Legends of The Dark Knight

[napafish77]

I enjoyed The Long Halloween, Arkham Asylum and Dark Victory.


I like the idea of a solo Batman.


Is this a good series? Is it worth reading?

[Karl O'Neill]

Oh yeah this comic produced such awesome batman comics and stories as Gothic, Prey, Venom and Blades.

Lots of crap as well.

It lasted over 200 issues. But there were plenty of great arcs.

[RubberLotus]

This was the series that produced "Going Sane" and "The Demon Laughs", correct?

Man, I loved those two arcs.

[nepenthes]

Is this a good series? Is it worth reading?

The series was made of small arcs of rotating writers and artists. So the quality really depends on which arc you land on. I still come across great stories I've never read before, lots of good stuff, different approaches, things you wouldn't have read in the main series at that time

[FanboyStranger]

The Archie Goodwin years are almost all quality. When he passed away, the stories began to fall off, although there was still the occasional gem. For me, the highlights of the series are Gothic, Faces, Blades, Mask, Hothouse, and Going Sane.

[Batman was taken]

The first 100 or so issues are all pretty good.

After that, it's a little more hit and miss, but there's still some good stuff.

If you only read the trades, though, you're out of luck. There's only a handful of stories that got traded, and most of them are probably out of print.

[Lorendiac]

One thing to keep in mind is that, as they occasionally remembered to warn us in the letter columns (but usually didn't bother), the word "Legends" in the title was meant to imply the possibility that some of these stories were basically urban legends, or in other words: "Any given story arc in this series may not be connected to the regular continuity of Batman's other titles -- there's usually no guarantee, unless we specifically label an issue as part of a crossover event or something!"

That doesn't particularly bother me, but some people dislike the idea of "fuzzy continuity" (which is one way I've heard LOTDK described), and some people have read and enjoyed some of LOTDK's arcs without realizing that "we are not necessarily in continuity" was the title's original mission statement. Then they are shocked and/or angry when somebody tells them that no matter how much they loved a particular story, the Batman of "modern continuity" may not remember any such thing ever happening in his life!

Just thought I'd warn napafish77 (or anyone else who didn't know) about this particular angle! :smile:

[matthewaos]

Personally I could live in a world where all bat books were like LOTDK, continnuity free, in a way.

[drinkblatzbeer]

i agree...which is why i would love a totally out of continuity batman vertigo title...

[dancj]

It really grated with me when crossovers went into LoTDK. I completely goes against what that book is about and what makes it different to the other Bat books

[Sn4tcH]

I've said it in other threads, but as I've been working on the Batmite76 continuity, I've added close to 30 LOTDK to the list, and that's added on to what Batmite76 already had.

"Batman had a very VERY busy first couple years"

[napafish77]

One thing to keep in mind is that, as they occasionally remembered to warn us in the letter columns (but usually didn't bother), the word "Legends" in the title was meant to imply the possibility that some of these stories were basically urban legends, or in other words: "Any given story arc in this series may not be connected to the regular continuity of Batman's other titles -- there's usually no guarantee, unless we specifically label an issue as part of a crossover event or something!"

That doesn't particularly bother me, but some people dislike the idea of "fuzzy continuity" (which is one way I've heard LOTDK described), and some people have read and enjoyed some of LOTDK's arcs without realizing that "we are not necessarily in continuity" was the title's original mission statement. Then they are shocked and/or angry when somebody tells them that no matter how much they loved a particular story, the Batman of "modern continuity" may not remember any such thing ever happening in his life!

Just thought I'd warn napafish77 (or anyone else who didn't know) about this particular angle! :smile:

Thanks for the heads up. I'm not really concerned with continuity. I really have zero interest in the Bat titles that are out now. Just trying to stay away from any stories involving Robin. Dark Victory was about as much as I can stand, although I do like ASBRBW. I had read that LOTDK were mostly solo stories.

[Boy Constrictor]

For me, the highlights of the series are Gothic, Faces, Blades, Mask, Hothouse, and Going Sane.

nice list

i remember when i was younger i would mostly stick to lotdk because i didn't want to have to deal with all of the continuity and crossover crap from the other bat-titles

[Maestro]

yeah. the first 20 issues or so are classic

[the-wolf]

Best Bat series........EVER!


Seriously, they need to revisit this concept.

[Sn4tcH]

Best Bat series........EVER!


Seriously, they need to revisit this concept.

Uhm... Batman Confidential?

[the-wolf]

You know, I've never actually explored it......obviously, so I ask you, do they rotate the creative teams and are the stories out of continuity?

[Sn4tcH]

Yes.

But I don't think LOTDK or Confidential are out of continuity. But yeah, Confidential is LOTDK, but it's not tied to early Batman stories either. And it's not just Batman stories either, there have been stories involving Nightwing, Batgirl, and Catwoman as well.

[Yawn]

Personally I could live in a world where all bat books were like LOTDK, continnuity free, in a way.

Yes,in the end all that matters is if the storys are good.Loose continuity and continuity free is the way to go.


i agree...which is why i would love a totally out of continuity batman vertigo title...

That would be heaven.

[DetectiveDupin]

i agree...which is why i would love a totally out of continuity batman vertigo title...

Won't happen because the title has "Batman" on it so there's a chance kids might pick it up.

[Sean Walsh]

Won't happen because the title has "Batman" on it so there's a chance kids might pick it up.

How about "Bruce Wayne?" Or "The Caped Crusader?"

And what if they put a mean word in the title, to keep kids away? Like, "Batman: Bastard Killer?" Or "The Caped Crusader vs. Neo-Nazi Rapists?"

[Sn4tcH]

Holy Terror, Batman!?

[napafish77]

Picked up issues 1-10. Just finished Shaman last night. Very impressive. I hope most of the series is this good.

[matthewaos]

"Batman: Bastard Killer?"

I like that one, haha! But I think "Caped Crusader" is a great title for a Vertigo series.

[Slackjaws_ate_my_brain]

My favorite LotDK story was "Sanctum". Sure, it was only 1 issue, but I remember picking it up as a kid and just being FLOORED by Mignola's take on Batman. It's just a really trippy issue that's more in line with Hellboy or the Vertigo line than what's typically considered "batman", but it's completely amazing.

[nepenthes]

there's enough cool LotDK stories to fill many more trades