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Post by coke & comics on Nov 24, 2014 0:18:01 GMT -5
The truth is I'm not a Batman expert. I've read most stuff Batman #400 up, Detective #600 up. And that's the eras that got me into Batman and what I loved best. Writing by Grant, Moench, or Wolfman. Art by Aparo or Breyfogle. Breyfogle just had such a great take. But if I picture Batman in my head, he looks like Aparo Batman. So that's where my heart is.
My favorite take on Batman though is the Animated Series, so I can get behind the Dini/Timm stuff. Even in comics, Mad Love is about as good as it gets.
Beyond the more modern stuff mentioned, I've bought some trade paperbacks to reach much of the O'Neil/Adams stuff and the Englehart/Rogers stuff. I found it all consistently excellent and not sure I know how to compare.
Lately I've been using Batman Chronicles to read from the beginning. Up to 1944 or so. So read a bunch of the Finger/Robinson stuff. It's inconsistent, because there are lot of people involved and they are really cranking them out. But when it hits, it hits. Definitely the Batman comics I appreciate more than any other. But I think the more modern stuff hit more consistent quality notes.
The best comic one might call a Batman comic I have ever read is Batman: Year One. I consider it a masterpiece, and certainly one of the greatest arcs in superhero comics. Most of the reason is that Mazzuchelli is a versatile and amazing artist, here perfectly paired with Frank Miller. Miller without Mazzuchelli is nowhere near as good. My hesitation is that despite the title, I have trouble thinking of it as a Batman comic. In part because Commissioner Gordon is the main character, and in part because it just seems like its own thing. But it has some of the most iconic Batman moments, most notably of course the pearls breaking.
So where does all that rambling leave me?
Dini/Timm. I don't know. I'll sleep on it.
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Post by Cei-U! on Nov 24, 2014 0:19:25 GMT -5
It's Broome with an e, folks.
Cei-U!
Certainly spent enough time typing it this last year to know!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 0:41:08 GMT -5
In my own true heart - I'm a Carmine Infantino fan.  And, you can't dispute his artwork and I say his stuff is defined, crisp, and it's just defined Batman as the Caped Crusader. He's a legend of his own time and I truly honestly admire his work. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Nov 24, 2014 7:47:27 GMT -5
As much as I love O'Neil/Adams, Haney/Aparo and Englehart/Rogers (I like Miller and Mazzucchelli, but I'm going with quantity.) I second and third Batman: The Animated Series -- particularly the Dini/Timm episodes. BTAS is Batman distilled to perfection as far as I'm concerned; Batman isn't overly goofy like the Silver Age, sporadically inept as he could be in the 70's or overly grim or humorless like he started to get in the late 80's and 90's.
I'd also like to give a nod to those early Pre-Robin Finger/Kane issues. I like Batman in the 40's in general when it was Dick Tracy flavored villains and gangsters as it should be.
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Post by Earth 2 Flash on Nov 24, 2014 9:47:32 GMT -5
This was very difficult. There have been so many great Batman teams. Though on a different day I might pick a different set of creators, I chose Englehart and Rogers. I loved their stories and art. Unforgettable.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 9:57:30 GMT -5
This was very difficult. There have been so many great Batman teams. Though on a different day I might pick a different set of creators, I chose Englehart and Rogers. I loved their stories and art. Unforgettable. That's would be my 2nd Choice and I was torn apart choosing the two options here. |
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Post by fanboystranger on Nov 24, 2014 11:43:10 GMT -5
Englehart and Rogers, although I nearly voted other for Matt Wagner. I like Wagner's work more, but Englehart and Rogers certainly have more influence on the character.
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 24, 2014 12:05:22 GMT -5
Sprang, Finger and Kane.
Bill Finger, the guy who came up with most of the concepts that still fuel modern Batman, should get a little credit for writing great stories.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Nov 24, 2014 12:30:56 GMT -5
But if I picture Batman in my head, he looks like Aparo Batman. I have to agree here. Aparo was not the best Bat man artist. In fact, sometimes his work is down right lackluster, but his is somehow the default Batman for me. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 14:31:01 GMT -5
This was a tough one, but I ended up choosing Miller. His run is the only run I've read repeatedly, and it holds up very well.
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Post by earl on Nov 24, 2014 16:56:13 GMT -5
1. Englehart/Rogers
2. O'Neil/Adams & others - I really like the first Maxie Zeus story, even if others have made him more of a joke.
3. Grant/Breyfogle (w/Grant) - I think the Ventriloquist/Scarface is one of the best later villains. The genius thing to me is it seems like a character from the Dick Sprang era or I could definitely believe it would have worked well in the golden age. The Dredd crossover stories are pretty good too.
4. Matt Wagner - This guy has a pretty high batting average, I don't think he has really missed with any Batman story. They should get him to do more with the character. If they was smart they would get him and Guy Davis and do a Batman 1939 series, as that could be really amazing.
5. Frank Miller (w/Dave Mazzuchelli) - Dark Knight Returns/Year One are fantastic, the later two are weird and slapdash, but some scenes are really cool.
6. Moench w/ Gulacy & Kelley Jones - I like his later run better than the Pre-Crisis Batman. Prey/Terror is an all time favorite of mine.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 24, 2014 17:20:31 GMT -5
The only times I've regularly read Batman were during Moench & Jones, and Grant Morrison. So, "other", I guess...
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Post by Pharozonk on Nov 24, 2014 17:26:19 GMT -5
No love for Chuck Dixon? He gets my vote.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Nov 24, 2014 18:57:43 GMT -5
As much as I know we're not primarily Golden Age readers here, I'm REALLY surprised to see no one going for the original creative team. It seems I hear so much from folks about Batman's roots, as well as writers claiming to take Batman back to those idealized roots, yet no one here seems to prefer those roots.
I sure used the word "roots" a lot, there.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 19:16:33 GMT -5
As much as I know we're not primarily Golden Age readers here, I'm REALLY surprised to see no one going for the original creative team. It seems I hear so much from folks about Batman's roots, as well as writers claiming to take Batman back to those idealized roots, yet no one here seems to prefer those roots. I sure used the word "roots" a lot, there. This post of yours reminds me I need to get that Batman From The 30s to 70s HC...I've always meant to and had one briefly but never got around to indulging.... |
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