Need some clarification on Golden, Silver Age, Modern Age and The New 52.

[CouchPotatoTalk]

First off I should explain I am pretty new to comics. In the past month I've read a lot of the graphic novels listed to the right of the page but I was wanting to get more into Batman.

I know the Golden Age is obviously when Batman first came to be and the Silver age was after that and we are now in the Modern Age. I was wanting to read some comics that include some different Batman villains and stories (like where the giant penny and the t-rex came from that are in his batcave). Are these stories strictly to the Golden/Silver age? If I get the "Batman in the 40's, 50's etc graphic novels will that summarized these two ages enough for me and then I can move onto The New 52?

The bigger question, since it is easier for me to get my hands on The New 52 than it is for classic books, what is the difference between all of the The 52 collections? There is a Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight, and Detective Comics (and Batman and Robin, Batgirl, etc, etc). Do these three that I mentioned take place in their own universe or is there a common arc between them all. I guess I don't understand what the difference between them. Does one of these comics retell the classic Batman stories I am wanting to read about?

Thanks everyone, and I hope this post makes sense to someone. Like I said, I am pretty new to all of this.

[Paul (ral)]

Welcome to the site. Everyone is new to one or more aspects of the character, so don't worry about that.

The New 52 was a resetting of the DC Universe. For some characters this was a complete reset. Batman's is a little more complicated as most stuff is still canon - be it a more compacted, edited history...Tim Drake was never Robin. Dick never went to Bludhaven.

All the Bat books in the New 52 are in the same timeline and crossover at times (Court of Owls, Death of the Family). Some bat books that have been released along with the New 52 are not in continuity...Legends if the Dark Knight (digital) for one.

As for old stories, there are lots of collected books featuring the old stories.

[Paul (ral)]

Two of the closest titles currently are probably Batman and Nightwing.

[CouchPotatoTalk]

Thanks. That gives me some good information