Batman is one of the oldest and greatest super-heroes in existence, along with his supporting cast having been handled by more writers and artists than probably any other comic book character throughout history. His mythos has been adapted into many different settings and genres and even time periods. There are many different sides to the character and interpretations of his personality and motivations. Having been published since Detective Comics #27 in 1939, it can be difficult to figure out where to start with Batman... this is a guide on which stories are good for readers unfamiliar to the character, and provides recommendations on great stories for experienced readers as well.

New readers

• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is Frank Miller's 1986 classic, an epic story set in a future where Bruce Wayne has long since retired, and triumphantly returns to the cowl in a new era that needs him more than ever and refuses to tolerate his attitude and presence.
• Batman: Dark Moon Rising is a two-part story written and illustrated by Matt Wagner about Batman's first confrontations with supernatural crime and horror, taking place in his first year as the caped crusader. Batman and the Monster Men introduces mad scientist Hugo Strange and his creatures, Batman and the Mad Monk has him fight an ancient vampire.
• Batman: Hush is a modern classic written by Jeph Loeb with artwork by Jim Lee, a conspiracy involving almost every member of Gotham's rogues, designed to strike at the heart of Bruce Wayne by a mysterious new enemy known as Hush.
• Batman: The Long Halloween is a story by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale set in Batman's earliest years, dealing with the change in Gotham's underworld from organized crime to costumed freaks and his earliest alliances in the war on crime, revolving around the search for a holiday-themed serial killer.
• Batman: The Man Who Laughs is Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke's one-shot graphic novel featuring Batman's first meeting with his greatest nemesis, the Joker.
• Batman: Year One is the definitive origin story, written by Frank Miller with artwork by Dave Mazzucchelli.

Further reading

• Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is a graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean depicting a more ethereal and cerebral interpretation of Batman, taking a look into his psyche when Arkham Asylum is taken over by its inmates.
• Arkham Asylum: Living Hell is a six-issue miniseries dealing with the characters and environment of Arkham Asylum, introducing Great White Shark as a man imprisoned there on a technicality who is slowly driven insane by the other inmates until he emerges into a new super-villain. The background is a chilling supernatural thriller, with only several appearances by the actual Batman family.
• Batgirl: Year One is the definitive origin story of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.
• Batman: A Death in the Family is the classic story of Batman's greatest failure, the tragedy of Robin's death at the Joker's hands. The four-part story by Jim Starlin with artwork by Jim Aparo was ground-breaking with its depiction of the brutal death of a popular character.
• Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying is the introductory arc of Tim Drake becoming the third Robin after the death of Jason Todd, discovering Batman's secret identity through his own detective work and fighting Two-Face for the first time.
• Batman: Battle for the Cowl is a story that takes place immediately after the disappearance of Bruce Wayne during Final Crisis, as Gotham City erupts in a massive crime-wave organized by the new Black Mask and the city's heroes struggle against each other to determine who is most worthy to continue the Batman legacy.
• Batman: Black and White is a collection of short stories written and illustrated by top talent from across the industry, told entirely in black and white to showcase the artistic talent.
• Batman: Blind Justice is a murder mystery involving mind control that revisits Bruce Wayne's early years in training while he's put on trial. Sam Hamm wrote the enduring tale looking at the man behind the mask as an anniversary piece for Detective Comics.
• Batman: Broken City is a gritty crime noir told in six issues by the award-winning team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, with Batman tracking down a murderer through the city's intrigue.
• Batman: Cacophony is a three-issue mini-series written by Kevin Smith as a spiritual successor to his earlier Green Arrow: Sounds of Violence, featuring the dark knight up against break-out villain Onomatopoeia and the Joker.
• Batman: Cataclysm is the story of a massive earthquake destroying Gotham City, with crossovers in every ongoing Batman volume leading directly into No Man's Land. The dark knight is pushed to his limits by the natural disaster, exhausting himself to save every life possible from a villain he cannot fight while everything he's ever worked for crumbles down around him.
• Batman: Child of Dreams is a beautiful Batman graphic novel originally published as a manga series by Japanese artist Kia Asamiya, with the caped crusader fighting in Tokyo against a lethal shape-shifting drug.
• Batman: City of Crime is a large story written by David Lapham that features Batman investigating a mystery leading into the heart of a strange drug ring.
• Batman: Contagion is a thematic prelude to No Man's Land, with Gotham City decimated by a deadly plague known as the Apocalypse Virus and Batman doing everything in his power to fights its spread and end the infections.
• Batman: The Cult is a four-part series by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson featuring a villain named Deacon Blackfire who organizes the homeless and takes over the city, using indoctrination techniques to break Batman mentally for the first time.
• Batman: Dark Detective is the sequel to Strange Apparitions, a return to the character after many years by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers.
• Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City is a very dark Riddler story where Batman is put through a number of trials organized to finish an ancient demon-summoning ritual organized by a conspiracy that involved Thomas Jefferson.
• Batman: Dark Victory is the sequel to The Long Halloween, a second maxi-series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. The story revolves around a new serial killer in Gotham named the Hangman murdering police officers, and takes place during the introduction of Robin.
• Batman: Death and the Maidens is an epic mini-series depicting the death of Ra's al Ghul and in-fighting between the League of Assassins, as two rival factions break out led by Talia al Ghul and Nyssa Raatko. Ra's would eventually be resurrected in Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul.
• Batman: Face the Face is a One Year Later story taking place after the missing year following Infinite Crisis, as Batman and Robin return to Gotham. Having left the reformed Harvey Dent in charge while they left to train around the world, their first big challenge is a murder mystery involving several small-time super-villains.
• Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is the original Elseworlds story by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, featuring a Victorian-era Batman hunting down Jack the Ripper.
• Batman: Gotham Underground is written as a companion piece to Salvation Run, depicting the power struggles in Gotham's crime structure when the Suicide Squad begins abducting the major villains and Intergang attempts to take over the Penguin's enterprises.
• Batman: Gothic is a five-issue story written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Klaus Janson involving an ethereal villain from Bruce's youth named Mister Whisper.
• Batman: Haunted Knight is a collection of Halloween specials written for Legends of the Dark Knight by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.
• Batman: Joker's Asylum is a series of one-shots by different creative teams each highlighting different members of Batman's rogues gallery.
• Batman: The Killing Joke is a classic graphic novel written by Alan Moore telling the definitive Joker's origin story and examining his motivations. In the modern day, Joker kidnaps James Gordon and cripples Batgirl, forcing Batman to chase him down in a circus.
• Batman: Knightfall is a massive trilogy featuring Batman's ultimate defeat at the hands of Bane, the rise of Azrael as the new Batman, and ending with the triumphant return of Bruce Wayne.
• Batman: The Last Arkham introduces several new villains as Batman is determined insane and locked up in the Asylum by Jeremiah Arkham, alongside his greatest enemies.
• Batman: No Man's Land was an epic year-long crossover between all of the character-related titles. Following the events of Contagion and Cataclysm, Gotham City becomes a desolate wasteland no longer part of the United States. Batman and his allies attempt to bring order into the lawless new society overrun by territorial gang warfare.
• Batman: Officer Down deals with the fallout of Commissioner Gordon getting shot by a mysterious assailant. Batman and the police work hard to figure out the assassin's identity as Gordon struggles in a coma.
• Batman: Red Rain is an Elseworlds story by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones that involves Batman fighting Dracula in a world of vampires.
• Batman: Rules of Engagement was the first story arc in Batman Confidential, written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Whilce Portacio. It details the first meeting of Batman and Lex Luthor.
• Batman: Son of the Demon is a graphic novel featuring Ra's al Ghul by Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham. Batman and Talia al Ghul consummate their marriage, resulting in the child Ibn al Xuffasch. This would later be used as the template for Batman and Son with the introduction of Damian Wayne, although the story was retconned out of continuity during Zero Hour.
• Batman: Strange Apparitions by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers is one of the classic definitive runs on Batman, a collected Bronze Age series.
• Batman: Tales of the Demon is a saga written by Dennis O'Neil that introduces the classic villain Ra's al Ghul.
• Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast is a four-issue story by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo introducing the deadly Soviet agent KGBeast as he comes to Gotham and attempts to assassinate President Reagan.
• Batman: Thrillkiller is an Elseworlds story that re-imagines Batgirl and Robin as part of 1960s-era counter-culture. Bruce Wayne, having lost his fortune, is a detective working for the police department.
• Batman: Turning Points is a mini-series that retells several of the most important pivotal moments in Batman's career and his relationship to Commissioner Gordon.
• Batman: Under the Hood is a Judd Winick story featuring the resurrection and return of Jason Todd as the new Red Hood after his murder during A Death in the Family and taking place during Black Mask's control of the city's criminal element.
• Batman: Venom is a memorable five-part storyline by Dennis O'Neil where Batman struggles with his human limitations after failing to save a young girl, and becomes reliant on super-steroids that briefly turn him into a broken drug addict.
• Batman: War Games is a big crossover story taking place in the aftermath of a violent shoot-out that leaves all of Gotham's major crime bosses dead. Batman and his team struggle to quell the chaos and rioting as every gang in the city attempts to take advantage of the power vacuum.
• Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? is Neil Gaiman's meta-fictional take on the death of the character, paying tribute to every era of his publication at the dark knight's funeral.
• Batman: Year 100 is a gritty Elseworlds set in a dystopian future written and illustrated by Paul Pope.
• Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood is a six-issue mini-series that revisits Huntress' origin story as she begins violently pursuing revenge for the murder of her parents. The Question makes a guest appearance.
• Bruce Wayne: Fugitive is a massive story that involves Bruce Wayne elaborately set up alongside his bodyguard and lover Sasha Bordeaux for the murder of Vesper Fairchild by an enemy who knows all of his secrets.
• Catwoman: When in Rome is a companion piece to The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, detailing several months Catwoman spent getting involved with the Italian mafia.
• Grant Morrison's Batman is an epic multi-year saga spanning several titles.

• Batman and Son is the beginning of Grant Morrison's run on the character, a four-part story where Batman must fight the League of Assassins while dealing with the revelation that he had a son with Talia al Ghul named Damian Wayne.
• The Clown at Midnight
• Three Ghosts of Batman
• Club of Heroes
• Batman in Bethlehem
• Batman R.I.P.
• Batman: Last Rites
• Final Crisis
• The Return of Bruce Wayne
• Batman and Robin
• Batman Incorporated

• Huntress: Year One is the definitive Huntress origin story, taking elements from Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood. She comes to Gotham City for the first time, meeting Batman and his allies.
• JLA: Tower of Babel is a story by Mark Waid showing how prepared Batman really is, when Ra's al Ghul steals and uses contingency plans he had created to defeat the entire Justice League in case any one of them ever turned evil.
• The Joker is a graphic novel by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo examining the Joker's mindset through the eyes of one of his closest henchmen.
• Many Deaths of the Batman revisits Bruce Wayne's origins as a killer begins murdering the many men who trained him and dressing them in Batman suits.
• The OMAC Project is part of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis following Identity Crisis, as Maxwell Lord uses Checkmate to take control of Batman's hero-monitoring satellite Brother Eye. His army of OMACs begin assaulting every hero on Earth.
• Two-Face: Year One is a retelling of Two-Face's origin story in two prestige format books.
• Untold Legend of the Batman is the definitive Pre-Crisis origin story on the character.

Single issues

• Batman: Ego
• Batman: Mad Love
• Batman #251 -- Joker's Five Way Revenge
• Batman #663 -- The Clown at Midnight
• Batman #666 -- Batman in Bethlehem
• Batman #700 -- Time and the Batman
• Batman Adventures #3 -- Joker's Late Night Lunacy
• Batman Annual #11 -- Mortal Clay
• Batman Annual #14 -- The Eye of the Beholder
• Batman Confidential #49 -- Work That's Never Done
• Batman Special #1 -- The Player on the Other Side
• Detective Comics #27 -- The Case of the Chemical Syndicate
• Detective Comics #457 -- There is No Hope in Crime Alley
• Detective Comics #572 -- The Doomsday Book
• Detective Comics #726 -- Fool's Errand
• Detective Comics #777 -- Dead Reckoning
• Detective Comics #787 -- Mimsy were the Borogoves
• Detective Comics #826 -- Slayride
• Detective Comics Annual #2 -- Blood Secrets
• Secret Origins Special #1 -- Original Sins