Are you new to Batman or are a long-time Batfan? Well, as we are nearing the release of The Dark Knight Rises (the conclusion of Christopher Nolan's Batman movie saga), I thought it's time to post a list of Batman graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and one-shots I recommend you should check out. Keep note that "Pre-Crisis" describes Batman's mainstream history before the Crisis of Infinite Earths event (where 5 universes within canon DC Universe continuity merged into New Earth with the others destroyed) while Post-Crisis describes Batman's mainstream history as revised by the universe merger that occuerd on the COIE event, "Post-Infinite Crisis" describes Batman's mainstream history as revised by the re-merger of New Earth (or in other words, the creation of Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-0) in Infinite Crisis, and "Post-Flashpoint" describes Batman's mainstream history as revised by the universe merger in Flashpoint (Vol. 2), the prelude to DC Comics The New 52.
- Batman in the Forties: sample Batman stories from the 1940s.
- Batman in the Fifties: sample Batman stories from the 1950s.*
- Batman in the Sixties: sample Batman stories from the 1960s.
- Batman in the Seventies: sample Batman stories from the 1970s.
- Batman in the Eighties: sample Batman stories from the 1980s.**
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: In this alternate universe tale set in the fture, a middle-aged Bruce Wayne returns to the Batman mantle and leads the fight against evil, only to himself in conflict with not only the Gotham police, but also a corrupted Superman, now serving as a government weapon.
- Batman Year One: Bruce Wayne's Batman origin as revised for Post-Crisis history.
- Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Sample canon continuity Batman stories from the 1930s thoughout the 2000s.
- Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Vol. 2: More sample canon continuity Batman stories from the 1930s through the 2000s.
- Batman: The Killing Joke: In this edgy tale for mature audiences, The Joker makes an attempt to destroy the sanity of Commissioner James Gordon while having flashbacks to his pre-Joker life.
- Batman: A Death in the Family: Batman plots revenge against The Joker with support from Clark Kent/Superman after Dick Grayson's Robin successor Jason Todd gets killed by the Clown Prince of Crime himself.
- Batman: The Arrow, the Ring and the Bat: The Post-Crisis revising of Batman's first encounter with Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan.
- Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1 New Edition: Reprinting the entire Knightfall story arc, where Bane defeats Bruce Wayne and Jean-Paul Valley (aka Azrael) becomes Batman II.
- Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2: Knightquest New Edition: Collects the "Knightquest: The Crusade" story arc, where Jean-Paul Valley, following his defeat on Bane, brings a gruesome havoc to Gotham, determined to redefine the meaning of Batman in ways that go agianst Bruce's principles.
- Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3: Knightsend New Edition: Reprinting the entire Knightsend story arc, where it's a clash of the Batmen when Bruce Wayne battles his successor (story leads to Dick's becoming Batman III, but Dick returned to the Nightwing mantle after a short time in the Batman mantle).
- Batman: The Long Halloween: Batman teams up with James Gordon and Harvey Dent to hunt down a crook who kills on holidays in a tale expanding on the Post-Crisis origin of Two Face.
- Batman Under the Hood: Jason Todd, the second Robin, returns to Gotham to become the part-crime lord part-vigilante Red Hood after his resurrection.
- Robin Year One: The story of how Dick Grayson became Robin from the point of view of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Set in the Post-Crisis history.
- Batgirl Year One: Barbera Gordon's Batgirl origin as revised for Post-Crisis history.
- Batman: Rules of Engagement: Revealing Batman's first attempt with his gadgets to stop Lex Luthor from taking over Gotham.
- Batman: Secrets of The Batcave: Sample stories from canon set in Bruce Wayne's batcave.
- Batman: Scarecrow Tales: Sample canon stories from six decades of Batman comics featuring Scarecrow.
- Batman: Tales of The Demon: Reprinting earliest stories featuring Bat-villain Ra's Al Ghul.
- Batman and The Mad Monk: The story of Batman's first encounter with the Mad Monk as revised for Post-Infinite Crisis history.
- Batman and The Monster Men: Batman's first time dealing with super-powered villains according to Post-Infinite Crisis history.
- Batman & Son: Bruce Wayne meets for the first time, his biological son Damian Al Ghul (sometimes called "Damian Wayne"), with whom his love interest Talia Al Ghul was pregnant during around Bruce's early years as Batman.***
- Batman R.I.P.: The Black Glove organization plots to destroy all Batman stands for in a fate worse than death for Bruce Wayne. Part of the Final Crisis prelude.
- Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne: Following his apparent death in Final Crisis event, Bruce Wayne finds himself traveling through time and struggles to find his way back to the present.
- Batman: Battle for the Cowl: After Bruce Wayne's apparent death in Final Crisis, Jason Todd becomes Batman IV, only to find himself fighting his predecessor Dick Grayson.
- Batman: Long Shadows: Dick Grayson performs his first adventure as Batman since the Battle for the Cowl event.
- Batgirl Rising: Stephanie Brown, once The Spolier and Robin IV, becomes Batgirl V.
- Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Bruce Wayne narrates his prespective on what became of his allies and enemies during his absence that resulted from the Final Crisis event
- Batman: Court of Owls: In the aftermath of the events in Flashpoint (Vol. 2) Bruce Wayne encounters battles the Talon, whose organization (known as the Court of Owls) has been in war with the Wayne family for many years.
*Regarding the stories reprinted for Batman in the Fifties, note that it wasn't until the late 1960s and 1970s that DC Comics confirmed that there were then in fact two mainstream versions of Batman within canon continuity: the Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Batman (whose history accounts for much the canon Batman stories from the late 1930s to mid-1950s, but places them on a real-timescale as opposed to sliding timescale, which applies to Pre-Crisis Earth-One) and the Pre-Crisis Earth-One Batman (whose history accounts for much of the canon Batman stories from late 1930s to mid-1980s).
**Batman in the Eighties contains not only Pre-Crisis Earth-One Batman stories, but also stories featuring the Post-Crisis Batman.
***Damina Wayne's existence was added to Batman's main history as a result of reformation of New Earth in the "Infinite Crisis" event. Moreoever, though Damian is Robin V in New Earth's Post-Infinite Crisis timeline, the Post-Flashpoint history not only revised him to be Robin III, but also removed his predecessors Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown from the Robin legacy while still accounting for Tim's Red Robin carrer.
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