-Batman #563-574, Dec #730-741, LotDK #116-126, SotB #83-94, Batman Chronicles #16-18, No Man's Land #0-1, Harley Quinn

No Man's Land was a huge event that saw Gotham wracked by an Earthquake and its Police Department lose control of the city to gangs. It lasted a whole year and was covered in all of the Batman comics and spin-offs. Ordinarily I'm not a fan of these types of "event" comics, they're often unfocussed, disjointed, overblown, and above all cynical, but I'm going to make an exception here because of No Man's Land's episodic nature. The event introduced us to fan favourite Cassandra Cain, and also allowed the writers to show the heroes from a new perspective, as they end up focusing on smaller stories that take part in the grand event. This set-up creates a vehicle for telling stories that can explore the characters in new ways.

-Batman Inc #1–8, Leviathan Strikes! #1, Batman Inc v2 #0–13, Special #1

One of the defining characteristics of Grant Morrisons run on Batman was his stated goal to make all Batman comics canon. He would try to rationalise and reinterpret every weird thing that had ever happened to the caped crusader, as well as try to revisit loose ends and ideas that he found interesting that had been forgotten. Batman Incorporated was one such loose end. The story has Bruce Wayne deciding to set up his own franchise, arranging for an organisation of Batmen to protect every major city around the world! A long and epic book that tries to do something a bit new.

-Legends of the Dark Knight #32-#34

Set during the early days of Batman's crusade, "Blades" involves the appearance of a new costumed adventurer "The Cavalier" a suave Zorro-like hero with a sword. The iconography of this new hero holds some symbolism for Bruce as he was a big fan of Zorro as a child (The Mark of Zorro was the movie the Wayne's saw before their death) so he decides to give this new hero a proper chance, instead choosing to focus his efforts on apprehending a killer of the elderly. Writer James Robinson and artist Tim Sale produce a beautiful work here, with some of Sale's best art on show.

-Batman and Robin #1-#6

Dick Grayson takes on the role of batman and teams up with an unpredictable new robin, Bruce's son Damian in this brilliant book from Grant Morrison. The two characters go up against a sinister villain named Professor Pyg in his first current day appearance (the character had previously appeared in a story set in the future). Pyg has formulated a method of lobotomising people that results in their complete enslavement. An exciting story, and the Dick/Damian partnership represents a new and interesting dynamic for the comic.

-Detective Comics Annual #2

Blood Secrets opens with Bruce bursting in on a mysterious man living in Huntsville. From here he narrates a story of how the two met many years previously, before he had become Batman. Bruce was in Huntsville trying to make contact with an esteemed investigator named Harvey Harris hoping to be mentored under his wing. The two of them end up investigating a string of murders together. One of Mark Waid's earlier works, Blood Secrets touches on the subject of racial persecution, and the lengths to which people are driven to compromise their morals in an effort to get vengeance at all costs, an important message for Bruce during this point in his life.

-Batman v2 #1-11

Batman starts an investigation into a shadowy group called the "Court of Owls" after an assassin tries to kill him. As the story unfolds he begins to uncover grand conspiracies that have been taking place under our hero's nose for decades and a very old, very sinister organisation pulling the strings. Court of Owls is an absorbing story full of intrigue and mystery, its artwork is finely detailed and it does much to add to the rich history of Gotham. Writer Scott Snyder has used this winning formula for many plots, but it was definitely at its best and most engrossing here.

-Batman #47

After witnessing a crash Batman and Robin stumble onto a smuggling racket, and following an investigation of the involved company's owner Bruce recognises the man as the murderer of his parents all those years ago. The Origin of Batman expands of the short two page origin laid out in Detective Comics #33 and finally gives Bruce some closure. Another important early step in the progression of Batman's backstory.

-Batman and the Monster Men #1-#6

Another great story from Matt Wagner that is set during Batman's first year on the job. Batman and the Monster Men retells the tale of the first appearance of Hugo Strange, one of Batman's earliest recurring foes (Strange originally appeared in 1940 in the same issue as the Joker). In the story, Hugo Strange has created his own man-eating monsters to do his bidding, often to gruesome ends. Wagner carefully plots out the story, even going so far as to plan out its plot details to fit in with other heralded Batman stories such as Year One.

-Batman #655–658

Grant Morrison's acclaimed Batman run starts here, and he's messing with the status quo right out of the gate. Batman and Son introduces us to Bruce's dangerous and unpredictable son Damian, the product of the tryst between him and Talia Al Ghul that took place during "Son of the Demon" (an encounter that had been subsequently swept under the carpet). In keeping with Morrisson's mission to make all Batman stories canon he brought back the idea and ran with it. Damian is an volatile, engaging character and its good to see a Batman that's out of his element.

-Superman & Batman: Generations #1-#4

This is an epic elseworlds story from John Byrne, known for his momentous run as artist and co-writer with Chris Claremont on X-Men. The book follows the lives of Batman and Superman as they get older, find love and eventually have children of their own, with each chapter of the book jumping forward by ten years. As the characters age so too does the world in which they live, each age is also cleverly done in the style of the comics of the era in which they are set, with Byrne's love for the history of these characters plainly on show. Its a great book that offers us a glimpse into how these characters would grow and age, something that we will probably never get within the confines of the main continuity.