These are the first Batman comics I ever bought - I got them all at once and they are all I had for the 2 years that followed so I would read them over and over (yet they are still in great condition).
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What are yours?
I've only started collecting Batman graphic novels within the last two years, but as a kid I had a Batman vs. Predator comic. My modest Batman collection now consists of:
The Batman Chronicles Vol. 1: 1939-1940
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman Year One
The Killing Joke
Arkham Asylum
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
The Knightfall Trilogy
Hush Vols. 1 & 2
Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
Justice League: Tower of Babel (Only because its Batman centric)
I'd like to get Strange Apparitions, Batman: War on Crime, and Haunted Knight, to consider my collection complete. Any recommendations on others?
My first bat-comics are "The Killing Joke" & "A Death In The Family".
I felt sorry for Jason and his mother....and Barbara...
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My first comic was given to me by my Uncle when I was 5 (back in 1978), Batman #189. It was one of his comics. Was hooked ever since. The Bronze age is still the best for Batman comics, imo.
What's the difference between silver age, bronze age etc?
you being a smart arse? ;)
Assuming Batman's various Ages correspond to Superman's, you could basically call Silver Age Batman the goofy 50's and 60's version. The duly-deputized smiling sci-fi adventurer. Some people dig that but it ain't my thing.
Bronze Age would be, I'd guess, the beginning of the O'Neil era leading up through just before TDKR came out. This would be the darker, more serious Batman. The hairy-chested love god, I believe Grant Morrison called that period of the character.
Then, obviously, you get into the Modern Age with TDKR, Year One, Death in the Family, Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum, Knightfall and so forth.
Of late, Post-Infinite Crisis, a good bit of the DCU (is the "U" even appropriate anymore?) has shifted back to being closer to the Bronze Age. In my estimation, that's not a good thing because it's more or less repeating what's already come before. The creative bankruptcy of the Superman comics these past few years ought to be proof enough of that (although the newer issues the past year or so show promise).
Hope that helps.
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This was my very first... and what a way to start! Tim Drake was still in training to be the new Robin, the storyline gripped my little 9-year old mind right from the word "go" and, man, I LOVED Breyfogle's art. He remains my all-time fave Batman artist.
I might never have picked up the comics but my mom paid a visit to a friend she went to school with and I started talking with his kid, who was about a year older than me and was an absolute comics junkie. He brought me up to speed on Batman comics lore and I ended up buy this issue of Detective later that night when my mom and I went to the mall.
Things were never really the same after that.
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Strange to think that this one's the also-ran. It's a strong story, but it's weakened by my having absolutely no clue what was going on (being, as it was, the latter chapter of a multi-part storyline) and the, in my opinion, sub-standard art stylings of Jim Aparo. Breyfogle's style just seemed cooler to me. These days, I dig on Aparo but nothing touches Breyfogle's Batman for my money. Still, this arc clearly had a lot of emotional weight for Batman, Gordon and the Joker and it gave the Batman comics a mystique with all these big events (Barbara's paralysis, Jason Todd's death, etc) that were referred to but never really elaborated on and which I knew next to nothing about.
I will say though that this cover still forms my basic perception of the Joker. When I hear the name, this image is what I think of. Maniacally laughing as he indiscriminately shoots a machine gun at whatever tickles his fancy at any given moment. The insanity is right there in his eyes. Perfect.
Strange to think that these two oft-overlooked issues formed the basis of my Batman comics obsession.
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I knew batman from T shirts and board games and that was pretty much it. Batman and Joker. Once I got my first comic book (pictured above), it was a start of a long love affair. I miss those times deeply. No worries, waiting eagerly for the next issue, literally running into a store on the day of the new release
Once I got this first comic book I managed to get all the issues back to #585 and collected them ever since (stopped after the series went to crapper after KnightQuest)
Btw, funnily enough the first time I saw Joker was in a Superman comic, Superman #9 from 1987 to be exact. I knew already that he was a Batman villain but that was the first time I saw my favorite villain in print and in action
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I'm pretty sure the first issue of the "Untold Legend of Batman" was the one.
Having always being more of a fan of the villains, who I for whatever reason found more interesting and more to my liking than the hero (yeah, to me Cobra was cooler than G.I. Joe, Shredder >>> TMNT, Skeletor as opposed to He-Man, ect ect), this cover immediately caught my eye as it not only had my favourite, The Joker, but also Riddler and Penguin.
It was a must have.
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Now thats a great issue to start, with Batman's origins and all
Quote from: GothamAlleys on Fri, 19 Nov 2010, 06:55
Now thats a great issue to start, with Batman's origins and all
Very true, sir.
Something that I later found myself really enjoying about the series, though not initially aware of them, were the homages to classic Batman stories.
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I vividly remember years later being able to read "The Origin of the Batman" (thanks to
The Greatest Batman stories ever Told trade), and "The Crimes of Two-Face" (thanks to
Batman: Featuring Two-Face and the Riddler trade that came out around the same time as Batman Forever), and thinking how familiar some of the illustrations/panels looked until it dawned on me that this series was the reason why.
In addition, I particularly always loved this piece or art. Just can't go wrong with great action in the foreground with numerous villains half shaded in the background. ;D
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