Batgod, horsepuncher, grimdarkbat, or... Denny... I guess Denny.

ok see now... i am officially in love

I've read miller morrison and Snyder's take on Bruce. And I enjoyed millers the most by a mile so I voted for him

millers dialogue is just so cool for batman.

@cuddlebear:

I agree. It feels very unique to me. I feel the most immersed when I read year one and DKR and that immersion really makes Miller edge out the others in my opinion. Snyder's is just a fun little story. It has it's fault but it's a good time. Morrisons was too convoluted for me. But I did thoroughly enjoy multiple single issues from his run.

Grant Morrison hands down. He's done the most for the character since Miller, but is twice as consistent.

Morrison.

At least Snyder's self-aware about it. That panel was done as an in-joke.

Umm...did you not read ASBAR?

@jaken7:

Yes and as an elseworld I enjoyed it.

Except it's the same Batman that you were talking up in the previous comment. That's the Batman that will go on to be in TDKR and TDKSA. Miller's take on Bruce/Batman is terrible.

@jaken7:

It's the same technically but it's certainly not the same in characterization. That's a distinction I make.

Yeah, but it's the same character. You just proved he was spastically inconsistent with his characterization of Bruce/Batman.

@jaken7: *Crazy Steve

@jaken7:

Regardless of that I enjoyed his depictions in DKR and YO more than any depictions by the other writers listed. I like Millers more. I made that clear in my first post. Idk why you're arguing with me about this.

Meh. While I always liked that term for Miller's Bats, I'm not the biggest Linkara fan.

Because you have a different opinion then me, therefore I must argue with you until you change your mind and admit I'm right and you were wrong.

@jaken7:

Oh. Well at least I know now.

@jaken7: Hater... meet hate.

definitly O'Neil

Morrison. His Batman is smart, trusting, a good team player, less brooding and comparatively less dark. And Morrison's Batman isn't BatGod, he's a man with great mental power and indomitable will. Most of what he did had a logic behind it. The perfect Batman.

I'm not literary critic so i won't speak to how good Miller's "take" on Batman is but miller's dialogue and the batman fit hand and glove ;) now change your opinion to that NOW

You like the "goddamn" Batman then? Bleh. Worst. Version. Ever.

i have just read TDKR and year one and say what you want about the version but the type of dialogue, the kind of dialogue i hear all throught sin city, is perfect for batman... kneel before zod!

Morrison over all.

I feel like he perfectly captured what Batman was, is, and has the potential to be.

@cuddlebear: That's not what I'm referring to. That Batman is fine, as it was written before Miller went nuts. That exact same Batman, however, was featured in ASBAR. One of the worst Batman stories of all time. That's where we get the "I'm the goddamn Batman" line from. It's the one where Batman literally beat Dick Grayson right after the latter's parents were killed while calling him dense and retarded. It's the Batman that left Dick in the Batcave alone and told him to eat rats to survive. That isn't Batman, yet it's supposed to be the same guy we see in TDKR, as they're all part of the Millerverse Batman.

This is the correct answer

ok fair point then. i think creativity is always a hit or miss game. i find grant morrison batman r.i.p. to be over my head but i think morrisons batman and robin is one of the coolest batman things i have read. even the greats are hit and miss. oh i just got what ASBAR stands for... yeah i did not like that, i don't remember making it past the first issue in the trade the couple times i have tried to read it. frank miller/ jim lee should be a must read and its not... hit and miss. snyder has cool concepts that flicker in their execution. morrison is of course great but again it should not be so hard to read a comic... to me. the very little i read of denny o'neil in the "tales of the demon" collection was great to me just for how much of batman skills he utilized... batman using his ventriloquism skills in a believable effective way just does it for me... on that alone i voted denny... if i could do it again i would have included chuck dixon in this poll.

THE DEFINITVE BATMAN WRITER IS............

GEOFF JOHNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No one is touching Grant Morrison. Snyder comes the closest, and Millers work is definitely more iconic but Morrison is the very best batman writer.

Lol at the trolls that voted who voted for Frank Miller

What the hell is Scott Snyder doing with those writers?

I can´t choose between the three of them, Because they show different aspects of Batman that fit right with the character.

I put him there because of how many issues of Batman he has done, like i said to someone else for this reason i should have put Chuck Dixon too. Creating the Court of Owls was pretty cool.

@black_arrow: Snyder is definitely on the same level as those guys.

I like Morrison.

O'Neil's Batman is pretty grimdark and how is Morrison's Batman BatGod?

I agree.

Miller would have been my vote because of TDKR and Year One, but then he went all crazy with ASBAR and TDKSA, so he's out in last place. As it stands, Morrison's Batman has been consistently well written and is just as competent as O'Neil's and early Miller's Batman. O'Neil would be second place, followed by Snyder. Later year Miller unbalances early Miller's previous efforts enough that he lands in last place for me. No disrespect to anyone who voted different, though; these are just my opinions. :)

Morrison easily.

I actually haven't read TDKSA and even if I leave out ASBAR then I still think Morrison's Batman is better. But yeah Miller's Batman is awesome if you don't count those his last two stories.

I'm not that familiar with who wrote what.

For example, who created certain villains like Bane or the Riddler.

I'd probably base my decision on who created the most in the Bat-verse

Oh yeah, I can totally respect that. Morrison's Batman is pretty much the best version of comic book Batman we've ever received (again, just my opinion). Quite a few of my favorite feats and character moments come from his extensive 7/8 year run with Bruce. Also,his legendary JLA run, which I think is the best JLA run we've ever had, just shows even more of how much he gets Bruce (and everyone else in the league).

Really, the only reason why I give so much credence to those two Miller stories; Year One and TDKR, is because I'm biased towards them. Year One is the definitive Batman origin tale, while TDKR is pretty much my favorite book ever. Even more so than the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L'Engle, and George R.R. Martin. Even more than All Star Superman, Watchmen, or Red Son. I can't help it, Miller's early work really solidified my love of Batman when I was kid (as did Keaton's portrayal of Batman in the first two movies, and of course, Conroy in B:TAS), just like George Reeves and Christopher Reeve solidified my love of Superman. Plus, Miller's Batman/Spawn crossover was pretty cool.

I look at it like this, if I were only judging these writers by their most iconic stories pertaining to Batman, I would say Miller was better.

If I judge these writers by their entire bodies of work pertaining to Batman, I would say Morrison was better (and I did since I voted for him).

If I judge these writers for all the stories they have ever written, I would still say Morrison was better, because All Star Superman, WE3, and The Invisibles were more entertaining to me than Daredevil, Sin City, and Ronin (though I do like all those books).

O'Neil is the man for creating one of my favorite villains ever with Adams; Ra's Al Ghul. Snyder's Black Mirror was pretty good, and while it isn't my favorite story, The Court Of The Owls was enjoyable. Death Of The Family started out great to me, then kind of fell apart at the end (opinions people). Zero Year was meh.

One last thing, I don't hate ASBAR; it's great just for Lee's art alone. But the dialogue is so bad it's good. :)

Yeah Year One and TDKR are two of my favorite stories too, I like them so much that I don't consider ASBAR(I don't hate it either because of the art and roof top scene between BC and BM) as a part of Miller's run(I haven't read TDKSA and his Batman/Spawn crossover), his Batman is near perfect along with O'Neil's (creator of two of my favorite characters - Ra's and Talia) and Timm/Dini's Batman, although I think Morrison's is the definite Batman. I also like Loeb's Batman, I know his stories are not that great but his Batman is pretty cool and Long Halloween and Hush were one of the first Batman comics I read. I actually haven't read Snyder's Black Mirror and I don't really like how he writes Batman/Bruce Wayne although I thought CoO was pretty good but not that great, I loved the first issue DotF but after that issue I very much hated it, I hated how Bruce acted in that arc and the fallout didn't make any sense, Zero year actually got better at the end, its not great but I liked it more than DotF, I also liked Batman #34, it was a great one shot, I think it was his best issue.

I voted for Frank Miller. He wrote my all time favorite comic book story and favorite ending for Batman, as well as the greatest comic book origin. He only wrote two stories I like, but that's all I really need. After that Denny O'Neil, and although he had a much larger run with great stories, none of them matched up to Miller's first two. Denny O'Neil did so much for the Batman Universe, so he definitely is deserving of the title. I don't like the direction Morrison took with Batman at all, other than bringing in Damian, but at least he's likeable. I loved the moments he had him spend with the family, unlike Snyder who made Bruce an idiot. I love Black Mirror and believe it was better than anything Morrison's done, so I'd rate him higher. He also had some great stuff in each of his larger story arcs, but there was a lot I didn't like about each one. I hated that Morrison made it out like Talia raped Bruce, instead of it being consensual. The frog guy, Zur en Arrh, Batman Inc, Knight and Squire, time travel, everything with Red Hood....I thought it was awful.

Loeb's Batman stories Long Halloween, and Dark Victory directly stemmed from Miller's Year One, and are two of my favorite Bat tales. A lot of people bag on Loeb, but I love his stories, even Haunted Knight. Hush is extra levels of awesome to me as well as his work on Superman/Batman; another one of my favorite comic series ever. The only reason I didn't mention him was because I was only commenting on the writers in the poll. But yeah, Loeb's Batman (and Superman) are among my favorite depictions.

You say Morrison's Batman is the definitive Batman, and I'm inclined to agree with you, although I would say a good case can be made for the Timmverse (animated) depiction of Batman as well.

I also agree with you that Snyder doesn't write Bruce the way I really enjoy seeing him written either (too arrogant, not as perceptive as he should be imho), but his version of Bruce is at least tough as nails and still never gives up. We are of a same mind when it comes to Court of Owls, pretty good; not great. Where we diverge is Zero Year and DOTF. I felt Zero Year just didn't compare to Year One, so I could never really get into it (biased). I'll re-read it in trade and hopefully enjoy it more. DOTF like you said had a great first issue, and I just liked seeing Joker causing havoc, but yeah, the ending didn't pay off for me..... but I still liked it more than Zero Year since it was it's own thing as opposed to being a replacement for Year One in the New 52. Batman 34 was pretty great, as well as his short story in Detective Comics 27.

O'Neil added more to the Batverse than Snyder did, so he gets props for that. He's the man.

I can dig that, Morrison ain't for everybody. I truly love his work, but I can respect that you prefer Snyder. A lot of people can't get into the campy Adam West version of Batman like I can, or the old movie serials version, but that's the beauty of having a character like Batman; he's been around for so long that there are so many iterations and interpretations of him, that anybody willing to look can find THEIR definitive version of Batman.

Realistic Batman? Nolanverse, old movie serials.

All ages Batman? Legoverse, Lil Gotham.

Campy Batman? Adam West, Superfriends.

Heck, you can even read Marvel Batman stories; Moon Knight, Black Panther, Daredevil. There's something for everybody. I just wish DC put as much care into it's myriad other characters as they do Bruce and Clark.

@tikbaz: That's why he's the greatest fictional character, because he's so malleable! I was a big fan of Morrison's JLA run and Batman Arkham Asylum though, it's just his Batman run went a step too far for me, unfortunately. I agree that the Batman TAS version is an excellent contender. The only thing that bugged me was Return of the Joker movie. I did not like how he treated Tim for using the gun on the Joker. When I heard the Paul Dini interview in regards to Batman's actions in that movie, I realized I have a different view of Batman than him. I don't believe he would every hold that against him, under those awful circumstances. I have not read Batman Beyond 2.0, but I don't care for Bruce impregnating Barbara. I can't judge it until I read it though.

I always loved the Nolan movies, but I just watched them all recently, and they have become a top contender for me now as my favorite interpretation of the character. I love that it told a complete Bruce Wayne story, ending with him being happy, and I thought they did an excellent job with the villains. I'm with you on Jeph Loeb! I love Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, and Hush. Batman/Superman was pretty fun too. I also am a big fan of Chuck Dixon and Mike Barr.

instead of voting for arguably some of the best Batman writers ever....
how about we discuss who in the world DC is gonna get to replace Snyder n Capullo?!?!

Yup.

Denny did a lot to reinvigorate the character and made him darker, but not dark enough, nor in the right direction.

Miller took it too far, and his vision of the character for anything other than year one is while interesting, very questionable. Year One however serves as THE perfect origin story for the character, until something better comes along (Which Zero Year was nowhere near being). It shows his drive, his thinking, and focuses just as much on Gordon and the city itself. There are so many, many good things to say about it.

Morrison wins because he took Miller Batman in the absolute best direction for the character. All the adjectives rustyroy mentioned apply perfectly. More than that, Morrison excelled at showing the level a normal human must be at to keep up with gods like Kryptonians and Amazons. Morrison gave us the best insight into the characters psyche since anyone before or since.

Snyder has added little to the character, and his writing has only been detrimental. His detective skills have been reduced in favor of his physicality, and he does ridiculous things like revealing his identity to the Joker.

@tikbaz:

Loeb's Batman stories Long Halloween, and Dark Victory directly stemmed from Miller's Year One, and are two of my favorite Bat tales. A lot of people bag on Loeb, but I love his stories, even Haunted Knight. Hush is extra levels of awesome to me as well as his work on Superman/Batman; another one of my favorite comic series ever. The only reason I didn't mention him was because I was only commenting on the writers in the poll. But yeah, Loeb's Batman (and Superman) are among my favorite depictions.

Loeb is one of my favorite Batman writers too, I loved his Superman/Batman run, it was fun and Haunted Knight was good too. And Nolan took a lot inspiration from LH for TDK.

You say Morrison's Batman is the definitive Batman, and I'm inclined to agree with you, although I would say a good case can be made for the Timmverse (animated) depiction of Batman as well.

Timmverse Batman was the reason I started reading comics, I think its one of the best representation of Batman only behind Morrison's version but its pretty close, I also think the JL/JLU version of Batman was inspired by Morrison's JLA Batman but that's just me.

I also agree with you that Snyder doesn't write Bruce the way I really enjoy seeing him written either (too arrogant, not as perceptive as he should be imho), but his version of Bruce is at least tough as nails and still never gives up. We are of a same mind when it comes to Court of Owls, pretty good; not great. Where we diverge is Zero Year and DOTF. I felt Zero Year just didn't compare to Year One, so I could never really get into it (biased). I'll re-read it in trade and hopefully enjoy it more. DOTF like you said had a great first issue, and I just liked seeing Joker causing havoc, but yeah, the ending didn't pay off for me..... but I still liked it more than Zero Year since it was it's own thing as opposed to being a replacement for Year One in the New 52. Batman 34 was pretty great, as well as his short story in Detective Comics 27.

Yeah Snyder's Batman is pretty cool too, not my favorite version of Batman but I still like it. Also completely agree with you on too arrogant, not as perceptive as he should bebut its still enjoyable. And I don't think Zero Year is anywhere near as good as Year One but if don't compare it to that its pretty good but yeah Snyder took too many inspiration for it (Year One, TKJ, NML, a little bit Nolan's TDKR etc.). I still think it was a better story than DotF though, there were too many mistakes in DotF, Bruce was acting very OoC, the split up didn't make any sense and didn't have much effect. Btw #34 and the story from Detective Comics 27 are my favorite too, I didn't mention it because it wasn't a part of his Batman run (like Arkham Asylum isn't a part of Morrison's Batman run)

I can dig that, Morrison ain't for everybody. I truly love his work, but I can respect that you prefer Snyder. A lot of people can't get into the campy Adam West version of Batman like I can, or the old movie serials version, but that's the beauty of having a character like Batman; he's been around for so long that there are so many iterations and interpretations of him, that anybody willing to look can find THEIRdefinitive version of Batman.

Realistic Batman? Nolanverse, old movie serials.

All ages Batman? Legoverse, Lil Gotham.

Campy Batman? Adam West, Superfriends.

Heck, you can even read Marvel Batman stories; Moon Knight, Black Panther, Daredevil. There's something for everybody. I just wish DC put as much care into it's myriad other characters as they do Bruce and Clark.

Completely agree with this, Batman has many different interpretations and I like all of them except Johns' version.

I like Miller's the best. Morrisons didn't do it for me, I haven't read Denny's and Scott Snyder's has been good but not for me.

@tikbaz: Btw have you watched Batman Brave and the Bold?