I've read a good few of them, and already know some I want (Long Halloween, Hush, Knightfall, etc.) and I already own The Killing Joke.

I've neglected picking up much from DC, I just read them online from time to time.

However, I'm gonna be going to a toy show this weekend (get to meet Stan Lee) and I am going to SDCC in July and I want to have a good idea of which things to pick up.

Again, I know some of the basic ones I need. But I don't read much DC so some advice from others is appreciated.

Also, how are the Harley Quinn books (Batman: Harley Quinn, Mad Love, Harley and Ivy, and the like)? She's my favorite DC villain and I'd like at least one or two of those in my collection.

 

im gonna go with the dark horse outside of the obvious DKR: batman year one.

 

'Batman and Dracula: Red rain' trilogy. Quite possibly the best Elseworlds Batman story ever.

 

Mad love is awesome. get it!
year one is the best.
Hush was great.
Batman and son is crazy.
death in the family is awesome.
under the hood vol 1 and 2 was fun.
knight fall was good.
Dude, there is so many i can name but get Mad love and year one

 

I recommend Blind Justice and Death and the Maidens. Blind Justice is from the late 80's and gave more depth to Batman aswel as having a damn good storyline already. Death and the Maidens was back in '04, from memory, and was pretty crucial since it killed of Ra's Al Ghul and part of last year was The Ressurection of Ra's al Ghul storyline.


On Harley Quinn, I haven't read anything other than Mad Love so I can't really comment on them. But I'm a hardcore DC reader so I can tell you that Harley Quinn is one of the main characters in Countdown to Final Crisis and recently gained *some* superpower.

 

Hush is pretty rad, and has wonderful art.

 

One that isn't too incredibly popular, but that I also enjoyed, was Year Two (or even better--Batman Year Two: Fear the Reaper, as it also includes the solid "Batman: Full Circle" One Shot). I'm biased a bit because I am a huge Alan Davis fan, but it is a good read, and provided an inspiration for the Phantasm character in what was, in my opinion, the best theatrical Batman film yet--Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

I've also read Mad Love, and it was quite good as well (as was much of the Batman: Animated comic).

 

Thanks for the input/suggestions. I'll see about tracking some of these down this weekend. How much do say...Hush, Mad Love, and Year One run (those are the three I'm as of current most interested in picking up)?

 

You get to meet Stan Lee? I am SO jealous.  

Anyway, you have a few good ones there. I also recommend Death in the Family. Otherwise, track down the regular issues of Detective by Paul Dini. No ttrades but awesome one story shots.

 

Once you read all the other Batman stuff, I suggest reading Planetary/Batman: Night On Earth. Great story. It makes more sense once you've read all the other Batman stuff.

 

technically it is superman but it was the first if not one of the first Elseworlds story. the premise: what if baby kal el landed in gotham city and was discovered by the Waynes? that is what happens in this great story they adopt him and of course call him Bruce and when the parents get killed in front of him "Bruce" looses it and fires heat vision into the face of the gunman  . he later becomes "Batman" and defends gotham city.

 

Speeding Bullets is pretty good. Kal-El becomes a much more darker version of Batman than the normal Bruce.

Hush is $12.95US per part and Year One is $19.95US. I have no idea on Mad Love but it should be fairly cheap by memory.

 

I suggest some of the classic golden age stuff. Those early years of Batman were just plain awesome.

 

I <3 Speeding Bullets.

 

What I have/have read

Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told
Year One
Long Halloween
Killing Joke
Death in the Family
A Lonely Place of Dying
Knightfall/Knightsend
Prodigal
Contagion
Cataclysm
No Man's Land
Hush
War on Crime

Also Superman/Batman Vol. 1-4 by Loeb are very good. And Superman/Batman World's Finest tpb.

 

Actually, there are two Dini trades out, "Batman: Detective" and "Batman: Death and the City". Essentially, if you liked "Batman: The Animated Series", you can't go wrong with those.

I still need to read Hush and Dark Victory, but otherwise, I pretty much agree with everything everyone's listed.

 

"Sword of Azrael" has been a favorite of mine.

There's always "The Dark Knight Returns."


And there's one that's extremely rare but a good read: "Batman: Prodigal."

 

I recently read In Darkest Knight and while I liked the premise, I think its a story that could have been stretched out further. It seemed like it was rushed. The coolest part I thought was how it is started directly out of Batman year one when he is looking for his symbol and Abin Sur crashes at that moment on the wayne manor grounds.