What is the most iconic Batman comic story arc or run to you and why?
>>150526003Alan Grant's stuff. Perfect mix of comic goofiness with guys like the ventriloquist and the moody noir vibe that works so well for Batman. I'm partial to runs that make use of 1-3 issue stories and he mostly sticks to that whether it's the main book or Shadow of the Bat
>>150526003The one where he teams up with the ultimate lifeform.
>>150526149/threadalso the run with Kelley Jones as an artist
>>150526170You have just reminded me that some comics should be best forgotten or never made.
>>150526003Era? O'neil's editorial post jason death up to his departure. While its tecincally like 3 eras, that's what i think of when i think of batman overall in an actual present setting, not flashbacks like year one or fowards like dark knight returns. Not every story was a masterpiece, but i cant think of any actually terrible stories or choices during that era.
>>150526003dark night, dark city
>>150526003Azzarello's short 6-issue run between Hush-slop and Red Hood nonsense. For me it is the template of what Batman stories should be; self-contained noir stuff with just Batman solving mysteries by his fucking own. Dini's Detective Comics run which was then extended throughout Streets of Gotham was alright too. Batman comics were in a good place post Morrison's saga but the nu52 nuked everything into oblivion
>>150526003The Dark Knight Returns. It was one of the first Batman comics I've read, and the more Batman I read, the better it gets. I love the finality of it (the sequels don't exist).
>>150528756It's a great SINGLE story in a bubble of it's time & context. Unless you count Year One like Miller does. Which is an okay prequel story.
>>150528076Idk, batman's always had other characters, i do think solo stuff should be inplay, but its never NOT been in play.
>>150526003The hell are those poses
>>150528807Jim lee
>>150528785I view them as bookends to the character and no matter what they add or take from the lore it always ends with Bruce as he is in Tdkr. Obviously makes little sense but I just imagine Damien or whatever other newer stuff never comes up in convo
>>150528785I know year one was intended as a prequel, but idk how much it fits. So much of dark knight returns is contructed around the idea these things arent the norm and havent happened to batman, so that being how it started too, while a good narrative is very much a different narrative.
>>150528815Yikes is that really Jim Lee? It looks really bad for him
>>150528832The Batman cartoon did just that in it's own way. Showing a future where Bruce is much more grizzled but he still has Nightwing & Oracle in his life. I liked it but I don't think it really fits. I guess the point was just showing that his war will consume him for the rest of his life even with others filling his life with love.>>150528843I can accept that.
>>150529213Yeah I feel bad for Bruce when he's portrayed as being alone when he's old, but I genuinely think it fits his character. I used to think most fans liked this direction but the last couple of years it seems like it's something that has fans split down the middle
>>150528076Noir Batman will always be the coolest to me
>>150529280its split by the fans that think it makes sense, and the other fans who want something better for him. Very difficult question between the two camps.
>>150529213>>150529280I think it fit batman as he was presented in the 80s, when dick had left, but nowadays i dont really think it fits.It depends, its not my preferred angle, but its a workable "bad end". My issue is when they try to frame it as the inevitable end. See beyond.
>>150529374>>150529380Something else to consider is the actual status quo of these characters in Bruce's future. If they maintain being crime fighters and eventually just move on from Bruce because he lets it be is whole existence I can buy it. The idea that they all abandon the mission and completely cut him off doesn't work. It works in the Dcau when it's just Tim, babs, and dick, but to assert to that those three, Damien, Steph, Cass, Duke, Harold, Lucius and his son, and whoever else I'm not thinking of just give up doesn't feel right
>>150529541Even in the DCAU, its a bit odd, its fine as a possible future but the fact that TNBA's slowly mending bruce and dick, him growing close with dick and babs being there just means nothing kinda undermines those stories. It also had the advantage of redoing jason's death with tim to excuse it, which..you cant do in mainline since jason's death happened.But yeah with the NML onwards cast it becomes even harder. Especially since bruce's relationship with the robins and arguably cass has become MORE definitely parental too.
Is it cheating if I say the Batman TAS comics? I think they're my favorite version of the universe, and a very cohesive and balanced one. The art wasn't stellar at times (altough sometimes it was) but the heart and brains were in the best place possible. A tad more adult than the actual animated series and not as stupidly edgy as Scarecrow sowing his face or Joker cutting it off, so, the perfect amount of camp and grit for the character. If not, probably Wein's, or Englehart's, or maybe the 80s stuff from Killer Croc's introduction all the way to Breyfogle and Knightfall? This age is what Batman is all about for me.Also have some non-obvious (Year One, Long Halloween, Knightfall...) Batman stories I really like that I think about a lot:>Haven (1982)>Eye of the Beholder>Mortal Clay/That Penguin story it comes with>The Last Arkham>Requiem for a Killer>Just Another Night (from the TAS comics)>The first TAS anual (Pic related)>In Memoriam (from the TAS comics too)>Fear of Faith (From No Man's Land)>Slayride (From the Paul Dini run)> Most Joker's Asylum stories>Kings of Fear
TDKR, even though it isn't a mainline comic.
>>150529621I do dislike those episodes being undermined but I can excuse it because it's literally only three people and like you said they have the incident involving Tim as a good catalyst for retiring. This is making me think a TDRK spiritual successor specifically made to explore the bat family's possible future could be a cool comic
>>150529280>>150529380>>150529541Ignoring stuff like Duke or Lucius's son who aren't really beloved nor important to Bruce, nowadays there's just too many characters in Bruce's life that would make a old broken Bruce future impossible. Heck he's got the Justice League, The Outsiders, & Batman Incorporated too. He's far from alone to end up like Miller's Batman. Even Beyond is kinda treated more like a possible future rather than set in stone. Like I said, it works best in a bubble for a story or possible future depending on how you do it.
>>150529690I guess not actually since it is a comic run. Didn't even consider those but yeah they exist, I remember 'em.
>>150529912Batman incorporated not really, but the others yeah.
>>150530482Gotta remember Batman Incorporated would also include all the bat adjacent characters in Gotham.
>>150526003When drumpf became batman
>>150530023Then yeah absolutely, best Batman run imo, they got more of a unified vision than most capeshit runs, and they're great to read as a cotinuous whole. Always loved them always will.
>>150529690Not a fan.
>>150532561I definitely am.
the fact that nobody says Englehart's run anymore is proof that Millennials are terrible stewards of the culture
>>150531163Who's Obama? Bane?
>>150531833Actually read through this only a few days ago, coincidently. This is one of my fave issues just for giving more focus on Greer.
>>150532656You mean the initial '70s run (which is a bit too old for millennials...) or the later Dark Detective run that inspired The Dark Knight movie?
>>150532813Random jogger.
>>150532824Coming back to these as an adult, I'm getting a big kick of seeing the little things they got away with in these comics that they couldn't in the show. That issue's got a lot of them, heh.
>>150532656I like enghleart's run, but its not my favorite. Silver st cloud is not the most intresting love intrest to me. And hugo strange was better in pray.
>>150532656Laughing Fish is a classic, I got into older Batman comics through it.
>>150533030Its fun.
>>150529690This is my choice as well.
>>150526003>What is the most iconic Batman comic story arc or run to you and why?I confess I'm not a gigantic batman fan, I've probably read less than 100 issues of actual mainline batman comics and am more familiar with a lot of his supporting cast from their own books or team ups or cartoons etc.For all-time probably something boring and safe like TDKR, if we're doing something more recent I really liked Snyder's Court of Owls (even if I don't care for much else going on around that era and I lost interest once the arc was over) and Watters' Dark Patterns Wound Man arc.if Snyder doesn't cock up Absolute Batman it could end up being another all-time favorite, it's the right blend of stupid as hell yet heavy metal badass
Year One or The Long Halloween. It's the exact point of a competent crime fighter without degenerate into ridiculous batwank.
>>150526183Great run that needs to be talked about more. That Scarecrow issue was awesome. >>150528076Dini usually doesn't work well with Morrison, but that Detective in to Streets of Gotham run was a really solid run. A lot of good stories that built out Gotham and gave interesting under used characters a spotlight. Nu52 Batman was well rated at the time as the only ip that hadn't been completely screwed by Nu52, but hindsight that was a wrong assessment.
>>150535210Dini's stuff was good, tho it absolutely doesnt fit with morrison's.
>>150534751You don't read much Batman so you don't know much better. Court of Owls is okay but the actual execution of the Court as villains suck. They make little sense in universe with how they let villains & Batman run their city. Then they're pretty much defeated by the end because some leaders are killed by Owlman. Kinda lame. Absolute Batman is Snyder being let off the leash & I don't get the appeal at all. It's not Batman.
