OT - Attn MGoNerds - Batman Comics Suggestions
I have already outed myself as a total geek and fanboy multiple times on this board, so what's the harm in this?
I'm on a Batman kick right now, which happens every once in a while and especially around the release of a movie or video game. I'm not a huge comic guy, as I don't like many superheroes beyond Batman and X-Men (Superman completely blows, as does Spiderman IMO), but I've been reading a few recently and am looking for further reading regarding the Dark Knight. Here's what I've read so far (and no, not all these are within the last few weeks. I don't quite have that much time on my hands).
The Dark Knight Returns (obligatory)
Year One
The Killing Joke (obligatory)
Batman & Son
Batman Reborn
The Return of Bruce Wayne
The Long Halloween
Year 100
A Death in the Family
Arkham Asylum
Hush
Batman & Robin Must Die
Thanks in advance. Also, feel free to list your favorites.
EDIT - poster SamIam would like to know which one he should start with to lose his Batman comic virginity. Thought this would also be an interesting discussion.
Joker by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo.
i beleive thats the title anyways...by Neil Gaiman
You already have hit most of the essentials. You need to read Son of the Demon since it is so important to the whole Talia/Bruce relationship.
I would also suggest Dark Victory, and Gothic.
I actually find Superman really boring, too. (He has every power and his character always struck me a super lame and square.) But I recently stumbled across my old copy of Kingdom Come. That was a really good Superman-centric story. Plus, you get all those cool Alex Ross painted illustrations.
The Dark Knight Returns has really shaped how I view Superman. And admittedly, I haven't delved into to much of Superman's story, but he just always seemed like a prick to me. Virtually unstoppable, too idealistic, and not conflicted about much. Where's the fun in that?
Read Action Comics Issue 775: What's so Funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way? for a really good Superman story that shows you some of his internal conflict.
I also really liked Red Son, an alternate universe situation where Superman lands in the USSR instead of the USA.
All Star Superman and For the Man Who Has Everything are also both excellent.
I'd strongly suggest reading All-Star Superman. If you think of Miller's Dark Knight Returns as the potential end for Batman, then All-Star Superman would be the equivalent for Superman.
Alan Moore mentioned in his "Twilight of the Superheroes" proposal (the greatest comic to never be made) that he thought superheroes could never rise to the level of legends like Robin Hood because superheroes have no end but simply continue to exist forever. I think of the Dark Knight Rises and All-Star Superman as the potential final chapter for two legends. Each touches on the most important aspects of the characters and gives them what could be their greatest challenge while also having them face their most important villains. And each ends in a way that feels completely appropriate for the character.
I'm a fairly big Superman fan, but the other 2 guys that I do my comics podcast* with aren't as big of fans but they both love All-Star Superman.
Edit: Also, for those that already know Superman, I think that Superman Red Son is great but it's much better if you're already fairly familiar with the characters.
*If anyone is interested, search for "Character Sphinx" on iTunes or go here. We go through the entire history of one character at a time. So far, we've read everything that Captain Atom has been in and are into the 1990s of Aquaman (we just finished recording podcast 6/8 on Aquaman last night and I'm wiped out from it).
Anybody around during the comic book/baseball card crash of the early 90's? I've got a couple boxes of comics that I thought were going to be worth a fortune one day...all that hard earned allowance money down the drain. Damn you Death of Superman!!
If you've got the time, this video is totally worth watching. (NFSW language, so maybe wait until you're home to watch it. And don't worry, it's definitely not NSFH)
I liked that a fair bit, well done.
I don't think any of mine aged very well. Probably the best I got is Wolverine #1, which is probably worth about $50-$75 right now.
So you're telling me I can't retire on my 90-91 Skybox Olden Polynice card?
boxes and boxes, brother.
called a sports card shop the other day while doing some spring cleaning; wanted to see what a 3" x 3" x 3" box of baseball and basketball cards might be worth circa '85-91. his advice was basically that i toss them, or recycle them were i feeling environmentally concious...
the sports can and will go. i'll hold on to a few of the comics though.
I remember being at a card show back then and a pack of Upper Deck baseball cards were selling for $20 a piece with a sign that said "May contain Jerome Walton rookie card". When stuff like that started happening then people started backing out of the hobbie.
I would like to start reading them also. Suggestions for best one to start with.
For Sam, the list above is a good start. Every "must-read" is on there. But, if you pick up a Batman comic for the first time, my order would go...
1.Year One
2.The Dark Knight Returns
3.The Long Halloween/Dark Victory (back-to-back)
4.The Killing Joke
5.A Death in the Family
For the OP, here's my personal suggestions...
- a second for Son of the Demon and Dark Victory
- Grant Morrison's Batman run which starts around issue #650, transfers over to Batman & Robin (starting with #1), and is now in its Batman, Inc. stage. (You have some of the stuff in your list already)
- Knightfall (THE, yes in all caps, Bane story)
- No Man's Land (Nolan cribbed from Knightfall and this story)
- The Man Who Laughs
- A Lonely Place of Dying
I agree with this, but would like to emphasize just how great No Man's Land is. It's not the quality of writing you get in Year One, Long Halloween, or Dark Knight Returns, but it's a great story and extremely fun if you have decent familiarity with the Batman universe.
A more complete No Man's Land just came out on Amazon - I've only flipped through volume 1, but it looks like it's the way to go.
I have been thinking about starting to read them but hadn't taken the time to figure out where to start. Much appreciated.
For Sam, the list above is a good start. Every "must-read" is on there. But, if you pick up a Batman comic for the first time, my order would go...
Thanks for a nice list and order. As someone who's never (!) read a comic book I'm intrigued. I grew up in the '90s on the Sat. morning Batman cartoons and would love to delve into some literature now that I actually read for enjoyment.
Another newbie question: What would be the best way to get ahold of the comics? Just pull up Amazon? Do I need to go to a comic store? Is there an electronic, cheap way to read them?
But there's an App for that-
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dc-comics/id378080432?mt=8
Interestingly though the Dark Knight Returns hasn't hit their own App yet, and is only on the parent one (last I checked)
This is not the sort of place to be talking about comic books, comic strips, and sequential art!!! Is it??!!
(PS This is supposed to be a joke because it came from me)
I have a question for Comic Book junkies. I wanted to read the whole Knightfall series(only got to read a few), I see there is a Knightfall Vol 1 & 2 that was released with 3 coming in Sept. I read some reviews and some have said that parts or missing.. A.Why would DC leave out issues? and B.Should I really go out and try to find all the issues to get the full story? Is what I will miss in the new Vols that important? Thanks for any advice on what route to go.
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Knightf.../dp/1401233791
Both story arcs spanned 4-5 titles at any one time, and as a regular reader at the time, many of the issues were totally redundant in content. It's much better in collected form than it was as single issues -- don't look for the rest. Also: It's not that good in the first place.
oh man your last sentence bums me out..
Bums me out too. Bane is a tough character to pin down though. The 90s Batman&Robin movie really just embarrassed themselves with how they portrayed him (really, the whole movie was embarrassing). Thought it was a brave choice by Nolan and I think he succeeded. I liked him as a villain in The Animated Series as well.
But after Bruce "falls" it meanders and the ending is a disappointment. But the concept is ok.
But Bane had a rough go of it as a character after that. Much like after Hush DC seems to like to built up villains only to tear them down after.
A lot of the O'Neil-Adams old stuff is good, and introduces Ra's Al Ghul and all. And Englehart-Rogers stuff later is good too. One has to read the Laughing Fish.
The Animated Series is amazing. I own all the seasons on DVD. It was pretty $$$ but worth it.
One of the shows from my childhood that is still entertaining today. A few years ago, I watched them again for the first time since I was a kid and I was amazed at how thought provoking some of the episodes were. And Mark Hamill as The Joker is awesome.
My library has them, so I haven't purchased them. But probably will one day.
I actually just finished "The Black Mirror" by Scott Snyder, and it was really, really good. It's set during the time that Dick Grayson took over as Batman in Gotham during Burce's absence. It features Commissioner Gordon quite heavily and deals with the return of his son. A really good read with some great art.
I actually got tons of Batman e-comics on my PC, my current one I'm reading at the moment is No Man's Land (since it's so crititcal to understand it while playing the Batman "Arkham City" game).....
Knightfall is a must (to understand Bane)
Hush is one the most severly underrated Batman titles, it's super great.
The Court of the Owls storyline wasn't half bad either......and any storyline involving Ra'Al Ghul is bound to be ingrossing....
*P.S.* Shredder -- check your email, I sent you a email about help finding Knightfall comics
Which digital format you looking for? most E-Comics are in .cbz or .cbr format.
Edit: Sorry double post
I'll name a couple of other stories that are very Batman-centric JLA: New World Order and JLA: Tower of Babel.
Plus while Kingdom Come is first a Superman story, it's really about the big 3. (And if you like Alex Ross one of his oversized editions was Batman: War on Crime).
Here's 25 top Batman stories-
http://comics.ign.com/articles/624/624619p1.html
And Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude did a World's Finest mini that was classic in like 1990, but it's largely forgotten.
Tower of Babel was nuts , because that was first time most of us found out that Batman has a playbook ...he as a plan/play for every superhero AND supervillian he might fight ...Supes included.....
Also read Identity Crisis....it deals with the fallout.......................
I've heard good things about Emperor Joker, although I've never read it myself.
i agree with others about Year One and The Dark Knight Returns.
But how about some love for The Sword of Azrael? Quesada's pencils are stunning, it's a nice written little story, and only four issues (now collected in a graphic novel). One of my fav's...
Well.....Watchmen is about as good as anything I've ever read - comic, novel, biography, anything. It's a cliche answer, but there's a reason for that. It's awesome.