I'm going to be on a Batman obsession soon. These are the books I found would probably be the best to read to get an understanding of the series, and the order. Feel free to comment, they'll all be helpful most likely. =D

Year One, The Man Who Laughs, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Arkham Asylum (Morrison/McKean one), The Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns, Dark Knight Strikes Again.

Unless some of those are pointless and the like, feel free to leave feedback.

you're only going on one soon - you're late

there is no such thing as a pointless batman book!

you may want to read the dark knight thread in the Worlds End for some of our ideas, and there is a specific spoiler thread for those who've already seen the film (the big meanies ).

erm, yeah, enjoy them. i read them completly out of order, and have pretty much enjoyed every one.

oh, i've not read the dk2 (the dark knight strikes again) and i did hear it was pants!

Most opinions are that Dark Knight Strikes again is fairly bad. I haven't read it, though.

Read Year One, Long Halloween and Dark Victory in succession.

Death in the Family is relevant to the general story, but isn't all that good. At least familiarize yourself with what happens in it, because it is relevant to...

Hush, volumes 1 & 2. Very good year-long storyline by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee.

I read the plots of Hush and Death in the Family, so I'm aware of what happens. I think I may get Dark Knight Returns, but not read the other ones by Miller in the Dark Knight storyline (All Star, Strikes Again). Is Dark Knight Returns conclusive enough to read by itself, or do you actually need the others?

Dark Knight Strikes Again made me sad. Very, very sad. Stick with Dark Knight Returns.

quote:

Originally posted by Tongster:
Dark Knight Strikes Again made me sad. Very, very sad. Stick with Dark Knight Returns.

Ah, I'll make sure to do that.

PS: I own Watchmen, but is Absolute worth the 60-75 dollar price tag?

Yes, it is. There's tons and tons of extras, interviews, concept art, stuff about the heroes that never made it into the graphic novel - a metric tonne of content, literally. And it's very, very pretty, with a lot of the colours corrected so that it isn't a four-colour and, quite frankly, disturbingly peachy in the skin tones.

Thanks. =D And do you have to know about Jack the Ripper to understand From Hell? I hate to admit it, but I'm rather ignorant towards him....

Its only worth it if you love the book.

You don't have to know about jack the ripper, alan moore explains it pretty good.

as far as batman goes

http://comics.ign.com/articles/624/624619p1.html

Aha.

So, I found a few more I think I'll add. Batman: Nine Lives, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Batman: Gothic.

Are any of those good or worth reading?

One of the scariest covers ever

But I've always longed for a Batman movie based on this one

Ethics, eco-terrorism, giant bats. What more could you ask for?

quote:

Originally posted by ZoneSeek:

But I've always longed for a Batman movie based on this one

Ethics, eco-terrorism, giant bats. What more could you ask for?

 deadman 

So Kevin Smith and Neil Gaiman are writing some Batman stories, eh? I'm excited. =D

I hope neither follow the plot of Batman R.I.P, since I'd have to read that, then all the stories that precede it and the only one I know that does is Batman & Son, and there's probably a bunch more I wouldn't know of. =P

But here's to hoping of independent stories by two amazing writers. =D

How about Dark Knight, Darker City. Riddler story, really freakin good. Most of the post Year 3, issues were quite good. Underappreciated.

i have no idea about the ongoing story stuff, but i loveBatman: Black & White. High Concept batman, plus, Gaiman's story in that is just lovely.

don't forget " LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT" series it's a true homage to ole tyme batman fans.

Tales of the Demon
The Knightfall Trilogy
City of Crime
.....There are so many more.

legends of the darknight are still ongoing and picking up steam...a true stand alone series in it's own.
these other titles mentioned have fallen by the wayside of mass apeal in the batman universe for one particular reason ......

all frank miller batman is must read.
stay away from group team-ups involving batman.
the series batman is dead ,they just can't let it go out of print,the new focus is legends of the darknight which consist of short stories between 1-5 issues. these stories are clearly labeled so you know what you're getting into.plus half the fun is tracking down the back issuses, for someone who collects that is.

allen moore does a great job also with batman.
this writer can't help but develop characters quickly.
his abilty to re-invent with RESPECT is unmatched save MR. MILLER.

in fact if you find allen moore his buddies kieth geffen and MR. grant won't be far.forgive me i can't recall grant's first name.

i'm writing this in a rush but check out these names tagged with batman.

and as far as HUSH save your money unless you wish to collect to resale.there's always art seekers in the comic world and this is a true master piece of art but the story is well i'm not even sure i can call it a story without insulting the other true writers out there.

batman is an idea, not all batman is good , and that said some should be avoided at all cost.

if you read every batman book out there you will not be closer to the batman. no you will have a montage of so many interpations you won't know what to think and you will decend down an evil path of understanding