The Best Batman Story Ever Final poll link in first post!

[seanfingh]

 

I really loved the story in Batman Special #1 - "The Player on the Other Side." It was an almost Elseworlds-type story with a parallel Batman character that chose evil instead of good.

 

One of my all-time faves.

[Maccai3]

I really loved the story in Batman Special #1 - "The Player on the Other Side." It was an almost Elseworlds-type story with a parallel Batman character that chose evil instead of good.

 

One of my all-time faves.

 

Owlman?

[Ken Aldred]

Detective 471-476 by Steve Englehart & Marshall Rogers. Collected as "Strange Apparitions," also known as the Dark Detective run.

 

i bought Strange Apparitions in TPB when it was hard to find and they only did one print, when i was waiting for it through the post they announced a re-print for a fraction of the price i paid

 

The first printing of this was in stock at Diamond UK for years.  I didn't pick my copy up until 2005.

[Thawk]

Hush is my all time fav - with art to match

[mangbus]

Detective 471-476 by Steve Englehart & Marshall Rogers. Collected as "Strange Apparitions," also known as the Dark Detective run.

 

i bought Strange Apparitions in TPB when it was hard to find and they only did one print, when i was waiting for it through the post they announced a re-print for a fraction of the price i paid

 

The first printing of this was in stock at Diamond UK for years.  I didn't pick my copy up until 2005.

 

I don't have mine in front of me but the copy I have is a tough find it seems. I've seen it on the boards for around $40 and on ebay/amazon for that or much higher. I mentioned to a friend who stops at every LCS he drives past that I had that TPB high on my list of 'always ask and let me know comics.' Turns out he found it at my LCS on their clearance table in NM condition for $7. How random is that? Someone traded it in or the owner found one in some backstock. Pretty good day if you ask me!

 

Back to the topic! sorry for the story but I had to share it.

[Gatsby77]

Great to see "Hush" and "Blind Justice" getting love here--each is a classic.

 

I'd add Detective 395 and esp. Batman 217 to the story. Reading Detective 395 as a 10 year-old scared the wits out of me.

 

And Batman 217, lame cover aside, is brilliant. Classic detective story "One Bullet Too Many," plus Grayson retiring and leaving for college, which prompts Bruce to close up the Batcave and move downtown to the Towers, to better take on the new (white collar) criminals of the 70s.

[Ken Aldred]

Detective Comics 443, 'Gotterdammerung', the conclusion to the Paul Kirk Manhunter storyline by Archie Goodwin, is also a team-up with Batman.

[sakaridis]

I really loved the story in Batman Special #1 - "The Player on the Other Side." It was an almost Elseworlds-type story with a parallel Batman character that chose evil instead of good.

 

One of my all-time faves.

 

Owlman?

 

Wrath.

 

And yes, it's one of the best Batman stories ever.

[Ken Aldred]

Alan Brennert wrote some very good Batman stories...

 

- Detective Comics 500 - 'To Kill a Legend'

- Brave and Bold 182 - 'Interlude on Earth 2'

- Brave and Bold 197 -'The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne'

- Batman : Holy Terror

[Marty Mann]

"The Man Behind The Red Hood" from Detective #168.

 

mm

[Maccai3]

Absolution

The Cult

 

can't forget these, Cult was brilliant and has a very phallic page

http://freepicupload.com/images/830IMG00215_20120314_1921.jpg

[jokersrevenge]

Detective 469 - 476

From the moment this eight-issue run appeared, it was dubbed the "Definitive Batman." It's been reprinted in its entirety twice in English (and often in other languages; the example below is Finnish), and individual stories have appeared in four "Greatest" collections. This is not a complete showcase of the reprints by any means.

This series made The Batman someone an adult could appreciate, introduced his most famous woman, Silver St. Cloud, and showcased his most memorable encounter with the Joker in "The Laughing Fish." At the same time, it reestablished the dark, pulp roots of the character; I even asked for the panel borders to be thicker, to get more black on the page. It defined a man, a city, and an ambiance.

 

The first Batman movie (the good one) was based on these stories. When Warner Brothers was stuck because two screenwriters failed to adapt them adequately, they brought me back to write a film treatment that did. Two other writers then finished the screenplay. This was the second film made from my stories, following Dr Strange and preceding the NightMan television series.

 

The latest Batman movie (The Dark Knight) was based on the follow-up to these stories, DARK DETECTIVE II and the unpublished DARK DETECTIVE III.

 

Batman: The Animated Series and The Adventures of Batman & Robin, with their emphasis on "Dark Deco," were born of this run. Batman: TAS adapted the Hugo Strange stories and took "The Laughing Fish" almost word for word.

 

In short, these eight issues define the modern Batman franchise, and from that, the modern superhero film franchise.

 

 

 

 

[batcollector]

Where to begin, where to begin....

What comes to mind right away?

 

Becoming a collector during the Bronze Age, I immediately drift to BATMAN #227, 232, 234, 235, 237, 242, 243, 244, 245, 251 and 259.

 

I always enjoyed those "secret life of Bruce Wayne" stories in the early #300's.

 

Pretty much any book between #430 and #607 is kindling, No Man's Land is the exception.

 

TEC 404 (Enemy Ace), #471 to #476, really any other TEC comic from about #400 to #450!

 

Tower of Babel for sure (JLA).

 

The latest Court of Owls is a great read.

 

BATMAN 234 - Return of Two-Face was one of my first and favourite BATMAN books as was #259 with The Shadow guest appearing.

 

However, I'll never forget the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams classic BATMAN #251.

This one has my vote.

 

+1

 

Love the books Brian mentioned.

 

I would also add the following books to the mix:

 

Detective 439 - a great "no dialogue" story

Detective 410 - last Adams/O'Neil in Detective

Brave & Bold 93 - Batman/House of Mystery team-up

Detective 514 - "Haven" - great one-off story

[Kevin.J]

Some great stories here bringing back loads of memories.

I am away to read some Bat books now, starting with Year one.

[Larryw7]

The arc collected in this book is near the top:

 

[CAMPER49]

I just read that new hardcover BATMAN EARTH ONE novel last night.

That is now near the top of my all-time favourite BATMAN stories.

Love the expressions on Alfred's face, Bruce's face as a child, etc.

The artwork and scripting blend well together.

The ending leaves room for another book soon...can't be soon enough!

[Sal]

I really loved the story in Batman Special #1 - "The Player on the Other Side." It was an almost Elseworlds-type story with a parallel Batman character that chose evil instead of good.

 

One of my all-time faves.

 

Sweet Michael Golden cover!

[hulksmashdave]

I just read that new hardcover BATMAN EARTH ONE novel last night.

That is now near the top of my all-time favourite BATMAN stories.

Love the expressions on Alfred's face, Bruce's face as a child, etc.

The artwork and scripting blend well together.

The ending leaves room for another book soon...can't be soon enough!

 

I read it and enjoyed it a lot also. I couldn't put it down until I was finished and that's something that a graphic novel like that hasn't done in a while.

[comics_ross]

The Killing Joke (thumbs u

[TheShadowKnows]

I did a search and this was done before, but not quite like I plan to do it. (The last one was started by a guy who made up a comic book store and a mentally challenged brother.) Since The Dark Knight Rises is being released Friday, I wanted to see what the boards consider to be the best Batman story ever.

 

Post here what you consider to be the best. On Friday night, (because I don't want to brave the IMAX theater here on opening night) I will put the top ten choices into a poll and everyone will vote on their favorite.

 

Sound good?

There are so many.

Detective 404 Adams with the Enemy Ace

Batman 251 classic joker cover and story

The Dark Knight

Batman year one

The Rogers run in Detective.

 

Take your pick these are all great in their own way.Like picking one of your kids who you like best.