Batman: Greatest Stories Ever Told: v. 2

The Greatest Stories Ever Told

by Bill Finger, Bob Kane

Since 1939, in Gotham City, one man has ruled the night, striking fear into the hearts of the venal, the superstitious, the cowardly - the Batman! This work presents a collection of action-packed tales, spanning the Dark Knight's sixty-plus years. It features Robin and Batgirl, and many of the Gotham City hero's most famous and fearsome foes.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2007

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has some great stories in it, particularly the one about a young Jason Todd learning of Batman and Robin and their identities, and a few of them are o.k., but not amazing. Definitely worth reading, but not all of them are equally riveting, even for a Batman fan.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really Great book, probably the best book of these “greatest stories” I’ve read so far!
The stories “How Many Ways a Robin can Die”, “The Batman’s Last Christmas “, and “All My Enemies Against Me!” were particularly good!
Really enjoyed this one, much more than Volume 1 and would recommend.

[Sam Goyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly hit or miss. Some stories, like The Batman’s Last Christmas, were fantastic while others weren’t up to par.

[Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was a tricky one to rate since it's a collection of short Batman stories, from 1940 to 2003, which ranged from really good to kinda dumb. This was my first time reading any Batman at all, and knowing a fair bit from old cartoons and stuff picked up from Batman fans I know on the internet was pretty helpful. So I guess I'll just review the stories one at a time. (there will be minor spoilers)

First up was an origin story of sorts. Mostly explaining how and why Bruce Wayne became Batman in the first place, most of which I already knew. He makes a fair few stupid mistakes at first, which was interesting I guess? Also some random dude fell in acid at the end (totally not a villain origin story there.) And Batman had a girlfriend? Like an actual healthy relationship with a nice woman? So that was kinda unexpected. 4/5 I'd say.

Then there's a story from apparently the first ever issue of Batman from 1940. It was kinda dumb. Also Batman actually killed a couple of people, which was weird. Like one of them he could have easily just knocked the guy out but instead he just kills him. I guess they hadn't decided on the whole 'Batman literally never kills people if he can help it' thing. But whatever. 2/5 for that one.

The next one was incredibly silly, but that was kind of the idea. There's this kid called Batman (like his actual name is Batman, for reasons) and he gets all obsessed with becoming Batman's sidekick or something. Batman is not happy with this so he and Robin try a series of somewhat complicated plans to get him off it. 3/5

Next is a story where Batman and Robin team up with Batwoman and Batgirl. But Batwoman and Batgirl are actually a separate Aunt-Niece team? I didn't know that was a thing. It starts out okay but gets more and more stupid as things progress. The dialogue is really awkward as well. 2/5

Then there's a story where a guy kidnaps Robin and then 'kills' a bunch of fake Robins to freak out Batman. Finally we get to see Batman being more, well, Batman-ish. He doesn't make as many stupid mistakes and the tension works better since the story isn't quite so stupid. (Also apparently Gotham has a waxwork museum that literally only depicts murders. What's wrong with that city.) 3.5/5

Then there's a Christmas special of sorts. Batman's trying to figure out a weird mystery that turned up concerning his parents, and he's helped by an alternate universe's Batwoman (I assume she's Batwoman. She's only ever referred to by her real name, Helena, in this one, even while in costume, so I'm not entirely sure.), who's apparently the daughter of alternate-universe-Bruce Wayne and Catwoman. The whole alternate universe thing is just kinda dumped there, with no explanation about how Batwoman can travel between the two universes, so that was kinda confusing. 4/5

Next is a story where pretty much all the Batman villains team up to try and kill Batman before Killer Croc can. Catwoman and some girl called Talia (who I've never heard of) are not happy with this plan so they temporarily join Batman instead to stop the other villains. In the mean time Robin and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon Batgirl this time, who was the one I already knew a fair bit about.) are working together to stop Killer Croc (among other things). We also get the first appearance and origin story thing of Jason Todd (another person I know a fair bit about), which was interesting. 5/5

Then there's a very short story about a young Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Alfred is fantastic by the way. 4/5

Lastly there's a short story from a Batgirl comic from 2003. This one was my favourite. I really liked the writing style for this one. There isn't much of a story in this one, mostly just focusing on the characters, while Batgirl gets to see the Batcave for the first time and Batman basically just tests her abilities and her motivations and so on. It's mostly from Batgirl's point of view, with a fair bit of internal monologue which I thought was used really well. 5/5

(there's also a very short kinda weird thing which I think is supposed to be like a brief parody of an old movie? I don't really get what it's supposed to be which is why I'm not gonna review it properly)

So overall, it was a pretty enjoyable and interesting collection of Batman stories, with appearances from a whole bunch of characters. I'd be interested to try out the rest of that last Batgirl comic some time if I can get hold of it.

[Samdenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat little collection of 10 stories spanning the history of Batman in comics. They go right from 1940 up to 2003, and it's really interesting to read them through in (pretty much) chronological order and see just how much things have changed in style and approach.

Secret Origins Starring The Golden Age Batman - 1986

This is a pretty mediocre origin story. It's written in the classic style, but doesn't really do it for me. Batman is drawn really well, but apart from that it's nothing special.

Professor Hugo Strange And The Monsters - 1940

A weird, stunted story, with a weird, stunted Batman running around after some giant mutants. Notable for his more relaxed attitude to not killing the bad guys. Apparently 1940s Batman has no problem with the odd bit of murder.

The Career Of Batman Jones - 1957

Another bizarre story, with Batman and Robin being repeatedly shown up by a young upstart kid. He's Batman's biggest fan, at least until he gets distracted by the wild world of stamp collecting (?).

Prisoners Of Three Worlds - 1963

Crazy multi-dimensional capers as the dynamic duo team up with Batwoman and Batgirl! Dull story! Rubbish art! I'm not a fan of this one, apart from the moment the caped crusader admitting he loves Batwoman before taking it back at the end. The dog!

How Many Ways Can A Robin Die? - 1972

The art style finally starts to improve, becoming a bit darker and more dynamic, but the dialogue and narration is still kitschy and dated by modern standards. The characters still vocalise their every thought and emotion. There's a great fight scene midway through with some fantastic dialogue: "Save those flowers for your -- GRAVE!"

The Batman's Last Christmas - 1982

Just plain dull. Focuses more on the detective side of the character, which I usually enjoy, but here it's a boring mystery investigated in a boring way.

All My Enemies Against Me! - 1983

Pure fanservice for a special 500th Detective Comics appearance. Every villain you could asked for gets KAPOWed at least once, and there's a great double page splash of them all together. I love the way Croc is drawn, but The Joker just looks weird.

Of Mice and Men - 1996

A sweet little story with a massive shift in art style. It goes too far in the opposite direction for my taste, but the tale is great, showing the beginning of Alfred and Bruce's friendship.

Cave Dwellers - 2003

My absolute favourite story from this collection, and probably one of my all-time favourites too. The art is gorgeous, and I love the way the characters interact. There's lots of great dialogue too. I read this one over and over.

Citizen Wayne - 2000

An unusual story with an original approach, style and perspective. A great way to round off the collection. It would be a shame to spoil the plot too much. Let's just say it creates a mystery and addresses it perfectly in a short span of time, with beautiful art.

This collection contains some duds, and some of the best stuff I've ever read. But even the duds are fun to read in their own way, as pieces of comic book history, and putting such a wide range of stories together in one place actually works really well.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

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[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think DC needs to pick up their game a little with these collections. Here, there are two really amazing narratives about Batgirl and "Citizen Wayne", but the rest is a little lacking.

[Jennifer Biggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading the older stories it was a fun compilation to work my way through

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Barbara one was the best. Also Silver age Batman will never not make me burst out laughing.

[Dan Schuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 good Batman stories. Each focuses on a different aspect of the Dark Knight's personality and it's a good spot for beginners or veterans

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was good need to read more batman