The Batman Adventures Omnibus

by Kelley Puckett, Michael Parobeck (Illustrator), Ty Templeton (Illustrator)

From the padded cells of Arkham Asylum to the mean streets of Crime Alley, one truth is whispered wherever evil Gotham City belongs to the Batman.

Until now!

The crimelord formerly known as the Penguin is now Mayor Oswald Cobblepot -- elected to be Gotham's leader by promising to outlaw vigilantes and villains alike. The immortal mastermind Ra's al Ghul has ordered an invasion of assassins - not to destroy the Dark Knight, but to eliminate his enemies…permanently. And a two-bit hood called the Black Mask is forming a deadly new masked mob.

Outlawed. Outnumbered. On the run. Batman's greatest battle for the soul of Gotham City is about to begin!

Collects The Batman Adventures #1-36, The Batman Adventures Annual #1, The Batman Adventures Annual #2, The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, The Batman Mad Love #1, and stories from Black & White Omnibus .

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Crime, Adventure

1192 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2023

About the author

Kelley Puckett is a comic book writer. He is the creator of the character Cassandra Cain, the Batgirl who succeeded Barbara Gordon and who was succeeded herself by Stephanie Brown, as well as the second Green Arrow, Connor Hawke.

Reviews

[Morten Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

«We were married ten years ago on a snowy christmas eve. Nora loved the snow. I thought it… sad that there should be none this year. And I wouldn’t want my Nora to be sad tonight.»

The Batman Adventures, just like the Animated series, always had some of the strongest and most emotional Batman-stories ever written.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Batman: The Animated Series, I loved this Omnibus just as much as the legendary show! These are the kind of comics you want to read after a long day at work and just want to escape into a fictional and fun world.

In this Omnibus you will find dozens of adventures featuring the World’s Greatest Detective, his Boy-Wonder sidekick, his trustworthy police commissioner ally, and many other great supporting characters and rogues gallery. Some of the standout ones feature Joker’s ridiculous plots, anything with Talia al-Ghul, and anything with original villains the Prefesser, Mastermind, and Mr. Nice!

Highly recommended to any and all Batman fans of all ages!

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Batman The Animated series is my favorite version of Batman outside of the comic books. Batman Adventures is the comic book based on that series and like that series, I would call this fundamental Batman. Both are full of great stories and great art. They were beacons of light in a dark, grim, and gritty era of comic book history.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gems include Joker sends Penguin & Cat a tv, Joker beats Gordon on tv w/ a bat, Scarecrow creates an illiteracy bug, Cain & Abel haunt Scarecrow’s dreams, Bullock interrogates Wayne, Croc regains his heavyweight title, Clayface romances Gleeson, Batman skims Thorne’s pool, Riddler v Threatening 3, Bullock hates Man-Bat even more than Batman, Cat captures Batgirl & Harley & Ivy, Batman & Talia have a Paris date, Robin saves Ventriloquist, Malone betrays Throne, Joker kidnaps a penciler, Robin fakes out Ra’s, Dick & Barbara dislike each other at college, Scarecrow goes kaiju in Batman’s dream, Threatening 3 almost goes nuclear, Man-Bat-Werewolf-Tygrus brawl, Two-Face breaks in to Blackgate to get Thorne, Batman paroles Ivy, ninja romance, Luthor plays Hephaestus for Zeus, Barbara throws a pizza slice at Dick, faux Batman, Joker & Harley oppose gun control for Xmas, Batman & Talia have a Macao date, granny KOs Mastermind w/ brass knucks, Anarky can’t find a reason to bomb Wayne, Batman reenacts Waterloo, Batman sees a Gray Ghost movie, Cat asks Batman to a rooftop dinner date, Robin v Catman, BatStrange v Throne, & C18 Ra’s v pirate Jason Blood

[Bryson Grenfell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A whole lot of fun with that classic Batman flavour that’s missing from most contemporary titles. A thoroughly worthwhile while trip back to the 90’s and the word of Batman the animated series

[Ungureanu Mihai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all Batman:The Animated Series fans. New stories in the same universe, same atmosphere.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of episodic stories taking inspiration both visually and narratively from the hit 90s TV show "Batman: The Animated Series".

This was a lighthearted, breezy, and visually satisfying collection that served as a competent homage to its source material yet didn't quite reach the same atmospheric heights as that series. The stories included are almost exclusively episodic three act narratives that explore a wacky / high-concept premise, perform some simplistic character examination, or deliver a quickly paced action scenario. While most offerings feel rather pedestrian there are definitely some notable gems. I found a lot of enjoyment in each appearance of "Mr. Nice", "Mastermind", and "Perfesser" that are comedic villain parodies of comics creators Archie Goodwin, Paul Dini, and Dennis O'Neill respectfully. I also really enjoyed most material written by Dini with the stories "Joker: Laughing After Midnight" and "Going Straight" executing novel concepts well.

While the narratives can be a bit formulaic or underwhelming the art is sublime if you enjoy "Batman: The Animated Series". The aesthetic implores less chiaroscuro than I remember from the TV show but other than that it feels like a direct translation of that work's visual language. Cartoony and boisterous with a bit of an edge, it explores the character designs and visual motifs of Gotham in such a fun and playful way that seems all too uncommon in modern Batman comics. The pencilling of Parobeck and inking of Burchett lend the series so much visual personality and if you have any nostalgia for the TV series you will love how this work looks.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this and The Batman and Robin Omnibus came up on eBay at a reasonable price I pounced on them. I always prefer hardcopy and I’ve really enjoyed the few issues I’ve read.

From the Introduction:
"Walking back from the screening to the offices afterward, it hit me — I liked their Batman better than ours!"

Okay, I don’t have a bag big enough to carry around the three omnibuses I’m currently reading!

The first issue I already read, so I’ll just duplicate the review I did for it.

Batman Adventures #1 2 stars
Batman Adventures #2 2 stars
The Batman Adventures #3 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #4 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #5 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #6 3 stars

I don’t know if it’s kosher but I thought I saw Anne do something like this with Agatha Christie collections. I think I’m going to put the individual stories in their individual issue and just give an overview about the collection.

The Batman Adventures #7 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #8 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #9 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #10 2 stars
The Batman Adventures #11 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #12 4 stars.
The Batman Adventures #13 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #14 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #15 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #16 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #17 2 stars
The Batman Adventures #18 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #19 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #20 1 star
The Batman Adventures #21 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #22 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #23 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #24 2 stars
The Batman Adventures Annual #1 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #25 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #26 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #27 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #28 4 stars
The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #29 2 stars
The Batman Adventures #30 1 star
The Batman Adventures #31 5 stars
The Batman Adventures Annual #2 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #32 3 stars
The Batman Adventures #33 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #34 5 stars
The Batman Adventures #35 4 stars
The Batman Adventures #36 5 stars
The Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 3 stars
Mad Love 5 stars
The Batman: Black and White #1 5 stars

Overall this Omnibus is a 4 star collection. I really like the art and the stories have both a focus and a stand-alone aspect that makes them nice one-and-dones. I’m glad I have this in hardcopy, I can see myself revisiting it.

[Arjun Jagad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Batman Adventures Omnibus has become by favorite DC book in my collection, and is easily my favorite Batman omnibus. The story that this omnibus contains are just so interesting, fun, intriguing, and have genuinely deepened my understanding of Batman, his cast, his villians, and his relationships with all of them. There are so many to count, but I'll try to talk about some of my favorite issues/ stories. Issue #22 has Batman taking on Two-Face, Bruce does one simple thing to stop Two-Face. He took the coin away, he forced Two-face to choose to kill him. The Harvey inside of Two-Face couldn't do it, that alone shows how deep Two-Face's duality goes, deep down he can't cope with the fact of him being a criminal. He uses the coin as a coping mechanism, and an excuse for his violence. Deep down he can't live with being a murderer. There are a lot of great Scarecrow stories in here, but the one that stuck with me was the one that came from one of the annuals. Drawn by Klaus Janson as well, it was awesome seeing his Daredevil like artwork on Batman. Anyway in that story Crane is torturing a man who assaulted a woman that he liked. Scarecrow is out of revenge, as in this story he tries to put his villainous days behind him, but this man brought him back to being Scarecrow. Of course while Crane is torturing this guy, Batman comes in and stops him. What really struck me when I was reading this story was the last panel. In the panel Batman narrates, "I suppose Crane was trying to help Molly in the only way he knew how, with fear, intimidation and force. All in all, not that different from Bromley's methods... except Crane has always had the decency to wear his mask on the outside." Reading this gave me chills. It showed the similarities between Batman and Scarecrow, and how even Bruce can see the humanity in someone like Crane, and its moments like these where Batman's no kill rule have so much depth. Bruce sees parts of himself in Crane, how can he kill someone who shares something with him, or how can he kill someone who had good intentions deep down. This also serves as a cold line for Batman to say how Bruce is his mask, and only when is Batman is he truly himself. Another one of my favorite stories is the Mr. Freeze Holiday Special one. In this story Freeze breaks out of prison, he follow Batman we try to figure out why he's done so. In the end we find out its so Freeze can provide snow to Nora, his dead wife, on their anniversary, Christmas, since it wasn't going to snow that day. It shows how driven by love Freeze is and how Nora is all he cares about.
There are countless amazing storys in this omnibus, these are just a few that I really remember. Obviously Mad Love the Mask of the Phantasm are all time great Batman stories that are in here, just thought I'd shed light on some smaller stories.

[Sebastian Lauterbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I never watched the batman animated series, but I picked this book up, because the comic receives a lot of praise.

This book made me think I'm reading children's stories more than any other comic series did before. The stories aren't boring or bad, just very simple and short. The panels are large and there's not a lot of dialogue for the most part, so this omnibus was a quick read. But not wort a re-read in my opinion.

That said, the Paul Dini stories were definitely the highlight of this book and the Harley Quinn origin story at the end was my favourite.

What the book does manage very well, is to play with a large amount of Batman's rogue gallery. and introduce the reader to all the characters. I think this omnibus would make a good "first batman comic" experience.

So in the end, I think this book wants you to have the nostalgia for the animated series. I don't have that, so this book will be sold shortly.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a boy, I loved Batman: The Animated Series. Who can forget such classic episodes like "Almost Got Him," "Heart of Ice," and "Perchance to dream?" I became a Batman fan because of this series, and he is still my favorite superhero, and I love reading Batman comics the most.

I got this omnibus because I wanted to see more adventures of The Dark Knight from the classic series. Some stories were in the show and some I must admit were not interesting. For example, the first story with the Penguin was not interesting at all. Besides when Penguin makes an effort to reform, the creators can never do a good Penguin story.

However, most of the stories are good and worthy to the TV series. They were a fun read, and that is just what I want sometimes. I recommend this to Batman fans.

[TheMadReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a diehard fan of the BTAS, this is just a continuation…if not companion. All original stories, similar art style and the tone of the dialogue is almost identical.

Much like the “X Men: Animated Series Omnibus,” you’re not getting groundbreaking stuff. It’s simply all nostalgia. As a Batman fan, this is a must have but it will not add any value towards understanding the character within the actual comics mythos.

I don’t ever see myself reading these stories again but, if I ever have a child and they obsesses over the animated series like I did, I’d hand them this Omni to read, and work on their bicep curls along the way.

[Zep · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork even if not Bruce Timm is just astounding. Stories I can see why a lot of these storylines weren’t good enough for the show or just side stories for the show going on. Some are canon and some aren’t. Some issues were absolutely heartbreaking and wish they made it to the show (like the 3 part Hugo Strange storyline, they really made good use of him).

The Two Face Bruce Timm storyline which nears a hard pg 13 rating was also another ep I wish that made it. That one is a painful read.

Overall wasn’t too crazy about it, fun quick issues with terrific artwork. More just alright stories than great but always happy to be in this TAS world.

[Ethan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book from a collection stand point. The comprehensive collection of stories, print quality, and massive size alone make this a must-have for collectors. But looking at the stories and art work within brings it to a level that is truly beyond words. The writing gets better and better as you make your way through the individual stories, and by the time I reached the Christmas Special and the Mask of the Phantasm I nearly ascended.

"Vengeance blackens the soul, Bruce. I always feared you would become that which you fought against. You walk the edge of that abyss every night. But you haven't fallen in. And I thank heaven for that."

The Batman Adventures is top tier Batman writing.

[Anthony Rizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read. There isn't really a dud story in here, and it reads like additional episodes of the animated series. I'm always a big fan of Paul Dini on writing duties, and his contributions in the Annuals and Mad Love are top-notch. The whole book reads well and quickly, and the art is exactly what you hope it will be. I really hope DC gives this same treatment to the Batman & Robin Adventures next!

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure Fun!

This is my Batman. I grew up watching the animated series and for me it was the best. Everyone has their favorite version of Batman, and this was it for me and most of the kids that grew up in the 90's. The Batman Adventure comic captures that perfectly. The only gripe I had about this book was the paper quality but for the price it was still worth it.

[Will McClintock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely perfect Batman comics. Loved this book. Most issues are stand alone stories in the art style of The Batman Animated series from the 90’s. They say these comics were some of the best 90’s Batman/DC comics to be coming out during this time. I’m inclined to agree. These stories are fun, short and pure Batman comics.

[Josh Trice · Rating 4 out of 5]

serialized stories and fantastic artwork capture the heart of the Animated Series. The stand outs here are the Two-Face (#22 - "Good Face, Bad Face") and Mr. Freeze (Holiday Special #1 - "White Christmas") stories. A must for any fans of BTAS!

[John T]

Perhaps the biggest book i have ever possessed. If one is a fan of Nineties Batman a must read.

[Andreas D · Rating 5 out of 5]

1000th title in Read section and it had to be Batman
Great addition to the classic TV series, dynamic, interesting, funny and emotional
A proper Batman omni, awesome in so many ways

[Will Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for my nostalgia and Mask of the Phantasm and several others are just really good Batman stories!

[Sadiel Giron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved watching Batman TAS, so reading this omnibus was a no brainer. Great stories and artwork throughout this book.

[Adrian Montanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars out of 5 stars.

Diving into "The Batman Adventures Omnibus" felt like a nostalgic blast from the past to the heyday of the 90s Batman Animated Series—and what a ride it was! This collection is a treasure trove of original stories that perfectly capture the essence of the animated universe, making it an absolute must-have for fans like me.

From start to finish, the art and storytelling are top-notch, whisking me back to those childhood afternoons glued to the TV screen. Despite its hefty size, I couldn't put it down and devoured it in just two days—talk about a binge-worthy read! The tales within these pages reignited my love for all things Batman TAS, showcasing the Dark Knight and his rogue's gallery in stories that feel both fresh and delightfully nostalgic.

Adding "The Batman Adventures Omnibus" to my collection has been a no-brainer, and I'd recommend it to any Bat-fan out there. It's a fantastic homage to a beloved series, and I'm thrilled to have it on my shelf.

Overall, I'd easily rate "The Batman Adventures Omnibus" 4.75 out of 5 stars. It's a nostalgic delight that's worth every page turn.