Fans of director Matt Reeves' latest film, The Batman, may have a craving for comic books starring a younger version of Bruce Wayne. Fortunately, this period has been intensely mined in the comics. Stories set at the start of Batman's career are free to be more grounded than usual, especially since it's conceivable how Gotham is corrupt enough to warrant a vigilante.
As a result, Batman comics that occupy this time period can get away with representing more contemporary anxieties and realistic portrayals of violence. Additionally, a lot of character-based mileage can be strung out of a Bruce Wayne who's still finding himself. These factors have resulted in some exceptional comics throughout the years.
10 Prey Explored The Folly Of Striking Fear Into All Of Gotham
"Batman: Prey" was a five-issue story arc, serialized in Legends of The Dark Knight Vol. 1 #11-15, which envisioned what would happen if Batman's psychological warfare was turned against him. Writer Dough Moench, arguably the definitive Batman writer of the '90s, teamed up with artists Paul Gulacy and Terry Austin to produce a tale that felt like a Michael Mann crime thriller.
Notably, they took Hugo Strange, a villain who debuted in Batman Vol. 1 #1 no less, and gave him a much-needed update. No longer did Strange conform to the run-of-the-mill "mad scientist" archetype, now he was an influential pop psychologist and several times more sinister.
9 Zero Year Retold Batman's Origin With Modern Preoccupations
With Batman's continuity upended by the revisions of DC's New 52 reboot, writer Scott Snyder and penciler Greg Capullo were tasked with retelling the character's origins for the 2010s. The result was a modern classic, lovingly conceived as the antithesis to Batman: Year One.
Where Year One was a short and grounded tale, Zero Year was a year-long epic that ran the gamut of Batman's mythology and even crossed over with several other titles. Most importantly, it abandoned the traditional urban crime trappings in favor of tackling more relevant anxieties like environmental collapse, terrorism, and the side effects of technological progress and capitalism.
8 Snow Is The Greatest Mister Freeze Story Of All Time
Batman: Snow, written by J.H. Williams and Dan Curtis Johnson, tells the origin of one of Batman's most iconic rogues, Mister Freeze. The story arc, which was first published in Legends of The Dark Knight #192-196, immerses the reader in every tragic step in Freeze's downfall.
At the same time, the Snow cleverly mirrors this arc with that of a young Batman's journey into becoming Gotham's ultimate protector. However, the real start of the show is the late Seth Fisher, whose deceptively simple art style conveys every emotional beat and moment of spectacle in a lush and distinctive manner.
7 The Man Who Laughs Is The Perfect Introduction To The Joker
Writer Ed Brubaker had a consistently excellent run on Batman comics during the early 2000s, which made him the natural choice to update the story of the Joker's first appearance as depicted in Batman Vol. 1 #1. In Batman: The Man Who Laughs, Brubaker teamed up with penciler Doug Mahnke to weave that classic tale into the post-Year One canon.
The prestige format one-shot follows Batman as he hunts a serial killer that leaves his victims sporting a drug-induced grin. However, unlike in the original comics, Brubaker and Mahnke are free to fully realize the genuinely horrific first impression the Joker must have made.
6 The War of Jokes & Riddles Is As Cool As It Sounds
Writer Tom King's 75-plus issue run on Batman was an epic treatise on Bruce Wayne's battle with despair. At the center of this emotional conflict lay his relationship with Selena Kyle. The War of Jokes & Riddles unfolds as a series of flashbacks in which Bruce confesses his greatest guilt to his fiancé.
As if the psychological stakes weren't enough, the plot centers on an undeniably appealing premise, "what if Batman's entire rogues' gallery served in a war between the Riddler and the Joker?" Pencilers Clay Mann and Mikel Janin rendered each issue with evocative and cinematic art.
5 Batman Has Rarely Sunk As Low As He Did In Venom
Writer Dennis O'Neil began his lengthy tenure on Batman in the 1970s when he, alongside artistic collaborators like Irv Novick and Neal Adams, returned the Caped Crusader to his Golden Age roots. Therefore, it's high praise to label Batman: Venom the greatest Batman comic O'Neil ever wrote.
The story arc, which was first serialized in Legends of The Dark Knight #16-20, was illustrated by Trevor Von Eeden and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. It explores what would happen if Batman became addicted to performance-enhancing drugs in an effort to save more lives. The arc bravely follows this idea to its inevitable dark conclusion.
4 Earth One Injected Fresh Ideas Into Batman's Well-Worn Legend
Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's original graphic novel, Batman: Earth One Vol. 1, was released in 2012 and, despite being separate from the main DC Universe, immediately made its mark. It introduced several concepts such as Martha Wayne's maiden name being Arkham and Bruce being trained by a gruff Alfred, which ended up in 2022's Batman film.
Besides injecting freshness into the world's most well-known superhero origin, the graphic novel also added a rare degree of humanity to Batman. In a very literal and symbolic way, this was a comic where readers could see Bruce Wayne's eyes even when he was wearing the cowl.
3 Gothic Takes The Evil Headmaster Archetype To Its Extreme
When weighing consistency and productivity, Grant Morrison might just be the greatest Batman writer of all time. Batman: Gothic, illustrated by the legendary Klaus Janson, followed the success of the Arkham Asylum graphic novel by injecting even more horror into the Batman mythos.
This story is explicitly supernatural, pitting Batman against a monk who sold his soul to the devil, as well as a fractured mafia. All the while, it unpacks Batman's roots in the Gothic tradition. It also answers the question, "just what kind of school did Bruce Wayne go to?"
2 Dark Moon Rising Modernizes Two Golden Age Classics
Dark Moon Rising is the collective title given to two six-issue limited series, Batman & The Monster Men and Batman & The Mad Monk, by writer-artist Matt Wagner. The comics updated two iconic Golden Age Batman stories, featuring Hugo Strange and the vampire dubbed the Mad Monk, for the post-Batman: Year One continuity.
Wagner seamlessly blends the old with the new, crafting a comic that simultaneously feels like a pulpy noir and a slick modern crime drama. He also gives Julie Madison, Batman's first ever love interest, a progressive revision that serves the arc of a young Bruce giving up any hopes of a normal life.
1 Batman: Dark Victory Is The Perfect Robin Origin Story
Set in year two of Batman's war on crime, writer Joesph Loeb and artist Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween, is widely considered the greatest comic. Batman: Dark Victory was their daring follow-up to that epic, going so far as to borrow the general setup of a year-long serial killer rampage.
What makes this comic worthwhile is how it justifies the existence of Robin in the same world as Batman: Year One. Loeb and Sale craft a touching account of recovery, codifying how Bruce's relationship with Dick Grayson allows him to confront his own trauma.