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

[Sarah]

@nepenthes oppa great collection dear, would love to read some thing over the weekend

[FaceTheMagic]

I have about $30 to spend on comics today so what a some good bat stories to pick up and I was considering The Long Halloween but I have heard I need to read year one first! Is this true and what do you guys recommend?

[LoneNecromancer]

Both are standalone, so you can read them whenever.

I'd go for Year One and The Dark Knight Returns.

[kodave]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but is there any difference in terms of content between Morrison's Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary Edition hardcover and the just released 25th Anniversary Edition hardcover?

Amazon has the page counts at 216 for the 15th versus 232 for the 25th, but that might not be accurate or mean there is extra content.

[nepenthes]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but is there any difference in terms of content between Morrison's Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary Edition hardcover and the just released 25th Anniversary Edition hardcover?

Amazon has the page counts at 216 for the 15th versus 232 for the 25th, but that might not be accurate or mean there is extra content.

As far as I can tell the only real difference is that 25th is in Deluxe format - slightly larger on different stock. Every other listing apart from Amazon puts it as 224 pages not 232. If there was new content I think it would have been mentioned somewhere already.

[kodave]

As far as I can tell the only real difference is that 25th is in Deluxe format - slightly larger on different stock. Every other listing apart from Amazon puts it as 224 pages not 232. If there was new content I think it would have been mentioned somewhere already.

I could have sworn the 15th Anniversary was Deluxe/oversized but I'm not at home to check my copy. That might be reason enough to upgrade.

[Vakanai]

I recently noticed there appears to be some books based on the Arkham series of games, or at least set in that universe. I've never played any of the games, but I did enjoy the Assault on Arkham movie. Are any of the books worth checking out even for a non-gamer, and if so which ones?
Thanks for any help.

[Diggy]

Anybody have any idea when the collected edition of Batman Inc with the new Burnham pages is gonna be released?

[nepenthes]

Anybody have any idea when the collected edition of Batman Inc with the new Burnham pages is gonna be released?

January 6th. BTW all known trade releases are kept updated here.

[gimpboy76]

[s]What are the best trades for the Batfamily that aren't just collected versions of the comics themselves? I know about Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns, but I'm thinking stuff like Batman: Cult and the Rha's Al Ghul ones from around 1990. Since I didn't start collecting/reading until New 52 I'm not aware of these if they aren't in the essential reading list at the beginning of this post.[/s] Never mind just had to dig deeper in the thread

[nepenthes]

I recently noticed there appears to be some books based on the Arkham series of games, or at least set in that universe. I've never played any of the games, but I did enjoy the Assault on Arkham movie. Are any of the books worth checking out even for a non-gamer, and if so which ones?
Thanks for any help.

I haven't read it but as far I could gather the best out of the various AA books was Arkham Unhinged, in terms of acclaim and sales.

[s]What are the best trades for the Batfamily that aren't just collected versions of the comics themselves? I know about Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns, but I'm thinking stuff like Batman: Cult and the Rha's Al Ghul ones from around 1990. Since I didn't start collecting/reading until New 52 I'm not aware of these if they aren't in the essential reading list at the beginning of this post.[/s] Never mind just had to dig deeper in the thread

If you're talking Original Graphic Novels or miniseries then check out Joker, Ego & Other Tails, All Star, Arkham Asylum

[Dr. Hurt]

Hey guys! I've been away from Batman comics because frankly i didnt like any of them after Morrison left. Seeing as two of my favourite characters are coming back, Damian and Stephanie, and the new direction for Babs which looks lovely, I'm looking to come back. Can you give me a rundown of the current state of the batman world?

1. What's going on with Damian? Did he come back? Is it like before or is B&R still not fun, but full of misery?
2. What's going on with Steph?
3. How is the new Babs book?
4. The new batman books, Wayne Asylum and Academy? Are they good?
5. I kind of hate Snyder's batman, but i have to ask. What "best story ev.... sorry.... best story i could tell" is he telling now and how is it? Is he still telling most of the story in his interviews?
6. Anything else i'm missing, which might be worth noting?

Thanks a lot!!!

[Kid A]

1. He's about to come back in January. Can't wait for a new creative team on B&R.
2. Steph is being reintroduced and built up on Batman Eternal. Can't be more specific, because I dropped Eternal due to boredom.
3. The new Batgirl book is fantastic, especially if you didn't like Simone's run.
4. Grayson and Gotham Academy are must-reads. Not sure about Asylum yet. Gotham at Midnight looks promising, but that's more of a Spectre/Vertigo-ish book that happens to be in Gotham.
5. Yeah the new Snyder Batman arc is "Endgame" and I'm not reading it, but Snyder has done the usual hyping that this is THE BEST STORY EVAH. All I know is that it has Joker's return and Batman going all JLA-Batgod against the Justice League. *Yawn*
5. I think that's it; I would def check out Grayson, Academy, and Batgirl. The Manupal/Buccelato Detective Comics is also good, at least I like it more than Batman.

[nepenthes]

Hey guys! I've been away from Batman comics because frankly i didnt like any of them after Morrison left. Seeing as two of my favourite characters are coming back, Damian and Stephanie, and the new direction for Babs which looks lovely, I'm looking to come back. Can you give me a rundown of the current state of the batman world?

1. What's going on with Damian? Did he come back? Is it like before or is B&R still not fun, but full of misery?
2. What's going on with Steph?
3. How is the new Babs book?
4. The new batman books, Wayne Asylum and Academy? Are they good?
5. I kind of hate Snyder's batman, but i have to ask. What "best story ev.... sorry.... best story i could tell" is he telling now and how is it? Is he still telling most of the story in his interviews?
6. Anything else i'm missing, which might be worth noting?

Thanks a lot!!!

1. Damian's on his way back in the current arc Robin Rises (jump on issues in OP). I've also found Tomasi's B&R somewhat dreary and up and down quality wise however this arc is by far his best and brightest yet, a huge improvement.
2. Steph's new origin is from scratch in Eternal but still fairly true to her core qualities and history. Has dragged on a little in the midsection but overall a very fun epic in the tradition of Knightfall, NML etc. Grab the Vol.1 trade out next week.
3. Some of hipster Gen Y/social media stuff is overdone but all up a fantastic start..as someone who was never into any previous Batgirl books.
4. Arkham Manor feels to early tell, Academy very popular among a certain set (ie open to books set in a haunted high school )
5. Endgame is more of the same only this time Bruce uses ridiculous gadgets on the JLA instead of Owls and Joker has a face :/
6. Get onto Grayson 1-4 in singles, if you do anything with your life in the remainder of 2014. All the Morrison vibes are happening here.

[Dr. Hurt]

1. He's about to come back in January. Can't wait for a new creative team on B&R.
2. Steph is being reintroduced and built up on Batman Eternal. Can't be more specific, because I dropped Eternal due to boredom.
3. The new Batgirl book is fantastic, especially if you didn't like Simone's run.
4. Grayson and Gotham Academy are must-reads. Not sure about Asylum yet. Gotham at Midnight looks promising, but that's more of a Spectre/Vertigo-ish book that happens to be in Gotham.
5. Yeah the new Snyder Batman arc is "Endgame" and I'm not reading it, but Snyder has done the usual hyping that this is THE BEST STORY EVAH. All I know is that it has Joker's return and Batman going all JLA-Batgod against the Justice League. *Yawn*
5. I think that's it; I would def check out Grayson, Academy, and Batgirl. The Manupal/Buccelato Detective Comics is also good, at least I like it more than Batman.

1. Damian's on his way back in the current arc Robin Rises (jump on issues in OP). I've also found Tomasi's B&R somewhat dreary and up and down quality wise however this arc is by far his best and brightest yet, a huge improvement.
2. Steph's new origin is from scratch in Eternal but still fairly true to her core qualities and history. Has dragged on a little in the midsection but overall a very fun epic in the tradition of Knightfall, NML etc. Grab the Vol.1 trade out next week.
3. Some of hipster Gen Y/social media stuff is overdone but all up a fantastic start..as someone who was never into any previous Batgirl books.
4. Arkham Manor feels to early tell, Academy very popular among a certain set (ie open to books set in a haunted high school )
5. Endgame is more of the same only this time Bruce uses ridiculous gadgets on the JLA instead of Owls and Joker has a face :/
6. Get onto Grayson 1-4 in singles, if you do anything with your life in the remainder of 2014. All the Morrison vibes are happening here.

Thanks a lot guys. I will definitely check out the books you suggested, especially Grayson if it has Morrison vibes like you said.

[I really hoped that they'd keep those in the B&R book but it's like they said: "what made this book popular? Fun and spunk? Yeah... let's do the complete opposite: Doom, gloom and misery." Morrison didnt deal with Damian's issues head on, but he accepted him for what he was and developped him on the way of his adventure. Tomasi made Damian's issues the main focus and made him borderline sociopathic.]

On another note, from the few previous i've seen, they keep putting Bruce in a Hulkbuster type of armor. It was cool the first time, but they need to remember he's batman, it's his brains and gadgets that are his weapons, not jumping in a massive robot suit.

And finally i read a Tomasi interview where he said that Damian would come back different, with powers or whatever. Do we know anything about that yet? Sorry, i dropped the book the minute i realised they're just milking those forced cameos for what they're worth. "OOOH dont miss next month when batman will randomly team up with this hero/villain." It was as if they were randomly drawing names out of a ballot.