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20 |
Case of the Chemical Syndicate |  |
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| -Detective Comics #27 | |||||
| It wouldn't be a proper top 100 without paying homage to the first ever appearance of the topic's titular character. In this pivotal issue in the history of the comic book genre, we are introduced to the Bat-Man, a mysterious costumed vigilante who is investigating a murder. The clues lead him to a clash at a local chemical lab, and the story finishes with a twist ending (that's taking no one by surprise!). Truth be told its not the most original of stories (and much of the artwork was actually traced from other sources!) but the look of Batman was obviously inspired and went on to become a design classic. The story caught the imagination of children worldwide, and the rest of course is history. | |||||
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19 |
Jason Todd Saga |
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| -Batman #408-#411, #424-#429 | |||||
| Accuse me of being a cheat if you will, but after much deliberation over what to do with three Jason Todd stories I realised that the issues I was looking at only took place over about a year of comics, so I merged them all together! In fact I'm much more comfortable setting it out like this, we now meet Jason Todd, an orphaned street rat attempting to steal the Batmobile's wheels, and we see Batman take him in and train him to become the new Robin only to witness his sad end at the hands of the Joker. There's now a defined beginning, middle and end, all bookended with Joker appearances. The story is an important one in the Batman mythos that shows him making some very questionable decisions during a transitional period of his life. | |||||
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18 |
Mad Love |  |
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| -Batman Adventures: Mad Love | |||||
| Here we have an in-depth look at Harley Quinn, Joker's long-suffering girlfriend and partner in crime. Harley was a character that was introduced in the acclaimed Batman cartoon of the 90s, she gained enough popularity to make the transition to comics, and eventually even into film. Mad Love tells the tale of Harley's origin, as well as her storied history with the Joker and their toxic relationship. It has Harley trying to catch Batman using an altered version of one of the Joker's discarded plans in order to impress him and allow the two to move on with their lives. The book manages to be both a funny, and tragic tale that touches upon issues of domestic abuse and emotional dependency. | |||||
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17 |
Batman Wars against the Dirigible of Doom |  |
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| -Detective Comics #33 | |||||
| The second oldest story here, the main body of this issue has Batman fighting against a madman with a dirigible who's holding the country to ransom. A great early story for sure, but the real reason the issue makes it onto the list is the short two page introduction, the first ever appearance of Batman's origin story, one of the most well known in comic book history. The origin fits in everything you need to know about who Batman is in a very short space, and even manages to fit in some iconic lines, such as the immortal statement "criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot!" | |||||
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16 |
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? |  |
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| -Batman #686, Detective Comics #853 | |||||
| Neil Gaiman, one of the most acclaimed comic book writers of all time produced one of the best love letters to Batman comics with this story, a very meta take on the character influenced by "Where were you the Night Batman was Killed?". The book gives us a sequence of possible ends for Batman, each expanding on or referencing some element or detail in the character's rich past. The series of vignettes we are treated to are often clever and always full of charm (I especially like one where Batman's whole career has been nothing more than an elaborate pantomime set up by Alfred to keep him busy!). A great, self aware book that does something new. | |||||
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15 |
Batman R.I.P |  |
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| -Batman #676-#681 | |||||
| In R.I.P Batman comes up against a shadowy group known as the Black Glove who aim to completely destroy his psyche and leave him a broken man. Living up to his reputation as the king of preparation, Unbeknownst to his attackers Bruce has already set up an emergency back-up personality to take over if his mind is ever broken! Admittedly not the most accessible of Grant Morrison's Batman stories, R.I.P is a nuanced, unconventional story that is targeted more to seasoned readers of the character who are familiar with Batman's long history than newcomers. | |||||
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14 |
Robin the Boy Wonder |
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| -Detective Comics #38 | |||||
| This 40s comic heralds the first ever appearance of Dick Grayson, Batman's timeless sidekick who fights beside him as Robin. Unlike Batman, Robin managed to get a fully formed and fairly detailed origin right from the get go. Dick is a sort of child prodigy raised in the circus by a family of very talented trapeze artists. Unfortunately for Dick his parents are killed when their act is sabotaged after they ignore threats from a protection racket. Batman sees within the boy a kindred spirit and trains him to become a costumed adventurer. Ask anyone to name a kid sidekick and the chances are that Robin will be the first they think of, he's not only a quintessential example of the archetype, but a fundamental part of the Batman mythos, adding just a little bit of needed levity to the proceedings. | |||||
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13 |
Eye of the Beholder |
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| -Batman Annual #14 | |||||
| One of the more underrated Batman tales, Eye of the Beholder tells the story of District Attorney Harvey Dent's fall from grace and descent into madness, it functions as a sort of unofficial sequel to Year One, covering much of Batman's second year. Its an influential story, containing the rooftop meeting between Harvey, Batman, and Gordon that would be reused a number of times (not least of which in 2008's The Dark Knight). The three make a promise to help each other clean up Gotham City for good, but things start to fall apart when they struggle to get an important conviction and Harvey's troubled past comes to light. Much of the story was later recycled by Jeph Loeb in The Long Halloween, but this is the place you go for the most detailed and multi-faceted Two-Face origin in Batman comics. | |||||
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12 |
To Kill a Legend |
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| -Detective Comics #500 | |||||
| To kill a Legend ruminates on the question "What would have happened to Bruce if his parents had not been murdered". It has Batman and Robin meeting the Phantom Stranger, and being given the opportunity to travel to another dimension and prevent the murder of its version of Bruce Wayne's parents, can Bruce go ahead with it? An entertaining tale that admirably marked the hallmark 500th issue of Detective Comics. | |||||
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11 |
The Man Who Laughs |
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| -The Man Who Laughs GN | |||||
| An abandoned factory is discovered to be full of dead bodies, all of the faces of the bodies display a disturbing grin. The Man Who Laughs brilliantly retells the story of the Joker's first appearance on the scene and his first encounter with Batman. Its constructed to lead on directly from Frank Miller's acclaimed Year One story and starts off Bruce's second year as Batman. Its a dark, grim, well written story where Batman has a race against the clock to catch the mad man as the body count rises. | |||||
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