11 Essential Comics To Read If You Love Batman

4. The Black Mirror

Of all the writers to recommend, none have experienced a more meteoric rise than Scott Snyder.

More synonymous these days for his work on Batman, Snyder's breakout moment occurred in 2010 with Vertigo's American Vampire, before he immediately embarked on an amazing run on Detective Comics - the subject of this entry.

The Black Mirror revolves around Dick's Batman at a time where Bruce has returned. Faced with a crisis of identity, Dick continues to patrol the streets of Gotham until he comes across the mysterious 'Mirror House' - an underground auction house that establishes itself in locales where previous horrors have occurred. What do they sell? Villainous paraphernalia. And the first item up for bidding turns out to be the crowbar the Joker used to beat Jason Todd with before his death.

It's a killer premise, and the series also reintroduced James Gordon Jr during the 'Skeleton Keys' arc. With art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla, The Black Mirror is a modern classic of the mythos, and one of the most horrifying Bat-reads of all time. If you like your Batman particularly scary, then there are few books greater than it.