The Complete Guide for Getting into Batman Comics (with Chronology and Reading Order)

Sources:
For chronology: therealbatmanchronologyprojec...
Also this great video by Jawin: • My Batman Chronologica...
For collecting Batman: crushingkrisis.com/crushing-c...
For collecting Detective Comics: crushingkrisis.com/crushing-c...
Support my new project: fundly.com/help-aa-1
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[@dillonmoss]

New reader: I’ve particularly enjoyed the black mirror. Thanks for all of the work putting this together. I’m a completionist and this has been quite helpful

[@DSZ58]

“Completionist” is an interesting word choice, I may borrow this. Completionism is something I rarely yet illustrate only with the things I enjoy the most. Batman’s one of this now that I have some time. I checked out Comicstorian however I noticed gaps and characters that weren’t introduced so it wasn’t as chronological as I hoped. This fills in those gaps. Thanks man

[@YizzTheEunuch]

Commissioner: "I never got a chance to thank you..." AA: "And you'll never have to... now GET OUT."

[@patrickimperial579]

14:50 is when the list of stories to read in order actually starts

[@Bosephboestar]

thanks for this i've been obsessing over the movies and series recently and this is helping me to get started

[@rivenmain2175]

this is more complicated for me than the videos about metapolitics, hirarchy of power and economics but one thing i got is 'start from issue 401 and skip flashbacks' i will probably have to rewatch the video a couple of times

[@waza987]

I see the Batman chronology as a mythology. Stories told with a core of truth but different perspectives, understandings, exaggerations and mistakes.

[@skaterdude7277]

14:52 da list, finally

[@yuothineyesasian]

Huge fan of Batman. Knightfall and No Man's Land are my favorite runs. Thanks for the vid!

[@waza987]

So annoying that Second Chances, Caped Crusader 1-5, Dark Knight Detective 1-4 and Norm Brefogyle hardbacks are all out of print and very expensive just a couple of years after this video came out.

[@adrianrussell5169]

Brilliant video! Super helpful as I’m been trying to organise all my TPs in chronological order, obsessing over this and what titles might’ve missing. Thank you!!!

[@egressoutofthedark]

Thank you for how rigorous you’ve approached this. The comprehensive account you’ve given really helps me make a decision on a way into things.

[@bryansteele832]

Step 1- Get the DC universe infinite app Step 2 - Become overwhelmed Step 3 -Start somewhere and move forward (or backwards)

[@samirouhani]

Thanks, really helpful.

[@Catweazled]

This is brilliant.

[@karlburton1873]

A pleasant surprise - thank you

[@KTLaughter]

I’m a little late to this video, but great job compiling all of this information in one place. Great way for new readers to get a grasp on resets like crisis and how loose the canon can be at times

[@depthcharge123]

I would consider myself as a Batman fan, but mostly through the films and games. When I did try reading the comics, I bought the famous ones, but only The Dark Knight Returns truly captivated me like a good novel. I probably need your advise if I ever plan to continue.

[@keypath4389]

Just found out this video.. I love it!!!!!! Please do more for other characters!!!

[@CAVEDATA]

This is great. Thanks.

[@TruckerJenkins82]

This video has given me the gumption to get into them. My wife has a few from the 80s but they're all in French. We started watching the recentish animated takes on the comics and I found them highly enjoyable. Digressing a bit, last night I ended up stumbling across Superman: Red Son, where Superman arrives on Earth in Ukraine instead of Kansas and grows up to become a full on dirty communist, quite the tale although I think there are bits in the animated film that differ from the comic, would recommend though.

[@gwfbagel3811]

Great to see you cover a cool alternative topic. Batman is the archetypal rightist superhero. Others are more extreme, like Rorschach, Judge Dredd, and the Punisher. But Batman being the most popular and historically significant, makes him the best case study.

[@damiantirado9616]

Batman is indeed right wing but he isn’t the archetypical type of right wing hero. There’s been some versions of him where he is more left wing like the Batman animated series and Matt Reeves Batman

[@roomate00]

As much as I love the hard econ stuff, I think I enjoy AAs pop culture takes even more

[@vexus8010]

It might be a bit much, but it would be interesting to see a Layman's Guide to some of the Bigger "Bat Moments" and why they are/were significant. You mention Death in the Family here, which has quite a story behind it in of itself, but there are other moments that id argue have some broader cultural/historical significance.

[@arcadeassassin7176]

You should check out Salazar Knight and his history of the bat series. it's a really good documentary series where he talks about the fictional history of batman in print as well as behind the scenes details and his appearances in other media.

[@theddbrosgaming8085]

I feel like if you're reading The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul and A Death in the Family, you kind of need to throw Death and the Maidens and Under the Red Hood somewhere in there.

[@dredpiratesnoop2607]

Always thought the Batman was the best “super hero” because he’s not “super” just mega rich, highly intelligent and super fit. He’s also fallible both physically and bordering on (maybe) psychotic. Superman I always hated because well he’s basically on cheat mode and to much of a “goody two shoes”. Great synopsis on the chronology and as mentioned elsewhere I would definitely recommend “the killing joke” as an excellent stand alone title ... also my favourite origin story for the Joker. I started collecting some of the new 52 collected volumes but stopped ... but going to amazon now to order a bunch. Cheers to you AA

[@raaaaaaaaaam496]

Superman does have complexity just not the way we traditionally think

[@peterpickguitar]

I just got into Batman comics recently and I agree with you on how he can get his butt kicked and not win so easily.

[@KingCrocoduck]

There is no relationship in art that is more interesting than that of The Batman and The Joker

[@bonbondurjdr6553]

Eww.

[@Infernal460]

Very nice.

[@stephanberger3476]

So glad they'll put the original numbering back on Batman!

[@sol7967]

Yes.

[@marcopignone9386]

I have never read comics. I'm usually busy reading history, a biography (Napoleon currently), perhaps an excerpt from a Rothbard book on banking or something... but a few weeks ago I picked up Batman, the Golden Age, vol. 1, which I'm just finishing up when you post this! I'm glad I read a few of the 1939-40 stories before I move on to the more modern era. I definitely recommend the first appearances of Robin and the Joker.

[@stephanberger3476]

Yes, I own and have read it all. To answer your question :)

[@nolanroesler4126]

Keep talking about Batman. Watched all your Batman videos. Hurry up and read some more Batman comics. 😎

[@cthulhutoad]

Comics Matter w/Ya Boi 'Ac

[@deliusmyth5063]

I look forward to Zack's reciprocatory video on the Hungarian banking system.

[@arcuscotangens]

I am happy to see this video before any other exposure to this "Batman". It sounds quite intriguing. Are there any notable media outside of comic books that I should be aware of?

[@eldr4362]

Do this for Vargs catalogue.

[@original_handle373]

I started with The Killing Joke

[@eyelessking1]

would love to see more bat man

[@danielmarsden4573]

My sister is a massive batman fan, but the only DC comic I’ve ever read was Superman: Red Son

[@Bromanviper]

I think I'm going to buy most the big titles first then ill bridge the gap between them

[@jamiemahoney2446]

Never really read many Barman comics, just occasionally, and even less this millennium. Are any of the publisher crossovers countered as canon, or even mentioned? E.g. Vs Predator, Alien or Spawn?

[@mrmystery9965]

I’m really interested hear your thoughts on Batman now. Have you still be reading?

[@AcademicAgent]

I did a Batman month on Deepest Lore, and also interviewed Chuck Dixon, did you catch them?

[@ziareparker3332]

The first batman comics i read was the dark knight returns batman the long Halloween and batman hush in my opinion i think that batman hush is one of the best batman comics and batman is my favorite comic book character

[@pbh81]

Any chance of a delve into the judd dredd comics. Specifically the issues related to when the population freely rejected democracy in favour of sticking with the judd system. Find that story fascinating, amazed even that such an idea was written

[@Paul_Davies]

Brilliant AA maybe you can do Superman next and exploring the differences between Krypton and Earth in terms of society, morality etc from your perspective

[@AcademicAgent]

Paul Davies unfortunately I’m very much a Batman only fan in comics.

[@karlburton1873]

@@AcademicAgent Well he is in the Justice League. Shame, I was hoping you'd slag off Dan Dildo :) Thanks again, great job.

[@AcademicAgent]

Karl Burton I do like Tower of Babel for the basedness of Bats taking out the whole JLA

[@karlburton1873]

@@AcademicAgent Maybe I'll get that next. I went away from comics for a long time, due to all the agenda politics. Marvel can do one, they're the worst, and I'll never forgive Disney for what they did to Star Wars, anyway. I've started picking up Batman again, now Tom King has gone. I'd suggest readers select DC comics based upon the writer, rather than the character, or they'll run the risk of having their blood pressure go through the roof. It looks like DC are going to start having to worry about being profitable, so hopefully all the woke nonsense will die off. Robert Venditti is an excellent writer who keeps politics out of it.

[@damiantirado9616]

@@karlburton1873 when you say “politics” out of it you mean it has right wing politics right? Because comics have always been political. It just sometimes has right wing and then left wing politics

[@thebeersofsigmar]

Love you pop culture stuff aa, the movies and video game stream was a highlight. Perhaps a right wing themes in video games stream

[@itsoktobewhite4278]

good video, but you didn't even mention Dark Knight Returns? alongside Year One it's the best Batman material ever written.

[@vladv5126]

I agree that it's good but it's also not canon and he's focusing on the continuity.

[@ErickReyesRomeroBanks]

It's not canon

[@jammydodger222Xxd]

Where does the killing joke fit into this? I'm currently reading death in the family and batman directly references those events. But since killing joke was a standalone and not part of the main batman publication I don't know where it fits in. Edit: based on what I can find online it seems to take place in between batman #425 and batman #426. Because the first time it's referenced, at least in the main batman publication is #426 as if it's just happened. Up until that point no mention of it is made. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone.

[@wroot1]

the most effusive "now get out" i've heard yet

[@karlburton1873]

Thank you so much. Must have taken hours to put that together. First Class. It's a pity you don't work for DC, who let's face it, don't know what they're doing a lot of the time. We old fans knew what to expect, but I imagine that blew the minds of prospective fans. Hopefully AT&T will clear out the SJW infestation at DC. I'd advise readers to get info on the writers, and stick to good writers, rather than characters.

[@gabrielmarques5257]

2:30 what is this website?

[@therealmrmago9077]

this is why i read the bat man comics out of order

[@christianalexander579]

You can read anything how you want it doesn't have to be in order i read any comic the way i want unless it has volumes then i read them in order to under the story

[@alexthegordo]

My head hurts

[@Waffles..]

Do this for superman🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@Konuvis]

Very nice video. I've collected a ton of Batman TPBs in the past but I stopped in the middle of New 52 and now I'm trying to be more selective about what I buy. I'm not sure if every TPB is essential in the DC You / Rebirth era.

[@jammydodger222Xxd]

Alright, maybe someone in the know could help me out here. Are the batman comics and the detective comics in the same world or are they completley seperate incarnations of the character? I really want to start collecting batman and building a comprehensive knowledge his history but this is such a mammoth task.

[@jammydodger222Xxd]

@@Alcibiades1999 okay, thanks. I guess I'll be collecting both then

[@funbro99]

While I like batman.. I despise what they did to mr. Freeze

[@bipolarewok]

I have more batman comics than any other character, but I can't keep up with both marvel and dc continuities, so I just read dc comics at random. Even with marvel I kinda lost interest in continuity at this point.

[@laurie1183]

And people act like getting into Fate is confusing.

[@EgoLifter8011]

Haha one of my fav animes with my fav girls, i just started reading Invincible and fell into this comic rabbit hole i shouldve started sooner

[@sillysailor5932]

Shouldn't this be on sly sneak. I miss sly sneak

[@wilius1428]

Have you heard of Comicsgate and Cyberfrog?

[@YizzTheEunuch]

What happened to comics in 1971?

[@YizzTheEunuch]

@Xenophon ZING

[@AcademicAgent]

Yizz The Eunuch Bronze Age started

[@YizzTheEunuch]

@@AcademicAgent I don't know much about comics, I just wanted to give a nod to the "What happened in 1971" stream :P

[@AcademicAgent]

Yizz The Eunuch lmao great callback!

[@YizzTheEunuch]

@@AcademicAgent haha thanks :P

[@christianalexander579]

I had alot of Batman comics until i sold them 😑

[@Nova-sr6rm]

BRO WHY ARE COMİCS THİS CONFUSİNG. Wish they were more like manga

[@steelscorpion316]

There was an AA video on what right wingers can do to influence power, getting into good careers, organizing, etc. Where did it go? It was called solutions...something.

[@AcademicAgent]

Н М З still there

[@AcademicAgent]

@@benisrood kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHnMkmuhbaecbcU

[@mickeyrat2313]

KAPOW

[@vizedge5370]

700

[@rahmadlaksamanapratama5799]

So can anyone tell me about : When Bruce parents born, when Bruce born, when his parent die, and when he started became batman? Cause I'm so confuse!! There are many versions and it's so confusing

[@Fujiwae]

still need help?

[@chrisdoke5214]

The problems with continuity is why I don’t bother with Marvel and DC comics. If you want superhero comics just read shonen manga .

[@sirganjaknight5460]

I know it's cheating but there's some huge torrent packs floating about on the net of all the Batman comics together.

[@AlexiusRedwood]

You are truly on the spectrum

[@wroot1]

wut dis

[@gavincooke8300]

They really have made a mess of it. Dredd is much easier to follow. Great to see how he ages as a character over time. Makes me think the decision makers in DC are complete morons.

[@jakesimpson4201]

2 mins in and this guy knows nothing about the character, this one is not for me

[@appliedvirtue7731]

Batman is overrated, Superman is a better superhero, and all superhero comics are terrible.

[@moneyseeker8886]

Somethings wrong with you

[@christianalexander579]

Superhero comics aren't even bad stop talking shit if you don't like them shut up

[@vladv5126]

I bet you have a lot of friends. Everyone loves that edgy negativity.