The best Batman story for me is The Long Halloween. I love the mystery and detective work

For me its Year One, Long Halloween, and Dark Victory (with a bonus Man Who Laughs). I see these books as a trilogy of one complete story. With Year One being the beginning, Man Who Laughs as being the 1.5, Long Halloween being the middle, and Dark Victory being the end. From there Batman's world expands into whatever comes next but those 3(4) stories start the journey all together.

My favorite Single Issue of a Batman comic was after Damian died there was an issue where there was no dialog or narration, just Batman doing this nightly routine occasionally seeing his dead son beside him. And at the end when he sees Damian's note and then he smashes the lockers and holds Damian's costume. God damn.

For me it’s 1. The Dark Knight returns 2. The killing joke 3. Year one 4. The long Halloween 5. The court of owls 6. Hush 7. Under the red hood 8. Black Mirror 9 knightfall 10. No mans land

Batman Court of Owls/Night of Owls is my favorite. I love story and the way everything looks. It also was the story that really sold me on reading comics

Since you put "The Long Halloween" on your Essentials List, I would add "Dark Victory" as one of mine. It gives a great continuing story to the fallout of what happened to Harvey, Batman, and Jim Gordon as well as the origin of Robin (Dick Grayson).

The Dark Knight Returns got me into comics. I still remember pulling it off the library shelf when I was 11. Definitely my favorite of all time. Followed by Batman Year one.

I personally Love "The Laughing Fish" story and think it is one of the best Joker stories of all time.

I think I would rank my top favorites like this 1 The dark knight returns 2 under the red hood 3 killing joke 4 death of the family 5 knightfall 6 year one

Turning on your videos while I work has become one of the best part of my days. Thank you, ComicPOP, for allowing this 20 something overworked designer to stay interested in our favorite heroes.

This just reminded me of a bunch of Back Issues I gotta rewatch.

I really like these lists. I hope to see more of these. Personally, Black Mirror, Gothic, and Dark Knight Returns are currently my three favorite Batman books.

The Son of the Demon by O'Neill and Adams was my entry into Batman and will always be one of my favorites(along with O'Neill and the late great Marshall Rogers on Detective Comics). I also think the Doug Moench and Norm Breyfogle runs were pretty terrific.

This is hands down my favorite format for the countdowns. I love having so many reading suggestions!

Court of the owls is the best Batman story for me,the art was amazing and Snyder's script brought Gotham to life

The Long Halloween is probably the best Batman story of all time due to its quality, it's like you say it has everything you can want in a Batman story and it's art is cinematic and it captures the setting of Gotham better than any other Batman book I think.

What about Dark Victory? It's one of the greatest batman stories ever in my opinion

1. Long Halloween 2. Dark Victory 3. The Killing Joke 4. Arkham Asylum: A serious house on serious earth 5. Hush

Great work! I really liked G.Morrison's run on Batman, especially from 'Son of Batman' all the way to 'R.I.P.'

I'm not saying its better, but remember enjoying Dark Victory more than TLH

Long Halloween is my favorite Batman story of all time hands down.

The Long Halloween is the best.

Batman under the red hood was good

Thanks ComicPOP. Love your channel and you've helped me discover a whole lot of cool batman material. My personal top 10 Batman comics list: 1. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth 2. The Long Halloween 3. The Dark Knight Returns 4. The Black Mirror 5. The Killing Joke 6. Year One 7. The Court of Owls 8. Dark Victory 9. The Man Who Laughs 10. Death of the Family

I remember, when I was getting into comics, I put off TDKR for a long time due to criticism it got for being overrated, but when I finally got to it, I loved. It's art works for me in a unique way that fits with the tone of the story. Top 3 for me.

Strange Apparitions is so underrated!!

My top Batman Books: The Dark Knight Returns The Long Halloween Dark Victory Killing Joke Court of Owls Black and White Vol 1 Earth One series Hush Batman and the Monster Men Gotham By Gaslight Batman and Son Son of the Demon Red Rain Mask of The Phantasm(Kinda cheating but deserves mentioning)

No "Batman: Year 100" (by Paul Pope)! Come on!!! A great concept, greatly executed! Really a masterpiece of comic book storytelling (either someone likes the art or not).

Arkham Asylum is my favorite Batman story of all time

The first Batman story I read was The Dark Knight returns when I was 4 in 2001. I haven’t read one that I enjoy more than that. I always go back to it at least a few times a year. And the animated movie adaptation is amazing too

If you haven't read it, I highly recommend "Blind Justice" by Sam Hamm, for the 600th issue of Detective Comics in 1989. Hamm is a screenwriter (see Tim Burton's Batman). For his comic arc, Hamm did NOT go for the predictable Joker story, or an "all the rogues gallery getting together to take Batman out" plot. Instead he creates a conspiracy within Wayne Technologies, compelling Bruce Wayne and Batman to make choices, and accept consequences, that must be lived with. Hamm's story is also based on science (even if it is science fiction, but no magic, supernatural, etc), and morality, which make the best stories imo, and it explores some of the true costs of being Batman, how Bruce Wayne reinforces his obsessive focus and motivation almost daily, and the price he pays for it.

I'm so damn glad a Lonely place of dying was on this. It just never gets enough love

My personal favorite is The Lomg Halloween. It features the origin to my (ironically) second favorite Batman villain in Two-Face. It's wide and expansive enough to be a city wide story about Gotham in general but also secluded enough to make you keep guessing who Holiday really is. And to this day, even the answers to certain questions lead to more questions. The Dark Knight Returns might be better in terms of a narrower Batman story. But The Long Halloween has a big roster of unforgettable characters that are hardly ever used anymore in comics. Even the little april fools joke with Riddler is priceless. The art style isn't for everyone. But neither is Arkham Asylum: a Serious House on Serious Earth's art style. But I also consider that a personal favorite. There are so many great Batman comics that even the best of the best rival eachother in their strengths.

One of my absolute favorite Batman stories are the vampire Batman trilogy.

The Dark Knight Returns is my favorite, it was actually the first comic I ever read when I was a kid.

Great list, Batman Court/City of the Owls is my number one. It was the book that got me hooked on comics. Love how it pushes Batman to his limits against an awesome villian that he can barely handle.

Earth One is really really good

Can you do the same for Superman.

My favorite batman story is batman dark victory

I love how after every recommendation he finishes by saying ...its not that great.

I plan on reading The Long Halloween and Dark Victory back-to-back

Add: Strange Apparitions, Red Rain, Year 100, No Man's Land, Son of the Demon, Mad Love, Batmanandson-blackglove-Rip, Batman and Robin (Morrison), Born to Kill, New Gotham, Detective Comics 777-786 (Brubaker), Gotham Central, Eye of the Beholder (Helfer), Prey, Monster Men (Wagner), Gothic, Tales of the demon (Ras al ghul saga), Batman 1 (Finger), Annual 2 (King), Night of the Stalker. Not for me: snyder (except The Black Mirror), g jhons, knightfall.

My personal favorite Batman story is Year One because it actually my first Batman book.

The Long Halloween is number one for me because I love Batman more as a human being who has fears, loves, regrets etc. like animated series' Batman. I hate all of Frank Miller's Batman I get what he did was revolutionary but I don't like my Batman as an always brooding crazy asshole. Thanks for the video Sal you are Amazing.

Year one was the first comic book i ever read and i still to this day hold it up to be the best batman story

Comicpop is my go to channels for all comic past and current related goodness. I like this segment. Sal I enjoy your insights, please do more of these videos!

Comics are great. While there are some that are really bad, there are gems like some of the comics in this video. Heck, there's a shelf in the library at my university that has some of the best comics ever on it. Long Halloween, Dark Knight Returns, Dark Victory, The Killing Joke, and Black Mirror are there, along with Marvels, Marvel 1602, Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V For Vendetta, Sin City, and many more. Just goes to show that while comics are considered entertainment for kids, there are plenty of great ones, which anyone of any age can read and enjoy.

I agree with your list. Court of owls is probably my favorite. I would request this as a permanent rotation show. Just expand to spiderman, x-men (which is so convoluted i dont know what to read), captain america, wonder woman, superman, ect on and on. You guys all rock and deserve everything you have earned.

Am I the only one who've never disagreed with Sal? I've never had an opposing opinion to his, I honestly love this channel!

Some underrated stories I wanna add: Batman: Absolution Eye of Beholder Birth of Demon Son of Demon Strange Apparations Dark Detective Monster Men Batman Noel

My Personal Top 7 7: Death of the Family 6: Dark Victory 5: The Court of Owls 4: Year One 3: Earth One Vol. 1 & 2 2: The Dark Knight Returns 1: The Long Halloween

I just want to say you've really have been doing great work, Sal and the rest of Comic Pop. The new studio makes it so you guys can really ramp up quality, and make it the best it can be. That said you guys have ALWAYS been great (at least from the stuff I've seen), and the various changes through the years all have their special moments. But it just feels like we're getting more and more shows and videos of various types from you guys, and they are all great. You're really hitting it out of the ball park. Thanks for every single thing you guys do, each and every day. Now on to my favorite Batman stories: I have to throw in Year One and The Dark Knight Returns. Both of them carry the best of the best for the Millerverse. They show a darker Batman, and one that has growth, power, and experience. They show the beginning and pretty much the end of his cycle. You could cut out everything else from the saga and be fine. It is a story that shows the best look at who Batman is. I also absolutely adore Venom, those D.A.R.E. style comics always are hit and miss but seeing Batman give everything and still fail only and have to come back is a story as old as time. But it's good as it always was. I love Black Mirror, Jock has some of the best art in the entire business..and Dick's version of Batman is good at everything Bruce wasn't but still has flaws and cracks at the seams. I love love LOVE: "Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?" - the ideas it brings just mmf, it's so incredible. I love it every time. There's also: Speeding Bullets, and the Vampire trilogy, they are some fine Elseworld's stories and I think we can all admit we have our favorites if you guys have been reading them before. These are just SOME of my favorite Batman titles. Sorry for writing a book...

1. Year One 2. Endgame (please don't kill me) 3. Gotham By Gaslight 4. Killing Joke 5. Black Mirror

Grant Morrisons run of Batman & Robin was amazing

1. Long Halloween 2. Court Of Owls 3. Black Mirror 4. Year One 5. Killing Joke 6. Arkham Asylum 7. Prey

I really like this video style! And it's perfect to send to a friend who wants to get into Batman.

This is why I love comic pop I love this take on the top ten reads genre video

Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison! One of the best run i of batman i ever read!

Dark Night: A True Batman Story might not be for everyone, but I found it to be great. Really easy to overlook but well worth reading.

No Man's Land is one of my favorites. Concept is ridiculous when you actually think about it, but the execution was so well done.

This is an awesome video, Sal. Great list. The ebst Batman story for me? Issue 320. Just a nice, simple story of Batman dealing witha sniper and thinking about an argument he had with his father.

Great job Sal! Writing a few of these down that I haven't read. Love this and the Spider-Man video. I'd love to see you do SuperMan next.

Great lists, Sal. I was totally stoked to see that you did this topic, as I wrote a question, for the 50k celebration episode, about this very topic. My wife loves Batman, but never read the comics. So I created a Batman book club for us, so she could get some incite into the world of the dark knight. And I'm pleased to say that you suggested some additional titles that I hadn't thought of. I'll be sure to add them to our syllabus. So, thank you for this and all your other amazing content. I love the channel. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've never read a batman comic and this is a great reference point. Again thanks Sal and Comic Pop!

Batman and Robin written by Grant Morrison and Peter J Tomasi

Solid lists sal! Always love to see your opinions on comics and hear your breakdowns. I agree with all the books you put on here, great work man! Been a fan for 3 years now

My favorite batman story has to be death of the family. I know most people like it but don't love it, yet the first time I read it my jaw dropped on separate occasions. It's so twisted and sick that it makes you want to read more, yet not want it to end.

I really enjoyed how you broke down the list…and I love the inclusion of Batman Venom. Great book!

VENOM is one of my favourites.

One of my favourites is Batman: Jekyll & Hyde

My favorite Batman story so far would have to be a toss up between Batman TDKR and Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin where Dick Grayson takes up the cowl. But i've just only started reading comics 2-3 years ago so i've got a bit of catching up to do.

Love splitting it into three sections Sal! Continuing to do these for a bunch of other characters would be awesome

Now if I want to show people how awesome/informative ComicPOP is I can show them this!

My number one favorite Batman comic ever is Year One. Why? Because it's a timeless character study on Batmans and Gordon's dynamic and what motivates and makes each character tick. Why they do what they do. Who they are and why they have such a mutual respect for eachother.

Great video! Idea and execution. Very good work.

I would like to add Grant Morrison's entire Batman run to this list, it's just so awesome, it basically inspired every Scott Snyder book from Court of Owls to DC Metal, but the thing that makes Grant's run even better than Scott's is that execution of the very idea of Batman as a character.

10.arkham asylum a serious house on a serious earth 9.black mirror 8.court of owls/city of owls 7.dark victory 6.no man's land 5.under the red hood 4.long Halloween 3.year one 2.killing joke 1.dark knight returns

Great vid! I love Batman & I think Snyder/Capulo's run was amazing! Loved all of their stuff! Too many good Batman stories to choose from lol

Batman RIP is my favorite Batman story. Really the whole Grant Morrison bat epic is my favorite, but as a single book RIP is my perfect depiction of the bat.^_^

Love these recommendation lists. There's a lot on here I still need to buy and read.

I think soon we'll look back on victim syndicate from Tynion as a number 7 either in concept or on the solid story list depending on how fondly you liked that ark. I think it's personally some of the best work Tynon has done with Batman so far

Of course some stories that came out decades ago are going to be dated, but good writting is being able to craft a story that can be meaningful no matter whether it's read 50 years before it came out or 50 years later.

I recently got 'back in' -to comics. 20 years ago I was a Marvel man. Dabbled in Superman, but mainly I was Marvel. F4 and Avengers. Recently, I don't know why, perhaps a yearning for simpler times, but I felt the need to dive into comics again. And I don't know if it's maturity or Nolan or What- but... Batman came calling. Why haven't I read any Batman comics before? WHY?! What the heck have I been doing.... suffice to say, I've seen.... The Light.... (I was going to put "The Dark" but thought that would be obvious), and I have EMBRACED a character I have loved on the big screen, but have never read on the Big Paper. Your list has helped me identify where to start. And Long Halloween and Hush are superb. But it is THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS that awoke my comic book self. I think it's the best comic I've ever read. It hasn't aged. It is compelling, and entirely perfect. And that is coming from someone who has never read a Batman comic before. So, thank you for the recommendation. :)

Love these types of videos, keep up the good work!

Earth one is great but the one I havent read but plan to start tomorrow is now "THE LONG HALLOWEEN"

batman year 100 is my favorite

I first watched this video a year or two ago and it helped me a lot getting into batman comics so thanks!

My Top 7: Black Mirror, No Man's Land (everything dealing with it), Under the Red Hood, Long Halloween (I also put Dark Victory and Year One with it, as they are my head-cannon of Batman's origin), Death in the Family, Court of Owls, and a Lonely Place for Dying.

in no particular order -Dark Knight Returns -10 Nights of the Beast -The Cult -Swamp Thing #7 (first series w/Bernie Wrightson art) -Neal Adams art on original Man-Bat stuff -story ending in Detective #526(all issues leading up to in Batman & Detective by Gerry Conway & Don Newton with other artists. I love Don Newton's art on Batman. Story has first Jason Todd & Killer Croc. -Batman vs the Hulk(Jose luis Garcia Lopez art) There are a lot of honorable mentions from the Brave & the Bold with Jim Aparo art. SGT Rock and Green Lantern team ups come to mind.

My top 3 are obvious, but at #4 I have The Cult. It kept me highly entertained throughout, from the inner workings and execution of Blackfire's plan, to Batman's internal struggle. Gritty, well executed, one of the best batman stories I have ever read.

So, here's my opinion. The first seven: Knightfall - Very fun, nothing amazing. Really liked that Batman fought almost his entire rogues gallery, although the story was a bit too long. 4/5 Venom - Great concept, OK story. I mean, Batman fights a freaking shark. 3/5 Death of the Family - It was a good story. Quite enjoyable, but I would never call it one of the best. 3.5/5 Hush - It was very fun and very good looking. Sure, it's not as good as The Long Halloween, but it was also a really solid mystery ( With a somewhat weird ending ). Just out of enjoyment, I'd give it 4/5 A Death in the Family - It got kinda goofy, but it's very important to the Batman mythos. A must read. 3.5/5 The Last Arkham - I haven't read it, but I'm planing to. Sounds like a good concept, so I'll check it out. I don't know/5 Zero Year - I liked The Riddler in this story. Otherwise, it's a good new origin, nothing too great. 3.5/5 The "solid" Batman books: A Lonely Place of Dying - I liked some elements of it, but Robin has never been my thing. 3.5/5 Earth One - One of my favorites. I really like the new origin. The art is fantastic and the story is probably my favorite origin ( Yes, I liked it more than Year One ). 4.5/5 Whatever Happened to the Capped Crusader - Again, haven't read it. Sounds cool and it is in my to buy list. Sounds cool/5 The Man Who Laughs - As you said, just a plain good story. Nothing amazing, nothing bad. 4/5 The Cult - One of my faves. Very dark and gritty. Great villain. I know Batman doesn't really act like Batman, but I found this to be a great story. 4.5/5 Gotham by Gaslight - I haven't read this one, but just from the concept, I give it a 4/5. Joker by Azzarello - I liked that it was told from the perspective of one of Joker's henchmen and that it didn't involve too much Batman. Not my favorite version of the Joker, but a solid one nontheless. 4/5 The "best" Batman books: Arkham Asylum - Very... artsy. It's very original and dark, but not one of my favorites. 3.5/5 The Black Mirror - Probably my favorite Batman book. I could just go on and on about why I love it so much. 5/5 The Killing Joke - Quite possibly the best Joker story, it just gets everything right. Amazing, but not pretentious. Only reason I don't give it a full 5/5 rating is because I don't like the Joker having an origin. I know it's interpretable but still. 4.5/5 Year One - Very solid origin. Really liked the Jim Gordon part, but it's not an amazing story, for me. 4/5 The Long Halloween - A great mystery story ( Again, with a weird ending. Hell, one could say Jeph Loeb is not so good at writing endings ). But you know what they say, it's about the journey, not the destination. And this one's journey was fantastic. 4.5/5 The Court of Owls - Haven't read and while the concept doesn't sound this amazing, it's definitely on my list. The Dark Knight Returns - A controversial opinion, but I found this book highly overrated. The new Robin was unsympathetic and not well developed, the Joker was very un-Jokery, Superman wasn't all that great, the art was horrible and those news sequences got unbearable. A terrific concept and some influence over the Batman we know today ( I'm saying some, because I don't think this is the first dark Batman book ), but not such a good story ( In my opinion ). 2.5/5 This is my opinion. I know it's very strange and unpopular, but everybody's entitled to his own. Please, tell me your rating of these books.

My first batman comics was the Court of Owls and I’d recommend it for anyone who’s just getting into batman comics or superhero comics in general.

Based on Batmans rogues 1.Joker The Devils Advocate 2.Riddler Dark Knight Dark City 3.Bane Legacy 4. Madness Mad hatter 5. Mudpack Clayface 6. Batman RIP The Black Glove 7. Ras Tower of Babel while it is a JLA story its the story that gives us uber prep time Batman. And while not the greatest or even the best i feel these stories convey Batman and his rogues in a positive light plus i wanted to pick some fans might of not heard of from the usual top list Thanks for the Best of Batman Sal you have solid taste in the Bat Mythos

love the format! hopefully you'll do it for Superman someday!

If I had to write my own top seven it might go a bit like this: 1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (BTAS and Batman Adventures in general) by various 2. Batman: Detective by Paul Dini (kinda cheating since it's a trade full of stories) 3. Batman: No Man's Land by various 4. Batman: New Gotham by Greg Rucka 5. Batman: The Court of the Owls by Scott Snyder 6. Batman: The Black Glove by Grant Morrison 7. Batman and Robin: Born to Kill by Peter Tomasi

Hey guys! I love the channel and I just wanna say I really appreciate this reading list and I was hoping you guys could talk about sidekicks and how those characters have grown over the years from being just more than that somehow (robin, aqualad, ect).

Loeb & Sale’s Long Halloween might be my favorite. The complete Under The Red Hood run with the return of Jason Todd captivated me unlike any other & was my first Batman graphic novel. Haunted Knight while only being 3 issues long is so so so so amazing and more than a great prelude to Long Halloween. Miller & Mazucchelli’s Year One is my favorite origin telling of Batman. And The Dark Knight Returns will always be fucking classic

Court of owls was the first comic were I really started to understand and like the character of batman.

Haven’t watched Comicpop in a long ass time. Watching your videos again makes me wish I made time for your videos. This was a great video

This video was a good “concept” but could have been executed better XD