On the heels of Christopher Nolan's massively successful Dark Knight Trilogy, the announcement of Zack Snyder's upcoming Batman vs. Superman flick, and a year filled with several awesome Batman comics from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, it's safe to say that the Caped Crusader is enjoying another high point in his long career. DC's New 52 line of comics is still young, so it's the perfect time to jump in if you're a comic book newbie. But before you do, it's worth digging through the publication history of Batman comics to find elements of the Dark Knight that survive and influence today's comics, movies, and television shows. If you've already familiarized yourself with some of Batman's back issues, you probably realize that there are hundreds and hundreds of fantastic stories to be read - and, yes, quite a few not-so-fantastic ones. And so, in collecting the 50 Greatest Batman Comics, it's necessary to lay down a few criteria. First, these stories either have strong implications inside and outside the DC Universe or make a point of standing on their own two feet (Elseworlds stories, for example, aren't included in the standard continuity). Second, this list focuses heavily on the Modern Era of comics; the New 52 and other recent comics have some arcs that would definitely make this list someday, but they're still a bit too fresh to count among the greatest ever just yet. By a similar token, certain Batman comics from the 1940s, '50s and '60s are really hard to get ahold of, and thus those decades receive smaller representation on this list. Qualifications aside, this list simply aims to compile the most essential Batman tales ever told. If you're already a Batman expert, hunt for your favorite stories and then despair in the comments section about a more prominent placement or, better yet, applaud the judgement of the good-looking author. If all you know about Batman is that his ears are pointy, consider this an extensive cheat-sheet to an incredibly long publication history. Without further ado - and with a minor spoiler warning for a few recent entries - these are the 50 greatest comics featuring the Batman.
