Batman Headcanon, Season 1: Year One (The Longest Halloween)

Nearly a decade ago, a friend's significant other asked me how I would read Batman. I've done a bunch of "Netflixizations" of comics, where I recommend an order for binging the best of a comic run, but Batman was the first. It even predates this website. But I never transferred it here because I knew it needed to be thinned out and reread. I just finished reading the New 52 era of Batman, which will be its own thing, I decided to revisit the pre-New 52 modern era, based on my previous idea of the canon. My ideas have changed a bit since then.

Season One is probably the most similar to my original concept of the seasons. It starts the same, but due to some titles going out of print, and some more modern books looking back at this era are more fun than their predecessors, it also ends with a very recent addition to the canon.

Season One:
Year One (The Longest Halloween)
showrunners: Frank Miller, Matt Wagner, Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

Episode 1: A Bat, A Cat, And An Unlucky Lieutenant
(collected in Batman Year One...and if you want more throw in Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper)
by Frank Miler and David Mazzucchelli...and Mindy Newell and JJ Birch

Bruce Waye returns to Gotham after a long absence following his family's murder (this premise may seem familiar) at the same time a cop named Jim Gordon shows up in town. Cue corrupt cops, crime family shenanigans, a prostitute in a cat suit, and a District Attorney trying to do his best. This is the basis for the TV version of Gotham, the movie Batman Begins, and much more. It's one of the comics from the mid-80s that revolutionized comics, but it has managed to age much better than its peers.  If you want to see the Catwoman story from Year One fleshed out, check out Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper, it's not as good, but it's a more in-depth examination of Selina and Bruce's first few meetings from Year One.

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Episode 2: Monster Men
(collected in Batman & The Monster Men)
by Matt Wagner

A mad scientist named Hugo Strange who works for the Falcones and Marconis (from Year One) is trying to create a race of violent mutants for...reasons. Bruce Wayne's love interest, Julie Madison, and her father end up peripherally involved and Batman worries he won't be able to keep his double life together. 

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Episode 3: Masks &  Images
(collected in Batman Dark Legends)
​by Bryan Talbot, Dennis O'Neil & Brett Blevins

Masks has Bruce Wayne waking up in a mental institution. Does Batman even exist? It's a classic trope, but handled superbly here. Images has Batman running into The Joker for the first time. It's not an epic Joker tale, but I really like the idea of The Joker being kind of a C-level villain for most of the first season. I wouldn't include either of the other stories in this collection as part of the series, but the Mike Mignola story is also pretty fun.

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Episode 4: The Mad Monk
(collected in Batman & The Mad Monk)
​by Matt Wagner

The Madison/Marconi/Falcone relationship continues to be a problem for Batman, distracting him from what appears to be a vampire outbreak at a castle in Gotham. Once his girlfriend is targeted by the vampire cult, Batman ends up in his first supernatural investigation. Maybe.

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Episode 5: Death By Design
(an original graphic novel called Batman Death By Design)
by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor

Gotham looks really cool. Great skyline, weird infrastructure. And it turns out the Wayne family was prominently involved. Of course. When an architect wins a contest to redesign a failed public transit hub, the builders, the union, and the architects become involved in a series of bizarre accidents. The Joker makes an appearance but doesn't appear to have a clue what's happening around him.

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Episode 6: Snow
(collected in Batman Snow)
by  JH Williams III, Dan Curtis Johnson, and Seth Fisher)

Batman is having problems with his realtionship with Jim Gordon and the police, so he decides to recruit his own team of criminal experts to help him multitask his crime solving. Meanwhile, Dr. Victor Fries's wife has a medical emergency that he's determined to fix himself.

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Episode 7: The Long Halloween
(collected in The Long Halloween)
by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

The Falcones, the Marconis, Catwoman, The Joker, Jim Gordon, Harvey Dent, Poison Ivy. All sorts of characters make appearance in this massive murder mystery. Probably the finest Event Comic done in the confines of Batman's universe.

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Episode 8: When In Rome
(Like the first episode, this is taken from two sources which take place at the same time and have some crossover. Here we start with Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When In Rome.)
both titles by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

Organized crime in Gotham is still very healthy, despite the events of The Long Halloween, but the new generation of supervillains: The Joker, The Riddler, Two Face, Poison Ivy, and more, are starting to take over the streets and the headlines. Batman must change his methods a bit to fight wars with both types of villain simultaneously. Plus, Catwoman goes to Italy to find out more about her own connection with the Falcones.

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Episode 9: Trinity
(collected in Trinity: Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman)
by Matt Wagner

This is sort of a Year Zero for The Justice League as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman meet for the first time. We mercifully skip over their origin stories, and just see them teaming up to fight a rogue from each of their pantheons. But instead of Joker, Luthor, and Cheetah, we get Ra's Al Ghul, Bizarro, and Artemis, which makes for a much more interesting story. We also get a peek at Robin, whose first adventures will close out our first season.

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Episode 10: Robin & Batman
(collected in Robin & Batman)
by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen

It's a watercolored look at the early days of Dick Grayson as Robin. This is essentialy the bonding between an adoptive father and son when they struggle to figure out how they fit into each others' lives. I guess it's heartwarming at times, but that's not the point. This book really shows how Bruce Wayne manipulates a child into being a soldier in his army, much to the disappointment of Alfred. We also get a WEIRD take on the origin of Young Justice/Teen Titans but I like it.