Bamtan comics/films and others?

Hi all

I was just wandering about the comic universe of Batman. I have enjoyed watching Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and with Arkham City due soon I have considered reading up on the universe a bit.

I am wandering, are the books actually targeted at adults or is it really a childrens thing? The same question to the films and are there any other adult super hero style books that are worth reading for somebody in their twenties? I am not trying to patronise, I just find this thing confusing as I have not really got into this area before (I have tried Watchmen but did not like the depressing nature of it, it was interesting but too dark for me in parts to really gel with).

Thank you.

I just read one of the new comics, and I wouldn't say it's a kids thing.

@Garfield360UK: Batman is for adults and young adults. But if you find Watchmen too dark you might also find Batman too dark, because sometimes there's some messed up stuff happening. Personally I like Detective Comics the most, but there are many good TPB's you can get of Batman. You should really pop into Comic Vine and ask the people there though.

Bamtan.

@Zyte said:

Haha my mistake. I will try and edit the post. (Dam my fast typing and none checking before posting).@Jolt92 said:

@Garfield360UK: Batman is for adults and young adults. But if you find Watchmen too dark you might also find Batman too dark, because sometimes there's some messed up stuff happening. Personally I like Detective Comics the most, but there are many good TPB's you can get of Batman. You should really pop into Comic Vine and ask the people there though.

Any other reccomendations? I just found some areas that The Watchmen goes into a bit uncomfortable. I enjoyed Dark Knight so if the books are similar to that I would get into it.

The comics stopped being child appropriate a while ago. I wouldn't let a kid under 10 read them. Lots of very mature themes and occasionally REALLY fucked up imagery, especially in Killing Joke. The stories that the Nolan films lift from are great. Batman: Year One, Killing Joke, Long Halloween (all of the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale comics are amazing.), the Grant Morrison run is very trippy and hard to follow, but comes together pretty nicely.

Just read the comics. Not all of the stories are winners, but Batman stays pretty consistent with it's entertainment value.

Dark Knight isn't really all that representative of the comic books as far as I can tell, I'm not claiming to be an expert on the matter, though. But I think you should at least try a book and see if you like it, try a classic like Long Halloween. I think you might like that.

@Slayeric:

I agree.

The comics are similar to the Dark Knight but they are much darker and deal with a wider array of subjects, if you want a good place to start pick up Batman #1 and Detective Comics #1 and #2 if will give you a good feel for the character and the world. It's worth noting everything has been relaunched in the DC Universe but the majority of Batman's history is intact. Here are a few of the main titles you should pick up if your are interested in getting into Batman.

Batman Year One

Long Halloween

Dark Victory

Killing Joke

KnightFall

Hush

Under the Hood

Those are some of the core titles that are in the current continuity without going into the more modern stuff of the last few years with Grant Morrison's run on Batman. If you want more of a one of style book try some of the elseworld stories like the Dark Knight Returns or Joker. If you start to read Batman expect to see stuff like this every so often.

I usually recommend The Long Halloween to people who want to get a feel for Batman comics (Which happens whenever a new movie, cartoon or game comes out). It's a great comic and it introduces Batman and his world pretty well.

It's fun seeing someone go from that and read through all sorts of Batman comics up to the criminally under appreciated Gotham Central

I like my tan Bam, if you know what I mean.