How To Start Reading Batman Comics 

This guy: start s1 e1 Clone wars:allow me to introduce myself

I just read The Court of Owls TPB and now I have an entire bookshelf ranging from the Arkham Comics to Knightfall to the ‘89 Adaptation.

This video is a freaking blessing. I have a HUGE manga collection and always wanted to get into comics. I bought multiple issues but I couldn't figure out what was going on. So, the only comics I've ever read were the TF2 comics, Overwatch comics, some MLP comics, and The Umbrella Academy. Since they all make sense to me. Just knowing where to start is a big chunk of the battle. Thank you, kind friend. Edit - It's been 6 months since I watched this video and I've become a DC fanboy since then. I've been reading not only Batman but other DC heroes. Once again, thanks for this video

I don't think your explanation of canon is quite right. Canon in comics has nothing to do with quality or even importance, all it means in this context is that stories which are canon to each other happened in the same world. The Dark Knight Returns for example was very influential and important, but it's not canon because it's a what-if alternate future and none of it happened to the version of Batman in the current comics.

I actually liked Zero Year WAY more than I thought I would. It’s a cool book

I like like how you always say “the Batman”, makes him sound like a real legend.

For His Origins and Early Stories that set in Canon Batman Year 1:The True Batman Origin In My Opinion And Batfans Batman The Man Who Laughs:It THE Joker First Start In Crime in my opinion Batman The Long Halloween Batman:Dark Victory

Very detailed and honest description of reading comics, really great work

"Grant Morrison's run is another great run by the way, but you basically need a PhD on Batman to get the most out of it" wise words!

I've recently fallen back in love with Batman after Matt Reeves' masterful take on the character, but I don't need another moneypit to sink into, so the way I've gone about diving into the comics are as follows: Year One The Long Halloween Dark Victory Night of The Owls (just to get a taste of a modern Batman) The Dark Knight Returns If you ignore the glaring inconsistencies that arise from the inclusion of Night of The Owls, it's a pretty cohesive overarching storyline that has both the beginning and the end of the Batman. Even just treating the New 52 storyline as a separate continuity, treating the other 4 as one big Batman story is a really cool way of getting to know and understand the character.

All i have to say i thank you. Im a 14 year old that is mostly busy with school and you made my life a lot easier by not having to figure this out myself. Much love man. ❤️

Just finished reading Long Halloween and Dark Victory and I must say, those books are just bad ass and if your a batman fan, those are must reads 👌

Omg, thank you so much, I've always been obsessed with everything but the comics because I just didn't know how to get into them, this was so helpfullll

That greg capullo Batman art you kept showing is such a badass art piece!

Infinity Inc: You won't regret it, probably *GETS ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN FLASHBACK*

Luckily not all comics are this confusing to get into. It's mostly just the DC and Marvel superhero stuff, which is usually revered to as "reading comics", that seem to be hard to get into. We forget the fact that when we refer to comics it's not just DC and Marvel superheroes. Something like The Walking Dead for ex. is a comic that is straight forward to understand where to begin and end. You just read Issue #1 to #193. No worries of different universes, shared universes, universe events, reboots, cannon or not cannon. So what's being said in the video mostly only applies to the big 2 publishers.

i appreciate this. my cousin used to drop me off by the used comic crates at the comic book store by our house and i'd read random bat comics out of order and i've always wanted to actually get some cohesive story out of it, so this video is very useful.

Good vid. I'd made a mistake years ago when I started with The Dark Knight and The Killing Joke. It was too huge a jump from the Batman I remembered watching in cartoons an TV shows. I re-started with the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams run. That helped me to appreciate how far the character had come.

My first batman comic was the killing joke and that had me fall in love with batman

ive been wanting to start comics for a while and videos like these really help, thank you

Really great video with some great suggestions! I'm nearing the end of my first New 52 Batman read-through, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone! It just encapsulates everything great about Batman and delivers some great stories in "Court of Owls", "Death of the Family", "Zero Year", and "Endgame".

I'd still recommend Morrison's run on the bat-books to new readers, even though I would suggest reading "Batman: The Black Casebook" as pre-requisite, otherwise you're gonna be super lost. His run probably made the most significant changes to the mythos in the past 2 decades, plus there are numerous reading orders for his run on the internet so it shouldn't be hard to get into that.

my reading order has been: 1.Batman: Year 1 2. Batman: The man who laughs 3. The Long Halloween 4. Dark Victory im currently reading "Catwooman: When in Rome", any ideas of what should i read next?

Stumbled upon this video as a long-time Batman reader and while I do think it's SUPER well done as an easy entry point for new readers, I want to drop a few of my own recommendations for some good, yet easy to read Batman stories. - Venom - Going Sane - Catwoman - When In Rome (Obviously more of a Catwoman story, but it's a personal favorite) - A Lonely Place of Dying - Prey

Great video. Just starting getting into comics after being a super nerd for decades! Starting off with Court Of Owls and the 2018 Amazing Spider-Man series!

Scott Snyder Batman run is very good

Thanks this was a great help. I already own the long halloween but I think I'll start with year one

The way Im reading batman is to go chronologically starting from post crisis since thats a full on reboot. I also read wonderwoman with the same idea. And its been real great.

Thanks for this! So helpful :)

This video is so helpful!

OH MY GOD THANKS I have been asking people for years and I always get a half asked response. This is the best order ever thank you.

I don't think The Dark Knight Returns is a good starting point, because I see it more as a this-is-batman-at-his-absolute-worst kind of story, which makes it more of a subversion of Batman than anything. I think it's the kind of comic you need to know all about the character already before reading.

THANK U SO MUCH. Oh my god I’ve looked at this for hours for 3 days now. Everyone else was like read detective comics issue 273-272 and then randomly jump over to this other series and read a certain amount of it. This seems so much more simple

I have watched dozens of videos on the subject but this one really is the best and most convincing. Subscribed.

comic fans have so much power lmao it’s like Comic fans: “this is what’sconsidered canon” me *confused and trying to get into comics*: “why?” Comic fans: “because we said so”

can you do a How To Start Reading green lantern Comics please ?

BATMAN - THE CULT BATMAN - TEN NIGHTS OF THE BEAST BATMAN - VENOM

I just decided I wanted to start reading Batman comics and this is gonna help me a lot. Thank you so much :]

This was so in depth and super helpful. Thanks a lot, can't wait to start reading!

i would say read batman year one,the long halloween, and maybe the man who laughs bc that’s batman’s first two years and a retelling of batman’s first encounter with joker

That is a great video, my friend, and a great crash course for newbies trying to get into Batman. Good job.

As a HUGE Daredevil fan, have always heard that Batman is the best character for me to get into DC wise. Just finished reading Batman: Year One and Batman: Hush. Both of those were fantastic and am wondering where to look next. My question is how integral the Justice League and surrounding Bat Family comics are? I do have a few Nightwing comics, but how important is it for me read like Catwoman for example?

Knight fall is amazing

This helped so much I have been addicted to arkham games and want to read the comics so thank you

Thank you for providing some clarity on how the world of comics works!!!

If you want a good look at a chronological order for Batman I would highly suggest looking at Geek History Lesson's video on the Batman Chronological timeline. It doesn't have everything, but it gets a lot of the main events that are important to the character.

Excellent video man ! You deserve wayyyy more subs and likes !

Hey man you helped me a lot from where to start i allready know a lot of the lore and comics but you helped me what runs to read

My first Batman comics was A Death in the Family and No Mans Land (not knowing there were parts 2,3,4). Was a little confusing but just start somewhere. It really doesn’t matter

I challenge! Zero Year is better start for new readers since it covers flavor modern Batman(11-now) and (96-11)retro Batman who leans more fantastical and scifi tends to be. Year-one is only if you're going through the post crisis Batman like stories set right after Crisis on Infinite Earth's since that Batman is full on old school like the Year One version. The run approach is best since the second a writer shifts it's pretty much a reboot with an occasional nod or something little popping up. Also avoid the Tom King Batman that's pretty much the Last Jedi of Batman down to having the character be a failure because it's subversive.

thanks for this. Really cleared things up.

Great vid. Im gonna start with year one

Anyone interested in started Scott Snyders run, Amazon sell it in 3 collected box sets. Amazing run and definitely worth collecting

Injustice got me into comics and arkham unhinged #8 was the first book I read along with Injustice #1. Arkham unhinged volume 1 had dlc in the back for city and I fell back into arkham city. I still love comics to this day because of rocksteady and there masterpieces

Netflix and chill I could see how that would roll I know none of this stuff retains to the subject at hand. 🤣😂 I just love the Batman series entirely the rogues gallery even the sidekicks.

Wow! You actually recommended that people read 'Batman Eternal'. Ok. I've heard enough!

i reccomend: 1- year one 2- man who laughs 3- long halloween 4- dark victory 5- killing joke 6- death in the family 7- hush 8- under the redhood 9- three jokers 10- dark knight returns let me know if you disagree or would make any changes

Here's my list of batman trades, hardcovers, original graphic novels, prestige one shots docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UqJq6Q1_iCMcoPOfg__Ck_8OodZ15PNHU7iqpeZPxaQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

Thanks a lot man! this is definitely gonna help me in my new journy to reading comics it'd be really cool if you did the same kinda guide for other characters as well

You should try the new Peter Tomasi run on dc rebirth detective comics

Thanks man, I was looking for exactly this advice 👍

started with Flashpoint, then with the Court of Owls and Year one the next thing on my list is Long Halloween and the Rebirth Green Lantern lines

Just remember, if you read Snyder’s run you wanna red Batman eternal after finishing year one

What do you think about Harleen, The Joker and The Batman Who Laughs? Thanks for the video btw. Just found your channel and boy, I'm diving into it :)

Here's how I started reading Batman Arkham Asylum A Serious House Batman Year One Batman Shaman Batman Gothic Batman Prey Batman The Man Who Laughs Batman The Long Halloween Batman Dark Victory Robin Year One Batgirl Year One I like the idea of reading A Serious House early. Many people consider it a nightmare Batman would have, and it gives you a vulnerable look into the character psyche that helps to frame Bruce's journey.

Hey from the future (06.04.20) actually at the time of this video Batman was 2x a month. Actually The Killing Joke was ALWAYS meant to be 'Cannon' why else did they write the Batgirl Special setting up Babs' retirement and only 1 (or 2) months later did we get Oracle in Suicide Squad? Bane did NOT 1st appear in Knightfall he 1st appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane that was one of the starting points (along with Batman: Sword of Azrael) the prequel to Knightfall

I’ve just started getting into Batman comics and a massive recommendation for me is Batman: Universe by Nick Derington and Brian Michael Bendis- it’s refreshingly light hearted and work well if you’ve seen the Brave and the Bold TV show, played the Lego games or watched the original 66 movie.

the first batman comic i read was return.

Here’s how I’d describe difficulty in getting into comics using different examples: Easy- The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, super easy, four compendiums, start at number 1 and read til you can’t. Normal- Batman. the reasoning i have this example is there’s multiple jumping on points, however, due to DC resetting their universes, there is plenty of bookends and you can pick an era and stick to it pretty simply after a little while Hard- Spiderman. Marvel has never reset their universe. So there’s less easily defined jumping on points especially if you are unfamiliar with writers and artists.

My Batman head cannon: Year One Long Halloween Killing Joke Under The Red Hood Dark Knight Returns

Thank You man!

I would recomend one of the newer comic books Batman three jokers you get to see how important Batman and jokers relationship is and Joe chill’s perspective on killing Batman parents

Read Batman Year One TPB by Frank Miller, Long Halloween is good also, after that watch the Batman 1966 TV series, watch the Superman movies(yes Superman) , then read Dark Knight Returns.

Sweet Jesus what am I getting myself into.

great video

I got in pretty easy I started with year one

Thanks

I Recomend you to Read Wolverine Old Man Logan.

This video is soooo good

I don't think it really matters where you start. Just embrace the character. Luckly that vast majority of the publishing history of Detective comics & Batman comics from 1939 to now is always available to purchase. Mostly what is missing is the 1950s, 1960s and a decent amount of the 1970s. I hope one day the entirety of DC comics publishing history will be available to everyone.

I just started reading Batman comics and before having any info on where to start I decided to just read Bob Kanes story of Batman(1940). I know there’s a lot of issues in that series so like if I get bored of it I’ll move on to others lol. I just thought starting off with the original would also be considered the canon story, but I guess not.

I read batman dark tomorrow

Ima do all of them

I watched video because i bought my first comics batman eternal and loved it

Should rea year one and dark night returns because it’s beginning and end and should also read killing joke and court of owls

Thank You for the information about Batman and it's history. Thumbs UP

Azrael saga is so underapreciated...

Great video !

you couldn't have put it better. I would have suggested the same

What's the best comics for the Riddler? He's by far the most interesting villain to me, and I'm just craving for a good story involving him.

we are studying year one in English

make more guide

This has been so helpful, my bank account thanks you!

Good video

What order should I read the new 52 Batman in, apparently it’s not as simple as reading them in ascending volume order?

so cannon means the books that are very important. so like year one connects with batman the man who laughs

is Knightfall volume 1 enough if you just wanna know about Bane's origin story? or do you recommend all of them?

I personally feel like Batman hush is a lil overrated and personally I recommend reading with no expectations because when I read I was excited because I thought it would be one of the great Batman nooks but tbh other than the beautiful art by Jim lee and think it’s a book you can wait on tbh.

Using common literary carriculum as the definition of canon seems... odd. The best example outside fandom would be the bible. There are many books excluded from the bible, but what was included are considered canonical.

Batman is my second favourite character of all time and I think the Arkham series is the best incarnation of him. I have Batman Hush which is so phenomenal. I have been thinking about getting the New 52 run and now I’m definitely going to get it.