Where When and How to jump in?

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I'm pretty confused about how to start reading a Batman comic. There's like an overflow of never-ending story lines - I have no idea when the Jason Todd thing started, no idea who Red hood is, etc.

I know the basics of Batman, I'm not new to Batman, but I'm new to the on-going events in Batman's life.l I've read Batman: Year One, DKR, the Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Fugitive story, and various TPB's from the state library. I picked up All Star B & R, but I'd like to get into the main Batman.

What titles should I pick up, and when? Are there any back issues that I'll need to get? With Infinite Crisis coming up, I'd like to be able to observe what happens to Batman (and other characters) and not be left out.

I'll probably post a topic similar to this for Infinite Crisis and Superman, as I have no idea what going on.

[The Xenos]

Meh. I can't really reccomend the current Bat-book. They got this gimmick of bringing Jason Todd back from the dead as new and mysterious villian. Again. They already did it with Hush and again with the Red Hood. It's all rather muddled and not really that good. Plus the Scarecrow Scarebeast thing wasn't too great either.

Meh. I gotta say I'm not too keen on the Bat-books right now.

To me some of the best ones are the side books like Gotham Central (focusing on the GCPD), Birds of Prey (which has severed ties with the Bat), and Batgirl has always been rather enjoyable.

Other than that, I really can't reccomend any core Bat books. Gotham Knights is a villians by way of Hush book. I avoid that like the plauge. Detective, well save for this month and next, is a 12 part crime drama with a kinda freaky twist by David Lapham of Stray Bullets crime comic fame. That's been pretty good.

-Xenos

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

OK homie I'll hook you up. If you want to start off right I would go like this

start with
A Death in the Family TPB

then Id skip to Batman #590-596ish-its an awesome Brubaker run that goes ro right before Murderer and Fugitive,

Hush TPB 1 and 2
As the Crow Flies TPB
(if you want you can try to track down the "Pushback" arc in Batman: Gotham Knights #50-55) its not the greatest Batman story ever
Batman WarDrums TPB
Wargames Acts 1 and 2 TPB 3 will be out soon
then Batman 635-current
Detective 809 (Just came out Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)-current
Batgirl # 65-current
Gotham Knights #60-current its not my favorite stuff either

for Infinite Crisis you should get get
Infinite Crisis 1-7
DC Countdown to Infinite Crisis
Prelude to Infinite Crisis TPB
OMAC Project 1-6
Villains United 1-6
the 4 part Sacrifice Arc started in Superman #219 ends in Wonder Woman #219
JLA #115-current


some really good other Batman stories in continuity order
Batman The Killing Joke TPB
Batman Grendel #1 and 2
Batman 10 Nights of the Beast TPB
Batman:Sword of Azreal
Knightfall series Parts 1-3 TBP
Batman Prodigal TPB
Batman Contagion (not sure if this is TPB)
Batman Legacy TPB
Detective 608-610 (Batman vs Deathstroke round 2)
Batman No mans land Vol 1-5
Batman Evolution TPB
Batman Officer Down TPB
Batgirl #25, Batgirl#50 (if you can find em!!!!!)

i'll post more when I think em

[chicainery]

My advice is to just look at the newest Batman comics at your local comic book store and to pick up the one(s) that interest you. You'll know where to go from there.

[SpecialAgentPunk]

well thanks for the advice guys. Is that really all I'll need to catch up on Infinite crisis, for a guy who just started on comics this summer? If it is, it's really not as bad as I thought it would be.

I'll check out GCPD, and I agree with you, xenos, about everything being muddled. Bringing back a dead person whose death had so much value in the personality of Bruce Wayne seems to destroy all realism left in comics.

Who are the good batman writers and artists?

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I know it's not a Superman forum, but since it's similar, what should a new comic reader be following to be prepared for Superman in Infinite Crisis? Same stuff?

[Converge]

well thanks for the advice guys. Is that really all I'll need to catch up on Infinite crisis, for a guy who just started on comics this summer? If it is, it's really not as bad as I thought it would be.


All you need so far is

Countdown to Infinite Crisis
OMAC Project 1-4 (of 6)
Day Of Vengence 1-4 (of 6)
Villains United 1-3 (of 6)
Rann/Thranagar War 1-3 (of 6)
The Sacrifice arc (you don't really need this, but it explains what happens between OMAC #3 and OMAC #4)

That's all that's out right now. There is a ton of IC tie-ins you can get if you want, but this is all the core stuff. You can get Prelude To Infinite Crisis if you want, but it's not necessary. I bought it and thought it was a waste of money.

You should get Seven Soldiers too. Not because it has anything to do with Infinite Crisis (so far). But because it's just awesome. And it requires no prior knowledge of the DC universe.

[SpecialAgentPunk]

thanks Converge. I'll probably get Prelude because I'm a new reader. I don't know about Seven Soldiers though. I'm already stretching my wallet.

for the batman comics, Xenos, you reccomended 635 - current. Are there any TPB's for the batman title? It's already at 643, so I'm kind of far behind. Maybe I could start at a later issue, like 640?

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I know that I'm kinda posting right after my own messages, but either I'm too interested in Batman to wait for an answer or I'm too confused.

I just finished Tower of Babel, Death in the Family and Hush 1 & 2.

I'm pretty confused by 2. Lots of questions.


1. How did Harvey 'fix' himself up? Particularly his mental side. What is his goal?

2. How did Harvey know that Thomas Elliot was really being impersonated by Clayface when he shot him?

3. Was that the real Thomas Elliot in the final issue? I don't buy the story of him trying to kill his parents and all, since he could have killed his mother any other time instead of waiting for her to die of cancer.

4. Did Thomas Elliot really get all the villains together and put spy gadgets in Batman/Bruce's batcave and head?

5. Wait--- I'm re-reading Batman's confrontation w/ the Riddler. Still a bit confused. So Riddler was sick, cures himself w/ Lazarus, and Thomas finds out about it? Does Thomas want to use a pit for his parents? So he didn't want to kill them when he was a kid?

6. So riddler was behind everything, just to figure out who Batman was?

What do I read now, after Hush, to catch up w/ Batman in time for Infinite Crisis?

[grendel824]

Lots of good advice here, but really, I wouldn't stress over it - everybody jumped in at some point or another and eventually got used to the flow. The issues you might skip waiting for a "jumping on point" might just as well serve as the jumping on point yourself - as long as you're a competent reader and the book is competently written, you should be able to get the gist of what's going on, even if it might feel like you're midstream at first.

After all, not everybody that goes swimming in a river bothers to trek all the way up to the sourse of the water - they just jump in and get oriented and start swimming at their own pace. Hope you find books you enjoy and have a good time.

[Guts/Batman]

I agree with Grendel.

I dropped in at Batman 637. Just now picking up Detective.

But have a few TPB to help myself out. NML, A Death in the Family, Hush, etc

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

I know that I'm kinda posting right after my own messages, but either I'm too interested in Batman to wait for an answer or I'm too confused.

I just finished Tower of Babel, Death in the Family and Hush 1 & 2.

I'm pretty confused by 2. Lots of questions.


harvey got fixed up by Hush... all the villains were working together but only these certain people knew the intimate details of the plan

1. Hush/Jason Todd/Thomas Elliot/someone else/???
2. Riddler
3. Harvey Dent
4. and possibly Lex Luthor

everyone else were pawns in these guys's plans to screw up everybody including LexCorp Rai's AlGhul and Batman.

Bt the end of Hush you supposed to be like WTF???

from here you should pick up WarGames TBP 123 (these are prolly skipable)
Batman # 635ish on
Detective 809 on

for More Details on Hush get Batman Gothom Knights #50-55 then #60-current (#60 is really important)


then the standard Crisis miniseries and JLA #115-current

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I've been thinking about picking up Robin and Nightwing, and maybe some other Bat-family titles. Are they any good?

Also, are Batman: Gotham Knights or Legends of the Dark Knight any good or relevant? Any other Bat titles or bat-family titles?

thanks for all the tips guys. Once I get back home, I'll just go to the store and pick up whatevers there and start.

[Adem]

Birds of Prey is a good read every month. If you enjoy Dick Grayson as a charcter I'd read Nightwing just to see what hes up to, but Devin Grayson isn't his best writer. If you do get an interest in Nightwing pick up some TPBs from Chuck Dixon's run.

[The Shadow]

I've been thinking about picking up ... some other Bat-family titles. Are they any good?
Batgirl and Birds of Prey are the best Batbooks right now. Entertaining, fun, good stories with characters you care about. Gotham Central hasn't been as good since Brubaker left.

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I'm running short of money now, so I'm having to be really really selective each week. I hope my allowance increase happens soon.

So far, for DC and Infinite Crisis, I've picked up the following:

Countdown to IC
Prelude to IC
OMAC 1, 2

that's it right now. I am too strapped to follow Batgirl, Birds of Prey, or look up month old issues of Batman, so I'm only going to follow OMAC really. I'm always checking dccomics.com if there is an interesting story or an issue that may be necessary to read.

So if I want to follow OMAC, do I have to pick up the Superman Sacrifice story arch? Could I just pick up the last story in Wonder Woman?

Also, JLA #115-119 seems interesting, but is it important to Infinite Crisis?


Right now I'm really deciding between picking up Sacrifice or Infinite Crisis, to save money. Which title could I skip, and read information about them on the boards, or which one should I pick up, because it's a really good read and has effects on Batman and Infinite Crisis?

[Guts/Batman]

So if I want to follow OMAC, do I have to pick up the Superman Sacrifice story arch? Could I just pick up the last story in Wonder Woman?

Also, JLA #115-119 seems interesting, but is it important to Infinite Crisis?


You don't really need to get Superman 219 or Action Comics 829. I would recommend getting Adventures 842, however. That is hellamore important than the other two Superman titles involved in Sacrifice

WW 219 is where the WW-Superman fight takesd place and she does the infamous deed. OMAC #4 cover is deceptive. They don't fight in OMAC #4.

If your going to follow OMAC, I would definitely suggest Adventures 642 and Wonder Woman 219. Those are the most important parts of Sacrifice.

I myself get all 4 mini series leadiing to Infinite Crisis.

As for JLA 115-119, I would say it is very important to Infinite Crisis. The JLA is pretty much killing itself thanks to it's actions in Identity Crisis. Hopefully it ties that up finally.

[Charagon]

Buy trades.