Reading List - Going Batty

Comics – As a kid I liked Batman (and most of the Super Friends). Not so much the comic books but all the other media (TV, Movies, Toys) as a pop culture icon he was my jam. When I was younger there were very few Batman comics that caught my interest. Back then I didn't care for the artists and DC books in general weren't my style. I was more into Marvel and would occasionally pick up a book from the other guys if the cover looked interesting (Lobo was the exception I bought anything he was I guess I fit the demographic). 

Fast forward to now and my interest in Batman has come back around. My kids love him and they play with all the imaginext toys, dress up and even had me buy pinewood derby kits so they could make a batmobile. We watch the new movie and even though it was slow and super dark I liked it. The Christopher Nolan trilogy and the Arkham video games moved Batman into something that felt more real to me and suddenly the aesthetic is more appealing. Couple that with the miniature that passed buy my desk and I got bats in my belfry.

Of course like any sensible person I then went to the library website and reserved EVERYTHING that I felt I had missed out on because of my bias toward DC. That meant I reread Death in the Family. That was really a terrible story that doesn't hold up to todays standards. I forgot the big draw was the 1-900 number to call to vote on Jason Todd's fate. Otherwise it was very much a Desert Storm influenced book that had some weird tangents.

Most of the tie-in books for the Arkham games were really good. The aesthetic for that is pretty amazing and the stories are great.

I read the two volume Warcrimes story arc and was blown away. Those stories read like a high action police drama and I couldn't put them down. This is the way I think Batman needs to be written.

Some of the other books I picked up were stinkers, Batman Incorporated, Batman International, Haunted Gotham Arkham Origins none of them felt that good and some were just outright bad. The idea of a chose your own adventure is great just not my thing right now.

You can follow along with my reading list through the good reads shelf on the margin of this page. Next up is Red Hood and the Outlaws. I'm curious to see if Jason Todd is any more tolerable after resurrection. Also I have a Green Arrow book, Justice League Dark (I loved Ghost Rider and the Midnight Sons, curious to see what DC's version is like) and two runs of Suicide Squad. I'm glad my wife is such a big proponent of the library as I would have never bought these books to read on a whim but checking them out is totaly worth it.