-Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6

After the events of Grant Morrison's Final Crisis arc, an amnesiac Batman is sent careening through time into the past, having to try to discover who he is and find his way home. The Return of Bruce Wayne is an eclectic mix of styles and scenarios where each chapter is set in a different era. We get to see Bruce in prehistoric times fighting savages, trying to quell witch hunts, and even going up against gun slingers in the wild west!

-Batman #234

The 1970s were really about going back to Batman's roots, and in "Half an Evil" we get Two-Face returning to his characterisation as a tragic madman who's totally at the mercy of fate (as opposed to the gimmicky, predictable, and almost comic character he had become). The issue is fantastically drawn by Neal Adams (as always) with faultlessly drawn, expressive faces and loads of atmosphere.

-Child of Dreams GN

Here we have a black and white graphic novel from Manga artist Kia Asamiya that mixes Japanese and western comic book traditions to great effect. The story is about fanatical fans and the nature of their relationship to their idols, it covers this through the creation of a fictional drug that can re-write the DNA of those who use it into becoming whichever hero of villain is the object of the users obsession. The book is full of exciting fights done in the manga style, with lots of kinetic, decompressed battles taking place over many pages, and its nice to see Batman tackled from a slightly different cultural perspective.

-Secret Origins

This is a short sixteen page story that tries (and succeeds) at filling in the gaps during Bruce's years of training away from Gotham. It adds some new info about Bruce's schooling, as well as collating the major events laid out in previous stories. The book does a good job of showing the loneliness of this lifestyle Bruce has chosen for himself and much of it was likely an influence on Batman Begins.

Batman and Robin v2 #1-8

The latest saga to make the list, Born to Kill introduces a new villain named Nobody, the son of one of Batman's more amoral early mentor's, Henri Ducard. Nobody himself attempts to mentor, and bring Bruce's son Damian under his wing, turning him against his father. Born to Kill really works on building on the relationship between Bruce and his son, we see the inevitable tensions between the two, with Damian wrestling with using non lethal force on the criminals of Gotham, and Batman trying to connect and try to explain his principles to his estranged son. Its a good book that shows a budding respect and understanding between the two characters.

-Gates of Gotham 1-5

Dick Grayson takes on the mantle of Gotham's Batman here whilst Bruce is busy overseas with Batman Incorporated. Gates of Gotham has Batman and his many allies, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, and Bruce's son Damian trying to uncover the reasons for a spate of recent bombings and their link to the founding families of Gotham (including the Wayne's). The book includes a lot of interesting back story about the founding of Gotham and its most powerful citizens, is packed full of the intrigue that writer Scott Snyder is famous for, and shows a Batman family that is closing ranks to try to defend his own family legacy.

-Batman #290-294

Batman's been killed in this classic issue from the 1970s, but who was the culprit? Many of Batman's enemies want to take credit for the deed but obviously they can't all be responsible, so Two-Face sets up a trial where we hear testimonials from Catwoman, The Riddler, The Joker, and Lex Luthor. Two-Face listens to each in time, and tries to look for holes in their accounts to debunk them. A clever story that's one of the more fondly remembered multi-issue stories from the time.

-Detective Comics #180

After starting out as a more serious and violent pulp hero in the late 30s Batman was quickly toned down to becoming a more family friendly hero, and by the 1950s he'd become a sort of friendly scoutmaster who gave out advice and appeared for public functions! Whilst this era is often maligned, its not without its own classics and charm, and The Joker's Millions is a good example of this. In the story the Joker's tricked into getting himself into piles of debt, and to renege on the debt will reveal to the world that he's been made a fool of, which his pride will not allow him to do. Its a lighthearted and enduring story that's actually still quite funny.

-Batman #250

A very short story (its only six pages long!) that has some children sitting around a campfire expressing theories and thoughts on Batman and who he is, all coming up with very different ideas. The message of the story of course is that everyone can relate to and be inspired by Batman, and everyone can read into the character what they want. Its an elegantly written story with a lot of charm that manages to make all those six pages count.

-The Cult #1-4

In The Cult Batman investigates a new cult run by a mysterious man named Deacon Blackfire, unfortunately he's injured, captured, and subjected to an intense regime of starvation, torture, and drug therapy in an effort to brainwash him. The Cult is primarily a horror story starring Batman. Its full of bloody scenes of murder and sacrifice, and shows the Caped Crusader at his lowest ever point, confused and broken he suffers from hallucinations and symbolism-laden fever dreams. If you want an intense Batman story look no further!