I've always loved batman and wanted to get into the deeper back story that you can't get from watching movies and games, and also didn't want to have to go read over a thousand comics to catch up to where it is today, so I found out about the new 52 reboot series and thought this would be a really great time to jump into the comics!

I got the new 52 Batman's and the Detective Comics and I still don't think I can jump into them without any prior reading after finding out they didn't really reboot much of the Batman series like they did with everything else, and the continuity is all still there from before the reboot. So I did some research and found a lot of stuff people said to read up on before reading the new 52 Batman to really understand what's going in the story.

Here is my list I've downloaded and would like some advice on Continuity, reading order I should read them in, and if I don't even need to read some if these if they don't have anything really to do with the new Batman or Detective Comics, and if there is anything I haven't listed that I should read before starting the new comics. Thanks in advance!

Batman: A Death In The Family

Batman: Battle for the Cowl

Batman: Dark Victory

Batman: Hush

Batman: Full Knightfall saga (prelude, knightfall, knightquest, knights end)

Batman: No Man's Land

Batman: R.I.P.

Batman: Son of the Demon

Batman: Year One

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

Final Crisis

Batman: Birth of the Demon

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Long Haloween

Batman: The Man Who Laughs

Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn

Batman: Bride of the Demon

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Batman and Son

Batman: The Black Glove

Batman and Robin: Batman vs. Robin

Batman and Robin: Batman and Robin Must Die!

Batman: Time and the Batman

Batman: The Black Mirror

Batman, Incorporated

Batman: Gates of Gotham.

If I've missed anything for if some of these don't require reading to start the new series please let me know, and I'm also kind of OCD with continuity =P

Then I think you'll be disappointed. Snyder is doing a Year Zero book that could conflict with classics such as Year One. In fact there are many issues within the New 52 that ruins some previous batman continuity.

By the way that is a ton of reading. Enjoy.

@knighthood Well I think I can deal with it, I still just really want a good understanding of what all has happened to batman before starting up the new 52.

You could read grant morrison's run

@consolemaster001 Yeah, it mostly is all his run plus others to get good backstory on alot of other characters and events. But the thing is, in the new 52 Batman, it seems like everything in morrison's run couldn't have happened yet cause damian is like 10 years old and by the end of his run hes like full grown so I'm not sure how far to read into the run until i start the new 52.

Personally, I think you could pick up Court of Owls and read that without reading any of these and you would easily understand what's going on. That being said, there are a lot of really awesome books in that list that warrant reading in their own right regardless.

@roboadmiral Yeah, I am going to read all of these anyways, just still a little confused where the new 52 batman fits into this cause it seems this run goes a lot farther time wise than when the new 52 batman starts, cause damian is like 10 so it seems its set like 5 years earlier than the timeline pre 52.

You should definatelly choose the Court of Owls.

http://acomicbookblog.com/2011/03/batman-where-to-start-reading/ Go to that link, that should help you organize your reading. But start with year one. Have fun :)

I had the same problem because I started Batman with the New 52 as well. Not sure Snyder's Batman fits neatly in a certain spot in DC's continuity. The Zero Year storyline should clear up some of the continuity issues, but Snyder's kind of doing his own thing. I started with the Court of Owls and Night of the Owls storyline and have been going back and reading the popular TPB's. So far: The Killing Joke, Batman Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, and The Long Halloween.