Who is the Best Batman writer

[batnbreakfast]

I haven't read The Dark Knight Strikes Again or any of his recent work, where does Frank Miller state that about suicide? Could I be forgetting something from TDKR, Year One or AllStarBatmanandRobin?

The things I remember about War of Jokes and Riddles are much more than just what you describe. There is the whole Bruce and Selina conversation, the Kite Man story and the final confrontation full of twists and turns.

And what older story had Thomas Wayne tell his son not to become Batman and find happiness?

Its from YEAR ONE. Right before a bat crashes through the window. King just made it happen earlier.

That take on Kite-Man was too dark for me. There's enough tragedy in the Batbooks already.

Flashpoint. Geoff Johns did it first. The Button is a sequel.

[Alpha]

Its from YEAR ONE. Right before a bat crashes through the window. King just made it happen earlier.

No it isn't. I went back and reread it, and it's nothing like this. Bruce has just come from a fight and is bleeding. He feels useless and weak, he doesn't know how to make criminals fear him. He asks a statue of his father to tell him how he can make criminals fear him, and says he'd rather die than have to wait any longer for the answer. He's not saying he actually wants to die, and he didn't slit his own wrist, he's just saying he needs to understand how become something more powerful. It has nothing to do with suicide.

That take on Kite-Man was too dark for me. There's enough tragedy in the Batbooks already.

Fair enough. I liked the story but I can understand why you don't want that take. And the Harley Quinn Show proves that it's still possible to make Kite Man compelling without that tragedy. It's just interesting that his whole tragedy and even his reaction to this event and eventual alliance with Batman is completely artifically planned by the Riddler. Plus taking something so sad but innocent about a child and making it a gimmick is really unique.

Flashpoint. Geoff Johns did it first. The Button is a sequel.

The only thing that happens in Flashpoint is that Barry gives Bruce a letter from Thomas, but we don't get to read the full letter and it definitely wasn't supposed to tell Bruce not to be Batman. It was all Tom King.

[John Venus]

Voted for Paul Dini.

Honorable mentions: Dennis O'Neil, Steve Englehart, Chuck Dixon, Len Wein, Grant Morrison, Alan Grant, Doug Monech, Greg Rucka,

[batnbreakfast]

No it isn't. I went back and reread it, and it's nothing like this. Bruce has just come from a fight and is bleeding. He feels useless and weak, he doesn't know how to make criminals fear him. He asks a statue of his father to tell him how he can make criminals fear him, and says he'd rather die than have to wait any longer for the answer. He's not saying he actually wants to die, and he didn't slit his own wrist, he's just saying he needs to understand how become something more powerful. It has nothing to do with suicide.

Fair enough. I liked the story but I can understand why you don't want that take. And the Harley Quinn Show proves that it's still possible to make Kite Man compelling without that tragedy. It's just interesting that his whole tragedy and even his reaction to this event and eventual alliance with Batman is completely artifically planned by the Riddler. Plus taking something so sad but innocent about a child and making it a gimmick is really unique.


The only thing that happens in Flashpoint is that Barry gives Bruce a letter from Thomas, but we don't get to read the full letter and it definitely wasn't supposed to tell Bruce not to be Batman. It was all Tom King.

Then I have remembered it wrong for a long time. I would have sworn there's a scene of Bruce deciding to call Alfred for help or just bleeding out then and there because all the training amounted to nothing.

Could have been worse like King darkening Killer Moth instead of Kite-Man.

Another thing I got wrong and I will punish myself by rereading it

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: Thread first started in November 2020 by Lightning63.
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With 97 people having voted,

* Grant Morrison = 38 votes
* Dennis O'Neil = 13 votes
* Chuck Dixon = 11 votes
* "other" = 9 votes
* Paul Dini = 8 votes

All other options currently have less than five votes each.

[hairys]

Dini for me. His 'Tec is how I want 'Tec to be written.

[exile001]

My favourites are;
Greg Rucka
Alan Grant
Steve Engelhart
Tim King

I think Devin K Grayson's run is criminally underrated, too.

[MajorHoy]

My favourites are;
Greg Rucka
Alan Grant
Steve Engelhart
Tim King

Typos can be interesting . . .

[exile001]

Typos can be interesting . . .

Um... he wrote an uncredited back-up in Batman #163. Defined a generation. 10/10. Amazing stuff! *eyes dart side to side in desperate hope of getting away with blatant lie*

[Jim Kelly]

Hurray for "Tom King," the man who created the Knight Watchman!

[MajorHoy]

Hurray for "Tom King," the man who created the Knight Watchman!

For anybody who doesn't get the joke, that character was actually created back in the early 1990s and was part of the Big Bang Comics Line.
(And "Tom King" as opposed to "Bob Kane" as Batman's creator.)

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: Thread first started in November 2020 by Lightning63.

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With 105 people having voted,

* Grant Morrison = 41 votes
* Dennis O'Neil = 15 votes
* Chuck Dixon = 11 votes
* "other" = 11 votes
* Paul Dini = 9 votes

All other options currently still have less than five votes each.

[K7P5V]

Definitely, my choice would be...

Dini & Timm

Alan Grant, and Doug Moench not being listed, yet Loeb is is a travesty.

I really liked Chuck Dixon...on other Bat related books. His Batman/Tec run was pretty pedestrian, compared to his Nightwing, Catwoman, BoP, and Robin work.

I voted for the incomparable Chick Dixen. He fleshed out the Batfamily to an as yet unsurpassed degree highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each member. During his run, none of the many members were superfluous and each had their own flavor and vibe. He is very underappreciated

In agreement with the both of you in regards to Chuck Dixon. Personally though, my preference will always be the Chuck Dixon run on...

Nightwing

[DrewHLMW]

Best bat run of the last decade belongs to James Tynion and his Rise of the Batmen saga from rebirth in Detective Comics, sucked it had to end eary cause DC didnt want it being a team book anymore. did his Ra's Al Ghul plotline ever get resolved anywhere?
havent read enough pre-new 52 to pick before that.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Grant Morrison. By far. Love his Batman run.

Honourable mentions to Dennis O'Neill, Paul Dini and Scott Snyder.

1. Morrison.
2. Dini.
3. O'Neil.
4. Snyder.

For the great Frank Miller's done in Year One and TDKR, he's done some really bad in TDKSA and ASBAR.