Batman is an albatross around the neck of DC fans. On the one hand, most DC fans like Batman to a certain extent — if you read any DC books, than you’re going to have to deal with the Dark Knight, so it’s easier to like him than otherwise — but there’s also the fact that once you’ve read one Batman story, you’ve pretty much read them all. Batman stories can get kind of cliche after a while, and the most well-known Batman stories all tread some similar ground. Batman’s popularity means that every creator has a Batman story of some kind, so even though things can get pretty cliche, the art and writing are on point. However, not every Batman story follows the tried and true formula that has made Batman one of the most popular fictional characters ever created. While we can all name the best Batman stories of all time, there are plenty of lesser-known Batman stories that find ways to transcend the tropes of the character.
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Some Batman stories find all new ways to use the character, taking Batman in directions that the character doesn’t always go in. Some stories seem like they’re traditional Batman stories, but then take a left turn into territory that breaks new ground. Everyone knows to read “Year One” or The Dark Knight Returns, but these stories are the ones they should be reading. These seven lesser-known Batman stories are perfect for fans who want a different kind of Batman story.
7) Superman: Speeding Bullets
Batman has starred in a lot of Elseworlds comics, but this isn’t the traditional Batman Elseworlds experience. You can probably tell that by the fact the title is Superman: Speeding Bullets. This is technically a Superman story, but it’s also a Batman story, which is why it’s on this list. Superman: Speeding Bullets, by J.M. DeMatteis and Eduardo Barreto, takes place on an Earth where baby Kal-El was found by the Waynes. The family adopted him and named him Bruce. However, that one night in Crime Alley changes young Bruce’s life forever, as he uses his Kryptonian powers to deal with the crime of Gotham City. This is one of those Elseworlds that has gotten lost in the shuffle, but is one of the most interesting of them all. It’s a classic and if you can find it, you’ll have yourself a Batman story unlike any you’ve ever read.
6) “Broken City”
“Hush” was the biggest Batman story of the ’00s, a tale that united two of comics’ most popular creators — Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee — for a twelve-issue Batman epic. However, DC wasn’t done putting fan favorite creators on Batman after “Hush” ended. The next story arc was from the 100 Bullets (a then-popular Vertigo book that has mostly fallen off the radar) team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso called “Broken City”, running through Batman #620-625. Azzarello and Risso gave fans a perfect little Batman noir, as the Caped Crusader is pulled into a mystery that has some of Gotham’s most powerful criminals involved. This story seems like a pretty standard Batman whodunit, but Azzarello and Risso give it that little extra bit of noir flavor that a lot of creators try for but can’t really supply. It’s a story that doesn’t talked about enough, and even back then was overshadowed by both “Hush” before it and “Under the Red Hood” after it. It’s always been one of the best Batman stories ever, it just never reached the heights of popularity that other Batman stories did.
5) Batman/Catwoman Special #1
Writer Tom King did his best to grow Batman as a character during his run, but he wasn’t allowed to end with the marriage of Batman and Catwoman as he planned. Instead, DC gave King a 12-issue maxiseries to tell what was supposed to be the ending of his Batman epic. Batman/Catwoman is a series with a checkered reputation, but the Batman/Catwoman Special #1 is outstanding. King works with artists John Paul Leon (it was published posthumously after his death), Bernard Chang, Shawn Crystal, and Mitch Gerads to tell the story of Batman and Catwoman’s life together as a married couple. King gave readers many glimpses of Batman and Catwoman’s future in the pages of Batman, and this book takes those ideas and runs with them. It’s a beautiful, poignant tale of two people whose love made the terrors of their life better, and it has a perfect bittersweet ending. King is at his best here, and the art is fantastic, especially Leon’s pages. It was one of his last published works and it shows just what we lost when he died. King’s Batman isn’t for everyone, but this story will appeal to anyone who wants Batman and Catwoman to have the happy ending they deserve.
4) Batman (Vol. 3) #23
Beyond the relationship with Catwoman, there are some excellent team-up stories from Tom King’s time writing Batman (Vol. 3), and one of the most unexpected came in Batman (Vol. 3) #23, titled “The Brave and the Mold”. First off, it teamed King with artist Mitch Gerads, who he worked with on Sheriff of Baghdad and Mister Miracle, among others, which was a cause for celebration. Secondly, it teamed Batman up with Swamp Thing, as the avatar of the Green asks to help Batman investigate the murder of Lloyd McGin, who Swamp Thing claims is his father. The odd couple heroes find themselves working together for the first time in ages, and it’s a spectacular comic. There’s a Kite-Man appearance, which is always awesome, and King and Gerads do their trademark amazing work together. There’s just something about the stories that these two team up for. This is one of those Batman comics that no one expected when the book was coming out, but were very happy they got. King’s run has its critics, but I think even the most ardent King Batman hater will love this one and done story.
3) Batman (Vol. 1) #667-669
Grant Morrison gave readers some amazing Batman stories, and there will be two of them on this list. The first comes from Morrison’s late ’00s/early ’10s run — Batman (Vol. 1) #667-669. This story, with artist J.H. Williams III, saw Batman catching up with the Club of Heroes, a group of vigilantes from around the world that is sometimes called the Batmen of Many Nations. It was one of those Silver Age ideas that Morrison was re-canonizing with their run, and they use it to perfection for this story. Batman and Tim Drake are called to the island home of one of their members for an annual get together, where they usually solve a mystery as a group, but they find their host dead and the only one who could have done it is one of them. What follows is a tense whodunit that keeps throwing twists and turns at the reader. Morrison is easily one of the best Batman writers ever, and they do a fabulous job of giving readers this slice of Batman perfection. Williams III’s art is sensational, his unique page layouts as much a part of the book’s storytelling as the actual pictures. In the pantheon of Morrison Batman stories this one gets forgotten sometimes, overshadowed by “Batman and Son”, Batman (Vol. 1) #666, “Batman: R.I.P.”, and the other well-known books, but that’s unfair. This an amazing piece of Morrison Batman goodness and it will make you wish that Morrison and Williams III did more Batman together.
2) “Gothic”
Morrison’s first Batman work, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, showed that they weren’t the type of writer to be a standard Batman story (that story was only left off this list because it’s not lesser-known; there’s an argument that this story isn’t either, but I’m putting it on here anyway). Their next Batman story would prove that. “Gothic: A Romance” ran through Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #6-10, with art by Klaus Janson, and took readers into the darkness of Gotham City like never before. As a serial killer hunts Gotham’s greatest criminals, Batman is forced to help save people that he would usually go after. This story takes Batman from Gotham to Austria, as he hunts an enemy who may be more than human. This is peak early Morrison, mixing horror and superheroes into a delicious cocktail of darkness. Janson, best known as the best inker to work with artists like Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., gives this story just the right atmosphere, making this journey into darkness into something very special. “Gothic” is amazing, and more Batman fans need to experience it.
1) “Gotham Nocturne”
Ram V is killing it on New Gods, but he’s been one of the comic industry’s best-kept secrets for years now. I’ve often described V’s work as on the same caliber as someone like Alan Moore or Grant Morrison, but entirely different, and he’s put out some magnificent work over the years. V was given the keys to Detective Comics in 2022 and gave readers “Gotham Nocturne”, a three act story that ran from Detective Comics #1062 to #1089. Working with artists Raphel Albuquerque, Ivan Reis, Liam Sharp, Guillem March, Riccardo Federici, Stefano Raffaele, and many more (with back-up features by Si Spurrier, Dan Watter, Dali, Casper Wijngard, and more), V created one of the most unique Batman stories I’ve ever read in my long life of reading Batman. When the Orgham family, an ancient Indian family with ties to Gotham, return to the city to save it, Batman is thrown into a situation unlike any he’s ever experienced before, as the Orghams and their allies take over the city little by little, turning it against him. This story is everything you could want out of Batman. It has a decidedly Eastern flavor — V is known for peppering his books with Indian culture — that makes it feel unlike any Batman story you’ve ever read. It doesn’t do anything in the way you think it’s going to, and will astound you. Batman is a character that can fall of the trap of familiarity, but “Gotham Nocturne” always finds new ways to use old ideas. This is the best Batman story you’re going to get, with amazing writing and brilliant art. Even the back-up stories, starring Two-Face, Jim Gordon, the Question, Mister Freeze, the Ten-Eyed Man, Ra’s al Ghul, Azrael, and more, are better than most Batman stories you’ve read. This is everything Batman should be.
What are your favorite lesser-known Batman stories? Sound off in the comments below.
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