This story chronicles harvey dents path from commissioner gordon and batmans ally to fall from grace into a deranged enemy. Fandom apps take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Family with a colon separating the two words, which was published in. Knightfall was adapted as a full cast radio drama by bbc radio 1 in 1994, starting with a slightly tweaked version of batman. Zero year, which redefined batmans origin in the new 52. A complete batman related comics timeline including downloadable files containing checklists with information about the reading order of separate issues from batman. And other comic book legends revealed and why does batman carry shark repellent. Listed on this timeline are all major batman story arcs, from batman. This timeline and suggested reading order is batman specific and leads all the way to the beginning of new 52 where it essentially reboots and then. The batman book series by multiple authors includes books batman.
The second story arc was death of the family, where the joker returns to gotham and simultaneously attacks each member of the batman family. Sometimes writers decide to set a story earlier in batmans career, and many times will go as far as to say when the storys taking place. Legends of the dark knight comic books, birds of prey comic books, blackhawk comic books 1944 series and brave and the bold comic books 1955 series you can also search 7 more ways. In 1939, comic book fans across the united states met a new super hero. The story starts out with bruce wayne, an american billionaire who witnesses the death of his parents at a young age. In the pages of thousands of comic books, on the big screen in liveaction films, in a video game on your phone, batman has been through countless adventures. Conway became a regular tv screenwriter in the 1980s, working on a number of shows, including the law and order franchise. Batman is an iconic superhero that has origins in comics written as early as the 1950s. It has appeared in various dc comics publications, including a sixissue miniseries from 1999, a 24issue series running from 1999 to 2001, the hush arc by dc comics in 2010, and an eightissue series in 2011.
New 52 batman reading order 2011 to 2015 following the events of flashpoint, the dc universe rebooted as the new 52. Legends of the dark knight comic book series, which primarily concentrates on early tales of batman that are not necessarily considered canon, but have also been used during major crossover storylines such as batman. Apr 06, 2020 there have been many batman games over the years from the brightly coloured exploits inspired by the animated series to the telltale adventures that brought the comic books to life. Just a few of my favorite batman story arcs from the comics ranked in approximate order. Just go to the top of the page and look in the right column. This reading order contains all the essential and recommended comic book issues for you to enjoy batman. This batman comics price guide will help you to value all the early issues of batman comics, the series which began in 1940. When they picked up the may issue of detective comics, they saw someone called the batman on the cover. It was first advertised in early april 1940, one month after the first. I would also recommend reading justice league beyond and jl beyond 2. So many of us see him differently, and bring him to life that. How gerry conways comic book mysteries prepared him for.
Far and away the best and most essential batman story of the modern age is jeph loeb and tim sale. The writerartist duo first took on the dark knight in a beloved fiveyear run on the flagship batman comic that became the main highlight of dcs controversial new 52 relaunch period. Comic books dramatically read by the eligible monster team. Batman proved to be so popular that a selftitled ongoing comic book series began publication with a cover date of spring 1940. The top selling comic books that begin with b are batman comic books, batman. If you ask longtime dc comics editor, writer, and creator paul levitz, the magic of batman lies in the many different interpretations of the dark knight through the years.
Season 2 of dc universes harley quinn seems to be adapting batman. If you are going through a larger order, like the ultimate marvel order, feel free to skip series you have no interest in. Year one 1987 to flashpoint 2011 in chronological order reading order. Frequently asked questions comic book reading orders.
If you are only interested in batman or the xmen feel free to only read their comics and ignore everything else. Death of the family is a 23issue comic book story arc that includes tieins from batgirl, batman and robin, catwoman, detective comics. Four new series set in the world of the vertigo classic. Jan 25, 2018 the 7 most essential batman comic book stories. Batman reading order full chronological comics timeline. Year one, which miller wrote, and david mazzucchelli drew, is a magnum opus. How gerry conways comic book mysteries prepared him for tv. Harley quinn season 2 begins adapting the batman comic where she joined dcs universe. I think the list is pretty complete, but i occasionally stumble across a book here and there i didnt know existed.
So while publication of these stories might seem like jumps in time, the chronology of the events are in order. The deluxe edition tells the gripping story of the final days. Batman is one of the oldest and greatest superheroes in existence, along with his supporting cast having been handled by more writers and artists than probably any other comic book character throughout history. While its a bit short, its definitely worth the read and a must. Mar 27, 2019 if you ask longtime dc comics editor, writer, and creator paul levitz, the magic of batman lies in the many different interpretations of the dark knight through the years.
As the modern age is over and new 52rebirth have taken over this reading order is essentially finished. During grant morrisons first story ine in jla, superman describes batman as the most dangerous man on earth, able to defeat a team of superpowered aliens all by himself in order to rescue his imprisoned teammates. Is there an official reading order to the batman books. Batman reading order and timeline modern age gotham archives. The story promises to be decidedly different, however, as the shows version of harleen quinzel is an established supervillain in her own right. Batman reading order and timeline modern age gotham. There are some minor alterations, but it is mostly true to the comic books. The title we know as batman comic book began as a quarterly spinoff. Batman and robin take a trip aboard an exclusive yacht in order to prevent the theft of the travers necklace at the hands of the cat. Dc writers and artists reveal their favorite batman comic. His mythos has been adapted into many different settings and genres and even time periods. The court of owls 2011 originally published in batman vol. Most of them were singleissue stories with little to no connection to others, no advancement of a larger plot, and. Dc comics, marvel comics and indie alike, nothing is free from our dramatic readings.
Batman has been published continuously for 80 years in multiple titles. The modern age batman recommended chronology and reading over which. He was nominated for the edgar allen poe award an award for top mysteries for his law and order. Zero year, which redefined batman s origin in the new 52. Criminal intent episode, probality, from 2003 story by gerry. Harley quinn season 2 is adapting batman story where she. The order is hush beyond, industrial revolution, 10,000 clowns, and batgirl beyond.
Geoff johns and gary frank bring the dc and watchmen universes together. Especially since conway only had 17 pages to tell the story. Mar 14, 2020 this story chronicles harvey dents path from commissioner gordon and batmans ally to fall from grace into a deranged enemy. The top 25 best batman comics and graphic novels ign.
Read the first harrowing chapter of epic comic batman. In trade paperbackhardcover, but also containing single issues to make the chronology more complete. Knightfall and breaking the bat the 1990s you can find a full chronological guide to every issue in the knightfall trilogy including an essential road to knightfall fast track in comic book heralds complete knightfall reading order. It has since been made into numerous movies by various producers including the latest trilogy by christopher nolan.
Well, there isnt an official one but i have found a couple of unofficial ones people have collected in the comic book community. In the name of his murdered parents, bruce wayne wages eternal war on the criminals of gotham city. The order of beasts, a 48page prestige format special painted by eddie campbell from hell and cowritten by campbell and darren white. Subscribe for more great comic and pop culture videos become a simplemans comics. No mans land, which introduced the character of harley quinn into the dc comics universe.
Dc comics invited miller to retell batman s origin story around the implementation of the first linewide reboot on what had been the worlds oldest, uninterrupted comic book continuity. There have been many batman games over the years from the brightly coloured exploits inspired by the animated series to the telltale adventures that brought the comic books to life. What is the story of batman burgan, michael, who hq. Scott snyder and greg capullo took over creative duties on dcs batman, which quickly became the criticallyacclaimed flagship batbook for the new 52. The full batman timeline in chronological order with.
He wore a black mask and a cape that opened like a pair of bat wings. Apr 24, 2020 he has written two books about comics for penguinrandom house was superman a spy. So many of us see him differently, and bring him to life that way. Gotham central is one of my 25 favorite comic book series of all time, with amazing gcpd stories from greg rucka, ed brubaker, and michael lark. What is the story of batman burgan, michael, who hq, murray. The 7 most essential batman comic book stories nerdist. Campbell tells the story of a young batman who must hone his new detective skills while using them to penetrate the veil surrounding the order of beasts.
Batman is an ongoing american comic book series featuring the dc comics superhero batman as its main protagonist. Year one is the definitive origin story, written by frank miller with. Fans of the arkham knight video game can check out azraels comic book origins here as batman heads towards knightfall. One of the defining moments in the history of the dark knight. Batman has been featured in many ongoing series, limited series and graphic novels published by dc comics. By no means an official list of batman novels, ive tried to organize all the batman novels, novelizations and dc universe novels under one roof. See the complete batman series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles. Batman beyond is a comic book series featuring the fictional character terry mcginnis as batman and based on the animated television series of the same name. First appearance of the cat destined to become catwoman, the first villainess in comic books, in the cat, script by bill finger, art by bob kane. Batman has been featured in many ongoing series, limited series and graphic novels. Of course, batman was not the first title to star that character. This section also generally handles titles that have spun off of the core batman titles to feature related characters.