Batman‘s new era continues and the Dark Knight is already dealing with casualties. The death of the second Robin (Jason Todd) weighs heavily on Bruce Wayne, causing him to struggle with his mission. Despite giving Barbara Gordon a new sense of purpose following her life-changing injuries at the hands of the Joker, the Batman is feeling out of place among the Justice League and unsuited to fighting crime in Gotham City. But the Dark Knight will rise when Tim Drake comes into his life and when he finally gets to settle his rage against the returning Clown Prince of Crime!
Heading into the ’90s, Batman’s role in the wider DC Universe is explored further, particularly with his relationship with Superman and an interesting change of tack with Amanda Waller‘s Suicide Squad!
This era includes stories from writers John Byrne, Archie Goodwin, Alan Grant, Sam Hamm, Peter Milligan, Jim Starlin, John Wagner, Mark Waid & Marv Wolfman, and art by Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, Mark Bright, Pat Broderick, Mike DeCarlo, Kieron Dwyer, Dan Jurgens, Mike Mignola & Steve Mitchell.
A huge thank you to DCU Guide, Comics Back Issues and the mammoth efforts of the Batman Chronology Project for their assistance in assembling this reading order.
Must Reads: Story arcs in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a look.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
Chronology: Every appearance of the Batman Family from this time period is included in chronological order, laying out the timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
The Family: For this reading order, the ‘Batman Family’ includes Batman, Catwoman, Huntress and Robin (Tim Drake); though Nightwing sporadically returns, he’ll be covered in more detail in the Teen Titans reading order as well as his own until he moves closer to the Bat-Family again; likewise with Barbara Gordon, following her recovery, her history will be covered in both the Suicide Squad and her own reading order.
Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
See Batman‘s formative years in chronological order:
- BATMAN, Origins I – Year One to the Long Halloween
- BATMAN, Origins II – Batman & Robin
- BATMAN FAMILY, 1987-1988 – Deaths in the Family
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the core reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns – just the stories:
- Cosmic Odyssey #1-4
- Batman #430
- Batman: Turning Points #3 (2001)
- Detective Comics #595 [1/2]
- Invasion! #2
- Detective Comics #596
- Invasion! #3
- Detective Comics #597
- Power of the Atom (1988) #9
- Black Orchid (1988) #2
- The Huntress (1989) #1-2
- Justice League International (1987) #24 [2/3]
- Justice League America (1989) #26-27
- Justice League America (1989) #29
- The Huntress (1989) #3-6
- Batman #431-432
- Starman (1988) #9-10
- Detective Comics #598-600
- The New Titans (1988) #55
- Batman #432-435
- Detective Comics #601-603
- Justice League America (1989) #30
- Justice League America (1989) #31
- Justice League Europe #7
- Justice League America (1989) #32
- Justice League Europe #8
- Secret Origins #44
- Detective Comics #604-607
- Captain Atom (1987) #33
- Batman Annual (1961) #13 [1/2]
- The Question Annual (1988) #2
- Justice League Europe #9-10
- Detective Comics Annual (1988) #2
- Batman Chronicles (1995) #5 [1/3]
- Swamp Thing Annual (1982) #4 [1/2]
- Suicide Squad (1987) #23
- Manhunter (1988) #17
- Batman #436-440
- The New Titans (1988) #60
- Batman #441
- The New Titans (1988) #61
- Batman #442
- Secret Origins 80-Page Giant (1998) #1 [4/7]
- Swamp Thing Annual (1982) #5 [1/2]
- The Flash (1987) #33
- Superman (1987) #44
- Adventures of Superman #467
- Action Comics #654
- Detective Comics Annual (1988) #3
- Detective Comics #608-609
- The Huntress (1989) #7-11
- Batman #443-444
- Detective Comics #610-611
- Justice League America (1989) #34-35
- Time Masters (1990) #1
- Batman #445-447
- Mister Miracle (1989) #16
- Justice League America (1989) #40-42
- Detective Comics #612
- The Huntress (1990) #13
- Detective Comics #613-614
- The New Titans (1988) #64-65
- Suicide Squad (1987) #40-43
- The Huntress (1989) #14-16
- Green Lantern (1990) #1
- Batman #448
- Detective Comics #615
- Batman #449
- Detective Comics #616-617
- Batman #450-451
- Ms Tree Quarterly #1 [1/3]
- World’s Finest (1990) #1-3
- Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow
- Batman: Run, Riddler, Run #1-3
- Batman 3D (1990) #1 [1/2]
- Batman #452-454
- The Huntress (1989) #17-19
- The Demon (1990) #3-4
- Suicide Squad (1987) #44
- Justice League Quarterly (1991) #2 [1/2]
- Detective Comics #618-621
- Batman #455-457
- Batman 80-Page Giant (1998) #2 [4/7]
- Robin (1991) #1-5
- Detective Comics #622-624
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Cosmic Odyssey #1-4 (1988-1989) Darkseid finally locates the Anti-Life Equation in the form of the Anti-Life Entity; Batman is among the heroes of Earth who travel to New Genesis, only to find a much larger threat. 1st appearance: Anti-Life Entity | |
| ✔ | Batman Chronicles #5 [1/3] (pp.4-6) (1996) The recovering Barbara Gordon moves in with her father, Commissioner James Gordon… | |
| ✔ | Batman #430 (1989) Batman hunts a sniper on a killing spree in Gotham City while still dealing with the loss of Jason Todd. | |
| ✔ | Batman: Turning Points #3 (2001) Batman considers quitting; Commissioner Gordon and Barbara Gordon convince the Dark Knight to continue to protect Gotham. | |
| Detective Comics #595 [1/2] (1989) Invasion! #2 (1989) Batman tracks the forces soldiers of the invading Alien Alliance to Cuba and ends up tackling Khund and Thanagarian soldiers on his own; Batman attends the war briefing. 1st appearance: Lyrissa Mallor, Strata | INVASION! | |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #596 (1989) Batman intercepts snuff filmmaker Oscar Lampet in Gotham City, but the effect of the Alien Alliance’s Gene Bomb throws the Dark Knight off his game. | INVASION! |
| Invasion! #3 (p.2) (1989) Batman cameo; Batman witnesses the Gene Bomb explosion… | INVASION! | |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #597 (1989) Batman finds his feet in his fight with Tonka and locates the source of Lampet’s funding. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| Invasion! #3 (pp.23-64) (1989) Batman apprehends Major Force and locates some of the villains who’ve gained metahuman abilities thanks to the Gene Bomb. | INVASION! | |
| Power of the Atom #9 (1989) Batman tries to convince the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) to join Justice League International, but the Atom talks him out of it. | ||
| Black Orchid #2 (1989) The Black Orchid’s search for Poison Ivy in Gotham City is interrupted by Batman; despite helping Black Orchid gain access to Ivy at Arkham Asylum, her search for answers is unsuccessful; Batman steers her towards the Swamp Thing. 1st appearance: Black Orchid/Suzy Linden | ||
| ✔ | The Huntress #1-2 (1989) / Huntress: Year One #1 (2008) The Manhattan-based vigilante known as the Huntress recalls how her mob family were murdered by the hitman Omerta the Silencer, which spurred her on to become a crime-fighter. 1st appearance: Huntress/Helena Bertinelli, Tony Angelo, Stefano Mandragora, Omerta/Donald Campbell | |
| ✔ | Justice League International #24 [2/3] (1989) An open house of costumed heroes is held at the JLI Embassy in New York; the heroes fend off a small band of Khunds who crash the party. 1st appearance: Justice League Europe | |
| ✔ | Justice League America #26-27 (1989) The Huntress and Batman chase a rampaging Blue Beetle through New York when he becomes intent on killing Maxwell Lord. | |
| Justice League America #29 (1989) Batman and Nabu oversee the deprogramming of the Blue Beetle. | ||
| ✔ | The Huntress #3-6 (1989) / Huntress: Year One #2-6 (2008) The Huntress searches for the one who hired Omerta to carry out the hit on her family; Huntress finds information that inspires her to extend her career as a vigilante. 1st appearance: La Bruja, Jade Phantoms | |
| ✔ | Batman #431-432 (1989) The Dark Knight tracks a series of murders and discovers they’re being committed by the League of Assassins; inspired by his guilt over Jason Todd, Batman joins forces with private investigator Maxine Kelley to solve a murder case. 1st appearance: Maxine Kelly, Kirigi | |
| ✔ | Starman #9-10 (1989) Roland Desmond takes on his deceased brother’s Blockbuster identity, thanks to steroids and having gained powers due to exposure to the Gene Bomb; Batman and Starman join forces to take on the monstrous villain. 1st appearance: Phil Easton New identity: Roland Desmond as Blockbuster | |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #598-600 (1989) Bruce Wayne loses interest in his responsibilities at Wayne Enterprises and is arrested for treason; over the course of five or six weeks, Batman faces the almost unstoppable Bonecrusher as well as the mercenary Henri Ducard – the man who trained Bruce his manhunting skills; the ordeal will either break the Batman or give him a renewed sense of purpose since the death of Jason Todd. 1st appearance: Bonecrusher/Dr Kenneth Harbinger, Henri Ducard | |
| ✔ | The New Titans #55 (1989) The Titans returns to Earth after a mission on New Cronus; Phantasm tells Nightwing that Jason Todd is dead; Nightwing confronts Batman. | TRANSITION |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Batman #433 (1989) No Batman appearance; Batman is murdered, sending Commissioner Gordon into a frenzy and Nightwing into immeasurable grief; when a second Batman is murdered, the truth is called into question. | |
| ✔ | Batman #434-435 (1989) A number of men dressed as Batman have been killed by a serial killer while the real Batman was in France; Batman seeks the culprit behind the ‘many deaths of the Batman’ and discovers a connection to his own past. | |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #601-603 (1989) Loan shark Rafe Kellogg threatens the life of Tenzin Wyatt, the son of a struggling small business owner; Tenzin sends tulpas – copies of himself – to steal the money to repay Kellogg, attracting the attention of Batman and Etrigan the Demon. 1st appearance: Tenzin Wyatt | |
| ✔ | Batman Chronicles #5 [1/3] (pp.6-13) (1996) Batman sets Barbara Gordon up with computers at her home and arranges for Richard Dragon to train her… | |
| Justice League America #30 (1989) Huntress joins Justice League America and tackles a member of a biker gang who’s stolen Big Barda’s Mega-Rod. | ||
| ✔ | Justice League America #31 (1989) Justice League Europe #7 (1989) Justice League America #32 (1989) Justice League Europe #8 (1989) Huntress departs before for New York before the Lords of Order create a new Gray Man who allies with Dr Irwin Teasdale and his zombie-vampire horde against both the Justice League Americal and Justice League Europe. 1st appearance: Gray Man, Dr Irwin Teasdale | THE TEASDALE IMPERATIVE |
| ✔ | Secret Origins #44 (1989) Batman in flashbacks only; Clayface (Preston Payne) recounts his origins and learns the origins of the two previous incarnations of Clayface. | THE MUD PACK |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #604-607 (1989) All three villains who call themselves Clayface – Basil Karlo, Matt Hagen & Preston Payne – form a team called the Mud Pack, with Lady Clay as the fourth member; the group prove to be a surprising challenge for the Batman. 1st appearance: Mud Pack | THE MUD PACK |
| Captain Atom #33 (1989) Batman tests the abilities of the now-powerless Captain Atom to see if he’s worthy of remaining a member of the Justice League; a clash with the Scarecrow shows Captain Atom a vision of a possible future. | ||
| ✔ | Batman Annual #13 [1/2] (1989) Batman turns to Two-Face for help to save a man on death row. Note: Barbara Eileen Gordon’s death is retconned in later continuity. | |
| The Question Annual #2 (1989) Right after the Two-Face incident, Batman helps the Question gain entry to Santa Prisca. | LOSING FACE/SAVING FACE | |
| Justice League Europe #9-10 (1989-1990) Batman shows concern about Metamorpho’s role in the Justice League; Bruce Wayne and Vivian D’Aramis hold a fundraiser that’s targeted by thieves. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Detective Comics Annual #2 (1989) Batman pays his annual visit to Huntsville to torment Malcolm Falk. | |
| ✔ | Batman Chronicles #5 [1/3] (pp.13-18) (1996) Barbara Gordon takes the codename Oracle and assists her father in apprehending a computer fraudster. | |
| ✔ | Swamp Thing Annual #4 [1/2] (1988) Batman seeks out the source of strange killer spores at a crime scene; Swamp Thing comes to Batman’s rescue when he’s also infected with the spores. 1st appearance: Matango, the Grey | |
| Suicide Squad #23 (1989) The mysterious Oracle starts informing the Suicide Squad about impending threats. New identity: Barbara Gordon as Oracle (Oracle’s true identity is unrevealed) | ||
| Manhunter #17 (1989) Batman assists Manhunter against the new Sportsmaster. 1st appearance: Sportsmaster/Victor Gover | ||
| ✔ | Batman #436-439 (1989) Batman recalls his first meetings with Dick Grayson while investigating a series of gang-related murders in Gotham City; Nightwing returns to Batman’s life, but finds the Dark Knight still struggling with his guilt over the death of Jason Todd; Nightwing confronts his parents’ killer; Batman and Nightwing’s relationship deteriorates even further. 1st appearance: Tim Drake | |
| ✔ | Batman #440 (1989) The New Titans #60 (1989) Batman #441 (1989) The New Titans #61 (1989) Batman #442 (1989) Batman investigates the Ravager and unearths his connection to Two-Face; a boy called Tim Drake figures out the secret identities of Batman and Nightwing; as ‘Robin’, Tim Drake helps Batman and Nightwing recapture Two-Face; the Joker secretly manipulates Two-Face. New identity: Tim Drake as Robin (unofficial) | A LONELY PLACE OF DYING |
| Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1 [4/7] (1998) Dick Grayson gives Tim Drake some pointers on working with Batman. | ||
| Swamp Thing Annual #5 [1/2] (1989) Batman steers Sargent Steel towards Abby Chase and Swamp Thing when the US Government requires help retrieving a crashed satellite from Tampa. | ||
| The Flash #33 (1989) Bruce Wayne cameo; Bruce Wayne warns the Flash that the apparent Joker-related crimes in Keystone City are the work of an impostor. | ||
| ✔ | Superman #44 (1990) Adventures of Superman #467 (1990) Action Comics #654 (1990) Batman turns to Superman for help when he finds a Kryptonite Ring on the body of a vagrant in Gotham City; the brutal murder of Amanda McCoy – the woman who learned Superman’s identity; Batman and Superman find themselves caught up in a feud between Lex Luthor and Intergang. 1st appearance: Bilndspot, Steve Lombard | DARK KNIGHT OVER METROPOLIS |
| ✔ | Detective Comics Annual #3 (1990) Batman follows the trail of the Yakuza from Gotham to Japan to investigate a possible connection between the Japanese crime syndicate and the death of his parents. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #608-609 (1989) Punk vocalist Johnny Vomit becomes the target of the newest vigilante in Gotham, Anarky; Batman realises he’s mishandled his confrontation with Anarky when the hardcore leftist vigilante is unmasked. 1st appearance: Anarky/Lonnie Machin | |
| The Huntress #7-11 (1989-1990) The incarcerated serial killer Bookworm makes a deal with the NYPD assisting on a case that enables him to make his escape from prison; the Huntress locates Bookworm’s hideout, but finds herself in a deathtrap; Huntress discovers the Psycho Gang’s plan to blow up Manhattan. 1st appearance: Bookworm/Alexander Wyvern | ||
| Batman #443-444 (1990) The successful gangs of Gotham City are revealed to be coordinating their schemes with help from the Crimesmith; Batman discovers the Crimesmith’s true identity. 1st appearance: Tanya Fox, Detective Dana Hanrahan | ||
| Detective Comics #610-611 (1990) The Penguin fakes his own death to escape Gotham Penitentiary with help from Mortimer Kadaver; the Pengiun’s crime-spree draws Batman’s attention. | ||
| Justice League America #34-35 (1990) Batman cameo; Blue Beetle and Booster Gold use all of the Justice League’s funds to create a JL-themed island resort called Club Justice League; Batman is amused by Maxwell Lord’s annoyance over this; Huntress and the other League members rush to defend the island from Big Sir and Major Disaster. | ||
| Time Masters #1 (1990) Huntress cameo; Booster Gold checks in with the Justice League to see if they want to take part in a time travel mission. | ||
| ✔ | Batman #445-447 (1990) Batman deals with the murderous Slasher, but a bigger threat faces him in Moscow when he faces the KGBeast’s protégée, the NKVDemon, in an effort to save the life of the Russian President. 1st appearance: NKVDemon | |
| Mister Miracle #16 (1990) Justice League America #40-42 (1990) Batman returns to the Justice League while they’re still dealing with the death of ‘Mister Miracle’; following Mister Miracle’s funeral, Batman tells Martian Manhunter he doesn’t want to be a full member of the League. | APOKOLIPS THEN AND NOW | |
| Detective Comics #612 (1990) Catwoman gets the blame when Catman’s pet tiger escapes into Robinson Park. | ||
| The Huntress #13 (1990) Huntress pursues a gang of thugs who are sexually assaulting women in New York. | ||
| Detective Comics #613-614 (1990) Batman discovers corruption at the Krudco Sanitation Plant; Batman takes on the Street Demonz biker gang who attacked him when he was a kid. 1st appearance: Street Demonz |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | The New Titans #64-65 (1990) Without asking first, Batman sends Tim Drake to train with Nightwing. | |
| ✔ | Suicide Squad #40-43 (1990) Amanda Waller reforms the Suicide Squad as a team of mercenaries to send into the conflict in Vlatava; to stay on Batman’s good side, she asks his help in selecting the new team; Batman selects Poison Ivy and Ravan for membership and even leads the team on their mission to recapture a Vlatavan killer. 1st appearance: General Kaligari, Red Shadows | |
| The Huntress #14-16 (1990) Huntress discovers a link between TV host Mike Cobb and gangster Angelo Brancati. | ||
| Green Lantern #1 (1990) Hal Jordan turns down Justice League America’s request for him to replace Guy Gardner on the team, no matter how much they beg. 1st appearance: Rose Hardin | ||
| ✔ | Batman #448 (1990) Detective Comics #615 (1990) Batman #449 (1990) Technical genius Harold Allnut is hired by the Penguin to create a device that allows the criminal to control birds; Batman faces off against flocks of birds in the Batcave; Batman gets unexpected help from Harold in defeating the Penguin. 1st appearance: C’th, Lark | THE PENGUIN AFFAIR |
| Detective Comics #616-617 (1990) The ancient reptilian demigod C’th returns to the Earthly plane, arriving in Gotham City; Batman needs to overcome the creature on his own; a fortune teller sees the Joker in Batman’s future, as the Dark Knight recalls a clash with the Clown Prince of Crime when he pulled a heist at Star Gallery. | WILDCARD! | |
| ✔ | Batman #450-451 (1990) The Joker tries to get his mojo back by returning to his Red Hood identity; the emergence of a new Joker in Gotham City brings the fire back to the original who wants to see this impostor dead; Batman and Commissioner Gordon face the Joker for the first time since the death of Jason Todd and the shooting of Barbara Gordon. 1st appearance: Joker II | WILDCARD! |
| Ms Tree Quarterly #1 [1/3] (1990) Prose story: Alfred Pennyworth is kidnapped by members of the Order of the Black Rose, leaving it up to Batman to solve the mysteries of the ancient occult group and retrieve his closest friend. | ||
| ✔ | World’s Finest #1-3 (1990) The Joker and Lex Luthor swap cities to carry out their latest respective schemes; Batman joins forces with Superman to save Gotham and Metropolis. | |
| Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow (1992) When Black Canary is poisoned, the Green Arrow teams up with Batman to seek out Poison Ivy – possibly the only person who can save the Canary’s life. | ||
| Batman: Run, Riddler, Run #1-3 (1992) Batman is framed for murder by Perfect Security and finds an unexpected ally in the Riddler to prove his innocence. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| Batman 3D #1 [1/2] (1990) The Penguin murders his old school rival, Hardiman Twine, then sets a competition for the Joker, Riddler and Two-Face to kill Twine; the three crooks all claim they killed Twine, leaving Batman to figure out the truth about Twine’s fate. | ||
| ✔ | Batman #452-454 (1990) The Riddler escapes prison again and tricks Batman into carrying out a series of cult rituals that will summon the demon Barbathos. 1st appearance: Barbatos/Barbathos/Hyper-Adaptor | |
| ✔ | The Huntress #17-19 (1990) Mob boss Rage flees Gotham City and heads to New York, with Batman hot on his trail; but Huntress comes to Rage’s aid, in the belief that his presence will end New York’s gang war; Huntress leaves New York City. | |
| Justice League Europe #17 (1990) Batman cameo; when the UN give in to the Extremists’ demands, Batman hears the news and refers to them as cowards. | ||
| The Demon #3-4 (1990) Glenda Mark and Randu Singh are accused of Jason Blood’s murder, despite Batman’s protests; Batman and Etrigan the Demon fight off Klarion the Witch Boy and Abaddon the Destroyer. | ||
| Suicide Squad #44 (1990) Batman attends Ray Palmer’s funeral, unaware that the Atom has faked his own death. 1st appearance: The Atom/Adam Cray | ||
| Justice League Quarterly #2 [1/2] (1991) Batman, Martian Manhunter and Ice of the Justice League America team up with Blue Jay, Crimson Fox and Sue Dibney of Justice League Europe to perform a clean-up mission when Mister Nebula makes a mess of Las Vegas. | ||
| ✔ | Detective Comics #618-621 (1990) Batman #455-457 (1990) Tim Drake defeats Anarky, but his parents are kidnapped by the Obeah Man and taken to Haiti; Batman is too late to save Janet Drake’s life and to prevent Jack Drake from falling into a coma; back in Gotham, Batman and Vicki Vale are taken prisoner by the Scarecrow, leaving it up to Tim Drake to defy Batman’s orders and come to their rescue; having proven himself admirably, Tim Drake becomes the new Robin. 1st appearance: Obeah Man New identity: Anarky/Lonnie Machin as Moneyspider, Tim Drake as Robin | ROBIN REBORN |
| ✔ | Batman 80-Page Giant #2 [4/7] (1999) After a series of intense training sessions with Batman, the new Robin leads Nightwing to Haly’s Circus where Tim asks Dick for advice on being Robin. | |
| ✔ | Robin #1 (pp.1-7) (1991) Batman sends Robin to Tibet to receive training from some of the greatest masters in the world, much like he did… 1st appearance: Lynx/Ling | ROBIN REBORN |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #622-624 (1990) An unauthorised Batman comic book becomes the inspiration for a Gotham citizen to believe himself to be the Batman. 1st appearance: Batman/Clyde Harris, Batman/Simon Petrarch (Dark Genesis), Lucifer Morningstar (Dark Genesis) | |
| ✔ | Robin #1 (pp.8-9) (1991) Tim Drake arrives in Tibet… 1st appearance: Shen Chi | ROBIN REBORN |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #623 (1990) Batman continues to pursue his more violent namesake. | |
| ✔ | Robin #1 (p.10) (1991) Tim Drake begins what will be a few weeks training with the Rahul Lama… | ROBIN REBORN |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #624 (1990) Batman comes face-to-face with the ‘Batman’. |
The Batman Family’s complete New Earth reading order will continue…
Batman Family stories from across the DC Multiverse from this period:
| Titles & Synopsis |
| Batman: The Official Comic Adaptation of the Warner Bros Motion Picture (1989) Earth-789: Vicki Vale joins the Gotham Gazette and hopes to get photos of the crime-fighting urban myth referred to as the Batman; but Vicki gets much closer to the vigilante than she expected and becomes the focus of the Dark Knight’s obsessive foe, the Joker. |
| A Tale of the Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (1990) Earth-19: In the 19th Century, suspicions are raised regarding Bruce Wayne’s nocturnal activities that could link him to the actions of the notorious Jack the Ripper; Bruce needs to rely on his actual nighttime persona – the Bat-Man – to uncover the true Ripper. |
| Title, Synopsis & First Appearances |
| Batman: Digital Justice (1990) Digital Justice: In the near-future, the son of Commissioner James Gordon takes on the role of the Batman when a Joker Virus threatens Gotham City. |
| Batman: Bride of the Demon (1990) Earth-85: Ra’s al Ghul searches for an heir while also planning for the destruction of all life on Earth by removing the ozone layer; some consider this to be a story that takes place on New Earth and could arguably sit after Batman #451. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader vol.1 | Batman #417-431 Batman Annual #12 |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader vol.2 | Batman #432-439, 443-444 Batman Annual #13 |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader vol.3 | Batman #445-454 Batman Annual #14 Detective Comics #615 |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader vol.4 | Batman #455-465 Batman Annual #15 |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective vol.3 | Detective Comics #592-600 |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective vol.4 | Detective Comics #601-611 Detective Comics Annual #2 |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective vol.5 | Detective Comics #612-621 Detective Comics Annual #3 |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective vol.6 | Detective Comics #622-633 |
| Batman: A Death in the Family – The Deluxe Edition | Batman #426-429, 440-442 New Titans #60-61 |
| Batman: Blind Justice | Detective Comics #598-600 |
| Cosmic Odyssey Cosmic Odyssey – The Deluxe Edition | Cosmic Odyssey #1-4 |
| DC Finest – Batman: Blind Justice | Batman #430-435 Batman Annual #13 Detective Comics #596-603 Detective Comics Annual #2 Secret Origins #36, 39 [part] |
| Justice League International vol.4 | Justice League America #26-30 Justice League International #23-25 |
| Justice League International vol.6 | Justice League America #31-35 Justice League Europe #7-8 |
| Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol.1 | Batman Annual #11-12 Detective Comics #579, 582-594, 601-607 |
| Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol.2 | Batman #455-459 Detective Comics #608-621 |
| Robin: A Hero Reborn | Batman #455-457 Robin #1-5 |
| Robin vol.1: Reborn | Batman #455-457 Detective Comics #618-621 Robin #1-5 |
| Robin: Tim Drake Compendium One | Batman #455-457, 465-469, 480 Batman 80-Page Giant #1 Detective Comics #618-621 Robin (1991) #1-5 Robin (1993) #1-5 Robin II #1-4 Robin III #1-6 Robin III #1-6 Robin Annual #1-2 Showcase 93 #1-6, 11-12 Superman #70 Superman: The Man of Steel #14 |
| Superman/Batman: World’s Finest – The Deluxe Edition | World’s Finest #1-3 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City | Batman #452-544 |
| Batman: Turning Points | Batman: Turning Points #3 |
| DC Finest – Batman: A Death in the Family | Detective Comics #595 |
| Justice League International Omnibus vol.1 | Justice League America #26-27, 29-30 Justice League International #24 |
| Justice League International Omnibus vol.2 | Justice League America #31-32, 34-35 Justice League Europe #7-8 |
| Suicide Squad: The Phoenix Gambit | Suicide Squad #40-44 |
| Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis | Superman #44 Adventures of Superman #467 Action Comics #654 |
| Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch vol.2: Synchronicity | Swamp Thing Annual #4 |
Reading Order Copyright © 2025 Omniverse Comics Guide
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