In honor of the seventy-fifth anniversary of Batman, we're doing four straight months of polls having to do with Batman, culminating with the official 75th anniversary of Batman on July 23rd. We've done Batman covers, Batman characters, Batman creastors and now, finally, Batman stories!
You all voted, now here are the results of what you chose as the 75 Greatest Batman Stories! Here are #40-36!
Enjoy!
NOTE: Don't be a jerk about creators in the comments section. If you are not a fan of a particular creator, that's fine, but be respectful about it. No insulting creators or otherwise being a jerk about creators. I'll be deleting any comments like that and, depending on how jerky the comment was, banning commenters.
40. "Dark Knight, Dark City" (Batman #452-454)
In this storyline by Peter Milligan, Kieron Dwyer and Dennis Janke, the Riddler finds himself possessed by the demon Barbathos, who has a unique connection with the history of Gotham City...
How amazing was that time lapse sequence by Dwyer? Just outstanding. I love the slow burn on this story, as the Riddler's actions are just SLIGHTLY off until we realize why he is acting like such a maniac - the dude is possessed!
Grant Morrison directly used this story as the basis for the Return of Bruce Wayne.
39. "Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?" (Batman #290-294)
David V. Reed, John Calnan and Tex Blaisdell (talk about a veteran team of creators at the time) told this Canterbury Tales style story where Batman's greatest foes argue for the right to be deemed the TRUE killer of Batman...
It's such a clever idea that it really stands out, especially during a time period not known for its long-form stories.
38. Gotham by Gaslight
Brian Augustyn, Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell got together to give us the comic that pretty much launched the Elseworlds line of comics, as this graphic novel tells the story of Batman in the time of Jack the Ripper, with outstanding artwork from Mignola and Russell (a dream team if there ever was one)...
Go to the next page for #37-36!
37. "Gothic" (Legends of the Dark Knight #6-10)
Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson set Batman against a mysterious villain who is hunting down Gotham's crime bosses, although as it turns out, that's just him passing the time as he plans his REAL plan, which involves trying to trade the lives of everyone in Gotham City to Satan in exchange for extending his time on Earth. Yes, the main bad guy sold his soul to the devil years ago and has been trying to avoid paying up for centuries now, lasting from the Black Plague all the way to Gotham City. He hasn't tangled with someone like Batman yet, though...
36. "Prey" (Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15)
Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy and Terry Austin follow-up on the themes introduced by Frank Miller in Year One in this classic tale about Hugo Strange turning Gotham City against Batman while also turning a GCPD cop into a ruthless vigilante. This storyline also deals with the shaky early days of Batman and Gordon's "official" partnership as well as Catwoman's slow foray into more of the traditional costumed thief she eventually became (as opposed to the character she was in Year One). It's a very complicated story, with many plots being juggled all at once, with great art by Gulacy and Austin...
