Advice on Batman

[TMac]

Hey all,

 

 

I haven't really picked up Batman since Death in the Family....what would be a good jump on point in all of your opinions for modern Bats...I would like to stick with the main title.....I know that there is a Captain America type thing happening now.......thoughts?

 

 

[Boozad]

Get in from around #650 if you only want a short run up until now, but if you want to go in depth I'd go back to #480 (thumbs u

[TMac]

Thanks. Hopefully the LCS has a sale soon....

[Raphael]

Welcome to the forums! You have alooooot of catching up to do. The current Batman is the original Robin, Grayson, and the new Robin is the son that Batman fathered with Talia al Ghul, Damian.

[Speedy-D]

Welcome! There's been a bit of controversy over some recent Batman Batman storylines. It'll be interesting to get your take once you've read them.

[seank]

Your other option is to wait a few months for 700 when I expect Bruce Wayne will return.

 

If you do a WTB for trades in the Sale section here, you may be able to get a bunch fairly cheap.

[TMac]

Cool. Thanks guys. I never picked Batman back up when I got re-interested in comics a few years back. I'm not much of a trades guy so maybe I'll see if I can grab a good chunk of back issues. Would RIP be a good arc to start to get a handle on things?

[Speedy-D]

I'm almost tempted to say you can start with Battle for the Cowl, if you just want to know what's going on in current issues. R.I.P. was less messy than Final Crisis, but it still had its share of poorly explained weirdness that didn't really go anywhere. I doubt whether slogging through it will assist in understanding the current non-Bruce Wayne story.

[nocutename]

WTB.

 

If you just want very current, I would suggest getting the Batman and Son storyline 655-658. You can skip the next one called Grotesk (659-662)

 

Then after that if you really want to continue reading...

 

Grant Morrison takes over again with 663 which quite frankly is a difficult comic to get through. The next 3 issues are like the 3 ghost of Batman. Following that I thought was an enjoyable arc called Club of Heroes - 667-669.

 

Then you're stuck on a crossover event called The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul (cannot tell you the issues off of the cuff) but it is over with 671 and you will need ever issue after that to even attempt to understand RIP.

 

Personally, I would recommend getting Batman and Son to see what is going on currently. I would skip all the other stories and just either get the current Grayson Batman or hold off until Bruce returns. The Last Rites titles under Batman were nice reads though 682-684 but you will need a detective comics to complete one of the stories.

[400yrs]

I gave up on everything Batman that's being put out right now. If you decide that you want to read good Batman stories instead of whatever is current, pick up any Dini issues of Detective. Most were stand alone stories or 2 issue arcs and were all very entertaining Batman stories.

[followtheleader]

Your other option is to wait a few months for 700 when I expect Bruce Wayne will return.

 

If you do a WTB for trades in the Sale section here, you may be able to get a bunch fairly cheap.

 

I agree with seank. I'd wait. The books haven't been very good and are convoluted (especially how he "died" in two different books at nearly the same time).

 

I also agree with the comment on Dini's Detective. Stupidest move was to take Dini off of that book. It was great.

 

Pat

[Boozad]

Dini's now working on Streets of Gotham, which is an excellent series. He even has Dustin Nguyen doing art as he did on the Tec run. 'Heart of Hush' in Tec was a great run the ran alongside RIP, I'd highly recommend picking it up.

 

If you want to get in at RIP, I would seriously recommend jumping in at #650. Take the run up to Morrison's mess, then enjoy the book again after he's left.

[Raphael]

Paul Dini on Batman was fantastic! I remember really enjoying the One Year Later stuff

[seank]

I'll add to the chorus recommending Dini's Batman work. He did a great job on Detective.

 

You may want to check out Batman and Robin, which just started. It's not bad.

[OV]

What issues of Detective did Dini write?

[Boozad]

#821 - #824,

#826 - #828,

#831,

#833,

#834,

#837 - #841,

#843 - #850,

#852.

[Boozad]

He also wrote the Bane oneshot that was published at the time of the Batman & Robin movie ( ).

 

It wasn't a direct movie tie-in, and if I remember rightly it was a good read.

[slym2none]

Bats #608 will start you off with the "Hush" storyline, and great Jim Lee art to boot.

 

Other than that, I know nothing about the Bat books.

 

 

 

-slym

[Boozad]

If you're thinking of dropping into Dini's stuff on Tec, then reading Batman #608-#619 is a must.

[OV]

Thanks Boozad, you're always helpful! (thumbs u