Best Batman Bronze Age Stories

General Discussion Comic Books
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I don’t think it’s a secret that the Bronze Age is my favorite period. It’s where my favorite hero, Batman of course, has been better than ever, being the dark puppy avenging crime fighter we all love, but I want to talk about the best stories of Batman from this era. Where villain like Ra’s Al Ghul, Nocturna, Man-Bat, Clayface III, and Rupert Thorne we’re all created.

Here’s some of my favorites.

  1. League of Assassins Saga
    Haven’t read every story, but read all of stuff in this with Ra’s Al Ghul, and it’s pretty good stuff to read, and even with the best writer of all time Dennis O’Neil, Len Wein continued and made the parts he did just as awesome.

  2. Man-Bat Trilogy
    The first three appearances of this half man half bat creature, more than Batman. Kirk Langstrom is that classic scientist who accidentally turns himself into a monster and slowly succumbs to it. We’ve seen it all before, but with a superhero, that’s haven’t been done with Batman.

  3. Strange Apparitions Saga
    My favorite one out of them all. This one tells the tragic relationship of Batman and Silver St. Cloud, new villains like Dr. Phoshorus and Rupert Thorne, with same villains like Joker and Penguin, but other old ones recreated like Deadshot, Hugo Strange, and Clayface III. Silver is also my favorite lover of Batman, since she protected Batman’s identity when she figured it out, and she is completely unique with even silver hair to make her look different. Even when Steve Englehart left, they once again got Len Wein to continue this great saga.

  4. Joker’s Five Way Revenge
    This is my favorite Joker story, where it’s the reintroduction to the Joker, with him murdering five members who betrayed him, and the Joker is portrayed like he was in his first appearance.

  5. Killer Croc Saga
    I originally put Fever where the Ventriloquist and his puppet Scarface here, but it’s a Modern Age story so I switched it with the Killer Croc saga. This introduce, well, Killer Croc, who is actually portrayed as a villain as big as Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul, Bane, and other big baddies, and before being a simple henchman, Killer Croc was a criminal who betrayed the man he was working for. Pre-Crisis Jason Todd is here who was mainly a copied Dick Grayson before the origin we know, and Killer Croc is a sympathetic villain who was bullied and abused because of his crocodile appearance at a young age. An underrated storyline indeed.

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The one where I time traveled to The Bronze Age and battled The Assyrians outside of Jerusalem. Our battle was so epic the shortly later went backwards to commemorate my victory.

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@BatmanFan2007 I have a few more to add.

The Manhunter Saga. A little more Manhunter than Batman, but Bats helps out in the end. A great story by a great creative team. I bought a special edition that reprinted the issues in B&W back in the 70s and just purchased the new hardcover edition in full color.

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The Ra’s Al Ghul Saga. Which may be your League of Assassins Saga. A great Treasury edition that I bought off the rack over 40 years ago.

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I LOVED the Manhunter stuff. It’s a story I’m glad to see getting more love over the years.

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@BatmanFan2007: You picked the right “age” to be your favorite period for Batman stories. Bronze Age Batman is also my favorite, but remember when referring to Bruce Wayne’s alter ego from this period it is --THE Batman. Through the auspices of Julie Schwartz, Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, Jim Aparo, Bob Haney, Dick Giordano, Bob Brown, and Frank Robbins The Batman was never in better creative hands in all his 80 plus years of existence.
If I may I would like to add a few editions to your fine list:
“One Bullet Too Many” Batman#217 by O’Neill, Novick, and Giordano. Dick goes off to college and Bruce and Alfred move out of the Wayne Manor/The Batcave and bring the bare-bones operation into the city. Some consider this issue as the first Bronze Age Batman story. (@TurokSonOfStone1950: What do you think?)
“The Secret of the Waiting Graves” Detective Comics#395 by O’Neil. Adams, and Giordano. The transformative team’s first collaboration. And another pick for the first Bronze Age Batman story. (Again, @TurokSonOfStone1950, What say you?)
“Half an Evil” Batman#234 by O’Neil, Adams, and Giordano. The Bronze Age debut of Two-Face.
“Night of the Reaper” Batman#237 by O’Neil (with help from Berni Wrightson and Harlan Ellison), Adams, and Giordano. An entry from the Rutland, Vermont Halloween interconnected tales that ran through both DC and Marvel in the early '70s.
“AT Dawn Dies Mary MacGuffin” Batman#241 by O’Neil, Novick, and Giordano. A race against time to get the “MacGuffin”, in this case, the captive Mary.
“Paint a Picture of Peril” Detective Comics#397 by O’Neil, Adams, and Giodano. More bare-bones adventures of The Bateman striking swiftly from the shadows to mete out justice.
“You Die By Mourning” Detective Comics#403 by Robbins, Brown, and Giacoia. Giacoia’s moody inks over Brown pencils have The Batman melting in and out of surreal mists as he chases a horse-drawn carriage of death.
“Ghost of the Killer Skies” Detective Comics#404 by O’Neil, Adams, and Giordano. O’Neil pulls off a team-up of The Batman and Enemy Ace, and Adams draws an ariel bi plane duel. Who could ask for more?
“Mansion of the Misbegotten” Brave and the Bold# 98 by Haney and Aparo. Early Aparo renderings of The Batman, a lithe, quick-minded sleuth who crosses over into the mystic realm of the Phantom Stranger. An artistic portent of things to come as Jim Aparo goes on to be Len Wein’s collaborator on their incredible Phantom Stranger run.
Sorry I went on so long, but these are the books, from an era of comics that I still hold very near and dear to my heart.

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Recommended
Bronze Age
Batman stories
For New DC Readers

  1. Night of the Stalker

Detective Comics #439

Number 1 pick
From Michael Uslan
Executive Producer of ALL Batman film and TV
Bought rights from Warner Brothers in 1979

From his book
The Boy who Loved Batman

Night of the Stalker
from Detective Comics #439, which I read over Thanksgiving 1973,
I immediately pronounced to be the BEST Batman comic book story ever written, and since then, nothing has changed my mind.

I made Tim Burton read it when we were pitching him to direct.the 1989 Batman, and you’ll see its influence in the opening sequence of the film.

I bow before my comic book course guest lecturer Steve Engelhart, and Neal Adams and Sal Amendola, and Archie Goodwin, for this historic work- in which, by the way, there is NO dialogue.

Batman says nothing. He doesn’t have to. The emotional impact is intense.

Turok here

This is Batman
Strippled to his essense

There is no major villian
No idea of Gotham being corrupt
No Robin
Just the Dark Knight
Against some thugs.

  1. To Kil a Legend
    WHERE TO FIND IT:

Detective Comics #500

As Joshua Lapin-Bertone says

THE STORY: The Phantom Stranger sends Batman and Robin to a parallel world where a young version of Bruce Wayne hasn’t lost his parents yet. Robin isn’t sure if they should interfere. After all, doesn’t this world need a Batman? But Bruce Wayne isn’t about to sit back and let his parents die again…or is he? “To Kill A Legend” celebrated Detective Comics 500th issue with a story that questioned what it means to be a hero. Writer Alan Brennert’s single-issue story is a favorite of many Batfans, who still ponder its implications to this very day.

FOR FANS OF: If you enjoy tales of alternate realities and/or philosophical questions then this story is for you. If this comic feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone, don’t be too surprised…Alan Brennert was a frequent writer for the show in its 1980s incarnation.

  1. Daughter of he Demon
    1971 Comic Book Batman 232

'Daughter of the Demon” writer Denny O’ Neil and atist Neal Adams redefined the Batman from the campy figure in the 1966 Batman TV series into a dread avenger of the night.

Joshua Lapin-Bertone

THE STORY: When Robin is kidnapped, Batman is approached by a man named Ra’s al Ghul, whose daughter Talia has also been kidnapped. (Batman had met Talia in Detective Comics #411’s “Into the Den of the Death-Dealers!”) The two men agree to work together to find their missing loved ones in a journey that takes the Dark Knight across the globe. This issue introduces the rivalry between Ra’s and the Caped Crusader. In the Bronze Age of comics, writer Denny O’ Neil and atist Neal Adams redefined the Batman from the campy figure in the 1966 Batman TV series into a dread avenger of the night. This story is one of the high points of their legendary run.

FOR FANS OF: Batman: The Animated Series patterned its tone after this issue’s era, drawing heavy inspiration from the stories of O’Neil and Adams, which featured a grimly determined Batman, but one who still possessed a sly sense of humor. When you read their classic stories, you’ll feel like you’re watching an episode of the show.

  1. Batman Englehart Rogers Run
    Also called Batman: Strange Apparitions

1979 Detective Comics 471 to 476 Batman by Steve Engleheart and Marshall Rogers

Joshua Lapin-Bertone

THE STORY: This classic run of Bronze Age Batman stories features the Dark Knight going up against mob boss Rupert Thorne, mad professor Hugo Strange, and the Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker. It also introduces Silver St. Cloud, setting up Bruce Wayne’s first truly adult romance. The team of writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers didn’t have a very long run on Detective Comics, but in their short time together they wound up producing some of Batman’s most memorable Bronze Age stories. This thrilling run of stories also features the work of famed writer Len Wein and celebrated artist Walt Simonson.

FOR FANS OF: This is another run of comics that Batman: The Animated Series fans will love. Many elements from this era, including mob boss Rupert Thorne, helped build the status quo for the TV favorite. And devotees won’t regret checking out the tales that inspired their favorite cartoon.

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@baseballmaniac01.45870

I agree on your selections.

Above are my favorites from that era

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