11 Essential Comics To Read If You Love Batman

10. The Long Halloween

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's classic takes place around the second and third years of Batman's time under the cowl, and features just about the best mystery to have graced the pages of a Bat-book ever.

Another book whose influence can be felt in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Long Halloween (again, like Year One) reimagined the Caped Crusader's early years and really explored the dynamic between Batman, Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon before the whole, y'know, Two Face thing happened.

The novel is grounded by a dark and compelling murder mystery surrounding the 'Holiday Killer', a character who (gasp!) kills people on every holiday of the year.

It keeps you guessing until the very last page (and even after it, in some respects), and for that reason alone it's a fantastic Bat-book to read. Tim Sale's art is also completely magnetic, so that helps too if you're after some visual spectacle.