The Best Batman Era Is One You'd Never Suspect

2. A Whole New Bat-Family

But of course, in discerning Batman's greatest era it would be remiss to ignore the other books that supported Morrison's run. Love it or hate it, Batman is more than just the main Batman comic and it's often the case that these supporting series carve out their own devoted followings while the main arc progresses. Reborn was no different.

While Morrison worked on Batman & Robin, Return of Bruce Wayne and later Batman Incorporated, other writers and artists were busy at work fleshing out this new period. Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III produced the formidable Batwoman: Elegy while on Detective Comics, Bryan Q. Miller helmed a cult favourite Batgirl comic with Stephanie Brown under the cowl, and Fabian Nicieza presided over an old school (and criminally overlooked) Bat-book in Red Robin, which saw Tim Drake attempt to discover his father's true fate while fending off with the League of Assassins.

All of these books were tremendous, but certainly one of the more underrated was Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs Streets of Gotham. The trio had previously collaborated on Private Casebook and Heart of Hush, and Streets continued that hot-streak with three volumes' worth of brilliant stories, mirroring the main Batman & Robin title by showing Dick and Damian adjusting to their new roles, but while also fleshing out the city's criminal underworld and giving Hush his best arc to date. It compliments Morrison's main comic wonderfully, and is a must-read for those enamoured with Dini's work on Batman: The Animated Series.

Lastly, there's The Black Mirror. Released after Bruce Wayne's return and the commencement of Batman Incorporated, The Black Mirror was Scott Snyder's first stab at Batman and it's arguably his finest moment with the character. Joined by Jock and Francesco Francavilla, The Black Mirror was a haunting, psychological look at Dick Grayson's past and present, and reaffirmed in no uncertain terms that he was every bit as much Batman as Bruce was.

All of these books, though not Morrison's design, reflected the ambition of that main series. This was a genuinely brilliant era for all Batman characters, one duly reflected across the range of titles DC were publishing at the time.