Batman: His Greatest Adventures

Batman Adventures (1992-1995)

by Kelley Puckett, Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett

The ultimate all-ages graphic novel companion to Batman Day 2017 is here with BATMAN: HIS GREATEST ADVENTURES!
Born without super strength or a magic lasso, Bruce Wayne made himself into a hero after the tragic death of his parents at the hands of a petty criminal. Gifted with only a brilliant mind and an absence of fear, the man who would become Gotham City's protector honed his skills through years of hard work and training. Batman was born!
With over seven decades of storytelling from some of the greatest writers and ilustrators in the comics industry, Batman has become one of the great characters in popular culture the world over. Now you can catch up with some of the Dark Knight's best tales with this anthology graphic novel BATMAN: HIS GREATEST ADVENTURES! A few of the stories collected here feature the Dark Night's greatest enemies and allies, including the Joker, Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Catwoman, Two-Face, the Riddler and more!
At a $9.99 price point, there is no better bargain than BATMAN: HIS GREATEST ADVENTURES!

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2017

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

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You know, Batman, dinner and a movie will seem so passé after an evening with you." -- Catwoman, as she and her Dark Knight boldly escape from a cable-snapped runaway elevator in 'The Cat's Prize'

Batman: His Greatest Adventures? More like Batman: Some Perfectly Adequate Stories! Illustrated and scripted in a style that is reminiscent of both the acclaimed Fox and the WB animated shows that ran for multiple seasons during the mid-1990's, this collection of six tales - featuring the expected heavy-hitter villains like Penguin, Scarecrow, Riddler, and of course Joker - are entertaining enough but will likely generate only mild interest for those legions of 'Bat' fans. (Also, the dramatic cover art that features antagonists Two-Face and Poison Ivy? Neither one actually appears anywhere in these pages.). However, we're fast approaching the one-year anniversary of voice actor Kevin Conroy's untimely passing, and since his melodiously distinct utterances as Batman were such an indelible part of those two aforementioned series, it would seem like reading this volume was a small way to remember / celebrate his gone-but-not-forgotten talent in bringing the crimefighter to life.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Batman Adventures and related Animated Series comic spinoffs. Good anthology of the comic book adventures of the modern animated Batman. Next time I'll just have ChatGPT write my synopsis.

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well the artwork looks exactly like those in the 1990s Batman the animation series, but the publish date is 2017...? I wonder what had happened, is it a re-issue?

The stories are okay-ish but I'm obviously a lot older than the intended audience (children and teens, I guess) but I do like the story with the Joker and Harvey Dent, and the last story which is in the Batman Beyond setting, with a white-haired Bruce in retirement and Terry is the new Batman.

PS: Catwoman's custom design isn't all that great, and this story with the Riddler acting like a Batman-stalker (we already have the Joker for this, thank you) and the Penguin being the mayor of Gotham? That's weird.

Batman: Under the Red Hood review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of Batman stories, all in the style of his several animated incarnations. However, this book is titled: Batman - His Greatest Adventures, which is just blatant false advertising. If this volume were titled Batman - These Are Some of His Adventures...well, I might feel more kindly towards it.

[bri 🧸 · Rating 2 out of 5]

not them putting ivy on the cover but not in the book call it what it is,, homophobic 💔

[Patricia Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of comics. I enjoyed this very much.

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six stories, mostly from the 1990s, are told in this volume. Batman faces off against The Penguin, The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, and other assorted rogues (though the two cover villains, Two-Face and Poison Ivy, are not in the book at all). The stories follow the classic Batman model where he solves a mystery crafted by the bad guy and comes out one step (or punch) ahead. The art style is clearly inspired by Batman: The Animated Series, though occasional differences are distracting (who thinks Catwoman with gigantic ears looks good?). I appreciated that the story telling and art are kid-friendly without being dumbed down or boring. Batman does make a good noir character, but he doesn't always have to be bloody, dark, and bitter.

Recommended, but don't be fooled by the title. These are not Batman's greatest adventures but they are good ones.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 7-year old daughter and I had a great time reading this graphic novel together. She LOVES Batman (though she is mostly a die-hard Wonder Woman fan), and the stories collected in this graphic novel were age-appropriate for her. All of Batman's greatest villains are here, and the illustrations were fantastic. A great book for all ages.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection caught my eye, and I was a little disappointed when I sat down to read it and found that I'd already read three of the stories included in it. But, still, those are three really good stories. The one with Scarecrow is one of my personal favorite comics based on "Batman: The Animated Series." The two that I hadn't read--the one that seemed more based on the fourth season of the cartoon (which I haven't watched yet; I'm still on season 3) and the one that was based on "Batman: Beyond" (of which I'm not a huge fan)--were still pretty solid stories. My favorite of the two was definitely the former. The Riddler is one my favorite Batman baddie, so seeing a story that highlighted him was definitely a fun read. I particularly liked that he wasn't really very villainous as much as bored. That was an unusual motive that was also rather comical. I also didn't know that the Penguin was ever mayor in Batman canon outside of the current "Gotham" TV show... which actually makes me like the TV show even more. It seems like the show is taking a lot of pieces from various Batman stories and stitching it together into its own narrative--which is obviously very cool. But this isn't a review of "Gotham." It's a review of this particular graphic novel. It's a solid read, but with some repeats if you've read anything else based on the Batman cartoons of the '90s. But, if you're just stepping into those comics, it's a nice introduction.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot get enough of comic books that are based upon the 90s Batman Animated Series! So I read this volume that is subtitled “His greatest adventures.” I read this alongside my daughters as well and they also enjoyed it. I love the graphics and images of the 90s Batman animated series.
The first story is titled “Batman and Ronin Birdcage” that is about Batman taking on Penguin with his crazy plots to help exotic birds; there’s quite an irony in this story! The second story is titled “Troubled Dreams” and consists of two acts where Scarecrow trying to use chemicals to induce fear on people. After that there is a story titled “The Cat’s Prize” that was less like the 90s Animated series with the illustrations of Batman and accompanying characters. Following this is a short story called Poker Face which describes a time when Penguin is the Mayor of Gotham and the Riddler is supposedly an up-right citizen. The next story is “Joker’s Late Night Lunacy” which consists of three acts followed by a Batman Beyond story called Grounded. I didn’t expect the Batman Beyond character in this volume.
Overall it was great short stories and clean and fun. Other than the Batman Beyond story in the end which threw my daughters off I think the kids enjoyed it. I like how it was fun, kid friendly but not cheesy. I also like how I can read this to my kids while enjoying it as an adult also as well. DC Comics: If only they can make more comics like this!

[Nola Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - This volume collects six comics from 1992-2005 billed as 'Batman: The Greatest Adventures". Each story features a different villain -- the Penguin, the Riddler, the Joker, Scarecrow, Catwoman and Spellbinder. Robin and Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) also pop in, but Barbara is only used fleetingly and doesn't don her Batgirl persona. Strangely, the cover features Two-Face and Poison Ivy, but they're not in the book.

Batman's not my favourite of the superheroes, so these stories didn't grab me as much, though the one featuring Scarecrow had a bit more depth to it and showed more of how Batman is still affected by the murder of his parents. The last story 'Grounded', was also interesting as it featured the future Batman, Terry McGinnis, and his mentor the aging Bruce Wayne. I was a little confused by that one at first because I didn't know that storyline, and had to look it up.

The art is stylised, with lots of square jaws and interesting angles. Different artists are featured (as are writers), and there were a lot of great visuals.

A light read overall, that would appeal to teen fans of the Caped Crusader.

[Kaysee · Rating 5 out of 5]

As anyone knows I have a weakness for Batman in B:TAS style, which is really what all this is based around (though does have a story with Batman Beyond at the end I LOVED), so it should really come as no surprise I enjoyed this collection. Even though it features Two-Face and Poison Ivy on the cover neither are involved in the stories (well, okay Harvey Dent is in one yet I consider him and Two-Face two different characters even if they are the same person).

For someone who was introduced to Batman through the the animated series it brought back nice memories of my childhood watching the show. Honestly my favorite line was from Batman himself when he stated, "Don't point guns at me. I don't like it." Yes, it is a VERY norm piece of it, yet with the [i]darker[/i] versions of this character coming out it was nice to see a Bruce Wayne who tried to avoid conflict and showed his disdain for the use of guns.

My favorite piece in this is based on Edward "Eddie" Nygma//The Riddler because of how it showed even money does not mean happiness and everyone needs a purpose.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, a good collection

There's a couple reprints in here from Batman Adventures (which I already own), but the three others were new to me and very good. I love pretty much everything that's in the styles of Batman the Animated Series, which most of this book was. The one story in the style of The Batman was interesting, and I might hunt down more of them at some point. The Batman Beyond story at the end was also very good; Spellbinder is one of my favorite villains from that series and it was cool to see him in print (Bruce back in the batsuit, if only for a few pages). Overall, this was good collection, and it is one that I would recommend or gift to others over a wide age range.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. I agree that whomever picked the cover needs to be given a severe talking to since those villains aren't represented within. And I agree calling this "his greatest adventures" is also false advertising. What you get is a nice collection of the Batman tales more slanted to younger readers and in the drawing style of the animated series (three of them, the original (1990's)- the reboot (2004) and Batman Beyond).

These are fun tales that are less dark than the ongoing comic and I love them for that. It captures the Batman I remember but with better art than the 1930-1960's and better thought out stories.

Overall - give it a read if you like Batman and are tired of the drama of modern comics and wish for enjoyable, stand alone stories.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the fact that the illustrations were mostly in the Batman TAS animation style that I love best (except one that was in the style of “The Batman” cartoon and a Batman Beyond comic - but even that is in the style of later TAS/JLU), the stories were lacklustre.

I actually agreed with Penguin wanting to save the birds that were being illegally traded in the first story, so didn’t really side with Batman that time.

The rest of the stories were all a little meh too - like but he filler episodes of TAS that would’ve been a 7/10 amongst a lot of 9s and 10s.

Still, a meh Batman TAS story is still better than a lot of other comic stories! 😂

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick fun read. The stories lack the darkness and complexity that is typical of many modern Batman stories. As such this book is accessible and appropriate for younger readers from mid grade school on up as well as adults.

The stories in this book are set in the D.C. Animated Universe (DCAU). As such anyone who is familiar with the various DCAU series will find the artwork and storylines familiar.

[Rax · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't say these were his greatest adventures. Kinda randon even. They're stories based on the cartoons, mostly Batman: the animated series' world but also has story from The Batman which just seems real random. I would definitely have went for the story where Batman is abducted by a UFO which is not included in this book.

[Asaf Cygelberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was undecided between three and four stars for this one.

A few stories, which are kinda nice. The graphics a little simple.

The plots a little simple too.

I would probably not recommend this to anybody, but it isn't a bad read.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman faces his foes. Penguin, Scarecrow (who appears in nightmares), the Riddler (who is bored and wants to play), Catwoman with her wily ways, the Joker. Bruce Wayne goes head to head with Terry. Some of the "episodes" didn't seem done to do.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is a little confusing since Two Face and Ivory were not in it, but otherwise the book was just OK. Something to do while passing the time. Don't buy, just get it from the library, not worth it.

[russell barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, not as good as the Marvel universe but passed the time on a ferry once Milo had finished...

[R.M. Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lighthearted, wacky Batman adventures! Fab little chilled out read.

[Mohammad Aboomar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Batman anthology from various animation-related series.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Batman: The Animated Series and snapped this book up as soon as I saw it. Probably not for fans of the darker, contemporary Batman, but fans of the 90s animated TV show would love it.

[Sheldon Wiebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Batman tales in the style of the classic Batman: The Animated Series.

If you loved the TV series, you'll love this.

[Kole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

these collections of comics are so weird because 1. how are these his greatest adventures 2. why do these always end with a really weird comic like im really confused now

[Mahdi Riduansyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great. The stories are easy to follow, and the art and the coloring are amazing. Good for kids.

[Niv Lugassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the whole thing in 3 days... Was fun and really made me hope that it wiil one day get animated!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is great!

It’s a nice collection of tales from the Animated Series era of Batman.

Happy Reading, everybody!