Hello! I'm a newbie Batman fan. I really mean that, since I'm barely catching up in animated media and I wanna get into comics. :') I love your content and how you portray Bruce! I'm so obsessed with it <3 so if it's okay, can you please give comic recommendations? Have a nice day!! ✨🦇🩷
Well, hello, hello!
First of all, welcome to the fandom, my dear stranger, and thank you for your kind words!! 🫶🏻💗 I LOVE THIS QUESTION BECAUSE WE NEED TO DIG UP THE BRUCE COMICS THAT I HAVE READ!!!!
Alright, I will mainly give you my favorite recommendations of Young Bruce, the Bruce that led him to be the Batman, his struggles and psychology at that time + him as a young father figure to Dick. I do not like to read Bruce in his late 30's and early 40's since the mischaracterization of him is too apparent. And when I read something, such as comics and books, I always analyze what I've read, what I've learnt, and what kind of impression it gave me. Thus, the recommendations I will give you includes 95% of Bruce in his early Bat years.
I start with my all-time favorite “Batman: The Knight” by Chip Zdarsky. I heavily adore this comic so much since I believe it is such a great comic book that shows us Bruce’s inner thoughts, his bare anger, his love, and his inexperience with the world. This comic gives me the way exactly how Bruce is truly inside when he was a teen/adult until his twenty-five-year-old self. I love how he is portrayed as an angry boy who never lets it go. I think when we think about Bruce, we really need to look one of the core qualities he has in him, such as anger is one of them. Another thing is his obsession. I think we all can see through the mirror how obsessive he is, how headstrong he is. And at the end, all of them are the result of his love, which makes so much sense that Zdarsky made an excellent point in this piece that I cannot stop re-reading it. If you want to start Batman, you should definitely read this!
Okay, here comes the next part: you can follow up to read “Batman: Year One” by Frank Miller since it is the original cult classic one that I’ve also read. “Batman: The Knight” have a transition to this one so do not worry about the time lapse. You can also listen to this on Spotify which I’ve also done and it was so fun! “DC High Volume: Batman” is a podcast where you can find “Batman: Year One”, “Batman: The Long Halloween”, and “Batman: Dark Victory” and listen to them.
Speaking of the “Batman: The Long Halloween” by Jeph Loeb, an amazing piece which I love but my love for the “Batman: Dark Victory” by the same author is overwhelming it. You need to read The Long Halloween (TLH) first, then Dark Victory (DV) because they are both prequels and sequels to each other. TLH is a mainly challenging and interesting year for Young Bat Bruce because he has faced vulnerability and inexperience again. I do not want to spoil it because TLH has so much more details we can talk and dig into Bruce’s psychology at that time but we will have an adorable person who will happen to join us!!! And DV will open up more answers for you so that's all I have to say.
TLH and Dark Victory will have Richard “Dick” Grayson in them, I think that’s why they are must-reads! I love how gentle Bruce tries to be with Dick and we can proceed to take these comics as a head start because I believe if you have read these two in their relationship, you can pick any comic that includes Bruce and Dick’s relationship and call it your canon one, since the core meeting started in these two.
I usually read like this. I am reading the core materials at first and then searching for the comics where I read and analyze to find Bruce’s psychological status and his “true” characterization. If you have read the core materials to know what the situation is about, you can pick a comic and read it without any confusion.
I have some Young Bat Bruce comics which I’d recommend:
“Batman: Dark Patterns” by Dan Watters (this one is one of my favorites!)
“Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham” by Rafael Grampa
“Batman: Night Cries” by Archie Goodwin (this has warnings by the way, it includes darker themes, so be aware)
For Bruce and Dick, I have two versions and I love how they are opposite of each other, but they are good for the start:
“Batman & Robin: Year One” (2024) by Mark Waid
“Robin and Batman” by Jeff Lemire (this is my favorite!)
I think Bruce and Dick’s relationship is too interesting from any perspective when we look at it, but these two will be enough for now.
And my must-have reads for this time and my favoriteeeeeeeee one is one and only “Batman: The Court of Owls” and its sequel, “Batman: The City of Owls” by Scott Snyder! The Court of Owls is one of my most favored Batman villains, and honestly they give me chills because we have a very familiar scenario in our world. Listen, you need to read this after you read about Bruce and Dick because this takes place years later and I DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET SPOILERS! You will get some shocking details sooooo.
Anyways, here are some for the beginning my dear stranger. Please, do forgive me because I am too busy in these days with my upcoming exam and I couldn't write more for you. I wish you an amazing reading time and thank you again for supporting me! Sending you virtual hugs!! 🫶🏻💗
