10 Incredible Single Issue Batman Comic Stories

Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for 1939 Detective comics #27, Batman has steadily become DC's most successful hero and now dominates the sales charts. At any given time, the street-level antihero can be found in a variety of formats, from graphic novels and miniseries to ongoing titles.

With a history of nine years, Batman is written into the biggest adventures in the industry, With visionary creators like Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams and more defining his modern mythos. While many of Batman's iconic stories have been told in miniseries or multiple arc formats, he also has a long history of brilliant one-issue stories. From Silver Age crime capers to modern day adventure stories, the Caped Crusader's versatility can be seen in these short stories. In fact, some of his most acclaimed and character-defining stories can be found in single issue format.

11 The Incredible Adventures of Batman

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #101 John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Dan Brown, Digital Chameleon and Willie Schubert

Legends of the Dark Knight Created to provide readers with a long line of ongoing Batman adventures that explore some of the hero's best case files. In issue 101, readers are shown an advanced future Gotham. where a police officer steps into the role of Batman to fight crime in an age of super-powered mutants. However, after the supervillain Argos goes after Jax, he turns violent, revealing that the hero is a machine – one hell-bent on killing his enemies.

A love letter to RoboCop and Isaac Asimov

“Batman's Incredibles” combines the idea of ​​artificial intelligence with Gotham City and serves as a love letter to it. RoboCop and Isaac Asimov all in one. The story hints at a possible future for Gotham, one is controlled by robots instead of bats and stands alone as a perfect sci-fi/action tale.

10 Batman's One Thousand and One Cups

Batman #256 by Edmond Hamilton, Bob Kane, and Charles Paris

Batman's underground lair, the Batcave, is decorated with various trophies from his years fighting crime in Gotham and abroad. Two of his most famous creations are the T-Rex and the giant coinboth may seem like complete mysteries to inexperienced readers. However, both were actually given an origin story in the “Batman's One Thousand and One Cups” story. Batman #256.

Batman #256 follows a series of adventures of Batman and Robin as they travel to Dinosaur Island. take on the penny-pinching criminal and go up against Catwoman. For any serious Batman collector, this issue is a prized possession both when it comes to the Bronze Age and the hero's trophy gallery.

9 Batman #1

By Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger

while Detective comics #27 was the story that introduced Batman to the world, it was actually in the pages of his first solo series that established the world of Gotham and its villains. The issue pits the Dark Knight against a trio of his enemies from the Golden Age. had him go up against Hugo Strange's werewolves and introduced Catwoman and the Joker in his own stories.

The issue pits the Dark Knight against a trio of enemies from the Golden Age

Batman #1 remains a seminal issue in the Caped Crusader's history, delivering his greatest love interest and most iconic foe all at once. The best of these comes in the debut of the Joker, who targets Gotham's elite and kills them so he can steal their most valuable possessions. When the Clown Prince of Crime brazenly targets the mob, he proves himself to be the city's biggest criminal, culminating in a showdown with Batman.

8 Every day

Batman Annual #4 Tom King, Mike Norton, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart and Clayton Cowles

Tom King's tenure continues Batman It went down as one of the more controversial runs in the hero's modern history, particularly due to the breakdown of the Bat/Cat relationship. said that the run is full of great storiesand “Everyday” is among the best. Told from the perspective of Alfred Pennyworth, the story follows the Dark Knight in a series of epic adventures. From fighting a dragon in the heart of Gotham City to fending off ancient mummies, the story combines action, adventure and fantasy.

“Diary” is basically a montage of Batman events, depicting the lionized character of Alfred's adopted son. The story moves relentlessly, reads like a holdover from the Silver Age, with the hero taking on a variety of fantastical threats, showing why he's Gotham's greatest detective, and giving readers an insight into the story from Pennyworth's point of view.

7 The Deadshot Ricochet

Detective comics #474, ​​Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin, Jerry Serpe and Ben Oda

DC has a long history of reinvigorating its characters through dramatic redesigns, from Dick Grayson first becoming Nightwing to Aquaman's rugged '90s look. Few changes approach Deadshot's complete reinvention Detective comics #474, ​​where he makes his first appearance since the Silver Age. The story follows a villain who hunts down Batman, culminating in a public shootout in a convention hall.

The Deadshot Ricochet stands as one of the most successful character reinventions in comic book history, giving the villain a sleek new design and establishing him as a master assassin. The story is a big, epic battle that affects Bruce Wayne's personal life and gives him a reinvented mortal enemy.

6 The Night Batman Sold His Soul

Bold and Courageous #108 by Bob Haney, Jim Aparo and Tatjana Wood

Bold and Courageous It follows Batman teaming up with a variety of DC's greatest heroes, from Wonder Woman and Superman to Doctor Fate and Etrigan. One of the most egregious of his crossovers was when he joined Sgt. Rock, who insists that Adolf Hitler is still alive and hunting him. As they work together, readers are shown the memories of a hardened soldier's time in World War II.

According to the best Bold and Courageous stories, “The Night Batman Sold His Soul” is really about Batman's partner, as it dominates the story of the Ahab-like hunt for Sgt Rock's nemesis. Leaving readers to ponder the nature of cyclical violence and evil, the story creates a grand war-themed tale.

5 Impossible escape

Bold and Courageous #112 Bob Haney and Jim Aparo

In Impossible Escape, Batman and Mister Miracle each make their way to an ancient tomb in the Egyptian desert, with the former following leads in the investigation and the latter setting out to investigate it. The Wonder, the resting place of the ancient King Horse, is shocked when Bruce Wayne appears dressed as a pharaoh, claiming to be the Horse.

“Impossible Escape” reads like a mix of Indiana Jones and the superhero genre, as Batman and Mister Miracle search for the truth of the Horse's final resting place. With a fantastic and unexpected conclusion, the story is everything a good adventure in the superhero universe should be.

4 Harvest Night

Batman #237 Bernie Wrightson, Harlan Ellison, Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and John Costanza

Batman #237 follows the Dark Knight and Robin as they attend the famous Halloween parade filled with people dressed in various costumes, including DC heroes. After spotting a mysterious Grim Reaper figure, the dynamic duo find a murder victim dressed as Robin, leading to Reader as the prime suspect. Confronting him, Batman learns that the suspect is actually a Holocaust survivor who has made it his mission to hunt down and kill Nazis on the run.

“Night of the Carver” stands as a heartbreaking tragedy that uses a murder mystery to drag Batman into a tale of injustice. The story explores the value of anger and revenge, pitting the Caped Crusader's commitment to justice against the Reaper's quest for vengeance.

3 Laughing Fish

Detective comics #475 Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin and Ben Oda

Considered one of the strangest yet most effective Joker stories of its time, The Laughing Fish features the villain in perhaps his most absurd scheme to date. Here, he poisons Gotham's fish market with his toxin, “joking” the fish and trying to brand the creatures for their signature likeness. However, when he is rejected by the patent office, he declares his intention to start killing city officials who deny him, starting with the patent officer.

“Laughing Fish” quickly became one of the many standouts from Steve Englehart's run. Detective comicsthanks to its iconic cover and creative plot. The story reminds everyone of the unparalleled absurdities of the Clown Prince of Crime in a tale that can only be told about Batman's harebrained nemesis.

2 The Joker's Five Way Revenge

Batman #251 Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Tom Ziuko

After their rivalry in the Golden Age, encounters between Batman and the Joker declined during the Silver Age, when the hero was drawn to more whimsical and creative adventures. In Batman #251, the villain appears for the first time in nearly five years, an unimaginable break for modern DC. The story revolves around a villain escaping from prison and finding out that one of his henchmen has betrayed them, killing them all and ensuring that he finds the right culprit.

“The Joker's Five Ways of Revenge” introduced readers to a more formidable version of the Joker than he had been since his debut, overcoming his insane Silver Age persona. As great as the story Batman #1 might be that the modern formula for a good Bat vs Clown comic can be traced back to this iconic O'Neil/Adams comic.

1 Basic background

• Alan Moore originally wrote A killing joke as a standalone narrative, it is not intended to affect the main canon.
• In single number Batman: Cape and Cowl Death Trap the plot deconstructed the idea of ​​the suit as an invulnerable symbol, showing that Batman's true strength lay in his intelligence and determination.
• Single issue story To kill a legendDesigned to explore the emotional weight of Bruce's origins and whether tragedy was necessary for his transformation into Batman.