- A Batman Comic Masterpost
- Batman is a superhero created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, debuting in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. The character has gained worldwide recognition and has become an icon of not only DC comics but comic books as a whole. After the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne makes an oath to fight crime in Gotham. He is confronted with a rogue gallery of complex villains, including the psychotic Joker. Gaining the assistance of the Gotham Police Department, Batman fights the faces of crime in the city, gaining and loosing allies through the process.
- Note: This masterpost only includes the main Batman centric storylines. These titles are just pulled from my own personal collection, so some story arcs may not be included. I know a lot of people are interested in Batman because of other forms of media (TV shows, movies, etc.) however get intimidated by the sheer volume of storylines. I tried to list the comics in the best canonical order instead of publishing order. If there’s any errors or broken links feel free to message me. To read .cbr and .cbz files you’ll need a program such as Comical, CDisplay, or ComicRack. Support the industry; please buy the currently ongoing titles if you’re interested in the series.
/ Year One / After Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC rebooted its Batman series. Year One is the origins of Bruce Wayne as Batman, and also introduces Selina Kyle as Catwoman.
/ The Man Who Laughs / Batman’s first ever encounter with The Joker, taking inspiration from the original Batman #1
/ The Long Halloween / Takes place during Bruce’s early days as Batman a killer named Holiday is wrecking havoc on Gotham. Comissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent are also on the case as the Falcone and Maroni family continue to fight among one another. Origins of Harvey Dent as Two-Face.
/ Dark Victory / A follow up to The Long Halloween. Batman and the Gotham City Police Department face another murder named Hangman. The Falcone family is out on their final limb as Two-Face tries to wrap up business. Introduces Dick Grayson as Robin.
/ Catwoman: When in Rome / Miniseries taking place in between The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Selina travels to Rome with The Riddler in search of her father.
/ Robin Year One / A collection of stories narrated by Alfred about Dick Grayson’s first year as Robin. Takes place after the events of Dark Victory.
/ Batgirl Year One / The origins of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl as she decides to pursue her wish of fighting crime.
/ A Family Fight: Nightwing Year One /
/ #408 (Debut of Jason Todd) #409 #410 #411 #412 #413 #414 #415 #416 #417 #418 #419 #420 #421 #422 #423 #424 #425 / Bruce Wayne discovered Jason after he attempts to take a wheel from the Batmobile. He gives him the identity as Robin, but soon their relationship grows more and more bitter.
/ The Killing Joke / The origins of the Joker as escapes from Arkham Asylum. He decides to challenge Batman and kidnaps Gordon, while also paralyzing his daughter.
/ A Death in the Family: #426 #427 #428 #429 / Jason Todd decides to go search for his mother in the Middle East. While the Joker is dealing with terrorists after escaping Arkham, he attempts to try at Robin’s life.
/ #430 #431 #432 #433 #434 #435 /
/ Year Three: #436 (Debut of Tim Drake) #437 #438 #439 / Somewhat of a sequel to Batman Year One. Including the origins of Dick Grayson, his to return to Gotham after becoming Nightwing, and Bruce’s mourning of Jason.
/ A Lonely Place of Dying: #440 The New Titans #60 #441 The New Titans #61 #442 / Tim Drake, a long time fan of Batman and Robin, and Dick Grayson begin to notice Bruce’s strange behavior after Jason’s death.
/ #443 #444 #445 #446 #447 #448 #449 #450 #451 #452 #453 #454 #455 #456 #457 #458 #459 #460 #461 #462 #463 #464 #465 (Debut of Tim as Robin) #466 #467 #468 #469 #470 #471 #472 #473 #474 #475 #476 #477 #478 #479 #480 #481 #482 #483 #484 #485 #486 #487 #488 /
/ Knightfall Part 1/ Knightfall Part 2/ Knightquest Part 1/ Knightquest Part 2 /KnightsEnd/ Bruce Wayne suffers a burnout and is challenged by the steroid enhanced Bane. His back is broken in combat, which leads to Bruce enlisting a temporary replacement as he fights to recover.
/ Prodigal / Dick Grayson’s first run as Batman as Bruce reevaluates his morals.
/ Troika / Bruce Wayne’s return to Batman after the events of Knightfall.
/ #501 #502 #503 #504 #505 #506 #507#508 #509 #510 #511 #512 #513 #514 #515 #516 #517 #518 #519 #520 #521 #522 #523 #524 #525 #526 #527 #528 /
/ Contagion / A strange and deadly virus breaks out in Gotham in which Batman attempts to combat. Leads into the Legacy storyline.
/ Legacy / Batman finds the disease returning to Gotham, discovering its origins from the middle east. There he faces Ra’s Al Ghul and Bane, and must prevent them from spreading the virus globally.
/ Cataclysm / Gotham city is struck by 7.6 earthquake as Batman and his allies attempt to help it. However things start to become more and more worse. A storyline continuing from Cataclysm leading into No Man’s Land.
/ Road to No Man’s Land / The U.S Government evacuates those in the earthquake stricken Gotham, leaving only those who still wish to stay.
/ No Man’s Land / Follows the lives of those whom have decided to stay in the devastated Gotham, including Batman and his allies.
/ Hush / A mysterious man calling himself Hush emerges in Gotham. His appearance is identical to Bruce’s, and attempts in ruining his image. Various of Gotham’s villains emerge as those close to Bruce start to be affected by Hush.
/ Broken City #620 #621 #622 #623 #624 #625 / Batman investigates the death of a woman named Elizabeth Lupo, suspecting Penguin and her lover named Margo Farr.
/ War Games / Featuring Stephenie Brown as Robin. A gang war erupts in Gotham with the inclusion of its most dangerous villains. The Black Mask attempts to gain control of the situation as Batman takes on the alias of Matches Malone.
/ Under the Hood / The Red Hood reappears in Gotham, in which to Batman’s surprise is revealed to be Jason Todd whom is revived by a Lazarus Pit.
/ Son/Bride/Birth of the Demon / A series of stories involving the conception of Damian Wayne.
/ Batman and Son / Bruce faces the League of Assassins, as Talia al Ghul introduces him to Damian Wayne, their child from their one time relations.
/ The Black Glove / The Black Glove threatens Batman’s vacation with various other superheroes.
/ Heart of Hush / Set only days before the events of Batman R.I.P, Elliot threatens Bruce Wayne’s identity once again and severely hurts Selina Kyle.
/ Batman R.I.P / Batman faces one of his hardest challenges against the Black Glove. The Black Glove attempts to attack on his mental state just after the events with Hush, leading Bruce into a spiral until he can ensure Gotham’s safety.
/ Batman R.I.P Aftermath / In a fight against Darkseid, Batman is presumed to be dead. This leads to the Bat-family attempting to figure out their situations without him.
/ Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? / Neil Gaiman’s take on the wrapping up of Batman for the R.I.P/Final Crisis storylines.
/ Battle for the Cowl / Bruce Wayne has died and the villains of Arkham have escaped. A strange new Batman emerges, attempting to take the lives of Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Introductions Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian as Robin.
/ Batman: Reborn / A series of stories including the heroes of Gotham without Bruce Wayne.
/ Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin / Part of the Batman Reborn storyline, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne team up as Batman and Robin to protect Gotham.
/ Return of Bruce Wayne / Bruce Wayne is dropped into the past by Darkseid, and deals with a case of amnesia as he struggles through history back to Gotham.
/ Bruce Wayne: The Road Home / As the Bat-family and Gotham’s residents come to term with Batman’s return. Bruce takes on the identity of The Insider and examines how they have been coping.
/ Batman Incorporated / With the return of Batman, Bruce Wayne decides to ‘franchise’ crime fighting by enlisting the assistance of a global team of heroes.
Some other stories that are also worth a look
Joker / Mad Love (Origin of Harley Quinn) / A Serious House on Serious Earth / The Dark Knight Returns / Two-Face Year One / Scarecrow Year One (1) (2) / Rogue Gallery Year One / Catwoman Mini-Origin (1) (2) / Batman in Bethlehem (Damian Wayne as Batman) / Ra’s al Ghul Year One
Series involving members of the Bat-family and Gotham’s rogue gallery
/ Spoiled (Stephenie Brown as Spoiler) /
/ Red Hood: The Lost Days (Jason Todd as The Red Hood) /
/ Batgirl (Cassandra Cain as Batgirl) /
/ Red Robin (Tim Drake as Red Robin) /
/ Gotham City Sirens (Starring Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. A few issues are missing) /
/ Gotham City Central /
/ Joker’s Asylum /
Other Batman Related Masterposts: Nightwing Year One Super Hero Films Batman Superpost