Batman comics question.

[JL Man]

Can anyone please name any good Batman comics mini-series or short story-arcs that aren't very expensive, and maybe give me a little description?

[Green Lantern]

Well, The Long Halloween is $30 in TPB form, I think but please believe me when I tell you that it's worth every cent.

It's a year one mystery, where Harvey Dent is actually still Harvey Dent for a better part of the time, and there's no Robin to "lighten" Batman up. The clues will baffle you and the ending will blow you away. You'll love it if you like Batman as a detective.

I know you said cheap, but I couldn't think of anything good that's cheap. You get what you pay for. Hope I helped a little!

[Samhaine]

The Long Halloween TPB is actually $20. And the sequal, Dark Victory, the hardcover just came out at $30, and for 13 issues (two of which were prestige format), that's a good deal. I have all the issues, and may just pick up the HC as well.

A good miniseries that will start this Wednesday is The Dark Knight Strikes Again, or as the abbreviation is saying, DK2. I'm currently rereading The Dark Knight Returns (also must recommend that), and I have so much faith in this new series. However, it's coming in at a whopping $7.95 an issue. But, it's 80 pages an issue, so it turns out to be of average price.

I liked Year One and Year Two, as well. (These can be found in trade collections). Also, I can't recommend enough the Batman: Evolution trade. It had some really great stories in it. Also, the Officer Down trade could get you up on current affairs (it also had a couple really good stories).

And lastly, I have to say that you should pick up the 5 No Man's Land collections. NML had some great stories in it.

I would say to not just limit yourself to Batman, as there are some other really great series out there (such as the 4 Nightwing trades), but that should be a good starting point.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I highly suggest _Batman: The Dark Knight Returns_ which, while an Elseworlds story, is probably the best depiction of Batman anywhere ever. Batman has been retired for 10 years, but old demons never die. Written by Frank Miller, one of the iconic Bat-authors of the modern era.

_Batman: Year One_ is fantastic, detailing the first year of Batman's career in Gotham. Despite the title, it's not actually about Batman, but more about Jim Gordon. This is not a bad thing. Also fabulously written by Frank Miller.

You may also want to find _Batman: Son of the Demon_. It's from the early 80's, and features Batman and Ra's Al-Ghul. Skip the sequel _Batman: Bride of the Demon_ and pretend it never happened. Written by Mike W. Barr, and

I quite like the early _Batman Adventures_ trade paperbacks. They say early on that one should not think of it as "Batman Lite," but more like "Batman Classic." I couldn't agree more.

It's not directly Batman, but Grant Morrison does a terrific take on the Dark Knight in _JLA: New World Order_, which collects Morrison's first 4 issues on the new Justice League title. Great read, and relatively cheap.

It may be hard to find, but I liked _Batman/Grendel_; it's a dense, intricate, and incredibly interesting story, and serves as a pretty good introduction to the Grendel comics, too. The second _Batman/Grendel_ book wasn't as interesting, IMO, but it was certainly easy on the eyes, and better than a lot of other Batstuff out there.

Finally, _Kingdom Come_ is possibly the coolest Elseworlds story I've read so far. It's a terrific story, has yet another amazing Batman interpretation, and is loaded with goodies for serious comics geeks.

One last recommendation would be _Astro City: Confessions_. It's not about Batman directly, but the duo at the center of the book are clearly inspired by/tributes to Batman and Robin. Actually, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the _Astro City_ books, but _Confessions_ is probably the easiest one to hit from the _Batman_ perspective.

-- Ed/Ace