Should I start from the beginning, or is there a somewhere I can slip in without messing up the story?

Thanks!

SOK

issue 1-11 are the court of owls it really its a great story but you can skip it and not have to worry about missing something important

issue 12 and 0 are stande alones

13-17 is Death of the family but this one has an insane amount of tie-ins so if your the tpye that needs to by them all this one can be ignored mostly becuase its crap

18 is a stand alone that deals with the death of damian

19-20 stand alone Clayface story

and issue 21 onward is Zero Year trash

so really as long as you if you jump on at the begaining of an arc or in one of the stand alones you should be fine

I started from the first issue. I have enjoyed it all for the most part. The zero year and death of the family arcs were overhyped I think, but still have enjoyed all of it. Grab the first trade which is 7 issues I believe and decide from there. Ask others who have similar tastes as u and see what they think too.

The first, logically.

You should buy the court of owls and death of the family in graphic novel form and start getting single issues at 21 forward. That's when zero year starts and it is not trash it is actually very well written and drawn. It has flaws but it is still very good

@jayc1324: Yea that sounds like a good idea. Ideally I want them all in single issue just because of the "prestige" (if you will) that is attached to it. Thanks!

Yep, Court of Owls. I am getting the TP myself this weekend, yippee!!

I also now buy a UK trade monthly by titan comics which gives you three separate Batman stories in one book, albeit a few months out of date. This month we got Arkham unhinged, Detective Comics and Dark Knight....good way of keeping up with Batman on a budget if you are a UK reader. Don't know if the US has a similar thing...

Yeah just go with that. I like to start from the beginning of a series, like I did for Venom. The Court of Owls is a great story line and brings about a new character into his own comic series, called Talon. I love that series so freaking much. I say you can wait and skip the Zero Year story line, as it doesn't really affect the present comic and is just retconning known history of the Batman. I read it though, because I like to be up to date on all things Marvel and DC. Court of Owls and Death of the Family are just great works together. You get to learn Batman's darkest secret, see the fate of Joker after what happened with his face., and see who sides with Batman after it's over and who leaves him. Hint hint: All four of the robins are involved, as well as Batgirl and Catwoman.

@bezza: Thanks!