| Title | : | The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0930289668 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780930289669 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 |
| Publication | : | First published November 1, 1988 |
This volume collects stories originally published in DETECTIVE COMICS #31, 32, 211, 235, 345, 404, 429, 437, 442, 457, 474, 482, 500; BATMAN #1, 25, 47, 61, 156, 234, 250, 312; STAR-SPANGLED COMICS #124; WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #94; DC SPECIAL SERIES #15; and THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #197.
The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, Vol. 1 Reviews
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Rating: 3.2 stars: If you happened to have some...historical interest for the history of Batman and his mytho, then read this comic, if not...then don't.
My thoughts during the reading progress:
(1) Can they just have gun control in Gotham so the city can be a bit safer?! That should be a no brainer!
(2)"Much as I hate to take human life. I'm afraid this time it's necessary!"
Anyone who insists Batman doesn't kill, you can just shut it.XD
(3) Despite the killing spree Batman had put himself on during the first year of his existence (1939), I still have to wonder how Batman and Co. managed to survive the first year of their publishing debut, those first stories of the Dark Knight's adventures do not look awfully interesting to me. XD
Yes, the year is 1939, I didn't exist, my parents didn't exist, it is my grandparents' and great-grandparents' time. XD
I know, standards and expectation for comics were entirely different some 80 years ago than from today, still...
(4) Now I think in order to make sense of this book and all these outlandish golden age and silver age Batman stories, you need to also read
The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture alongside! This is an asskicking non-fictional book about the cultural history of Batman.
(5) I had to skip some of the stories because they are just too ridiculous no matter how I wish I can look at them with a kinder eye.
(6) I actually like the stories with Batman serving as a detective solving the mysteries and fighting ordinary gangsters, conspiraciers and evil-doers instead of the early versions of the Rouges.
(7) I think anyone with a love for the classic crime and mystery genre can identify that the early character settings of Batman, Robin and Alfred are an echo of Sherlock Holmes, the Baker Street Irregulars and Dr. Waton, with a bit of a twist?
(8) In the first Batman story, Gotham didn't even exist, the city in question is the freaking New York!
(9) I swear there is something truly abnormal about seeing Bruce Wayne acts like a normal human being and socializing with others!
(10) I'm surprised and delighted to find the actual Batman's origin story is also in this volume. Said origin story only appeared in 1948, nearly ten years after the character showed up, and it's one of the stories that I like.
*goes back to binge on Batman online fanfics*
Review for Batman: Dark Victory:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review for Batman and Robin by Peter Tomasi & Patrick Gleason Omnibus:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Young Justice book 1
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Umbrella Academy
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Red Hood: Outlaw vol.1
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... -
I owned this as a kid but got rid of it sometime in antiquity. When it popped up as part of a lot on Shopgoodwill, I put in a lowball bid and wound up winning it.
It didn't take me long to remember why I got rid of this. Instead of being a Best of, it's more of a sampler featuring Batman stories of different eras with different creative teams. Sure, Batman's Origin, The Monk, and Robin Dies at Dawn are good. The Alex Toth story is dynamite and there are some good Alan Brennert penned stories. Oh, and a couple Neal Adams and even a Walt Simonson are in here. Most of the rest of the stories feel like filler to me. There are stories by legendary Batman creators but it's not even their best ones for the most part.
I like some of the stories in this book quite a bit but I already have most of them in other books. I don't think the shelf space required is worth the few stories I don't have reprinted in other books. Three stars. I probably would have graded a little easier if it didn't have the word Greatest in the title. -
Interesante selección de historietas de Batman para apreciar tanto la evolución del personaje como del medio narrativo. Más que la calidad de las historias sobresale la importancia de primeras apariciones, formación de la personalidad, construcción del carácter. Se incluyen historias de finales del treinta a mediados de los ochentas. De la inocencia primeriza, sus limitados dibujantes y coloristas de mal gusto a las bizarreadas de la Silver Age y el camino justo antes de llegar a Killing Joke y el cambio de paradigma y tonalidad desde Batman al resto del mundo comiquero.
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Simply a treasure for those who really love Batman, comics and art in general. And those who really love to explore and witness the beauty of their colorful histories.
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Naturally, this book is a bit out of date, considering it was created for the 50th anniversary of the Caped Crusader. That means great stories like the Killing Joke aren't in here, and thankfully none of the New 52 dreck either.
Pretty much any collection of Batman stories is a good read, no matter from what era they come from. This has a lot of interesting ones, from Wein & Simonson's excellent take on the Calendar Man, Alan Brennert allowing the Dark Knight to save his parents on an alternate world, Carmine Infantino drawing the Blockbuster for the first time, the Joker and the Penguin teaming up in the golden age, O'Neil and Adams providing a great Two-Face tale and Englehart and Rogers reviving Deadshot.
Strangely, yet thankfully, the over-reprinted "Case of the Chemical Syndicate", the very first Batman story is NOT included.
Good, solid comic book reading for an afternoon or two. -
Quite an interesting collection of Batman stories, they capture how he changed over the years.
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While some stories deserved 2 star rating others deserved 4 stars, and as a whole, the experience of reading older batman stories was entertaining
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The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told is a book with a subjective title. It was compiled and released as a movie tie-in for the 1989 Tim Burton film and to celebrate the character's 50th birthday. After two brief essays by Dick Giordano and Mike Gold about what Batman means to them, and about the nominating process for the included stories, we get directly into the stories themselves. Here are my thoughts, one by one.
Batman Versus the Vampire (originally published Sept.-Oct. 1939 in Detective Comics #31-32)
Golden Age comics are weird. This story could almost be told with no text at all, as there is very little dialogue and the narration almost exclusively just describes what is drawn on the panel.
The story is nothing special, and while there are some cool and even iconic-looking illustrations, a lot of the art is quite poor, especially what is seen at the end of issue #32. Hilariously, the story concludes with Batman shooting the bad guys to death with a gun (!). I give this one a 2/5.
The Giants of Hugo Strange (originally published Mar. 1940 in Batman #1)
The second ever Hugo Strange appearance following his first in Detective Comics #36. This story has some solid artwork and interesting layouts for a Golden Age comic, although Batman is still portrayed as a stone cold killer. The ending is clearly riffing on (or perhaps lifting from) King Kong, which had first came out in theaters around seven years prior. This and the previous story would each be re-imagined many years later by Matt Wagner in the Year One timeline, as Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk. 3/5
Knights of Knavery (originally published Oct. 1944 in Batman #25)
This is the only Joker story present in this book. Since there are so many great and iconic stories starring starring the Joker, a separate volume was released alongside this one featuring nothing but Joker stories. I think this was a good decision so as many great Joker stories could get reprinted as possible, while also not taking away from the rest of Batman's extensive rogues gallery.
Anyway, the Penguin and Robin are also here, making their first appearances in this particular comp. Knights of Knavery is a decent little story; we actually get to see Batman use his wits instead of just kill people. It's sooooo wordy though! 3/5
1001 Umbrellas of the Penguin (originally published Feb.-Oct. 1946 in newspaper syndication)
The only story from the newspaper strip to be included in this book. It's interesting how much cleaner the artwork is for a strip than it is for any of the books from the same time period. The tone is very goofy and comedic, and I'm not going to assign it a rating of any kind because there's nothing I can say about it aside from "it is what it is."
The Origin of the Batman! (originally published Jul. 1948 in Batman #47)
This was, I believe, the second Batman origin story published. It is for certain the first in this book.
Far more time seems to have passed than what actually had between the previous stories included in this book and this one. The art and storytelling are both, by now, on a much more sophisticated level. The origin itself is told well, but what happens after didn't work as well for me because I prefer Joe Chill to be more nameless and faceless than he ends up being in this story. It's a bit disappointing to assign this one a 3/5 because when I first started it, I thought it'd be higher.
The Birth of Batplane II! (originally published Oct. 1950 in Batman #61)
To get going, and to conclude, this story relies on plot contrivances so ridiculous, even by the standards of the Golden Age, that it caused me to laugh out loud. Without the introduction of a new Batplane, it's very safe to say this wouldn't be included, and I don't that that reason for inclusion is a good one. 2/5
Operation "Escape" (originally published Jan. 1952 in Star-Spangled Comics #124)
This is a short-and-sweet solo Robin story where he gets to show off his ingenuity. It's a fun one. 3/5
The Jungle Cat Queen! (originally published Sep. 1954 in Detective Comics #211)
Fun story with solid art and colors. Pure Silver Age! It feels more of the time than the other recent inclusions, and in a good way! 3/5
The First Batman (originally published Sep. 1956 in Detective Comics #235)
Out of all of the Silver Age Batman stories, this is one that gets a lot more discussion and reprints than most others. I found it underwhelming. I dislike that it portrays the killings of Bruce's parents as less of a random event than the way I prefer to think of it, I dislike that it makes alterations to the Joe Chill story told several years prior, and the ending is predictable. 2/5
The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team (originally published Jun. 1958 in World's Finest Comics #94)
Dumb, goofy story that is present only because it is an origin. Every irritating Silver Age trope in existence rears its ugly head. The inverse of The Jungle Cat Queen!. 2/5
Robin Dies at Dawn (originally published Jun. 1963 in Batman #156)
I've heard a lot about this one over the years but am only just getting around to reading it. This more than anything else was apparently the biggest inspiration for Batman R.I.P., and honestly, I was underwhelmed. It's not bad by any stretch, but not really what I expected. Maybe I'd like it more on a re-read. 3/5
The Blockbuster Invasion of Gotham City (originally published Nov. 1965 in Detective Comics #345)
Robin uses the word "freep" in this issue, which an editor's note explains is, and I quote directly, "slang for a combination freak and creep." 2/5
Ghost of the Killer Skies (originally published Oct. 1970 in Detective Comics #404)
This story marks another dramatic step up in sophistication of art and storytelling. A milestone like The Origin of the Batman! before it. 3/5
Half an Evil (originally published Aug. 1971 in Batman #234)
Interestingly, the narration in this story uses "metropolis" as a synonym for "large city." Strange choice of words considering that Superman lives in Metropolis with an uppercase "M."
Anyway, excellent Neal Adams art! The story, starring Two-Face, is good but nothing special. 3/5
Man-Bat Over Vegas (originally published Nov. 1972 in Detective Comics #429)
Quite an eccentric art style is on display here. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, which is disappointing considering this book is an anthology, but from what I can tell, the cliffhanger was not followed up on in the next issue of Detective Comics or Batman. 2/5
The Batman Nobody Knows (originally published Jul. 1973 in Batman #250)
A very cool story about the legend of the Batman, and how he is interpreted by children who catch mere glimpses of him. While he strikes fear in the hearts of criminals, he gives hope to the innocent and vulnerable. My favorite interpretation is without a doubt Muhammed Ali, Jim Brown, Shaft, and Superfly rolled into one. 4/5
Deathmask! (originally published Nov. 1973 in Detective Comics #437)
Absolutely wild story that feels far more like the 50's or 60's than the 70's. 3/5.
Death Flies the Haunted Sky! (originally published Sept. 1974 in Detective Comics #442)
The second story in this book to contain aerial combat. Somehow it is both formulaic and convoluted at the same time, and the art is crappy to boot. 2/5
There is No Hope in Crime Alley! (originally published Mar. 1976 in Detective Comics #457)
What a fantastic opening splash page! I love the hard-boiled art style in this story (even though the execution is not technically great), as well as the characterization of Batman. It sums him up better than anything else in the book. Alfred is written out of character though, I think. 4/5
Death Strikes at Midnight and Three (originally published Jun. 1978 in DC Special Series #15)
Not a comic, but rather an illustrated prose story. My initial reaction upon starting it was that it was included to help legitimize the book as True Literature™. It certainly wasn't chosen on the basis of being one of the "greatest Batman stories ever told," that's for sure. 2/5
The Deadshot Ricochet (originally published Dec. 1977 in Detective Comics #474)
Now here's a story that is both really good and historically important. Despite the anti-climactic end, it's well-deserving of a spot in this book. 4/5
Bat-Mite's New York Adventure (originally published Mar. 1979 in Detective Comics #482)
Easily the most baffling choice for inclusion in this comp. This six page long "story" is literally just an extended ad for Bat-Mite's then-upcoming feature in The Batman Family. 1/5
A Caper a Day Keeps the Batman at Bay! (originally published Jun. 1979 in Batman #312)
A decent but very un-special Calendar Man story. 3/5
To Kill a Legend (originally published Mar. 1981 in Detective Comics #500)
I somewhat disagree with the characterization of young Bruce in this story, and other things also kinda fall apart if you think about them too much, but the story is riveting all the way through and the overall metaphor it's going for is achieved really well. 4/5
The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne! (originally published Apr. 1983 in The Brave and the Bold #197)
The sheer amount of times the word "lord" is used in this story borders on lunacy. It's a classic but that alone hinders my enjoyment of it. 3/5 -
This collection doesn’t live up to its title.
Originally printed in 1988 as a trade paperback, in anticipation for the 50th anniversary of Batman, this collects 26 stories (the Goodreads “detailed description” for this volume omits the inclusion of “1001 Umbrellas of the Penguin,” reprinted from newspaper comic strips circa 1946), and there’s not a lot to love here.
If you’re looking for the key Batman stories from his first 50 years in print, you’re out of luck. There’s only one Joker story in this volume because DC was planning a sister compilation of the best Joker stories around this time, and saved those stories for that book. There are also no multi-part stories, due to length restrictions. So, there is no inclusion of Robin’s (Jason Todd) death from the Death in the Family storyline, or anything involving Ra’s Al Ghul. Most of the key stories from Batman’s history —- the first time X or Y happened —- are also missing, since they had been reprinted elsewhere, and in an age where graphic novels had an uncertain audience, availability was a legitimate concern. So, don’t hope for any Robin’s debut, or a Batgirl story, or Batman’s first appearance, or anything like that here.
So, you might think that maybe this collection is intended to provide a historical retrospective on how Batman has developed over the years. That doesn’t seem to hold water, either. If you count the stories by the decade in which they were published, you will find:
- 6 stories from 1939-1949
- 5 stories from 1950-1959
- 2 stories from 1960-1969
- 11 stories from 1970-1979
- 2 stories from 1980-1988
That’s not the sort of selection you would expect from a historical collection. I will admit that Batman was at a creative peak (especially compared to the rest of the comics industry) in the 1970’s, but if you want to focus on modern Batman stories, why not focus solely on those? Why take such an uneven sampling across the decades?
Maybe the goal was to get as many high-profile writers and artists that had worked on Batman into one compilation, to show off how differently he can be interpreted? Well, 4 of these stories are drawn by Batman co-creator Bob Kane, with an additional 8 (!) officially credited to Kane, but actually drawn by “ghost” artists in his style. So, that’s probably not the point, either. There certainly are some notable creators in this collection, but you don’t start to see a variety until you’re almost halfway through the book.
So what are we left with? A series of self-contained single issue stories that had not been collected in another TPB, were old enough to be considered “classics,” and DC had the ability to reprint —- they didn’t have the “negatives” to reprint most of Batman’s early appearances. So, it’s a bunch of leftover obscure favorites of whoever was editing the Batman line in the late 1980’s.
And it’s adequate for what it is. Some of the old stories still have their charm, and it’s fun seeing the art of comics greats like Neal Adams, Walt Simonson, Jim Aparo, Michael Golden, and Alex Toth in a single collection. There’s some genuinely good stuff here; it just isn’t necessarily iconic. However, calling this collection the “greatest” Batman stories is simply laughable.
Also, would it have killed someone to give writer and co-creator of Batman Bill Finger more attention? Bob Kane spent decades doing his best to downplay Finger’s impact on the character, but Kane’s name is all over this collection. -
You're pretty much doomed right from the start when you're trying to select a small handful of stories out of hundreds of them over several decades and hang the title of 'Greatest' on them, but this collection at best hits the mark about half the time: the fact that there is repeated discussion of the criteria and mentality behind the selection process, and who was involved, is the equivalent of pulling out a pre-emptive bulletproof Bat-Shield from the utility belt.
There are several classic stories here, including a sort of subset of stories that showed the way Batman's origin slowly unfurled over the years, adding slight new details that make them more than just a simple retelling, and a number of good representatives of both specific eras and creators. The Joker is barely present through -- understandably, there were so many Joker stories that they were given their own separate volume. Batman works best when stripped free of the continuing drama of ongoing soap-opera subplots and focusing on powerful, complete, one-part stories, and there are a number of prime examples here, particularly from the Bronze Age.
Likewise, there's some true headscratchers, not worth really anyone's time aside from maybe the creators who might have got some kind of reprint royalty: a Bat-Mite story in which he breaks the fourth wall to pursue his own solo feature by harassing DC staff is a complete waste of space -- I'd have rather seen some of the cool blueprints and technical diagrams of vehicles and maps of the Batcave that have appeared over the years. For some reason, lame C-list villains like Deadshot and Calendar Man get entries while icons like the Riddler are completely absent, and some stories that should've appeared, like Batman's debut in Detective #27, or the first appearance of Ra's al Ghul and Talia, were left out because they'd already been 'reprinted many times' ... which makes the whole idea of a Greatest collection kind of moot if you're leaving off key stories to be replaced with more mediocre, filler-type fare. No one on the editorial side seems to be certain whether this is aimed at the new or casual fan, or the hardcore one who perhaps owned several other reprint collections, and the book suffers for it.
While there is enough good material here to warrant a look, the book fails as a definitive time-capsule representation of the character's legacy, the kind of thing you hand to a younger fan or someone not well versed in Bat-history. Most readers curious about past eras would be better off simply selecting individual digital back issues from Comixology that they find personally intriguing, because the curation element here is very weak and sketchy. -
Published to celebrate Batman's 50th Anniversary (way back in 1989), this collection features twenty-one stories from across those five decades.
The word 'greatest' is very subjective, as you'll certainly find if you read this anthology of Batman stories.
The greatest Batman stories are 'Year One' and 'The Dark Knight Returns' by Frank Miller, Alan Moore's 'The Killing Joke' and 'The Long Halloween' by Jeph Loeb. None of those stories is featured in this book.
Honestly, a far more accurate title would've been 'Some of the More Influential Batman Stories Ever Told', but I can certainly see that this is less punchy than the title they went with.
What we get here, then, is a range of stories which has some larger significance to the Batman mythos, be it the first appearance of the Batarang or the first time some of the Dark Knight's villains team-up (Penguin and Joker, if you were wondering).
Unfortunately, the quality of the storytelling, both in terms of writing and art, is very much of its time, which means that the stories from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s tend to be shallow, obvious and slapsticky. Plus, there's just so many puns. However, the stories originally published in the 70s and 80s show the more mature sensibilities that Batman's niche in comics has come to be synonymous with, making them much more enjoyable.
For me, the highlight was Alan Brennert's 1983 story 'The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne', which tells the story of how the Batman of Earth-2 finally gives up his solitary life to marry Catwoman. It was a really interesting 'what if...?' scenario that we'll probably never see play out for the mainstream version of Batman.
One final note is that, like watching a Batman movie-marathon, you should prepare yourself to see Bruce's parents shot over and over again throughout this book. Although, interestingly, this book does feature a reprint of the very first story where that detail of Batman's backstory was told (nearly ten years after the character was first created), so at least we get the original before having to see all the repeats.
Ultimately, there's just too much outdated storytelling on offer here to make this book appealing to modern audiences. It's worth a read for people wanting to get a sense of Batman's real-world story, but not if your just looking for good quality in-universe adventures of the Caped Crusader.
* More reviews here:
https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ * -
I’ve always leant more to Marvel than DC because the heroes have just been more interesting and distinct than D.C.’s roster usually are. Certainly I’ve never understood the appeal of Superman: if Captain America’s wrinkles are that he is a bit uptight and still slightly suffering from being lost in time, Superman is just good at everything - even his newspaper employer is nice to him unlike poor Spider-Man. What’s the appeal of a big powerful bloke who’s always powerful and always wins?
At least Batman is human and not super powered and has the odds stacked against him as much as he’s able to beat said odds. Batman is immediately closer to the darker pulp heroes like the Shadow and thus managed to attract - in his not goofy period - people who wanted to write pulpy crime fiction (there’s literally an illustrated short story in this to illustrate that point) as much as pair him off against super powered types. Reading this whizz through the decades, Batman is obviously a character who works best with some grit and darkness around him and generally feels more interesting when he’s grounded in a recognisable world. Certainly the most interesting stories here are from that milieu (not necessarily the most enjoyable - I always love the near stream of consciousness madness of forties and fifties superhero comics of any kind and this has a fair amount of those)
Also I think Batman is more interesting to read because he’s more interesting to draw. Superman soars and is all physicality in the huge shiny sun. Batman twists and turns and loiters in the dark - the huge range of art styles here finding new and interesting things to do with Batman visually speaks volumes of this. It just feels more introverted where Superman is extroverted, more full of the interior world of madness and insanity and weirdness. You sometimes feel a bit punch drunk reading this collection but that’s because that’s Batman’s world: Jokers and gangsters, murder and low level monsters as much as there’s big threats. He just feels a more substantially interesting character. Even after all these years there’s still stuff to do with him which is more than can be said for Supes -
This is a good collection of Batman stories, covering most eras of the character, save for possibly the camp era of the television show. Also there are no stories from when Julie Schwartz took over the editing of the books and decided to move the Batman back to his detective roots, so gone were all the science fiction type stories that had been popping up in the books. The only late sixites story that appears is the one that introduced The Blockbuster. There is also not a lot of material from the earliest days of the strip. Part of the reason for that is that many of the stories from that period that should have been included had been reprinted elsewhere recently and DC was thus loath to include them here. Also in the case of such stories as Batman's origin that was retold in some of the stories in this volume. One other factor was that DC at the time did not have the capability of reproducing much of that material. Thus they were limited to material already prepared for reprinting, and of course most of that had actually been reprinted. They did use a few of those stories for this volume, the two written by Garnder Fox and had Batman going up against a vampire, and one featuring the teaming of The Joker and The Penquin. Though there is one of the Batman/Superman team-ups from World's Finest Comics there are none of Batman's team-ups with other heroes from The Brave and the Bold. As for Batman's Rogues Gallery quite a few of them make an appearance. We get most of the major villains save for The Riddler and Ras Al Ghul. We even get an appearance by Prefessor Hugo Strange. This may have been his last one until he was revived in, I believe, the 1980s.
So is this a collection of Batman's Greatest Stories, as the title of the collection would have it? To be honest I am not sure. I will say that if it is not the greatest it is probably as close as you are going to get given the limitaions the editors were working with. I do recommend this volume both to the Batman fan and to fans of comic books in general. If this volume isn't still in print then contact DC and tell them to get off their you know what and get it reissued. Happy Reading -
This is the best they've got? I believe they are mistaken. Of the 25 stories collected here, I could only say six felt worth reading, which isn't even to say each of those six were great so much as they were not completely terrible by modern standards. (The companion collection of The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told has the same problem.) Where this collection falls short is in trying to offer lesser-known stories the choosing committee have an affinity for, rather than what the title promises to be.
Dick Giordano notes in his introduction that one of the goals of this collection was to collect "stories that introduced new characters or villains; origins of one kind or another; important events; or stories that in some way or another, illuminated some important element of the Batman mythos." (10) What a great idea...that they chose to ignore in favor of showcasing a variety of artists, writers, styles, tones, etc. It would have been far more rewarding if they had made the book of all of the stories Robert Greenberger's "Endnotes" mentions being cut (mostly first appearances and quintessential storylines of favorite characters), simply for being reprinted elsewhere. (Their frustrating lack self-marketing means that they do not ever name where a casual reader might track those stories down). It would have been great to have that beginner's guide to Batman with, maybe not the "greatest," but the essential stories. Instead, there's this collection, full of nostalgia for some pretty bland and weird stuff (like the Penguin's mother visiting town).
Admittedly, it is difficult for me to appreciate some of this early-era Batman stuff. In it, he is never conflicted, acting downright cheery at times and smiling a lot. Those stories do not even hint at the complex character he would become. He's like a neighborhood do-gooder in a hokey "It's curtains for you" melodrama. In addition, his "detective" work in this collection mostly consists of "There's the bad guy, let's go punch him," reckless moves (jumping from one airborne plane onto another) and conveniently effective guessing (which is less deductive reasoning, so much as it is "and here's a less-than-tidy attempt at a resolution"). Nowadays, storytelling styles have changed in comics so that things are shown more than explained, affecting both dialogue (while the witty turn-of-phrase still makes an appearance, nowadays natural speech is patterned and exclamation points used sparingly...rather than flagrantly) and expository text boxes (which no longer appears in nearly every panel, nor features radio drama-like narration. Nowadays, those boxes of text are mostly just functional, like when naming a setting).
But changes in those conventions doesn't account for some of the bad plots in these pages, which are often given a haphazard and convoluted resolution. Others are just odd: three stories with distinctly different ape/gorilla bad guys? Calendar Man? And this Bat-Mite thing that happens with zero context or explanation? It doesn't help that the threat-level isn't particularly high, given that the villains are all robbing the rich or stealing from museums, rather than being engaged in darker, more harmful and far-reaching behavior.
Ultimately, what makes these stories "the greatest" is lost on this casual comics fan. Perhaps if each of the stories were give a mini-introduction that explained its significance (to both the choosing committee and Batman lore) I could understand the reason why some of this bilge was reprinted.
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The six stories that felt worth reading to me were:
"The Origin of Batman" (66-78)
"Half an Evil" (177-191)
"There is No Hope in Crime Alley" (237-248)
"The Deadshot Ricochet" (264-280)
"To Kill a Legend" (302-320)
"The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne!" (321-343) -
This is a 1988 collection of Batman comics gathered together from his beginnings in Detective Comics under the guiding hand of Bob Kane to a Golden Age tale of Batman facing the Scarecrow and his worst fears. It offers a wide variety of Batman favorites over the years, showing his evolution as a costumed superhero. Beginning in darkness, shifting to a lighter period with a Robin at his side, only to return to darkness once more, Batman faces a variety of classic foes, overcomes a many a challenge and a mystery. Readers get exposure not only to the different faces of Batman over the years, but to the different styles of comic book writing which were during those times. This book is an educational opportunity for those interested in the history of comics as well as an opportunity to get to know one of the most popular and enduring superheroes within their pages. For all of these things, I give this four stars.
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In the first fifty years of Batman, the development of the character paralleled the growth and resurrection of the comic book industry: Batman (and comics in general) moved from pulpy beginnings to disposable children's entertainment, to an increasingly mature and adult-oriented blend of science fiction, horror, serialized storytelling and the original pulp fiction.
This was the first graphic novel I ever owned- I think it was a kindergarten or first grade present- but I did not actually take the time to read it cover to cover until this year. With stories from each era of Batman's development, highlighting the major allies and enemies, the editors here do a great job painting a picture of fifty years of progress in the art form. There are silly jaunts into novelty or kitsch, straight-up supernatural or psychological horror episodes, even an especially pulpy prose piece. This is the single definitive book for Batman fans. -
This is the late 80s edition of Batman's greatest stories, not the more recent version. Great Simonson cover on this book.
Stories are mostly pretty good - the O'Neil/Adams stories from the 70s are the highlight, but Archie Goodwin spins a strong tale. Bill Finger and Gardner Fox write the stories that inspire Matt Wagner's recent Monster Men and Mad Monk miniseries (for 1940s stories, both are generally enjoyable). The mid-40s to late-60s stories aren't very good, and the 70s story about Bat-Mite wreaking havoc with the real-life DC editors and creators strikes me as something that the creators liked a lot more than the fans (because, frankly, it is not only the book's low point, but one of Batman's!)
Still, O'Neil, Goodwin and Englehart make this book a petty enjoyable set of Batman classics. -
I have owned this book for over 25 years but my younger self couldn't get through the first section of the oldest comics. Now I can appreciate those stories and comic book writing style for what it was and for when it was. By the time the book got to the 1960s and especially the 1970s the writing and style were more my speed and I started to enjoy the book much more.
Still, kind of find it hard to believe these are the greatest Batman stories ever told, and the editors of this book, in the numerous essays, go into detail on why certain stories were left out. While their logic made complete sense, those sentiments were repeated so much I got the sense they agreed with me that this perhaps isn't the definite collection of the greatest Batman stories ever told, but rather a collection of seminal and good example of Batman over the years.
Glad I finally read this book cover to cover, some good stuff here. Yet, because they set expectations a little high with the title, readers, like myself are bound to be disappointed overall. -
The beginning of this collection is what you'd expect, quite naive, at times crazy, sometimes totally out of character, but above all, fun.
The only downside is that if you have read only modern Batman comics, this collection will feel foreign, almost as if it is a different character that could have inspired the modern Batman, and I'm sorry to say, but by the end of the collection, it felt more like a chore to read it.
If you are interested in a big sampler of Batman stories that are from the 80s and older, definitely pick this up, but don't expect it to be dark or brooding, although Batman does kill a fair amount of people in it. -
I loved it! Such a good and timeless collection - it had so much good backstory stories w a mix of your traditional Batman and Robin fighting comics - what isn’t there to love! It’s also really cool that it was chronologically ordered and seeing how the art style and storylines progressed through time. Literally on the first page you see that Gotham didn’t exist - it was NYC! Anyways my favorite stories were definitely: To kill a legend, the Batman nobody knows, 1001 umbrellas of the penguin, the first batman, and ofc origin of the Superman-Batman team. I’m otw to read volume two and also some comics in between the best of stories 😁
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Really a hit and miss collection of Batman comics. Some of them deserved to be in an anniversary collection while others had me scratching my head as to why anybody would possibly give recognition to a mediocre or bad comic (I'm looking at you, Bat-Mite!) There were a few good ones, but I'm sure there are better books out there that celebrate his legacy with a more definitive collection of "greatest" comics.
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My experience with superhero comics is very limited, but I remembered enjoying this volume when I was younger, and decided to revisit. It's still great, although I can't hope to judge whether or not these are really the tales to include in a 'Greatest' collection, and I've never tracked down the second volume. Lots of great art and imaginative storytelling. The real treat is being able to witness the slow changes in style and content over the years.
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Fun little collection of Batman stories. Covers a 40 year range of stories without using too many well known stories or even villains so you'll definitely find something new in here. I love that in Batman's like 4th comic, they just keep calling him a weird menace. Also he just straight up murders Dracula with a gun and kills a handful of other people.
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I read this first when I was 10 and it led to me appreciating a whole breadth of Batman lore and creators. Retracing after so many years, some of the imagery feels iconic. But I hold one name apart: Alan Brennert. TV writer who wrote some of the best one shot Batman stories, mostly alternate retellings with a strong emotional core.
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I don't know what it is, but I feel as though I was trained to hate DC comics from an early age. While I liked Batman just fine, I haven't actually read all that much Batman or any other DC character. I just have this general impression as to not liking them. Thinking they were a rip off of Marvel or something like that. With that aversion in place, I can now look at my comic collection and see that I am sorely lacking when it comes to DC comics in a number of ways.
On top of that, I didn't care for Golden/Silver Age comics at all when I was younger. I thought that they were "boring" and that the art was "bad." I know now that is far from the case, but the fact remains that I don't know much about Golden/Silver Age comics aside from what I was told by Wizard.
One estate sale later, and that is all beginning to change.
Are these REALLY the greatest Batman stories ever told? Nope. Not even close. What this is though, is a GREAT overview of Batman and how he has evolved through time. If you're interested at all in Golden/Silver Age comics, then this really is a good place to start. You'll get a fantastic introduction to not only Batman, but some the talent that shaped the character as well.
So that's pretty much it, are you interested in a general overview of Batman and how he has evolved through time (Up until 1988 that is) or not? Because if not, you're not going to be happy about this purchase. If you ARE, well, keep your eyes peeled because you can snap this puppy up fairly cheap. That being said, it's not all that common. -
This comic was so great.
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I bought this back in'89 just after the 89 Burton film which was the first Batman thing I really loved & I still do even though Nolans films far surpassed Burtons film(s) in every way(except non sensical fun perhaps)that film was the reason I bought this collection & the fact that it includes Son of the Demon alone makes it worth the money.That 1 story was an OGN after all & a very good 1 at that especialy the artwork which was amazing for '88 but could be pretty brutal at times,after all it was a late 80s Batman GN.the other non oneshot storys vary from some of Bob Kanes earliest storys which are more of intrest than fun reads but there are a few classics like The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne/To kill a legend/The Batman that nobody Knows which remains one of the best silver age one shots IMO & Robin Dies at Middnight which is another of my favourite Silver storys and one of the main and the many earlier Batman storys that 'Morrisons run made cannon pre new52.This is a must for any diehard Batman fan.Just dont go into it expecting Snyder type tales,some of the ones I mentioned are more fun if not as gritty.Son of the Demon is worth the asking price alone which was cheaper than the actual Graphic novel of SotD back in '89!£7:99 if your intrested which is a steal for all the history your getting!
