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Batman

Author: Multiple, originally conceived by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Volumes: Multiple stories across various timelines [click HERE if you want to be overwhelmed by the sheer list alone]

Publisher: DC [click HERE for DC Universe subscription service]

Starting in detective comics more than 80 years ago! Batman is in every way a fascinating character/ characters growth wise. At this stage, his history is so varied and rich with both the serious, and the surreal that it’s much harder to define who Batman is than you might think. We certainly feel like we have a pretty good idea these days, but you only have to cycle through every decade or so to be proven wrong time and again.

Personally I like my DC heroes to have rigid values that create opportunities for challenges and foils to ruffle a few feathers… or add creases to his cape, if you will? You won’t? Oh, fair enough! That’s my favorite kind of Batman though, similar to Superman, I enjoy his stories best when his enemies cut the corners that he personally can’t (regardless of how wacky or dark they get), I don’t even necessarily mean killing either, I just literally mean that he will never believe that being the hero despite the odds is a waste of time. Heroes work best when we can aspire to be them in some small way.

What irks me though is how many people read “the killing joke” and leave with the completely wrong message, made worse by certain films that perpetuate the message ignoring the actual ending of the story itself! Let’s get this out of the way, “all it takes is one bad day to become the Joker” is rubbish, the bloody plan falls through with Commissioner Gordon AND Batman himself, both characters managing to stay true to their principles despite the Joker trying some really messed up stuff.

For me, I’d highly recommend checking out anything Batman that takes your fancy. For me it’s mostly the stories that follow from “Batman: Year One” but his history as I’ve said is so out there and full of variety that you owe it to yourself to google it and find whatever grabs you.