Best Batman graphic novels

Batman: Dark Victory

by: Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale

Amazon Price: $10.00 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman: The Long Halloween

by: Jeph Loeb

Amazon Price: $15.54 (as of 05/29/2012)

It's refreshing when you find a Batman story that both is epic and successfully explores the core of a resolutely explored character. Taking as its catalyst a sub-plot from the seminal Batman: Year One, the story revolves around murders occurring on national holidays, the victims connected to Mob boss "The Roman." Dubbed "Holiday," the killer uses an untraceable handgun and leaves small trinkets at the scene. Plenty of suspects are available, but the truth is something the Dark Knight never suspected. This series scores two major coups: it brilliantly portrays the transfer of Gotham rule to the supervillains and charts the horrific transformation of Harvey Dent from hardened D.A. to the psychotic Two-Face. Both orbit around the sharply portrayed relationship between Dent, Commissioner Gordon, and Batman: a triumvirate of radically different perceptions of Justice. It is always great to see the formative incarnation of Batman, drenched in noir here.

Jeph Loeb's writing is keenly aware that Batman is a detective, and Tim Sale portrays a Gotham that is a fertile breeding ground for corruption and madness. Here, Batman is coming to terms with the potent image he projects and the madness it attracts. There are many fine Batman stories, but the ones that capture the spirit with extreme clarity are few. On this alone, The Long Halloween comes highly recommended. Masterfully executed, this is an excellent chance to revisit the world of Batman as fresh as in the summer of 1939. --Danny Graydon

Batman: Haunted Knight

by: Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale

Amazon Price: $7.62 (as of 05/29/2012)

In the city of the demented villains, Halloween brings out the worst of the lot. This edition collects three of Batman's Halloween adventures in which he takes on some of the most fearsome and twisted foes--The Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, and The Penguin.

Batman: Year One

by: Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli

Amazon Price: $7.24 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)

by: Grant Morrison

Amazon Price: $9.11 (as of 05/29/2012)

In this groundbreaking, painted graphic novel, the inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over Gothams detention center for the criminally insane on April Fools Day, demanding Batman in exchange for their hostages.Accepting their demented challenge, Batman is forced to live and endure the personal hells of the Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and many other sworn enemies in order to save the innocents and retake the prison.During his run through this absurd gauntlet, the Dark Knights own sanity is placed in jeopardy.This special anniversary edition trade paperback also reproduces the original script with annotations by Morrison and editor Karen Berger.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

by: Frank Miller

Amazon Price: $10.61 (as of 05/29/2012)

If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.

Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark Thwaite

Tales Of The Batman: Tim Sale

by: Various

Amazon Price: $6.58 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman: The Killing Joke, Deluxe Edition

by: Alan Moore, Brian Bolland

Amazon Price: $9.68 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman: Hush

by: Jeph Loeb

Amazon Price: $13.67 (as of 05/29/2012)

The complete critically acclaimed and best-selling tale is now available in one sensational hardcover volume.

BATMAN: HUSH is a thrilling mystery of action, intrigue, and deception penned by Jeph Loeb (BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN) and illustrated by comics superstar Jim Lee (ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER) in which Batman sets out to discover the identity of a mysterious mastermind using the Joker, Riddler, Ra's al Ghul and the Dark Knight's other enemies - and allies - as pawns in a plan to wreak havoc.

Batman and Son

by: Grant Morrison

Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman R.I.P.

by: Grant Morrison

Amazon Price: $8.26 (as of 05/29/2012)

Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul

by: Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, Fabian Nicieza, Peter Milligan, Keith Champagne

Amazon Price: $9.75 (as of 05/29/2012)

Grade 7 Up-Buzzing with action, Resurrection will appeal to Batman's fans, but it is not a good starting point for readers unfamiliar with the series history. Ra's Al Ghul has miraculously returned from what was thought to be a fiery demise. His features badly burned, Ra's needs a completely new host body to continue his evil ways. His candidate is bratty Damian-his grandson, who happens to be the child of Batman and Talia, Ra's Al Ghul's daughter. When Damian is eventually captured by his grandfather, Batman and Ra's face off to determine the boy's fate. The artwork varies with each chapter. Violence is depicted, and images of women may strike some as objectification. The exaggerated, comic-book-style illustrations are consistently well done, although characters are rendered differently by each artist, a fact that may throw off some readers. The writing also fluctuates with each chapter, from standard heroic platitudes to tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. This is not an essential purchase, but it will be welcomed by readers with knowledge of the characters and backstory.-Travis Jonker

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again

by: Frank Miller, Lynn Varley

Amazon Price: $12.26 (as of 05/29/2012)

This revision of an iconic character, the sequel to Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, has been one of comics publishing's most anticipated events. As installments of the DK2 comic appeared, controversy mounted. Much sloppier and gaudier, the strip didn't really resemble Miller's earlier book, and in the wake of September 11, Miller's in-your-face confrontation with authority figures upset some readers. The collected book edition makes it easier to appreciate why he'd take such risks. Miller sees Batman as an extremist, pushed to the verge of insanity because he can't compromise his beliefs. In this continuation, he's convinced today's world is controlled by powers even crazier and more ego driven than he is. And he's right. Lex Luthor and Brainiac have imprisoned, enlisted or intimidated Earth's superheroes; but the only one they can't control is the hero with no super powers, just furious moral rage. Superman, the ultimate voice of reason, tries to calm Batman. Instead, all hell breaks loose, in pages full of bursting shapes, digitized Day-Glo colors and jagged continuity. Intense as the reading experience is, it's less disturbing than Batman's assault on the masters of America and their accomplices. Miller peppers the book with caricatures of current politicians and pundits rubbing shoulders with outrageously cartoonish goons as they defend a computer-generated president and the Freedom From Information Act. If the masters of power are engaging in terrorism, this work suggests, why shouldn't rebels use terror in return? But how does a successful rebel avoid becoming a fascist leader himself? These are the questions Miller asks in this serious, important comic, a work that's intentionally disturbing in many ways and on many levels.