Newbie Batman Questions 0

[The Commissioner]

I'm fairly new to collecting, but I grew up enjoying Batman: The Animated Series.  When it comes to collecting, I really enjoy the darker/crime noir Batman stories.  I have heard that O'Neil and Adams have a really good run of Batman, especially when it comes to the darker more serious roles.  So my questions are:

1. When do the Batman/Detective comics go from the light hearted stories to the more darker tones?
2. When does the O'Neil/Adams run begin?

[weasel87]

Batman started dark. Not really sure on the lighter more campy eras, number-wise. Adams Batman was in the 200's and late 300's to 400's on Detective. Newer Batman can be quite dark as well. The return of the Joker across the Bat family books in the New 52 was fantastic. I also really like Hush (batman 608-619), The Widening Gyre (6 issue series, unfinished) and Knightfall (across many different titles). 

[comicginger1789]

How dark do you want? Adams’ work on both titles is more serious as for about two decades before you had Batman fighting rainbow men, dragons and other non sensical stuff. Adams brought him back to a serious tone and there is some great art in his run.

As the 70s continued others tried to continue this trend but the stories were not as great. The 80s are a great era for darker Batman. Runs like Year One by Miller, Death In The Family, the KG Beast storyline, the Killing Joke are all good arcs 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Batman stories I recommend:

• Hush
• The Black Mirror
• The Court of Owls
• The Dark Knight Returns
• The Killing Joke
• The Long Halloween
• White Knight
• Year One

I like most Batman New 52 stuff, too.

[The Commissioner]

4 hours ago, comicginger1789 said:

How dark do you want? Adams’ work on both titles is more serious as for about two decades before you had Batman fighting rainbow men, dragons and other non sensical stuff. Adams brought him back to a serious tone and there is some great art in his run.

As the 70s continued others tried to continue this trend but the stories were not as great. The 80s are a great era for darker Batman. Runs like Year One by Miller, Death In The Family, the KG Beast storyline, the Killing Joke are all good arcs 

Okay, that's a good start for me. I loved the Year One story line and was wanting more stories like that. I'm looking for the start of the O'Neil/Adams run.

[Zonker]

Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil started their Batman run with "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in Detective Comics #395 (cover dated January 1970)  Together and separately, O'Neil & Adams did some of my all-time favorite Batman stories including Detective #397, #400, #402, #404, #405, #406, #407, #408, #410, #411, #414, #418, #425 and Batman #219, #224, #225, #227, #232, #234, #235, #237, #240, #241, #242, #243, #244, #245, #251, #253, #255.  

Before that, the Neal Adams Bat era really began with Brave & Bold #79-86.  O'Neil & Adams also did B&B #93.

Also worth checking out is Detective #437-#443 from 1974, Archie Goodwin's brief editorship of Detective Comics, when it became a precursor to the Legends of the Dark Knight series of 15 years later.

[The Commissioner]

58 minutes ago, Zonker said:

Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil started their Batman run with "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in Detective Comics #395 (cover dated January 1970)  Together and separately, O'Neil & Adams did some of my all-time favorite Batman stories including Detective #397, #400, #402, #404, #405, #406, #407, #408, #410, #411, #414, #418, #425 and Batman #219, #224, #225, #227, #232, #234, #235, #237, #240, #241, #242, #243, #244, #245, #251, #253, #255.  

Before that, the Neal Adams Bat era really began with Brave & Bold #79-86.  O'Neil & Adams also did B&B #93.

Also worth checking out is Detective #437-#443 from 1974, Archie Goodwin's brief editorship of Detective Comics, when it became a precursor to the Legends of the Dark Knight series of 15 years later.

Extremely helpful, thank you!

[mysterio]

While few seem to collect the title, I always enjoyed reading Legends of the Dark Knight. Lots of top notch stories in that title. 

[Djrodunchained]

The four part graphic novel series Batman: The Cult is about the grittiest Batman story I have read.

[comicginger1789]

^also an excellent read and easy to obtain without breaking the bank.

[shadroch]

I don't really consider Adams/ONeil's work on Batman as a run. It was an era but the stories aren't part of an arc or anything. They are just some good stories amongst mediocre ones from the same time.  Their work on Green Lantern had a theme to it. Their Batman stories were simply good, imo.