What Batman comics have you been reading?

[Metamorphosis]

Since I find myself consuming a lot of Batman in comic form nowadays, I thought a thread might be appropriate. Post what you've been reading, and optionally, some thoughts on them.

Batman (New52, Vol. 9) - Bloom - Thought it was good but the story has some issues. 7.5 / 10

Got the Batman: Graveyard Shift collection (I think it's New 52 Vol. 6 or so) because I didn't have a few of these issues, and the collection itself for Kindle was really cheap.

So far, it contains:

Batman (New 52) #0 - I read this one when it came out, the main story is very slight. I don't know that it's even 15 pages. Early story where Bruce infiltrates the Red Hood's gang, as they're robbing a bank. Tynion backup with Dick, Jason and Tim. Pretty average.

Batman (New 52) #18 - The post-Damien death issue, which is really a showcase for Harper Row. Another one I'd read when it came out, but not since. Some nice art by Andy Kubert, for at least the first half of the story (somebody else takes over for the last half). I do like Harper, and I think this was a solid issue.

[millernumber1]

So, from your example, I'm guessing this is "other than currently ongoing titles as they come out."

I reread Batman #50, the last issue of the Bloom arc. I think the plot doesn't really work, as in fitting into my head and making sense, and the politics of the preceding issues annoy me, but the return of Bruce was awesome, and Jim actually defeating Bloom's plan at great cost to himself, then the Batman Year One callbacks in the epilogue, brought tears to my eyes. I love Jim so much.

The past month, I bought all of Stephanie Brown's Batgirl trades and reread them all (naturally, I'd read them before, but I finally found the trades at reasonable prices). They are fantastic as usual (though I now need to get the Red Robin Collision trade to complete the collection) - such a beautiful exploration of the Batfamily, Steph's character growth, and Gotham of the time. Also watched the Batgirl Year One motion comic - not quite as satisfying as the jewel-like comic series, but still excellent.

I also read the Batman Annual #28/Detective Comics #12 two-part story featuring both Bruce and Dick in Paris, with Nightrunner and Question (because I noticed that the Nightrunner story by Kyle Higgins was included in the Gates of Gotham trade I just got on sale at Comixology). The Annuals are a bit wonky, art wise, but the Nightrunner story is typically solid Higgins craftsmanship, though hampered by the middle of the story being contained in other writer's works. Trevor McCarthy's art is lovely - swooping lines lending a surreal but very appealing feeling to the polished figures.

Despite the fact that I dislike the way DC is collecting Snyder's run on Batman in Graveyard Shift, I did enjoy Tynion's backstory "Tomorrow" in Batman #0, and Batman #18 is quite moving, I thought. And it's a big reason I liked Harper - I really wish she could have stayed as solid as she was in this issue, and in most of Eternal 1. Eternal 2 was a bit less solid, with all the comparisons and backstory retcons, but I don't hate her, especially not here.

[Metamorphosis]

I didn't want to double-post, but I forgot about the other Bat-book I got digitally this week (like I said, I've been on a tear of Batman for some reason), Detective Comics: Blood Of Heroes collection (Vol. 8).

It collects 'Tec 41-47. I liked the Bat-Gordon stuff so much in "Superheavy", I wanted to check out more.

Tec #41 - 44: Gordon navigates the politics of wearing the Bat-suit (and also makes some new enemies in some skull-facepaint assassins and Joker's Daughter), while Bullock gets a little too involved with his partner. This was a solid 4-parter with some good twists written by Manapul and Buccellato; the GCPD gets a chance to shine, the Bullock story is very noir-ish, and we get the good costumed superheroics out of Gordon. Liked this 7/10

Tec #45-46: The obligatory Justice League team-up. This was written by Tomasi, and actually wasn't bad, but takes awhile to get going. 6/10.

Tec #47: A "Robin War" tie-in. Bat-Gordon Vs. Grayson, while the rest of the Robin bunch are all held captive by the GCPD. Not a bad issue, but I didn't read any of the rest of the crossover. 6/10.

So, from your example, I'm guessing this is "other than currently ongoing titles as they come out."

It can be anything Batman or Batfam-related, new or old, that people want to post. New issues too, sure.

Despite the fact that I dislike the way DC is collecting Snyder's run on Batman in Graveyard Shift, I did enjoy Tynion's backstory "Tomorrow" in Batman #0, and Batman #18 is quite moving, I thought. And it's a big reason I liked Harper - I really wish she could have stayed as solid as she was in this issue, and in most of Eternal 1. Eternal 2 was a bit less solid, with all the comparisons and backstory retcons, but I don't hate her, especially not here.

I bought all 3 volumes of Eternal digital, and it's taken me about a year to read 3/4 of it. I go back to it and then start to lose interest in it---may just finish it in the next few months, we'll see.

I thought Harper had some decent moments in it, of what I've read so far, especially the bit where she foils the Mad Hatter's plans.

[millernumber1]

A year, you say? You should just do what I did - an issue a week, every Wednesday (I did reread it in a blitz - took me a couple of days, because holy cat, 52 issues is a lot - but I enjoy it still.)

[Metamorphosis]

A year, you say? You should just do what I did - an issue a week, every Wednesday (I did reread it in a blitz - took me a couple of days, because holy cat, 52 issues is a lot - but I enjoy it still.)

Thing is, I'll get really interested, the story starts getting good, and then it goes off on some weird tangent that bores the f*** out of me.

I don't know that I could just read one issue on one day, if it starts hooking me, I'll want to read more.

[millernumber1]

Which tangent is the boring one? I always had trouble with the Arkham/haunting plot, even though I like Batwing quite a bit.

[suemorphplus209]

Detective Comics
Batman
Dark Knight 3 - The Master Race

Not technically Batman, but Justice League: Gods and Monsters (Kirk Batman)
Batman & Dracula trilogy

[Metamorphosis]

Which tangent is the boring one? I always had trouble with the Arkham/haunting plot, even though I like Batwing quite a bit.

Yeah, that kinda dragged on and on, even though the Batwing costume looks really cool in this, and him teaming up with the Spectre was neat.

I can't even remember what's going on where I last left off in Book 3, lol. I will probably go back to it once I finish Graveyard Shift.

[lameco]

I bought a couple of stuff from the Batman day sale on comixology and also had some older trades that for some reason I have never read. There's A LOT of things i haven't read
Batman year one - For some reason I have never read it, but I enjoyed it a lot, to me it deserves the praise it gets as the definitive Batman origin story
Death in the family - Another story I enjoyed. Even though I knew the outcome of the story, the death of Jason Todd for me is still cruel and depressing. Also, its pretty funny how the Joker always seems to be at the right place at the right time by coincidence.

I still have other Batman things to read that I bought like Batman eternal (i started reading a bit of it but kind of lost interest) and Batman and Robin eternal, but yeah, I'm not good at giving detailed opinions on things.

[MajorHoy]

A really interesting Batman tpb I read not too long ago was Batman: Blink which collected several issues worth of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight that had been written by Dwayne McDuffie.

[Kingcrimsonprog]

I just bought RTNML Vol 2 trade, B&R Eternal Vol. 2 trade, and just finnished reading my birthday gifts of Batman Europa, Damian Son Of Batman, Grayson Vol. 1, and Robin War.

I enjoyed all of those to be honest, except Europa which was a bit to thin for my tastes.

[DebkoX]

Currently reading TDKR, art is a bit hard to stomach though.

[kevink31593]

I was a regular reader of new Batman comics from 1992 up to 2014, when I pretty much dropped everything for personal reasons. I've started up again with Rebirth and I'm really enjoying the current books. As for older stuff...

I'm currently re-reading the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover comics from the 1990s, which were all co-written by John Wagner and Alan Grant. There were 4 total comics, Judgment on Gotham (1991), Vendetta in Gotham (1993), and the two-part Die Laughing (1998).

Also currently working my way thru the late 80s/early 90s Suicide Squad series. Just finished the "Janus Directive" crossover with Checkmate. Not totally Batman related, but Batman does make random appearances in the series. Also a very important series for Barbara Gordon debuting as Oracle. I've never read this series before and I'm really enjoying it. I picked up the whole series as a lot on ebay a few years ago and I'm finally getting around to it this year.

Earlier this year, I re-read all 60 issues of Batman: Gotham Adventures (1998-2003), and I re-read the Barr/Davis run on Detective Comics from the late 1980s. A lot of other random stuff too.

I've also been re-reading a lot of random Legends of the Dark Knight arcs this year. So far I've read Flyer (24-26), Faces (28-30), Criminals (69-70), The Sleeping (76-78), Idols (80-82), Infected (83-84), Freakout (91-93), Stories (94), Steps (98-99), Duty (105-106), Stalking (107-108), Bad** (146-148), Loyalties (159-161), Auteurism (162–163), and Snow (192-196).

**The "Bad" arc is a special one for me. These issues came out in 2001, written by Doug Moench with art by Barry Kitson. Back in those days I posted on DC's official message boards. Several months before the Bad arc came out, there was a thread about who everyone's favorite Batman artists were. I posted my list, which included Barry Kitson. Apparently, Barry Kitson saw my post, and he sent me a message to thank me for including him. After that we emailed back and forth a few times. He's a really nice guy. He even sent me some scans of some of his pencil work for the upcoming Bad arc. Very cool. Unfortunately, I've lost those scans over the years. Shame. In the Bad arc, there is a child character named Kevin (also my name). Coincidence? Or did Barry get Doug Moench to name the character after me? I never asked, so I don't know for sure. But I like to think so.

A really interesting Batman tpb I read not too long ago was Batman: Blink which collected several issues worth of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight that had been written by Dwayne McDuffie.

The "Blink" stories are actually in a stack of comics I've pulled from my boxes, waiting to be re-read. Looking forward to these because I remember enjoying them back when they came out. There were two arcs, Blink (156-158), and Don't Blink (164-167).

[Batmaniac]

I'm reading Batman, 'Tec and All-Star Batman every other Wednesday. Currently not re-reading anything.

[batnbreakfast]

The "Blink" stories are actually in a stack of comics I've pulled from my boxes, waiting to be re-read. Looking forward to these because I remember enjoying them back when they came out. There were two arcs, Blink (156-158), and Don't Blink (164-167).

I remember liking the artist from Blink, don't know if its the same guy from Batman 12 Cent Adventure (or was it 10 Cent adventure)