Batman comic career timeline
Hello guys. I don't use Reddit much, so excuse me if this has been done before, but I've created a pretty sizeable timeline of Batman's adventures through post-crisis up to modern times, the twist being that I've split and categorized the stories into each year of Batman's career.
Now, a few things to note:
Why did I do this? Because I'm a huge Batman fan, but my autistic curse is caring too much about continuity. The recent Batman runs have also turned my attention towards the way Batman has aged over the years of DC's publications.
My timeline consists of mostly Post-Crisis, The New 52, Rebirth and modern storylines, but there are a few exceptions, such as the Bronze age's 'Tales Of The Demon'. I tried to make sure all the stories can work together without major issues, hence why I had given up on integrating comics such as The New 52's 'The Dark Knight'.
The year categorization is mostly made-up, but not completely baseless. I tried to use clues from throwaway lines in the stories to create a fairly accurate timeline of events, such as Batman's remarks about the lenght of his crusade in 'Ego' or 'The Cult'.
There's a few examples where I deliberately placed comics out of order, such as Jeff Loeb's 'Superman/Batman'. This was done to account for the changes in timelines, or simply because I found it more fitting. DC is loose about its continuity anyway.
Most of the stories are Batman-centred, but I made some exceptions for notable storylines of different characters, such as Catwoman.
I tried to label the storylines using their most popular titles, but many of them have been published in various collections. In other words, some things may seem out of print, where in actuality they're easy to acquire under a different title, an example being DC's Finest line of reprints.
This, obviously, isn't every storyline. I haven't read every Batman comic and unfortunetly I never will. Still, I believe I collected all the most important stories, and plenty more. I probably made some mistakes. Perhaps my memory served me wrong when placing a certain title. Perhaps you just can't merge so many different timelines into one cohesive story. Still, I tried my best. I hope you enjoy.
---------------- Pre-Year 1 -----------------------
Batman: The Knight
Batman: Gordon Of Gotham
------------------ Year 1 ---------------------------
Batman: Year One
Batman: Shaman
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper
Batman And The Monster Men
Batman And The Mad Monk
Batman: Heat
Batman: Venom
Batman: Prey
Batman: Gothic
Batman: The Brave And The Bold: The Winning Card
------------------ Year 2 -------------------------
Batman: Tenses
Batman: Blades
Batman: Faith
Batman: Snow
Batman: Monsters
Batman: Four Of A Kind
Batman: Terror
Batman: Killing Time
Batman: The Long Halloween
------------------ Year 3 -------------------------
Batman: Haunted Knight
Batman: Dark Victory
Catwoman: When In Rome
Batman: Dark Patterns
Justice League: Origin
------------------ Year 4 -------------------------
Robin & Batman
Robin: Year One
Batman: Ego
Batman: Déjà Vu
Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween
------------------ Year 5 -------------------------
Batman: Going Sane
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Superman/Batman: Supergirl
Batman: Faces
------------------ Year 6 -------------------------
Batgirl: Year One
Batman: Gotham After Midnight
Batman: Kings Of Fear
Batman: Tales Of The Demon
------------------ Year 7 -------------------------
Batman: Strange Apparitions
Batman/Superman: World's Finest (2022)
Batman: Night Cries
Nightwing: Year One
Robin & Batman: Jason Todd
------------------ Year 8 -------------------------
Batman: Son Of The Demon
Batman: Ten Nights Of The Beast
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
Batman: The Killing Joke
------------------ Year 9 -------------------------
Batman: The Cult
Batman: A Death In The Family
Batman: Blind Justice
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth
Batman: A Lonely Place Of Dying
Batman: Mud Pack
Batman: Bride Of The Demon
Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City
------------------ Year 10 -------------------------
Batman: Birth Of The Demon
Batman: Sword Of Azrael
Batman: Prelude To Knightfall
Batman: Knightfall
Batman: Knightquest - The Crusade
Batman: Knightquest - The Search
Batman: Knightsend
Batman: Prodigal
Batman: Troika
Batman by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones
------------------ Year 11 -------------------------
Batman: Contagion
Batman: Legacy
Batman: Knight Out
Batman: Cataclysm
Batman: Road to No Man's Land
Batman: No Man's Land Saga
Shadows Of The Bat: House Of Gotham
------------------ Year 12 -------------------------
Batman: Evolution
Batman: Gotham Knights: Transference
Batman: Officer Down
Batman: Turning Points
Batman: Gotham Knights: Contested
Batman: New Gotham
Gotham Central
Bruce Wayne: Murderer
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive
JLA: The Tower Of Babel
------------------ Year 13 ------------------------
Batman: Dark Detective
Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score
Batman: Hush
Batman: City Of Crime
Batman: Death And The Maidens
Batman: Broken City
Batman: War Drums
Batman: War Games
Batman: Under The Red Hood
Red Hood: The Lost Days
Batman: War Crimes
------------------ Year 14 ------------------------
Batman: Face The Face
Batman And Son
Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul
Batman: Detective
Batman: Death And The City
Batman: Private Casebook
Batman: Heart Of Hush
Robin: Violent Tendencies
Batman: The Black Glove
Batman R.I.P.
Batman: Battle For The Cowl
Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn
Batman: Streets Of Gotham
Batwoman: Elegy
Batman & Robin: Batman Vs Robin
Batman: Time And The Batman
Batman: The Return Of Bruce Wayne
Batman & Robin: Batman & Robin Must Die!
Batman Incorporated
Batman: Black Mirror
Batman: Gates Of Gotham
Batman Incorporated Vol. 2
Batman: Universe
Flashpoint
------------------ Year 15 ------------------------
Batman: The Court Of Owls Saga
Batman: Death Of The Family
Batman: Graveyard Shift
Batman: Endgame
Batman: Superheavy
Batman: Bloom
Batman: Epilogue
Batman And Robin by Peter J. Tomasi
Batman: One Dark Knight
Batman: City Of Madness
------------------ Year 16 ------------------------
Batman: I Am Gotham
Detective Comics: Rise Of The Batmen
Batman: I Am Suicide
Detective Comics: The Victim Syndicate
Batman: I Am Bane
All-Star Batman (2016)
Batman/Flash: The Button
Detective Comics: League Of Shadows
Batman: The War Of Jokes And Riddles
Detective Comics: Deus Ex Machina
Batman: The Rules Of Engagement
Dark Nights: Metal
Detective Comics: A Lonely Place Of Living
Batman: Bride Or Burglar?
Detective Comics: Fall Of The Batmen
Detective Comics: Batmen Eternal
Batman: The Wedding
Detective Comics: On The Outside
Detective Comics: Deface The Face
Batman: Cold Days
Detective Comics: Mythology
Batman VS Deathstroke
Detective Comics #1000
Detective Comics: Arkham Knight
Detective Comics: Greetings From Gotham
Detective Comics: Cold Vengeance
Batman: The Tyrant Wing
Batman: Knightmares
Batman: The Fall And The Fallen
Batman: City Of Bane
------------------ Year 17 ------------------------
Batman: Their Dark Designs
Detective Comics: The Joker War
Batman: The Joker War
Detective Comics #1027
Detective Comics: Road To Ruin
Batman: Ghost Stories
Batman: The Cowardly Lot
Detective Comics: New Neighbourhood
Detective Comics: Fear State
Detective Comics: Arkham Rising
Batman: Fear State
Batman: Abyss
Batman: Shadow War
Shadows Of The Bat: The Tower
Detective Comics: Riddle Me This
The Joker (2021)
------------------ Year 18 ------------------------
Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne
Two-Face: Trial Separation
Batman: Failsafe
Batman: The Bat-Man Of Gotham
Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War
Batman: The Joker Year One
Batman: Dark Prisons
Batman: The Dying City
Batman And Robin: Father And Son
Batman And Robin: Growing Pains
------------------ Year 19 ------------------------
Batman And Robin by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Detective Comics by Tom Taylor
Batman: Knightfight
Batman by Matt Fraction
I really hope somebody finds this list useful, otherwise my efforts have been in vain. Anyway, feedback is much appreciated! Thank you for reading and have a nice day.