Batman comics have been running for almost a century now, with decades upon decades of new villains, new Robins, and an ever evolving sense of who the Caped Crusader is. Despite all this, there’s often a desire to go back to the stories set during his earliest years when things were simpler. They offer a chance to retell classic origins and expand upon older comics written before most people even had a TV set. Sometimes these revitalizations even become classics in their own right. Let’s talk about some of the best that Batman’s early career has to offer.
This list will be loosely ordered by when the comics might have taken place chronologically. There will inevitably be some inconsistencies given how flexible of a concept “canon” is at DC, but if you squint, it should form a semi-coherent timeline. It’ll also take a fairly broad definition of “early years”, including everything that takes place prior to the Bronze Age of the 1970s. That’s about when modern Batman as we know him starts to take form and it starts being easier to simply recommend comics that were actually written during that era.
With those clarifications out of the way, let’s jump in!
Blood Secrets
I bet you thought this would start with Year One, huh? Don’t worry that one’s coming up, but first there’s “Blood Secrets” from 1989’s Detective Comics Annual #2 written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn. If the cover didn’t make it obvious, it’s a story that isn’t shy about its political message. While the framing device featuring a present day Batman returning to a rural Southern town, most of the story centers around when he was still learning to be a detective. It’s a murder mystery spanning generations that tackles its racial issues head on in a brutally effective way that you’re not likely to forget.
Batman: Year One
This one goes without saying. It is without question the definitive Batman origin and very likely the greatest Batman story ever told. Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli all but reinvented the Dark Knight with their noir gothic tone and gritty depiction of Gotham. Plenty of the other entries on this list took direct inspiration from it and it’s easy to see why. While other versions may have added their own spin to Batman’s origin, this one stands alone.
Shaman
In another story featuring Bruce’s training, Shaman kicked off the Legends of the Dark Knight series (which you’ll be seeing plenty of in this list) with an exploration of masks and what it means to have a dual identity. The narrative alternates between the years leading up to and the weeks following Batman: Year One. Like many of Batman’s best comics, it starts as a murder investigation and expands into something far more complex and intriguing.
Batman and the Monster Men
In the first of Matt Wagner’s Dark Moon Rising series, he adapts and modernizes one of Batman’s earliest comics. Professor Hugo Strange’s first two appearances in Detective Comics #36 and Batman #1 are combined in this love letter to Batman’s Golden Age. It embraces the pulp aesthetic of mad scientists and monster men that often defined comics of the era.
Batman and the Mad Monk
Wagner quickly followed up Monster Men with its sequel, Batman and the Mad Monk. This adapts a story first told in Detective Comics #31-32, with an evil cult conducting ritual human sacrifice. If Monster Men was love letter to the pulp sci-fi of the 30s and 40s, Mad Monk is a love letter to its pulp horror. Both books share a number of plotlines and characters, making for a great combined reading experience.
The Man Who Laughs
If there’s one villain that DC was going to make a big deal about their first appearance, it was going to be the Joker. Batman: Year One even ends with a tease about him showing up. There have been a number of attempts at defining that first encounter between the Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight, but Ed Brubaker’s The Man Who Laughs is the best. Loosely based on Joker’s debut story in Batman #1, it hits all the notes you would want from Batman’s most famous villain.
Prey
Professor Strange is back again, this time with a far more intellectual bent to his scientific obsessions. This version of Strange makes it his mission to get inside the head of Batman, learn his secret identity, and make him question his sanity. In many ways this story marks the turning point in Batman’s career when many of his enemies become psychological threats instead of simply physical ones.
Gothic
One of Grant Morrison’s first Batman stories, it contains many of the hallmarks that would define their take on the character. It’s filled with supernatural magic, dark mysteries, and a narrative that spans centuries. While not as fantastical or metatextual as Morrison’s other work, it stands as an excellent example of gothic horror that fits Batman so well.
Blades
A tale of when an eccentric new vigilante named the Cavalier comes to Gotham claiming that he can do Batman’s job better than he can. It’s a great way of showing how Bruce might question his role so early into his career. If this person says they can do the job better, what need is there for Batman?
Batman: Dark Patterns
Now technically, at time of writing, this series isn’t finished yet. Despite this, I feel more than confident including it on this list. Each three part arc is the exact sort of low-level, captivating mystery that Batman was originally designed for. It dips its toes into the fantastical just enough to give the story an exciting hook, but is otherwise the sort of grounded detective work one expects from Batman’s early years.
Questions Multiply the Mystery
There was a period of time in the 90s when DC was giving a “Year One” to just about everyone they could get their hands on. Origin stories are always popular and it allowed them to build off the success of Batman: Year One. Riddler’s origin from Detective Comics Annual #8 is among the best of those, loosely adapting his first appearance in Detective Comics #140. It captures his flamboyance, neurotic ego, and obsession with making everyone think he’s the smartest guy around.
Hot House
Interestingly enough this comic isn’t meant to be Poison Ivy’s first encounter with Batman; it’s her second. Taking place not long after she was first captured, she’s the prime suspect when a man commits suicide under suspicious circumstances. The seemingly reformed Pamela Isley maintains her innocence, but the mystery surrounding her only deepens as the investigation evolves.
Haunted Knight
Originally published as a series of Halloween specials for Legends of the Dark Knight, the popularity of these three stories are what eventually led to Loeb and Sale creating The Long Halloween. Each one acts as a separate Halloween adventure against a different villain. It’s easy to see the seeds of what would evolve into their later works as they beautifully capture the dark atmosphere of Gotham and Batman’s world.
Batman: The Long Halloween
Alongside Batman: Year One, this comic is easily one of the biggest Batman stories around. It’s a perennial best seller and seemingly every other Batman movie cites it as inspiration. The Long Halloween is an epic detective drama following the rise of costumed villainy in Gotham and the tragic corruption of Harvey Dent into Two-Face. While the stories up until now have included some of Batman’s rogues, this marks the point where they become the defining face of crime.
Night Cries
Night Cries is probably the darkest comic on this list. The plot centers around themes such as child abuse, cycles of violence, and murders of desperation. Taking place in the span of time between The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, Jim Gordon’s struggling family life serves as the backdrop to this tragic story. It deftly handles these topics with all the solemnity and seriousness they deserve, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking to read.
Batman: Dark Victory
The sequel to The Long Halloween, Dark Victory follows up on the plot threads from the original and hits many similar beats. The new Holiday killer highlights the family tragedy of the narrative, and further expands the interconnected web of characters. Perhaps most notably, this story also acts as when Bruce first found Dick Grayson after the tragic death of his parents.
Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet
The Gauntlet is a relatively short story of the first time Dick Grayson is tested as Robin. What was initially set up to be a training run quickly gets out of hand as he finds himself in the middle of a mob conspiracy.
Robin: Year One
While not an origin per se, Robin: Year One tells of Dick Grayson’s first real adventure with the cape. It’s a big responsibility for someone so young, and this explores what it means to balance that with still being a kid. The variety of villains and stories offer a great look at what it was like for Dick when first starting out, as well as how Bruce handled his new parental role.
Batgirl: Year One
Batgirl: Year One takes place a few years after Robin: Year One, as Barbara Gordon looks to make her own name as a costumed hero. Despite wearing his symbol, she’s far more interested in being her own person instead of Batman’s sidekick like Robin. It’s exactly that conflict that drives much of the character drama between her and Batman, as well as the burgeoning dynamic she has with Dick Grayson. It’s an all around great comic that shows why Barbara has been such a lasting and beloved character.
With most all of Batman’s villains and the “Bat Family” pretty firmly established, this about marks the end of Batman’s early years. Part of what makes it interesting is the meta narrative of how the comics slowly become less gritty and more campy as Batman’s world evolves. Moving forward from here are the classic Bronze Age stories and then the modern era of comics after that.
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