Batman Omnibus Mapping for the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Poll

It’s Batman Mapping Day! I’ll be loosely mapping missing and most-wanted DC omnibus volumes every day until May 19th! Then, on the 19th, I’ll be joining with Near Mint Condition to launch the first annual Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Annual Poll! This post covers omnibuses missing from Batman’s in-continuity titles from 1937 to the present day.

This post explains potential Batman Omnibus Mapping for votes on the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Secret Ballot. I’m posting all of these maps before the poll begins to give people the time to consider their favorites, correct our mapping mistakes, and catch books I might have missed.

If you don’t know DC well enough to know what to vote for, stick around for my explanations! Learn why the team behind the poll decided on these books and titles – including giving us feedback if we missed the mark.

If voting is now open, you can use this as your crib sheet! Or… just find some great comics to read!

Remember: These mappings are just my suggestion of how DC could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes and build your personal reading list, but your vote on the poll is NOT an endorsement of my specific map. It’s a vote in favor of DC creating a book with that title or covering that period.

High-effort, heavily-researched, over-the-top comics posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Silver Age & Bronze Age

Golden Age Batman is complete! We now have a full line of 10 Golden Age Batman omnibuses that perfectly meet up with the Silver Age on the other side where it begins with Detective Comics (1937) #233 and Batman (1940) #101 (plus, World’s Finest #117, in its own omnibus line). That means we can focus just on books from the Silver Age & Bronze Age… except this first one!

Batman: The Black Casebook – Expanded Edition [AKA Prelude to Morrison] (1951 – 1990)

The goal of this omnibus would be to collect all of major influences on Grant Morrison’s Batman run into a single book for the first time.

Grant Morrison originally assembled the Black Casebook to show off the influences on their massive run on Batman, many of which have now been permanently encoded into Batman history! When we were podcasting about Morrison’s run, we found these issues every bit as delightful as the book in the present day. Those comics were:

• • Batman (1940) #65 – A Partner For Batman! from June, 1951
  • Batman (1940) #86 – Batman – Indian Chief! from September, 1954
  • Detective Comics (1937) #215 – The Batmen of All Nations from January, 1955
  • Detective Comics (1937) #235 – The First Batman from September, 1956
  • World’s Finest (1941) #89 – The Club of Heroes from July, 1957
  • Detective Comics (1937) #247 – The Man Who Ended Batman’s Career from September, 1957
  • Batman (1940) #112 – Am I Really Batman? from December, 1957
  • Batman (1940) #113 – Batman – The Superman of Planet X from February, 1958
  • Detective Comics (1937) #267 – Batman Meets Bat-Mite from May, 1959
  • Batman (1940) #134 – The Rainbow Creature from September, 1960
  • Batman (1940) #156 – Robin Dies at Dawn from June, 1963
  • Batman (1940) #162 – The Batman Creature from March, 1964

That’s just a dozen issues and 160 pages, and not all of the stories from each issue were included in the casebook. However, to that we could also add a trio of other obvious influences that were not included in the Casebook:

• • Batman (1940) #62 – Batman and Robin exchange places with their British counterparts)
  • Detective Comics (1937) #241 –  Batman dresses in all the colors of the rainbow to distract from Robin’s bruised elbow
  • Batman (194) #153 –  Batman and Robin are joined by the original Batwoman and Bat-Girl fighting against a silver-hunting alien trying to fuel war in his home dimension

Then, we would add all of the contents of the “Tales of the Demon” trade paperback, which introduced Ra’s al Ghul  andTalia al Ghul in Batman (1940) #232, 235, 240, & 242-244, DC Special Series (1977) #15, and Detective Comics (1937) #411, 485, & 489-490.

Finally, we’d the trio of “Demon” graphic novels – Batman: Son of the Demon, Birth of the Demon, and Bride of the Demon OGNs – all of which are somewhat in continuity due to Morrison’s creation of Damian Wayne.

Suddenly, our brief burst of a dozen issues is a book that’s nearly 800 issues in page count! We read all of this material in the lead-up to our Batman by Grant Morrison podcast, and we all agreed that it was a much better read for the experience.

In sum, this collects material from Batman (1940) #62, 65, 86, 112-113, 134, 153, 156, 162, 232, 235, 240, & 242-244; Detective Comics (1937) #215, 235, 241, 247, 267, 411, 485, & 489-490; World’s Finest (1941) #89; DC Special Series (1977) #15; Batman: Son of the Demon OGN; Batman: Birth of the Demon OGN; & Batman: Bride of the Demon OGN.

Batman: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (1958 & on)

Now that DC has knocked out the 10 volumes of Golden Age Batman, sometimes at a pace of more than one per year, it’s time to do the same for the Silver Age! There is currently only a single Silver Age Omnibus out.

This would continue to collect Batman (1940) #117-216 and Detective Comics (1937) #256-394.

Batman: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1970 & on)

The Bronze Age of Batman comics starts from Batman (1940) #217 and Detective Comics (1937) #395.

Batman: The 1980s Omnibus Vol. 1 (1980 & on)

I suspect that DC wouldn’t sustain the “Bronze Age” branding all the way until Crisis, as it would have to cover over 15 years of comics and would lead to higher volume numbers that are harder to market.

Perhaps they’d also start a “The 1980s Omnibus” line at some later point to begin collecting from 1980 onward, which begins with Batman (1940) #319 and Detective Comics (1937) #488. I don’t know that it would start exactly there, as it’s smack in the middle of some creator runs like Don Newton. It could start slightly earlier or later to catch his entire run either in this book or in the final Bronze omnibus.

Also, note that some of the material in these issues have been collected by the Batgirl and Robin Bronze Age omnibuses, respectively.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to 2000

When to mapping Post-Crisis Batman, there are two important events to keep in mind: Knightfall and No Man’s Land.

Those two events anchor two major points in this period with three volumes each – Knightfall in the middle, and No Man’s Land at the end. That means we’re looking at two big chunks of material from Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937) to cover. First, from Post-Crisis to Knightfall, then from the end of Knightfall to the Road to No Man’s Land.

However, there are also some omnibuses that could span across those events. Batman’s Graphic Novels exist to the side of continuity, and his three supporting series in this period have significant runs outside of those two events.

To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Legends of the Dark Knight, and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman: The Graphic Novels Vol. 1 (1987 & on)

Batman had many graphic novels in the late 80s and early 90s that weren’t explicitly in continuity but also weren’t meant to be Elseworlds. That began with the famous Son of the Demon (1987) OGN, the first in the so-called Demon Trilogy. None of these OGNs is likely to be collected alongside Post-Crisis collections of Batman and Detective Comics.

While this might have to omit Killing Joke and Batman: Arkham Asylum – A Serious House On Serious Earth due to their mature readers labels, there are still many other OGNs that could fill this book – and, at 48-120 pages each, it wouldn’t take many to fill an omnibus.

Batman: The Post-Crisis Omnibus Vol. 1 (AKA Caped Crusader / Dark Knight Detective) (1987 & on)

DC’s standard-size hardcover collections of Post-Crisis Batman and Detective Comics were called “Batman: Caped Crusader” and “Batman: Dark Knight Detective,” respectively.

While they started after Year One due the tonal shift in storytelling from Miller’s work to the next story, it would actually make a lot of sense for a Post-Crisis omnibus to begin with Year One! Plus, we’ve seen DC finally willing to mix Year One with other collected material in their new DC Finest paperback line.

This would begin to collect from Batman (1940) #401 or 404 and Detective Comics (1937) #568 or 571. It would likely continue through the start of Knightfall, so this would end at Batman (1940) #483 and Detective Comics (1937) #653)

(Why start with those issues? While Batman #401 is generally acknowledged as the first appearance of Post-Crisis Batman, it’s much cleaner to assume that period begins with Year One in issue #404. And, for Detective Comics, issue #568 is part of the Legends event – which is necessarily Post-Crisis. It’s also the first issue of the Dark Knight Detective hardcover series, but the new DC Finest trade starts at #571.)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Vol. 1 (1989 & on)

Legends of the Dark Knight was launched as a premium format Batman title exclusively for the Direct Market of comic shops. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) was a series where creators could tell short run stories that were in continuity, but not necessarily aligned to the current continuity of the main Batman flagships.

This would collect Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1980) #1 and on, either skipping issues that were direct crossovers with the main two Batman books or including the crossovers. In the initial 50 issues that would be in scope for this first volume, that only includes issue #27 (“The Destroyer” crossover through Batman (1940) #474, LotDK #27, & Detective Comics (1937) #641). Knightfall doesn’t begin to impact this title until issue #59.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Vol. 1 (1992 & on)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) was launched to tell Batman stories primarily focused on his deep gallery of villains. The title upheld that mandate despite being sucked into Knightfall for half of its first three years and later spending its final year telling parts of the “No Man’s Land” story. Remarkably, it was written almost entirely by Alan Grant – who authored the title through issue #82.

This would begin to collect Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #1 and on, skipping Knightfall material in #16-34 except for #31 & 0.

Batman: Knightfall Aftermath (1994 – 1996)

This book would directly follow the Knightfall omnibuses to continue collecting all of Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937) sequentially – leaving the other Batman ongoing titles to their own omnibuses. It could run up to the beginning of “Contagion,” the next big multi-title storyline in the Batman books.

First, this would collects the abandoned Zero Hour issues that are not included in the Knightfall books, which are a great way to begin an omnibus! Those are Batman (1940) #0 & 511, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #0, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #0 & 31, Detective Comics (1937) #0 & 678, and maybe also Catwoman (1993) #0 & 74 and Robin (1993) #0 & 10.

Then, this would add the skipped Batman (194) Annual 18 and Detective Comics (1937) Annual 7, plus the full set of Batman Year One Annuals (again, a great way to begin an omnibus): Batman (1940) Annual 19. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) Annual 5, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) Annual 3, and Detective Comics (1937) Annual 8.

Then, the primary content of the book would be Batman (1937) #516-529 & Annual 20 and Detective Comics (1937) #682-694 & Annual 9, along with the Trioka crossover issues (Batman: Shadow of The Bat (1992) #35 & Robin (1993) #14) as well as Nightwing: Alfred’s Return (1995) #1, Batman: Vengeance of Bane II – The Redemption (1995) #1, and Robin #17.

So, to put that all in a tidy list, this would collect Batman (1937) #0, 511, 516-529, & Annual 18-20; Detective Comics (1937) #0, 678, 682-694 & Annual 7-9, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #0 & Annual 5; Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #0, 31, 35, & Annual 3; Robin (1993) #14 & 17 (and maybe #0 & 10), Nightwing: Alfred’s Return (1995) #1, Batman: Vengeance of Bane II – The Redemption (1995) #1, and maybe Catwoman (1993) #0 & 74.

Batman Chronicles (1995 – 2001)

Batman Chronicles (1995) was a quarterly anthology series in the same vein as the “Unlimited” series of the mid-90s. Each issue typically collected three stories, which didn’t necessarily fit sequentially into continuity (or even at all!).

This would collect The Batman Chronicles (1995) #1-23 and Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (1997) OGN. Issue #4 continued a “Contagion” story, issue #12 was part of “Cataclysm,” and issues #14-18 included “No Man’s Land” material. In each case, there may be other stories that still make sense to collect here.

At as many as 60 story pages per issue, one omnibus could absolutely collect the whole series plus the OGN even without omitting those crossover stories.

Batman: Contagion/Legacy (1996)

The next major Batman line stories after Knightfall were the related pair of crossovers Contagion and Legacy.

This would collect Azrael (1995) #15-16, Batman (1940) #529-534, The Batman Chronicles (1995) #4, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #48-54, Catwoman (1993) #31-36, Detective Comics (1937) #695-702, Robin (1993) #27-33, Batman: Bane (1997) #1, Batman: Bane of the Demon (1998) #1-4.

This period also includes the “Legends of the Dead Earth” annuals, which are out of continuity. For completeness, we could add them – either for just the main four Bat-books, or for all of the books included in this crossover. They were Azrael (1995) Annual 2, Batman (1940) Annual 20, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) Annual 4, Catwoman (1993) Annual 3, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 9, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) Annual 6, Robin (1993) Annual 5.

Batman: Contagion/Legacy Aftermath [AKA by Dixon, Moench & Jones] (1996 – 1998)

This book would fill the gap of almost two years between the end of Legacy and the beginning of the Batman: Road to No Man’s Land omnibus.

This would collect Detective Comics (1937) #703-718, 723, & Annual 10, Batman (1940) #535-553 & Annual 21, and the Brotherhood of the Fist Crossover from Detective #723 (into Green Arrow (1988) #134-135, Nightwing (1996) #23, and Robin (1993) #55).

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to Flashpoint

Collecting Batman in the 00s becomes a slightly trickier prospect than in the 90s. That’s because Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937) often worked independently from each other. Plus, Grant Morrison’s multi-title Batman epic crossed multiple titles, coming and going as it pleased! And, finally, there were a few major creator-centric runs – one of which has already been collected in a way that leaves many gaps.

How to collect around all of that to make sure every issue finds a home? Let’s take a look. To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman: New Gotham by Rucka, Brubaker, et al (AKA No Man’s Land Aftermath) (2000 – 2001)

This would pick up directly from the end of No Man’s line to continue being a complete collection of both Batman flagship titles for the next two years, including the “Officer Down” crossover, meeting up with the newly-announced Murderer/Fugitive omnibus on the other side.

This would collect Batman (1940) #575-598 & Annual 24, Batman: Our Worlds at War (2001) #1, Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1, Detective Comics (1937) #742-765, Superman (1987) #168, and Officer Down crossover issues (Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #13, Birds of Prey (1999) #27, Catwoman (1993) #90, Nightwing (1996) #53, Robin (1993) #86 and a tie-in in Batgirl (2000) #12).

Batman by Ed Brubaker (2000 – 2003)

A creator-centric collection of Brubaker’s Batman material, leaving meany gaps along the way.

This would collect Batman (1940) #582-586, 591-607, Batman Our Worlds at War (2001) #1, Batman Turning Points (2000) #2-3, Robin (1993) #86, Detective Comics (1937) #758, 777-782, 784-786, Batman: Gotham Noir (2001) OGN, Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) OGN, Hawkman (2002)#27 (not a Batman story, but it’s Brubaker/Phillips); and material from Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #41.

Batman: Gotham Knights Vol. 1 (2000 & on)

This would collect at least the end of Devin Grayson’s run on the title at issue #32, but it could go much father. That’s because all of the black-and-white back-up stories from issues #1-49 are already collected in Batman: Black & White Omnibus. That leaves 20 pages plus cover in each issue, so this could easily collect half of this series 74 issues. Plus, A-stories from #25-32 are part of Murderer/Fugitive and in that omnibus, leaving us even less to collect.

This would collect Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #1 and on.

Batman: Road to War Games by Brubaker, Azzarello, et al (2002 – 2003)

This would directly follow the newly-announced Murderer/Fugitive omnibus to continue collecting another year and change of both flagship titles. Would it include the entire “Hush” story from Batman, which has been collected many times over? I guess my question in response would be: why not? There’s nothing inherently special about it other than that it sells well on its own.

This would collect Batman (1940) #608-619 (Hush) and #620-630, Detective Comics (1937) #776-789, Death and the Maidens (2003) #1-9, Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) OGN, and other contemporaneous material.

Batman: War Games (2004 – 2005)

War Games was a major Batman storyline that lasted the better part of a year – so big that this might fit in just one omnibus! This list of issues from the existing War Games trades hits the 60 mark, and DC generally won’t go that big on one Batman omnibus when instead they could sell two.

This would collect Batgirl (2000) #55-57, Batman (1940) #631-644, Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #56-58, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #182-184, Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure (2004) #1, Catwoman (2002) #34-36, Detective Comics (1937) #790-810, Nightwing (1996) #96-98, Robin (1993) #126-131, Solo (2004) #10, Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins 2005 (2005) #1, Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins 2005 (2005) #1.

Batman: Detective Comics – One Year Later [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 1] (2006 – 2008)

This is a tricky collection to map and to explain.

Essentially, there is a huge run of Detective Comics (1937) that is mostly collect in the Batman by Paul Dini omnibus, but with many gaps.

Additionally, there is material leading to and in-between Grant Morrison’s takeover of Batman (1940) that has never been in omnibus. If there is one story it makes sense to always leave collected on its own no matter how disruptive that is to maps, it’s definitely Morrison’s Batman. It just doesn’t make sense to excerpt individual arcs of it in a separate omnibus line. They wouldn’t make any sense.

That leaves us with the question: Would this really re-collect all of the Dini omnibus, just with a few more issues inserted?

You don’t have to have an answer to that question to vote for this book, but here is what it could include:

Batman (1940) #645-650 & Annual 25 (Under the Red Hood), 651-654, & 659-662 (skipping #655-658 & 663-669 by Morrison); Detective Comics (1937) #817-850 & Annual 11, DC Infinite Halloween Special (2007) #1.

That’s 51 issues, to which we could add all 10 issues of The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, which has always been avoided in deluxe collected edition (Batman (1940) #670-671 & Annual 26, Detective Comics (1937) #838-839, Nightwing (1996) #138-139, and Robin (1993) #168-169 & Annual 7).

Or, we could add Gotham Underground (2007) #1-9.

But, to have both, this would need to be split into two volumes, because the next volume probably makes the most sense if it is entirely comprised of Dick Grayson Batman material.

Batman Confidential (Vol. 1) (2007 – 2011)

This could collect the entire series from rotating prestige creator teams. This would collect Batman Confidential (2007) #1-54, which could potentially be split into two volumes.

Batman: Dick Grayson, Batman [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 2] (2008 – 2010)

This would collect Grayson Batman material that ran simultaneous to Morrison writing the character.

This would begin with Batman: Battle of the Cowl (Batman: Battle for the Cowl (2009) #1-3, Gotham Gazette (2009) #1, and Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? (2009) #1) and companion material (Arkham Asylum (2009) #1, Commissioner Gordon (2009) #1, Man-Bat (2009) #1, The Network (2009) #1, The Underground (2009) #1)

Then, it would primarily collect the Grayson Batman material simultaneous to Morrison’s run from Batman (1940) #684-699 and Detective Comics (1937) #851-853.

To that, it could also add the “Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight” story (Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight (2009) #1-3, Batman (1940) Annual 27, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 11).

Batman: Bruce Wayne Returns [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 3] (2011)

This would collect material that existed at the same time as Morrison’s end-run on Batman Incorporated (2011), some of which has been in deluxe format before, but none of which is big enough for its own omnibus.

I think that would include Batman (1940) Annual 28 & 704-713, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 12 & #864-870, Black Mirror (Detective Comics (1937) #871-881), and Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011) #1-5. It could also add Batman: The Dark Knight (2010) #1-5.

Could also recollect the entirety of the Gotham Shall Be Judged crossover (Azrael (2009) #14-18, Batman (1940) #708-709, Gotham City Sirens (2009) #22, and Red Robin (2009) #22).

Batman Omnibus Mapping – New 52 Era

Over the past decade DC has picked the New 52 era clean of potential omnibuses, including two books of Scott Snyder’s Batman (2011) run plus collections of Batman & Robin and Batman Eternal.

To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman by Scott Snyder Companion (2011 – 2021)

This could gather all of the rest of Scott Snyder’s Batman stories from outside of his main 2011 run into a single omnibus.

At minimum, this would include Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011) #1-5, All-Star Batman (2016) #1-14, Batman and The Signal (2018) #1-3, material from Dark Nights Metal (including Batman: Lost (2017) #1), stories from Batman Giant (2019), Batman: Black and White, and other material from Snyder in that period.

If we could mix in Black Label Batman, we could also add Last Knight on Earth (2019) #1-3.

Batman: Detective Comics, The New 52 Omnibus (2011 – 2016)

This would collect the complete run of Detective Comics (2011) from New 52, which went through several writers including Tony Daniel, John Layman, Brian Buccellato, and Peter Tomasi.

It would collect Detective Comics (2011) #1-52, 0, 23.1-4, & Annual 1-3, Detective Comics: Futures End (2014) #1, and Detective Comics: Endgame (2015) #1.

Batman: The Dark Knight, The New 52 Omnibus (2011 – 2014)

This would collect Batman: The Dark Knight (2011) #1-29, 0, & 23.1-4, to which it could also add Batman: The Dark Knight (2010) #1-5.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Rebirth to Present Day

We’ve only seen DC collect two of the Batman runs from Rebirth and forward – both from Detective Comics. That leaves us with a lot more to collect, including all of Tom King’s massively popular (and occasionally-divisive) run. To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman by Tom King Vol. 1 (of 2) (2016 – 2018)
Batman by Tom King Vol. 2 (of 2) (2018 – 2019) 

Tom King wrote Batman for three years of twice-monthly shipping, creating a run with intense highs and lows that actually dug into the man behind the cape and cowl. This is one of the most hotly-demanded DC omnibuses, and given King’s continuing popularity I’m sure we’ll see it in the next two years as DC begins to re-collect their Rebirth material. But, your votes can help send a signal that it’s time for that to occur.

The first volume of this series would collect Batman (2016) Rebirth & #1-44 and various crossover and tie-in issues (including “Night of the Monster Men” and “The Button”). I think it makes sense for this to stop just short of the the Batman/Catwoman wedding, which introduces a number of tie-ins and length issues and will fit better into the second volume. But, this mapping is just a guess – don’t let it dissuade you from you vote!

The second volume of this series would collect Batman (2016) #45-85, material from Batman: Secret Files (2018) #1, a story from Detective Comics (2016) #1000, and various one-shots/tie-ins to the wedding.

Batman by Tom King Companion (2016 & on)

This would collect various Batman stories by King outside of his run, some of which is out of continuity.

At minimum, I think this would collect Batman / Elmer Fudd Special (2017) #1, Batman / Catwoman (2020) #1-12 & Special, a story from Batman: Black and White (2020) #2, a story from Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular (2020) #1, Batman: One Bad Day – The Riddler (2022) #1, Batman: Killing Time (2022) #1-6, Gotham City: Year One (2022) #1-6, and stories from Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023).

Batman by James Tynion (2019 – 2021)

After Tom King, James Tynion wrote a fast, colorful, and sometimes brutal Batman run, largely with stunning artwork from Jorge Jiménez. This had an uneven reception as it was released, although it was often my favorite book of the month. Given Tynion’s massive profile in the past few years, this omnibus would be a sure seller.

This would collect Batman (2016) #85-117, Annual 5, & Annual 2021, plus various tie-ins (including Punchline stories) and Fear State comics.

Batman: Detective Comics by Mariko Tamaki (2021 – 2022)

Mariko Tamki took over Detective Comics with stories that focused on Bruce Wayne’s fall from his heights of wealth and status, as well as a 10-issue weekly story focusing on the entire Bat-Family’s battle against a nefarious new iteration of Arkham while Batman was out of town.

This would collect Detective Comics (1937) #1034-1061.

Batman: Urban Legends (2021 – 2023) 1-23

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) was an anthology series that fronted Batman stories and backed them up with serialized tales of the Bat-Family, including a heavy focus on Red Hood and Tim Drake. Ultimately, it helped to launch several ongoing titles, including books for Tim Drake, Batgirls, and WildCATs.

This would collect Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #1-23.

Batman by Chip Zdarsky (2022 & on)
Batman: Detective Comics by Ram V (2022 & on)

In the past folks have tried to avoid including still-ongoing runs on the Marvel poll. When a creator-led book has a high enough profile it and it’s already an omnibus of material deep into its run, then it’s almost certain it will show up in a number of votes! That’s why we’ve listed these too books, despite their runs not having a definitive end in site.

The Chip Zdarsky book would collect Batman (2016) #125 and on, “Gotham War” tie-ins, and stories from Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #1-6

The Ram V book would collect Detective Comics (1937) #1062 and on.