I am new to the batman comics and i could use some help on which story arcs i should read and what order i need to read them in, can someone help me.

some of my favorite Batman stories that i've read and also recommended for new readers like you are: "Batman: Year One" written by Frank miller ( it tells you bruce waynes first adventure as batman ), "Batman and Robin" also written by Frank miller and art by Jim Lee ( tells you story about how batman met Robin ), "Batman Hush" written by Jeph Loeb and art by Jim Lee ( gives you a brief history/events of some of bruce waynes important people that he knows and also with a guest appearance of superman and very beautiful art by Jim Lee ).

all of the stories that i mentioned above have TPB format. also take note of the writer and artist so you will not be confuse when your looking for them.

I'd say 'Batman: Year One', 'Batman: The Long Halloween' and 'Batman: Dark Victory' should give a decent origin start. 'Year One' features the origins of Batman, 'Long Halloween' the rise of his rogues gallery, and 'Dark Victory' (sequel to Long Halloween) the origin of Robin.

I also liked 'Batman: Gothic' (very stand alone, but by Grant Morrison and with a very interesting plot line). If need be just do a quick Wikipedia search to verify details. I know I found a string of issues some years back with Black Mask that I loved because it felt like I was reading Batman up against a formidable new Big Bad (ha, I was new but I found it a brilliant introduction to Black Mask) that included some issues of 'Batman: Under the Hood', and 'Heart of Hush' is also good (I love Dustin Nguyen's art style). You could probably safely read any of these in any order.

@darth_brendroid said:

I'd say 'Batman: Year One', 'Batman: The Long Halloween' and 'Batman: Dark Victory' should give a decent origin start. 'Year One' features the origins of Batman, 'Long Halloween' the rise of his rogues gallery, and 'Dark Victory' (sequel to Long Halloween) the origin of Robin.

Read this.

Do NOT read Batman and Robin by Frank Miller. It is complete otherworld trash.

If you want to follow this up you can check out Hush which you will probably enjoy and then jump on with Batman 1 from Snyder.

Good reading!

this is pretty good -

http://acomicbookblog.com/2011/03/batman-where-to-start-reading/

good vhoices here id suggest to read some Legends of The Dark Knight, thats some good stories there early in his career

@the_mighty_i: Read Year One, Year Two, The Long Halloween, Venom, Year Three, The Killing Joke, Death In The Family, Dark Knight-Dark City, Son Of The Demon, Lonely Place of Dying, KnightFall, KnightQuest, KnightsEnd, Contagion, Legacy, Cataclysm, Aftershock, Road To No Mans Land, No Mans Land, War Games, Hush, Court Of Owls, Night Of Owls, Death Of The Family. That should be a good training regiment and I put them in reading order of course.

Read all star batman and ESPECIALLY the dark knight returns. DKR is my favorite comic of all time. However these are non canon stories unrelated to the current Batman titles.

Thanks for the help everyone.

if there is any more comics that other think i should read please post them as i am quite new to this

I haven't seen it mentioned very often, but Batman: The Man who Laughed is really good. It deals with Batman and Gordon's first encounter with the Joker. There's a flashback in the Killing Joke that occurs before Man who Laughed, so if you do get them both, read KJ first, IMO.

All-Star Batman & Robin is a comic that seriously divides the waters. Most people really dislike. I enjoyed it a lot, but that was because I knew what the deal was: it's very much non-canon, and the Batman in the story has very little resemblance to any other version of him. It's also very violent and generally not for kids. That said, it's also one of the funniest things I've ever read. Not best, just funniest. Don't regret buying it.

Whatever you do, stay *away* from the Dark Knight Strikes Again, the follow-up to the Dark Knight Returns. As good as tDKR is, as horrible is DKSA. The art is unbelievable, as it the story, the characters and everything else.

If you like to read about the Gotham police / detective stories, check out Gotham Central, a series of 4 trades. There's a bit of Batman in them, but not much. Very good stories that are well worth the price.

@the_mighty_i said:

if there is any more comics that other think i should read please post them as i am quite new to this

seriously what I did was I stared with Year One and then just started down the list Batman 404-700... I had a lot of time to waste and a lot of money to spend on Comixology. Lots of the comics are good some are bad but you just read the bad ones quickly.

@the_mighty_i said:

I am new to the batman comics and i could use some help on which story arcs i should read and what order i need to read them in, can someone help me.

Batman: Year One is the only one I really consider essential. Other good ones are the Long Halloween, A Lonely Place of Dying, Knightfall, and the first few issues of Batman and Son. Really, it's hard to say because there are stories you would read for quality, stories for history and significance, and stories for catching up with current events, and those three types only occasionally overlap.

Read Batman Year One or watch the cartoon adaption on Netflix. Everything else is going to be pretty specific to what part of the universe fascinates you. The best series to jump on board right now is probably Batman #18 or Detective Comics #17. Batman 18 will start a new arch, and Detective is in the middle of one, but it is not too complicated, so you can pretty much jump on board wherever you choose. If you want to try stuff with the Bat Family, I would recommend Batwoman Hydrology in trades or Red Hood and the Outlaws 17 for an ongoing comic.

@Kangaxx_54:

Do not read All Star Batman and Robin, but everything else Kangaxx says is good. No offense Kangaxx, I just hated that series.

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

Batman Year one really is the essential one.

But Really because of the New 52 get Court of the Owls it's a classic.

Warning though do not get anything by Grant Morrison unless you started from the beginning which was Batman and Son I think. Morrison's current series (Batman Inc) really links to his previous works and what he was doing before the New 52.

Ongoing I'd suggest Batman from issue #18 and Detective comics from issue #17. You could wait for #19 which is a self contained pricey (very long) story which would have been issue #900 but because of the reboot it was set back to #1 but that is probably a good place to start but really the most new reader friendly is Detective because I started at #14 and had no problems understanding it.

@BatWatch: None taken, I'm aware that I'm in the minority when it comes to ASBAR :). I can understand why people dislike it, it has some very real problems, and there are so many other comics that are better to read as they have some actual meaning in the canon. Just wanted to give my say, since others mentioned it as well.

@broo1232 said:

Batman Year one really is the essential one.

But Really because of the New 52 get Court of the Owls it's a classic.

Warning though do not get anything by Grant Morrison unless you started from the beginning which was Batman and Son I think. Morrison's current series (Batman Inc) really links to his previous works and what he was doing before the New 52.

Ongoing I'd suggest Batman from issue #18 and Detective comics from issue #17. You could wait for #19 which is a self contained pricey (very long) story which would have been issue #900 but because of the reboot it was set back to #1 but that is probably a good place to start but really the most new reader friendly is Detective because I started at #14 and had no problems understanding it.

If you want to check out Morrison Batman I created a list a while back to explain the reading order. It's honestly my favorite Batman run but it's not for everyone and it's often quite confusing until you have read the entire series.

http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/joelislegend/grant-morrison-batman-reading-order/75-35373/

Just jump in.

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but it's the way that most new readers get into comics. They find something they like and read as much of it as they can, putting together the pieces as they go. It's part of the fun.

Some "early" Batman stories that are very popular are:

Batman: Year One

Batman: The Long Halloween

Batman: Dark Victory (sequel to Long Halloween)

These stories are all set in the period around Batman's first year as a hero and are generally really good.

There are plenty of other great stories out there, though (this is by no means exhaustive:

Batman: Prodigal

Batman: Contagion

Batman:Legacy

Batman: Hush

JLA: Brave New World

Kingdom Come

Court of Owls

etc, etc, etc

A lot of whats already been said here.

• Year One
• The Long Halloween
• Dark Victory
• Death in the family/A lonely place of dying
• Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend
• Hush
• Under the Hood
• Batman RIP
• Final Crisis
• Battle for the Cowl
• Batman and robin reborn Trilogy
• Return of Bruce Wayne
• Batman Inc

Those all provide a good cover of the major Batman arcs and most of them are pretty fantastic too and that is a kind of reading order.

More Recently I'd say The Court of Owls/Night of the Owls is an instant classic as is The Black Mirror and all other Snyder Batman. Death of the Family is shaping up pretty well too. Tomasi's first arc on New 52 Batman and Robin Born to Kill is also pretty great.

There are also some pretty good completely stand alone stories like

• The Dark Knight Returns
• Year 100
• Tower of Babel
• Kingdom Come
• Knight of Vengeance
• Arkham Asylum (although its pretty weird best leave it a while)
• The Killing Joke (Surprised it hasn't been mentioned more.) (And this is Canon as well)

I'm sure there's more but that is more than enough to get you started. And as others have said don't touch All star Batman and Robin.

i have now read year one and i am now reading year two

Some great advice on here. Go to your public library, and you won't have to pay for most of the graphic novels mentioned on this thread.

Once you get your feet wet, the 'New 52' stuff is quite accessible and kick-ass. The mainstream "Batman" title has been getting lots of critical acclaim for its quality writing and art. And if you like your Batman with some Robin thrown in, "Batman & Robin" has been solid as well.

Not that my opinions matter... BUT if you had to read a limited amount

Year One

Death in the Family

Lonely Place of Dying

The Long Halloween

Nightfall

No Mans Land

Under the Red Hood

Battle for the Cowl

Batman and Son

Court of Owls

@Kangaxx_54 said:

@BatWatch: None taken, I'm aware that I'm in the minority when it comes to ASBAR :). I can understand why people dislike it, it has some very real problems, and there are so many other comics that are better to read as they have some actual meaning in the canon. Just wanted to give my say, since others mentioned it as well.

Everybody talks about the harshness of Batman towards Dick. His ego and sociopathic tendencies, and yeah, that's a big part of my problem with it too, but what I never hear people mention is the waste of Jim Lee's talents. He can draw amazingly detailed action scenes, yet almost every issue I read is full of these boringly framed repetitive panels of them talking to one another. Yawn.