20 Best Batman Non-Graphic Novels

YOU ARE READING: 20 Best Batman Non-Graphic Novels AT PhebinhvanhocEN

the fantastic world of batman is full of amazing stories. Some of them are better known, mainly thanks to the fact that they have been adapted to the screen in some way, but the true essence of Batman’s adventures lies within the stories told in the comics. some of them were published as graphic novels or one-shots (or republished as such), while others were published as a limited series event (either a mini-series or a maxi-series) or were simply multi-issue collections of an ongoing series. These last two groups are the ones that interest us, as we bring you a list of the 20 best Batman stories that are not graphic novels or one-shots, but rather a limited series or a collection of issues of an ongoing series. enjoy!

& the best batman comics you must read of all time.

DC Comics, for those of you unfamiliar with the history behind comics, is a major American comic book publisher founded in 1934. Along with Marcel Comics, it is the most popular comic book publisher in the United States. dc comics is a major player in the comic book business and is the “home” of many famous comic book characters such as superman, batman, wonder woman, flash and many others.

You are reading: Batman books not graphic novels

batman: an introduction

batman is probably one of the most famous (if not the most famous) comic book characters in history. Stories about the Dark Knight of Gotham City have been popular for decades and have created a multimedia franchise consisting of movies, TV shows, video games, and many other merchandise. but, who is batman?

batman is the secret superhero alter ego of bruce wayne, a billionaire playboy living in gotham city. Bruce Wayne is the owner of Wayne Enterprises, a successful company based in Gotham City, and is the heir to the Wayne Estate. He lives alone in Wayne Manor, on the outskirts of Gotham, with his butler and trusted friend, Alfred Pennyworth.

Wayne’s life has been defined by a tragedy he had witnessed as a child. Namely, one night Bruce went to the movies with his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. His father decided to take a shortcut through an alley after exiting the theatre, but he did not know that an unknown mugger was standing there, waiting for his prey. The mugger attacked and ultimately killed both Thomas and Martha Wayne, but spared the life of young Bruce, who was left to the care of Alfred Pennyworth. The mystery of his parents’ murder played an important role in Bruce Wayne’s life and was a key fact in his decision to become the vigilante Batman.

Convinced that criminals are “a cowardly and superstitious bunch,” Bruce Wayne decided to don the Batman cowl, drawing inspiration for the name and design from a childhood experience with bats.

frank miller’s major batman: year one comic depicts batman’s beginnings as a vigilante in gotham and has since become a symbol of gotham city and a name used with fear among criminals from the city. While battling the regular villains and members of his rogues gallery, Batman has also tried to solve the murder of his parents and eventually finds out that they were killed by a street criminal named Joe Chill.

The myth of batman has grown over time and with it also batman, who has gone from being a lone vigilante to the leader of the batman family (or batfamily), which includes several other superheroes such as batgirl, batwoman, former robins nightwing, red robin, spoiler and others. Currently, Batman is aided by his son Damian Wayne (his mother is Talia Al-Ghul, Ra’s Al-Ghul’s daughter), who is also the fifth and titular Robin.

batman has been present in other media, as well as in comics. The first major adaptation was the 1960s television show Camp starring Adam West, after which there have been several animated adaptations. One major event was Tim Burton’s 1989 film starring Michael Keaton, which launched a series of films throughout the 1990s.

In the same period, Paul Dini created Batman: The Animated Series in which Kevin Conroy voiced Batman; The show gained a cult following and is generally praised as one of the best Batman adaptations. Christopher Nolan revitalized cinema with his The Dark Knight trilogy. Batman is currently part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), DC’s answer to the lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe.

20 best batman non-graphic novels

When putting together our list, we have tried to be as precise as possible, as the difference between a graphic novel and a non-graphic novel is not always clear. that is why we have decided to include only stories from maxiseries (as representatives of the limited series group, which means that miniseries, having less than 12 issues, will not be included) and collections of issues from an ongoing series; graphic novels, miniseries republished as graphic novels, and one-shots will not be listed. So, this is our list of the 20 best Batman non-graphic novels:

1. the long halloween

Writer(s): Jeph LoebArtist(s): Tim SaleTitles: Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13Publication: December 1996 – December 1997

synopsis

As Batman, Captain James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent work together to put a stop to the illegal activities of mobster Carmine “The Roman” Falcone, a mysterious killer named Holiday begins to kill on every major holiday; his victims are important characters linked to the falcone family. at the crime scene, he always leaves behind a .22 caliber pistol with a bottle cap as a silencer and a greeting card. the murders appear to have been carried out by a professional and clues are scant.

Batman and Gordon turn to a holiday-themed villain, Calendar Man, who is in prison. as the investigation progresses, the evidence begins to point against prosecutor harvey dent himself, who is hell-bent on destroying the criminal activity of the falcone family, and who, in those days, is going through a difficult family situation.

gilda, his wife, reproaches him for his obsessive attitude towards work and asks him to have a child and a more peaceful life. however, dent remains obsessed with campaigning against the falcon clan. Carmine Falcone is, for his part, concerned that his empire is no longer invincible and he begins recruiting supervillains to stop the vacation.

riddler is tasked with finding out the identity of the mysterious killer; Poison Ivy to seduce Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, into helping him get money from the Gotham City bank; the scarecrow and the mad hatter go on a series of robberies to get a resource for the falcon. However, the murders continue and Falcone is devastated when his son Alberto, a successful Harvard student, is murdered on New Year’s Eve and loses his body in Gotham City’s river.

Prosecutor Dent, despite mounting accusations that he is the vacation killer, continues his offensive against the Falcone family. He gets Carmine Falcone’s mobster rival Sal Maroni to agree to testify in exchange for criminal benefits. All goes well, but on trial day, Dent’s assistant, Vernon Field, is contacted to deliver a package to Maroni, which turns out to be acid that the mobster uses to disfigure Dent’s face.

The prosecutor is hospitalized, but the attack affects him psychologically and makes him develop a second personality; He flees the hospital and takes refuge in the sewers with Solomon Grundy. Despite being in police custody, Maroni is murdered by the allegedly deceased Alberto Falcone, who shows up as a holiday, reveals that he faked his own death and tells the reason for his murders: his birthday was Valentine’s Day and his father always I was too busy to spend time with him.

The wave of murders was his way of “making time” to be with his father and earn a place in the family from which he felt marginalized since he was not allowed to participate in the family business. Alberto is sentenced to the gas chamber, but clemency is requested, pointing out his lack of sanity, so the sentence is commuted to confinement in Arkham Asylum as a criminally insane criminal.

At the climax, Carmine Falcone is harassed by all the villains that appear throughout the story, including the Prankster, the Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, the Mad Hatter, the Scarecrow and the Penguin, who had not appeared earlier in history. The group is led by Harvey Dent, now known as Two-Face. batman appears and manages to contain them all, except catwoman and two face. The latter assassinates Falcone as a holiday in front of the mobster’s daughter, Sofia Falcone Gigante.

Sofia tries to defend her father, but Catwoman stops her. they both fall out of the room through a window. Catwoman is unharmed, but Sofia is not so lucky. Two-Face, after taking revenge on her assistant, she turns herself in to the police. Before being locked up in Arkham, he comments on the existence of two holiday killers; Batman and Gordon think they understand that Dent refers to himself as the second killer.

however, in the epilogue of the comic, we see gilda dent preparing to leave gotham city for good and explaining, to an absent harvey dent, that she was the first party and that her motive was none other than to free the city criminal threats so her husband could spend more time with her.

justification

As far as the long Halloween goes, the comic has become a cult classic and one of the best maxi-series in the history of Batman comics. This comic is a must read wherever you look and you will always find it on the list of the best and most important Batman stories in the history of the franchise. Jeph Loeb has done an amazing job of crafting his story and incorporating it into the Batman mythos, while Tim Sale’s signature art made the whole story quite relatable. the long halloween is an absolute classic and we highly recommend it, as we have done before; The mere fact that we’ve included this comic in pretty much every major continuity list speaks for itself, but there’s really no problem reiterating the importance and quality of the long halloween, which is why, once again, we’re including it. on our list.

2. dark victory

Writer(s): Jeph LoebArtist(s): Tim SaleTitles: Batman: Dark Victory #1-14Publication: November 1999 – December 2000

synopsis

During the events of Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman captures and imprisons Alberto Falcone, the serial killer known as Holiday. Months later, a mass breakout occurs at Arkham Asylum, orchestrated by Pino and Umberto Maroni, the sons of Sal Maroni. The breakout is staged so that in the confusion, the two can find and kill Two-Face as a peace offering to Sofia Falcone Giant.

In later events, Alberto is paroled based on his actions during the riots. soon after, several important characters related to the gcpd are being assassinated on vacation; The corpses are accompanied by a hangman note and the facts point to Harvey Dent being the murderer. New District Attorney Janice Porter begins work on the case, while Alberto welcomes his enigmatic brother, Mario Falcone, back from exile in Italy.

Alberto also welcomes his sister, Sofia, who barely survives her encounter with Catwoman in Batman: The Long Halloween, and is confined to a wheelchair due to her injuries. Sofia, however, continues to lead the declining empire of the falcons. As the Hangman’s victims begin to appear more frequently, Two-Face wages a war against Sofia Falcone to destroy her criminal empire once and for all. Collateral damage from the war includes Dick Grayson’s parents, leaving him in the custody of Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alter ego.

That’s when Two-Face recruits various supervillains to destroy the remnants of the Gotham mob; his associates include the joker, the scarecrow, the penguin, the riddler, poison ivy, mr. freeze, the mad hatter and solomon grundy. Mario Falcone, who has formed an alliance with Janice Porter, is soon faced with isolation from Porter, who is having a secret affair with Two-Face, eventually becoming his murderer.

However, at the same time, two-face saves james gordon’s life when the executioner tries to hang him with the bat-signal, thus stating that he is not the murderer. the final event of the battle comes the following halloween; Sofia reveals that she was never disabled and that she committed the Hangman murders, targeting all the cops she had helped in Harvey Dent’s career.

He then kills Alberto by drowning him and breaks Gotham’s gas lines to set fire to Two Face, who is hiding in the sewers. Saved by Batman, Two-Face returns to Sofia and shoots her in the head. Escaping from a cordoned off underground area, two faces meet the prankster, poison ivy and mr. freeze in the batcave.

Batman’s secret would have been out in the open had it not been for the timely intervention of Dick, who had secretly trained to become Robin. Wearing his old circus uniform, he makes his debut as Robin and helps Batman defeat most of the villains. When the battle comes down to Batman and Two-Face, the latter claims that Gotham belongs to him.

at the last moment, the prankster appears, shooting at two faces, who falls off a cliff. Robin then helps pin the prankster down. Meanwhile, Mario Falcone, a broken man, sets fire to his mansion, losing everything. Catwoman then visits Carmine Falcone’s grave and reveals that he is possibly her father. We also see that two-face not only survived, but also has the body of carmine falcone frozen.

In the final pages, Batman offers Dick a chance to escape his quest to get revenge on the criminals who murdered his parents. Dick rejects the offer and Batman tells him that now the two of them will work together. he then states that he will follow through on the oath made to his parents, but that he is no longer alone.

justification

And while sequels aren’t always that great, Dark Victory actually lived up to the hype, and while it lacked the originality of its predecessor (loeb copied a lot of narrative elements from the original story), it’s still a Incredible story and a worthy sequel to Loeb’s cult classic story; tim sale once again added to the quality with his characteristic style. All of this made Dark Victory a great story that, for all its shortcomings, remains one of the best Batman stories ever written and an integral part of the narrative that Jeph Loeb created for DC Comics. Dark Victory combines all the best elements of the long-running Halloween while continuing the story in a high-quality way, and despite borrowing some elements from Loeb’s first story, Dark Victory is an integral part of the Batman mythos and one of the best stories about darkness. knight never written.

3. no man’s land

Writer(s): Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, Paul Dini, Bob Gale, Devin K. Grayson, Kelley Puckett, Larry Hama, Bronwyn CarltonArtist(s): Greg Land, Andy Kuhn, Yvel Guichet, Alex Maleev, Dale Eaglesham, Frank Teran, Phil Winslade, Damion Scott, Dan Jurgens, Mike Deodato, Tom Morgan, Mat Broome, Sergio CarielloTitles: Azrael: Agent of the Bat #47-61, Batman #560-574, Batman: Harley Quinn, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #116-126, Batman: No Man’s Land #1-0, Batman: No Man’s Land Secret Files and Origins #1, Batman: Day of Judgment #1, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #80-94, The Batman Chronicles #16-18, Catwoman (vol. 2) #72-77, Detective Comics #727-741, JLA #32, Nightwing #35-39, Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1, Robin (vol. 4) #67-73, Young Justice In No Man’s Land #1Publication: January – December 1999

synopsis

gotham city is suffering the aftermath of a magnitude 7.61 earthquake. In response, the US government declares Gotham a “no man’s land”, destroys all bridges leading to the island, and sets up a military blockade to prevent people from entering or leaving. The gangs and various Batman villains have fought over the years to take over the city. Police Commissioner James Gordon and several members of his department, who dubbed their troop the “Blue Boys,” stay behind to protect civilians.

oracle and huntress are also inside. Bruce Wayne left town to pressure the government to continue helping Gotham, but he fails. Gordon and his men await Batman’s return, but he has been missing for months, leading the police to believe that he has left Gotham. A disappointed and bitter Gordon blames Batman and refuses to even say his name. huntress tries to keep order by wearing the batgirl costume.

She soon discovers that the criminals are more afraid of her as a Batgirl than as a Slayer and gains control of her own territory. When Batman returns, she allows him to keep wearing the costume. However, when she fails to hold off Double Face and her army of men and loses Batman’s territory, she abandons the costume. Batman and the police work separately to take back Gotham, piece by piece, fighting and subduing gang leaders and marking the reclaimed territories with graffiti.

However, a schism breaks out between Gordon and Lieutenant William “Billy” Petit, whose uncompromising (no prisoners) militaristic methods shock and outrage Gordon; The “Blue Boys” eventually split into two distinct factions, with Petit and his officers forming the “Strong Men”.

justification

no man’s land is a seminal and highly influential batman story. It was a truly major in-universe event that showed what would happen when criminals split up Gotham and took over the city in an already chaotic environment. This story has been loosely adapted into the television series Gotham and Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Although it didn’t change much globally, although it did have an impact on individual stories, No Man’s Land is without a doubt one of the most interesting and innovative Batman stories ever and definitely worth watching. To fully understand the full story and its meaning, we recommend that you read the prequel to Cataclysm, but also the sequels Batman: Evolution and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive.

4. batman: endgame

Writer(s): Scott SnyderArtist(s): Greg CapulloTitles: Batman (vol. 2) #35-40Publication: October 2014 – April 2015

synopsis

After a terrifying chemical attack by the Scarecrow, Batman reclaims his new base of operations, a shelter seized from the Court of Owls. Suddenly, Batman is attacked by Wonder Woman, who is determined to kill him. batman orders his butler alfred to implement the “fenrir” plan, a powerful robotic armor developed by batman to fight with the entire justice league.

manages to overpower wonder woman, flash and aquaman, but is then attacked by superman and thrown into gotham’s theater royal. When Batman questions who manipulated the League into killing him, Superman’s mouth drops open in a wide smile as he and the silent members of the League begin to laugh. Batman fights unscrupulous Superman, eventually subduing him with kryptonite-based gum. it turns out that the league is infected with a stronger strain of joker toxin that is personalized to each individual.

batman visits the joker’s old cell in the abandoned arkham asylum, where he meets eric border, an employee of the new arkham mansion. Border claims that he has only tried to help the city and Batman since he arrived, but now he sees that he can’t help Batman. Batman is locked in the joker’s cell as Border removes his makeup to reveal himself as the joker after using muscle relaxants and medication to mask his appearance. The prankster admits that he finds Batman boring after his last meeting and now intends to end their relationship permanently.

Batman is incapacitated by stun gas as the prankster announces that he will remain defenseless if his plan really begins. Batman finally recovers from his paralysis and discovers that the joker in Gotham released an incurable airborne pathogen that is spread through laughter. this makes the victim look like a wild card and transforms feelings of love into violent hate that creates massive chaos. Batman goes to Gotham Presbyterian Hospital to search for the first recorded infection, but finds an infected Joe Chill, the man who murdered his parents, and a replica of the night Batman’s parents died, revealing that the joker knows his name. identity.

Batman can save Duke Thomas from the cold and infected mob, but not his parents. Meanwhile, James Gordon investigates at the hospital and finds pictures that resemble The Joker decades before The Joker met Batman. The Prankster attacks Gordon, who then shuts the Prankster down. When Gordon calls Batman to deliver the news, the Joker stands up and incapacitates Gordon. As Batman yells for Gordon, the joker picks up the phone and replies, “Hi, Bruce.”

batman finds gordon dying with an ax to the chest. Gordon is infected and suddenly attacks Batman, but is overwhelmed by Alfred’s daughter Julia. With the help of Nightwing, Batman concludes that the Joker is using a serum that can heal him from fatal damage and that the virus contains the entire reverse of the serum. They also discover that Paul Dekker, a mad genius for regenerative technologies, was returned to the frontier a year earlier. Batman confronts Dekker, who reveals that he was only able to develop the healing serum and virus using a rare natural component in the Joker’s spine; dekker believes that the joker is immortal.

injects himself with a serum the prankster gave him that he thinks will make him immortal, but it kills him. Julia informs Batman that the investigation has revealed footage of the Joker dating back centuries in Gotham’s history, and that if a cure for the virus is not found, those infected will die within 24 hours. Desperate, Batman asks the Court of Owls for help. The court refuses to help Batman, but he confronts his assassin Talon Uriah Boone, who has survived since the start of Gotham, over the Joker’s supposed immortality. Meanwhile, the joker uses his regeneration abilities to survive the long swim in the batcave and his defenses.

Alfred tries to finish off the villain, but the prankster cuts off his hand before fleeing with Batman’s crime-fighting trophies. The prankster then leads a parade through the city, leading tanks carrying the trophies through the infected citizens. batman gathers his family and some of his biggest enemies to team up against the prankster and save the city they all share. Given his combined efforts, the prankster is gearing up for his “best turn ever.”

batman fights the joker, but he and his allies are overwhelmed by the joker’s death gas. Joker removes Batman’s mask, revealing that Nightwing pretended to be Batman as a distraction while the real Batman searched the cave system under Gotham that Joker would have walked through after falling off the cliff at the end of “Death of the Dragon.” The Batman Family finds a cave filled with Prankster’s explosives and houses a pool of Dionesium, the healing fluid that gives Prankster his regenerative abilities. the prankster confronts batman and detonates the explosives. As the cave begins to crumble, he and Batman fight and seriously injure each other.

Batman injects the prankster with an immune response blocker after realizing that he hasn’t actually lived as long as others claim, but is instead using Dionesium. When the Joker attempts to stab a silenced Batman, he is pushed into the path of a falling icicle, breaking his back. When he desperately tries to crawl into the pool to heal himself, Batman holds him back until the cave ceiling collapses, destroying the pool. Surrendering to his fate, Batman reveals that Joker failed when Batman gave small doses of Dionesium to his allies to protect them from Joker’s poison, while he collected a larger amount of Dionesium for Julia to heal throughout the city.

the joker and batman are lying on the ground when the cave collapses on them. Upon doing so, Alfred refuses to withdraw his hand, claiming that he has no more cure, while the Dionysus, collected by Batman and given to Julia, allows the city to be cured of the Joker’s plague. Speaking of Batman’s last letter, Alfred states that Batman’s story would always end in tragedy and that while Batman had the means to be immortal and escape death as the joker offered, Batman was determined to be just that lifetime. I had and “smile”. empty. the note only has the word “ha” and reflects the final message the prankster sent him at the end of “death of the family”.

justification

As far as Snyder’s run with Batman goes, Endgame is arguably the best of his stories, and certainly one of the best Batman stories ever written. The conclusion of Snyder’s interpretation of the never-ending feud between Batman and the Joker culminated in an epic showdown at the end of the game, which drastically changed the narrative of Batman for a short period of time. The story had repercussions throughout the universe and the new 52 Snyder stories after Endgame reflected these events and have shown how creative and powerful Scott Snyder’s storyteller is. Combine that with Greg Capullo’s majestic artwork and you have a truly modern masterpiece.

5. batman: city of doom

Writer(s): Tom King, Tony S. DanielArtist(s): Mikel JanínTitles: Batman (vol. 3) #75-85Publication: September 2019 – February 2020

synopsis

after “the fall and the fallen”, thomas wayne and bane took over gotham completely and turned it into a stronghold where dr. Hugo Strange became Superintendent of Police. Arkham inmates became police officers and Thomas took on the role of Batman. he has moved into the villa, holds alfred prisoner and uses the ventriloquist as his butler. he also took gotham girl as a trainee; She becomes so powerful that she nearly kills Captain Atom to keep the Justice League out of town.

Robin, Batwoman, Red Robin, The Signal and Batgirl have no idea what happened to Bruce and force Robin to try to infiltrate the mansion, but things go terribly wrong. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne was abandoned by Thomas in the wild after a misguided plan to resurrect Martha in a Lazarus Pit. he manages to escape, only to be captured by the magpie. after brutalizing catwoman, he comes to save him and promises to make things right after leaving him at the altar. This brings Bruce into direct conflict with the Flashpoint iteration of his father.

A Russian folk tale that Bruce apparently loved as a child also features heavily in the story and is important to understanding the relationship between Batman and his father. the story was first introduced in no. 57 and initially seemed to be related to kgbeast. However, it turns out to be a storybook that Thomas Bruce reads to him almost every night before bed. this is mentioned several times.

Later in the story, thomas wayne, who probably knew alfred, uses him as a hostage to prevent him from entering the batman family. When Damian Wayne violates this condition, Thomas Wayne shoots Alfred and murders the innocent butler in cold blood. When Bruce finds out about this, she reacts as expected and explains that “Flashpoint” Thomas is not her father. The story culminates in a final showdown between Batman and Flashpoint Thomas Wayne.

justification

Tom King’s new story, featuring another epic encounter between Batman and Bane, was one of the highlights of his Batman run. In a story that reminds us a bit of the epic Knightfall trilogy, Batman once again has to raise the bar on his own to defeat Bane and another menacing enemy: his own father. With so much more on the line this time around, King’s new take on the rivalry between Batman and Bane is one of the best modern Batman stories and it’s certainly a narrative that has already become an essential part of it, despite not having been available so long, which is why we highly recommend it.

6. the knightfall trilogy

Writer(s): Chuck Dixon, Jo Duffy, Alan Grant, Dennis O’Neil, Doug MoenchArtist(s): Jim Aparo, Jim Balent, Eduardo Barreto, Bret Blevins, Norm Breyfogle, Vincent Giarrano, Tom Grummett, Klaus Janson, Barry Kitson, Mike Manley, Graham Nolan, Sal Velluto, Mike Vosburg, Ron WagnerTitles: Batman #492-510; 512-515, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #16-30; 32-35, Catwoman #6-7; 12-13, Detective Comics #659-677; 679-682, Justice League Task Force #5-6, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #59-63, Robin #7-9; 11-14, Showcase ’93 #7-8, Showcase ’94 #10Publication: April 1993 – August 1994

synopsis

This large-scale story consists of three main narratives and a series of prequels, sequels, and tie-in stories that take place over a six-month period. In the first main narrative, “Knightfall,” a new supervillain appears in Gotham. Bane, as he calls himself, is a “supersteroid” criminal mastermind who launches a tactical attack on Batman, exhausting him both physically and mentally until he finally defeats him in a fight, breaking his back and nearly killing him. batman is saved but cannot use the hood due to his paralysis. In a surprise move, Batman names Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael, as his successor.

Although he is a worthy replacement, Valley is a very different Batman, much more brutal, arrogant and paranoid, which causes him problems and alienates him from his assistants. Valley built a new mechanical bat suit and eventually challenged Bane, defeating him and leaving him mentally and physically shattered, just as he did Batman. Deciding not to kill him, Valley sends him to Blackgate and continues to watch over Gotham.

“knightquest” follows two narratives and is a direct sequel to “knightfall”. The first narrative follows Vale’s controversial tenure as Batman and his struggles against Gotham’s criminals and supervillains; This narrative includes the notorious scene where Valle leaves the serial killer and his victim to die. The second narrative follows Bruce Wayne and Alfred on a quest to find Jack Drake and Shondra as relatives.

Ultimately, “Knightsend” follows Valley’s breakdown and he becomes a brutal and unacceptable version of Batman. Bruce Wayne demands that he resign, but Valley refuses, so Bruce begins preparing for a confrontation. The final battle takes place between Dale and Wayne in the caverns surrounding the Batcave below Wayne’s mansion. bruce tricks valley and then manages to defeat him, and finally lets him go because he appointed him as his successor, therefore, he is to blame for his misdeeds.

justification

It would take a lot of time and space to talk about how the knightfall saga changed batman and his stories. This very large series, now available in three omnibus volumes, was a seminal story of the 1990s that not only introduced the Nightmare into the main continuity, but also delved even deeper into Batman’s psyche and became even darker in Batman. tone. It changed a lot, it changed the way readers saw the hitherto unbeatable Batman. It introduced the possibility of an “out of control” Batman other than Bruce Wayne himself and gave a larger role to Jean-Paul Valley, who until then had been a minor character known as Azrael. Knightfall was a truly entertaining and important story that set the tone for future stories, and still remains one of the most important and must-read stories in the Batman mythos. These three omnibus editions are essential for any true collector.

7. batman: death of the family

Writer(s): Scott Snyder, Adam Glass, Kyle Higgins, John Layman, Scott Lobdell, Ann Nocenti, Gail Simone, Peter Tomasi, James Tynion IVArtist(s): Greg Capullo, Eddy Barrows, Ed Benes, Brett Booth, Fernando Dagnino, Jason Fabok, Patrick Gleason, Jock, Timothy Green, Rafa SandovalTitles: Batman (vol. 2) #13-17, Batgirl #13-16, Batman and Robin #15-16, Catwoman #13-14, Detective Comics (vol. 2) #15-16, Nightwing #15-16, Red Hood and the Outlaws #15-17, Suicide Squad #14-15, Teen Titans #15-16Publication: October 2012 – February 2013

synopsis

After attacking the police department, murdering 19 officers and assaulting james gordon, the joker returns to gotham city after being missing for a year, and infuses a message via television in which he comments that he has several targets , including the mayor of gotham whom he threatens to assassinate that very night.

Batman and several city officials watch to prevent the man from being killed, however, all the officers present die from a toxic gas that had been prepared by the villain weeks ago. Batman analyzes the gas and realizes that it was made at the Ace Chemical Factory, the same place where the joker fell and transformed into what he is now. he encounters a person dressed as the red hood, one of the prankster’s aliases, and is hit by an oversized mallet that pushes him into an empty vat of chemicals; The capo, revealed to be Harley Quinn, warns Batman that the joker is not himself.

however, he doesn’t follow harley’s instructions. when the hero returns home, he realizes that his butler alfred was kidnapped and in one of the rooms he finds a recording and an elastic band with the name of police commissioner gordon. Batman decides to pay him a visit, knowing that he is the next victim, arriving shortly before he begins to bleed unstoppably, so Batman uses a coagulant to save his life.

batman realizes that the prankster is reenacting his previous crimes and goes to gotham reservoir, where his first confrontation with the villain took place. joker immobilizes batman and declares his plan to kill each of batman’s allies, believing they have weakened batman, so in order to “help” him, he intends to murder everyone he loves in the next 72 hours , since he knows the identities of all of them.

batman is paralyzed in the prankster’s lair by a poison he injected, lieutenant bullock and several officers follow his trail and arrive at the place where he is being held captive, however they remain outside as there are several bombs at the entrance. Batman recovers enough to escape, however he is ambushed by the Joker, who attempts to defeat him but is still in poor condition and allows him to escape.

bruce gets help from some of his allies, who take him to the batcave, where he discovered a joker card in the batcave; He dismisses the idea that the joker found the cave, but the family fears that the joker knows his identities and blames Batman for hiding such a possibility.

Batman continues his investigation and questions a guard at the Arkham Asylum, who confesses to him that the prankster was in the asylum, but when he arrives at the place he realizes that the prankster had previously taken control of the facilities with the help of several patients. . Batman accesses the asylum through the underground passageways, but the Prankster sends Clayface, Mr. freeze and two faces to ambush him.

then batman manages to defeat them and finally confronts the joker, who doubts that he can defeat him again and shows him some recordings of catwoman, robin, batgirl, red hood, red robin and nightwing, who are captive. ; he also forces him to sit in an electric chair if he wants to save them.

After torturing him in the electric chair, the joker takes him to his friends who are sitting around a table with bags over their heads, which he removes revealing that he has removed their faces and then sets the place on fire. batman frees himself from the chair, breaks a sector of the cave where the water falls, puts out the fire and rescues his allies; after making sure they are safe and sound, he attacks the prankster.

He reveals that he set them up and infects them with a toxin that turns them against each other, so Batman lets him go so he can save them. but the opposite happens, batman angrily hits the prankster and tries to put an end to his madness by making him remember his previous life including his real name. the frightened prankster refuses to listen and jumps off a waterfall. batman heals his allies; everyone takes some time off (except alfred), trying to calm down and reflect on what they’ve been through.

justification

although the new 52 imprint had its fair share of controversies, pretty much everyone agrees that scott snyder and greg capullo’s run on batman was downright exciting. the two managed to evolve the character and take it to previously unknown and unfathomable limits. it all started with “the death of the family”, the story that really changed everything when it comes to batman and his archenemy, the joker. Joker became even more twisted and deranged than ever during his criminal career, pushing Batman to his limits. Snyder’s brilliant storytelling and Cocoon’s incredible art made this storytelling an instant classic. there is absolutely nothing we can say against “death of the family” and that is why we recommend it as a must read for all true fans. the great thing about this story is that it was just one of many that snyder and asshole created for us and just one segment of their version of the relationship between batman and joker, a relationship that these two geniuses redefined, which is why their work is listed here, among the best.

8. batman: night of the owls

Writer(s): Scott Snyder, Tony S. Daniel, Kyle Higgins, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV, Judd Winick, et al.Artist(s): Greg Capullo, Tony S. Daniel, Jason Fabok, Rafael Albuquerque, et al.Titles: All-Star Western #9, Batgirl #9, Batman #1-12, Batman Annual #1, Batman: The Dark Knight #9, Batman and Robin #9, Batwing #9, Birds of Prey #9, Catwoman #9, Detective Comics #9, Nightwing #1-9, Red Hood and the Outlaws #9Publication: April – May 2012

synopsis

Scanning the base of the penguin, Selina Kyle and her lover Spark decide to spy on the gang leader. The Court of Owls, angered by Cobb’s defeat at the hands of Batman, awaken all of their other claws to take back Gotham City. They also dispose of Cobb’s body for Alfred Pennyworth to find. The goal of the court is to prove that they are the rulers of Gotham City, and not Batman.

The Talons attack the Batcave first, but an injured Bruce manages to defeat several of them due to his old-fashioned fighting style. Alfred discovers the court’s forty targets and sends a radio message to the batman family for help. Tim Drake and Jason Todd receive one and decide to protect Mr. to freeze. Bruce wears an armored batman suit so he can fight off all the claws, while one of the claws revives william cobb.

birds of prey are one of the first to fight against a claw that is ruthless and cruel in its methods, wanting to kill the “stray vermin”. nightwing gets the message and goes to save mayor sebastian hady. Nightwing has no problem killing the Talon attacking Hady as he is already dead, but stopping him is stabbed in the chest by a revived Cobb, who credits Nightwing as his descendant and works for Batman as his worst betrayal.

When selina and spark arrive to rob the penguin, they see the penguin’s car drive away, but they don’t realize the penguin is still alive and is being brutally beaten by ephraim newman, a claw. Bruce, meanwhile, continues to fight the Talons invading the Batcave, eventually managing to stop them and heading to save Jeremiah Arkham, who fights the Talons through Roman Sionis aka Black Mask.

nightwing is brutally beaten by cobb, who continues to taunt him; Cobb demands that his heir impress him, finally giving up and saying that Nightwing is a waste. Nightwing, however, retaliates and electrocutes Cobb, then offers to take Jeremiah Arkham from Batman. selina and spark control the fight and while spark wants to retreat, selina jumps into the fight. After giving Arkham to Nightwing, Batman goes to save Lincoln March.

Bruce battles Alton Carver, the Talon sent to kill March, but can’t stop Carver from killing March, a mayoral candidate who wanted to make Gotham City a better place. March gives Batman a package that will improve Gotham City, and Bruce sets out to burn down the Court of Owls’ lair. Damian heads to the outskirts of Gotham City and decapitates a Talon that was out to kill an Army General and Batwing proceeds to mutilate a Talon that was out to assassinate Lucius Fox.

batgirl proceeds to meet a talon named mary, who when she sees batgirl simply pats her face. batgirl pulls out a piece of paper from mary. the bomb balloons released by the court of owls also start to explode in random places. Batgirl then pushes Mary into a bomb balloon, killing her. However, Mary’s healing factor is barely keeping her alive, and Batgirl keeps her tethered to the Bat-Signal, which by this time had been sabotaged to reveal a massive owl. batgirl then swaps her owl with the original bat.

outlaws capture mr. Freeze and Little Red Riding Hood end up having a “heart to heart” with one claw, who finally decides that she wants to be in control the second time he is killed, and begs Red Riding Hood to execute him.

The battle against the owls begins to go the way of the citizens of gotham. Alton then wakes up, believing himself finally free of fear and all that has bound him. Mr. Freeze, however, escapes and attempts to kill Bruce Wayne, but once again ends up getting arrested, twice in one day. Selina and Spark initially think they’ve killed the Claw, but then realize that the Claw is, in a way, immortal.

efrain takes selina’s whip and starts beating spark mercilessly and then strangles selina’s lover with selina without understanding. Selina decides to bargain with the Claw, offering him a full set of daggers. ephraim starts to listen but the penguin shoots him in the head. Selina and Spark finally decide not to steal the daggers that Penguin originally had in his possession and the head to deposit the Claw’s body, which they leave behind in the Bat-Signal, with the Night of the Owls coming to an end.

justification

We all know how snyder and asshole changed batman during his run in the new 52 dark knight stories. Cocoon’s amazing artwork complemented Snyder’s brilliant storytelling and these two really changed a lot of how we perceive Batman and his adventures. while some stories focused on old elements of the batman mythos, snyder never hesitated to bring something new and some of his novelties have already become an integral part of the batman canon, which is almost a precedent when it comes to new additions to the canon. One of those new developments is the mysterious Court of Owls, a secret organization said to have run Gotham City since its founding. this was a brave expansion of long established mythology, but the court of owls quickly became part of batman canon, and the main story that gave us an idea of the extent of the powers that the organization has was the ” night of the owls. ”. this in-universe crossover event is without a doubt one of the most important modern batman stories that expands and redefines well established myths a bit and is not just a great read but a seminal modern story that you have to read.

9. batman: year zero

Writer(s): Scott Snyder, James Tynion IVArtist(s): Greg Capullo, Rafael AlbuquerqueTitles: Batman #21-27, 29-33, Action Comics #25, Batgirl #25, Batman Annual #2, Batwing #25, Batwoman #25, Birds of Prey #25, Catwoman #25, Detective Comics #25, The Flash #25, Green Arrow #25, Green Lantern Corps #25, Nightwing #25, Red Hood and the Outlaws #25Publication: June 2013 – July 2014

synopsis

“Secret City”The story begins with Gotham City being destroyed by a flood, and Batman having been declared dead. The first arc of the event, titled “Secret City”, takes place five months before the flood, and begins with Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City, after a long time away and having been pronounced dead. He wears a costume and fights the Red Hood, and discovers that he has a lot to learn if he wants to fight the new generation of costumed criminals plaguing Gotham City.

Bruce meets his maternal uncle, Philip Kane (Uncle Philip), but refuses to take control of Wayne Industries. In a flashback, Bruce’s father shows him a black sphere (a visual mapper) created to show a three-dimensional map of the interior of any place. Edward Nygma, Philip’s strategist, suggests that Philip kill her nephew, Bruce Wayne. After Philip refuses, Edward hires the Red Riding Hood gang to assassinate Bruce. Disguised once again, Bruce rescues Oswald Cobblepot from Red Hood One and takes a blood sample from the ringleader, but can’t figure out who it belongs to.

after having a brief argument with alfred, bruce leaves and runs into philip, who against bruce’s wishes, throws a surprise homecoming party for him. After Bruce manages to escape from the media and all the spotlight, he ends up having an unexpected encounter with Nygma. After running away from the villain’s riddles, he heads to his house, where he is attacked by the Red Riding Hood gang. The gang beats up Bruce, and the gang leader tells him that Wayne’s death changed his life forever. After being on the verge of death, Bruce manages to reach Wayne Manor, where Alfred Pennyworth treats his injuries. Using the black sphere, Bruce discovers the bat cave he fell into as a child. Bruce discovers his fate and the sphere falls and breaks.

“dark city”the second arc was titled “dark city”, and was about bruce’s first few months as batman. It starts with Bruce, as Batman, preventing another assault from Little Red Riding Hood, and then begins to study Red Riding Hood’s true plan. Bruce reveals to the media that the Red Riding Hood gang is compounding within the Ace Chemicals a radioactive carnivorous poison that they plan to blow up in various locations in Gotham, so the gang tries to kill him. Bruce goes to Ace Chemicals as Batman and starts fighting the gang.

Philip, who has been branded and forced to join the gang, tries to shoot Little Red Riding Hood, but misses. little red riding hood one shoots and kills philip. Sergeant Jim Gordon manages to break into Ace Chemicals with SWAT officers intending to arrest Batman and Red Hood One, but the building is on fire. Little Red Riding Hood tries to escape in a helicopter, but Batman stops him by taking him back to the building. Batman tries to capture Little Red Riding Hood, but the masked criminal jumps into a vat of chemicals. Bruce and Alfred are studying facts about the gang, when Edward Nygma, the Riddler, turns off all the power in the city and dares Batman to turn it back on.

With the city in complete darkness and seeing the brutal storm René approaching, the police find an abnormal body with twisted bones growing from inside the skin. Batman discovers that a scientist who worked with Lucius Fox had created a program that had similar effects. bruce goes to visit fox, but fox injects bruce with a toxin that makes him pass out, while he says that the program was his too, and that doctor death is coming and no one can stop him. bruce wakes up to see fox being attacked by dr. death. bruce and the fox confront dr. As Death grows ever more powerful (and misshapen), the pair escape Gordon’s help, and Fox explains that the substance he injected into Bruce was an experimental antidote to Dr. death vaccine.

after the fight with dr. Bruce passes out and ends up hospitalized. new revelations about bruce and gordon’s past are made at the hospital, which ends up causing a disagreement between the couple, and bruce says he doesn’t trust him. As Gotham remains in chaos caused by the riddle, Bruce as Batman sets off in search of Dr. Death’s next victim, but he’s too late, Doctor Death had already inoculated him into Facts and Brooker’s vaccine.

The police find Batman at the crime scene and open fire, mistakenly believing him to be the killer. Although wounded, Batman manages to escape, with the unusual help of James Gordon. Gordon makes revelations about his past to Batman, and Batman joins forces with the police and starts a partnership. In the batcave, Batman manages to locate Helfern, the doctor of death, and discovers that he is preparing a doomsday mechanism. Then Batman goes to the Gotham Catacombs, a tourist attraction, and discovers that Dr. death is being manipulated by nygma who is the real mind behind the whole operation.

dr. death and enigma then flood the catacombs. batman arrives with his airship to use the riddler’s device jammer. When the airship explodes, Batman jumps onto another airship, where he starts a fight with Doctor Death. Gordon arrives at the Wayne Industries tower and finds the Riddler, but gets caught in one of his traps. Doctor Death and Batman have a brief fight, the villain disables the jamming device and Batman manages to subdue Dr. death and destroy the interior of the aircraft; dr Death ends up dead in the explosion. the police are finally able to turn the power back on, giving the Riddler control of the city, the villain then blows up the levees to flood the entire city. Batman then destroys the airship, but fails to stop the city from being flooded. Gotham is in a difficult situation, without communication with the outside world and the population has no choice but to dance to the music.

“Wild City”The third and final arc was titled “Wild City,” and it dealt with Bruce’s efforts to save his city from the Riddler’s control. It begins with Bruce Wayne waking up in the Duke residence. The young man whose life she had saved informs her that the Riddler has taken control of Gotham. Alfred asks Bruce to return to Wayne Manor via the escape tunnel above the house in Crime Alley, the site of his parents’ murder and his former headquarters, as it is now one of the only ways out. from gotham.

Meanwhile, the military sends special forces soldiers to Gotham to help Gordon restore peace. Day after day, Riddler appears on the screen to tell the people of Gotham that all he wants is a worthy opponent. The Riddler spots Gordon and the soldiers on the roof, then sends drones to stop them. Riddler tries to destroy the building, but Batman stops him. Batman, Gordon, Fox and the soldiers plan a way to stop the Riddler.

the next day, riddler reappears on the screen to say that he will dedicate this “year zero” to the people of gotham. Batman in a new costume arrives on a motorcycle and challenges the Riddler to buy time for Fox to discover the location of the villain. The riddle throws Batman into the lion’s den. Batman fights and tames the lions, giving Fox time to find the riddle’s hiding place. batman, gordon and fox try to find the riddler, but they fall into a trap. Fox is injured, but Batman arrives to save him.

soldiers using their trackers call for an airstrike on gotham, while batman finally finds the riddler and again the hero falls into a villain’s trap, thus beginning the end game between the two. The Riddler challenges Batman to solve twelve of his riddles that will get you one step closer to him with each correct answer. Gordon and Fox find a way to stop the jets coming to destroy Gotham. Batman finally manages to catch the Riddler, stopping his game. Gordon creates a bat signal and manages to stop the jets. The riddle reveals that in order to save Gotham, Batman must link the city with a new heart that would bring everything back to life. and that he must stick to an electrode and receive a shock. Batman manages to restart Gotham at the risk of his own life. A month later, Gotham is back to normal, while the Riddler is arrested at Arkham Asylum.

justification

Another brilliant work from the creative mind of Scott Snyder, Zero Year was a demonstration of how the Batman origin story can be rewritten without losing touch with the original story. Snyder’s version of Batman was very well rounded, and Year Zero is certainly another among many examples of why this guy was one of the best and most daring Batman writers ever. The story chronicles Batman’s early days in Gotham City and a new threat in the form of the Riddler, who began his career with a plan so bold and grand that it almost wiped out Gotham as everyone knew it. A brilliant story combined with Cocoon’s majestic artwork, Year Zero is absolutely a must-read and something every Batman fan should read if he wants to have a full understanding of the evolution of the Dark Knight mythos.

10. batman: silence

Writer(s): Jeph LoebArtist(s): Jim LeeTitles: Batman #608-619Publication: October 2002 – September 2003

synopsis

batman rescues a rich kid kidnapped by bane, but during the fight, catwoman appears and steals the suitcase with the ransom money. Pursuing him, her grappling hook mysteriously breaks and Batman takes a tremendous fall, fracturing his skull. Batgirl is summoned to take him to Alfred Pennyworth, who in turn is instructed by the hero to contact an old friend of his from childhood, Thomas Elliot, now a renowned neurosurgeon.

recovered, batman resumes investigations and discovers that catwoman was under the control of poison ivy, who had fled to the metropolis. Batman and Catwoman go there and confront Superman, also controlled by the cunning villain. Using various gadgets, Batman survives the fight and manages to free Superman and stop Ivy.

later, back in gotham city, bruce wayne, selina kyle, leslie thompkins and dr. elliot goes to the opera to see pagliacci, when harley quinn appears to rob the public. chasing after the villain, the doctor is apparently killed by the prankster. Batman is enraged and is about to kill the villain when retired Commissioner James Gordon shows up to calm him down.

during dr. At Elliot’s funeral, Batman tells Dick Grayson that he wasn’t the prankster who killed the doctor and that he suspects a mysterious enemy is behind the recent actions of his former enemies. a man with bandages on his face appears at every crime scene and is called “quiet”. Soon after, Batman prevents a robbery organized by the Riddler and investigates some trails that lead him to Ra’s al Ghul.

Back in town, Catwoman is attacked by the Slayer, who later reveals that she is under the effect of the scarecrow’s gas. Robin (Tim Drake) is captured by his predecessor, Jason Todd, who had been presumed dead since the “Death in the Family” storyline. While fighting Jason, Batman discovers that he is, in fact, his old enemy, Clayface, who had assumed the guise of the late Jason Todd.

Batman discovers that his computer has been breached and confronts his tech, Harold, who hasn’t appeared in the stories since the No Man’s Land arc. Harold admits that someone had treated his disfigured condition in exchange for planting that device, but is shot dead by Silence before he can name the mastermind.

Batman then discovers the identity of the mystery man with the bandages – it is, in fact, Thomas Elliot – and during the fight, a “reborn” Harvey Dent appears and is silenced. In the end, Batman manages to unravel the entire mystery and discover who was the author of the plan that had threatened him for months. However, with the mystery of silence solved, a new question arises to haunt the Dark Knight: Jason Todd’s grave is empty and his enemies refuse to reveal what happened to the boy’s body.

In the final scene, Batman and Catwoman decide to end their romantic relationship, until “someday”. The consequences of this narrative were further explored in other stories, most notably Batman: Under the Hood, as well as other silence-related stories such as “Heart of Hush”, “House of Hush” and “Hush Money”.

justification

jeph loeb had already been a well known batman writer, as his long running halloween series was published before hush. With silence, Loeb reasserted his storytelling skills and crafted a new and original story that is now considered one of the greatest Batman stories ever written. The introduction of Tommy Elliot, aka Hush, to the main continuity was a great addition to the Batman lore, as Elliot’s brilliantly written backstory dovetails nicely with what we already knew about Batman. Hush was, in a way, the anti-batman and loeb, who had already proven himself to be a great mystery writer (the long halloween and dark victory included a sinister and mysterious serial killer), managed to create a story that was to Both acceptable to fans and critics alike, but also a brilliant standalone crime narrative that challenged Batman and his investigative skills. hush, as an original character, was also great and had depth and incited fear in readers due to his psychopathic nature, which is why we love hush’s story so much and consider it one of the best batman stories ever told.

11. batman break

Writer(s): Grant MorrisonArtist(s): Tony S. DanielTitles: Batman #667-669, 672-686, 701-702, Detective Comics #846-853, Nightwing vol. 2, #147-153, Batman and the Outsiders #11-14, Special 1, Robin vol. 2, #175-183Publication: May – November 2008

synopsis

Two seemingly crazy cops dressed as batman are wreaking havoc on the streets. one of them, armed with a pistol, shot the prankster in the face, disfiguring him; the other, bolstered by the poison used by bane (his disguise more closely resembles that of the criminal, in fact), killed several prostitutes and reduced batman himself to death. During a dream, Damian Wayne called them two “ghosts” and prophesied the arrival of a third that would mark the end of the Dark Knight. he arrives that day.

a man in a scarier and demonic alternate batman costume storms into the police station with a flamethrower in a confusing manner. Bruce intervenes by running away from a date with his new girlfriend Jezebel Jet, but the criminal is not surprised and hits him in the chest with an explosive bullet. the armor saves him, but the violent impact causes him to go into cardiac arrest. During his unconsciousness, Bruce has visions. He is projected into a parallel reality in which a young man himself, in his first year as Batman, has hunted down his parents’ killer, Joe Chill, to the point of driving him to suicide (this is inspired, like other ideas by Morrison in this saga, to a story from the golden age).

Visions of him are guided by a strange version of himself with a monstrous creature on his back (symbol of his subconscious and the trauma that will affect him forever). but above all he remembers an experiment he had undergone: a psychologist named simon hurt had convinced him to submit to forced isolation for ten days under the influence of psychotropic hallucinogens. this would have helped batman better understand the ins and outs of the madness that drives some of his enemies (particularly the prankster) to act without apparent logic, in an unpredictable way, and would have helped dr. it hurts to have the deep psychological profile of the man with the most powerful mind in the world. the army collaborated in this experiment.

When he wakes up, Batman is tied up in the lab where he once underwent that experiment and in front of him is his impersonator. he severely tortures him and meanwhile talks about dr. hurt experiment. he and his two predecessors were police officers transformed into “bat men” by the damage. the obtained psychological profile would be used by hurt to shape new dark knights with the same mental abilities as the original, who, in the army and police drawings, would have to replace him if he died. the subjects were three policemen, all motivated by strong trauma.

In particular, the third and most dangerous, he was traumatized by the murder of his family, killed by Satanists hired by the wounded to instill hatred in his heart. but these abilities were only induced into the psyche of the cops, abilities that would only be reactivated through a code word that would stop the hypnosis. The monstrous nature of these experiments led to their suppression and their existence remained a secret among Gotham cops who wanted to protect their comrades in treatment (a secret they continue to jealously conceal, making James Gordon’s investigations difficult). p>

Taking advantage of his tormentor’s distraction, Batman breaks free and confronts him. However, the criminal manages to escape and warns Batman: the black glove is about to catch up with him. To distract himself, Bruce agrees to a romantic dinner with his new girlfriend. he and jezebel seem to be on the same page, but she realizes that he is not showing her true self. Unfortunately, the dinner is interrupted by a b-list criminal who kidnaps the girl and refers to the black glove.

Bruce is furious and violently attacks the criminal while interrogating him. Jezebel sees Bruce fighting and immediately realizes: Bruce Wayne is Batman. On the other side of the world, Talia Al Ghul is training Damian Wayne, her and Bruce’s son. Rumors reach him about an organization called the black glove that wants to kill her lover. This cannot be allowed and she immediately sets out on her way to Gotham.

Bringing together a series of concepts and characters explored by Grant Morrison during his time as the writer of Batman, the story emphasizes the attacks of the mysterious Doctor Simon Hurt and the Black Gauntlet, the criminal organization dedicated to corrupting the virtuous and destroying Batman. and all that it represents. Using a combination of both physical and psychological attacks, the Black Gauntlet tests Batman’s resolve, forcing him to temporarily adopt, on the advice of the Bat Myth, the Batman identity of Zur-en-Arrh, a personality constructed by Batman. Bruce himself to keep her. batman in a fighting stance in case he goes berserk or has his memory erased.

He is then taken to Arkham Asylum to fight the prankster. Nearly defeated, Batman is buried alive by the Black Glove, a group that also includes Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend, Jezebel Jet, who betrayed him. With the help of Robin and Nightwing, Batman manages to subvert the situation. In the final showdown with Doctor Hurt, Batman is apparently the victim of a disaster caused by the explosion of the helicopter he was in. The story ends with the fate of Batman and the true identity of Doctor Hurt still shrouded in mystery. Hurt revealed that he was Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father. Batman was convinced that Doctor Hurt was actually Mangrove Pierce, an actor gone mad. A multiple number of clues scattered throughout the Morrison cycle lead to the conclusion that the injured doctor is actually the devil.

justification

grant morrison’s batman r.i.p. It is one of the most important stories of him during his tenure as the head writer of Batman. Although some consider the story a bit repetitive, due to Morrison reusing some old plot elements, most people consider it a daring and intriguing story that certainly deserves to be collected as one of the modern Batman stories. more important. the fact that it was a best-seller and that there has been talk of an animated adaptation of the story contributes to this, so we definitely recommend it for your collection.

12. batman: under the red hood

Writer(s): Judd WinickArtist(s): Doug Mahnke, Eric Battle, Shane DavisTitles: Batman #635-641, 645-650, Batman Annual #25Publication: November 2004 – February 2006

synopsis

A flashback to Batman’s early years (after Dick Grayson’s retirement as Robin) shows a young Jason Todd attempting to steal the Batmobile’s wheels. after this, he becomes the new robin. From there, the story introduces the gangster Black Mask, who controls most of Gotham City’s criminal underworld. his assistant details recent criminal activities foiled by a person known only as Little Red Riding Hood.

Immediately, Little Red Riding Hood appears and destroys the top floor of Black Mask’s fortress with a long-range explosive. After this, Black Mask teams up with other Super Villains to fight Red Hood. When Batman arrives, he and Little Red Riding Hood defeat Black Mask’s hired villains, but Red Riding Hood’s deadly tactics cause Batman and Little Red Riding Hood to end up on bad terms. After the fight, more flashbacks of Alfred Pennyworth occur. Later, Alfred receives a package with a lock of green hair and a note from Jason requesting that Batman meet him. In the next scene, Black Mask summons all of his top associates to a meeting and kills them under Red Riding Hood’s gaze.

Once this act is complete, Black Mask and Red Hood engage in combat, ending with Batman arriving just in time to see Red Hood stabbed through the heart with his own knife. When Black Mask removes Red Hood’s helmet, he sees that it’s not Jason Todd, to which Batman rebels enough to be detected by Black Mask. The two converse for a moment, then Batman catches the black mask and flees to Jason’s agreed spot to meet him.

Jason kidnapped the prankster and gave him a savage beating, only to be thwarted by the villain’s maniacal laughter. When Jason tells the Prankster that he sees through the latter’s act of madness, the Prankster for once falls into a grim silence. then he goes into batman. The next fight is brief and is interrupted by a bomb falling on Blüdhaven, where Dick Grayson is now fighting crime as Nightwing. Then, Jason reveals the place where he has hidden the prankster. Jason throws a gun at Batman and takes one for himself. With Joker as a human shield, Jason points his gun at Joker’s head and tells Batman that he must kill Jason, or let Jason kill Joker on the count of three.

In the last half second, Batman drops the gun and throws a Batarang at Jason’s shoulder. the prankster then sets off the wired explosives throughout the building. The scene cuts to Jason’s miraculous resurrection. as a result of this, he is institutionalized, escapes and returns to live on the street. Ra’s al Ghul, with the help of his daughter Talia de El, kidnaps Jason and keeps him in his care for a year. ra’s tells his daughter that he is going to fire jason. he then makes the short trip to his lazarus pit. An angry Talia also pushes Jason into the pit, freeing and empowering a new, stronger and more violent creature. Talia then sneaks him off the property and gives him a bag of money, a computer, and cutouts of Batman, The Joker, and Little Red Riding Hood. Jason tries to reconnect with Batman, but his former mentor fights and defeats him. he proceeds to reveal the empire he has built for himself as he decides to don an old prankster cape: the red hood.

justification

“Under the Red Hood”, while not a direct sequel, is a tie-in to the famous “Death in the Family” storyline we already mentioned in this article. This story ultimately reconnected Jason Todd’s death in the best way possible, while also reintroducing the character into the main narrative continuity and exploring Batman’s shattered psyche. “Under the Red Hood” deals with the aftermath of a famous event, the implications of it, and further explores not only Batman’s relationship with his friends and family, but also his moral code. If you add the positive reviews, you have a great Batman story that you must read. why is it good as an opening story? well, although it happens later in batman’s career, “under the red hood” is an important part of the batman mythos and a story that is a great introduction to many of the basics that one must know if they want to fully explore the batman. batman world .

13. batman: cataclysm

Writer(s): Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Doug Moench, Dennis O’Neil, Devin K. Grayson, Kelley Puckett, Klaus Janson, Chris Renaud, Rick BurchettArtist(s): Jim Aparo, Henry Flint, Mark Buckingham, Scott McDaniel, Klaus Janson, Graham Nolan, Jim Balent, Staz Johnson, Eduardo Barreto, Alex Maleev, Marcos Martin, Rick Burchett, Chris Renaud, Dave Taylor, Jason JohnsonTitles: Azrael #40, Batman #553-559, The Batman Chronicles #12, 14, Batman: Arkham Asylum – Tales of Madness #1, Batman: Blackgate – Isle of Men #1, Batman/Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma #1, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73-79, Catwoman (vol. 2) #56-57, Detective Comics #719-722, 724-726, Nightwing (vol. 2) #19-20, Robin (vol. 2) #52-54Publication: January – March 1998

synopsis

seismologist dr. jolene relazzo believes that the gotham area will be hit by a major earthquake when her machines start registering tremors near the city. Oracle (Barbara Gordon) loses connection to the Batcave at 7:03 am. As she gives her report, a 7.6 earthquake shakes Gotham City. Batman is swept away by the rising waters of the underground river, and Alfred falls into the cave as Wayne’s mansion collapses. Oracle heads to Gotham Police Headquarters to find his father and rally the troops.

shortly after the earthquake, it appears that the buildings owned by wayne are the only ones left standing with little structural damage. bruce wayne had made sure that all of his buildings were safe when earthquakes with a force less than 8.5 hit. However, unable to protect their own house from earthquakes without exposing Batman’s secret, Wayne’s mansion and the Batcave are destroyed. With all exits blocked, Batman dons a wetsuit and promises Alfred that he’ll be back soon.

barbara gordon assembles the police and inspector harvey bullock meets with commissioner gordon. at 20:52 the first aftershock occurred. Dick Grayson (Nightwing) finds out about the earthquake on TV at his workplace. he jumps off, takes a boat and heads to his old home. Baffled by the destruction of Gotham City, he begins helping the victims trapped under the freeway collapse as soon as he reaches land.

azrael and nomoz arrive in gotham by helicopter to bring doom to gcpd. After the earthquake, Bane escapes. Azrael chases him down and captures him, having killed two people on a bank. Helena Bertinelli is on the subway when the earthquake hits. she quickly transforms into a huntress and begins leading the survivors to safety. Batman reappears in Gotham Harbor and is horrified when he sees the city he loves in flames.

catwoman was stealing a pair of night vision binoculars for an upcoming job when the earthquake destroyed the store. after seeing a girl die in her arms, she begins to lead the survivors to safety. She later tracks down Poison Ivy and stops him from spreading super fertilizer into Gotham City’s water supply. Robin (tim drake) was out of town during the earthquake. Upon his return, his flight was diverted to Blüdhaven.

see gotham city in flames from the plane9. he steals a motorcycle and goes to her house. The earthquake and tsunami that followed hit Blackgate Penitentiary hard. the island and many cells are flooded and the prisoners escape. a land bridge is formed connecting the island with the city. Batman, who has just reappeared in Gotham Harbor, realizes what’s going on and heads to prison. he quelled the riot of the prisoners, although many were killed and several more escaped over the land bridge. aftershocks destroy the natural bridge when s.w.a.t. get. batman joins the mainland and starts helping the victims

justification

If you ever thought of reading the aforementioned No Man’s Land story, Cataclysm will surely come up as a necessary link reading. This prelude to one of the best Batman stores is a brilliant story in itself and we absolutely recommend it as a must read for all Batman fans. stylistically, the story is very similar to no man’s land and since it ties into that narrative, we think it’s important for you to read it if you want to complete the story.

14. batman: contagion

Writer(s):Artist(s):Titles: Azrael #15-16, Batman #529-532, The Batman Chronicles #4, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48-49, Catwoman (vol. 2) #31-32, Detective Comics #695-696, Robin (vol. 2) #27-28Publication: March – April 1996

synopsis

batman receives a video of azrael warning him that the holy order of st. dumas is sending a plague to gotham city. He can’t get help from the GCPD as corrupt Mayor Armand Krol replaced Jim Gordon with the incompetent Andrew Howe. Batman infiltrates a US military base and discovers that it is a deadly strain of Ebola known as the “doomsday virus” or “the squeeze”. the virus kills within 12 hours as it mutates the victim until their eyes bleed. the carrier is daniel maris, an agent of the order of st. dumas who does not know that he has been infected.

maris is president of babylon towers, gotham’s most exclusive luxury apartment building, and they decide to protect themselves from the plague that he says is coming. Husbands begin to die and Gotham’s billionaires discover they locked themselves in with the plague. He reveals that there was a previous plague in Greenland and that a survivor named Kendall Stuart could be used to create an antidote.

catwoman and penguin are hired to find stuart, while batman sends robin to search for him in toronto. The virus begins to spread among the freed servants of Babylon. the army is sent in and gotham is quarantined. Robin meets Catwoman and reluctantly joins her even though he is only there for the money. They are attacked by Penguin’s mercenary tracker, but Azrael bursts in to rescue them.

kendall stuart’s cabin is occupied by the order of st. dumas, who want to make sure there is no antidote. Stuart is shot and Robin returns to Gotham with a blood sample. Azrael and Catwoman learn of two other survivors and join the tracker to find them. They are chasing a gangster named Fong in San Francisco, but he believes he is immortal and kills himself.

batman tries to make an antidote with stuart’s blood. Poison Ivy breaks free from Arkham so the heroes can take her to Babylon and she attempts to extort money from the dying billionaires. GCPD hardcover officers Bock, Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya conspire to replace Howe with Gordon. Robin helps Nightwing and Huntress fight off the rioters, only to become infected when a sick attacker spits in his face.

poison ivy begins to mind control the infected person to make her offer after realizing the antidote isn’t working. Gordon takes over the gcpd, drives it through the streets and kills the looters. Batman enters Babylon to stop Poison Ivy and Gordon follows him to help him. The two share a heart-to-heart relationship for the first time since replacing Bruce during Knightquest and Lavish.

nightwing takes robin to the batcave, where alfred can cure his illness. Batman and Gordon escape Babylon on fire with Ivy on a makeshift zipline. Krol is infected and the Governor quarantines Gotham using martial law. Batman and Nightwing go through a National Guard blockade and are followed by tanks as they return to Wayne Manor. hitman helps the army to destroy a biological weapon called thrax.

The assassin struggles and is unable to save one of her dying disciples. alfred tries to treat robin, who after his death experiences vivid hallucinations in members of his family. Catwoman finds the last survivor, an Inuit student named Leanore We in Miami. They arrive in Gotham and see that Babylon is being destroyed, which means that Catwoman can’t get the money from her.

catwoman gives batman leanore, but he explains that the survivor’s blood is useless and that gotham is doomed. azrael is researching the virus with brian bryan and ella lilhy’s sister. They realize that “ebola gulf a” is a weapon called “cleanser of sins” by the order of saint-dumas. Brother Roll realizes that one of his subordinates released the virus and asks Brother Zoo to execute the man for high treason. Lilhy finds a cure while Azrael protects his home from Biis and other Dumas agents sent to kill him.

azrael fights through the military barricade and delivers the cure which has a 100% success rate. It turns out that when Azrael stormed the gates, Brian simply faxed the agent to each hospital and the city was saved. Krol is removed from his position and replaced by Marion Grange, who eliminates Howe and reinstates Gordon. Robin briefly teams up with Catwoman to defeat the troublemakers, then happily returns to her parents.

justification

In terms of interesting stories, “contagion” is without a doubt one of the best out there. Although to some extent it mimics “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Contagion” is a stand-alone story about a plague that comes to Gotham City and the heroes’ struggle to combat it and return life to normal. . sounds familiar? And although several years from now, when the current pandemic has passed into the history books, this might not be so surprising, now, “contagion” is definitely a piece to have and read, so we highly recommend it.

15. war of jokers

Writer(s): James Tynion IVArtist(s): Jorge Jimenez, Greg CapulloTitles: Batman #95-100, Detective Comics #1022-1027, Nightwing #70-75, Batgirl #47-50, Catwoman #25-26, Red Hood: Outlaw #48, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1, Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #75Publication: September – December 2020

synopsis

when the clown prince of crime faces the dark knight detective for the last time. the joker never wanted to win, he never wanted his fight with batman to end. but now his motivation has changed.

As the Joker’s plan to assemble an army materializes, the only person who can save Batman from the brink of true madness is Harley Quinn. And while all this is going on, the villains of Gotham City are waiting for the carnage that the joker has unleashed to end, and Catwoman is gathering her own army!

this narration also describes the joker’s confrontation with batgirl; she treats her with the amnesiac nightwing; And a turf war between Gotham City’s many thugs! Plus, the infamous clown hunters make their debut, the villainous ghost creator makes a cameo, and we also get to see an epic fight between Harley Quinn and Punchline.

justification

and while tynion’s “joker wars” may not be as epic as snyder’s ending, the fact remains that another epic showdown between the clown prince of crime and the dark knight did not go unnoticed. With the Joker launching another large-scale plan to destroy life in Gotham as we know it, Batman and his family, especially Nightwing and Batgirl, have to, with the help of some unlikely allies like Harley Quinn, give it their all to stop it. joker’s plans and restore order to gotham. Tynion’s story is an exciting and gripping narrative that certainly deserves your attention, and is without a doubt one of the best Batman narratives today.

16. eternal batman

Writer(s): Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley, Kyle HigginsArtist(s): Jason Fabok, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs, Andy Clarke, Trevor McCarthy, Emanuel Simeoni, Guillem March, Riccardo Burchiellim, Ian Bertram, Mikel Janin, Guillermo Ortego, Jorge Lucas, R. M. Guéra, Javier Garronm Meghan Hetrick, Simon Coleby, Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan, Fernando Blanco, Andrea Mutti, Ramon Perez, Juan José Ryp, Joe Quinones, David Lafuente, Aco, Javi Fernandez, Alessandro Vitti, Juan Ferreyra, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Paulo SiqueiraTitles: Batman Eternal #1-52Publication: April 2014 – April 2015

synopsis

In the near future, the entire city of gotham city is on fire and bruce wayne is connected to the bat signal. Near the superhero, a stranger reminds him of the beginning of the story, when Commissioner James Gordon accidentally killed 123 people in the city subway and was immediately arrested by his colleagues Jack Forbes and Jason Bard. The story examines the events leading up to this chaotic scene, where Batman and his entire family had to battle a plethora of villains and a sinister plot to destroy the foundations of the modern city, revealing that the true mastermind was the sinister march of Batman. lincoln.

justification

As far as continuity side stories go, Batman Eternal is the best the New 52 imprint has to offer. Written by several great writers and illustrated by a plethora of influential artists, Batman Eternal brings us a side story from the entire series featuring batman and a plethora of his supervillains. batman undying is exciting, has a great story with brilliant characters, a real threat and tangible implications, so we absolutely recommend it to all batman fans as it’s a collaboration worth reading.

17. batman & robin: eternal

Writer(s): James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando, Genevieve Valentine, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Ed BrissonArtist(s): Tony S. Daniel, Paul Pelletier, Scot Eaton, Alvaro Martinez, Roge Antonio, Fernando Blanco, Fernando Pasarin, Christian Duce, Andrea Mutti, Marcio TakaraTitles: Batman and Robin Eternal #1-26Publication: October 2015 – March 2016

synopsis

Dick Grayson, on a mission for Spyral, teams up with Tim Drake (Robin Red) and Jason Todd (Red Hood) to stop a cyborg biker. he is then attacked by a group of children and his own owner, who claim to be acting on behalf of a person called “mother”. As he runs away, he meets an almost silent young woman who also says a word: “mother”, but instead of trying to kill him, he stops on purpose and gives her a flash drive with a batman confession and a list of names

the recording identifies the young woman as cassandra cain. Harper Row, embittered that Batman’s apparent death at the hands of the Joker has robbed her of her chance to be Batman’s sidekick, she is attacked by a mysterious enemy called the Orphan. Cassandra Cain saves her from her and then chases after her as an orphan. Dick meets Harper and her roommate Stephanie Brown (spoiler alert) and takes them to the Batcave for medical treatment and to meet Tim and Jason.

Dick’s boss, Spyral’s matron, Helena Bertinlli, discovers that the mother’s agents are going to attack Bruce Wayne at a party. Dick rushes to save Bruce and runs into members of the We Are Robin gang (including Duke Thomas) and Batgirl. You save Bruce from dozens of axe-wielding assassins, and Dick does the same as Tim, Jason and Stephanie deal with the disappearance of an injured harpist and the mysterious Cassandra.

Apparently, Dick’s boss is the mother of Tim’s witness protection program, leading to a split between the Robins: Tim and Jason investigate one lead, Dick another. Dick, Harper and Cass go to Prague, where their mother is waiting for them. She urges Dick to join her, but he declines her offer and fights her ballet agents alongside Harper and Cass instead. After his victory, Harper accidentally activates something on Cass, who runs away.

Jason and Tim follow the electronic signal that coincided with Bruce’s attack and find Bane trying to reclaim his old land from the mysterious Holy Order of St. dumas. Along with the villain, Jason and Tim meet Azrael, also known as Jean-Paul Valley, apparently another mother’s son who was sold to the Order as an Angel of Death against his enemies. Tim suffers the effects of Azrael’s mind attack, and Jason pulls him to safety.

Dick and Harper follow in the orphan’s footsteps to identify David Cain, but are surprised to find the sculptor, Cain’s other half in the mother’s inner circle. The sculptor possesses powerful telepathic powers that the mother uses to sculpt children traumatized by Cain’s violence. With these powers, the sculptor shows the training of the harpist Cassandra, deprived of language so that she must read the movements and body signals, and forced to kill a woman in a dark alley.

dick breaks the mind meld as the sculptor shows harper batman’s encounters and dealings with his mother, but the sculptor only shows dick his own orphanhood and kidnapping by his mother, as well as some hints of what batman did at her service, before she disappears and reveals that the entire encounter was her projection.

because of the sculptor’s warning, dick and harper learn that the mother has murdered all her older children and rush to her training center, the kindergarten, where they find cassandra, who opposes her father. Inspired by her encounter with Batman, Cassandra paints the bat with blood as a mask on her face, and Dick, Harper and Cass make their way together to escape the orphan to escape the base’s nuclear self-destruct and join forces with Batman. spyral’s headquarters. plan your next steps.

justification

batman and robin eternal is a sequel to batman eternal and although it never had the scope of the original story, it is still a great narrative. it also featured a collaboration between different writers and artists, each bringing something original to the narrative. Batman and Robin Eternal is a decent sequel and definitely one you should read, but don’t expect the same level of quality as Batman Eternal.

18. batman: night of the monster men

Writer(s): Steve Orlando, Tom King, Tim Seeley, James Tynion IVArtist(s): Riley Rossmo, Roge Antonio, Andy MacDonaldTitles: Batman (vol. 3) #6-7, Nightwing (vol. 4) #5-6, Detective Comics #941-942Publication: November – December 2016

synopsis

Although he doesn’t seem to know Batman’s identity, Hugo Strange is now determined to prove his superiority by attacking Gotham City with a group of “Monster Men” created from the corpses of his former patients as a representation of what Strange is. He considered to be Batman’s biggest misperception: his ego, his pain, his manipulative nature, his childhood, and the basic fear that ultimately led Batman to a showdown in Strange’s Office penthouse headquarters.

strange wears what is known as a “suicide suit”, a near-total replica of the capless, hoodless suit that is supposed to explode if its wearer is subjected to a physical attack, so long as batman has no choice but to hand over the hood him as the “real” batman because he can’t take his own life. Nightwing is able to defeat the final monster, an amalgamation of the previous ones, by literally jumping in to inject a prepared antidote into it, while Batman cheated by placing his ally Clayface in an airtight seal in the attic before the covered confrontation.

strange, delusional and deoxygenated, he passes out while batman is still standing. Nightwing thinks Strange didn’t realize that Batman’s mistakes actually motivated him to protect Gotham.

justification

“night of the monster men” is both a part of the story and a good start for the dc rebirth imprint, though it’s really the only noteworthy crossover event from the imprint itself. That is to say, this story draws heavily on two previous stories that also featured Hugo Strange and his “Monster Men”, though this reinterpretation of the latter saw them as much more sinister. What’s especially cool about this story is the fact that it reintroduced Hugo Strange to modern readers in a great way.

19. batman: flower

Writer(s): Scott SnyderArtist(s): Greg Capullo, Sean Murphy, Danny Miki, FCO PlascenciaTitles: Batman (vol.2 ) #46-50, Detective Comics (vol. 2) #27Publication: January – May 2016

synopsis

bruce wayne has an almost perfect life. He has a crush on an amazing woman and works with her every day at one of Gotham’s youth centers to help the kids in the town he loves. his memory has been blemished ever since he almost died in the prankster’s last attack, but he still believes he’s the happiest he’s ever been.

and yet sometimes he is drawn to another life. in the negative space of his vanished past lies a half-remembered history, full of violence and darkness, but also greatness. Batman calls out for Bruce, but when he returns to his past, what will become of the perfect, happy life he’s built? With the help of Jim Gordon, the current Batman, Bruce Wayne has to face his past and present selves, but also the creepy new metahuman villain, Mr. bloom, who has been terrorizing gotham for some time. Hardly anything is known about Bloom except the fact that he is a truly menacing figure who wishes to destroy Gotham City.

justification

bloom was an interesting story. Perhaps it wasn’t Snyder’s best work with Batman, but it was certainly interesting enough to earn a spot on this list. why? mainly because it introduced a creepy new villain, mr. bloom, whose mysterious and enigmatic backstory provided even more horror each time she appeared. bloom is the centerpiece of this story and without him this issue certainly wouldn’t be on this list, but since he was there we just had to recommend him.

20. the resurrection of ra’s al ghul

Writer(s): Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza, Paul DiniArtist(s): Tony S. Daniel, Freddie E. Williams II, Don Kramer, Ryan BenjaminTitles: Batman Annual #26, Robin Annual (Volume 4) #7, Batman #670-671, Robin (Volume 4) #168-169, Nightwing (Volume 2) #138-139, Detective Comics #838-840Publication: October 2007 – March 2008

synopsis

White Ghost, one of the loyal companions of the late Ra’s al Ghul, asks Talia to teach her son Damian about his grandfather’s life. Nearby, Batman investigates the disappearance of two young biologists. Talia recounts his father’s exploits to his son’s: When he was just a boy, he worked for an old man from whom he learned medicine and married his daughter, Sora.

Together, they do an investigation that leads them to discover the secret of immortality. in order to have money, ra’s decides to cure a prince with water from the lazarus pit in which he is investigating. but the prince goes mad, kills sora: ra’s heart is broken and his soul is corrupted forever. he becomes a bloodthirsty clan chief nicknamed “the devil’s head”. Decades later, Ra’s participated in the Battle of Waterloo alongside Wellington. the white ghost accompanies him.

he wants to counter napoleon to steal his lover. Having heard, in spite of himself, all these tales, Damian is taken to the White Ghost for the ceremony. the latter wants to transfer the spirit of ra’s to the body of his grandson, a fact that talia does not know. Batman’s investigation leads him to encounter men who seem to age more slowly and moths whose lifespans seem to have increased 60-fold. he traces a river bed in which he finds the bodies of two young biologists and at the end of which he finds a lazarus pit.

white ghost and two of his men are dead. Damian doesn’t want to serve as a receptacle for his grandfather’s spirit, and with the help of his mother, he disposed of his attackers and fled. When he regains consciousness, the White Specter attacks Batman but ends up in a Lazarus Pit. damian wayne, walking through the streets of the city of the island of cheung cho (in china), is apostrophized by an old man who makes him drink poisoned tea. In his delusion, Damian finds himself in a graveyard where he is being attacked by specters. Damian is not afraid of any of them.

The last specter he has to face is Robin/Tim Drake, the third adopted son of his father, Bruce. In Hong Kong, I Ching, attacked by soldiers of the League of Assassins in search of the secret of the way to Nanda Parbat (a fictional town located in the Hindu Kush), he is rescued by Batman. the surviving ninjas return to inform the sensei that he has decided to take over the league of assassins.

Talia enlists the services of the Tiger Moth, the Dragonfly, and the Silk Spider to rob a group of wealthy people at a gala. batman quickly gets rid of him. Meanwhile, Talia is visited by the resurrected Ra’s al Ghul in Sam Tang’s rapidly deteriorating body. Damian, wearing the robin costume, returns home to find his mother and grandfather. she joined his father in his fight and opposes his grandfather, gets rid of the ninjas and then runs away. Damian runs away and decides to join Wayne Manor to ask his father to protect him from Ra’s al Ghul who wants to use his body to resurrect.

At the mansion, he runs into Robin and asks for help, but the conversation goes awry and the teens clash. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Batman frees Talia from his father. In Tibet, the Sensei receives the first artifacts that will allow him to find his way back to Nanda Parbat. He hired the services of Merlyn Archer and his minions to make it happen. At Wayne Manor, the fight continues despite Alfred’s intervention to break them up. Outside, however, the threat is much greater: dozens of ninjas are there to capture Damian.

batman gets in touch with nightwing to help robin and damian at the mansion. He runs into Halisidote, Dragonfly, and Araneid sent by Talia to protect Damian. In Tibet, Batman and Talia are hunting down Ra’s al Ghul, and in Singapore, the Sensei’s men continue to collect the artifacts. As Nightwing rescues Talia’s three envoys struck by poisoned arrows, Robin and Damian are captured by the ninjas. Damian and Robin are brought to Ra’s, who attempts to bribe Robin into joining his cause. batman and talia, on their way to ra’s lair, join i ching.

The tiger moth, the dragonfly, and the silk spider are taken to Arkham Asylum because the poison has driven them insane. Nightwing and Alfred land at Gonggar Airport and are greeted by Ubu. batman, i ching and talia are in the lair of ra who asks batman to choose between damian, her son, and robin, his adopted son because he needs a new body. the sensei arrives at nanda parbat. batman offers ra’s to take him to nanda parbat so he can dive into the fountain of life. Once there, they have no trouble getting rid of Merlyn Archer and his mercenaries.

at the fountain, sensei and ra come face to face and batman discovers that they are father and son. sensei has decided to take back the league of assassins which, according to him, is in ruins because of talia and her sister. the sensei kills ra’s who in a last rattle asks batman to stop him. a titanic struggle ensues. batman, almost defeated, sends the sensei to the fountain that lights up but is dragged with it. a monk bends down and places his hand on the remains of ra which grabs his body. white specter and his ninjas overpower damian, talia and robin, but robin breaks free and fights them off.

i ching has their backs covered. robin hesitates because ra’s proposal has clouded her mind. Robin joins the White Ghost in accepting Ra’s proposal, but Ra turns him down. The White Ghost challenges Robin to dive into the Lazarus Pit to show that he is ready to join the League. i ching joins the young man, highlights the conflict that inhabits him and lets him choose with full awareness. nightwing decides to intervene.

Ra’s offers Batman to be his friend, to which he refuses. As Robin and Nightwing clash, Damian takes on the guise of a ninja to go with the White Ghost and his crew who will join Ra’s al Ghul at Nanda Parbat. The fight between Robin and Nightwing is interrupted by I Ching. Robin decides to stay with his allies. Nightwing, Alfred, Robin and Talia also go to Nanda Parbat where Ra’s is in the process of taking over Damian’s body. batman intervenes and saves his son from his grandfather. The father and son must face the hordes of ninjas in the pay of Ra’s al Ghul.

luckily nightwing, robin and alfred arrive. Talia wants to protect her son and they both leave. we learn that the white ghost is the son of ra’s al ghul who never had anything but contempt for this albino. white ghost offers his father his body so that he can finally be resurrected. Ra’s, having no other choice, agrees, leading him to believe it’s an honor, and joins the front lines to fight Batman. the violence and desecration of the temple force the priests to summon their goddess rama kushna who, by her will, ends the fight. batman, alfred, robin and nightwing flee from the temple.

batman hunts down a new enemy, hammond carter, known as “the balloon”, who steals everything related to cartography. while he has just got the bandit to safety, ra’s al ghul under his new albino face, makes his entrance. he comes to retrieve the balloon that belongs to him. Ra’s tells Batman that he has decided to settle in Gotham. Assuming that the White Ghost’s soul dictates some of Ra’s actions, Batman easily overpowers him and takes him, hypersedated, to Arkham under the false identity of Terry Gene Kase to get rid of him forever.

justification

We conclude our list with the resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, another crossover story written during Grant Morrison’s tenure, but involving several other contributors, as the story spanned multiple titles. The story is a notable chapter in the history of the Batman mythos as it involves the return of Ra’s to the Ghul, one of the Dark Knight’s greatest enemies, and gives much backstory to Damian Wayne, Batman’s son with Ra’s daughter, talia al ghul morrison once again demonstrated her unique and special vision by coming up with this story, which may not be one of the most popular, but is certainly one of the most entertaining of its time.

***

and that’s all for today. We hope you had fun reading this and that we helped you solve this dilemma. Until next time, and don’t forget to follow us!

Other content

20 Best Batman Non-Graphic Novels

batman: an introduction

20 best batman non-graphic novels

1. the long halloween

2. dark victory

3. no man’s land

4. batman: endgame

5. batman: city of doom

6. the knightfall trilogy

7. batman: death of the family

8. batman: night of the owls

9. batman: year zero

10. batman: silence

11. batman break

12. batman: under the red hood

13. batman: cataclysm

14. batman: contagion

15. war of jokers

16. eternal batman

17. batman & robin: eternal

18. batman: night of the monster men

19. batman: flower

20. the resurrection of ra’s al ghul

Leave a Reply Cancel reply