 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
40 |
Knightfall: Broken Bat |  |
|||
| -Batman #491–497, -------------------------- Detective Comics #659–663 | |||||
| Batman has to fight his way through a gauntlet of all his most famous foes in this crowd-pleasing story arc from the 90s. A new villain, Bane turns up on the scene and formulates a plan to free all of Batman's rogues from Arkham Asylum in order to wear Bruce down to exhaustion and deliver the coup de grace himself. Its not the most complex of stories, but Knightfall introduces one of the most popular latter day rogues for Batman in Bane, an unrelenting steroid abusing monster and strategist, and it gave us one of the more iconic of images in the comic's history when a shattered Batman is eventually broken. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
39 |
Mortal Clay |  |
|||
| -Batman Annual #11 | |||||
| Alan Moore only wrote two comics for Batman, but both turned out to be classics. This story was Alan Moore's first comic book work on Batman (he'd written a prose story previously). It looked at the third Clayface, a hopelessly insane, tragic murderer with an obsessive love for shop window dummies and a murderous addiction to melting people to death! The story is told from Clayface's perspective, and is a quirky, strangely touching tale of madness and its chaotic control over its victim's lives and those they come into contact with. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
38 |
Robin Dies at Dawn |  |
|||
| -Batman #156 | |||||
| Like most of the Batman comics from the period, Robin Dies at Dawn is a decidedly odd outing for the caped crusader that is filled with surreal imagery and outlandish themes. Batman decides to volunteer to help some scientists who are interested in testing the limits of human endurance by entering their new dream machine. After leaving the machine Batman fears that it has affected his mind. Batman co-creator Bill Finger, and artist Sheldon Moldoff create a memorable tale here that gives us a peek into Batman's psyche and the things that keep him up at night. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
37 |
Batman and Robin Must Die |  |
|||
| -Batman and Robin #13-16 | |||||
| Things finally come to a head here between the new dynamic duo (Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne) and the leader of the Black Glove, the mysterious Doctor Hurt. The book gives us some very memorable interactions between the Joker and Damian, and a long overdue resolution to the Doctor Hurt story arc, a villain who'd been a major antagonist during much of Grant Morrison's run. The arc contains lots of intrigue and high stakes action throughout. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
36 |
The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne |  |
|||
| -The Brave and the Bold #197 | |||||
| Telling the life story of the Golden Age version of Batman, The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne aimed to give a proper send off to the character, and it succeeded admirably. The classic story focus' on Batman and Catwoman's history and relationship as they band together to take down the Scarecrow. We get lots of details about Catwoman's turbulent past and see a much more exposed Bruce than usual. A very likeable story, and I wouldn't be surprised if the writers working on Batman Returns hadn't taken some influence from one or two scenes either. | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
35 |
Batman: Year 100 |  |
|||
| -Batman: Year 100 #1-4 | |||||
| An elseworlds story set in an authoritarian state one hundred years in the future, Year 100 introduces a mysterious new Batman. Unfortunately for him, this new Batman is quickly framed as the murderer of a police officer, leading him to become public enemy number one. Cult artist Paul Pope creates a distinctive world and memorable scenes with his kinetic artwork, creating a decrepit, worn out city populated by grotesque characters. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
34 |
Night of the Stalker |  |
|||
| -Detective Comics #439 | |||||
| After witnessing a murder that is reminiscent of his parents killing Batman is shocked into vividly reliving the moment of that traumatic experience from his childhood. Overwhelmed by emotion Batman decides to hunt down and terrorise the culprits. Its simply a classic short story from the 1970s, and it showed a much more vulnerable side of Batman. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
33 |
Going Sane |  |
|||
| -Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68 | |||||
| After the The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke had explored the idea of Batman and The Joker being co-dependently linked to each other as two opposing forces, Going Sane decided to push the idea as far as it could go. In the story the Joker believes Batman to be dead, this has a huge effect on him as the story posits that his fixation on Batman is the sole factor of his psychosis, if Batman no longer exists is there a reason for the Joker? The book is a wild ride that shows the characters in a new light as they try to break free from their predetermined fates. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
32 |
Under the Red Hood |  |
|||
| -Batman #635-641, #645-650, Annual #25 | |||||
| A new Red Hood is on the scene and he's going after the Black Mask's criminal empire in a big way, but what are his motives and why does Batman feel there is something familiar about this new player? Under the Red Hood provides some good popcorn fare action, there's some excellent fight choreography throughout, the Black Mask is as always an entertaining villain, and it touches on the age old question of whether Batman's no kill rule is noble or just plain irresponsible. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
31 |
The Black Glove |  |
|||
| -Batman #667-669 | |||||
| After receiving a message, Batman meets up with some old superhero acquaintances on a secluded island. It quickly turns out that the whole thing is actually a set-up. This is an old-school murder mystery where the characters are picked off one by one and Batman has to deduce the killer, its a meticulous story that keeps you guessing throughout. Like all of Morrison's Batman comics it benefits from having some knowledge on Batman lore, you can get most of what you need from the compilation "The Black Casebook" which was released shortly after Morrison's run began. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||