Nanananananananana.....
I made this list for a few people, and then was told I should put it on LJ.
So here it is: A big chunk o' Batman recommendations, filed under awesome, kinda good, along with ones you might want to stay away from (especially if you are female), in no particular order, with my own notes attached.
Under the cut:
Batman and Robin vol 1 and 2 - Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne as Batman and Robin after Bruce's death. Vol 3 should be out soon.
The Long Halloween: A basic overview of the Batman Universe and pretty much all the villains - the first Batman book I ever read. What most of The Dark Knight movie was taken from, including all the "I Believe in Harvey Dent" stuff.
Dark Victory: The Follow up to Long Halloween, with added Dick Grayson hanging from a chandelier!
Hush: An updated (as of a few years ago) in-continuity look at the Batman universe, touching on both villains and allies. It wins, and introduces another very cool villain. The follow-ups to that are Heart of Hush and the Batman: Streets of Gotham series. All cool, and all can be followed without much hassle.
If you can find it, there's a novelization of a storyline called No Man's Land, by a guy named Greg Rucka. And it's very, very good. Highly recommend it. I'm replacing my copy because I lent it out and never got it back.
Batman Year 100: Indie writer and artist Paul Pope's take on a future Batman. Very cool, very funky.
If you can find them, Batman No Man's Land vol 1-5 are incredible. They tell the story of an earthquake that ravages Gotham, and the united states government deems it not worth it to repair the damages. They close off the bridge in and out of the city, making it a sort of post apocalyptic nutfarm. It's. Amazing, and, also if you can find it the ramp-up to that is Batman: Cataclysm which kicks it all off.
Arkham Asylum: Does what it says on the tin. Very creepy. Very cool.
The Killing Joke: Interesting Joker story, pretty creepy, but be warned, Alan Moore is...well, he's Alan Moore, so his writing is sometimes on the misogyny fence.
The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul: Focuses on Ra's, who is one of Batman's big enemies. A cool story, WITH ADDED TIM ANGST! AND DICK BEING BROTHERLY! <3 <3 <3. I have love for it! It's part of a series along with The Black Glove, Batman and Son and Batman: RIP but the Resurrection can be read on its own. The other three are good (even though RIP is SO CONFUSING!).
Batman: The Private Casebook: Short stories in the bat universe, in the same vein as Streets of Gotham. Fun, not much continuity needed.
Batman: Under the Hood vol 1 and 2: Chronicle Jason's reappearance. Very good.
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader: Neil Gaiman's take on Batman's death. Insane, but cool.
Bruce Wayne: Murderer: Bruce is framed for murder. Crazy shit goes down.
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive vol 1-3: The follow-up to the above. Does pretty much what it says on the tin, but is cool.
Officer Down: Jim Gordon is shot, and the shit hits the fan!
Other Batman related reads:
Nightwing: A Darker Shade of Justice: Dick on his own as Nightwing, being badass and kissing Babs.
Nightwing: The Hunt For Oracle: A nail-biter of a story, crossing over with Birds of Prey!
Catwoman: When in Rome: A side story to Long Halloween and Dark Victory, featuring Catwoman and very pretty art.
If you can find them, the original Birds of Prey series, focusing on Babs' team of women beating the crap out of people is amazing. The friendship between her and Black Canary is great, and passes the bechdel test most days.
Outsiders Vol 1 - 3 for Dick and Roy Harper being...well...Dick and Roy. Just picture if Dean Winchester and a more bad-assed version of Simon Tam were best friends, and you have Dick and Roy.
Batwoman: Lesbian, military trained Kate Kane, out for justice. Gorgeous artwork in this one.
Batgirl Year One - Barbara Gordon's origin story, with added Dick in his Robin costume (scaly short pants)
Batgirl Rising - Stephanie Brown becomes Batgirl and is awesome. No really.
Red Robin vol 1 and 2 - Tim Drake (former Robin, current Red Robin) kicking butt, taking names and being sexually ambiguous. There is huge debate among fans whether or not he's gay due to the fact that he goes through girls like water, turning down sex, and has an extremely close relationship with his best friend Superboy. Extremely close. To the point where when Superboy died, he attempted, a lot, to clone him. Personally, I think he's straight and the writers are just dumbasses with their female characters, but that's just me.
Gotham Central vol 1-5: Stories from the Gotham City Police Department. So cool. So gritty.
Streets of Gotham: For cool, in continuity side stories. Recently, in single issues, they've been exploring Bruce's parents' past. It's cool and the artwork is to die for.
Outsiders/Teen Titans: The Return of Donna Troy: The plot is confusing as hell, but it's WORTH IT FOR THE DONNA/ROY MOMENTS GOD-DAMMIT!
Hitman vol 1-3 (so far): A series about a Hitman who gains super-powers and goes after super-powered hits. Not quite a bat-book, but it takes place in Gotham city, and Batman does make a couple of appearances.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies: During Lex Luthor's tenure as POTUS, Bruce and Clark get bromantic while dodging imprisonment.
Some stuff you might want to avoid, either because it sucks, or because it'll make you mad:
Batman Year 1: Frank Miller thinks all women are whores
Don't read the Knightfall novelization. It's terrible. The actual Knightfall story is dicy at best.
All Star Batman and Robin: Again, Frank Miller thinks all women are whores.
Batman Death and the Maidens: Callous, gory and pretty insensitive in its depiction of life inside a Nazi death camp for a women, to the point where they have a splash page showing one of the characters having her uterus injected with acid, not to mention the same character's daughters being gang raped off panel. Interesting storyline, but a seriously uncool execution. It could be that I'm just overly sensitive to this, because...y'know. I'm a Jew, and this stuff strikes a chord, but I thought they were far too heavy handed.
Identity Crisis: Uses rape as a backstory in a pretty triggery, heavy handed way. The overall idea of the story is neat, and the way it unfolds is interesting but the rape...well, a rape. In superhero comics. And my view on rape in superhero comics is "Must we really?" The ending kind of sucks too.
Single Issues:
Batman Inc: Two issues in. Pretty cool idea. A little on the cheesecake-y side with Catwoman, but a neat story about Bruce going around employing people around the world to be international Batmen.
Detective Comics #871-873: Dick Grayson Batman solving a really creepy, cool, engaging case. Such a great three-parter. I've recommended it to tons of customers who all love it. Detective had a dry spell after the Batwoman story wrapped, but it seems to be back in full force, and VERY COOL!
Stuff that is okay, but not HOMG AMAZING:
Batman: Haunted Knight: The third book after The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Not as good as the first two but okay I guess.
Batman: A Death in the Family: Jason Todd's death at the hands of he joker. Poor bb.
Gotham City Sirens: Focuses on Poison Ivy, Catwoman and Harley Quinn with a side of Zatanna. It's kinda cool...it's been better now that Bruce Wayne is back.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne: Weird shit. Bruce lost in time. I kind of laugh a little when I think about Pirate!Bruce or whatever. It's just...weird.
Batman: War Games vols 1-3, War Drums and War Crimes: A decently told story, but kind of a clusterfuck because it's mostly just a giant gang and mob war. It's nuts.
Batman: Battle for the Cowl: After Bruce dies, Dick, Tim, Jason and Damian duke it out to figure out who should be Batman. Kind of a yawn, because we all know who wins.
Batman: Long Shadows: The direct aftermath of Bruce's death. VERY sad, but gets a little boring once Alfred stops talking.
So here it is: A big chunk o' Batman recommendations, filed under awesome, kinda good, along with ones you might want to stay away from (especially if you are female), in no particular order, with my own notes attached.
Under the cut:
Batman and Robin vol 1 and 2 - Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne as Batman and Robin after Bruce's death. Vol 3 should be out soon.
The Long Halloween: A basic overview of the Batman Universe and pretty much all the villains - the first Batman book I ever read. What most of The Dark Knight movie was taken from, including all the "I Believe in Harvey Dent" stuff.
Dark Victory: The Follow up to Long Halloween, with added Dick Grayson hanging from a chandelier!
Hush: An updated (as of a few years ago) in-continuity look at the Batman universe, touching on both villains and allies. It wins, and introduces another very cool villain. The follow-ups to that are Heart of Hush and the Batman: Streets of Gotham series. All cool, and all can be followed without much hassle.
If you can find it, there's a novelization of a storyline called No Man's Land, by a guy named Greg Rucka. And it's very, very good. Highly recommend it. I'm replacing my copy because I lent it out and never got it back.
Batman Year 100: Indie writer and artist Paul Pope's take on a future Batman. Very cool, very funky.
If you can find them, Batman No Man's Land vol 1-5 are incredible. They tell the story of an earthquake that ravages Gotham, and the united states government deems it not worth it to repair the damages. They close off the bridge in and out of the city, making it a sort of post apocalyptic nutfarm. It's. Amazing, and, also if you can find it the ramp-up to that is Batman: Cataclysm which kicks it all off.
Arkham Asylum: Does what it says on the tin. Very creepy. Very cool.
The Killing Joke: Interesting Joker story, pretty creepy, but be warned, Alan Moore is...well, he's Alan Moore, so his writing is sometimes on the misogyny fence.
The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul: Focuses on Ra's, who is one of Batman's big enemies. A cool story, WITH ADDED TIM ANGST! AND DICK BEING BROTHERLY! <3 <3 <3. I have love for it! It's part of a series along with The Black Glove, Batman and Son and Batman: RIP but the Resurrection can be read on its own. The other three are good (even though RIP is SO CONFUSING!).
Batman: The Private Casebook: Short stories in the bat universe, in the same vein as Streets of Gotham. Fun, not much continuity needed.
Batman: Under the Hood vol 1 and 2: Chronicle Jason's reappearance. Very good.
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader: Neil Gaiman's take on Batman's death. Insane, but cool.
Bruce Wayne: Murderer: Bruce is framed for murder. Crazy shit goes down.
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive vol 1-3: The follow-up to the above. Does pretty much what it says on the tin, but is cool.
Officer Down: Jim Gordon is shot, and the shit hits the fan!
Other Batman related reads:
Nightwing: A Darker Shade of Justice: Dick on his own as Nightwing, being badass and kissing Babs.
Nightwing: The Hunt For Oracle: A nail-biter of a story, crossing over with Birds of Prey!
Catwoman: When in Rome: A side story to Long Halloween and Dark Victory, featuring Catwoman and very pretty art.
If you can find them, the original Birds of Prey series, focusing on Babs' team of women beating the crap out of people is amazing. The friendship between her and Black Canary is great, and passes the bechdel test most days.
Outsiders Vol 1 - 3 for Dick and Roy Harper being...well...Dick and Roy. Just picture if Dean Winchester and a more bad-assed version of Simon Tam were best friends, and you have Dick and Roy.
Batwoman: Lesbian, military trained Kate Kane, out for justice. Gorgeous artwork in this one.
Batgirl Year One - Barbara Gordon's origin story, with added Dick in his Robin costume (scaly short pants)
Batgirl Rising - Stephanie Brown becomes Batgirl and is awesome. No really.
Red Robin vol 1 and 2 - Tim Drake (former Robin, current Red Robin) kicking butt, taking names and being sexually ambiguous. There is huge debate among fans whether or not he's gay due to the fact that he goes through girls like water, turning down sex, and has an extremely close relationship with his best friend Superboy. Extremely close. To the point where when Superboy died, he attempted, a lot, to clone him. Personally, I think he's straight and the writers are just dumbasses with their female characters, but that's just me.
Gotham Central vol 1-5: Stories from the Gotham City Police Department. So cool. So gritty.
Streets of Gotham: For cool, in continuity side stories. Recently, in single issues, they've been exploring Bruce's parents' past. It's cool and the artwork is to die for.
Outsiders/Teen Titans: The Return of Donna Troy: The plot is confusing as hell, but it's WORTH IT FOR THE DONNA/ROY MOMENTS GOD-DAMMIT!
Hitman vol 1-3 (so far): A series about a Hitman who gains super-powers and goes after super-powered hits. Not quite a bat-book, but it takes place in Gotham city, and Batman does make a couple of appearances.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies: During Lex Luthor's tenure as POTUS, Bruce and Clark get bromantic while dodging imprisonment.
Some stuff you might want to avoid, either because it sucks, or because it'll make you mad:
Batman Year 1: Frank Miller thinks all women are whores
Don't read the Knightfall novelization. It's terrible. The actual Knightfall story is dicy at best.
All Star Batman and Robin: Again, Frank Miller thinks all women are whores.
Batman Death and the Maidens: Callous, gory and pretty insensitive in its depiction of life inside a Nazi death camp for a women, to the point where they have a splash page showing one of the characters having her uterus injected with acid, not to mention the same character's daughters being gang raped off panel. Interesting storyline, but a seriously uncool execution. It could be that I'm just overly sensitive to this, because...y'know. I'm a Jew, and this stuff strikes a chord, but I thought they were far too heavy handed.
Identity Crisis: Uses rape as a backstory in a pretty triggery, heavy handed way. The overall idea of the story is neat, and the way it unfolds is interesting but the rape...well, a rape. In superhero comics. And my view on rape in superhero comics is "Must we really?" The ending kind of sucks too.
Single Issues:
Batman Inc: Two issues in. Pretty cool idea. A little on the cheesecake-y side with Catwoman, but a neat story about Bruce going around employing people around the world to be international Batmen.
Detective Comics #871-873: Dick Grayson Batman solving a really creepy, cool, engaging case. Such a great three-parter. I've recommended it to tons of customers who all love it. Detective had a dry spell after the Batwoman story wrapped, but it seems to be back in full force, and VERY COOL!
Stuff that is okay, but not HOMG AMAZING:
Batman: Haunted Knight: The third book after The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Not as good as the first two but okay I guess.
Batman: A Death in the Family: Jason Todd's death at the hands of he joker. Poor bb.
Gotham City Sirens: Focuses on Poison Ivy, Catwoman and Harley Quinn with a side of Zatanna. It's kinda cool...it's been better now that Bruce Wayne is back.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne: Weird shit. Bruce lost in time. I kind of laugh a little when I think about Pirate!Bruce or whatever. It's just...weird.
Batman: War Games vols 1-3, War Drums and War Crimes: A decently told story, but kind of a clusterfuck because it's mostly just a giant gang and mob war. It's nuts.
Batman: Battle for the Cowl: After Bruce dies, Dick, Tim, Jason and Damian duke it out to figure out who should be Batman. Kind of a yawn, because we all know who wins.
Batman: Long Shadows: The direct aftermath of Bruce's death. VERY sad, but gets a little boring once Alfred stops talking.