10 essential Batman comics from the last decade

Ask for a list of essential Batman comics and you’re likely to get a list of books from decades ago. From The Dark Knight Returns to A Death In The Family, Year One to The Killing Joke, many of the most famous Batman books in pop culture are from the ’80s. Having a passing knowledge of these books can help people understand how Batman is usually portrayed, but some—perhaps even most—of what made them innovative and important at the time they were published is out of date, and in some cases no longer even canon for the character.Comics featuring Batman are easy to come by, but decades of backstory (to say nothing of repetitious titles and changing numbering conventions) can make finding where to start difficult at best. If you were to begin with the most recent Batman #1, for example, it would only take you back to 2016. The one before that came with the launch of in 2011, with little guidance on how linked they are during the intervening years. The last decade of Batman has largely been defined by three men: Scott Snyder, who launched the character into the New 52 continuity; Tom King, whose run was in some ways defined by Batman’s romance with Catwoman; and James Tynion IV, who brought new characters and new perspective to the Batman franchise. If you’d like to dive into the best of the more recent Batman runs, it’s impossible to go wrong with any title on this list.

Creators, fans, and the character himself have often argued that Batman is a solitary creature at heart, which flies in the face of many of his best stories. Batman is best understood in the context of the people around him—not just his allies, but also the robust rogues’ gallery that’s been with him since the start. After five years of heading the main Batman title, Scott Snyder returned to the character for a limited All-Star Batman series with two separate arcs. “My Own Worst Enemy” features Batman and Two-Face in a high-stakes pursuit plot that turns the two enemies into a team. John Romita Jr.’s art lends the work a kinetic and angry feeling as they clash. The last decade of Batman stories has been unfortunately dominated by the Joker, but Harvey Dent’s wealth and position of power make him a more interesting foe for Batman. “The First Ally” stars Bruce Wayne and Alfred in a spy caper, with incredibly painterly work by artist Rafael Albuquerque. Alfred is the beating heart of the Bat-family, the moral compass and proud protector of the man he considers his son, and Snyder gives that a rare chance to shine. Taking these two arcs as a conversation reveals a lot about Batman in context of his relationship to them both. It’s a self-contained book that requires very little knowledge of all things Bat, and features some remarkable comic art.

When the whole DC line relaunched in 2011 with the New 52, Batman was just one of many titles getting a fresh start. Writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo steered the title through the next five years, and helped define what modern Batman comics could and would be. Out of all the story arcs that Snyder and Capullo collaborated on for Batman, the “Court Of Owls” and “City Of Owls” cast the longest shadow. The pair brought a whole new class of villains for Batman to fight—namely, a group of super-wealthy people who used their money and influence to shape Gotham into the place it became—the place that turned Bruce Wayne into Batman.The main arc runs through the first twelve issues of Snyder and Capullo’s run, and drags Batman into a series of mysteries, puzzles, and psychological tortures. Collectively, they reveal how, unlike a lot of the other members of his Rogues’ Gallery, the worst people Batman has to face look more like his family than people in need of mental health support, stable housing, and jobs. The twists and turns pay off in a gratifying way, and the Court Of Owls is one of the more lasting additions to Batman lore from the past decade.

The next publisher-wide relaunch was in 2016. Called Rebirth, it brought in esteemed writer Tom King to pen Batman alongside a series of different artists. King wrote several memorable story arcs during his three-year-plus tenure, including a Batman/Catwoman wedding that divided the fandom. But the best of these arcs was “War Of Jokes And Riddles,” which lasted through issues #25-32. Though it’s absolutely a Batman story, the Riddler and the Joker take center stage as the two villains square off against one another in a battle of wits and violence. Both men recruit lower-level bad guys as henchmen, trying to force everyone on the wrong side of Gotham’s law to choose an allegiance, and punishing the ones who select incorrectly. Mikel Janín’s art leans closer to traditional superhero style, with muscles and posturing, and helps to crank up the tension in what amounts to an evildoer pissing contest. Parts of the story have very high stakes; both the Riddler and the Joker unleash hell on anyone who dares to get in their way as they fight over territory and Batman’s attention. But the best moments feature a sort of fever-dream gallows humor, laughing at the misfortune of bad guys that haven’t been heard from since Bat-Mite was a frequent threat in the early ’60s.

During Snyder and Capullo’s run on Batman, right after the “Court Of Owls” and “City Of Owls” storylines, came “A Death Of The Family.” An obvious nod to “,” 1988’s story that culminated in the reader-voted murder of then-Robin, Jason Todd, this arc centered around the death of Damian Wayne, the current Robin—and Batman’s biological child. The arc only lasted four issues in the main Batman book, but tie-in issues sprawled across the Bat-Family titles. The best parts of the whole story are actually in Batman And Robin, by Peter J. Tomasi and Pat Gleason, who went on to work on the much-loved Super Sons together. “Requiem For Damian” runs from issue #18 to the end of the title at #40, starring not just Batman but a roster of his allies and villains as he struggles with his son’s death and rages to get him back. Several issues feature Batman and his previous Robins as he hunts for a way to rescue and revive Damian from a death he’s convinced isn’t final. So often cast as not just a lone wolf but one devoid of emotions, it’s powerful to watch Batman grieve and struggle with his sorrow, surrounded by people who care about him. For Tomasi and Gleason, that list includes antiheroes—and even outright villains—in Batman’s world, unexpectedly drawn into the cycle of mourning and desperation.

Just released last month, Batman Catwoman Special #1 was the last known project of artist John Paul Leon. Leon died in May 2021, and this book serves as much as a love letter from his peers as it does a Batman comic. Leon worked on a variety of titles across publishers, but he also created artwork for style guides for the likes of and , thereby leaving an indelible mark on modern understandings of Batman. With the artwork for this issue unfinished when Leon passed, Bernard Chang, Shawn Crystal, and Mitch Gerads stepped in to wrap things up and complete writer Tom King’s vision. The issue’s strengths lie in Leon’s work: a montage style of storytelling that allows Bruce Wayne and Selina to truly age into ill health and obscurity, in a way that superheroes are rarely allowed to do. Illustrations from artists like Becky Cloonan and Vanesa Del Rey, as well as essays from Kurt Busiek and Michael Davis, make it clear what a special talent and important part of the comics industry Leon was. There’s also two backups featuring Leon’s art: a Question comic written by Ram V and a Batman Black & White short written by Leon’s former teacher, Walter Simonson.

In the years to come, Batman: Creature Of The Night will likely be talked about with the same reverence and weight as more famous Batman titles like The Long Halloween: It’s a book that helps to shape broader pop-culture understanding of the character. Written by Kurt Busiek of Astro City fame, Creature Of The Night is one of the last projects that John Paul Leon (who appears elsewhere on this list) worked on before his death in 2021. The book is set in a world where Batman exists, but not as a person: Here, Batman is only a comic book character. Creature Of The Night stars Bruce Wainwright, a Batman-obsessed fanboy whose life echoes Bruce Wayne’s. But Wainwright isn’t Wayne, and he doesn’t become Batman; instead, he has a bat-like guardian that helps him fight crime in his own way. As the book unfolds, readers watch as Wainwright spirals out of control, caught up in his own thoughts and absorbed by conspiracy theories. Removed from the context of eight decades of entrenched pop culture knowledge, it becomes clear just how disturbing and unbalanced the core concept of Batman really is. Especially taken as part of a pair with Busiek and Stuart Immonen’s Superman: Secret Identity, the book asks readers to confront a lot of assumptions about not just superheroes, but themselves.

Superhero comics have a well-earned reputation for being overwhelming and opaque to new readers, with too much backstory and tangled character histories to be accessible. The New 52 offered an opportunity to shed some of the baggage, but it came with a lot of fan frustration, too. Batman Eternal and Batman And Robin Eternal stood separate from the core titles starring Batman and his allies, but reintroduced characters and ideas to readers in ways that are accessible without sacrificing momentum. Both books feature a wide variety of writers and artists, and each team was given a chance to focus on a different trope or genre. Batman writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV helmed the project, but the broad array of talent makes the books not just an excellent introduction to the characters and plots, but also to a long roster of DC’s creative talent. For readers vaguely familiar with Batman and his story, Batman Eternal and Batman And Robin Eternal can both serve as a primer to help get more familiar, and also a jumping-off point to find more work by the creators featured. With just 78 issues collected into five trade paperbacks, it’s a great tasting menu of modern Batman.

Batman, and all of the superhero comics industry, owe a great debt to the radio drama. Pulp and mystery shows developed just before comic books of all stripes, and there are clear parallels between shows like Detective Story Hour and Detective Comics: The former was the birthplace of radio character The Shadow, and the latter gave Batman to the world. In 2017, the two infamous detectives meet in Batman/The Shadow and The Shadow/Batman, two six-issue miniseries that plunged them into one another’s worlds. In the former, Scott Snyder, Steve Orlando, and artist Riley Rossmo teamed up for a caper that drew the world’s greatest detective into an investigation that took him around the globe and introduced him to the greatest mystery of all: The Shadow himself. In The Shadow/Batman, Orlando and artist Giovanni Timpano throw Batman into the pulpy noir deep end, setting him in a context that’s far more familiar to The Shadow—but used to belong to him, too. Modern Batman stories can forget that he isn’t just a superhero with supervillains and immense threats to face; he’s also the best detective in the world. Both of these crossover titles reconnect Batman with those roots and give him mysteries to solve, investigations to tackle, and questions to answer.

One of the chief complaints of a whole category of Batman fans is that the insistence on his isolation, physically and emotionally, leaves his multitude of relationships with friends and family largely unexplored. Books may feature Batman in multiple angry confrontations with some combination of Robin and Alfred, but readers aren’t often given the chance to see those relationships fostered and cared for. Bruce Wayne is only rarely given an opportunity to be a dad, despite some of his strongest and most interesting moments coming from his fatherhood. Thus, a webcomic focused on the whole Bat-family was a welcome arrival, and subsequent months have confirmed the appeal: Its reader numbers are well above most traditionally published superhero comics. Written by CRC Payne with art by Starbite, . It not only appeals to readers that have been craving that kind of story, but also draws in new fans thanks to being hosted on WEBTOON. (The is home to countless other titles and has a built-in, comics-savvy audience ready to make the leap on new content.) For readers more interested in familial shenanigans, pranks, and capers between brothers, Wayne Family Adventures is a much-needed addition to the Batman menu.

There’s a lot of thoughtful criticism, from readers and academics alike, about the privileges Batman has and how he opts to use or ignore them in turn. This changes from one writer to another, of course, but one of the universal truths of Bruce Wayne is that he’s a white man, and he fights crime as one. I Am Batman asks what it means to be Batman and a Black man at the same time. The title launched on the heels of , a four-issue miniseries that was part of a larger “Future State” line used to explore what might be next for a slew of DC’s most famous and entrenched characters. Writer John Ridley (the screenwriter and showrunner) pens I Am Batman, which stars Jace Fox, the estranged son of Wayne Enterprise’s Lucious Fox, who has emerged as Gotham’s new protector. Even with a familiar alter ego and silhouette, Jace has a whole different set of problems to contend with on top of what Bruce Wayne shouldered. Removing a piece of context or changing the external variables that shape a character can help to reveal important new truths about them; Jace, and I Am Batman, are literally the future of Batman, and it’s exciting to watch that unfold monthly.

Catwoman doesn’t have nearly as many comics to her name as Batman does; unfortunately, that doesn’t make it any easier to find Selina Kyle’s must-read adventures. In the past decade, there’s been two Catwoman books, though she can often be found at Batman’s side these days as their romance has become a larger focus of his book. From the 2011 run, the best arc is issues #35-46, belonging to (former A.V. Club writer) Genevieve Valentine, who had Selina abandoning the Catwoman mantle and embracing a role in organized crime.Joelle Jones relaunched the Catwoman book in 2018 and was at the helm as writer (and often also as artist) for issues #1-20. Like Valentine, Jones gave Selina a story of her own to star in, walking away from her relationship with Batman and coming back into her own. Issues #27-38 were written by Ram V, who has breathed new life into every character he’s tackled for DC. Starting with #39, Tini Howard has taken over the title. The artists on these runs are also excellent—Garry Brown, Caspar Wijngaard, and Nico Leon to name a few—but the rotation of both writers and artists on and off the Catwoman title make it harder to suggest a single cohesive run like on Batman.

The Dark Multiverse is a sprawling and epic alternate universe Batman story, one that began in 2018 from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, something of a Batman super-team after their years steering the character’s path. The multiverse approach to superhero comics, and the ability to tell stories that couldn’t exist in main continuity, is a real strength, allowing a greater variety of stories and characters for readers to find and connect with. The Dark Multiverse is made up of a six-issue miniseries and a slew of tie-in books, linked to Snyder and Capullo’s Batman run from 2011 but independent enough to stand alone.The Dark Nights: Metal miniseries kicked things off (along with an accompanying heavy metal soundtrack, to boot), introducing readers to seven evil versions of Batman that exist in a dark multiverse, one that’s linked to his own existence by mysterious metals he’s been encountering for years. Twisting the most familiar parts of Batman’s character into something dark and dangerous helps to expose some of the deepest truths about him; and the continued popularity of the Joker-fied iteration of the hero, The Batman Who Laughs, demonstrates just how eager some readers are for this version. The tie-in books are numerous, so the quality across titles is uneven, but for anyone ready for an exploratory and grim take on what Batman could be, it’s well worth the journey.