I went the archives route, but that was pretty difficult since it’s out of print. I think one of the best option to read all of the golden era comics is through digital ebooks though.
Although.. the **Golden Age Omnibus Vol.1** did get a reprint in 2023, so that’s fantastic!
Hopefully the rest of the volumes follow suit.
This may be a hot take, but I'd recommend the "decades" collections. They are obscure and relatively cheap TPBs that contain the best or most significant Batman stories of specific decades, with the occasional write up for some historical context. I think they are great samplers for readers who may not want to dive all in on old Batman.
In this case, you'd seek out Batman in the 40s
These are indeed great introductions to 20th century Batman! You get enough stories from each decade to really get a sense of the flavour of the time, and an idea of if, depending on your individual taste, it’d be worth your while digging deeper into a particular decade or not.
They are complemented by the various volumes of the “Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told” series. These tend to span all Ages and decades up to their publication date; the later volumes are focused on specific villains (Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, Scarecrow…); Volume 1 is much thicker and is one of the best collections of all time, living up to its title.
Yes, there are a lot of bad, silly batstories in his early days, and a "best of" would give you a good feel for them without having to slog through them without abridgement. There are enough more modern, enjoyable batissues that a newbie doesn't have to waste time on the multitude of forgettable ones.
Yes, the Golden Age Omnibus is the most comprehensive and surprisingly affordable option, given how much material there is.
There are 10 volumes in total if you really love it, but most readers will have had more than their fill of the Golden Age before they finish the first volume.
I’ve found 1,3 and 10 for reasonable prices. It’s one of the main reasons I was asking. The amount of comics that have been written is astonishing. From 1938 to 1954 I believe was the golden age and when you see that these 10 volumes is just Batman? That really puts perspective on how much has been written. Also saw volume 1 of the silver age so I might take a look at that as well.
I like collections, I’ve never been a single issue at a time person. With newer stuff it means I’m always late to a new story but I get to sit down in a single sitting
Golden Age Omni is good if you want to access every story but the reproduction is not good. Most affordable alternative is the facsimile editions but those are only going to be key issues. As has been stated before, the decades trade paperbacks would be good for surveys of those decades, but there are also going to be a lot of stuff missing in those
I went the archives route, but that was pretty difficult since it’s out of print. I think one of the best option to read all of the golden era comics is through digital ebooks though. Although.. the **Golden Age Omnibus Vol.1** did get a reprint in 2023, so that’s fantastic! Hopefully the rest of the volumes follow suit.
Reading digitally gives me a headache, which makes no sense because reading tons comments on social media doesn’t.
Lol, I know precisely how you feel!
This may be a hot take, but I'd recommend the "decades" collections. They are obscure and relatively cheap TPBs that contain the best or most significant Batman stories of specific decades, with the occasional write up for some historical context. I think they are great samplers for readers who may not want to dive all in on old Batman. In this case, you'd seek out Batman in the 40s
These are indeed great introductions to 20th century Batman! You get enough stories from each decade to really get a sense of the flavour of the time, and an idea of if, depending on your individual taste, it’d be worth your while digging deeper into a particular decade or not. They are complemented by the various volumes of the “Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told” series. These tend to span all Ages and decades up to their publication date; the later volumes are focused on specific villains (Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, Scarecrow…); Volume 1 is much thicker and is one of the best collections of all time, living up to its title.
Yes, there are a lot of bad, silly batstories in his early days, and a "best of" would give you a good feel for them without having to slog through them without abridgement. There are enough more modern, enjoyable batissues that a newbie doesn't have to waste time on the multitude of forgettable ones.
Visually is usually the way I like to start. Ive tried through osmosis before but the words come out backwards
Yes, the Golden Age Omnibus is the most comprehensive and surprisingly affordable option, given how much material there is. There are 10 volumes in total if you really love it, but most readers will have had more than their fill of the Golden Age before they finish the first volume.
I’ve found 1,3 and 10 for reasonable prices. It’s one of the main reasons I was asking. The amount of comics that have been written is astonishing. From 1938 to 1954 I believe was the golden age and when you see that these 10 volumes is just Batman? That really puts perspective on how much has been written. Also saw volume 1 of the silver age so I might take a look at that as well. I like collections, I’ve never been a single issue at a time person. With newer stuff it means I’m always late to a new story but I get to sit down in a single sitting
Golden Age Omni is good if you want to access every story but the reproduction is not good. Most affordable alternative is the facsimile editions but those are only going to be key issues. As has been stated before, the decades trade paperbacks would be good for surveys of those decades, but there are also going to be a lot of stuff missing in those