The companion Zero Year collection expands to a bunch of other DCU heroes, some closely tied to the Bat Family, and some closely tied to Bats’ Justice League membership. The result is an unnerving and even psychedelic Batman tale that uses Bernie Wrightson’s gorgeous art to convey the instability of Batman’s unraveling mind. The Court of Owls” immediately established Batman as one of the best comics of the New 52 era and Snyder and Capullo as one of the most effective teams working in comics.

What is it like to walk its winding halls and be confronted by by so many deranged killers and madmen? Swamp Thing Noir begins with Moore's first Swamp Thing issue — a haunting reimagining of the origins of Swamp Thing. This will not advance the Batman Zero Year story much, but will provide some New 52 companion issues.

This 1989 graphic novel follows Batman’s surreal journey as he ventures inside an Arkham overrun by rioting inmates. DC Comics is adamant that The Killing Joke remain in Batman continuity, and everything from Arkham Knight to the New 52 have treated this book as sacred text. It’s no surprise there are 6 (nearly 7) Batman stories within my top 50 of the best comics of all time. With that out of the way, here are the 27 best and most influential Batman graphic novels of all time.

Of course it depends on the era, the series, etc, etc, but comics were designed from the beginning to be serialized, so more often than not, individual stories will (at least) be self-contained *enough* that you can enjoy them without reading prior material.Collected in three large volumes, the Batman by Grant Morrison omnibus books include the shadowy machinations of the Black Glove, the fallout of Final Crisis, and more. Hush serves as a fantastic jumping-on point for new readers who just want to get into modern day Batman without doing homework on all the versions that came before. In 2013, DC began collecting the earliest stories of some its most enduring series and characters in matching trade dress volumes, titled Golden Age Omnibus, Silver Age Omnibus and Bronze Age Omnibus, replacing the earlier lines Showcase Presents, DC Archive Editions and DC Chronicles. Tom King on Batman, James Tynion (who takes on Batman next) on Detective Comics, Tim Seely on Nightwing, and more. Superboy's life hangs in the balance, will Superman, Robin, and others be able to keep him safe from the Batman of Tomorrow?

If you’re really all in, you could also check out Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper here, which expands on Catwoman’s role in Year One.Plenty of Batman comics have flashed back to the early days of Bruce Wayne’s costumed career, but few have done it as successfully as “The War of Jokes and Riddles. Some of these Age Omnibus volumes are also published as two or three (depending on page count) trade paperbacks. On my list it’s between War Crimes (actually betwwn Identity Crisis if we count the larger DC narrative) and Under the Hood. In the afterlife, a mysterious being known as Rama Kushna gifted his spirit with the ability to possess the bodies of the living so he could discover the identity of his killer and bring him to justice. While it doesn’t feature Bane as the villain, Batman: The Cult is easily one of the heaviest influences on The Dark Knight Rises.