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Favourite Runs on Batman?

byron lomax

byron lomax

Commander
Red Shirt
Excuse me for being unimaginative here, but since there's a thread for X-Men runs, I thought I'd do the same for my favourite character, Batman. And anyone else can chime in too of course.

1. Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle's Detective Comics. A writer/artist team that clicked immediately. Lots of great small-scale stories with a socially-conscious Batman taking on street thugs, terrorists and drug dealers, along with a freakish batch of new villains, from Scarface to Cornelius Stirk.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresource...ould-own-flashback-detective-583-594-601-614/

2. Denny O'Neil in the 70s, mostly with Neal Adams and Irv Novick on art. Perhaps too scattered to be considered a "run", O'Neil wrote the definitive Batman, and showed how flexible he could be. Detective stories, crime dramas, action-adventure, hero-vs-villain stories, macabre gothic horror, character studies - O'Neill showed how Batman was at home in all genres.

3. Peter Milligan's Batman in the early 90s. Very short run of supernatural stories that led to a mixed reaction among fans, but yielded awesome stories like "Dark Knight, Dark City", "The Bomb", and "Identity Crisis".

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/13/comics-you-should-own-flashback-batman-452-454/

http://goodcomics.comicbookresource...ould-own-flashback-detective-629-633-638-643/


4. Another all-to-brief run, from Mike Barr and Alan Davis in the 80s. Showed how the worlds of camp 60s Batman and gritty 80s Batman could be combined effortlessly. Six issues that are a lot of fun and lovely to look at.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresource...s-you-should-own-flashback-detective-569-574/

And other quality runs over the years from Engelhart, Moench (in the 80s), Dini, Rucka, Morrison, and now Snyder.
 
Whofan said:
I've enjoyed a lot of the Denny O'Neil stuff as well, although I've read it mostly in reprints.
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The handiest way to read them, but it's a shame that any classic O'Neil/Adams story that gets reprinted will have to suffer from Adams' horrible re-colouring jobs. DC should stop letting his ego take priority.
 
For all its faults, I am enjoying the Grant Morrison mega saga. The older stories I've read I haven't enjoyed as much (except for the obvious things like Year One and DKR). Knightfall and that sort of thing, I like the idea of it, but when I actually read the issues it wasn't that well written.

I haven't read No Man's Land the comic yet but I read the novel and I loved it. To me that's about the ultimate Bat storyline.
 
Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams is probably my overall favorite run. I love Grant Morrison's run and his "everything is continuity" stance on the character. I realize it's not rubbed purist fans the right way. Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb while they didn't have "runs" which to me is a shame considering they came up with two of my favorite all time Batman stories are another favorite creative duo. I've not minded Tony Bedard's run. I'm enjoying Scott Synder's current run on Detective.
 
For me, Grant/Breyfogle, from 'Tec to Batman to Shadow of the Bat, is tops. I wish the Grant/Breyfogle team had stayed together into the Jean-Paul Valley era; I so wish I could see what Breyfogle might have done with the AzBats costume.

Dini/Nguyen ('Tec to Streets of Gotham) is a solid #2.

Barr/Davis on 'Tec and Barr/Aparo on Batman and the Outsiders were both solid runs. I'm also fond of the early-80s Aparo on Brave and the Bold. Actually, I just like Aparo's work, with "The Many Deaths of the Batman" as a particular peak.
 
Allyn Gibson said:
For me, Grant/Breyfogle, from 'Tec to Batman to Shadow of the Bat, is tops. I wish the Grant/Breyfogle team had stayed together into the Jean-Paul Valley era; I so wish I could see what Breyfogle might have done with the AzBats costume.

Dini/Nguyen ('Tec to Streets of Gotham) is a solid #2.

Barr/Davis on 'Tec and Barr/Aparo on Batman and the Outsiders were both solid runs. I'm also fond of the early-80s Aparo on Brave and the Bold. Actually, I just like Aparo's work, with "The Many Deaths of the Batman" as a particular peak.
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Aparo was always pretty great, even in his later years. The silent first issue of "Many Deaths" is brilliant; Morrison originally planned for the Wild West issue in Return of Bruce Wayne as silent, in tribute to that - too bad it didn't pan out.

I loved his work on Peter Milligan's issues, as mentioned above - his traditional naturalistic artwork had a nice "internal contrast" with Milligan's weird ideas. Towards the end of his career, he drew an overlooked gem "The Demon Laughs", a Joker/Ra's al Ghul team-up written by Chuck Dixon.
 
^ I wonder if that issue is what was referenced in "Batman: Under the Red Hood". Joker and Ra's are working together as some part of alliance in the movie.
 
O'Neil also had a good run with the late, lamented Don Newton on art. I'll echo everyone's fondness for O'Neil/Adams and Englehart/Rogers, and also cheat a bit (since this wasn't in Batman or Detective Comics) by offering up Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo (and later, Alan Davis) on Batman and the Outsiders, one of my favorite books from the 80s.
 
I haven't kept up with any. However, Neil Gaiman's Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader is pretty much demonstrative of the only level of writing that would cause me to pick up reading Batman.
 
Though Batman is my favorite comic book hero, I've actually read very little of the comics. Mostly short runs here or there that I have no idea who wrote in the 90s, and major storylines like "Year One" or miniseries like "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Knight Returns."

I just find that whenever I pick up a monthly Batman comic, I'm put off by the continuity and whatnot. I think I'd just like to read simple one-off stories with Batman being a detective, and I rarely seem to find that. -shrug-
 
Brikar99 said:
Though Batman is my favorite comic book hero, I've actually read very little of the comics. Mostly short runs here or there that I have no idea who wrote in the 90s, and major storylines like "Year One" or miniseries like "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Knight Returns."

I just find that whenever I pick up a monthly Batman comic, I'm put off by the continuity and whatnot. I think I'd just like to read simple one-off stories with Batman being a detective, and I rarely seem to find that. -shrug-
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I know what you mean. That's why I'm a big fan of the immediate post-Crisis era before Knightfall - lots of good self-contained detective stories by Grant, Milligan et al. Knightfall then ushered in the era of the big event story-arc, and, though it had some good points, it went on for far too long and led to years of tedious overblown storylines dominating the titles. The Rucka and Brubaker-dominated early 00s era was really enjoyable too for similar reasons, until the Murderer/Fugitive storyline took over.

For a while in the 90s, the Batman Adventures series based on the B:TAS were actually a lot more enjoyable than what was going on in the main Batman titles.
 
byron lomax said:
For a while in the 90s, the Batman Adventures series based on the B:TAS were actually a lot more enjoyable than what was going on in the main Batman titles.
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Somehow, I didn't even think of Batman Adventures, which is sad because the late Mike Parobeck is one of my favorite artists, from Justice Society to The Fly and finally to Batman Adventures.

I live in the fervent hope that DC will collect more of his work. The JSA work is certainly marketable, and the Batman Adventures work would be, too.
 
O'Neil/Adams, Engleheart/Rogers, Grant/Breyfogle, Dixon/Nolan, Moench/Jones. After that, I was very fond of the Greg Rucka run on "Detective Comics" and the Brubaker/McDaniel" run on "Batman". After that, I kinda lost interest (Loeb & Lee's "Hush" and the great "Wargames crossover aside).

I have to be honest, though, I have felt there's an overexposure lately, especially compared to other DC characters.
 
Allyn Gibson said:
byron lomax said:
For a while in the 90s, the Batman Adventures series based on the B:TAS were actually a lot more enjoyable than what was going on in the main Batman titles.
Click to expand...
Somehow, I didn't even think of Batman Adventures, which is sad because the late Mike Parobeck is one of my favorite artists, from Justice Society to The Fly and finally to Batman Adventures.

I live in the fervent hope that DC will collect more of his work. The JSA work is certainly marketable, and the Batman Adventures work would be, too.
Click to expand...

I agree, Parobeck was fantastic. He could really evoke a sense of movement without the need for too many words, and he was perfect for the B:TAS comics. They were still good after he departed, but never the same.

I also loved the trio of ridiculous villains who turned up frequently in the first series: Mastermind, the Perfesser and Mr Nice, all based on prominant DC writers.
 
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