Every Missing Batman Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll

It’s time to map the DC Universe! In June, I’ll be joining with Near Mint Condition to launch the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll! This post explains every Batman omnibus that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.

Through the end of May I’ll be covering DC entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your DC oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll on Near Mint Condition the first week of June.

Batman does as much collected editions business for DC as the collections of entire other publishers! We’ll have a total of five Batman solo omnibuses in 2025 – including just one Pre-Flashpoint, one New 52, and three from Rebirth to present.

While that sounds like a lot, there’s so much Batman not collected in omnibus, including a ton of hotly-demanded runs. Fans desperately want DC to crack into the 70s and 80s of Batman, and while the DC Finest collections may have slightly cooled the desires for an immediately Post-Crisis collection, there are still some obvious gaps in the late-90s.

I sincerely believe DC will be taking a close look at the votes on this poll to decide on their upcoming slate of Batman omnis, especially for Pre-Flashpoint material. Omar has confirmed his contact at DC wants to see the results of this year’s poll, so your votes matter!

If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to collected editions on the planet.

Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about DC history and find some great comics to read!

This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:

• Batman Omnibus Mapping – Silver Age & Bronze Age
  • Batman: The Black Casebook – Expanded Edition (1951 – 1990) [AKA Road to Morrison; Casebook + Tales of the Demon + Demon Trilogy]
  • Batman: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (1958 & on) [includes Detective Comics]
  • Batman: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1970 & on) [includes Detective Comics AKA by Dennis O’Neil]
  • Batman: The 1980s Omnibus Vol. 1 (1980 & on) [eventually includes Conway, Moench]
• Batman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to 2000
  • Batman: The Graphic Novels Vol. 1 (1987 & on)
  • Batman: The Post-Crisis Omnibus Vol. 1 (1987 & on) [includes Detective Comics]
  • Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Vol. 1 (1989 & on)
  • Batman: Shadow of the Bat Vol. 1 (1992 & on)
  • Batman: Knightfall Aftermath (1994 – 1996) [fits between KnightsEnd and Contagion]
  • Batman Chronicles (1995 – 2001)
  • Batman: Contagion/Legacy (1996)
  • Batman: Contagion/Legacy Aftermath (1996 – 1998) [AKA by Dixon, Moench & Jones; fits before Road to No Man’s Land]
• Batman Omnibus Mapping – 2000 to Flashpoint
  • Batman: New Gotham by Rucka, Brubaker, et al (2000 – 2001) [fits between No Man’s Land & Murderer/Fugitive]
  • Batman by Ed Brubaker (2000 – 2003) [creator-centric collection; skips issues]
  • Batman: Gotham Knights Vol. 1 (of 2) (2000 & on) [AKA by Devin Grayson; could omit B&W material]
  • Batman: Road to War Games by Brubaker, Azzarello, et al (2002 – 2003) [fits between Murderer/Fugitive & War Games; includes skipped issues]
  • Batman: Detective Comics – One Year Later (2006 – 2008) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 1; AKA gapless Dini omni]
  • Batman Confidential (2007 – 2011)
  • Batman: Dick Grayson, Batman (2008 – 2010) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 2]]
  • Batman: The Dark Knight, The New 52 Omnibus (2011 – 2014)
  • Batman: Bruce Wayne Returns (2011) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 3; pre-Flashpoint Bruce material]
• Batman Omnibus Mapping – New 52 Era
  • Batman by Scott Snyder Companion (2011 – 2021) [includes Gates of Gotham, All-Star Batman, et al]
  • Batman: Detective Comics, The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 2 (2013 – 2016)
• Batman Omnibus Mapping – Rebirth to Present Day
  • Batman by Tom King Vol. 2 (of 3) (2018 – 2019)
  • Batman by James Tynion Vol. 2 (2020 – 2022)
  • Batman: Urban Legends & Brave and the Bold (2021 – 2024)
  • Batman by Chip Zdarsky (2022 – 2025) [includes The Knight]
  • Batman: Detective Comics by Ram V (2022 – 2024) [could include Two-Face mini]
  • Batman & Robin by Joshua Williamson (2021 – 2024) [fits after Tynion, plus Robin (2021)]

Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how DC could assemble these books. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of DC creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.

Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.

Intensely researched posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Silver Age & Bronze Age

Golden Age Batman is complete! We now have a full line of 10 Golden Age Batman omnibuses that perfectly meet up with the Silver Age on the other side where it begins with Detective Comics (1937) #233 and Batman (1940) #101 (plus, World’s Finest #117, in its own omnibus line). That means we can focus just on books from the Silver Age & Bronze Age… except this first one!

Batman: The Black Casebook – Expanded Edition (1951 – 1990) [AKA Road to Morrison; Casebook + Tales of the Demon + Demon Trilogy]

The goal of this omnibus would be to collect all of major influences on Grant Morrison’s Batman run into a single book for the first time. While the majority of that would be a greatest hits of Golden and Silver Age material, it’s also a chance to collect the complete Demon Trilogy into a single omnibus (since it likely wouldn’t be collected in an omnibus of the ongoing Batman titles).

Grant Morrison originally assembled The Black Casebook trade paperback to show off some of the more-obscure influences on their half-decade long run on Batman. I’ve read every one of these issues and many of them are truly the best and most-delightful of Batman’s early material.

• • Batman (1940) #65 – A Partner For Batman! from June, 1951
  • Batman (1940) #86 – Batman – Indian Chief! from September, 1954
  • Detective Comics (1937) #215 – The Batmen of All Nations from January, 1955
  • Detective Comics (1937) #235 – The First Batman from September, 1956
  • World’s Finest (1941) #89 – The Club of Heroes from July, 1957
  • Detective Comics (1937) #247 – The Man Who Ended Batman’s Career from September, 1957
  • Batman (1940) #112 – Am I Really Batman? from December, 1957
  • Batman (1940) #113 – Batman – The Superman of Planet X from February, 1958
  • Detective Comics (1937) #267 – Batman Meets Bat-Mite from May, 1959
  • Batman (1940) #134 – The Rainbow Creature from September, 1960
  • Batman (1940) #156 – Robin Dies at Dawn from June, 1963
  • Batman (1940) #162 – The Batman Creature from March, 1964

That’s just a dozen issues and 160 pages, and not all of the stories from each issue were included in the casebook. However, to that we could also add a trio of other obvious influences that were not included in the Casebook:

• • Batman (1940) #62 – Batman and Robin exchange places with their British counterparts
  • Detective Comics (1937) #241 –  Batman dresses in all the colors of the rainbow to distract from Robin’s bruised elbow
  • Batman (194) #153 –  Batman and Robin are joined by the original Batwoman and Bat-Girl fighting against a silver-hunting alien trying to fuel war in his home dimension

Then, we would add all of the contents of the “Tales of the Demon” trade paperback, which introduced Ra’s al Ghul and Talia al Ghul in Batman (1940) #232, 235, 240, & 242-244, DC Special Series (1977) #15, and Detective Comics (1937) #411, 485, & 489-490.

Finally, we’d the trio of “Demon” graphic novels – Batman: Son of the Demon, Birth of the Demon, and Bride of the Demon OGNs – all of which are at least somewhat in continuity due to Morrison’s creation of Damian Wayne.

Suddenly, our brief burst of a dozen issues is a book that’s nearly 800 issues in page count! We read all of this material in the lead-up to our Batman by Grant Morrison podcast, and we all agreed that it was a much better read for the experience.

In sum, this collects material from Batman (1940) #62, 65, 86, 112-113, 134, 153, 156, 162, 232, 235, 240, & 242-244; Detective Comics (1937) #215, 235, 241, 247, 267, 411, 485, & 489-490; World’s Finest (1941) #89; DC Special Series (1977) #15; Batman: Son of the Demon OGN; Batman: Birth of the Demon OGN; & Batman: Bride of the Demon OGN.

Batman: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (1958 & on) [includes Detective Comics]

After a steady yearly pace of Golden and Silver Age omnibus releases from 2025 to 2023, DC has completely stalled out on solo classic Batman omnibuses for the past two years! This book wasn’t too far out of the on-air results on the poll last year, so maybe this is the year voters signal to DC that it’s time to get back to collecting Batman’s Silver Age stories.

Past volumes have all come in right around the 800 page mark, so this would collect about 35 of the next issues of both Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937).

This would continue to collect Batman (1940) #117-216 and Detective Comics (1937) #256-394.

Batman: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1970 & on) [includes Detective Comics AKA by Dennis O’Neil]

DC often waits for a Silver Age line to be resolved before kicking off a Bronze Age line, but if there’s any character where they might make an exception it’s probably Batman – especially because Batman’s Bronze Age material is generally held in higher regard than his Silver Age material.

That was very evident on the poll last year, where the Silver Age book didn’t rank in the Top 60 while this book was number 11! That’s in part due to the fact that most of the material in the first volume is written by Dennis O’Neil – and includes Neal Adams on art. With a few books that were high on the poll seeing print, it’s very possible this hits the Top 10 this year.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold omnibus volumes have all been around 900 pages, so these books could likely be a bit larger than the Golden and Silver Age volumes.

The Bronze Age of Batman comics starts from Batman (1940) #217 and Detective Comics (1937) #395.

Batman: The 1980s Omnibus Vol. 1 (1980 & on) [eventually includes Conway, Moench]

Batman’s 1970s material spans about 100 issues each of both of his ongoing titles. Even with hefty-sized omnis, that means the Bronze Age line would be a minimum of five volumes – and, more likely six or seven.

As a result, I suspect that DC would not want to continue the “Bronze Age” branding all the way until Crisis with higher volume numbers. Also, as with the Bronze Age, there is unique demand for this material due to some of the creators involved.

There has been a fair amount of debate about if we should include a “Batman by Doug Moench” omnibus on the poll. Moench begins a run on both Batman titles midway through 1983 with Batman (1940) #360 and Detective Comics (1937) #527 that continues through the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. That places his run 2-3 omnis into this 1980s line, and it would take 2 omnis to complete.

Ultimately, we decided against including it in the poll, in keeping with a general rule of thumb to avoid trying to carve up the big heroes into creator-specific books within the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and 80s eras. Ultimately, it’s very plausible that DC would go to print on a pair of Moench volumes prior to kicking off the start of the 80s – or, even that they would continue the Bronze line right up to Moench’s run! However, without any kind of hint of how they plan to collect this era, we want to go with the simplest and most-predictable books for people to vote on.

This line of books would begin around Batman (1940) #319 and Detective Comics (1937) #488. Those issues are in the middle of Don Newton’s run, so this could start slightly earlier or later to catch his entire run either in this book or in the final Bronze omnibus. It would continue with a break point starting at Doug Moench’s run with Batman (1940) #360 and Detective Comics (1937) #527. Moench’s run would occupy a final two volumes, which would conclude with Batman (1940) #400 and Detective Comics (1937) #567.

Also, note that some of the material in these issues have been collected by the Batgirl and Robin Bronze Age omnibuses, respectively.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to 2000

When it comes to mapping Post-Crisis Batman, there are two major events to keep in mind as landmarks: Knightfall, which is a midpoint in this era, and No Man’s Land, which marks the end.

That gives us two chunks of Batman ongoings to map – one from Crisis to Knightfall, and one from Knightfall to No Man’s Land.

However, some material spans across those events. Batman’s Graphic Novels exist to the side of continuity, and his three supporting series in this period have significant runs that might collect through or around those events.

To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Legends of the Dark Knight, and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman: The Graphic Novels Vol. 1 (1987 & on)

Batman had many graphic novels in the late 80s and early 90s that weren’t explicitly in continuity but also weren’t meant to be Elseworlds. That began with the famous Son of the Demon (1987) OGN, the first in the so-called Demon Trilogy. Not all of these OGNs are likely to be collected alongside Post-Crisis collections of Batman and Detective Comics.

While this might have to omit Killing Joke and Batman: Arkham Asylum – A Serious House On Serious Earth due to their mature readers labels, there are still many other OGNs that could fill this book – and, at 48-120 pages each, it wouldn’t take many to fill an omnibus.

Batman: The Post-Crisis Omnibus Vol. 1 (1987 & on) [includes Detective Comics]

DC has covered this period of comics several times in standard-size collections. They collected both of Batman’s titles separately in a series of volumes titled “Batman: Caped Crusader” and “Batman: Dark Knight Detective.” And, in the past year, they’ve released two DC Finest volumes that completely collect this material in reading order for the first time ever.

This line of books would begin to collect from Batman (1940) #401 and Detective Comics (1937) #568. It would likely continue through the start of Knightfall, so this would end at Batman (1940) #483 and Detective Comics (1937) #653.

(Why start with those issues? First, because that’s where the DC Finest line begins! Second, Batman #401 is generally acknowledged as the first appearance of Post-Crisis Batman and Detective Comics #568 is part of the Legends event – which is necessarily Post-Crisis.)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Vol. 1 (1989 & on)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) was launched as a premium format Batman title exclusively for the Direct Market of comic shops.

It was a series where creators could tell short run stories that were in continuity, but not necessarily aligned to the current continuity of the main Batman flagships. Often they were “Year Two” types of stories from early in Batman’s career, redefining his initial encounters with signature villains with a post-Crisis lens.

This book was number five on the poll last year, which shows the pedigree of this material as well as how under-collected it has been to this point!

This would collect Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1980) #1 and on, either skipping issues that were direct crossovers with the main two Batman books or including the crossovers. In the initial 50 issues that would be in scope for this first volume, that only includes issue #27 (“The Destroyer” crossover through Batman (1940) #474, LotDK #27, & Detective Comics (1937) #641). Knightfall doesn’t begin to impact this title until issue #59.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat Vol. 1 (1992 & on)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) was launched to tell Batman stories primarily focused on his deep gallery of villains. The title upheld that mandate despite being sucked into Knightfall for half of its first three years and later spending its final year telling parts of the “No Man’s Land” story.

Remarkably, it was written almost entirely by Alan Grant – who authored the title through issue #82.

This would begin to collect Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #1 and on, skipping Knightfall material in #16-34 except for #31 & 0.

The three Knightfall omnibus volumes fit here.

Batman: Knightfall Aftermath (1994 – 1996) [fits between KnightsEnd and Contagion]

After Knightfall, the Batman line had just over a year of relative calm with just one minor crossover before heading into another big event, “Contagion.” That gives us a perfectly-sized run for an omnibus collecting all of Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937) sequentially – leaving the other Batman ongoing titles to their own omnibuses.

First, this would collect the abandoned Zero Hour issues that are not included in the Knightfall books, which are a great way to begin an omnibus! Those are Batman (1940) #0 & 511, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #0, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #0 & 31, Detective Comics (1937) #0 & 678, and maybe also Catwoman (1993) #0 & 74 and Robin (1993) #0 & 10.

Then, this would add the skipped Batman (1940) Annual 18 and Detective Comics (1937) Annual 7, plus the full set of Batman Year One Annuals (again, a great way to begin an omnibus): Batman (1940) Annual 19. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) Annual 5, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) Annual 3, and Detective Comics (1937) Annual 8.

Finally, the primary content of the book would be Batman (1937) #516-529 & Annual 20 and Detective Comics (1937) #682-694 & Annual 9, along with the Trioka crossover issues (Batman: Shadow of The Bat (1992) #35 & Robin (1993) #14) as well as Nightwing: Alfred’s Return (1995) #1, Batman: Vengeance of Bane II – The Redemption (1995) #1, and Robin (1993) #17.

In total, this would collect Batman (1937) #0, 511, 516-529, & Annual 18-20; Detective Comics (1937) #0, 678, 682-694 & Annual 7-9, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #0 & Annual 5; Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #0, 31, 35, & Annual 3; Robin (1993) #14 & 17 (and maybe #0 & 10), Nightwing: Alfred’s Return (1995) #1, Batman: Vengeance of Bane II – The Redemption (1995) #1, and maybe Catwoman (1993) #0 & 74.

Batman Chronicles (1995 – 2001)

Batman Chronicles (1995) was a quarterly anthology series in the same vein as the “Unlimited” series of the mid-90s. Each issue typically included three stories, which didn’t necessarily fit sequentially into continuity (or even at all!).

This would collect The Batman Chronicles (1995) #1-23 and Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (1997) OGN. Issue #4 continued a “Contagion” story, issue #12 was part of “Cataclysm,” and issues #14-18 included “No Man’s Land” material. In each case, there may be other stories that still make sense to collect here.

Even with as much as 60 story pages per issue, one omnibus could still collect the whole series plus the OGN even without omitting those crossover stories.

Batman: Contagion/Legacy (1996)

The next major Batman line events after Knightfall were the related pair of crossovers, “Contagion” and “Legacy.” We already have a good idea of how these books would be mapped based on existing trade paperbacks of this period.

This would collect Azrael (1995) #15-16, Batman (1940) #529-534, The Batman Chronicles (1995) #4, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) #48-54, Catwoman (1993) #31-36, Detective Comics (1937) #695-702, Robin (1993) #27-33, Batman: Bane (1997) #1, Batman: Bane of the Demon (1998) #1-4.

This period also includes the “Legends of the Dead Earth” annuals, which are out of continuity. For completeness, we could add them – either for just the main four Bat-books, or for all of the books included in this crossover. They were Azrael (1995) Annual 2, Batman (1940) Annual 20, Batman: Shadow of the Bat (1992) Annual 4, Catwoman (1993) Annual 3, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 9, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) Annual 6, Robin (1993) Annual 5.

Batman: Contagion/Legacy Aftermath (1996 – 1998) [AKA by Dixon, Moench & Jones; fits before Road to No Man’s Land]

This book would fill the gap of almost two years between the end of “Legacy” and the beginning of the Batman: Road to No Man’s Land Omnibus.

This would collect Detective Comics (1937) #703-718, 723, & Annual 10, Batman (1940) #535-553 & Annual 21, and the Brotherhood of the Fist Crossover from Detective #723 (into Green Arrow (1988) #134-135, Nightwing (1996) #23, and Robin (1993) #55).

After this we reach Batman: Road to No Man’s Land and Batman: No Man’s Land

Batman Omnibus Mapping – 2000 to Flashpoint

Batman omnibus mapping in the 2000s is a bit trickier and messier than mapping the 90s.

That’s because Batman (1940) and Detective Comics (1937) often worked independently from each other in this period before having brief bursts of interconnection. Plus, Grant Morrison’s Batman epic crossed multiple titles, which have all been collected in omnibus already!

Also, this decade includes were a few major creator-centric runs – one of which has already been collected in a way that leaves many gaps.

How can we map around all of that to make sure every issue finds a home? Let’s take a look. To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman: New Gotham by Rucka, Brubaker, et al (2000 – 2001) [fits between No Man’s Land & Murderer/Fugitive]

This would pick up directly from the end of No Man’s line to continue being a complete collection of both Batman flagship titles for the next two years, including the “Officer Down” crossover, meeting up with the newly-announced Murderer/Fugitive omnibus on the other side.

This would collect Batman (1940) #575-598 & Annual 24, Batman: Our Worlds at War (2001) #1, Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1, Detective Comics (1937) #742-765, Superman (1987) #168, and Officer Down crossover issues (Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #13, Birds of Prey (1999) #27, Catwoman (1993) #90, Nightwing (1996) #53, Robin (1993) #86 and a tie-in in Batgirl (2000) #12).

Batman by Ed Brubaker (2000 – 2003) [creator-centric collection; skips issues]

A creator-centric collection of Brubaker’s Batman material, leaving meany gaps along the way. I would never touch this, but it was popular enough to crack the Top 6o of the poll last year!

This would collect Batman (1940) #582-586, 591-607, Batman Our Worlds at War (2001) #1, Batman Turning Points (2000) #2-3, Robin (1993) #86, Detective Comics (1937) #758, 777-782, 784-786, Batman: Gotham Noir (2001) OGN, Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) OGN, Hawkman (2002)#27 (not a Batman story, but it’s Brubaker/Phillips); and material from Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #41.

Batman: Gotham Knights Vol. 1 (of 2) (2000 & on) [AKA by Devin Grayson; could omit B&W material]

Spinning out of the end of “No Man’s Land,” Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) was a title focused on Batman along with his many supporting allies in Gotham. It ran for 74 issues, ending after Infinite Crisis, with Devin Grayson writing the first 32 issues.

The first 49 issue of this series included full-length A-stories as well as 8-page black and white backup stories. All of those backups have already been collected in the Batman: Black & White Omnibus, so there’s no need to recollect them here. Plus, A-stories from #25-32 are part of Murderer/Fugitive and in that omnibus, which means they also may not be repeated here.

This first volume could easily collect all of Devin Grayson’s run on the title through issue #32. If she was a major marketing name, this could simply collect her run and leave it at that, with the next omnibus collecting the final 42 issues.

However, I suspect this would push a bit farther to even out the split between books, maybe collecting into Scott Beatty’s run to end at issue #37, 42, or 45 – all the ends of arcs.

This would collect Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) #1 and on, likely ending at #32, 37, 42, or 45.

Batman, Bruce Wayne: Murderer Turned Fugitive Omnibus  fits here.

Batman: Road to War Games by Brubaker, Azzarello, et al (2002 – 2003) [fits between Murderer/Fugitive & War Games; includes skipped issues]

There is just over a year of Batman issues set between the “Murderer/Fugitive” story and “War Games.” Sounds like a perfect omnibus, right?

Well, there are two complicating factors.

The first is “Hush.” The original Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee saga is one of DC’s all-time biggest sellers in collected editions and it’s the story that kicks off Batman (1940) in this period. Would DC re-collected it here when it exists in its own “Hush Saga” omnibus? Maybe, maybe not.

The second is the actual contents of the War Games Omnibus, which annoyingly skip over Batman (1940) #635-641 and Detective Comics (1937) #801-808.

So, what would this collect?

This would primarily collect Batman (1940) #620-630, Detective Comics (1937) #776-789, Death and the Maidens (2003) #1-9, and  the Batman: The Man Who Laughs (2005) OGN.

It could optionally add Batman (1940) #608-619 (“Hush”) & #635-641 (“Under the Hood” though this could be in the following omnibus) and Detective Comics (1937) #801-808 & #811-814 (“City of Crime”), which otherwise risks being abandoned.

Batman: War Games Omnibus fits here.

Batman: Detective Comics – One Year Later (2006 – 2008) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 1; AKA gapless Dini omni]

This is a tricky collection to map and to explain.

There is a huge run of Detective Comics (1937) that is mostly collected already in the Batman by Paul Dini omnibus, but with many gaps.

Additionally, there is material leading up to and fitting in-between Grant Morrison’s takeover of Batman (1940) that has never been in omnibus. If there is one story it makes sense to always leave collected on its own no matter how disruptive that is to maps, it’s definitely Morrison’s Batman. But, that leaves us with the problem of how to pick up the issues their omnibuses did not collect

That leaves us with the question: Would this really re-collect all of the Dini omnibus, just with a few more issues inserted?

You don’t have to have an answer to that question to vote for this book, but here is what it could include:

Batman (1940) #645-650 & Annual 25 (Under the Red Hood), 651-654, & 659-662 (skipping #655-658 & 663-669 by Morrison); Detective Comics (1937) #817-850 & Annual 11, DC Infinite Halloween Special (2007) #1.

That’s 51 issues, to which we could add all 10 issues of The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, which has always been avoided in deluxe collected edition (Batman (1940) #670-671 & Annual 26, Detective Comics (1937) #838-839, Nightwing (1996) #138-139, and Robin (1993) #168-169 & Annual 7).

Or, we could add Gotham Underground (2007) #1-9.

But, to have both, this would need to be split into two volumes, because the next volume probably makes the most sense if it is entirely comprised of Dick Grayson Batman material.

Batman by Grant Morrison Vol. 1 fits here.

Batman Confidential (Vol. 1) (2007 – 2011)

This could collect the entire series from rotating prestige creator teams.

This would collect Batman Confidential (2007) #1-54, which could potentially be split into two volumes.

Batman: Dick Grayson, Batman (2008 – 2010) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 2]

This would collect Dick Grayson as Batman material that ran alongside Morrison writing the character.

This would begin with Batman: Battle of the Cowl (Batman: Battle for the Cowl (2009) #1-3, Gotham Gazette (2009) #1, and Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? (2009) #1) and companion material (Arkham Asylum (2009) #1, Commissioner Gordon (2009) #1, Man-Bat (2009) #1, The Network (2009) #1, The Underground (2009) #1).

Then, it would primarily collect the Grayson Batman material simultaneous to Morrison’s run from Batman (1940) #684-699 and Detective Comics (1937) #851-853.

To that, it could also add the “Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight” story (Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight (2009) #1-3, Batman (1940) Annual 27, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 11).

Batman by Grant Morrison Vol. 2 fits here.

Batman: Bruce Wayne Returns (2011) [AKA Batman by Morrison Companion, Vol. 3; pre-Flashpoint Bruce material]

This would collect material that existed at the same time as Morrison’s end-run on Batman Incorporated (2011), some of which has been in deluxe format before, but none of which is big enough for its own omnibus.

I think that would include Batman (1940) Annual 28 & #704-713, Detective Comics (1937) Annual 12 & #864-870, “Black Mirror” (Detective Comics (1937) #871-881 – although this could be saved for a Snyder Companion), and Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011) #1-5. It could also add Batman: The Dark Knight (2010) #1-5.

This could also recollect the entirety of the Gotham Shall Be Judged crossover (Azrael (2009) #14-18, Batman (1940) #708-709, Gotham City Sirens (2009) #22, and Red Robin (2009) #22).

Batman by Grant Morrison Vol. 3 fits here.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – New 52 Era

Over the past decade DC has aggressively collected Batman’s New 52 era into omnibus, including two books of Scott Snyder’s Batman (2011) run, a first omnibus of Detective Comics (2011), plus collections of Batman & Robin and Batman Eternal and Batman Incorporated (2013) in the Grant Morrison omnibus line.

To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman by Scott Snyder Companion (2011 – 2021) [includes Gates of Gotham, All-Star Batman, et al]

This could gather all of the rest of Scott Snyder’s Batman stories from outside of his main 2011 run into a single omnibus. That means it would likely start from prior to Flashpoint.

At minimum, this would include Batman (1940) #871-881 (“Black Mirror”), Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011) #1-5, All-Star Batman (2016) #1-14, Batman and The Signal (2018) #1-3, material from Dark Nights Metal (including Batman: Lost (2017) #1).

It might also include stories from Batman Giant (2019) and Detective Comics #1000, Batman: Black and White, and other material from Snyder in that period (possibly including The Batman Who Laughs (2018) #1-7, The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1).

If we could mix in Black Label Batman, we could also add Last Knight on Earth (2019) #1-3.

Batman: The Dark Knight, The New 52 Omnibus (2011 – 2014)

This would collect Batman: The Dark Knight (2011) #1-29, 0, & 23.1-4, to which it could also add Batman: The Dark Knight (2010) #1-5.

Batman: Detective Comics, The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 2 (2013 – 2016)

This would collect Detective Comics (2011) #27-52, 23.1-4, & Annual 3, Detective Comics: Futures End (2014) #1, and Detective Comics: Endgame (2015) #1.

Batman Omnibus Mapping – Rebirth to Present Day

Before last year’s poll we had only seen DC collect two of the Batman runs from Rebirth and forward – both from Detective Comics. Since then, they’ve announced three more books, including the 2024 poll’s #1-ranking omnibus – Batman by Tom King Vol. 1!

What’s left to collect? More To see how this material has already been collected, see Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), Guide to Detective Comics (Post-Crisis, 1986 – Present), and Guide to Batman Ongoing Titles.

Batman by Tom King Vol. and Detective Comics: The Rise and Fall of the Batmen by James Tynion IV fit here.

Batman by Tom King Vol. 2 (of 3) (2018 – 2019)

Last year Tom King’s first omnibus was #1 on the poll! DC’s map for the book turned out to be a bit shorter than we anticipated, which means this line of omnibuses will be three volumes long rather than just two.

Will a second volume top the poll again this year? Your votes can help send a signal to DC to continue releasing this run at a brisk speed.

This would continue to collect the next portion Batman (2016) #33-85 & Annual 2-4, Batman: Secret Files (2018) #1-2, Flash (2016) #64-65, material from DC Nation (2018) #0, and Batman Prelude To The Wedding one-shots (Robin vs. Ra’s Al Ghul #1, Nightwing vs. Hush #1, Batgirl vs. The Riddler #1, Red Hood vs. Anarky #1, and Harley Quinn vs. The Joker #1)

Batman: Detective Comics by Peter J. Tomasi fits here.

Batman by James Tynion Vol. 2 (2020 – 2022)

After Tom King, James Tynion wrote a fast, colorful, and sometimes brutal Batman run that divided fans. I was on the positive side of that divide – it was often my favorite book of the month, thanks in no small part to stunning artwork from Jorge Jiménez and colors by Tomeu Morey.

In a surprise twist, DC printed this book before kicking off their Tom King omnibus line… but, made it a Volume 1! That makes sense, since there is a lot of supporting material to collect alongside this run, but that’s never a sure thing when it comes to DC.

This would collect Batman (2016) #106-117 & Annual 6/2021, material from Infinite Frontier (2021) #0, Batman: Fear State Alpha (2021)#1 & Omega #1, Secret Files one-shots (Miracle Molly (2021) #1, Peacekeeper-01 (2021) #1, The Gardener (2021) #1, and possibly the three one-shots not by Tynion – Clownhunter (2021)#1, Huntress (2021) #1, and The Signal (2021) #1).

It could very likely add all of The Joker (2021) #1-15 & Annual 1/2021! Also, it could optionally include Batman (2016) Annual 5/2022, which is not by Tynion and comes after his run, but features Ghostmaker and Clownhunter and doesn’t fit as well in a subsequent Joshua Williamson omnibus.

Batman: Detective Comics by Mariko Tamaki fits here.

Batman: Urban Legends & Brave and the Bold (2021 – 2024)

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023) were both anthology series that fronted Batman stories and backed them up with serialized tales of the Bat-Family, including a heavy focus on Red Hood and Tim Drake. Ultimately, these books helped to launch several ongoing titles, including series for WildCATs, Tim Drake, Batgirls, and WildCATs.

This would collect Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #1-23 and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023) #1-20

Batman & Robin by Joshua Williamson (2021 – 2024) [fits after Tynion, plus Robin (2021)]

This might look like an odd book when you first glance at the contents, but it actually makes a lot of sense!

Joshua Williamson started writing Robin’s ongoing series halfway through James Tynion’s run on Batman (2016). Then, Williamson took over from Tynion, and after a standalone arc he crossed over with his Robin series in “Shadow War” (as well as Deathstroke Inc., also by him). Finally, when Chip Zdarsky took over Batman (2016), Williamson ended his run on Robin and continued writing both characters in the first year of Batman and Robin (2023) #1-13.

It makes complete sense to collect all three of those runs together, not only because they are each too short for their own omnis, but because the major themes Williamson writes for Damian Wayne continue across all thre runs.

Collects Batman (2016) #106 (“Demon or Detective” back-up), Detective Comics (1937) #1034 (“Demon or Detective” back-up), Robin (2021) #1-17, Batman (2016) #118-124 & Annual 7/2022, all of the “Shadow War” crossover (Shadow War: Alpha (2022) #1, Batman (2016) #122-123, Deathstroke Inc. (2021) #8-9, Robin (2021) #13-14, Shadow War Zone (2022) #1, and Shadow War: Omega (2022) #1), and Batman and Robin (2023) #1-13.

It also might be nice for this to include Robins (2021) #1-6 (which will otherwise become abandoned) and Batman vs. Robin (2022) #1-5 (which is by Mark Waid but spins directly out of “Shadow War”)

Batman by Chip Zdarsky (2022 – 2025) [includes The Knight]

This would collect all of Chip Zdarsky’s recently-concluded run on Batman, including his prelude series Batman: The Knight (2022) and material from Urban Legends.

Batman: The Knight (2022) #1-10, stories from Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #1-6, Batman (2016) #125-158, and “Gotham War” tie-ins (Catwoman (2018) #57-58, Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Battle Lines (2023) #1, Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Scorched Earth (2023) #1, And Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood (2023) #1-2)

Batman: Detective Comics by Ram V (2022 – 2024) [could include Two-Face mini]

The entirety of Ram V’s Detective Comics saga fits perfectly into a single omnibus! Many of these issues were extra-length with backups that weren’t all by Ram V but all fit in with his run.

This would collect Detective Comics (1937) #1062-1089. It could also add Two-Face (2024) #1-6, which spins out of backups in this run.