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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 3, 2009 18:25:24 GMT -5
Listed are some very important graphic novels all of which I have never read. I hope to read all of them eventually. But I want you loyal Batfans to vote for your favorite so I know where to start. Not all of them are specifically Batman books, I know but please tolerate their inclusion in this poll as I would like to see how they stack up.
Sincerely,
Kilowog52
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Post by All Star Batman on Jan 3, 2009 22:37:58 GMT -5
Uh, wow, you listed alot of good stories. I'll go through all of it to see what I think the best is.
Batman: Hush or Hush Returns -
Hush is a great story with awesome art by Jim Lee. But Hush Returns, you can just ignore that. Neither Loeb or Lee were a part of that one and it wasn't that good.
Batman: Year One, Year Two, or Year One Hundred -
Year One is a must-read and must-have, since it gave alot of inspiration to Batman Begins and helped spring up the idea of Legends of the Dark Knight, which gave us many more great story. Year Two isn't a necessity since parts of it were retconned. I haven't read Year One Hundred, but I've heard good things on it.
Batman: No Man's Land -
I can not imagine a Batman collection without this. Hope you have enough money for all 5 volumes.
Batman and the Mad Monk/Batman and the Monster Men -
Matt Wagner is great writer and awesome artist, especially on Batman. I have both and it's a must-have
Batman: Vampire Trilogy -
Even though it's an elseworlds, it's one of the best, creepiest, and kind of scariest stories I've read. Crimson Mist is probably the best of the three, plus it features a great scene where...well I don't want to give anything away.
Batman: Bruce Wayne- Fugitive -
Good story but not one of the best.
Batman: The Long Halloween or Dark Victory -
Now these two are one of the Batman stories of all time and another must-have to Batman fans. If you like these, get Haunted Knight as well. It's also by Loeb and Sale
Batman: War Games -
The only good thing from this was when Spoiler died, but she's back now, so who cares?
Haven't read Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity or Kingdom Come but I've heard good things.
But if I could only pick one, Year One would be the best choice.
Let me make some other recommendations:
The Dark Knight Returns
Knightfall
Strange Apparitions
Just to name a few, let me know if you want more.
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Post by svengali1337 on Jan 3, 2009 23:51:09 GMT -5
I would also choose year one out of the ones on the list. For a bunch of reasons that I'm too tried to explain... --_--
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Post by jlavaia on Jan 4, 2009 2:03:24 GMT -5
you know that not one of the things listed is actually a graphic novel. you should modify the title to be best Batman TPB. also, some of the things listed were collected into multiple volumes, such as NML and Hush. are you referring to the actual entire stories, which were story arcs from the regular comic series, or are you referring to the collected volumes (and if so which volumes are the ones that are listed in the poll?)?
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clownprince1
Legions of Gotham Police Officer
Why so Serious?
Posts: 114
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Post by clownprince1 on Jan 4, 2009 9:31:20 GMT -5
The Long Halloween/Dark Victory are two great tales but three other favorites would be: The Killing Joke The Dark Knight Returns The Joker (new graphic novel)  |
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Post by batman1973 on Jan 4, 2009 9:40:10 GMT -5
All Good titles.
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clownprince19
Gotham Tourist
DONT BE SO PREDICTABLE THIS IS HIS REAL FACE!
Posts: 14
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Post by clownprince19 on Jan 8, 2009 7:18:54 GMT -5
Gotta be Long Halloween... "Two shots too the head...if you ask me it couldn't of happened too a nicer guy..." now thats awesome cool... EDIT: I'm laughing at myself for writing awesome cool... |
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Post by havedunter74 on Jan 8, 2009 7:41:35 GMT -5
All star Batman, you should read Kingdom Come, it is a fanatstic piece of comic writing and the art is awesome.
You guys forgot Son of the Demon
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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 12, 2009 6:19:44 GMT -5
So I bought a bunch of these books and decided I'd start at the beginning. That's right, I just finished reading Batman: Year One. And I did not care for it. I did not care for the artwork. It was a different style than they usually use at DC nowadays. I don't appreciate them making Selina Kyle and Holly Robinson black. And overall there was no plot. And I think there is so much more story they could have told. Talk about incomplete. Next I think I'll read the Long Halloween. That's all I have to say.
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Post by jlavaia on Jan 12, 2009 10:20:21 GMT -5
So I bought a bunch of these books and decided I'd start at the beginning. That's right, I just finished reading Batman: Year One. And I did not care for it. I did not care for the artwork. It was a different style than they usually use at DC nowadays. I don't appreciate them making Selina Kyle and Holly Robinson black. And overall there was no plot. And I think there is so much more story they could have told. Talk about incomplete. Next I think I'll read the Long Halloween. That's all I have to say. you must have a read a different book then everyone else because Selina and Holly were both white in that story. i dont know if you got a defectve copy or if you were reading something else and just assumed it was Year One. also Catwoman's part in Year One was retconned, but she was caucasian. she had black hair, but she always has had black hair. |
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Post by Batlaw on Jan 12, 2009 17:40:03 GMT -5
Funny, Ive heard and read countless fans question and argue over Selina's race as she appears in Year One for many years now. I know in my original Year One issues, my HC copy, my TPB, and even in a digital copy, Selina looks the same in each... racially "ambiguous" in all. She could easily be (and often has been) confused for or considered black in Batman: Year One.
Similarly to how Harvey Dent / Two-Face appeared in BTAS.
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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 13, 2009 16:26:25 GMT -5
So I finished The Long Halloween. And it was really, really, really good. What a page turner! I could not put it down. Next I think I will read Batman and the Mad Monk.
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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 14, 2009 11:01:14 GMT -5
I finished reading Batman and the Mad Monk and it was good but not nearly as good as The Long Halloween. Unfortunately I did not have Batman and the Monster Men to read beforehand, but I don't think that hurt me any. Those are the only three listed books that I got. The other two are two that ClownPrince1 reccomended, The Killing Joke, and The Dark Knight Returns. I think I will read The Killing Joke next.
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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 15, 2009 17:47:14 GMT -5
So I read The Killing Joke and my biggest surprise: it was really short. You can't fit much story into something that short so it really wasn't that good. Batman didn't even have to track down the Joker with fancy detective skills, he got sent an invitation. I'm sorta let down.
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Post by batfan93 on Jan 16, 2009 9:51:06 GMT -5
I only have 3 Batman graphic novels: Son of the Demon, Year Two and the Judge Dredd crossover - Judgement on Gotham and I think they are all pretty good. Especially Son of the Demon. Last night I ordered Year One and Arkham Asylum! Can't wait for them to arrive.
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Post by kilowog52 on Jan 23, 2009 16:01:10 GMT -5
I finished reading the Dark Knight Returns. And I must admit, it was very hard to get into. But once I finally got into it, it was so good i couldn't put it down. The Long Halloween was my favorite, though, so I ordered Dark Victory.
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Post by Batlaw on Jan 23, 2009 21:41:32 GMT -5
Kingdom Come is a must and IMO the best piece period from your list. Although its not just a Batman book.
Trinity IMO has been decent but mostly an inconsistant laborious read.
Year 100 isnt all its cracked up to be IMO.
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Shadow
Legions Of Gothamite
Posts: 40
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Post by Shadow on May 19, 2009 8:47:37 GMT -5
The Long Halloween and Dark Victory for me.
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Post by batman1973 on May 19, 2009 16:17:07 GMT -5
There were a few that really stood out for me: Gotham by Gaslight and Master of the Future, Haunted Gotham, As the Crow Flies, and Gotham County Line.
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Post by havedunter74 on May 20, 2009 9:29:12 GMT -5
Totally agree Batlaw, Year 100 was not very good at all.
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Post by thewacker on May 25, 2009 15:42:11 GMT -5
I would have to say Long Halloween graphically it looks great and the story kept me on the edge of my seat.
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Post by havedunter74 on May 26, 2009 7:43:43 GMT -5
My all time favourites are The killing Joke, The Dark Knight Returns and Digital Justice.
Digital Justice not really for the story but for the innovation of doing a computer generated Graphic Novel.
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Post by batfan93 on May 26, 2009 12:48:48 GMT -5
I haven't read a lot of Batman Graphic Novels ( I started getting my hands on them this year), but from what I have, which is what I've read, I think I like "Son of the Demon" the best. "Year One" was so over-rated. In my opinion "Year Two" and the "Full Circle" sequel were much, much better.
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Post by Eric on May 26, 2009 15:28:20 GMT -5
Sorry, this is just a pet peeve of mine, but as jlavaia said, the entire list are trade paperbacks, not Graphic Novels. Graphic Novels are stand alone stories, told in one book, that are not a part of the regular monthly title in which they are being told. Trade paperbacks are the collected issues of a story arc or mini series. This is a common misconception that Ive seen for many, many years that the term "graphic novel" is a generic term for a bound story. Just not the case.
Anyway, my favorite GN's are Son of the Demon, and Gotham by Gaslight.
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Post by batfan93 on May 27, 2009 8:56:25 GMT -5
I've got my eye on Gotham by Gaslight and am planning to get it off eBay as soon as I get my scholarship.
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Post by kilowog52 on May 31, 2009 13:49:49 GMT -5
So I read Kingdom Come and it was okay but not great.
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Post by Batlaw on Jun 2, 2009 15:43:37 GMT -5
Son of the Demon and Arkham Asylum were good
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Post by kilowog52 on Jun 17, 2009 4:46:31 GMT -5
Okay. I've worked up a few questions that maybe some of you can clear up for me.
1. Are Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and other such books part of mainstream DCU continuity or are they Elseworlds or something?
2. I try to arrange my TPB's on the shelf in the order they happened in continuity and I recently purchsed both volumes of the original Batman: Hush. I assume they take place between A Death in the Family and Aztek: The Ultimate Man. If I am wrong, please tell me.
3. I can't seem to figure out what volume issues 11-15 of the current Outsiders series are collected in. Does anybody know where they are?
4. I know Cassandra Cain's mother is Lady Shiva, and her father is David Cain, but I also know one or both of them might be adoptive parents rather than biological parents. Who are her biological parents and who are her adoptive parents?
Thanks
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Post by All Star Batman on Jun 17, 2009 12:14:46 GMT -5
Okay. I've worked up a few questions that maybe some of you can clear up for me. 1. Are Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and other such books part of mainstream DCU continuity or are they Elseworlds or something? 2. I try to arrange my TPB's on the shelf in the order they happened in continuity and I recently purchsed both volumes of the original Batman: Hush. I assume they take place between A Death in the Family and Aztek: The Ultimate Man. If I am wrong, please tell me. 3. I can't seem to figure out what volume issues 11-15 of the current Outsiders series are collected in. Does anybody know where they are? 4. I know Cassandra Cain's mother is Lady Shiva, and her father is David Cain, but I also know one or both of them might be adoptive parents rather than biological parents. Who are her biological parents and who are her adoptive parents? Thanks 1. Yes they are part of the mainstream DCU. 2. It does take place way after A Death in the Family. 3. It hasn't been collected yet. 4. Cain and Shiva are her real parents. |
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Post by jlavaia on Jun 17, 2009 14:51:41 GMT -5
and to expand, Year One is not in continuity and Bruce Wayne is the adoptive father to Cassandra Cain and Hush takes place after both A Death In The Family and the Aztek series.
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