What was the first Batman comic you ever read?

[The Laughing Fish]

My very first Batman comic I read was Detective Comics #667 - the early days of Jean-Paul Valley's stint as Batman.



I was way too young to read this comic. Since this issue was in the middle of the whole Knightfall/Knightquest/KnightsEnd saga, to which I was missing out on - all I could ask myself was: Where is Bruce Wayne? Who is Jean-Paul, and why is he haunted by a ghost? Where is the Joker, Catwoman and so on? Why is Batman wearing a cool new costume? Where is Alfred? Why was Robin banned from the Batcave? 

Of course, I'd eventually get the answers to all of those questions when I got to read the whole story arc many years later. But back then, me being a six or seven year old who wanted to read a Batman comic similar to the BR comic adaptation, I was left puzzled, albeit not quite disappointed. I only got the comic because it was one of the rare times a Batman comic was available at my local newsagency, and I was curious about the new Batsuit armour. Besides, when you're a kid that young, themes and plots tends to go over your head and all you want to see is Batman kick serious ass to some cool artwork. But I guess this is typical for comics in the last thirty odd years, when long and ongoing story arcs tend to isolate young new readers. I'd sometimes get some back issues to some comics in earlier eras that had more self-contained stories, and wished it was always that simple.

That's enough from me walking down memory lane. Who else remembers their first Batman comic they ever read?

[Travesty]

I honestly don't know? I got into Batman from re-runs of the 60s show, so my mom started buying me Batman comics before I was even able to read. She was buying me comics when I was 3-4 years old and would read them to me as I looked at the art. She just knew I liked Batman. But once I was old enough to read, I have no clue what the first one I actually read? I had already been following them from my mom reading them to me, sooooooo who knows? lol

[thecolorsblend]

Sorry! Meant to post earlier but I forgot. As a defense, I offer the fact that it's been a supremely weird day.

The first? Easy! Detective Comics #618. Part one of Rite Of Passage. Tim takes a major step to becoming Robin. Arguably two major steps.

I bought the issue new off the stands and I loved it because it was Batman, obviously. But Tim was my point of view character. Or that's what he became very quickly anyway. I adored his studious, thoughtful approach to his training. It played like gangbusters for me back then.

It plays differently now. It's still great but my emotional anchor comes from Bruce trusting Tim precisely because he's more introspective. A different boy might not have persuaded Bruce that he can handle becoming Robin. Not after that debacle with Jason. But Tim is cut from very different cloth than Jason was and I can see how that type of personality would win Bruce over.

Another thing that plays for me is that Tim takes a journey that's similar to Bruce's, but inverted. Bruce lost his parents, after which he began disciplining himself to become Batman. Tim began disciplining himself to become Robin, after which he lost his mother.

Of all the Robins (of which there have been only three in MY continuity), Tim is the only one qualified to become Batman someday. Dick never wanted it and Jason never deserved it. Tim will be a very different Batman than Bruce. No less effective but hardly the same. Bruce is consumed by darkness. Dick bathes in darkness, though he's less affected by it than Bruce is. But while Tim has suffered losses, he's able to bounce back. He won't be a driven, brooding Batman. I picture Tim Drake's Batman as a middle ground between the New Look Batman of 1964 and the O'Neil/Adams of the early 70's.

And Detective Comics #618 is what set that in motion.

Great characters, great story and a great issue.

[The Joker]

If I had to guess, it was probably "The Untold Legend of Batman" #2.



Similar to TLF's experience with Batman #667, I didn't fully understanding the main mystery plot of the book since it was years later until I got issues #1, and #3. However, what I do recall being GREAT about the book, was the recalling of the origins of Robin, the Joker, and Two-Face. Which by the time i was able to actually read those issues, thanks to the 1st volume of the Batman archives, Greatest Joker stories ever Told collection, and a Two-Face/Riddler tpb (that coincided with the release of Batman Forever), these origins already felt charmingly familiar to me. All thanks to this comic.