Best 80s Batman stories not written by Alan Moore or Frank Miller

Things we enjoy in 2009 like the Internet, DVRs, and non-invasive medical procedures are nice, but they don't even come close to how awesome the 1980s were. Sure, there were things like AIDS and the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, but I was too young to care about any of that crap. I was a kid. All I cared about was being entertained.

And you know what? Every single form of entertainment was better in the 80s. Movies were better. Music was better. TV shows were better. Video games were...okay, video games kind of sucked compared to today. But there were video game arcades! And they were great.

Comic books were better, too. Specifically Batman comics. There was so much groundbreaking stuff published in later half of that decade, it's almost impossible to imagine anything like it happening again. The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke...arguably the three greatest Batman stories of all time, all published within a three year period. Boggles the mind.

There were tons of other great Batman stories published in the 80s. Believe me, few things in life make me as happy as finding an issue of Batman or Detective Comics published that I haven't read. And as much as I'd love to do the super anal retentive comic book nerd thing and go through my collection and pull out individual issues, unfortunately, my collection is many miles away. So I'll have to settle for stories that are available in collected editions. (Four of them being by just two writers, Jim Starlin and Mike Barr, which is a really good indication that Jim Starlin and Mike Barr need to be working more.)



5) Justice League International, Vol. 1 (1987)

Plot: After being disbanded, the Justice League reforms, albeit, without most of its former members. Batman being the notable exception.

Why It's Awesome: You don't normally think of "Batman" and "funny" together. At least, you shouldn't, because that's how things like the old Batman TV show, Batman and Robin guest-starring on Scooby Doo, and, of course, the biggest cinematic train wreck in history, Batman & Robin, came to be.

But Justice League--which may not be the first comic to do superheroes as a sitcom, but was definitely the first comic to perfect it--actually manages to get it right. While Batman was off brooding and being dark in his own comic, it was really nice to see the lighter side of the character here, even if he was usually playing the straight man.




4) Year Two (1987)

Plot: In his second year, Batman has to team up with the man who killed his parents in order to defeat the Reaper, the homicidal vigilante who protected Gotham City before him.

Why It's Cool: This story gets overshadowed by Year One, and DC seems to keep changing its mind as to whether or not it's even considered to be in continuity. But it's still a great story, exploring themes like love, revenge, betrayal, and moral compromise. It also has a lot of fantastic action sequences, as for the first time, Batman gets his ass handed to him by a superior opponent, and has to figure out how to level the playing field.




3) A Death In the Family (1988)

Plot: Batman and Robin set off around the world to find Robin's mother. Instead, they find the Joker. Who murders Robin. And then becomes the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. Tell me this does not sound like the coolest story ever.

Why It's Awesome: You saw the part about the Joker killing Robin and becoming the Iranian ambassador to the UN, right? But if you need more, this was one of the most pivotal Batman stories ever published, completing the character's turn from occasionally grim and gritty (in a Red Tornado mini-series published a little before this, Batman is seen offering to take the entire Justice League out for doughnuts, not typically the mark of a despondent loner vigilante) to full on Grim and Gritty.




2) Son of the Demon (1987)

Plot: Batman and arch-enemy Ra's al Ghul team up to defeat a terrorist. Also, Batman gets married and has a kid.

Why It's Awesome: I'm a sucker for two things in a Batman comic: 1) A good Ra's al Ghul story, and 2) Batman as a globetrotting Indiana Jones/James Bond-type adventurer. This one has both. Intellectually, I know the character works best in the somewhat grounded streets of Gotham. But still, there's something really cool about seeing Batman playing chess with one of his biggest foes, or parachuting into an enemy mountain base.




1) Ten Nights of the Beast (1988)

Plot: A Soviet killing machine named the KGBeast comes to Gotham to assassinate key Americans involved in the Star Wars program. Yes, even the Gipper.

Why It's Cool: The typical Batman villain is either smarter than Batman or stronger than Batman, but this story has one of the few who was both, with Batman always one step behind as the Beast picks off his victims one by one. Additionally, pre-Robin being dead, it features a Batman who's capable of delivering wry lines like, "I sense a lecture on the evils of amateur law enforcement coming on. I'll be back in a while."

I don't use the word "perfect" very often when talking comics, but this really is an absolute perfect Batman story. If you can't get a fanboy thrill reading this, there's really no hope for you.