The Natural Posted March 30, 2019 Posted March 30, 2019 Batman turns 80 and today’s the official day. This section of the board is the place to mark it as that’s where Batman began. I’ve been working on a project, a list ranking Batman’s best stories over the past six years. The size has grown from 10 to 20, then 30, now 40 having read more and filling in gaps. Be interesting to see what you think about my selections, their placements, omissions and what’s yours. If you don’t want to make a list, just celebrate the Batman! Thank you. Here’s the list: 40. Batman: R.I.P. Batman #676-681. 39. Batman: The Man Who Laughs. 38. Batman: Heart of Hush. Detective Comics #846-850. 37. Robin Dies at Dawn. Batman #156. 36. The Man Who Ended Batman’s Career. Detective Comics #247. 35. Batman: Li’l Gotham. Batman: Li’l Gotham #1-12. 34. Batman: Mad Love. 33. The Batman Adventures (Vol. 1). The Batman Adventures #1-10. 32. Bruce Wayne – Rest in Peace! The Lazarus Pit! The Demon Lives Again! Batman #242-244. 31. Daughter of the Demon. Batman #232. 30. Justice League (Vol. 1): Origin. Justice League #1-6. 29. Flashpoint. Flashpoint #1-5. 28. Final Crisis. Final Crisis #1-7. 27. Batman Impossible. Batman and Robin Annual #1. 26. Fear for Sale. Detective Comics #571. 25. Batman: The Cult. Batman: The Cult #1-4. 24. Half a Life. Gotham Central #6-10. 23. Soft Targets. Gotham Central #12-15. 22. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. 21. Dark Night: A True Batman Story. 20. A Death in the Family. Batman #426-429. 19. Batman: Knightfall – Broken Bat. Batman #491-497 and Detective Comics #659-663. 18. Tower of Babel. JLA #43-46. 17. Blackest Night. Batman and Robin #7-9. 16. Batman vs. Robin. Batman and Robin #10-12. 15. Twenty-Seven. Detective Comics #27 Special Edition. 14. Endgame. Batman #35-40. 13. The Butler Did It/What The Butler Saw. Batman #682-683. 12. Space Medicine. Batman #672-674. 11. Batman in Bethlehem. Batman #666.. 10. The Island of Mr. Mayhew. Batman #667-669. 9. Kingdom Come. Kingdom Come #1-5. 8. Batwoman: Elegy. Detective Comics #854-860. 7. Batman: The Black Mirror. Detective Comics #871-881. 6. Batman and Robin Must Die. Batman and Robin #13-16. 5. The Dark Knight Returns. The Dark Knight Returns #1-4. 4. Batman Reborn. Batman and Robin #1-3. 3. Batman: The Killing Joke. 2. Batman: The Long Halloween. Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13. 1. Batman: Year One. Detective Comics #404-407. 1
The Natural Posted March 30, 2019 Author Posted March 30, 2019 By writer: Grant Morrison: 11. Scott Snyder: 3. Greg Rucka: 3. Paul Dini: 3. Frank Miller: 2. Jim Starlin: 2. Ed Brubaker: 2. Geoff Johns: 2. Mark Waid: 2. Dennis O’Neil: 2. Bill Finger: 2. Jeph Loeb: 1. Alan Moore: 1. Alex Ross: 1. Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench: 1. Mike W. Barr: 1. Peter J. Tomasi: 1. Kelly Puckett: 1. Bruce Timm: 1. Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen: 1.
Execproducer Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) Never heard of this Jonathan Hickman person, but he sounds like an idiot. Edited March 31, 2019 by Execproducer 3
Brian Fowler Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 He's one of the best writers in comics right now. ------- Batman stories I really love Morrison's whole run. Year One. No Man's Land (although, honestly, it's not a great Batman story. It's a great Batgirl/Oracle story and the best Huntress/Helena Bertenilli story) especially Rucka's novelization. Haunted Knight/Long Halloween/Dark Victory (I'm on record that Tim Sale is just about my favorite artist) 2
The Natural Posted March 31, 2019 Author Posted March 31, 2019 Cheers guys! A large chunk of my list was made up from Grant Morrison's Batman (2006-2013). I've revisited that run more than any other run. The big Batman books I haven't read and need to in no particular order: Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, Under the Hood, Gothic and No Man's Land.
The Natural Posted March 31, 2019 Author Posted March 31, 2019 https://uk.ign.com/articles/the-25-greatest-batman-graphic-novels
J.T. Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 Happy 80th to the Dark Detective. Yep, I'm a Timm & Dini / Loeb dude 100%. 1
Eivion Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Brian Fowler said: He's one of the best writers in comics right now. ------- Batman stories I really love No Man's Land (although, honestly, it's not a great Batman story. It's a great Batgirl/Oracle story and the best Huntress/Helena Bertenilli story) especially Rucka's novelization. No Man's Land is a great Gotham story opposed to focus on any one character. Its also among my favorites. Edited March 31, 2019 by Eivion 2
J.H. Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 There is a serious lack of love for Ten Nights of The Beast, Batman 400 and Tec' 526 (Batman's 500th appearance and the last time they used Killer Croc as an effective crime boss as wellas the giving us the pre-Crisis Jason Todd). Hey those last 2 stories did Batman v. Rogues Gallery before Knightfall and did it without Batman getting his back broken James
Execproducer Posted May 5, 2019 Posted May 5, 2019 I can imagine the crap product that would come out if he was.
The Natural Posted July 13, 2019 Author Posted July 13, 2019 https://whatculture.com/comics/batman-80-greatest-ever-moments
Cliff Hanger Posted September 22, 2019 Posted September 22, 2019 Congrats to Batman I guess. He's not as cool as Superman, the Flash, Robin, Brainiac 5 or Mary Marvel but I guess he's decent in controlled doses. 1 1 1
The Natural Posted February 8, 2021 Author Posted February 8, 2021 I'll be working on an updated version of my Top 40 Batman Books. This will place high: Batman: War on Crime written by Paul Dini and Alex Ross' paintings.
The Natural Posted August 20, 2021 Author Posted August 20, 2021 Awesome video for Batman's 80th Anniversary comprising of actual artwork from those eighty years.
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