I know im going to catch hell for this..... (Newbie Batman Question)

[Ginkasa]

Oh, I understand. Trying to "start at the beginning" was my approach when I first tried to earnestly get into comics. I actually sat at Barnes and Noble and tried to read through the Batman Chronicles in order to "catch up" to current story. I realized, like you are, that wasn't going to work and just jumped in at One Year Later. I've since gone back and read many of the older stories and otherwise used the internet to fill me in on other details. You'll get there and, trust me, you'll have fun doing so.

[sdcomicnewb]

Well I am thoroughly enjoying the long Halloween so I guess its moot

[Thaddeus Hutch]

If you have your heart set on reading EVERY story in post-Crisis continuity, no matter how bad or inconsequential, this site may be of interest to you: http://www.therealbatmanchronologypr...-era/year-one/. Personally I would just hit the major story arcs if you don't want to be reading Batman comics for the next 20 years, but if you decide to go by that site, be aware that the author is pretty biased and often discounts entire stories from his timeline based solely on minor incongruities.

[InfamousBG]

If you follow this list you should hit all the major story arcs and plot points:

Year One
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper
Shaman
Batman and the Monster Men
Batman and the Mad Monk
Prey
The Man Who Laughs
Dead to Rights
Gothic
Four of a Kind
Rules of Engagement
Going Sane
Venom
The Long Halloween
Terror
Snow
Year Two: Fear the Reaper
Dark Victory
The Gauntlet
Robin: Year One
Batgirl: Year One
Tales of the Demon
Strange Apparitions
Nightwing: Year One
Son of the Demon
Ten Nights of the Beast
The Cult
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
The Killing Joke
A Death in the Family
A Lonely Place of Dying
Bride of the Demon
Robin: A Hero Reborn
Birth of the Demon
Sword of Azrael
Knightfall Volume One
Knightfall Volume Two: Knightquest
Knightfall Volume Three: KnightsEnd
Contagion
Legacy
Cataclysm
No Man’s Land Vol. 1
No Man’s Land Vol. 2
No Man’s Land Vol. 3
No Man’s Land Vol. 4
Bruce Wayne: Murderer?
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol. 1
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol. 2
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol. 3
Hush
Hush Returns
Death and the Maidens
Year One: Batman/Ra’s al Ghul
War Drums
War Games Act 1: Outbreak
War Games Act 2: Tides
War Games Act 3: Endgame
Identity Crisis
Under the Hood Vol. 1
War Crimes
Under the Hood Vol. 2
Face the Face
Batman and Son
The Black Glove
The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul
Heart of Hush
Batman R.I.P.
Final Crisis
Battle for the Cowl
Batman Reborn
Batman vs. Robin
Time and the Batman
The Return of Bruce Wayne
Batman Must Die!
Batman Incorporated Vol. 1

This is just a list of TPB collections, though. There may be some uncollected single issues you want to read as well.

Thank you.

[Kurosawa]

i guess i just assumed that since Year One was a reboot it would start over.

and if pre crisis really doesnt matter, what is a guy to do?

All that matters is Pre-Crisis. Those were the only stories that the characters actual creators did. Frank Miller did not create Batman. Bill Finger and Bob Kane did.

[RoughNTumble]

I enjoy bill finger's batman stories, but they don't matter to me as much as say...grant morrison's batman.

In fact, if it wasn't for many of batman's post-crisis writers I likely wouldn't have any interest in the golden age comics. They would just be another children's detective series, like watching scooby doo or something.

[sdcomicnewb]

Well I just finished The Long Halloween. Awesome ending. I wonder what will happen to Gilda. I think I'm going with your list Thad. If nothing else it will give me a lot to read haha

[JohnShil]

All that matters is Pre-Crisis. Those were the only stories that the characters actual creators did. Frank Miller did not create Batman. Bill Finger and Bob Kane did.

And they wrote relatively poor stories, in my opinion.

Rob Liefeld created Prophet, but I doubt anyone would say his run matters more than Brandon Graham's.

[Red_Kamui]

Even reading every single Batman story won't get you the whole story, so I'd suggest just reading whatever you want, or read nothing at all. Batman is their flagship character, he's guest starred in pretty much everything under the sun, so you'd basically have to read every DC comic ever written just to be on the safe side unless you found a complete list of all his appearances (not sure one exists).

Either way, It's not a small feat.

[OptimaX]

Dear sdcomicnewb.

I assume you understand now that there is not one whole from-beginning-to-end Batman story. I'm pretty much like you in terms of being a story purist. As long as you understand that all those Batman stories don't necessarily have to follow up on each-other, you can kinda pick up any story arc and read them in any order you wish since in comic-land 'time' doesn't really matter much. Like Batman has been around since 1939 but he doesn't seem to age, however there are indeed stories where Batman is aged or already dead and someone else takes over his role (Batman Beyond). With this said, I suggest you should try and find Origin stories of all the villains. Just pick a villain and research on the net it's first appearance in the comic books. Often you'll find the origin stories there. Again, it doesn't matter (much) what villain you pick first to seek out. Sometimes a writer decide to redo or improve or add to an origin story of a villain or hero.

I understand that this might sound 'annoying' at first if you want it all to be one big story, but in the end it actually is quite nice to compare all the origins and story arcs and be able to understand Gotham city as a whole.

The more you research, the more you will find that there will be some inconsistencies and flaws here in there. But the nice thing is that you get to discover them, and every 'flaw' is an opportunity for you to believe what YOU think should be. It is actually quite fun.

If you have caught up with all your origin stories and villains and characters within Gotham, and you want to get yourself up-to-date with modern-day Batman I believe the right thing to do is to read these trades/novels in the suggested order. I'm fairly new in comic land too and am actually scouting the deluxe version of Black Glove to bring me up-to-date with my current subscription(s) of batman.

Welcome to the comic zone, Gotham has you now... there is no escape!

[sdcomicnewb]

You are right optimax haha. Gotham has me. Today I finished Halloween, and then “her sisters keeper" was going to start shaman but realized the copy I downloaded was in Spanish. Total bummer. tomorrow is another day though. Thanks for the tips everyone. I am going to enjoy becoming one with Gotham haha

[BigT]

I also started reading comics this month and also started with Batman and I'm going pretty much all digital. Spent about $100 last week on the Batman sale at comixology.com where they were $0.99 a piece. You can pick up The Man Who laughs for about $3 or $4 their and it seems like the best place after Year One.
Go to link and scroll down til Modern Batman it shuld help a lot .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Batman_comics
I'm pretty much following that then going on to the Grant Morrison run from 2006-Present, you can find those in the sticked Batman Thread for new readers.

I've read Year One, the man who laughs, long Halloween, and dark victory so far. I understand your pain with the older look of some of the comics and that's how A Death in the Family is, I'm reading that now. My favorites so far have been long halloween and dark victory. The Wikipedia link will show you chronological order not necessarily release order of Modern Batman. Also use the DC wiki and other sites to fill in blankes.

Another suggestion is don't be afraid to try out other comics. I picked up the Secrect Six comics cause they were on sale one week. It's about some of DC lesser known villains teaming up (catman, deadshot, Jeanette, scandal savage, ragdoll and band) and loved the series, ended up reading all 36 issues before I came back to Batman. I have to recommend it cause it sucked me in and I've liked it more than any of the Batman I've read so far. I plan on getting Aquaman, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Justice League and some other new 52 in the near future or when I see them on sale. Good Luck

[Kurosawa]

And they wrote relatively poor stories, in my opinion.

Rob Liefeld created Prophet, but I doubt anyone would say his run matters more than Brandon Graham's.

Completely and totally disagree but I know most modern fans would agree with you and feel that anything old sucks.

[RoughNTumble]

Completely and totally disagree but I know most modern fans would agree with you and feel that anything old sucks.

They don't suck because they're old. But a lot of them do have pretty poorly constructed plots, despite some great ideas.

[hanotsri]

Here is the map I am going by since going trade-only. The * ones are what I have. I am working on the harder to find ones first and am trying to only by VF to NM copies and will buy new if priced reasonably and available (most of the books I've purchased new). There are other Batman TPBs that aren't on this list, that I will purchase at some point as well.

Batman Begins and Other Tales of the Dark Knight (Collection) - For the "Man Who Falls"
Batman: Year One
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper (Mini-Series)
Catwoman: The Movie and Other Cat Tales (Collection) - Alternate take on Catwoman from Batman: Year One and Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper
Batman: Shaman (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman and the Monster Men (Mini-Series)
Batman and the Mad Monk (Mini-Series)
Batman: Prey (Legends of the Dark Knight, New Edition)
Batman: The Man Who Laughs (One-Shot)
Batman: Lovers and Madmen (Confidential) - Not really in continuity
Batman: Dead to Rights (Confidential)
Batman: Gothic (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman: Four of a Kind (Annuals) - Origins of four classic villains
Batman: Haunted Knight (Legends of the Dark Knight Annuals)
Batman: Rules of Engagement (Confidential)
Batman: Going Sane (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman: Venom (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman: The Long Halloween (Maxi-Series)
Catwoman: When in Rome (Mini-Series)
Batman: Two-Face / Scarecrow Year One (Mini-Series)
Batman: Other Realms (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman Year Two: Fear the Reaper
Batman: Snow (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman: Dark Victory (Maxi-Series)
Robin: Year One (Mini-Series)
Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (One-Shot) *
Batman: The Wrath (Confidential)
Batman: Dark Legends (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batman: Faces (Legends of the Dark Knight)
Batgirl: Year One (Mini-Series) *
Batman: The Bat and the Beast (Confidential)
Huntress: Year One (Mini-Series)
Batman: Cat and the Bat (Confidential)
Batman: The Black Casebook
Batman: Challenge of the Man-Bat (Titan Books collection)
Batman: The Joker's Revenge (Titan Books collection)
Batman: Vow From the Grave (Titan Books collection)
Batman: The Frightened City (Titan Books collection)
Batman: Red Water, Crimson Death (Titan Books collection)
Batman: Tales of the Demon *
Batman: Strange Apparitions *
Batman: Dark Detective (Mini-Series)
Batman: King Tut's Tomb (Confidential)
Nightwing: Year One *
Batman: Birth of the Demon (Collection) *
Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast *
Batman: The Cult (Mini-Series) *
Batman: Arkham Asylum, A Serious House on a Serious Earth (One-Shot)
Batman: The Killing Joke (One-Shot) *
Batman: A Death in the Family *
Red Hood: The Lost Days (Mini-Series) *
Batman: Blind Justice *
Batman: The Many Deaths of Batman *
Batman: Featuring Two-Face and Riddler (Collection) *
Batman: Anarky *
Robin: Tragedy and Triumph *
Robin: A Hero Reborn *
Batman: The Last Arkham *
Batman: Sword of Azrael *
Batman: Knightfall, Volume 01 (New Edition)
Batman: Knightfall, Volume 02 (New Edition)
Robin: Flying Solo *
Batman: Knightfall, Volume 03 (New Edition) - NA
Nightwing: The Ties That Bind *
Batman vs Bane *
Batman: Contagion *
Batman: Legacy *
Nightwing: A Knight in Bludhaven *
Batman: Cataclysm *
Batman: No Man's Land, Volume 01 (New Edition)
Batman: No Man's Land, Volume 02 (New Edition)
Batman: No Man's Land, Volume 03 (New Edition) - NA
Batman: No Man's Land, Volume 04 (New Edition) - NA
Batman: The Chalice (One-Shot) *
JLA: Tower of Babel *
Batman: New Gotham, Volume 01: Evolutionn *
Batman: New Gotham, Volume 02: Officer Down *
Batman: False Faces *
Bruce Wayne: Murderer? *
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Volume 01 *
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Volume 02 *
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Volume 03 *
Batman: Hush *
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell (Mini-Series)
Batman: Death and the Maidens *
Batman: Broken City
Batman: As the Crow Flies
Batman: Hush Returns
Batman: War Drums *
Batman: War Games, Act 01: Outbreak *
Batman: War Games, Act 02: Tides *
Batman: War Games, Act 03: Endgame *
Batman: City of Crime
Year One: Batman / Ra's al Ghul *
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Batman: War Crimes *
Batman: Face the Face *
Batman: Detective *
Batman and Son
Batman: Death and the City
Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul
Batman: Private Casebook
Batman: The Black Glove
Batman: Gotham Underground (Maxi-Series)
Batman: Heart of Hush
Batman R.I.P.
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Batman: Battle for the Cowl
Batman: Battle for the Cowl Companion
Batman: Long Shadows
Batman and Robin, Volume 01: Batman Reborn
Streets of Gotham, Volume 01: Hush Money
Batman: Life After Death
Batman: Arkham Reborn
Streets of Gotham, Volume 02: Leviathan
Batman and Robin, Volume 02: Batman vs. Robin
Batman: Time and the Batman
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home
Streets of Gotham, Volume 03: House of Hush
Batman: Impostors
Batman and Robin, Volume 03: Batman Must Die!
Batman: Eye of the Beholder - NA
Batman: The Black Mirror - NA
Batman: The Dark Knight, Volume 01: Golden Dawn - NA
Batman and Robin, Volume 04: Dark Knight, White Knight - NA
Batman: Gotham Shall Be Judged
Batman: Gates of Gotham
Batman, Volume 01: The Court of Owls - NA
Batman: The Night of the Owls - NA
Batman, Volume 02: The City of Owls - NA
Batman, Volume 03: The Death of the Family - NA
Penguin: Pain and Prejudice - NA

Cross-Overs
The Crisis on Infinite Earths (Mini-Series)
Legends (Mini-Series)
Millenium (Mini-Series)
Cosmic Odyssey (Mini-Series)
War of the Gods (Mini-Series)
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (Mini-Series)
Underworld Unleashed (Mini-Series)
The Final Night (Mini-Series)
Identity Crisis (Minixi-Series)
Countdown to Infinite Crisis: The Omac Project (Mini-Series)
Infinite Crisis (Mini-Series)
Final Crisis (Mini-Series)
Blackest Night (Mini-Series)
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, Volume 01 (Mini-Series)
World of Flashpoint: Batman (Mini-Series)
Flashpoint (Mini-Series)