10 Batman Collected Edition Comics Worth Buying This Year

With Batman persevering as one of DC Comics’ tentpole heroes, plenty of great comics are released regularly, and 2024 is no exception. The rest of the year is being padded with enticing collected editions of the Dark Knight’s exploits, ranging from classic reprints to recent arcs and miniseries.

Given the character’s creative versatility, veteran fans and new readers shouldn’t have to look far to find a subgenre or premise to hook them. Between the continuation of writer Ram V’s moody gothic opera in the pages of Detective Comics and the omnibus collection of The Batman and Robin Adventures, fans of the Caped Crusader will have more than enough to indulge themselves.

10 DC Finest: Batman – Year One & Two is a Great Starting Point

As a character with over 80 years of mythology, new fans will always need a friendly starting point in the comics. Thankfully, the comic book titan recently announced the “DC Finest” line of books for this purpose, and DC Finest: Batman – Year One & Two will highlight the hero’s modern beginnings.

This includes Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s landmark Year One, an arc revered as Batman’s definitive, gritty origin story. It’s the perfect way for newcomers to get a feel for where the character’s “modern era” hit its first crescendo. Similarly, the additions of Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, and Todd McFarlane’s follow-up Year Two and smaller-scale capers from Detective Comics are also great on-ramps for Batman comics.

9 Detective Comics Vol. 3-4 Continue a Gothic-Horror Opera

For more contemporary comic book storylines, Ram V and a revolving cast of artists’ work on Detective Comics offers an exciting gothic opera. Volumes 3 and 4 — Gotham Nocturne: Act II and Gotham Nocturne Intermezzo: Outlaw — continue the Dark Detective’s maddening descent into a centuries-old demonic conspiracy involving the Orgham family and their ties to Gotham City.

For fans of compelling slow-burn stories, Ram V’s Gotham Nocturne offers a moody gothic-horror atmosphere with interesting spins on Batman lore. Artists like Stefano Rafaelle are superb at visualizing this storyline’s tone, complementing V’s storytelling, and proving how well the hero fits in grim supernatural tales.

8 The Cult Deluxe Edition Finally Reprints an Elusive Classic

Jim Starlin is best known for having written the iconic Death of the Family story arc, but his earlier miniseries with artists Bernie Wrightson and Bill Wray is well worth the read. The Cult tells a story when Jason Todd was still Batman’s Boy Wonder, with the latter being kidnapped and brainwashed by Deacon Blackfire alongside a subterranean and hyper-violent religious cult.

The Cult is one of the best and grisliest Batman comics from the ’80s, and the upcoming Deluxe Edition release finally makes this story less elusive to collect. Deacon Blackfire is an underrated villain of the Caped Crusader’s rogues gallery. In The Cult, he demonstrates how the power of fanaticism can be weaponized to terrifying effects.

7 City of Madness is an Inventive Cosmic-Horror Elseworlds Story

Though DC Comics recently announced the return of the “Elseworlds” imprint, “Black Label” has been publishing excellent alternate-timeline Batman stories in recent years. A recent highlight is writer/artist Christian Ward’s City of Madness, seeing Batman and the Court of Owls consider an uneasy alliance to prevent the terrors from a supernatural mirror world from invading.

City of Madness is another effectively inventive take on the Dark Knight’s world, using elements of Lovecraftian horror and subverting established Batman lore. Fans of the ’80s classic Arkham Asylum comic and the modern hit The Court of Owls will particularly appreciate this interpretation. Ward’s stunning and eerie artwork is just as striking as his bold storytelling approach.

6 Absolute Batman: Arkham Asylum is the Hero’s Most Chilling Horror Case

For Batman’s ventures into horror, writer Grant Morrison and artist Dave McKean’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is the most prolific. This story follows the Caped Crusader as he’s called in to stop a prison riot at Arkham incited by the Joker. But what unfolds is the horrifying history behind the asylum’s founding family — and Batman’s psyche.

Arkham Asylum has received special printings before, and this hardcover Absolute edition will make a sleek collector’s item and an accessible way for new readers to experience this tale. Morrison is a legendary Batman writer and when combined with McKean’s disturbingly surreal art, they tell a harrowing psychological horror story. Itshows Batman in an unusually vulnerable light, highlighting his fears through the prison as a house-of-horrors backdrop.

5 Black Mirror The Deluxe Edition Collects Dick Grayson’s Best Outing as Batman

Scott Snyder’s most prominent work with Batman was in the hero’s flagship series during the New 52 reboot, but The Black Mirror is a close runner-up. Illustrated by Jock and Francesco Francavilla, Dick Grayson — the original Robin — takes over as the World’s Greatest Detective as he deals with a black market supervillain ring. Meanwhile, a dark piece of the Gordon family’s past returns to open old wounds.

The Black Mirror was the final Detective Comics story arc before the reboot, with Snyder spinning a convincing crime-noir detective thriller. On top of that, it also showcases how compelling Dick Grayson is as the Dark Detective through his unique perspective on the mantle and Gotham City. The upcoming Deluxe Edition givesit a stylish new hardcover printing, including bonus materials like sketches and concept designs.

4 Bruce Wayne – Murderer Turned Fugitive Omnibus Sees Batman Renounce His Public Persona

Some of the major Batman crossover story arcs of the early ’00s were Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, which turned Batman’s iron-clad rule on killing against him. Bruce finds himself framed for the murder of his girlfriend Vesper Fairchild and set to Blackgate Prison, only to break out and commit to his Dark Knight persona more than ever.

The upcoming Bruce Wayne: Murderer Turned Fugitive omnibus is the first time these storylines are collected in this format, telling a riveting crime saga. Though it’s not a novel concept anymore, these arcs were tense and dramatic ways to question Bruce’s obsessive commitment to Batman and how this conflicts emotionally with his wider Bat Family.

3 All-Star Batman by Scott Snyder: The Deluxe Edition Collect Action-Packed Stories

Outside of the traditional trade paperbacks, this is the first time Scott Snyder and Co.’s All-Star Batman series is collected in a single premium book. Not to be confused with the critically maligned and incomplete limited series from the early ’00s, this comic depicts a few smaller-scale stories of Batman dealing with some of his most iconic foes, including Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy.

All-Star Batman by Scott Snyder: The Deluxe Edition compiles the entire series, offering entertaining new takes on these Dark Knight rogues with excitingly illustrated action. In addition to being engaging and more isolated storylines, the revolving cast of artists, including John Romita Jr., Jock, and Rafael Albuquerque, add distinct tones to these thrillers.

2 Gargoyle of Gotham is Another Gritty Black Label Miniseries

The past year has been kind to Batman’s Black Label presence, with writer/artist Rafael Grampa telling a brutal new story with Gargoyle of Gotham. This series takes place on another timeline within the DC multiverse where Bruce Wayne went through to make his decision to do away with his public persona. In it, Bruce Wayne operates squarely as Batman against an unsettling new cast of villains.

Gargoyle of Gotham is bolstered in equal parts by Grampa’s bleak take on Gotham City, its hardened protector, and instantly recognizable art style. That also includes Matheus Lopes’ suitably grimy colorizations. It’s a story that justifies its place under the mature Black Label umbrella, working well as a one-off “Elseworlds” comic with surprisingly convincing antagonists.

1 The Batman & Robin Adventures Omnibus is a Loving Continuation of the DCAU

Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s rendition of the Caped Crusader in the DC Animated Universe’s Batman: The Animated Series remains a gold standard for many fans today. Following the long-awaited release of The Batman Adventures Omnibus last year, The Batman & Robin Adventures Omnibus collects the sequel series of the Dynamic Duo’s exploits.

The Batman Adventures writer Ty Templeton returned for The Batman & Robin Adventures, along with DCAU figurehead Paul Dini. Like the cartoon source material it was based on and the comic series it succeeded, this book was praised for retaining the tone of the TV show and telling fulfilling episodic stories. As the name suggested, it also emphasized Dick Grayson’s prominence as the Boy Wonder.