Bat Family recommendations (Pre New 52)

[mera]

I'm pretty new to DC comics, I just started reading post New 52. I'm wanting to back track pre-New 52 stories and I need help. What are good series, story arcs or characters to find out about? I currently read the majority of the Bat Family titles (Batman, Detective Comics, Dark Knight, Batman &, Catwoman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, Teen Titans, Birds of Prey and Batman Eternal) granted I think that's all of them.

I've gone back and read the Hush storyline, The Killing Joke and Batwoman Elegy. I want to learn more. Please please please help me learn more about all the Bat Family members. Include series titles and specific issues if necessary. I did just buy Batgirl 1-6 of Volume 1 and Volume 2. I heard there was a story arc where Red Robin and Catowoman hunt down Black Mask? Red Robin and Batgirl hunt down criminals? Bruce Wayne died? I kinda knew that but don't know issues and all that jazz. Help will be greatly appreciated.

[MajorHoy]

. . . I heard there was a story arc where Red Robin and Catowoman hunt down Black Mask? Red Robin and Batgirl hunt down criminals? Bruce Wayne died? I kinda knew that but don't know issues and all that jazz. Help will be greatly appreciated.

Go to this thread from the old boards: http://oldforums.comicbookresources....-Recent-Events
and go to post #4 for the Grant Morrison run, which includes the storyline Batman R.I.P., where Batman is believed to have died (but something even stranger happened after that).

[mera]

Cool, thanks. There is so much I don't know and I want to find out. Despite the fact that I LOVE Barbra Gordon as Batgirl, I really like this idea of Cassandra Cain as Batgirl.

[MajorHoy]

Cool, thanks. There is so much I don't know and I want to find out. Despite the fact that I LOVE Barbra Gordon as Batgirl, I really like this idea of Cassandra Cain as Batgirl.

Barbara is a mixed bag . . . you have many people who felt she was better in her pre-New 52 role as Oracle. But you also have some (like me) who loved the older (and wiser?) Barbara we had prior to The Killing Joke.

[mera]

Barbara is a mixed bag . . . you have many people who felt she was better in her pre-New 52 role as Oracle. But you also have some (like me) who loved the older (and wiser?) Barbara we had prior to The Killing Joke.

I can only make my decision based on this Batgirl series. I wanna know more about Barbara as Oracle. I like the idea of her being an omniscient player guiding people, but I do feel that she does that in the field in Birds of Prey.

[MajorHoy]

I can only make my decision based on this Batgirl series. I wanna know more about Barbara as Oracle. I like the idea of her being an omniscient player guiding people, but I do feel that she does that in the field in Birds of Prey.

Well, I haven't read Birds of Prey recently, but as I've "discussed" elsewhere, it's not quite the same thing when you're actually on the field and trying to monitor / track things while also physically fighting and protecting yourself. That may be more difficult, but you can't be quite as omniscient doing that as you can be from a physically removed command center and can juggle more things when you personally are not being physically attacked.

[mera]

True. I do recommend BoP though. I know a few people don't care for it, but I feel that it's gaining momentum story wise. This past arc was extremely interesting and (IMHO) well written.
I do wish that Poison Ivy was still on the team. I love when villains have a change of heart, so to speak. haha.

[MajorHoy]

By the way, since you said you read Hush, did you also try Heart of Hush?

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/batm...=9781401221249

[mera]

I have not. I'm gonna go to my comic book store tomorrow and look for it. I liked the Hush story a lot. I also LOVED Jim Lee's art.

I'm also gonna look for some Red Robin issues. I didn't know that Catwoman had a baby. I need to go way far back apparently. haha

[nepenthes]

You might want to look at Nightwing Year One, Batgirl/Robin Year One, Gates of Gotham (great Batfam story featuring Dick as Batman along with Tim and Cass in major roles), Catwoman Vol.2: No Easy Way Down (beginning of the epic Black Mask feud) Catwoman: The Replacements (deals with her baby). Let us know any other characters you're interested in.

[John Venus]

I love the old Batman Family title.

Bronze Age Babs was the best Batgirl

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1609254.html#cutid1

Robin refuses to wear pants even when it's snowing:

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1382365.html#cutid1

And the villlains were hilariously wacky:

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/4329949.html

I have no idea where you can buy them these days but it's probably out there somewhere on Ebay or Comixology. If you like them take a gander.

[John Venus]

For more recent stuff, check out Paul Dini's 'Streets of Gotham' run. The 'House of Hush' arc is one of my favorites. It deals with the secret history of the Kane, Wayne, Zatara and the Elliot families.

Also it places a spot light on Martha Wayne for once and develops her character and shows how she met Thomas and what kind of influence she had on him. That's rare among Batman stories because most of them focus on Thomas.

Furthermore, check out 'Selina's Big Score' and Ed Brubaker's run on Catwoman. Some of the best Catwoman stories can be found there.

'Batman: Birth of the Demon' by Denny O'Neil and Norm Bregfoyle is amazing as well. The art is sublime and it's one of the best Ras & Talia stories out there.

There was a mini series in 2001 called 'Batman Family' which is great as well. It deals with the whole Bat-Family coming together to deal with a threat. It's also one of the few stories that deals with Martha Wayne. It's her enemy from the past who returns to destroy her son in the present day.

[MajorHoy]

For more recent stuff, check out Paul Dini's 'Streets of Gotham' run. The 'House of Hush' arc is one of my favorites. It deals with the secret history of the Kane, Wayne, Zatara and the Elliot families.

The thing that surprises me is that House of Hush wasn't released as a tpb until summer 2012, but it's no longer available new from either barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com . . . only in Nook or Kindle form from them.

[themyskira]

For Babs!Batgirl/Oracle:
- Batgirl: Year One
- Birds of Prey volume 1 (Gail Simone's run, issues #56-108, is a good jumping-on point. Chuck Dixon's run has a lot of good moments, too, but it's less consistent.)

For Cass!Batgirl:
- Batgirl volume 1 (Kelley Puckett's original run especially. Avoid the crappy Batgirl: Redemption miniseries.)

For Steph!Batgirl:
- Batgirl volume 3 (the whole run is fantastic)

For Batwoman:
- You said you've read Elegy; Greg Rucka also wrote another Batwoman story which wasn't included in the trade for some reason - it ran in Detective Comics #861-862
- The New 52's Batwoman has been a more patchy effort; JH Williams' art is incredible but his and Haden Blackman's writing is... enh. That said, if you're interested, try the first arc (Hydrology) and go from there if you enjoy it.

For Catwoman:
- Ed Brubaker's run is excellent - Catwoman volume 2 issues #1-37

No Man's Land is a great Gotham-wide story arc. Oh, and if you're interested in a more street-level view of Gotham, I recommend Gotham Central, a fantastic series that revolves around the cops of the GCPD.

[Batman Fan]

Check out Chuck Dixon's runs on Nightwing, Robin and Birds of Prey from the 90's. Some awesome stuff there.