I'm looking for more Batman graphic novels to read and would be thankful for suggestions and recommendations. Please list any that are very good and enjoyable. I am looking for ones where the story is collected within the one book-no Knightfall parts 1, 2, 3....etc.

I currently own:

-Batman: The Killing Joke.

-Batman: The Man Who Laughs.

-Batman: The Cult.

-Batman: Gothic.

-Batman: Arkham Asylum

-Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

-Batman: Hush

-Batman: The Long Halloween.

-Batman: Year One.

-Batman: Red Rain.

-Batman: Birth of the Demon.

The comics listed above ae mostly execellent reads that I would recommend to any who hasn't read them.

Batman venom?

I just read Bride of the Demon. Not as good as Birth. Azzarello's Joker was good.

1. Bane
2. Bane of the Demon
3. Blackgate Isle of Men
4. Gates of Gotham
5. Arkham Asylum Tales of madness
6. Orphans
7. Sword of Azrael
8. The Return
9. The return of Bruce Wayne
10. Vengeance of Bane
11. The Killing Joke
12. Penguin - Pain and Prejudice

Not sure if they are all graphic novels, but pretty sure... you should be able to check somewhere.

If you can get past the art, Heart of Hush is a good read.

@DarkKnight1939 said:

I'm looking for more Batman graphic novels to read and would be thankful for suggestions and recommendations. Please list any that are very good and enjoyable. I am looking for ones where the story is collected within the one book-no Knightfall parts 1, 2, 3....etc.

I currently own:

-Batman: The Killing Joke.

-Batman: The Man Who Laughs.

-Batman: The Cult.

-Batman: Gothic.

-Batman: Arkham Asylum

-Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

-Batman: Hush

-Batman: The Long Halloween.

-Batman: Year One.

-Batman: Red Rain.

-Batman: Birth of the Demon.

The comics listed above ae mostly execellent reads that I would recommend to any who hasn't read them.

Just to let you know, "Hush", "Long Halloween", "Gothic", and "Year One" are not "Graphic Novels". They are just collected trades, and "Dark Knight Returns" and "The Cult" originated in a few prestige formats.

Everything else, since all originated in graphic novel format....books like "Son of the Demon", "Killing Joke", "Arkham Asylum", a couple others you mentioned, plus today's "Through the Looking Glass", "Batman Noel", "Death By Design", "Batman Earth One", and "The Judas Coin" COUNTS as "Graphic Novels".

@JoeEddie: Heart of Hush has great art?

@DarKnightNoir said:

@JoeEddie: Heart of Hush has great art?

Now I'm confused. So JoeEddie is saying that Heart of Hush's art is hard to look at, meaning it's not his favorite. Are you (asking DarKnightNoir) saying that Heart of Hush has good art, or are you misinterpreting what JoeEddie said? By putting a question at the end of your statement, you should technically be questioning JoeEddie's comment which says Heart of Hush has great art--thing is, JoeEddie's comment says no such thing. So I assume you are making a statement, that Heart of Hush has great art. However, you put a question mark, which is illogical. Ugh.

@DarKnightNoir:

No. The art is terrible.I wish Jim Lee was the artist for that book. Thought it was a good read because you get to see more of the Bruce/Selina relationship and learn more about the motivations behind Thomas Elliot.

@gotwillpower

Slightly confused as well.

Knightfall Vol. 1-3

The Black Mirror

A Death in the Family

Under the Red Hood

and I have the Batman and Robin (New 52) and Court of Owls TPB

A relatively small collection compared to some of you. I started actually collecting the monthly comics instead of buying more graphic novels

Batman Earth One is like Dark Knight Returns right? its elseworld, so reading that wouldnt spoil anything per-se right?

I would suggest Batman: City of Crime and find ever issue for that little story arc. It involves a great story about Batman searching for a drug ring yet the story unfolds more after he finds a 14 year old girl killed while another young teenage girl is missing. The story becomes a lot more complicated and involves Penguin plus Mr Freeze and Scarface (who are both exceptional in this one). It's kinda non-canon to whatever else was happening in 2005 so you can enjoy reading it as a standalone story arc.

Another one is the volume introducing Great White Shark and Humpty Dumpty in Arkham Asylum: Living Hell. This little volume is awesome. I wont spoil it, but there are a lot of Batman's famous rogues in it and surprisingly even a random appearance by Magpie.

@FatihBATMAN said:

Batman Earth One is like Dark Knight Returns right? its elseworld, so reading that wouldnt spoil anything per-se right?

Spoil what exactly?

Canon reads:

• Batman and the Monster Men
• Batman and the Mad Monk (these two go between Year One and The Man Who Laughs)
• Dark Victory (Long Halloween sequel)
• Robin: Year One
• Batgirl: Year One
• Nightwing: Year One
• A Death in the Family
• Knightfall
• Contagion
• Legacy
• Cataclysm
• No Man's Land
• Bruce Wayne: Murderer?
• Bruce Wayne: Fugitive

Elseworlds:

• Batman: Earth One (aka Ultimate Batman)
• Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance (reading Flashpoint helps to get in context for this one)
• The Nail
• Another Nail (both JLA stories, but Batman has one of the best, if not the best story arc in there IMO)

@gotwillpower said:

@DarKnightNoir said:

@JoeEddie: Heart of Hush has great art?

Now I'm confused. So JoeEddie is saying that Heart of Hush's art is hard to look at, meaning it's not his favorite. Are you (asking DarKnightNoir) saying that Heart of Hush has good art, or are you misinterpreting what JoeEddie said? By putting a question at the end of your statement, you should technically be questioning JoeEddie's comment which says Heart of Hush has great art--thing is, JoeEddie's comment says no such thing. So I assume you are making a statement, that Heart of Hush has great art. However, you put a question mark, which is illogical. Ugh.

Yes, Heart of Hush has great art. The question mark was added to give the phrase a certain flavor. Like I was questioning his statement with my statement. I didn't want to just say "Heart of Hush has great art," the tone wouldn't be right. Given the context set up by his post, what else could I have meant? But, yes, yes. I understand your "ugh." I apologize for causing you such disdain, with my hard to read and understand rhetoric. Ugh.

but really, all sarcasm aside. I get what you're saying, pardon the confusion.

To restate: I really enjoyed the look of Heart of Hush, as well as the entire Streets of Gotham run.

@Stormbox like history, arcs, character developement and such?

@FatihBATMAN said:

@Stormbox like history, arcs, character developement and such?

I dont think so since it takes place in an alternate universe

Cool, thats what i was thinking :)

@DarKnightNoir: I liked Heart of Hush's art as well. However, I would read it for the writing more than the art.

Batman: Mad Love and other stories by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm

Batman: Tales of the Demon by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams

Batman: The Last Arkham by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, and Francesco Francavilla

I would recommend Grant Morrisons collected run since 2006 but it seems you want done in one books so: The Black Mirror

get "Four of a kind" book! it tells the tale of Batman first encounter with Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Man-Bat and The Riddler

@ngroove: You're nitpicking. I've been known to use the term "Graphic Novels" in regards to TPBs before because they are essentially the same thing.

Frank Miller:

• Batman: Year One
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder Vol.1
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Alan Moore:

• Batman: The Killing Joke

Jeph Loeb:

• Batman: Hush

Grant Morrison:

• Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
• Batman: The Black Glove (Deluxe Edition which contains both the Black Glove and Batman and Son trades)
• Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
• Batman R.I.P
• Batman: Time and the Batman
• Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
• Batman and Robin Vol. 2: Batman VS. Robin
• Batman and Robin Vol. 3: Batman and Robin Must Die!
• Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
• Batman Incorporated

Tony S. Daniel:

• Batman: Battle for the Cowl
• Detetctive Comics Vol 1. Faces of Death (New 52)

Scott Snyder:

• Batman: Gates of Gotham
• Batman: The Black Mirror
• Batman Vol 1. The Court of Owls (New 52)

Peter J. Tomasi:

• Batman and Robin Vol 1. Born to Kill (New 52)

Scott Lobdell:

• Teen Titans Vol 1. It's our Right to Fight (New 52)
• Red Hood and The Outlaws Vol 1. REDemption (New 52)

Kyle Higgins:

• Nightwing Vol 1. Traps and Trapezes (New 52)

And those are just my bat-family books. The reason I have so many is because this used to be my only way to read comics. Ever since the New 52 though I've been buying monthly titles and I have built up quite a pull list. I'd still really like Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Haunted Knight because I loved Hush and want some other Jeph Loeb books, not to mention that my Greek Mythology teacher had Long Halloween and I read it all the time in his class and loved it. I also really want the 4 Red Robin trades because I'm a huge Tim Drake fan. He's the Robin I grew up with.

In regards to your original question I would suggest starting to read Grant Morrison's run. It's what got me back into comics (his Batman and Robin trades specifically.) Most of his stuff is pretty self-contained but you really would be doing a disservice to yourself by not reading the whole run. Batman and Robin and Batman INC. are the best in my opinion.

Also you should check this guy out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRVt_s6-NVQ he has a way bigger collection than me and most of his stuff is Batman. He'll help you get an idea of what you're looking for.

These days for awhile now, I usually go for the comics, hit the comicbookstores comic stands and longboxes, new issues and genuine back issues, but I think I shall mention some of my "trades" all the same

Books I have, perhaps "essential" reading for "noobs"

- Batman: Year One (Still have it, although after reading, finishing it once, it bored the hell outta me)

- Batman: Long Halloween / Dark Victory

- Knightfall (collected version 2) Volumes 1-3

- No Man's Land (collected version 1) Volumes 1-5

- Hush (collected version 1) Volumes 1-2

- Batman & Son

Classic Reading I still take great pleasure in reading, time-and-again

- Batman Archives Volumes 4, 6-7

- The Batman Chronicles Volumes 1-3, 6, 8

-Batman in the 40s, Batman in the 50s, Batman in the 60s, Batman in the 70s, Batman in the 80s

- Showcase Presents Batman Volumes 1-4

- Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest 9 (The "Bat-Murderer" story that covered a few Detective Comics in the mid 70s)

- Limited Collector's Edition C37 - Batman All-Villain Issue!

- Limited Collector's Edition C59 - Batman's Strangest Cases

- DC Comics Classics Library: Batman The Annuals Volume 2

Remember people, Batman started in 1939, not 1987!

@JakeN7 said:

up quite a pull list. However, I still really want Batman: The Black Mirror. I can't find it anywhere.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Black-Mirror-Scott-Snyder/dp/140123206X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352043054&sr=8-1&keywords=batman+black+mirror

@JoeEddie:Yeah I just went back to my local Barnes and Noble and they had two hardcover copies. I was so stoked. I'm loving it so far.

@JakeN7:

It is on my "to read list" but I have several trades that I want to read first before I get Black Mirror.

dark victory

under the red hood was great

detective comics faces of death

batman court of owls

batman R.I.P take your time with that one because it will give you a headach lol

batman and robin vol 1 born to kill

Hush

so many greaat ones thru the years death in the family, the dark knight returns

Cool collection yoooo I only got Dark Knight Returns lol Im soon gonna collect moree

@havoc1201 said:

under the red hood was great

detective comics faces of death

batman court of owls

batman R.I.P take your time with that one because it will give you a headach lol

batman and robin vol 1 born to kill

Hush

so many greaat ones thru the years death in the family, the dark knight returns

I'm seconding and objecting to some of these recommendations.

Seconding:

Under the Red Hood

Court of Owls (though that is not actually a complete story in one volume)

Born to Kill

Hush

Objecting to:

Faces of Death

Boo faces of death. Generic and boring. I want to yawn just thinking about it.

For more news, reviews, and commentary for the entire Bat Family, check out BatWatch.net.

@SmashBrawler said:

Canon reads:

• Batman and the Monster Men
• Batman and the Mad Monk (these two go between Year One and The Man Who Laughs)
• Dark Victory (Long Halloween sequel)
• Robin: Year One
• Batgirl: Year One
• Nightwing: Year One
• A Death in the Family
• Knightfall
• Contagion
• Legacy
• Cataclysm
• No Man's Land
• Bruce Wayne: Murderer?
• Bruce Wayne: Fugitive

Elseworlds:

• Batman: Earth One (aka Ultimate Batman)
• Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance (reading Flashpoint helps to get in context for this one)
• The Nail
• Another Nail (both JLA stories, but Batman has one of the best, if not the best story arc in there IMO)

I never knew that there was a robin:year one, is it a good read? Im a major robin fan and i Have to read everything about him

@Eternal19 said:

I never knew that there was a robin:year one, is it a good read? Im a major robin fan and i Have to read everything about him

It comes after Dark Victory and a story named Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (which is a little hard to find nowadays, but not 100% essential). And yeah, it's good, although I personally preferred Batgirl: Year One.