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I recently finished the first volume of Morrison's Batman & Robin (Dick and Damian) and am eager to know more about whats been happening in the bat-world for the past few years. But I'm having a lot of trouble piecing the timeline together in a buy-able form (i.e., by graphic novel). So, with Batman RIP at the center of the list, can you guys help me with the chronological sequence of graphic novels?

Batman and Son

Batman RIP

Batman and Robin

Not even sure if Bruce Wayne is Batman right now as crazy as that sounds.

Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne are both Batman. Grayson patrols Gotham and Batman is trying to run some kind of international Batman, Inc., with agents all over the place (a la Knight & Squire in London). But I'm confused about the titles of the graphic novels (story arcs) across all the titles. For example, how does the Azrael story tie in?

Manchu wrote:I recently finished the first volume of Morrison's Batman & Robin (Dick and Damian) and am eager to know more about whats been happening in the bat-world for the past few years. But I'm having a lot of trouble piecing the timeline together in a buy-able form (i.e., by graphic novel). So, with Batman RIP at the center of the list, can you guys help me with the chronological sequence of graphic novels?

Batman and Son

Batman RIP

Batman and Robin

That's the right order thus far, personally I would suggest throwing in "Final Crisis" and " Batman : Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader ?" between R.I.P. and B & R.


Last Rites
Batman #682-683 (Bridges the gap between "Batman R.I.P." and Final Crisis)
R.I.P. - The Missing Chapter
Batman #701-702 (Expands on the events that take place between "Batman R.I.P." and Final Crisis)
Final Crisis
Final Crisis #1-2, #5-7 (Resumes from "Batman R.I.P." with the fate of Batman)


This : http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/122288279365780.htm is set before R.I.P and explains some of the backstory, but isn't essential.

If you're on the look out for other good reads, I would also recommend "Identity Crisis", that really sets the foundations that for much of the events of the last few years,e specially with regards to some of Bruce's thinking.

I got this feeling that Batman "died," struggled through time, and made peace with his successor becoming the new Batman all for him to realize he needs to set up an international league of Batmen...

*sigh*

Midlife Crisis? Maybe they need a new Crisis just for Batman.

Thanks, reds8n. I'm mostly taken with the Damian story lines, leading through Battle for the Cowl to the current Batman Reborn stuff. Does this whole arc begin with Ressurection of Ra's Al Ghul, or start earlier? Aside form Batman & Robin and Gotham Streets, are there any other Batman Reborn titles or arcs? Along those lines, how does the Hush through Gotham Streets arc tie in chronologically? And again, how does the new Azrael book fit into it all? I appreciate your help!

WarOne wrote:I got this feeling that Batman "died," struggled through time, and made peace with his successor becoming the new Batman all for him to realize he needs to set up an international league of Batmen...

*sigh*

Midlife Crisis? Maybe they need a new Crisis just for Batman.

You may be right. Is Bruce Wayne retired or does he still don the cowl and punch people?

Reading this thread reminds me why I generally only do DC one shot graphic novels.

Ahtman wrote:Reading this thread reminds me why I generally only do DC one shot graphic novels.

Yeah, I like the sense of legacies fulfilled (Dick Grayson as Batman revitalized my interest in the franchise after Nolan weakened it) but trying to follow all the titles is difficult for the uninitiated.

@KC: As I said, BW is Batman "globally" while Dick is Gotham's Batman.

Frank Millers The dark Knight.
Best graphic novel involving the bat, nough said.

sennacherib wrote:Frank Millers The dark Knight.
Best graphic novel involving the bat, nough said.

Please stay on-topic.

I haven't read Azrael (I stick to Detective, Batman and now Baman & Robin and Batman Inc.) I just long for the days when Morrison is gone from the Bat-books.

Still, as someone stated earlier, the best order is

Batman & Son
Last Rites
Batman RIP
Batman #682-683 (Bridges the gap between "Batman R.I.P." and Final Crisis)
R.I.P. - The Missing Chapter
Batman #701-702 (Expands on the events that take place between "Batman R.I.P." and Final Crisis)
Final Crisis
Final Crisis #1-2, #5-7 (Resumes from "Batman R.I.P." with the fate of Batman)

Then it's probably

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Battle For The Cowl
Batman & Robin 1-3 (Batman Reborn)
Batman & Robin 4-6 (Revenge of the Red Hood)
Batman & Robin 7-9 (Blackest Knight)
The Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series (It actually leads right into Batman & Robin 16, but probably fits smoothest here, and alternate the issues)
Batman & Robin 10 - 12 (Batman Vs Robin)
Batman & Robin 13-15 (Batman & Robin Must Die!)
Batman & Robin 16 (Black Mass)
Batman, Incorporated

That will give you the main timeline. Tony Daniel's writing pretty good Dick-as-Batman stuff over in the main Batman title, but most of it's non-essential (though Batman 700 is worth picking up, I just don't remember where it fits) and the stuff in Detective has been mostly filler and likely won't be collected anywhere.

And to think I started on Batman because I got confused by how convoluted Marvel's continuity was...

Off to read Batman, Incorporated 2 now.

Thanks, fellow Richmonder!

On the Marvel side, I've read some of the new Thor and the new X-Factor which are both pretty good. But Dick and Damian are an incredible team.

What don't you like about Morrison, by the way?

Manchu wrote:What don't you like about Morrison, by the way?

He seems genetically incapable of telling a consistent non-convoluted story. Relies far too much on drugs and altered states for plot advancement and seems to think an excess of symbolism makes up for a lack of plot.

Sound like Jeph Loeb.

I agree on latter day Loeb, but his Batman stuff (Long Halloween & Dark Victory) are both awesome & self-contained.

Yes, I've heard great things about those.
But then there's Smallville: horrible - HORRIBLE!

He's not involved with that though?

He was the writer - I'm sure it's his greatest shame.

Morrison is hit or miss for me but I haven't been to fond lately. Read Batman RIP a bit back and was not all that happy. I don't begrudge others for enjoying it though. I just secretly hate them. >_>

The trouble with Batman RIP is that it's not a complete story because it ties in so heavily with Final Crisis. As someone who generally avoided* big DC-wide events in favor of the bat-books, it became annoying.

*I use the past tense here as I did read every single Blackest Night issue or tie-in, and am doing similar with Brightest Day (The Justice League Generation Lost being the best of those)

I hate Batman-in-Space. He's a detective who's supposed to be handeling street level crime. And now he's not even takeling crime in Gotham!?