For absolute completeness on Loeb/Sale goodness, there’s also their Halloween collection (the stories they did before Long Halloween) and a recently-released collection of Sale’s work called “Tales of the Batman” - but in my humble opinion that’s for die-hard fans only.
Sounds like a plan. They’re all on the list. Thanks!
I’m in part 2 or 3 of Long Halloween… Batman bringing Solomon Grundy Thanksgiving dinner is one of my favorite comics moments ever. You can do so much with one or two panels.
Solomon Grundy Born On a Monday.
Hey guys, thanks for the recommendations. I just finished The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke. Long Halloween was amazing, probably my favorite so far. Killing Joke was interesting, but too short for my tastes. (Maybe if it was made into a 2 hour movie with some big Hollywood talent… lol)
So far I have read:
Hush (1 and 2)
Year One
The Long Halloween
Death and the City
The Killing Joke
in that order. Based on what has been said in this thread I think I am going to read Dark Victory next. Anyone have any other recommendations?
p.s. I have been able to find some of these through library inter-loans, you might try that before heading to the comics shop or Amazon.
Depends on what kind of Batman you like.
I’m giving my Batman shelf a quick glance and my recommendations are:
Dark Victory - if you liked Long Halloween, you can’t go wrong here
Tower of Babel - a JLA book that will tell you why Batman is his own kind of superhero
Strange Apparitions - a forgotten collection of 1970s Batman. Very different from what Batman looks and feels like now, but it is Batman. Recommended only if you’re interested in the history of the character.
Blind Justice - right now, I’m wishing that they will make the third Nolan movie a kind of Blind-Justice-tale. This one is not really about Batman, it’s about Bruce Wayne. And it’s about the man Batman could be if he cut himself some slack.
[COLOR=Yellow]Arkham Asylum - very experimental. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
[/COLOR]
I’m enjoying the more realistic stories, as well as the more detective-like stuff. I’m still pretty new to this though, so I’ll wait and read a little more before I decide which parts I really like. Tower of Babel sounds interesting, so I think I’ll ready Dark Victory then that, then maybe The Dark Knight returns.
Lately, I’ve been pimping the Matt Wagner graphic novels/miniseries, The Mad Monk and the Monster Men. Both take the year one approach, but steering him in a more supernatural direction.
Which is kinda the opposite of what you asked for, but…
True, but if its a good story then I would be willing to check it out. Borderline supernatural stuff I am Ok with, but outright magic (the one Zatanna issue I read) bothers me more.
Oh yeah, Zatanna and Batman do not like each other anymore… the whole mind wipe thing…
Lego Batman.
Like, serious Lego Batman.
Not just pics from the Lego Batman game or the toys, either:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/holy-us-rendered-in-lego-lego-batman/
(scroll down a little)
That is so cool! Imagine having something like that in your living room or even in the front lawn, LEGO bricks don’t rust, do they?
No but if you have any weather problems. Lego Batman will be a little disassembled.
I want that lego Catwoman. Of course, I gave all my legos to my brother and he recently gave them to our cousin… but I think I might need that Catwoman.
I got a Lego Catwoman on her motorcycle. She came with the Bat-Dragster. She’s got no whip, though, but if she’s really nice to the Indy LEGO mini-figure on the other shelf, he’ll let her play with his whip!
Nice to know that while little girls almost all go through a stage of having their barbies make out, you were (are?) doing the same with your toys 
Okay, I took the day at work to think about this one.
Batman Stories that rule:-
Year One
Gothic
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Tales Of The Demon
Son Of The Demon
Black And White
Arkham Asylum
A Death In The Family
A Lonely Place Of Dying
JLA: New World Order
JLA: Rock Of Ages
JLA: Tower Of Babel
JLA: Ultramarine Corps
Batman And Son
The Dark Knight Returns
There are more, but I think these are a good place to start
IFK… GR, I’ll let you finish it.
Batman Stories that rule:-
Year One
Gothic
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Tales Of The Demon
Son Of The Demon
Black And White
Arkham Asylum
A Death In The Family
A Lonely Place Of Dying
JLA: New World Order
JLA: Rock Of Ages
JLA: Tower Of Babel
JLA: Ultramarine Corps
Batman And Son
The Dark Knight Returns
Are those in any particular order?
It looks like a solid list, I read about half of those.
But there some missing:
Kingdom Come - probably a love it or hate it kind of JLA story, not the least because of the art. I liked it, the premise was interesting and the art was very unusual but I liked looking at it.
Batman: Detective (if you want more of the Detective side of Batman)
Face the Face (okay, the twist in this is very easy to predict from the get-go, but I keep arguing that that’s not the point about this story, the point is in seeing the psychological tremor and upheaval that they both go through - and it’s beautifully drawn)
Hush
- I’m currently reading Hush, going to finish it after breakfast, I can’t believe this story hasn’t been advertised more in this thread, I haven’t even finished it and I’m already placing it way up there with the really top Batman stories. I’m particularly digging all those tiny references to the subtle antagonism Batman/Superman have going. Comics can be this wonderful medium that reward readers for sticking to characters’ storylines.
Besides, the Catwoman action is wow, giving me a hard-on! This is awesome stuff and I can’t wait to find out who Hush really is!
No no no, I just leave them hanging there for other people to insert, I don’t always iykwim my own posts.
(Is iykwim a verb for the process of writing IYKWIM under a post?)
Those of you who subscribe to the Slate daily podcasts, today was the Cultural Gabfest (Overblown Edition) and the topics were The Dark Knight, Barack Obama, and something else. The discussion of The Dark Knight was really interesting, but mostly because their perspective is SO different. The commentators are high-culture vultures for the most part. They like comic book movies but definitely do not read comic books. Their take on Batman is informed by their methods for reading middle-brow literature and the present moment in American pop culture. Still, very interesting thoughts.
I particularly liked the idea of Bruce Wayne/Batman as a metaphor for America and Heath Ledger’s Joker as a metaphor for terrorism. I haven’t seen the flick yet so I don’t know whether that will strike me, personally, but I somewhat doubt that it is meant as the primary allegory of the whole thing. Still, an interesting layer.
Secondly, in the Obama segment, they talked about how he can be so sexy/interesting when he’s “on,” but also can be dark and broody about things. Example: he went out of his way to change his campaign’s reaction to the New Yorker cover by saying it really wasn’t a big deal, but then immediately said, well, it’s not a big deal in terms of me, but it is a really negative thing when you think about how this impacts the Muslim American community- how damaging it is to have your faith seen as a political dealbreaker. Dana Stevens riffed on how he should don the cape and go brood on a parapet until he was ready to come down and be the dazzling, inspiring alter ego again.