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Azrael Reading Order (aka Jean-Paul Valley)

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Introduced in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992), Azrael is a DC Comics character created by Denny O’Neil, Joe Quesada, and Peter Milligan. When we met Jean-Paul Valley, he was a Gotham University graduate student and his father had just died and made him his successor in the Sacred Order of St. Dumas.

He became their warrior known as the vigilante Azrael. He was not an enemy of Batman and eventually joined him and his allies in their fight to protect Gotham City—he also played a controversial role during the Knightfall event.

We later discovered that Jean-Paul was created by “Mother,’ a villain who worked with the Order of St. Dumas. For a time, Azrael did the dirty work the Order needed him to do, but Nightwing put him on the right path so he could help people. He then started to fight crime.

Azrael is an antihero, a conflicted warrior who fights his violent nature and the twisted sense of justice forced on him by his indoctrination in the Order. Because of that, he had to earn his place in the BatFamily, and he often has to prove he is good enough to keep it.

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Robin War Reading Order

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Robin War Reading Order

Published by DC Comics between December 2015 to January 2016, Robin War is a crossover event featuring most of the incarnations of Batman’s crime-fighting partner, Robin, including Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, and the original, Dick Grayson. It was set during that time when Commissioner Gordon replaced Batman by using a robotic Bat-suit (see Batman New 52 or Batman by Snyder & Capullo) and the We Are Robin movement put the spotlight on the young crimefighters.

Here is the official synopsis: In a Gotham City turned upside down, Robin has become more than a single hero—Robin is a movement. With Bruce Wayne sidelined and the Batman co-opted by the police, a legion of teens are putting on the yellow “R” and following in the footsteps of their crime-fighting icons. But all it takes is one tragic accident for everything to go wrong. And when it does, the crackdown on the Robins is swift and merciless. Now, all of the original Boy Wonders—Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne—are back in Gotham, determined to save the kids who have taken up their legacy.

This Robin War is not as spontaneous as it seems. From their shadowy lair, Gotham’s oldest and most powerful secret society is manipulating all sides of the conflict—and not even those who trained for years with the World’s Greatest Detective can guess the true purpose behind the Court of Owls’ intricate plan—for more information about the Court here.

What to read before Robin War?

As the Robin War event is connected to the Court of Owls, I invite you to take a look at our reading guide dedicated to this secret society. But the essential is:

Before reading Robin War, you may want to be up-to-date with the new “Robins” group. It’s in the pages of the We are Robin series.

Optional, but if you want to know more about Gordon as Batman, take a look at Batman, Vol. 8: Superheavy, Pt. 1.

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Batman The Court of Owls Reading Order

Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (see their Batman Reading Order), The Court of Owls made its first appearance in Batman (vol. 2) #2 in 2011, at the beginning of the New 52 era. Before that, the Owls were not part of the DC Universe, but Snyder put some hints about it in his previous Batman work, Batman: Gates of Gotham.

The shadowy Court of Owls is an organized crime group and secret society made up of wealthy Gothamites who has secretly existed since colonial times in Gotham City. For a very long time, the Court was just an urban legend until Batman discovers one of their secret bases of operations. There he found a series of old photographs representing the members of the court with one of their assassins, the Talon (William Cobb)—The Court kidnaps child performers from the circus to train and transform them into their assassins, known as Talons.

Composed of some of Gotham City’s oldest and wealthiest families, The Court of Owls has controlled Gotham City for centuries, using murder and money to wield political influence throughout history. When they decide to send their killer after Bruce Wayne after he announced plans to rebuild and reshape Gotham City for the future, they revealed themselves to Batman.

“Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time,
Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime.
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed.
Speak not a whispered word about them, or they’ll send the Talon for your head.”

After a major storyline, The Court of Owls became a recurring villain in the DC Universe, not just Batman’s antagonists. Sometimes, the Court is just present in the background, sometimes it’s the target.

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Cassandra Cain Reading Order (Batgirl, Orphan, Black Bat)

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Created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, Cassandra Cain is a member of the Batfamily who made her first appearance in Batman #567 (July 1999), during the No Man’s Land event (see reading order here). She then became Batgirl and got her own solo series. She’s also known as Black Bat and Orphan.

Cassandra Cain is the most lethal member of the Batfamily. The daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, she was raised to become a killer. Most accurately, she was conditioned to become the world’s greatest assassin. To achieve that, she was deprived of speech and human contact during her childhood in order to develop an incredible ability to interpret body language to the point of reading complex thoughts – basically, body movement is her first language, and she didn’t talk for a long time. Her unique way of communicating made her an expert martial artist like no other.

Batman took her under his wing, and she soon became the new Batgirl with Barbara Gordon’s blessings. That was before the New 52 era. She got a new origin story after being reintroduced in the DCU in the Batman & Robin Eternal series.

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Batman: Gothtopia Reading Order

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Gothtopia Reading Order DC New 52

What if Gotham was a utopia where everybody is happy and no crimes happen? This is the reality shown in Batman: Gothtopia, a little Batman crossover published in 2014, during the New 52 era.

Here is the official synopsis: Who – or what – created this twisted vision of the Dark Knight’s hometown? As far as anyone knows, Gotham City is and always has been a crime-free utopia, patrolled by the white-clad Batman and his sidekick Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catbird.

What to read before Gothtopia?

Gothtopia is a stand-alone storyline and doesn’t require any pre-reading. You can still pick up Birds of Prey (Volume 3) #27 in which there is a hint something weird is going on in Gotham, but nothing is shown.

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Frank Miller’s Batman Series Reading Order (The Dark Knight Universe)

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In 1996, Frank Miller reinvent Batman as a more controversial and ruthless figure in The Dark Knight Returns. And he followed up with Batman: Year One, cementing his version of Batman which will influence many writers.

In the DC Universe pre-flashpoint, all these tales are part of the Earth-31, also known as The Dark Knight Universe or Millerverse. On this Earth takes place the best and the worst of Batman’s stories.

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The Batman Who Laughs Reading Order (the breakout character of DC Comics’ Dark Nights Metal)

Batman Who Laughs Reading Order

Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo in 2017, Batman Who Laughs was the breakout star of Dark Nights: Metal. This evil version of Bruce Wayne comes from Earth-22 of the Dark Multiverse.

Presented as Batman’s worst nightmare, he is a sort of hybrid of Batman and Joker. He is stripped of all sense of ethics, with Bruce Wayne’s intelligence and physical strength and the Joker’s psychopathy and warped, sadistic sense of humor. Without surprise, he has no problem killing people.

When Batman Who Laughs is introduced, he is a member of The Dark Knights, a team he assembled for Barbatos who wants to destroy the regular Multiverse.

This reading order gives you a listing to discover his story.

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Nightwing Reading Order (Dick Grayson, Titan member, Outsiders leader, hero of Bludhaven and Gotham)

Nightwing Reading Order

Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Dick Grayson is one of the most compelling characters from DC. From The Flying Graysons to being Robin (aka Batman’s sidekick), then to becoming Nightwing and finding his own way in life, he’s the friend you need, the leader who listens, the guy who wants to help and does good because it’s the right thing to do. And he’s always working to become a better version of himself and to make the world a better place. What’s not to love here?

Dick Grayson made his first appearance as Robin in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), but today we are more interested in his history after he became Nightwing, in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984).

What to read before Dick became Nightwing?

As said above, we’re focused on this reading order in stories taking place after Dick became Nightwing, meaning stories where he is not Robin anymore. Before diving in, you can check out a few stories to know more about the time Dick Grayson was Robin:

  • Batman Dark Victory – A sequel to The Long Halloween, this story by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale takes place three or four years into Batman’s career as a crime fighter. It’s a Batman story that doubles as an origin story for Robin.
  • Robin: Year One – Written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty and illustrated by Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin, it takes place after Dark Victory and tells of Dick Grayson’s first year as Batman’s sidekick, Robin.
  • Teen Titans: Year One – A light miniseries that retraces the early days of the Teen Titans, by Amy Wolfram and Karl Kerschl.
  • And of course, if you want more stories, check out our reading order dedicated to Dick Grayson as Robin!

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Batman Fear State Reading Order

DC Batman Fear State Reading Order

To conclude his run on Batman (see reading order), James Tynion IV planned an event named Fear State that will get us through the end of 2021. All of the Bat-Series are involved, so here is the guide.

Gotham City is on the brink of martial law as Batman fights a two-front battle! The Scarecrow is unleashing a devasting attack on the city while the Magistrate has made their move to invade! Gotham City is on the brink of a violent evolutionary path and the danger level to Batman and his allies reaching a fever pitch!

The Magistrate now has full support from the mayor to handle high-level law enforcement in Gotham and has branded the Dark Knight as Public Enemy #1. Batman must also contend with the return of the Scarecrow who pursues his own terrifying agenda as he takes this chaotic moment to launch his Fear State.

What to read before Batman Fear State?

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Batman No Man’s Land Reading Order

Batman No Man's Land Reading Order

During the Post-crisis era, the end of the 1990s was full of disasters for Batman and Gotham City. We got Batman Knightfall (full reading order here), then Batman: Contagion, and its follow-up Batman: Legacy. After that, there was the Batman: Cataclysm crossover event that lead right to Batman No Man’s Land. The title alone is full of promises.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here is the official synopsis: After suffering a cataclysmic earthquake, the U.S. government has deemed Gotham City uninhabitable and ordered all citizens to leave. It is now months later and those who have refused to vacate “No Man’s Land” live amidst a citywide turf war in which the strongest prey on the weak. Batman and his allies including the enigmatic new Batgirl, Nightwing, Oracle, and Robin must fight to save Gotham during its darkest hour and return Justice to the destroyed city.

Note: Cassandra Cain was introduced during this event. She became the official Batgirl after that. For more about her, go to Cassandra Cain Reading Order.

What to read before Batman No Man’s Land?

As I wrote at the beginning of this article, there was one disaster after the other—the one you need to read before Batman No Man’s Land is Batman: Cataclysm. You can find it in a dedicated TPB. But reading Cataclysm is not imperative (even if it’s recommended), most of the stories leading to (and explaining) the event are collected in what DC Comics called Batman: Road to No Man’s Land, as you’ll see below in the full reading order.

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