Family events: they're largely cosmetic connections, mostly a marketing ploy. At most one or two of the issues will reference the main event, and they're absolutely non-essential anyway.

Thanks for the reply!

So I ended up getting the first 2 volumes of Batgirl & I really liked it. Ordered volume 3. I was reading up on the new direction starting with issue 35 & not sure how I feel about it.

Still waiting on the first 2 volumes of Batman to arrive.

And I did start reading Grayson & have enjoyed the first 2 issues.

Want to check out Eternal but I already missed so many issues, so I might trade wait.

[Hargreeves]

I'm a relatively new comics fan, I haven't read very many, but I'd like to start on Batman just as soon as I know where to start from. I don't know if I should go New 52 or if I should go with something a bit older. New 52 is pretty straight forward but it seems a lot of people are disappointed in it, thoughts?

[RobinFan4880]

You have to decide - do you want to dive into the current continuity or do you want to read a handful of great stories from the past?

If you want to dive into the current Continuity, then Start reading Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, beginning with issue #1. It is the best starting place for Batman. From there, you can branch off into other titles, especially Batman and Robin and Batman Eternal.

If you want to read those classic stories, start with Batman Year One.

[Maxpower00044]

A lot of good answered in this thread http://community.comicbookresources....-Recent-Events. All you'll ever need to know. Enjoy!

[MykeHavoc]

Year One, Man Who Laughs, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum: Serious House on Serious Earth, Death in the Family, Hush, Under the Red Hood, Dark Knight Returns. That should be a good start.

[ABH]

Is there a certain version of Batman you prefer?

That might help with suggestions, because when it comes to Batman, you've got a lot to choose from.