Batman is one of the biggest icons in the entertainment industry. Even in these days of MCU domination, Batman is still the most popular comic character of them all, having decades of adaptations in every medium under his utility belt. Batman's comics are a sales barometer for the industry and he's one of the most important comic characters ever created.

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Batman's longevity comes from the sheer variety of tales he's starred in over the years and he's struck a chord with fans in a way that few other characters have. There's a lot to love about Batman, as his near-century of existence has given readers a lot of great memories.

10 The Dark Knight Returns Helped Change Comics Forever

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Writer/artist Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns is a seminal piece of comic history. The 1985 classic is one of the comics most widely considered to be a story that changed things forever, injecting a maturity and complexity to superhero comics they had lacked up to that point. While Watchmen gets most of the credit nowadays, TDKR was just as much of a sea change.

Batman had long been portrayed as a reflection of his 1960s TV series and TDKR transformed that. It brought a new perspective to the character that changed him for the better, especially in the hands of great creators, though the grimdark element it brought to the comics that imitated it could hardly be called an improvement.

9 There Are All Kinds Of Batman Stories Out There

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Batman has been continuously published since 1939. That's a lot of stories and that's just the comics; overlapping this period is the movies, video games, novels, and other media. There are thousands and thousands of Batman comics out there and they run the gamut of genres. There's noir, silly sci-fi, straight superhero stories, team-ups, horror, and so much more.

Batman has some iconic stories but some of his best are hard to find. These include single issues or short story arcs that really define who Batman is. There's a Batman tale for every single mood and that makes him so great to read.

8 He Has One Of The Best Origin Stories Ever

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Superhero origins are extremely important. A bad origin can keep fans from getting into a character even if everything else about the character is sound. Batman doesn't have that problem. His origin is one of the best ever to grace the comics page. It's extremely simple and plays off the noirish elements of the character perfectly.

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The image of young Bruce Wayne on his knees between his dead parents, the broken string of pearls on the ground around them haunts readers. Everyone knows Batman's origin and so many other characters' origins have taken inspiration from it, cementing its status as one of the best.

7 He's Just A Human

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When one looks at DC's Trinity, Batman is the outlier. Superman's an all-powerful alien, Wonder Woman is a child of myth, and Batman is just a really smart and skilled human being. Each member of the Trinity represents something different and Batman represents just what humans are capable of, which makes him special.

Batman chose to do the right thing, even though the risks he took endangered his life in ways that other superheroes don't have to worry about. He's a testament to human ingenuity and what a human being can do when they put their mind to it. As a human among gods, he gives readers someone they can understand.

6 He Has The Best Toys

Batman Hush - Batcave.

1989's Batman is full of classic lines but one of the best is the Joker's "Where does he get such wonderful toys?" It's such a perfect line for a Batman movie and extends to the comics as well. The Batcave is full of amazing technology that Batman uses to fight crime, vehicles and weapons that have captured the imagination of many fans over the years.

Half the fun of Batman comics is seeing just what device he's going to use to win or what the new Batmobile looks like. His toys, as it were, are one of the most iconic parts of the character and fans love them.

5 Seeing Him Play Off Other Characters Is Fun

Batman and Mister Terrific interrogate a Pykkt in Strange Adventures #8

On his own, Batman can be a painfully dull character. He's too hard-edged to be fun and while he has a sense of humor, it's very much gallows humor. That's one of the reasons Batman works so well in team-ups. Batman has teamed up with nearly every hero in DC and some outside their universe. While he gets along with some better than others, it's always fun to play him off other characters.

Batman is so different from other heroes that seeing him with other characters is always great fun. While he has the tendency to get all of the attention, when his team-ups are done correctly, they're a lot of fun.

4 He Has Some Of The Best Villains In Comics

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An integral part of every superhero is their supervillains and Batman has some of the best out there. Whether they be the old school gimmick villains of the Golden and Silver Age or the more brutal ones of the modern era, Batman's rogue's gallery has something for every type of superhero story. Many of his villains are just as iconic as he is.

Villains like the Joker, Two-Face, and Riddler are household names, and even lesser-known Batman villains are better known than many other heroes' biggest villains. His foes have struck a chord with generations of readers, their fandoms often outstripping those of actual superheroes.

3 Batman And Superman Are The Perfect Team

Superman and Batman being friends and shaking hands.

Batman teams up with everybody but he teams up best with Superman. There's a reason they're called the World's Finest pair. While the two characters are polar opposites, that's part of what makes them so fun to read about. Their differing skills and abilities make them a nearly unbeatable pair and there's a wealth of stories that can be mined from their pairing.

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Batman plays flawlessly off of Superman. Batman stories are always a little better when Superman shows up and vice versa because of the different perspectives each brings to their stories. They're much more interesting as friends than as enemies.

2 Batman And His Foes Lend Themselves Well To Psychological Storytelling

The Clown Prince of Crime on the cover of Joker 14 by Guillem March

One of the best aspects of Batman storytelling is just how psychological things can get. Batman is the perfect example of someone dealing with multiple mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, narcissistic personality disorder, and more. His villains are even more directly based on mental issues, which lends itself well to different kinds of stories.

Plain old superhero storytelling can get quite boring, so the psychological foibles of Batman and his foes serve to break the sometimes simplistic fare of mainstream comics. It lends an air of sophistication to his stories.

1 The Bat-Family Are The Greatest Group Of Partners Ever

The Bat-Family on the rooftops

Batman lost his parents at an early age, losing any hope of having a conventional family. In lieu of that, he created his own. It started with Dick Grayson, a boy who lost his parents just like Batman did, and went on from there. Eventually, the coterie of heroes that Batman brought into his orbit became known as the Bat-Family.

The Bat-Family is one of the most skilled groups of heroes in DC Comics. They're a diverse bunch and are the best things about Batman's stories. They add so much to the Batman mythos and seeing how he plays off their various personalities really shows just who Batman is as a person.

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