Most powerful Batman stories

[sirvk]

Hey,

I was just wondering which Batman stories you consider to be the most powerful. What stories stay with you even after you finish reading them. Has there ever been a story which moved you to tears, or close to it?

[nightwing45]

Definitely Death in the Family. Knightfall comes close if it wasn't so convoluted.

[DonC]

http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/12765330164.33.GIF


Just an amazing story.

[maniacthw]

Honestly, Under The Hood was that story for me. It doesn't help that there's no real resolution between Jason and Bruce at the end either.

[byron lomax]

"Requiem for a Killer" (Batman 471), "The Nobody" (SotB 13) and "The Bomb" (Tec 638) are all powerful short stories.

Perhaps "The Black Spider" (SotB 5) and "Death Wish" (Batman 430) as well.

[Arvandor]

Night Cries is the most emotionally powerful Batman story for me.

Followed by Arkham Asylum.

[Sir Duke]

Without a doubt, the most emotionally powerful Batman story to me is Heart of Hush. Not too many Batman stories make you go 'awww.' I wish other comic books could do romance like Heart of Hush did.

[ffritts]

The killing joke, death in the family, batman fugitive (dick and bruce confrontational)

[T Hedge Coke]

For starters...

Any of Miller's Bat-work.

Night on Earth.

RIP and the Final Crisis crossover (plus FC, really).

The Knightfall novelization by O'Neil.

That one where Ubu haunted Wayne Manor.

Arkham Asylum.

[DRW]

I really liked "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?", it was a pretty good analysis on what Batman stands for as a character and the evolution of his stories. The art was pretty good too, even though the second issue of the story was delayed for months because of it.

[Sixty-Three]

I really liked "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?", it was a pretty good analysis on what Batman stands for as a character and the evolution of his stories. The art was pretty good too, even though the second issue of the story was delayed for months because of it.


I cant stress enough how great of a Story that was. Easily one the best Batman stories every written and that can be said without any hyperbole.

[omega84]

Year One

The Dark Knight Returns

[El Sombrero]

A lot of the stories in the original "Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told" collection end on these very emotional notes that are well-done.

In terms of just overall powerful, DKR. The first time I read this it blew me away to a degree that it made me like comics as a medium so much more than I did beforehand.

[David Walton]

A lot of the stories in the original "Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told" collection end on these very emotional notes that are well-done.

My favorite is the story where the Phantom Stranger takes Bruce to an alternate reality where he can choose whether or not to stop Thomas and Martha Wayne from being murdered.

[nepenthes]

I always liked the B&W short "Constant Mourning" where Bruce tracks down the name of a Jane Doe in order to remember her and how he never forgets any victim he comes across.

Also strangely enough parts of TAS and especially Mask of the Phantasm are more evocative than many comic books could hope to be


A lot of the stories in the original "Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told" collection end on these very emotional notes that are well-done.

In terms of just overall powerful, DKR. The first time I read this it blew me away to a degree that it made me like comics as a medium so much more than I did beforehand.

Agree completely on both points.

[FHIZ]

http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/12765330164.33.GIF


Just an amazing story.

So friggen sad.

[T Hedge Coke]

That B&B just annoyed me. Batman's earlier appearances and even the Nightwing bit, though? Moving!

Almost as if the early issues had been written by another write... oh, yeah.

[DRW]

I cant stress enough how great of a Story that was. Easily one the best Batman stories every written and that can be said without any hyperbole.


I remember when it came out, it had me and my friend talking for weeks about the message we took from it, and nothing really beats that awesome "Goodnight Moon" ending.

[Enjoypolydor]

Batman TAS episode "I've got Batman in my Basement"

[V0nnegut]

Night Cries is the most emotionally powerful Batman story for me.

[/b]

I just read this, and I completely agree. Great story with fantastic artwork.

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I'm not a Knightfall fan, but Year One is my favorite. There was also a story, a long time ago, in Detective Comics, in which the Phantom Stranger took Batman and Robin to an alternate world, where the Dark Knight could prevent the murder of his counterpart's parents. He did that, though Robin was concerned that this would prevent the rise of superheroes in that Earth.

Well, as the story turned out, Batman stopped the mugging, in front of young Bruce and his parents, and young Bruce became inspired to become a crime fighter, though not with the trauma. A very nice short story.

[Damian Wayne]

Definitely A Death in the Family for me.

[Android]

Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader? And RIP for me.

They just speak so much as to why Bruce Wayne is my favourite character in all of fiction. Inspirational is really the only way I feel i can articulate the effect these stories have.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

Most "powerful"? So many stories moved me in different ways! How about I try it like this:

MOST TOUCHING: "SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT" by Denny O'Neil and Irv Novick. It brings a tear to my eye.

MOST HUMOROUS: "BAT-GIRL MEETS BAT-MITE" by Bill Finger, Shelly Moldoff and Bob Kane.
Basically, Bat-Mite tries to help Bat-Girl impress Robin by magically "enhancing" her skills. All goes well until they plan on staging a fake crime with phony criminals--but she unwittingly stumbles onto a REAL crime and Bat-Mite can't help either her or Robin! NOTE: in this humorous story, Batman's first writer revealed his belief that Batman will never marry because he is "already" married...to "Justice"!

MOST THOUGHT PROVOKING: "THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS MINISERIES" by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson.
I think I've said it before but this story, along with Alan Moore's SWAMP THING run restored my faith in the power of the comics medium and what it is capable of producing!

MOST FRIGHTENING: "THE JOKER\THE JOKER RETURNS" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
This was a Joker I had never seen before or since. Cold, calculating and when pushed to the edge--absolutely INSANE and not in a fun way, but in a Manson or Ted Bundy kind of way--totally amoral! This version hasn't been seen since 1940--thank goodness! I was only 8 when I bought the treasury size reprint--it gave me nightmares for days!

JUST THAT DARN GOOD!-"CRIME'S MANHUNT" Drawn by Dick Sprang--I don't know who wrote it.
Criminals who were tired of going to jail decided to feast on their own kind--they started capturing criminals so they could get the reward! It was reprinted in BATMAN #261 and in that 100page GIANT, it was the ONLY story that I re-read more than once! I'm looking forward to it appearing in BATMAN CHRONICLES!

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Legends Of The Dark Knight #32-34 ("Blades")
Detective Comics #678 ("Yesterday's Gone")
Batman Adventures: Mad Love

[Spidergirl22]

I loved Batman year one, and the return of the dark knight.

[jgiannantoni05]

-Dark Knight Returns and Year One
-LOTDK Blades
-Death in the Family
-Many points in Morrison's long run
-LOTDK Venom - Batman's reaction to the young girl dying was really well done by O'Neil
-The Killing Joke
-The Long Halloween - Harvey's fall was powerfully done


Has there ever been a story which moved you to tears, or close to it?
No. But hardly anything does. Only a very very few movies/books have.

[Choppa]

Broken City. Mostly just the part where Batman is wading through the sewer at the climax while remembering what happened the day his parents died.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NNBR7QPTL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

And Batman #603. This was the climax of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive while Bruce was still ditching the Bruce Wayne alter ego. In this issue he gets a message from a cop on his death bed asking for him to come see him. The cop tells him about the one case he could never solve- the murder of the Waynes. He asks Batman to solve it for him since he never did. After that Bruce realizes that he is both Bruce and Batman.

http://comicmegastore.com/images/batman-1940-current/batman-comic-603.jpg

[Ben D]

The most powerful for me and cemented me as a Batman fan since the age of 3 was "The Origin of Batman" originally published in Batman 47. It was the first issue that really had powerful emotion in the Batman franchise. It began with Batman and Robin fighting a random street thug when they come across a picture of the ring leader of the whole operation. Bruce immediately recognizes it as the man who killed his parents. The man who created Batman and a new era in Gotham City and the rest of the world. An era of crime and villainy which sparked an era where the crime fighters managed to take the offensive. We see Bruce consult with Commissioner Gordon (who appears in two panels) and we even see Batman's origin with his parents being shot down in cold blood and the the cowardly criminal, Joe Chill ranaway, forever putting a sense of what evil truly is into young Bruce Wayne. He vowed to forever fight against evil on his parents grave and then would go on to practice his mind and his athletic skill. He was finally ready for his role but needed a disguise that would inspire others to help in his quest, and criminals to run away. Thus was born a the weird figure of the shadows...this avenger of evil- The Batman, who once again remembered the criminal who killed his parents, who started this all. Batman has to tell Robin that he can't work on this case because of how personal it is for Bruce. He has to do it alone.

Batman decides to work with the police department who found a lead on this case leading to famous boating company. Batman sneaks on board the yacht then makes a grand entry immediately spotting the man working with Chill and tries to stop him. Realizing that criminal doesn't know that Batman is really looking for Chill, he decides to let the criminal escape onto another boat and go to Chill so he can follow. The criminal comes rushing into Chill's office telling Chill the story. Joe, outraged that the criminal would lead Batman into his personal headquarters shoots the man Batman was chasing. The Caped Crusader comes in right after that. Chill tries to tell Batman that it was self defense, but Batman is almost blinded by his emotions meeting this man, not caring about that. He remembers though, that outright attacking Chill with no real evidence wouldn't be a smart idea so he decides to follow Chill for a bit in order to see if he can truly make this case work. It does.

He thinks of ways to make Chill confess, but ultimately comes to one desperate decision. Even if it ends Batman forever. He comes into Chill's hideout one last time and tells the man that he knows Chill is the killer of the Waynes. Joe asks him what his evidence could possibly be, the case has ran cold for decades now. Then in a fit of what could be considered blind rage, Bruce takes off his mask telling the killer he knows because he is the son of the murdered.


"I know because I am the son of the man you murdered! I AM BRUCE WAYNE! I became Batman because of what you did and I swore I'd arrest you for it some day. I can't prove your guilt, but I'll never stop hounding you until I do. Whatever you do, I'll be watching. Where ever you go I'll be watching. I'll always be watching And someday you'll make a mistake...and I'll be there waiting."

Batman then leaves the building, giving Chill time to think about this. The worried Chill decides to tell the members of his gang about the story, think they'll protect him but the plan backfires. They are angered at the man who created Batman, who now made them worried for their safety.

Three of them shoot Joe.

They then come to their criminal sense, realizing that they just killed the man who knows who Batman is. They try to get Chill to talk, but then Batman, who just heard those shots, comes rushing in leaving the criminals trapped in another room.

He sees Joe Chill the man who once gave young Bruce the most terrifying experience any child can go through. He sees the crook who made countless other people's lives miserable. He sees the dying old man. He asks Chill if he can survive and the response is this:


Not...for long. Funny, because I started you off as Batman the boys ended me! Yeah, I guess you got me after all!

And so, at last the case is closed. The case without which there would never have been a Batman!

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/12765330164.33.GIF
Just an amazing story.
Is this collected in any TPB?

edit: nvm found it! "Team-ups of the Brave and the Bold"

[The Lucky One]

My favorite is the story where the Phantom Stranger takes Bruce to an alternate reality where he can choose whether or not to stop Thomas and Martha Wayne from being murdered.

Agreed. I'll also throw in "My Beginning... And My Probable End."

And add another vote for "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?"

-D

[Corto]

I'll go with JLA: New World Order.

Batman vs the White Martians? Priceless.