When the Dark Knight suspects a modern-day rock-and-roll icon of masterminding a nationwide crime spree using teenaged fans as his henchmen, Batman runs into unexpected opposition from an unexpected source: his own ward, Robin. Certain that his idol is not guilty, Dick Grayson sets out to uncover a bizarre and elaborate frame-up in this dazzlingly illustrated graphic novel.

In the city of the demented villains, Halloween brings out the worst of the lot. This edition collects three of Batman's Halloween adventures in which he takes on some of the most fearsome and twisted foes—The Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, and The Penguin. Graphic novel format. Available in September.

Batman knew his deadliest new enemy Hush, who first appeared in the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee hit storyline, was going to come back, but he never expected him to return so quickly!And with his reappearance come more questions about his true identity, origins and motivations.As the new battle of wits begins, the trail leads to Star City and an encounter with its protector, Green Arrow.

"Featuring No law and a new order and Fear of faith."

Fans of Batman are lucky to get Greg Rucka—the talented, gritty young author of Keeper and Finder, among others—sharing time with their favorite licensed character in this novelization of DC's complete No Man's Land comic series. (And fans of Rucka—assuming they get around to reading this at all—will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham—literally—in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, +á la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka—and, of course, Batman—can make this one worth the read. —Paul Hughes

Fans of Batman are lucky to get Greg Rucka—the talented, gritty young author of Keeper and Finder, among others—sharing time with their favorite licensed character in this novelization of DC's complete No Man's Land comic series. (And fans of Rucka—assuming they get around to reading this at all—will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham—literally—in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, +á la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka—and, of course, Batman—can make this one worth the read. —Paul Hughes

Fans of Batman are lucky to get Greg Rucka—the talented, gritty young author of Keeper and Finder, among others—sharing time with their favorite licensed character in this novelization of DC's complete No Man's Land comic series. (And fans of Rucka—assuming they get around to reading this at all—will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham—literally—in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, +á la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka—and, of course, Batman—can make this one worth the read. —Paul Hughes

Fans of Batman are lucky to get Greg Rucka—the talented, gritty young author of Keeper and Finder, among others—sharing time with their favorite licensed character in this novelization of DC's complete No Man's Land comic series. (And fans of Rucka—assuming they get around to reading this at all—will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham—literally—in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, +á la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka—and, of course, Batman—can make this one worth the read. —Paul Hughes

BATMAN: SWORD OF AZRAEL depicts the origin of Jean Paul Valley, the man who one day replaces Bruce Wayne as Batman. The descendant of holy warriors, Jean Paul is forced into using his ancestral super powers and abilities to become Azrael, the avenging angel of an ancient cult. But when the Order of St. Dumas targets Batman, Azrael begins to question his life and duty. After working alongside the Dark Knight to defeat the deadly demon that threatens the ancient cult, Azrael turns his back on the Order and leaves to train under the tutelage of Batman.

A new printing of the classic Batman tale collecting the 4-issue miniseries from 1989. Deacon Blackfire, a charismatic shaman with roots as old as Gotham City itself, has amassed the city's homeless into an army, one he seemingly uses to fight crime. But Blackfire has a hidden agenda!

If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller—known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil—is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic—detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. —Mark Thwaite

It's refreshing when you find a Batman story that both is epic and successfully explores the core of a resolutely explored character. Taking as its catalyst a sub-plot from the seminal Batman: Year One, the story revolves around murders occurring on national holidays, the victims connected to Mob boss "The Roman." Dubbed "Holiday," the killer uses an untraceable handgun and leaves small trinkets at the scene. Plenty of suspects are available, but the truth is something the Dark Knight never suspected. This series scores two major coups: it brilliantly portrays the transfer of Gotham rule to the supervillains and charts the horrific transformation of Harvey Dent from hardened D.A. to the psychotic Two-Face. Both orbit around the sharply portrayed relationship between Dent, Commissioner Gordon, and Batman: a triumvirate of radically different perceptions of Justice. It is always great to see the formative incarnation of Batman, drenched in noir here.Jeph Loeb's writing is keenly aware that Batman is a detective, and Tim Sale portrays a Gotham that is a fertile breeding ground for corruption and madness. Here, Batman is coming to terms with the potent image he projects and the madness it attracts. There are many fine Batman stories, but the ones that capture the spirit with extreme clarity are few. On this alone, The Long Halloween comes highly recommended. Masterfully executed, this is an excellent chance to revisit the world of Batman as fresh as in the summer of 1939. —Danny Graydon

In this originally six-issue Batman story arc, a figure from the Caped Crusader's past unexpectedly returns, forcing him to revisit the most tragic event of his crime-fighting career. The psychotic, disfigured Black Mask has seized control of Gotham City's criminal underworld, but his rule is challenged by the mysterious Red Hood, who has hijacked a crate full of 100 pounds of Kryptonite. The Kryptonite connection ensures that Superman puts in an appearance, as do Nightwing (the original Robin, Dick Grayson, now grown and fighting criminals on his own), Green Arrow, and the sorceress Zatanna. But this is essentially a Batman vehicle, as the Dark Knight gradually realizes, to his horror, whose face is under the hood (a revelation that will have more resonance for longtime readers).

The Red Hood has been unmasked, and revealed as former Robin Jason Todd. As Batman starts to desperately search for clues to show how his one-time partner can be alive, the hood is busy tearing apart Gotham's underworld and planning revenge on the man who killed him, the Joker. Will the Caped Crusader and his bygone Boy Wonder put aside their differences long enough to fend off the assembly of antagonists that want them both dead? Will Batman allow Jason final retribution against his erstwhile killer? These questions are answered here along with the secret of Jason's resurrection and his motivations for becoming the Red Hood...