-------------------------------------------------------------

A STARTING POINT: BATMAN IN OTHER MEDIA

-------------------------------------------------------------

If you’re new to Batman entirely and would like a bit of an accessible halfway point to familiarize yourself with the characters before trying to pick up the ridiculously vast world that is comics, I suggest the following three shows to get yourself generally acquainted with some of the franchise's basic character cast:

Batman: The Animated Series & The New Batman Adventures (BTAS Season 4, show was renamed): B:TAS is considered the quintessential Batman series, and the one that kickstarted the DC Animated Universe. It has probably the best depiction of Batman outside of comics itself, besides being a very good introduction to a few members of the core Batfamily and the universe as a whole. I will note that while Tim Drake as Robin appears in its final season, largely speaking he’s actually Jason Todd with Tim’s name slapped on.

Relevant DCAU movies to watch connected to this universe: Mask of the Phantasm and Mystery of the Batwoman

Young Justice: YJ is pretty good at getting many of the core members of the Batfam into the show: Bruce, Dick Grayson—the original Robin, Barbara Gordon—the first Batgirl, and Tim Drake—the third Robin—all have fairly major roles; Cassandra Cain—the second (major) Batgirl—co-stars in a S4 arc. Several other Batfam members have made minor or cameo appearances.

Cautionary note: YJ is, at its most basic level, a loose adaptation of the DC Universe as a whole through the lens of younger heroes. The creators have made adaptational decisions that may or may not be accurate to the comics themselves. However, on the whole, it’s a generally solid introduction to the DCU.

The Batman (2004): this is principally a Bruce show, with a focus on Dick and Barbara as Robin and Batgirl in the later seasons. But it has great Bruce characterization, and Dick and Babs are also lots of fun.

Other Newbie-Friendly DC media starring Bat characters:

Teen Titans (2003-2006), which doesn't focus on the Batfamily but stars Dick as Robin. Series ends with the Trouble in Tokyo movie.

Under the Red Hood (2010): this movie serves as a solid introduction to Jason Todd, the second Robin

Batman Beyond: Set in the DCAU, this show explores a futuristic Gotham (now called Neo-Gotham) and the exploits of Gotham’s new Batman, Terry McGinnis, who is mentored by an aging Bruce Wayne.

Batman: Year One: a movie adaptation of the comic, detailing Bruce’s first year as Batman

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies: an adaptation of the first Superman/Batman comic arc, where Bruce and Clark have to go on the run after being framed by Lex Luthor (who’s been elected President) for the murder of Metallo

Batman: Soul of the Dragon: an Elseworlds (AU) original story not based on any comic, set in the 1970s. Bruce, while training with several other students under a master sensei, encounters a deadly threat and has to team up with several world-renowned martial artists (including Richard Dragon, Ben Turner, and Lady Shiva) to save the day.

All of these movies and series can be found on HBOMax.

-------------------------------------------------------------

WHOLE BATFAMILY COMICS

-------------------------------------------------------------

First, I’m going to start by recommending some solid Batman Family Crossover/“whole Batfamily” comics that are both good stories and effectively showcase the family’s relationships to each other. As a note, not all of these are necessarily new reader-friendly. 

Batman: Contagion (1996): deals with the emergence of a deadly plague that strikes Gotham

Batman: Legacy (1996): the direct sequel to Contagion

No Man’s Land (1999-2000) was a super expansive crossover story arc detailing the aftermath of a major earthquake hitting Gotham City, resulting in the US government officially evacuating Gotham and then abandoning and isolating those who chose to remain. NML covers the time of this isolation until Gotham’s re-opening and the beginning of the rebuilding, took around a year and a half to publish from beginning to end, included the entire Batfamily, and basically set the stage for every Bat comic post-1999. You can get it in several collected volumes or digitally. Also introduced Cassandra Cain, the second Batgirl.

Direct story progression is Batman: Cataclysm->Road to No Man’s Land (Vols. 1 and 2)->No Man’s Land (Vols. 1-4). NML is fairly easy to understand even without that background reading, but I’m including the full event for posterity.

You can also read the novelization by Greg Rucka, if you prefer; it’s excellent.

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000-2006): every Batfam member gets the opportunity to take center-stage at least once in this book focusing on Batman, his allies, and an exploration of their personal lives. Generally character-focused rather than plot-focused. Quality varies by arc.

Batman: Officer Down (2001): Takes place in the immediate aftermath of the No Man’s Land saga. tl;dr plot is “Commissioner Gordon is shot, and the Batfamily must investigate his attempted assassination.”

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (2002-2003): Bruce gets accused of murdering his ex, gets arrested, and then goes on the run, foreswearing his identity as Bruce Wayne entirely and operating solely as Batman. The Batfamily, left behind, tries to sort everything out, find the real murderer, and clear his name. Fantastic all-Batfamily arc with great characterization of basically everyone involved.

Batman: Hush (2003), a story about a mysterious stalker named Hush who seems dedicated to destroying Bruce’s life, both as Bruce and Batman. This is often called the ‘go-to’ Batman story of the early 2000s, as it features nearly every member of Bruce’s family and Rogues Gallery (with two exceptions: Bane and Cassandra Cain/Batgirl). Personally, while it’s a fun story, I don’t recommend starting yourself out on this, as it relies on at least cursory knowledge of several Batfamily members and Rogues.

Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (2007), which is also an important Damian Wayne comic, was a story where the White Ghost tried to use Damian’s body to bring Ra’s al Ghul, one of Batman’s most notorious villains, back from the dead. Co-stars Dick and Tim. Highly recommended reading.

Gates of Gotham (2011): an all-Batfamily comic in the Batman Reborn era, starring Dick Grayson as Batman. A super fun and interesting look at the history of Gotham and the legacies of the families that built it.

Post-Flashpoint/Reboot Recommendations:

Death of the Family Saga (2013): After slicing off his face and leaving town, the Joker returns to Gotham City after a year to go after Batman’s loved ones, including Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin, and Batgirl. Main comic+tie-ins.

Batman and Robin Eternal (2016): Serves as a follow-up to Batman Eternal. tl;dr plot is “When an assassin begins targeting all of Batman’s past partners, the former Robins must join forces to untangle a mystery that stretches back to the early days of the Dark Knight’s career, to an encounter with a human trafficker known only as Mother.”

I am deeply ambivalent about this comic for a lot of reasons, including its extraordinarily poor handling of Cassandra and its odd characterization in some of the tie-in comics, but overall it’s a decent enough comic in terms of plot and narrative, and it has some fun interactions worth reading.

I personally really love No Man’s Land, Murderer?/Fugitive, Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, and Gates of Gotham. If you were going to “start” with an all-Batfam comic, however, I’d recommend you do so with either Gotham Knights or No Man’s Land, then move to Murderer?/Fugitive.

-------------------------------------------------------------

BRUCE WAYNE: BATMAN

-------------------------------------------------------------

For the man himself, here’s a good general starter list (Bruce is in more comics than god. Trying to do any kind of complete reading list would be a nightmare):

Post-Crisis Universe:

Batman: Year One: god knows I am not a Frank Miller fan, but Year One is actually good. Generally looked at as one of the definitive Batman origin stories and details Bruce’s first year as Batman.

The Man Who Laughs: Bruce’s first encounter with the Joker

The Long Halloween and Dark Victory: two connected comics introducing some of the big-time crime families in Gotham and some of Bruce’s early adventures. DV also features Dick Grayson’s introduction as Robin

Batman: Ego: by Darwyn Cooke. Iconic. Legendary. Showstopping. You won’t regret reading it.

The Killing Joke: originally conceived of as a one-off graphic novel detailing the possible origins of the Joker, this comic has become one of the most famous comics of all time. The writing is sound and the plot is decent, but there are a lot of questionable elements that ultimately make this a very lukewarm personal recommendation from me despite its status as essential Batman reading

Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend: a ridiculously long storyline detailing Bruce’s defeat at the hands of Bane and his recovery after Bane broke his back, and featuring Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael as interim Batman. Followed up by Batman: Prodigal (detailed in Dick’s section below). 

Cataclysm, Road to No Man’s Land, and No Man’s Land

The aftermath+cleanup of these storylines and the initial formation of the post-2000 Gotham status quo can be found in the Batman: New Gotham trades (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)

Batman: Turning Points (2001): Explores the history of Batman's relationship with Commissioner James Gordon as they work together to fight crime in Gotham. Each issue takes place after a different major ‘turning point’ in Bruce and Gordon’s relationship.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive (2002-2003)

Batman: Hush (2003)

Morrison’s JLA (1997-2006) series, which revamped the JL and took it ‘back to basics’ is generally very solid and well-regarded. Collected in the JLA by Grant Morrison omnibus or separate volumes.

Superman/Batman is a really fun comic for all of your Bruce and Clark shenanigans

Birth of the Demon (TPB): collects the “Demon trilogy,” composed of Son of the Demon, Bride of the Demon, and Birth of the Demon. This is a trio of stories exploring the origins/motivations of Ra’s al Ghul as well as the original storyline detailing Bruce & Talia’s relationship and the conception of the character who would later be named Damian Wayne. Serves as an effective prologue to Batman and Son

Batman and Son: this story features the introduction of Damian Wayne, Bruce’s son, and kicks off Grant Morrison’s nearly seven year run as the principal writer of the main Batman comic line

Current BaS trade also includes The Black Glove: Batman and a group of heroes from around the globe go to a mysterious island to face a killer; while there, Bruce relives and revisits his hunt for his parents’ killer as a child.

Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul takes place somewhere in this general timeframe

Heart of Hush (2008): Hush returns to target those close to Batman, particularly Selina Kyle/Catwoman. In addition to being a good stand-alone story with beautiful art, it also serves as both a prelude and tie-in to the RIP event.

Batman R.I.P.: Batman fights against The Black Glove organization as they try to destroy everything he stands for.

Final Crisis: whole company crossover event, not necessary to read. Only thing you need to know out of this is that Bruce gets killed by Darkseid.

Return of Bruce Wayne: in which Bruce wasn’t really dead but instead got dropped into the past and spends the entire time trying to get back to his proper time. This story should be read in between the second and third volumes of Batman Reborn: Batman & Robin (described below in Dick’s section)

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home, which basically continues on immediately from the events of Return of Bruce Wayne

(pre-reboot) Batman Incorporated: after he returns, Bruce decides to ‘franchise’ crime fighting by enlisting the assistance of a global team of heroes. Bruce leaves Dick as Gotham’s Batman, publicly announces that he is the financial backer of Batman, goes globetrotting to establish a worldwide franchise of Batmen (and women) in various cities worldwide.

Note: For the love of all that is holy, stay away from All-Star Batman and Robin (by Frank Miller). You just do not want to do it. I promise you it is not worth it.

For the post-Flashpoint universe, keeping my recs super basic for now:

Court of Owls and City of Owls: the first two arcs of Scott Snyder’s critically acclaimed run on Batman and the first two arcs of DC’s new universe, this connected double feature introduces the fan-favorite secret society the Court of Owls and is also a great starter Batman comic.

Batman: The Knight (2022), a delightful miniseries specifically about Bruce’s training days abroad before he returns to Gotham

Batman: Zero Year (2013-2014): intended to be the New 52′s depiction of what Bruce’s training era and early days as Batman looked like, Zero Year (like Year One) also details Bruce’s first year as Batman. The main plot centers around the Riddler shutting off Gotham City’s power amid a superstorm that floods the city.

Batman and Robin (2011-2015), by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, stars Bruce and Damian as Batman and Robin. This is a series focused on their relationship and how they work (or struggle to work) together. Extremely well done. Also collected in the Batman and Robin omnibus.

Batman: Eternal (also collected in the Batman: Eternal omni)

James Tynion’s Detective Comics Rebirth run (Detective Comics (2016), Vols. 1-7)

Batman: Night of the Monster Men

Brian Hill’s Batman and the Outsiders (2018-2020)

Batman: Urban Legends #11-16, “Bound to Our Will”: fantastic Bruce and Zatanna-focused story, also featuring John Constantine. Collected in Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 3.

Ram V’s Detective Comics run (Detective Comics #1062-1089/Gotham Nocturne)

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest (2022-present): extremely fun and enjoyable run co-starring Bruce, Clark, and Dick as Robin. Modern reimagining of the Silver Age era.

A few relevant omnibus collections: Batman by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (includes The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and When in Rome), the two-volume Superman/Batman omnibus (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2), Batman by Paul Dini, and Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2).

Please note that I’m leaving a ton of Bruce and Bruce-centric comics, many of them fantastic, off this list because he’s been in so many things, but I’m just trying to hit his big highlights. If you’re interested in more Bruce comics, DM me and I’d be happy to rec some more.

Reading tl;dr: Read Batman: Year One, Batman: Ego, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive, and Court of Owls/City of Owls. If you’re more interested in the post-Crisis universe, continue on to JLA, Superman/Batman, and the No Man’s Land saga. If you’re more interested in the post-Flashpoint universe, read Zero Year, Batman and Robin, and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest. Work your way out from there.

-------------------------------------------------------------

DICK GRAYSON: ROBIN I/NIGHTWING/BATMAN II(I)

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: our favorite circus brat turned vigilante, aka “The Heart of the DC Universe”:

Comics-wise, Dick’s the Batfam character that’s sort of all over the place, because he’s been around the longest (since 1940). However, there’s a loose chronological line up until about the late 70s, and then it gets more solid. Anyway, necessary comics for understanding the Original Boy Wonder.

Post-Crisis (Mostly):

Batman: Year Three (Batman #436–439) is a great exploration of Dick’s origin story and initial interactions with Bruce. Necessary background knowledge: while the actual meat of the story is retracing Dick’s origins, the arc’s framed story takes place in the period between Jason’s death and Tim’s introduction. It’s collected in Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2. and Tales of the Batman by Marv Wolfman.

Batman: Dark Victory also tells Dick’s origin story and how he came to live with Bruce. It’s a great and very beginner accessible comic (though, as previously stated, it’s technically the sequel to The Long Halloween and it might be helpful to read that first, even though you can read DV without it)

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet: Dick’s “final exam” before he’s allowed to go on patrol with Batman as Robin. His task? To evade Batman on the streets of Gotham from sundown to sunrise without being caught.

Robin: Year One: after being brutally beaten by Two-Face and permanently benched as Robin, Dick runs away from the Manor and gets involved in taking down a Junior League of Assassins training cell.

Year One: Batman/Scarecrow

Teen Titans: Year One

The three 1980s New Teen Titans/Tales of the Teen Titans runs, which is a pre-Crisis universe title whose events survived Crisis on Infinite Earths 95% intact. The entire Wolfman/Perez run is generally great, if dated, but I specifically recommend getting Vol. 1 and then reading the Terra Incognito and The Judas Contract arcs, Who is Donna Troy?, and Terror of Trigon. It’s in the middle of this series that Dick originally leaves the Robin mantle behind and becomes Nightwing.

Note: New Teen Titans (1980) ended in 1984 and was directly continued with two split-off titles: New Teen Titans (1984) and Tales of the Teen Titans (1984). New Teen Titans (1984) would eventually be retitled as The New Titans at Issue #50 when DC realized the Titans were all finally adults. Since stories happened interchangably in both books, most trade collections collect this entire era as a direct continuation of the original 1980 NTT run and don’t differentiate between titles, but if you’re reading digitally or collecting individual issues, be advised about the switch.

Nightwing: Year One is technically Nightwing (1996) #101-106 but occurs chronologically before the events of the proper Nightwing run. Features an alternate take on Dick’s first year as Nightwing and also Jason as Robin. YMMV on how much you like it. This is largely here because for better or worse, it was an influential restructuring of both Dick’s first year as Nightwing and Jason’s Robin training era.

Batman: Prodigal: Prodigal is the first time that Dick dons the cowl and takes over for Bruce as Batman (with Tim as his Robin). Takes place in the aftermath of the massive Knightfall arc

Nightwing: Old Friends, New Enemies collects the entirety of the “Cheshire Contract” storyline, where Roy Harper asks Dick to help him track down Cheshire, the mother of his daughter Lian. Very fun. It also collects “Rocks and Hard Places,” another Dick and Roy-focused story.

Dick’s original Nightwing run (1996-2009), which runs parallel to all other comics listed until Final Crisis:

Issues #1-70 (collected over 8 volumes) are Chuck Dixon’s run on the title, which runs from the start of the solo in 1996 through the aftermath of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive event

Issues #71-100 & #107-117 is the entirety of Devin Grayson’s run, which runs roughly from 2002 through War Games and all the way up to Infinite Crisis

Issues #118-139 were written by a collection of filler writers

Nightwing By Peter Tomasi collects Tomasi’s entire run on the title, Issues #140-153

My general warning is that once Devin Grayson takes over the book, the quality and characterization takes a sharp nosedive and just stays there until Tomasi takes over for the final 20 or so issues. Dixon’s run was foundational (if mostly focused around worldbuilding rather than plot) and Tomasi’s run was fantastic; everything else is middling to actively terrible in quality

Please stay away from Nightwing Annual #2. Basically, it is the most ridiculous retcon in existence, made Dick completely out of character, and is rather infamous in the comics community.

Special shout out to Nightwing #25 (”The Boys”), which is a cute one-shot of Dick and Tim hanging out, and Birds of Prey #8 (”On Wings”), which forms the entire modern basis for Dick and Barbara’s romantic relationship

The Flash Plus Nightwing (1997): Dick and Wally go on vacation and solve a murder along the way.

JLA/Titans (1998): a fun miniseries where the Justice League and the Titans have to work together to defeat a massive interstellar threat

The No Man’s Land saga chronologically happens here

Titans Vol. 1 (1999-2003): a mixed bag, but on the whole it’s a fun series. Lots of shenanigans and found family feels.

The Joker: Last Laugh (2001): You may have heard about that one time Dick killed the Joker with his bare hands? Yeah, that’s this book.

Batman: Hush chronologically slots in here

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day (2003) chronologically happens here. The comic is bad, but had a huge impact as it ends with Donna Troy’s and Lilith Clay’s deaths and the dissolution of the adult Titans.

Outsiders (2003): Written by Judd Winick, this is another team book where Dick is the leader. Immediately follows the events of Graduation Day. Includes two crossover arcs with Tim’s Teen Titans book (Teen Titans/Outsiders: Insiders and DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy)

The Return of Donna Troy (2005): my dearly beloved. Phil Jimenez and José Luis García-López making this mini like "I'm going to make a comic so good you're going to weep every time you think about what could have happened if DC greenlit a Donna solo maxiseries for us afterwards.” Anyway, it’s a great Dick story as well. Currently collected in The Death and Return of Donna Troy.

JLA: Obsidian Age, featuring Dick running the Justice League

You can read Batman and Son and Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (both of which feature Dick prominently) at any point after reading/wiki-ing Infinite Crisis (2005); they’re all mid-2000s comics and generally occur within the same timeframe

The Brave and the Bold #15 (2007): fun Nightwing/Deadman/Green Arrow team-up

Battle for the Cowl: takes place in the immediate aftermath of Bruce’s death in Final Crisis. While the events are necessary to know about, BftC isn’t a particularly great story. You can read it if you want, but otherwise…just wiki it and move on. Necessary info: after a massive crime wave in the wake of Batman’s death and a lot of in-fighting between various Batfamily members, Dick takes up the mantle and becomes Batman.

Batman: Long Shadows

Batman Reborn: Batman & Robin (2009-2011) comes next, staring Dick as Batman and Damian Wayne as his Robin. Recommended reading.

Other required ‘Dick as Batman’ reading:

The Black Mirror

Streets of Gotham: This book is technically a follow-up to Heart of Hush, but can be read alone. Dick (and Damian) pop up sporadically throughout this primarily outsider POV series focused on Gotham’s street-level crime, and it has some very nice moments.

Gates of Gotham 

Post-Flashpoint Universe:

Batman & Robin: Year One (2024): Bruce and Dick’s first year together, both as Bruce and Dick and as Batman and Robin.

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest (2022-present): extremely enjoyable flashback run co-starring Bruce, Clark, and Dick as Robin. Modern reimagining of the Silver Age era.

World’s Finest: Teen Titans (2024): great modern reinterpreation of Dick’s “Fab Five” and Silver Age Teen Titans eras.

Solo Comics:

New 52 Nightwing (2011-2014) by Kyle Higgins is frankly the only N52-era Dick comic worth reading...and even this is a hit-or-miss run due to the insane amount of editorial mandates Higgins was stuck juggling. The whole run’s also collected in the Nightwing: Prince of Gotham omni.

Unfortunately, Dick’s comics in between Forever Evil (2014) and Future State/Infinite Frontier (2021) are generally super spotty; genuinely the most tragic part of being a Dick stan is that DC seemed to actively hate him. Just wiki the Grayson comics (bad), Seeley’s Nightwing Rebirth run (solidly mediocre; readable, but not worth wasting money on), and the Ric Grayson arc (just…..don’t. the only good thing about it is Bea Bennet).

Of that era, the stories probably worth reading are Nightwing (2016) Vol. 3: Nightwing Must Die, which co-stars Damian, and Nightwing (2016) Vol. 6: The Untouchable, which is a genuinely fantastic story. I also recommend Nightwing (2016) #42, a really lovely oneshot issue about Dick going to save Damian from a Kabuki gang in Tokyo; it’s included in the Vol. 6 trade linked above.

Tom Taylor’s run on Nightwing is decently readable (my thoughts on this run could fill a book, but that’s the bottom line), so just Wiki the aforementioned runs and then start reading at Nightwing #78 (2021). His first arc is collected in Nightwing: Leaping Into the Light.

Dan Watter’s run (beginning with Nightwing #119) is fantastic! 10/10, would recommend.

Team Comics and Events:

Titans: Hunt (2015): featuring the restoration of the original “Fab Five”+Lilith Clay Titans lineup’s pre-reboot history

Titans Rebirth (2016-2019): After regaining their memories during Titans: Hunt and DC Rebirth, the Titans reunite & face several enemies, including the interdimensional demon who broke them apart in the first place. You need to read or at least wiki DC Rebirth first, otherwise pieces of this comic (particularly those surrounding Wally West) won’t make sense.

Dark Crisis (2022): Dick takes center stage in this company-wide crossover event

Detective Comics by Ram V: Gotham Nocturne (Detective Comics #1062-1089)

Titans (2023-Present)

Absolute Power (2024)

Dick’s story “A Little Nudge” in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special was quite lovely as well

TBH there’s loads and loads of comics with Dick in them and you kinda just have to read the ‘important’ comics and then go hunt down all of the various comics that he’s been in.

Reading tl;dr: Read either Batman: Year Three or Dark Victory, then read the following:

For Dick as Robin, read, Batman: The Gauntlet, Batman & Robin: Year One, Robin: Year One, and The 80s New Teen Titans run. You should also read Batman/Superman: World’s Finest (2022) and World’s Finest: Teen Titans (2024).

For Dick as Nightwing, read Nightwing: Old Friends, New Enemies, Dick’s original Nightwing run (#1-70, which was Dixon’s run, and then #140-153, which was Tomasi’s run), Batman: Gotham Knights (2000-2006), Batman: Hush, Titans (1999-2003), and Outsiders (2003). 

If you prefer to read in the post-Flashpoint universe, read Titans: Hunt (2015); the first two volumes of Titans Rebirth; Nightwing (2016) Vol. 6 and then everything onward from Issue #78.

For Dick as Batman, read Batman: Prodigal, Batman: The Black Mirror, Morrison’s Batman & Robin run, and Streets of Gotham.

-------------------------------------------------------------

JASON TODD: ROBIN II/RED HOOD

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: the street kid taken in by Bruce who gets murdered by the Joker and comes back as a gun-wielding anti-hero:

Pre-Crisis Universe:

Jason’s Robin days in the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths universe are mostly contained in Detective Comics #524-#567 (1983-1986) and Batman #357-#400. Unfortunately, they haven’t really been fully collected in trade form, so you’ll mostly have to read them as individual issues. You can find very limited portions of Jason’s pre-Crisis Robin run in the three Tales of the Batman by Gerry Conway trades (Vol 1., Vol. 2, and Vol. 3) and the two Tales of the Batman by Gene Colan trades (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).

I’m particularly fond of his relationship with Natalia Knight/Nocturna and the Bruce-Natalia custody battle arc (Batman #363, 376-381, 384, and 389-391+Detective Comics #529-530, 543-547, 556-558, and 566)

Note: during this time period, stories were often started in one book and finished in another. In lieu of a proper collection, you should be reading these issues in a Batman/Tec/Batman alternating fashion (Batman #357->Detective Comics #524->Batman #358->Detective Comics #525->Batman #359, etc).

For post-Crisis (modern) Jason:

Batman: Second Chances: Jason’s introduction and new backstory as a street kid who tried to jack the tires off the Batmobile

Nightwing Year One (2005): Jason and Dick team up to save Alfred. As previously mentioned, YMMV on whether you like it or not.

Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 collects the majority of Jason’s post-Crisis Detective Comics appearances as Robin.

Jason’s time with the Titans can be read in New Teen Titans #18–#31 (1986-1987)

Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 collects the majority of Jason’s post-Crisis Batman stories as Robin (excluding Death in the Family, which is collected separately and mentioned below)

Batman: The Cult is a fantastic Robin!Jason story

Batman: A Death in the Family: Jason’s death at the hands of the Joker

Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2: explores the immediate aftermath of Jason’s death and the impact it has on Bruce and Dick.

Batman: Hush is odd because originally, Jason’s appearance in this book was Clayface masquerading as Jason, but after he was resurrected, his appearance in this book was retonned to actually be Jason. It’s far from required reading unless you’re a completionist, but it is something to note

Read Under the (Red) Hood (and watch the movie). Note that Infinite Crisis takes place basically concurrently with UTRH. The current UTRH trade also includes Batman Annual #25, which explains how Jason came back to life, crawled out of his own grave, and got picked up by Talia al Ghul.

Red Hood: The Lost Days, which details the years inbetween Jason’s resurrection and his return to Gotham as Red Hood

Green Arrow: Seeing Red (Green Arrow (2001-2007) #69-72): Jason goes to Star City to bother Ollie and Mia Dearden. Direct follow up to UTRH.

Then have fun trying to find quality Jason stories for the remainder of your existence because they are few and far between. 

Optional Reading: Teen Titans (2003) #29 is the infamous “Jason beats up Tim at Titans Tower” issue; it takes place during the events of Under the Red Hood. Nightwing: Brothers in Blood (Nightwing #118-122)...has its moments that are unfortunately balanced out by also containing one of the most cursed plotpoints in existence (Tentacle Monster!Jason). It’s also more or less a direct follow-up to UTRH (and the events of Infinite Crisis). If you decide to suffer through the absolute mess that is Countdown, you can read about Jason’s multiverse trip team-up with Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner to save Ray Palmer. The final post-Crisis Jason stories are Battle for the Cowl, Batman & Robin (2009) #3-6, and #23-25, during Dick and Damian’s Batman & Robin run. None of them are worth reading from a Jason perspective; he’s pretty wildly OOC in the first two and only moderately better in the final one.

Post-Flashpoint Universe:

A note: I would like to clarify that I’m sure there are good New 52-era Jason stories written after Lost Days was published in 2010. I just haven’t read any because I wasn’t reading Snyder’s Batman for awhile and I dipped out of the first Red Hood and the Outlaws run after Lobdell’s horrific treatment of Starfire. So my recommendations here are limited to the post-Rebirth (2016) era:

Read Jason’s story in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special

The first four volumes (Issues #1-25) of the Rebirth Red Hood and the Outlaws run (with the Artemis and Bizarro lineup, not the Kory and Roy lineup), while not fantastic, are generally solid reading for all that Lobdell wrote most of it. You can stop there, because it just gets bad afterwards.

Batman: Urban Legends #1-6 features a Jason-centric story called “Cheer” that’s fantastic and absolutely worth reading; it also includes some great flashbacks to Jason’s time as Robin. Collected in Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 1.

Detective Comics #1041-1043 (backup story) functions as a prelude to Task Force Z

Task Force Z (2021-2022), featuring Jason leading a team of undead villains

Nightwing 2021 Annual

Red Hood: The Hill (2024)

Tbh I can’t really recommend much more than that at this time. Here’s a good Jason Todd masterpost, though, and this is also a good one that details reading order a bit more in-depth.

Reading tl;dr: read Batman: Second Chances then read Batman: The Cult, The Caped Crusader Vol. 1, and A Death in the Family. If you’re interested in reading about the aftermath of Jason’s death, read The Caped Crusader Vol. 2. After that, pick up Under the Red Hood and Red Hood: The Lost Days. It’s a “choose your own adventure” game from there: you can go back and read pre-Crisis!Jason’s stories or you can pick up current continuity with Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1-25, the “Cheer” arc from Batman: Urban Legends, Task Force Z, and Red Hood: The Hill. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

TIM DRAKE: ROBIN III/RED ROBIN (+DRAKE)

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: the rich geeky kid with a heart of gold who looked Bruce Wayne in the eye and said “Batman needs a Robin. Let me be your Robin”:

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying (1989): Tim’s first appearance. It’s included as a double feature in the current Death in the Family collections (both the TPB published in 2011 and the newer hardcover linked here).

Tim’s three Robin miniseries, published before his solo started, are also good starter comics. Robin I is collected in the Vol. 1 reprint of Tim’s solo run (Robin: Reborn); Robin II & III are collected in Vol. 2 (Robin: Triumphant):

Robin I covers his training period and first encounter with Lady Shiva

Robin II: The Joker’s Wild chronicles his first encounter with the Joker

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress is Tim and Helena’s first meeting

“Benedictions” (Showcase ‘94 #5, Robin (1993) #6, and Showcase '94 #6): another great Helena-Tim team-up arc. Collected in Robin Vol. 4: Turning Point.

Tim’s Robin solo series (1993-2009) runs parallel to all of the other comics listed below until Final Crisis. Tim’s solo is often of middling quality, but it has a lot of great character development in it.

Issues #1-60 are the beginning of his solo to the beginning of the events of No Man’s Land

Issues #60-100 are No Man’s Land through the end of Young Justice (1998-2003)

Issues #101-125 happen between the end of Young Justice and War Games

Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood, which comes immediately after War Games and is a crossover story arc with Tim as Robin and Cass as Batgirl as they work out of Bludhaven to take down Penguin

Issues #139-148 are post-War Games through Infinite Crisis

Issues #149-155: One Year Later arc (overlaps with the Evil Cass arc; don’t bother reading, it sucks)

Issues #156-#183: post-OYL to end of Robin solo

Note Nightwing Vol. 2 #25, the aforementioned oneshot about Dick and Tim hanging out

Major Non-Bat Team Comics:

Young Justice (1998-2003) is a great Tim starter comic. This is Tim’s first team book co-starring other teen heroes including Conner Kent/Superboy, Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl, and Bart Allen/Impulse. All five volumes are an absolute delight.

Young Justice ends with Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day (2003), which then spins off into Tim’s Teen Titans run (2003-2011), which keeps going throughout the rest of the events on this list. Tim largely leaves the book as a series regular after the post-Infinite Crisis/One Year Later arcs, but still semi-regularly appears throughout the rest of the run.

Major Bat Events and Other Bat Comics Prominently Featuring Tim:

The Knightfall Saga (1993-1994), Batman: Prodigal (1994), Contagion (1996), Legacy (1996), Cataclysm (1998) and No Man’s Land (1999-2000) (all discussed in the ‘Batfamily Comics’ section except for Prodigal, which is discussed in Dick’s section) all prominently feature Tim. Tim’s solo comic regularly had tie-in issues during these events post-Knightfall.

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood (2000) is both an exceptional comic and has a really fun Tim-Helena subplot

Gotham Knights (2000-2006), as mentioned in the Batfam section

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive happens somewhere vaguely around the time that Young Justice ends and Teen Titans begins

I have to mention War Games (2004) here, simply because it was so impactful, but don’t pick it up. Just Wiki it. tl;dr it was event designed specififcally to kill off one of Tim’s school friends (Darla Aquista) and his girlfriend (Stephanie Brown) and just...isn’t good.

Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis: whole company crossover events. Not required reading. All you need to know is that Jack Drake, Tim’s dad, was murdered during those arcs and so was his best friend, Conner Kent/Superboy, which along with War Games leads to Tim being in the state he is in Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul.

Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul, while more focused on Bruce and Damian, has a fantastic and heartbreaking subplot focused on Tim

Then you’ve got Batman RIP, Final Crisis and Battle for the Cowl. As stated before, you don’t need to read Crisis and BftC is pretty mediocre. Either grin and bear it or Wiki it.

Red Robin (2009-2011), especially Chris Yost’s run, is fantastic. However, I would caution that Tim is in a pretty dark place during this run and while his characterization makes sense for what he’s gone through, 1) it’s not how he would normally act, and 2) reading this run requires some basic background knowledge of all the shit he’s been through since before War Games happened

Batman: The Black Mirror: a Dick-centric story, but Tim is in it!

Gates of Gotham

Of the post-Flashpoint Universe comics:

The New 52:…uh, generally, I wouldn’t. Some Tim fans call the New 52 The “Not-Tim era,” as explained by this post. He was literally a different guy for a bit, which lasted until the Rebirth event in 2016, when his history was reset and he was once again Tim Drake. Tim definitely got the short end of the stick of the post-2011!Batfamily until that point.

Post-Rebirth:

Detective Comics (2016) Vols. 1-7, particularly A Lonely Place of Living. Tynion’s run was fairly well done and very Tim-focused (and well-characterized for the first time in nearly 6 years). Warning for bad Stephanie characterization, though.

Michael Brian Bendis’ Young Justice (2019-2020) is also passably decent. 

Personal opinion: YJ 2019 is basically an exercise in tasting the potential for what the run could have been if it had been written by a competent writer who actually cared about the characters they were writing. I would take a bullet for each and every one of the characters in the 2019 run, but they’re stuck in a story with cool af concepts and mediocre-at-best execution.

His guest appearances in Nightwing (2016), specifically #80-83 (the back half of Tom Taylor's opening 'Leaping into the Light' arc)

Batman: Urban Legends #4-6 & #10 contain Tim’s coming-out story, where he was confirmed as bisexual and starts dating Bernard Dowd. You can currently buy the entire arc (plus another Tim-Bernard story) in DC Pride: Tim Drake Special.

Tim Drake: Robin (2022-2023): profoundly mid, but like. It’s there.

DC Pride 2023, "Hey Stranger" (Tim and Connor Hawke's Pride short)

Knight Terrors: Robin (2023)

Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run (Batman (2016) #125-157), co-stars Tim. Massive caveat: this run has fantastic Tim characterization and great Bruce-Tim content. Unfortunately, it’s not good characterization for most other Batfam characters :/

See here for a decent Tim reading masterpost and here for a “intro through No Man’s Land era” trade collection masterpost.

Reading tl;dr: read A Lonely Place for Dying and then pick up Young Justice (1998) and either one of the first two volumes of Tim’s Robin solo series (Robin: Reborn and Robin: Triumphant). 

After that, the highlights are Prodigal, Contagion, No Man’s Land, Gotham Knights, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive, Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood, Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul, and Red Robin.Then run around picking up whichever arcs you feel like reading. 

Of the reboot comics featuring Tim, imo only Tynion’s Detective Comics Rebirth run and Urban Legends #4-6/#10 are genuinely worth spending the money on, but YJ 2019 is passable and you might enjoy Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run.

-------------------------------------------------------------

DAMIAN WAYNE: ROBIN V

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: Bruce’s biological child with Talia al Ghul; raised in the League of Assassins, trying to be better.

Damian probably has the most straightforward post-Crisis comics progression of all the Batfam. It goes as follows:

Birth of the Demon (TPB): Son of the Demon, collected in this trade, is the original interpretation of Bruce & Talia’s relationship and the conception of the character who would later be named Damian Wayne. Originally deemed a non-canon Elseworlds story and subject to various retcons over the years, it is now fully canon in both the pre-reboot and post-reboot universes. Serves as a prologue to Batman and Son.

Batman and Son: Damian’s introduction. Note: includes some very unfortunate retcons re: Bruce & Talia’s relationship that make Damian the product of rape on Talia’s part. Thankfully, this was later re-retconned.

The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (2007)

Battle for the Cowl (2009)

Batman Reborn: Batman and Robin (2009-2011) and Streets of Gotham: these titles run largely parallel to each other and both star Damian as Robin to Dick Grayson’s Batman

Gates of Gotham

+Major guest appearances in Red Robin (#11-15), Batgirl Vol. 3 (#5-7, 17, and 24), and Teen Titans Vol. 3 (#89-92)

All are genuinely worth reading except for Battle for the Cowl which...is a bad story with worse Damian characterization; however, a general warning for Grant Morrison’s characterization of Talia al Ghul, which is one of the most egregious character assassinations I’ve ever had the misfortunate to witness. Also would like to take a moment to highlight his guest appearances in Steph’s Batgirl run, which was probably his most important interpersonal relationship outside of Dick Grayson at the time.

Post-Flashpoint universe:

Batman and Robin by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason: while I’m not crazy about the editorial decisions that went into the creation of the series it’s extremely well done. Damian undergoes some of his most important character development in this run. You can get it in 7 volumes or in the Batman & Robin by Tomasi and Gleason omni. For clarity’s sake:

B&R Volumes 1-3 (Born to Kill, Pearl, Death of the Family) happen prior to Damian’s death

Batman Inc. Vol. 2, #8 (Damian’s death) happens here. You should probably read the whole arc to get the full story, but you must read Issue #8 before proceeding to B&R Vol. 4

B&R Volume 4 (Requiem for Damian) is the immediate aftermath of his death.

B&R Volume 5 (The Big Burn) is a filler volume

B&R Volumes 6-7 (The Hunt for Robin, Robin Rises) are the arcs chronicling Damian’s resurrection and its aftermath, featuring Damian dealing with temporarily gaining superpowers as a result of his resurrection and a few more assorted adventures

Robin: Son of Batman (2015-2016): I recommend this run to everyone reading comics. It is a beautifully written comic detailing a globetrotting journey Damian takes to ‘atone’ for actions he undertook while growing up in the League of Assassins.

The Super Sons Saga (also by Tomasi) is also super cute. It stars Damian and Jon Kent, Clark and Lois’ son, on their various adventures. Run progression is Super Sons-->Adventures of the Super Sons-->Challenge of the Super Sons. The entirety of SS/AotSS is also collected in the Super Sons Omnibus Expanded Edition.

Damian guest-stars in Nightwing (2016) Vol. 3: Nightwing Must Die (again, take it or leave it, but has some nice Dick-Damian moments) and Nightwing (2016) #42 (absolutely worth reading)

Just wiki Damian’s Teen Titans Rebirth run and the events of Batman #77. It’s just…not worth it. Don’t read them.

Robin (2021-2022): Damian’s solo series, written by Josh Williamson. I really enjoyed it, so a solid recommendation here.

Batman vs. Robin (2022): spinning out of the Shadow War event, this maxiseries is written by Mark Waid.

Batman and Robin (2023-present) is currently Damian’s main book. Follows up on plotlines from Robin (2021) and Shadow War. Damian’s back in Gotham and headed to high school. Focuses on Bruce and Damian’s relationship.

Basically, when looking at New 52!Damian, you want anything written by Tomasi and/or Gleason and Josh Williamson. Morrison’s arc (Damian’s murder) is an unfortunate (and badly written) but necessary part of Damian’s history. Teen Titans Rebirth is racist trash as far as its portrayal of Damian is concerned. Full reading order for Damian can be found in this masterpost.

Reading tl;dr: Start with Batman and Son (optional pre-reading: Son of the Demon), then move on to Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul, Batman & Robin (2009), Streets of Gotham, and Gates of Gotham. For the post-Flashpoint universe, start with Batman & Robin (2011); continue on with Robin: Son of Batman, the Super Sons saga, Robin (2021), and Batman and Robin (2023).

-------------------------------------------------------------

BARBARA GORDON: BATGIRL I/ORACLE

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: Commissioner Gordon’s librarian daughter, inspired by Batman to become Batgirl. Shot and paralyzed by the Joker after retiring, reinvented herself as Oracle afterwards and became even more badass:

Pre-Crisis Universe:

Detective Comics #359, "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl" (1967): Barbara’s original introduction and origin story

Batgirl: The Bronze Age Volumes 1 & 2: collects most of Barbara’s pre-Crisis adventures as Batgirl

Post-Crisis Universe:

Secret Origins (1986) #20: Barbara’s original post-Crisis origin story

Batgirl: Year One, a modern retelling of Babs’ debut and first year as Batgirl

Batman: Batgirl (1997), by Kelley Puckett: a Barbara faces the Joker story that chronologically takes place right after Babs becomes Batgirl and takes out Killer Moth

Batgirl: Girlfrenzy (1998), by Kelley Puckett: Barbara vs. Victor Zsasz oneshot

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2007) #33, “Ladies’ Night”: a oneshot about Diana and Zatanna taking Barbara clubbing while she was still Batgirl. Written at the end of the post-Crisis era, when Babs was Oracle, but mostly set during Babs’ Batgirl era.

Batgirl Special (1988): Barbara’s last case as Batgirl before she retires. Written as a prelude to The Killing Joke.

The Killing Joke: the comic where Babs gets shot and paralyzed by The Joker. Warning: Barbara is not focused on at all in this comic and is fridged to advance the Batman v. Joker dynamic and create manpain for Commissioner Gordon and Bruce. Frankly, while this is technically “required reading,” unless you’re a completionist or want to read “the classics,” I wouldn’t bother. TKJ’s events are mentioned and explained enough in later comics that it’s ultimately unecessary to read.

Suicide Squad (Vol. 1): aka, the series where Ostrander and Yale took a fridged character and brought her back from the depths. Babs appears as the unnamed Oracle in several issues and is eventually shown to be Barbara Gordon in #38. Special mention for the Out of Control arc (#48-49), a Barbara-focused arc.

Batman Chronicles #5, which includes the story of Barbara’s recovery and transformation into Oracle in Oracle: Year One

Showcase ‘94 #12, “A Little Knowledge”: wonderful oneshot (taking place during the events of Batman Prodigal) of Babs dealing with a stalker who attempts to kill her

Cataclysm, Road to No Man’s Land, and No Man’s Land (again, all are all-Batfam comics and so include a nice dose of Babs)

Nightwing/Birds of Prey: The Hunt for Oracle chronologically happens here. More on that below.

Birds of Prey (Vol. 1, 1999-2009): This book features Babs as Oracle leading the all-female superhero team, the Birds of Prey. It was written first by Chuck Dixon and then Gail Simone. Some of it has aged poorly, but overall it’s still a fantastic set of stories that truly allows Barbara to shine as an independent disabled character who gets to be a well-rounded team leader, hero, mentor, lover, and friend. Probably the most important Babs comic of the last twenty or thirty years. 

Chuck Dixon’s run (#1-46) is collected here: Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3.

There was a short fill-in run period (#47-55) by Terry Moore and Gilbert Hernandez, which to my knowledge has never been collected

Gail Simone’s run (BOP Vol. 1 #56-108) was just reprinted. You can collect it by either picking up the old editions, starting with Of Like Minds, or you can start with the new editions, beginning with Vol. 4: Murder and Mystery and followed by Hero Hunters, Fighters By Trade, and Progeny

The remainder of the run (#109-127) is split between Tony Bedard and Sean McKeever. These issues can be found in the Whitewater  and The End of the Beginning trades.

Dixon Oracle-centric storylines: all of Dixon’s run centers around Black Canary and Oracle, with The Hunt for Oracle being a notable Oracle-centric storyline. Special mention for BOP #8, which forms the entire modern basis for her romantic relationship with Dick Grayson

Simone Oracle-centric arcs: Between Dark and Dawn, the OMAC arc, and her recurring run-ins with the hacker supervillain named ‘The Calculator’

Batgirl (Vol. 1, 2000-2006): Babs co-stars in many issues of Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl run, where she becomes Cass’s mentor and surrogate mother. It’s one of the most important interpersonal relationships for both women at that time. Issues run concurrently with her time running the BoP, so you can really pick them up whenever

Extra mention: DC First: Batgirl/Joker (2002), which features Cass’s first encounter with the Joker

Batgirl (Vol. 3, 2009-2011): Babs co-stars in Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl run as she grudgingly becomes Steph’s mentor.

Her appearances in Steph’s Batgirl run generally parallel with Birds of Prey (Vol. 2, 2010-2011), including the ‘Death of Oracle’ arc

mentioning the Oracle: The Cure miniseries here even though it’s mediocre since its events impact various things that happen in Batgirl and BOP

The Black Mirror: The Black Mirror’s plot is focused around the Gordons (specifically around James Gordon Jr.), and Babs plays a major role in its events

You might need to wiki the event to understand the broader context of what’s going on, but Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle features some fantastic and badass Babs moments

Basically, here’s a decent masterpost for Babs that goes up to about mid-2010 (the link also tells exactly which issues of Suicide Squad Babs is in). For the most part, anything written by Ostrander/Yale, Chuck Dixon, or Gail Simone containing Babs is probably at least pretty good if not quality Barbara Gordon material (when not having to deal with editorial interference).

Post-Flashpoint Universe:

Honestly, only Gail Simone’s New 52 Batgirl run (Volumes 1-5 in that list) is really worth mentioning, as to this day it remains the only post-2011 Babs-centric comic to treat Babs being dramatically de-aged, given back the use of her legs, and re-taking the Batgirl cowl with any kind of genuine respect and dignity. Simone’s run is also collected in the Batgirl Returns omnibus.

The Batgirl of Burnside arcs (written by Stewart and Fletcher) are cute and you may enjoy reading them in isolation, but they may as well feature a completely different character with Barbara Gordon’s name for all the similarities Burnside!Babs shares with previous depictions of the character. Lukewarm personal rec for being relatively fine comics on their own but being terrible Barbara Gordon comics. The entire Burnside arc is collected in the Batgirl of Burnside omnibus or in three separate volumes (Batgirl of Burnside, Family Business, and Mindfields).

Detective Comics’ Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2021-2022) by Mariko Tamaki features a well-written Babs in as much of an Oracle role as DC will currently let her occupy. It’s well done.

Detective Comics by Ram V: Gotham Nocturne (Detective Comics #1062-1089)

Birds of Prey (2023-Present)

If I’m going to be honest, Barbara’s best ongoing comic since the New 52 run has been the Elseworlds Wayne Family Adventures webtoon (described in the Elseworlds section below). You should also look at The Oracle Code, a self-contained YA graphic novel about Barbara solving a mystery while in recovery and learning how to be an independent wheelchair user, and Shadow of the Batgirl, a one-off YA graphic novel about Cassandra Cain that features wheelchair-using!Barbara in a prominent role. Neither book requires any prior reading or knowledge of the DC universe, so they’re good for new readers.

Reading tl;dr: Start with Batgirl: Year One, Secret Origins #20, and “Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl” for Babs’ Batgirl era. For her transition into being Oracle, read Suicide Squad: Out of Control, Batman Chronicles #5, and Chuck Dixon’s Birds of Prey run. Continue reading with Cataclysm and No Man’s Land, Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey run, Batgirl Vol. 1 (2000), Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive, Batgirl Vol. 3 (2009), and The Black Mirror. 

For reboot comics, read Gail Simone’s Batgirl run and Tamaki’s Detective Comics run; I can’t personally recommend the Burnside arcs, but a lot of people enjoyed them. For one-off, self-contained stories unconnected to the main comics universe, go read The Oracle Code and Shadow of the Batgirl.

-------------------------------------------------------------

CASSANDRA CAIN: BATGIRL II/BLACK BAT/ORPHAN

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: the girl raised as an assassin trying to make restitution for her past, learning how to operate in the real world, and gaining a family in the process:

No Man’s Land (described in ‘Whole Batfamily Comics’ Section): Cass is introduced about halfway through this story as the daughter of David Cain, an assassin who has shown up to try and assassinate Gordon (reminder that while NML is a long and complicated story arc, it’s totally worth it just for Cass’s intro)

Batgirl Vol. 1 (2000-2006): This was Cass’s Batgirl solo series and runs parallel to all comics listed below until the One Year Later event in 2006. You’ll also get quite a large dose of Stephanie Brown as Spoiler in this series, since Cass and Steph are best friends. The original Puckett/Scott run is collected here, while the full run is linked in the title. This is also an excellent starter title for Cass if you don’t want to read NML first.

The “Sounds” short in the DC Asian Superhero Celebration anthology is really lovely. It came out in May 2021, but chronologically takes place in the pre-reboot universe early in Cass’s tenure as Batgirl

DC First: Batgirl/Joker (2002), which features Cass’s first encounter with the Joker

Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood: again, happens in the aftermath of War Games (2004). A fun crossover story arc starring Tim as Robin and Cass as Batgirl in Bludhaven taking down Penguin. Collects Batgirl #58-59.

Other Appearances During this Time:

Azrael: Agent of the Bat Issues #56-61

Batman: Officer Down (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive (2003-2004): described above in the Batfam comics section, but reiterating that it’s a great all-Batfam story with some great Cass moments

Justice League Elite (2004), starring an undercover Cass as ‘Kasumi’

War Games (2004) is a super awful storyline basically written for the sole purpose of killing Stephanie Brown off, so don’t read it, but you should at least wiki it because it had a huge impact on Cass

Whatever you do, stay away from the timeframe comic readers call the “Cassandra Cain character assassination” period. It’s a period of time where DC thought turning Cass evil was a good idea and vaguely runs from about late 2005 to late 2008, from the entire One Year Later storyline all the way through her redemption quest and adoption by Bruce at the end of the 2008 Batgirl miniseries. More about that here.

If you’re ever genuinely curious about the Evil Cass arc, that story largely plays out in the pages of Robin: Wanted and Teen Titans: Titans East. 

Cass’s aforementioned redemption quest and adoption happens in Batman and the Outsiders (2007) and Batgirl Vol. 2 (2008)

So after finishing Cass’s solo series, you can proceed straight to Gates of Gotham: It’s a fabulous book, as mentioned above, with an engaging storyline that is only made better by the fact Cass is a part of it

She also features in both Tim Drake’s Red Robin run (#17 & 23-25) and in a couple of issues of Batman Inc. Both are worth reading.

In the post-Flashpoint universe:

Cass’s first post-reboot appearances in Batman & Robin Eternal (where she is first introduced as “Orphan”) leave a sour taste in my mouth, so I’m going to casually point towards James Tynion’s Detective Comics Rebirth run (Vols. 1-7) as my first reboot era rec for Cass. As sour as I am about Reboot!Cass as a concept, Tynion did a lot with her and for her in his run and I am grateful to him for that. 

Batman: Night of the Monster Men

Brian Hill’s Batman and the Outsiders (2019-2020) is solid and has a lot of really nice character moments between Cass and Duke Thomas

Detective Comics’ Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2021-2022)

I personally cannot recommend Batgirls (2021-2023) despite it co-starring Cass and being her most prominent comic during that time. I’m sure some people will enjoy reading it, but I found it to be mediocre in storytelling quality and horribly infantilizing to both Cass and Steph. However, given its prominence, I feel the need to at least note its existence.

Spirit World (2023): A++, 10/10 would recommend. Best Cass comic in over a decade. Fully recognizes her pre-reboot history and features a fantastic story of Cass trying to escape the Spirit World with the help of John Constantine and Xanthe Zhou, a spirit envoy.

Detective Comics by Ram V: Gotham Nocturne (Detective Comics #1062-1089): Fantastic story with fantastic Cass moments.

Birds of Prey (2023-present) is one of the comics where you can currently find Cass co-starring alongside the rest of the Birds (led by Black Canary).

Cass is also starring in Batgirl (2024-present), which began in October! It’s great, please go read and support it!

Here’s a good masterpost for Cass’s storylines, and here’s another one. If you’d like a more accessible and updated origin story for Cass, Shadow of the Batgirl is A++, 10/10 would recommend.

Reading tl;dr: Read No Man’s Land OR just start with Cass’s Batgirl solo series (including Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood), and Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive. Other highlights include DC First: Batgirl/Joker, Justice League Elite, and Gates of Gotham. 

If you’re interested in reading reboot!Cass, read Tynion’s Detective Comics Rebirth run, Batman and the Outsiders (2019), Shadows of the Bat: The Tower, Spirit World, Ram V’s Detective Comics run, Birds of Prey (2023), and Batgirl (2024). For a one-off origin story that still retains her personality and important relationships, read Shadow of the Batgirl.

-------------------------------------------------------------

STEPHANIE BROWN: SPOILER/ROBIN IV/BATGIRL III

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: daughter of a c-list villain who decided to become a hero to take her father out, continued to be badass afterward:

Her first appearances were in Detective Comics #647-649. These issues are collected in Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 8.

She features prominently in Tim’s Robin (1993-2009) solo run, first as Spoiler, and later as Tim’s girlfriend in addition to her Spoiler identity.

Notable appearances in Robin: Issues #3-5 (collected in Robin: Solo), #15-16, #25-26, #35-45, #54-60 and #62-65 (teen pregnancy arc, warning for Chuck Dixon’s weird pro-life political stances), #80-84, #92-100, #102-113

*Starred Issue: Robin #111, which is a very important (and heavy) issue focused on Steph

She shows up several times in Cass’s Batgirl run, as she basically functions as Cassandra’s best friend. So if you read Cass’s Batgirl run, you’re also going to get a large dose of Steph.

Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma is a fun Helena-Steph team-up oneshot

She has some nice moments in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive

She also appears in Joker: Last Laugh

She then has a very short-lived stint as Robin (around two and a half months in-universe), detailed in Detective Comics #796, Batgirl (2000) #53, Robin (1993) #126-128, and Teen Titans (2003) #13, plus her Robin story in the Robin 80th Anniversary Special

Please avoid War Games. It’s horribly written, out of character, and was basically used as an excuse to kill Steph off. Unfortunately, it’s a comic needed to understand later events. Wiki it.

Stephanie’s “resurrection” and return to Gotham:

Gotham Underground: Steph’s “resurrection” story

Robin Vol. 2 (1993-2009) #173-183

Robin/Spoiler Special (2008)

Batman and the Outsiders Vol 2 (2007-2011) #13

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? (2009) and Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? (2009)

Steph then becomes Batgirl and stars in her first ever solo, Batgirl Vol. 3. Steph’s Batgirl run is critically acclaimed and is known for its character work. She also guest-stars in Red Robin occasionally (also a very good book, as mentioned above).

Her final appearances in the post-Crisis universe are in Batman: Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes

For post-reboot recs:

Steph was re-introduced in Batman Eternal. her portrayal in this series isn’t fantastic, but it’s generally solid all things considered

In the Rebirth era, her most substantive appearances have been in Tynion’s Detective Comics Rebirth run. However, as good as Tynion’s run is otherwise, Steph is written pretty badly (:/), so that’s the caveat that comes with this entry

She also occasionally shows pops up in Young Justice (2019), though she’s largely there to be “Tim’s girlfriend” rather than Stephanie Brown.

Detective Comics’ Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2021-2022)

Batman: One Bad Day: Two-Face (2022)

The Flash #786 (2022): Steph teams up with Cass and Team Flash

And again, as I said in Cass’s section: I personally cannot recommend Batgirls (2021-2023) despite it co-starring Steph and being her most prominent comic during that time. I’m sure some people will enjoy reading it, but I found it to be mediocre in storytelling quality and horribly infantilizing to both Cass and Steph. However, given its prominence, I feel the need to at least note its existence.

Reading tl;dr: read Detective Comics #647-649, Tim’s Robin run and Cass’s Batgirl run, Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive, and Batgirl Vol. 3 (2009). For post-Flashpoint universe comics, read Batman Eternal, Detective Comics Rebirth (2016), Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2021), and One Bad Day: Two-Face.

-------------------------------------------------------------

DUKE THOMAS: SIGNAL

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: the newest addition to the family, the only meta in the family, and also the only major daytime operator in Gotham.

Here’s a good masterpost for Duke’s comics, but if you just want to hit the highlights:

Basically, read his initial introduction in Batman: Zero Year

Read Batman: Endgame (which also serves as the conclusion to Scott Snyder’s run on Batman, by the way, so be mindful when you pick it up)

Read We Are Robin and Robin War (both are mediocre comics at best, but they provide solid foundations for Duke’s character, his friend group, and why he becomes involved with the Batfamily in the first place)

Then comes the first arc of Tom King’s Batman: Rebirth run, where Duke first receives his suit and is a major supporting character (the rest of the run is irrelevant; Duke really only shows up in that first arc)

All-Star Batman: part of Duke’s early days training and operating as Signal.

Batman: Night of the Monster Men: takes place in between Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of All-Star Batman

Batman & The Signal: a cute miniseries focusing on Bruce training Duke and them going out as Batman and Signal

Batman & The Outsiders (2018-2020): Baby’s first team-up! Also features tons of Cass and a lot of fun Duke-Cass ineractions.

Batman Secret Files: The Signal (2021)

Batman: Urban Legends #8-9, “The Fearful” and #18-19, “The Signal and the Outsiders”: both are fun Duke-centric Outsiders stories. the first story is collected in Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 2, the second in Urban Legends Vol 5.

Reading tl;dr: read everything on the list.

-------------------------------------------------------------

HELENA BERTINELLI: HUNTRESS

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: the sole survivor of a mafia family, seeking vengeance and justice after an assassin murdered them all:

Watch Justice League Unlimited episodes “Double Date,” “Grudge Match,” and “Question Authority.” This is a situation where an adaptation actually does provide a solid introduction to a character. 

Then read the following comics:

The Huntress (1989): Helena’s first appearances. Unfortunately uncollected, but every issue is available individually.

Batman/Huntress: A Cry for Blood (2000): Helena finds the man responsible for murdering her family and must decide whether she will give in to the temptation for revenge and kill him or not. Also examines her relationship to Vic Sage/The Question. Recently re-collected in Birds of Prey: Huntress.

Huntress: Year One: another fantastic take on Helena’s earliest days as Huntress. Solid standalone read, but references things that might not make sense if you haven’t read Cry for Blood.

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress: Featuring Helena’s first meeting and team-up with Tim Drake as Robin (Collected in Robin: Triumphant).

“Benedictions” (Showcase ‘94 #5, Robin (1993) #6, and Showcase '94 #6): another great Helena-Tim team-up arc. Collected in Robin Vol. 4: Turning Point.

Helena plays a supporting role in Batman: Contagion, which chronologically slots here.

Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma: fun team-up between Helena and Steph

The No Man’s Land saga, where Helena plays a fairly large role

Helena appears in Volumes 2-4 of JLA (1997-2006) as a member of the Justice League. Collected in the JLA by Grant Morrison omnibus or separate volumes.

Birds of Prey: Manhunt: Helena’s first team-up with Oracle and Black Canary. Collected in Vol. 1 of Chuck Dixon’s run.

Gail Simone’s run on Birds of Prey Vol. 1 (1999-2009), Issues #56-108, as well as the remainder of the run (#108-127)

Note: Gail Simone’s run was just reprinted. You can collect it by either picking up the old editions, starting with Of Like Minds, or you can start with the new editions, beginning with Vol. 4: Murder and Mystery and followed by Hero Hunters, Fighters By Trade, and Progeny. The remainder of the book (#109-127) is split between Tony Bedard and Sean McKeever. These issues can be found in the Whitewater  and The End of the Beginning trades.

Batman: Gotham Knights #38-40

Yes, she’s in Battle for the Cowl and Battle for the Cowl: The Network. No, you don’t need to read them.

Birds of Prey Vol. 2 (2010-2011): mid comic, but is the last comic of significance for Helena in the post-Crisis universe

Note: Do not read the Nightwing/Huntress mini if you can help it. The writing sucks and both Dick and Helena are OOC.

Post-Flashpoint Universe: Post-Flashpoint!Helena is basically a completely different character from Post-Crisis!Helena, and Earth-2!Helena Wayne was co-opting her ID there for awhile too. If you like Post-Crisis!Helena, odds are you’re not going to like post-Flashpoint!Helena very much. However, there is one bright spot: Detective Comics by Mariko Tamaki (Detective Comics Vol. 1 #1034-1061), including Batman: Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2022) (Detective Comics #1047-1058). Tamaki’s run is both good and actually has a recognizable Helena!

Reading tl;dr: Read Cry for Blood, Huntress: Year One, Cry of the Huntress, No Man’s Land, and Birds of Prey (1999). After that, you can read Blunt Trauma, JLA Vols. 2-4, Gotham Knights, and Birds of Prey (2010). Then go straight to Mariko Tamaki’s Detective Comics run.

-------------------------------------------------------------

SELINA KYLE: CATWOMAN

-------------------------------------------------------------

AKA: our favorite anti-heroic cat burglar with a heart of gold and Bruce’s most prominent on/off love interest:

Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper: A spin-off miniseries of Batman: Year One, this was actually Selina’s first solo series and tells Year One from her POV (she’s also in Year One, btw). A really good, solid introduction to Selina and her backstory.

Batman: Prey (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15)

"Sorrow Street" (found in Showcase '93 #1-5)

Catwoman: When in Rome: six-issue miniseries featuring Selina being fabulous and working with the Riddler in Rome to try and uncover what’s going on with the Falcone family. The series runs largely parallel to the events in The Long Halloween/Dark Victory.

Birds of Prey: Manhunt: Selina runs into and works with the Birds of Prey. Collected in Vol. 1 of Chuck Dixon’s run.

Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score by Darwyn Cooke is a fun hiest romp all around. 10/10, would recommend. Takes place JUST before the start of Selina’s ongoing solo

Catwoman (2002-2008) by Ed Brubaker: Brubaker’s Catwoman run (paired with the late great Darwyn Cooke’s art) is legendary for a reason.

Within this run is The Replacements arc: during the One Year Later storyline in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, Selina takes time off from being Catwoman to care for her new infant (Helena Kyle) and temporarily passes the Catwoman mantle on to Holly Robinson.

Hush (which co-stars Selina and focuses on her relationship with Bruce quite a bit) chronologically slots in a little after her 2002 solo run starts

Heart of Hush (2008), Paul Dini’s ‘sequel’ to the Hush arc, chronologically happens after Selina’s solo ends but before Bruce dies in Final Crisis

Streets of Gotham: Hush Money (2009): the continuation of Dini’s Hush saga

Gotham City Sirens: Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy team-up. Batman Reborn-era (2009-2011, Dick’s Batman)

Post-Flashpoint Universe:

Catwoman by Genevieve Valentine (Volumes 6 and 7 of her New 52 solo series). Basically the lone bright spot for Selina as a character between 2011 and 2016. 

Batman Rebirth (2016-2018): *sigh* The Bruce/Selina engagement and failed wedding arc chronologically happens here. If you can stand Tom King’s writing and insistence on demonizing Bruce and Selina’s other love interests, it’s worth a read for Joelle Jones’ art alone. Otherwise, wiki it, marvel at the art, and then hate DC editorial forever for not allowing Selina to wear this gorgeous dress at her wedding.

Batman #37 (2017): a “double date” single issue with Bruce/Selina and Clark/Lois. Standout issue.

Catwoman by Joelle Jones and then Ram V (tl;dr Catwoman 2018 from #1-38). You can stop when you hit Issue #39, the start of Tini Howard’s run.

Detective Comics by Ram V: Gotham Nocturne (Detective Comics #1062-1089)

Reading tl;dr: read Her Sister’s Keeper, The Long Halloween/Dark Victory, When in Rome, Selina’s Big Score, Catwoman Vol. 3 (2002), Batman: Hush, Heart of Hush, and Gotham City Sirens. Work your way out from there.

-------------------------------------------------------------

KATE KANE: BATWOMAN

-------------------------------------------------------------

Post-Crisis Recommendations:

Kate is introduced in 52 #7 and is a recurring character throughout that series

Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood

Batwoman by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III: the majority of Kate Kane/Batwoman’s pre-reboot solo adventures as Batwoman

Batman & Robin (2009) #7-9, “Blackest Knight” also features Kate

Post-Flashpoint Recommendations:

Batwoman (2011-2015): Kate’s New 52 Batwoman solo run (the first four volumes of this run, all by JH Williams, are great; the final two volumes are ‘take it or leave it’ story arcs). Williams’ entire run is collected in the Batwoman Omnibus.

Detective Comics Rebirth (Vols. 1-7), by James Tynion IV

Batman: Night of the Monster Men

Batwoman Rebirth (2016-2018)

Batman: Shadows of the Bat: The Tower (2022), by Mariko Tamaki

Outsiders (2023)

The Question: All Along the Watchtower (2025)

You should also check out DC Bombshells (described further down in the ‘Elseworlds and Non-Mainverse’ section)!

-------------------------------------------------------------

TALIA AL GHUL

-------------------------------------------------------------

General warning for Talia’s comics: as stated in Damian’s section, Talia underwent a major character assassination under Grant Morrison’s pen. Unfortunately, since Morrison introduced Damian, this re-characterization has had major, lasting consequences for Talia’s character. Talia-featured comics written prior to Greg Rucka’s Death and the Maidens (2003) and Morrison’s tenure on Batman thus show quite a different Talia than many people who have encountered her in other Batman media are likely used to. As previously stated, this is a ‘major character highlights’ reading list, hence why the Morrison era is included here despite being...very poor depictions of Talia.

Pre-Crisis Universe:

Detective Comics #411 and Batman #232 (1971): Talia’s first appearance. Collected in Batman: Tales of the Demon and Batman Arkham: Talia al Ghul

Batman #243-244 (1972): one of the most famous al Ghul-related Batman stories, this arc features a major showdown between Bruce and Ra’s and progression of the Bruce/Talia relationship

Batman #257 (1974), "Hail Emperor Penguin!": features Talia on a solo mission and torn between her morals and her devotion to her father

Detective Comics #526 (1983): Also coincidentally contains pre-Crisis!Jason’s first outing as Robin and one of the funniest Selina-Talia interactions of all time

Batman #400 (1986): Bruce deals with an all-Arkham+Blackgate breakout orchestrated by Ra’s. Features an incredibly fun team-up between Bruce, Jason, Selina, and Talia.

Post-Crisis Universe:

The Demon Trilogy (particularly Son of the Demon): The Demon trilogy (Birth/Bride/Son of the Demon) focus on the al Ghuls, their history, and their relationships with Bruce. As detailed in Bruce’s and Damian’s sections, Son of the Demon focuses on Talia and Bruce.

Detective Comics (1937) Annual #1

Batman Chronicles #8, “The Prison”: interesting short story exploring Talia’s relationship with Ra’s and Bruce/Talia after their relationship ends...and is also the only time a comic’s been completely told from Talia’s POV

Batman: The Chalice

Batman: No Man’s Land #0 (1999), “Ground Zero”: come and get your Brutalia angst!

JLA: Tower of Babel: Talia is a secondary character here, but it’s notable for being the story where she finally breaks from Ra’s entirely.

Detective Comics (1937) #750, “Dependence”: super important story for Talia. It focuses on her relationship with Bruce, features the start of her “emancipation” arc, and is largely about Talia trying to figure out what she wants to do and who she wants to be outside of the men in her life (Bruce and Ra’s).

President Luthor Secret Files #1, Action Comics #772-773, Adventures of Superman #600, Man of Steel #120, and Man of Steel #122-125: Lexcorp CEO!Talia era my dearly beloved. Everyone should read it, honestly.

Batman: Death and the Maidens (2003): *sigh* the turning point of Talia’s characterization change. On one hand, it’s well-written. On the other...it’s a frankly horrifying and traumatizing story that served little purpose other than to kill Ra’s and provide some sort of narrative reason why Talia would go back to the League after so thoroughly divorcing herself from her father’s goals, with a broader editorial goal of putting her back in Bat books after spending three years as a Superman supporting character. That said, it’s a genuinely important story for Talia and a big re-contextualization of the al Ghul family history.

Batman Annual #25 (2006) and Red Hood: The Lost Days (2010) chronologically fit here. Talia plays a major role as Jason’s mentor and guide between his resurrection and his return to Gotham as Red Hood. 

Batman and Son (2006): Damian’s introduction. Skippable from a Talia perspective. Note: as previously detailed in Damian’s section, tw for rape.

The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (2007): actually good! Lots of interesting, morally ambiguous Talia trying desperately to save her son.

Nightwing #140-146 (2008): the “Freefall” arc. Lots of fun Dick-Talia sniping.

Batman & Robin (2009-2011): major warning for Morrison’s Talia here

Post-Flashpoint Universe:

I frankly would not wish reading Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) on anyone. However, Talia has a major supporting role in several of the early issues, so I figured I should at least note it here. Otherwise:

Batman and Robin (2011) #0: nice Talia and Damian flashbacks

Batman Inc. (2012): again, warning for Morrison’s Talia. This is the arc mentioned in Damian’s section where Talia orders Damian’s death via Heretic. Probably the lowest point narratively for Talia as a character.

Robin: Son of Batman (2015-2016): honestly fantastic. 10/10. Patrick Gleason did an incredible job starting Talia’s character rehab process and setting up a new status quo for her (and for her relationship with Damian)

Event Leviathan: 

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special (2019), Event Leviathan (2019-2020), and Leviathan Dawn (2020)

Checkmate (2021-2022)

Robin (2021): Talia features prominently in the back half of Damian’s most recent solo run

Shadow War (2022): event spinning out of Damian’s 2021 Robin run

Detective Comics by Ram V: Gotham Nocturne (Detective Comics #1062-1089)

Reading tl;dr: Start with Detective Comics #411/Batman #232, Batman #243-244, and Son of the Demon. Then read Batman Chronicles #8, Tower of Babel, and the Lexcorp CEO arc. Then venture into the post-Damian era (both pre-reboot and post-reboot) with Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, Nightwing: Freefall, Red Hood: The Lost Days, Batman and Robin (2011) #0, Robin: Son of Batman, Event Leviathan (2019-2020), Robin (2021), and Ram V’s Detective Comics run. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

ASSORTED GOTHAM-BASED CHARACTERS

-------------------------------------------------------------

Gotham Central by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker: stars members of the Gotham City Police Department members as they go about their daily lives trying to actually get work done. There’s some incredible character work in this book, particularly with Renee Montoya.

Mad Love and Other Stories: Harley Quinn’s original backstory and the initial depiction of her relationship with the Joker (B:TAS-verse)

Harley Quinn (2000-2004): Harley Quinn’s original solo series

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death (2016): interesting Ivy-focused miniseries

Poison Ivy (2022-present) by G. Willow Wilson: Ivy’s first solo ongoing series. Phenomenal.

Kate Spencer’s Manhunter series

Gotham by Midnight: you like paranormal detective stories? Come read this book. It stars Jim Corrigan’s Spectre and the GCPD’s Midnight Shift: the team that handles Gotham’s more supernatural cases.

Gotham Academy and Gotham Academy: Second Semester: semi-normal teenagers try to survive and live a normal life in Gotham. It’s every high school fic you ever wanted wrapped up in gorgeous art and Scooby Doo-level hijinks. Here’s a masterpost. Batfamily members cameo from time to time, but mostly completely focused on the original characters, especially Olive Silverlock and Maps Mizoguchi. No real knowledge of the Bat-universe required.

I’ve also written a very basic recs post for several of the Gotham Rogues.

Additionally, here’s a couple of masterposts for various miscellaneous Batfamily members (Batwing, Batwoman). Masterposts for other periphery Batfam characters will be linked as they are found.

-------------------------------------------------------------

ELSEWORLDS (AU), BLACK LABEL, & NON-MAINVERSE

-------------------------------------------------------------

Li’l Gotham: a fun all-ages comic centered around the entire Batfamily. Every issue is focused on a different holiday. The series is super cute and has art by Dustin Nguyen (watercolors that are to die for, basically)

Wayne Family Adventures: an official DC-Webtoons collaboration, this is a cute, all-ages, slice-of-life digital comic focuses on the Batfamily. Has the benefit and bonus of being free to read and easily accessible.

DC Bombshells: a reality where female superheroes guard the homefront during World War II. Co-stars Kate Kane as Batwoman and includes many Bat characters. Incredible comic, 10/10 would recommend.

Gotham By Gaslight: you like Batman? You like steampunk? Then this is the comic for you, because this Elseworlds comic is a what-if of Batman in the Victorian era hunting down Jack the Ripper.

Batman: Earth One: a modernized re-imagining of Bruce’s origin story

The DCeased Universe: Tom Taylor got to write a post-apocalyptic zombie AU comic and went ‘you know what would make this better? If I wrote a bunch of fun Batfamily moments.’ General focus on Damian, but you also get nice bits of everyone else. Includes the main comic, DCeased, plus DCeased: Unkillables, DCeased: Hope at World’s End, and DCeased: Dead Planet

Kingdom Come: Mostly a ‘DCU as a whole’ title, but Batman/the Batfam features quite a bit

Batman: In Darkest Knight: a oneshot Elseworlds story showcasing a world where Bruce receives the Green Lantern ring instead of Hal Jordan, causing Bruce to become Earth’s Green Lantern

Huntress: Origins: collects the 1970s-era stories of Helena Wayne, Batman and Catwoman’s daughter from Earth-2 and the original Huntress

Titans: Titans Together: cute DC Digital First miniseries about the Titans training together and investigating Raven’s missing college professor. As long as you have a basic grasp of who the characters involved are, no other real background knowledge is necessary

Catwoman: Lonely City: follows a middle-aged Catwoman as she investigates a conspiracy related to the death of Batman. Set ten years after a Joker-related massacre that killed Bruce, Dick, Jim Gordon, and the Joker and sent Selina to prison.

The Boy Wonder: cute fairy tale-esque miniseries starring Damian. Damian is a young prince raised by the League of Assassins whose father, the Batman, reclaims him and takes him to Gotham. As Robin, Damian finds himself as “merely” one of a number of princes (his brothers). Each issue stars Damian as he battles alongside one of his brothers to solve a series of abductions while his father is out of town.

There’s also a number of fun YA graphic novels that center various Batman and Bat-adjacent characters:

I’ve already talked about The Oracle Code, a self-contained story about Barbara solving a mystery while in recovery and learning how to be an independent wheelchair user in Babs’ section, but it bears repeating here (and here’s an interview with the author that I think people might find really interesting). 

And again, I highly recommend Shadow of the Batgirl, which reimagines Cassandra Cain’s origin story. As noted in Babs’ section, this story also prominently features her. 

I also recommend reading The Lost Carnival, a delightful story starring a teenage Dick Grayson set in a universe where the Graysons never fell.

Poison Ivy: Thorns: angsty high school gothic romance AU starring Pam in her pre-Poison Ivy days. 

Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story: centers on a teenage Victor Fries (Mr. Freeze) and his romance with Nora. Genuinely a really lovely reimagining of the tragic love story we first saw in Batman: The Animated Series and has since been carried over into the comics.

None of these books require any prior reading or knowledge of the DC universe, as they’re obviously Elseworlds stories, so they’re good for new readers.

You’ll notice that The Dark Knight Returns hasn’t been mentioned yet despite quite possibly being the most iconic Batman story of all time. That was on purpose, because it fits in this section. DKR is a dark alternate future AU in a world where Bruce hung up the cowl and stopped being Batman after Jason’s death. Plot...generally revolves around Bruce deciding to return to the cowl after ten years of retirement. Also features Carrie Kelley’s sole appearances as Robin outside of event specials. I personally think it’s an extremely mediocre comic with a meandering plot, ridiculously OOC characterization from multiple characters, and bad art. However, given that it’s one of the most iconic comics of all time, I can’t exactly leave it off a Batman comic recs list in good faith. So I’m putting it here with those caveats.

-------------------------------------------------------------

PLACES TO BUY/READ COMICS

-------------------------------------------------------------

DC Comics publishes new issues and trades on Wednesdays (as does the majority of the rest of the Western comic industry). Comic companies also publish monlthy solicitations with blurbs for upcoming issues; these solicits are normally published three months in advance of the issue’s release date.

Physical Issues and Trades:

Local Comic Shops: these are locally operated brick & mortar stores that primarily sell comics, graphic novels, manga, and general fandom merchandise. I don’t usually buy floppies, but when I do, I normally get it from them; these stores also often run fantastic sales on trades. LCS’s are unfortunately dwindling in number, but if you have one in your area, I highly recommend supporting them!

See here for various Q&As on how to find and take advantage of your LCS to its fullest extent! 

Chain/Independent/Used bookstores: You can also get comics from chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, Books-a-Million, etc., indie bookshops that stock comics and manga, and used bookstores that focus more on 'fun' reading material. In most cases, these stores will only sell trades.

Amazon and Ebay are super convenient and awesome places to buy trades; I’ve bought the majority of the comics I own via this route, tbh.

Instocktrades is a great website to get discounted trades and see publishing dates for upcoming trade releases

Special Mention: r/comicswap on Reddit, a subreddit dedicated to people buying, selling, and swapping comics with each other

Digital comics:

If you live in the US, I highly recommend checking to see if your library offers Hoopla. They have digital trades from all major comic book publishers (DC, Marvel, Image, Dark horse, etc.) available to read for free!

Comixology: Comixology is the largest digital comic book and manga sales site in existence with a selection of over 100,000 stories. As of February 2022, it’s been folded into the normal Amazon website storefront. Unfortunately, this makes it much harder to navigate than it used to be.

You can also get a monthly subscription to DC Universe Infinite, DC’s online comic repository (basically, it's like Netflix for comics), or Comixology Unlimited (same thing, except run by Comixology via Amazon). Generally, there’s a six month gap between when comics are released and when they’re uploaded to these services, so they’re not great ways to keep up-to-date with comics but are fantastic ways to read older arcs.

Sidenote: Marvel Unlimited is Marvel’s version of DC Universe Infinite.

And if you’re dirt poor and can’t afford anything, getcomics.info is a safe site where you can download comics for free and you can read them for free at readcomiconline.li or readallcomics.com, but please try go out and buy them if you like what you read. Comics quite literally live and die on both month-to-month sales numbers and the success of trades (both physically and digitally), so if you want to see more content with your favorite character or favorite authors, you need to support that work financially. 

-------------------------------------------------------------