Stories featuring the more human Batman

[Hullababy]

So I picked up the "Face the Face" trade today. Although the ending was disappointing IMO, I really enjoyed seeing the more human Dark Knight detective. This version of Batman wasn't a jerk and actually used his detective skills. This reminded me of the Batman from Strange Apparitions (which I absolutely love) and the O'Neil/Adams stories. So I was wondering what are some more stories where Batman's characterization matches with this version. I already have Strange Apparitions and Batman in the seventies. Thanks.

[DetectiveDupin]

"A Death in The Family" comes to mind.

"No Hope in Crime Alley".

"Dark Knight, Dark City."

[Hullababy]

Originally Posted by DetectiveDupin

"A Death in The Family" comes to mind.

Already got this.

"No Hope in Crime Alley".

This one's included in the Batman in the 70s book. Great story.

"Dark Knight, Dark City."

Thanks. Is this one available in trade though ? Or do I have to hunt down single issues ?

[DetectiveDupin]

"Dark Knight, Dark City" isn't collected, as far as I know.

[Chad]

Such stories abound prior to the 90's and can still be found in Alan Grant's run with Norm Breyfogle thereafter, but I don't think there's been much during the past 15 years or so. A couple of exceptions though:

1. Batman LOTDK 76-78 "The Sleeping" Bruce Wayne lies in a coma as a result of a serious car accident. He finds himself in a limbo realm between life and death alongside two other ordinary humans. He has to get them out but it's going to take time. While this three parter doesn't lack adventure, there are a lot of parts where the three spend their time just talking as they walk towards their destination. When they meet, the other guy with Batman asks him his name:

"Batman."

"No, I mean your real name. Your proper name."

"Look Mr Sands..."

"Henry."

"All right. Henry. My identity is secret. It works best that way. That's why I wear a mask".

"But I can't call you 'Batman'. 'What's up, Batman?' It sounds so formal. People'll think I don't like you. Besides didn't that guy tell you we wouldn't remember any of this? That makes sense to me. When has anyone ever come out of a coma and started spouting stuff about 'Lakes of Fire' and 'Soul Eaters' and 'Harpies'. Come on. Give."

"Fine. Call me...Jeff."

"Is that your real name?"

"Yes."

"You swear?"

"Yes."

At the end of the story, as the three make their way towards the end of their quest, they stop and make their good-byes:

"Jeff, it was lots of laughs. Look me up in Chapel Hill next time you're down my way."

"I will. I've enjoyed knowing you, Henry. And it's Bruce."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Bruce."

"Bruce? You gotta be kidding me. You said your name was Jeff!"

"I lied."

"You WHAT? Man! You'd think super-heroes were men of their word!"

2. Batman: Gotham Knights 59 "Fire and Ice"

Batman has thwarted Mr Freeze's latest plan. Unfortunately, in doing so he's also trapped themselves into a small space where he's become Freeze's prisoner. Freeze decides to focus his thoughts towards psychoanalysing Batman.

"I wait for him to condemn me for my crimes with a voice that seems to rise from the depths of Gotham itself. I wait. And I wait."

Batman smiles: "Your helmet's steaming up"

Freeze realises he's right, wipes the condensation off and grunts. He tells Batman that humour doesn't become him and that he knows that it's merely an attempt of his to mask his desperation. Calling himself his intellectual superior Batman simply smirks:

"Getting yourself trapped at the heart of a raging inferno doesn't strike me as the work of a superior intellect."

"It was your actions that brought us to this, detective".

"That depends on how warped your point of view is".

Basically, the story continues in this vein where the only person who would ever mistake Batman for an emotionless human being isn't one of his writers but a psychopath such as Mr Freeze. He keeps telling Batman how cynical and cold he must be to drive through Gotham in his glorified hearse blocking out whatever emotions might be trying to break their way through his steel resolve, and Batman shoots him down every time with a smile or light hearted comment. He refuses to give his enemy a single reason to believe that he's the emotionless cynic some people make him out to be.

At the end of the tale Batman escapes and has captured Freeze. They wait for the police to arrive and take the criminal into custody. Batman lies back and smiles.

"Damn you Detective! What're you smiling about?"

"It's a beautiful summer's day Victor...and there's nothing you can do about it."

3. Batman in the Eighties tpb. Contains "The Last Batman Story" in which Batman is given the chance to prevent his parents deaths in an alternate reality and Brave and the Bold 182 in which he finds himself on the earth of his golden age counterpart who died a few months prior to this story. He's paired up with an adult Robin who resents him since his own Batman is dead and a Batwoman who is starting to fall in love with him all over again. To complicate things, our Batman has just lost the Batwoman of his earth a short time earlier.

There's also some other classic stories such as "Happy Birthday Dreadfull Joker" and the introduction of the Wraith from the Batman Special's "The Player on the Opposite Side"

[gundarN]

What about Year One?

[Mundungus]

Batman and the Monster Men; Batman and the Mad Monk.

I think stories set in the early years of Batman portray him as more human. He's still struggling to assert his identity as Batman and that's when it eventuallys blurs the line between Batman and Bruce Wayne.

[OverMaster]

Although not a pure Batman story, Formerly Known as the Justice League is a beautiful example of the not so obsessed Batman.

Martian Manhunter: "You're enjoying this".

Batman: "A grim, ruthless creature of the night like me? Don't be ridiculous".

Plastic Man: "Am I the only one finding this sudden sense of humor highly creepy?".

I'd also count The Mud Pack, actually. I don't know much about Looker, but it was refreshing to see Batman treating her much better than he does with most of his allies.

[Hullababy]

Originally Posted by Chad

Such stories abound prior to the 90's and can still be found in Alan Grant's run with Norm Breyfogle thereafter, but I don't think there's been much during the past 15 years or so. A couple of exceptions though:

1. Batman LOTDK 76-78 "The Sleeping" Bruce Wayne lies in a coma as a result of a serious car accident. He finds himself in a limbo realm between life and death alongside two other ordinary humans. He has to get them out but it's going to take time. While this three parter doesn't lack adventure, there are a lot of parts where the three spend their time just talking as they walk towards their destination. When they meet, the other guy with Batman asks him his name:

"Batman."

"No, I mean your real name. Your proper name."

"Look Mr Sands..."

"Henry."

"All right. Henry. My identity is secret. It works best that way. That's why I wear a mask".

"But I can't call you 'Batman'. 'What's up, Batman?' It sounds so formal. People'll think I don't like you. Besides didn't that guy tell you we wouldn't remember any of this? That makes sense to me. When has anyone ever come out of a coma and started spouting stuff about 'Lakes of Fire' and 'Soul Eaters' and 'Harpies'. Come on. Give."

"Fine. Call me...Jeff."

"Is that your real name?"

"Yes."

"You swear?"

"Yes."

At the end of the story, as the three make their way towards the end of their quest, they stop and make their good-byes:

"Jeff, it was lots of laughs. Look me up in Chapel Hill next time you're down my way."

"I will. I've enjoyed knowing you, Henry. And it's Bruce."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Bruce."

"Bruce? You gotta be kidding me. You said your name was Jeff!"

"I lied."

"You WHAT? Man! You'd think super-heroes were men of their word!"

2. Batman: Gotham Knights 59 "Fire and Ice"

Batman has thwarted Mr Freeze's latest plan. Unfortunately, in doing so he's also trapped themselves into a small space where he's become Freeze's prisoner. Freeze decides to focus his thoughts towards psychoanalysing Batman.

"I wait for him to condemn me for my crimes with a voice that seems to rise from the depths of Gotham itself. I wait. And I wait."

Batman smiles: "Your helmet's steaming up"

Freeze realises he's right, wipes the condensation off and grunts. He tells Batman that humour doesn't become him and that he knows that it's merely an attempt of his to mask his desperation. Calling himself his intellectual superior Batman simply smirks:

"Getting yourself trapped at the heart of a raging inferno doesn't strike me as the work of a superior intellect."

"It was your actions that brought us to this, detective".

"That depends on how warped your point of view is".

Basically, the story continues in this vein where the only person who would ever mistake Batman for an emotionless human being isn't one of his writers but a psychopath such as Mr Freeze. He keeps telling Batman how cynical and cold he must be to drive through Gotham in his glorified hearse blocking out whatever emotions might be trying to break their way through his steel resolve, and Batman shoots him down every time with a smile or light hearted comment. He refuses to give his enemy a single reason to believe that he's the emotionless cynic some people make him out to be.

At the end of the tale Batman escapes and has captured Freeze. They wait for the police to arrive and take the criminal into custody. Batman lies back and smiles.

"Damn you Detective! What're you smiling about?"

"It's a beautiful summer's day Victor...and there's nothing you can do about it."

3. Batman in the Eighties tpb. Contains "The Last Batman Story" in which Batman is given the chance to prevent his parents deaths in an alternate reality and Brave and the Bold 182 in which he finds himself on the earth of his golden age counterpart who died a few months prior to this story. He's paired up with an adult Robin who resents him since his own Batman is dead and a Batwoman who is starting to fall in love with him all over again. To complicate things, our Batman has just lost the Batwoman of his earth a short time earlier.

There's also some other classic stories such as "Happy Birthday Dreadfull Joker" and the introduction of the Wraith from the Batman Special's "The Player on the Opposite Side"

Thanks a lot for these. They sound really good especially "The Last Batman Story". I have to hunt down these three Legends issues I guess since I found what you described to be really really awesome.

Batman and the Monster Men; Batman and the Mad Monk.

I think stories set in the early years of Batman portray him as more human. He's still struggling to assert his identity as Batman and that's when it eventuallys blurs the line between Batman and Bruce Wayne.

Thanks a lot. I think I'm going to pick up Batman and the Monster Men first.

[Godlike13]

Knightfall

[jtd]

Though not yet a comic story (I'd LOVE to see a great writer/artist team tackle it)...

IMO the best (& most human) Batman story of the past few years has been the short in the Gotham Knights movie, "Working Through Pain".

What a fantastic story.

[thor25]

Speaking of earth two brave anf the bold 184 was so good, and I absolute love this page:

http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/l...Bold184-13.jpg

".. And remebers than even the strongest of men..in any wol.. is but a Man after all".

This exaclty the kind of histories that I Like , and why I Hate bat-god.

[Seven_Ride]

Originally Posted by Hullababy

So I picked up the "Face the Face" trade today. Although the ending was disappointing IMO, I really enjoyed seeing the more human Dark Knight detective. This version of Batman wasn't a jerk and actually used his detective skills. This reminded me of the Batman from Strange Apparitions (which I absolutely love) and the O'Neil/Adams stories.

You want a more well-rounded Batman? How DARE you! Seriously, you're going to want to focus on comics from the mid-70s to the early 90s. The best stuff has been collected, but there's a LOT more out there. Definitely check out the Batman in the Eighties TPB. It's got some good stories, but the best is The Player on the Other Side, by Mike Barr.

In general the writers that best represent the O'Neil and Englehart "human" take on Batman are Doug Moench, Alan Grant and Mike Barr. You can't go wrong with any of them.

And there are some good stories more current than those too. Especially those published in Legends of the Dark Knight. The best arcs from that book have been collected, like Prey, Snow, Monsters, Gothic, Shaman, etc.

Also, Batman drawn by Tim Sale includes the fabulous LOTDK Blades story by James Robinson. If you liked Face the Face, you'll love Blades.

Jeph Loeb's earlier Batman work is good, from Long Halloween, Dark Victory and a few others. Matt Wagner also portrays a similarly human, but driven take on Batman, as seen in Monster Men and Mad Monk.

[another_version]

City of Crime by David Lapham.

[WorstThingUS]

Originally Posted by Hullababy

So I picked up the "Face the Face" trade today. Although the ending was disappointing IMO, I really enjoyed seeing the more human Dark Knight detective. This version of Batman wasn't a jerk and actually used his detective skills. This reminded me of the Batman from Strange Apparitions (which I absolutely love) and the O'Neil/Adams stories. So I was wondering what are some more stories where Batman's characterization matches with this version. I already have Strange Apparitions and Batman in the seventies. Thanks.

Well I'd say everything up until Dark Knight Returns. Okay, maybe the very underrated (though we praise it here all the time) Mike Barr run.