Batman Legacy Reading Order

[JBatmanFan05]

So, between the two volumes, Legacy should be complete shouldn't it?

Oh yea, Vol 1 was awesome. Only questions are Bane of the Demon (a prequel to Legacy that came out after Legacy) and the Batman: Bane prestige epilogue for Vol 2, I'm pretty sure Batman: Bane will be included, but Bane of the Demon....I don't know. DC collected that in another Bane trade and might think they can leave it out (even though they can't IMHO).

[zep81]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14..._1499853931495

Collects*Batman*#534,*Batman: Bane*#1,*Batman: Bane of the Demon*#1-4,*Batman: Shadow of the Bat*#54,Detective*Comics*#701-702,*Robin*#32-33.

Volume 2 will include Bane of the Demon according to Amazon. But neither book contains Catwoman #36.

[JBatmanFan05]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14..._1499853931495

Collects*Batman*#534,*Batman: Bane*#1,*Batman: Bane of the Demon*#1-4,*Batman: Shadow of the Bat*#54,Detective*Comics*#701-702,*Robin*#32-33.

Volume 2 will include Bane of the Demon according to Amazon. But neither book contains Catwoman #36.

Sadly, such listings become more and more unreliable (at least partially) every year it seems, so I'd bet Legacy Part 2 Catwoman #36 ends up in the collection. I suspect clerical sloppiness in not mentioning it.

Very cool that Bane of the Demon made it. I get the feeling DC is perhaps consulting wikipedia and the internet a bit more. Hell, even CBR I half suspect about some of these trades.

[zep81]

Sadly, such listings become more and more unreliable (at least partially) every year it seems, so I'd bet Legacy Part 2 Catwoman #36 ends up in the collection. I suspect clerical sloppiness in not mentioning it.

Very cool that Bane of the Demon made it. I get the feeling DC is perhaps consulting wikipedia and the internet a bit more. Hell, even CBR I half suspect about some of these trades.

Yeah me too and so they should tbh. They should know what goes in and where, but I'm glad they're doing more research into getting these releases complete. Look at the Knightfall Omnibus. Yeah they missed out Sword of Azrael, but maybe they did as it's already available in the Azrael trade.

[AzraelOnline]

It would be nice if DC would stop releasing multi trades for arcs that could be released as one book. This 7-8 issues to make a trade crap is unnecessary.

[JBatmanFan05]

It would be nice if DC would stop releasing multi trades for arcs that could be released as one book. This 7-8 issues to make a trade crap is unnecessary.

These Legacy trades (like the new NML ones, etc) are fairly thick. This vol 2 will probably in actuality clock in at around 12 issues (and that includes a prestige format book that was 47 pages).

With this type of paper, a one trade volume would be heavy and thick.

I call out DC on some shady trade collections, but this one is fairly consistent, at the least, and makes sense if fans desire this paper type for these. I think a one volume might have been thicker and heavier than like all Marvel Epic collections or near so.

And again, this isn't merely a reprint of the old Legacy trade, this is like Legacy plus, all prelude and epilogue and tie in material.

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm gonna custom bind Contagion/Legacy now and I've realized that I'm gonna break up Bane of the Demon 1-4 like RealBatmanChronology does.

The first two issues must at least happen amid Contagion, and not before (like some seem to think) because Ra's mentions (in #2) the plague as happening (and "devastating") already in Gotham and it's not really happening or "devastating" already before Contagion. While Dixon loves not leaving gaps in his even issues due to his endings often leading into the next issue's beginning, there are gaps that can be created and here, I think one must be created.

Then #3-4 happen between Contagion and Legacy.

Thinking like:

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48
Detective Comics #695
Robin #27
Catwoman #31
Azrael #15
Bane of the Demon #1&2
Batman #529 [Gotham City quarantined]
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49
Detective Comics #696
The Batman Chronicles #4
Catwoman #32
Azrael #16
Robin #28-30
rest of Contagion TPBs issues (that aren't really part of Contagion, except maybe minimally)

Bane of the Demon #3&4
The contents of the Legacy TPBs

[JBatmanFan05]

Yea, Bane of the Demon #4 fits nicely right before the Catwoman preludes to Legacy (after Contagion), but Bane of the Demon #2 clearly takes place during Contagion's middle most likely, and Bane of the Demon #3 opens in such a way that you allows for thinking or even suggests that time has passed a bit (after #2) and one can thus reasonably break up Bane of the Demon into #1-2 and #3-4.

I've also decided to just arbitrarily and inaccurately throw Batman The Chalice (by Dixon, who largely did Contagion & Legacy) in with Legacy, after it all. If Bane after Legacy simply returns for another round in the Batman: Bane one-shot epilogue, then I figured Batman The Chalice can be pretended to be an epilogue for Ra's after Legacy.

[mattbrain89]

In the Legacy tpbs, is there a great deal of lead in to Cataclysm? Unresolved plotlines and the like? I'm a noob when it comes to Batman comics so I don't know. Thanks.

[PurpleGlovez]

You’ll notice that a certain minor supporting character in Chalice (I won’t spoil who) meets his end in Bane of the Demon. Parts of Bane of the Demon do overlap with Contagion but Chalice is squarely after Contagion due to Jim’s being commissioner. Therefore for readability I might do Contagion, Chalice, Bane of the Demon, then Legacy... or you could do release order and place Bane of the Demon after Legacy, and then Chalice after all of it.

And mattbrain89, after Legacy, Denny O’Neil imposed a strict no-crossover mandate on the Bat-books and Shadow, Detective, and Batman don’t reference each other again until Cataclysm starts. Shadow of the Bat 55 wraps up the sole remaining plot thread of the Madolyn Corbett character but I don’t think it’s included in Legacy vol. 2.

[JBatmanFan05]

You’ll notice that a certain minor supporting character in Chalice (I won’t spoil who) meets his end in Bane of the Demon.

With Ubu, I almost never presume I'm seeing the same one from a previous story. Even Dixon or so had Batman tell Tim there have been many Ubus. So I'm personally pretty comfortable not letting an Ubu death affect continuity placements too much.

I like Bane of the Demon broken up and put amid Contagion and before Legacy. I'm def not doing publication order with it and putting it all after Legacy.

Really leaning towards putting Chalice right after Batman: Bane #1 and treat Chalice as a Legacy epilogue of sorts for Ra's....Bane got a second shot at Batman in Batman: Bane #1 and then Ra's gets his in Chalice. Ra's reveal is so built up in Legacy too that having Chalice happen before Legacy too close to it would undercut Ra's reveal in Legacy, it'd be like he just fought Ra's yesterday.

(ideally if I weren't doing this particular custom bind, I might put Chalice before Tec 693 in Dixon's run while Jim was still Commish before Krol names Andy Howe Commish, or just put Chalice after #718...late in Dixon's run before Cataclysm)

[PurpleGlovez]

It's not Ubu, and since I can't figure out how to do spoiler tags on this forum: It's Ra's al Ghul's librarian, Shuram.

In Chalice, Batman notes that Ra's hasn't shown himself in years. All the clues make it seem like Chuck Dixon intended it to be before Legacy.

[JBatmanFan05]

It's not Ubu, and since I can't figure out how to do spoiler tags on this forum: It's Ra's al Ghul's librarian, Shuram.

In Chalice, Batman notes that Ra's hasn't shown himself in years. All the clues make it seem like Chuck Dixon intended it to be before Legacy.

PurpleGlovez, you know your stuff. You are now persuading me to move Chalice to before Legacy somewhere.

These stories are so old that no spoiler tags required I'm pretty sure.

[PurpleGlovez]

Haha! Thanks. If it weren’t for those details then post-Legacy might make sense. For what it’s worth, “The Demon Laughs” purports to be Batman’s first post-Legacy confrontation with Ra’s al Ghul, and at one point the GCPD is shown surrounded in rubble, presumably a reference to the Cataclysm. Ra’s does appear in a few Batman Chronicles stories too.

[JBatmanFan05]

On Gordon...I flipped thru Chalice and Gordon (who was still often called "Commish" even when he wasn't by Bullock) can possibly be interpreted I think as not Commissioner in it. There's like one scene in Chalice with him and he's at a desk and I don't recall anything too rock solid pinning him down officially as Commissioner in it.