With the new Batman movie coming out on July 18th and everyone all buzzing about it, I thought it would be a great idea to talk about some great Batman stories! This list is no order, just how ever they come to me.

1. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
This is the big one, the story that brought Batman back. In 1986 when DC and Frank Miller released this book fans had never seen a Batman like this one. Batman has retired and crime has steadily risen ever since. Gangs have taken over the city.Finally having enough, Bruce Wayne once again becomes Batman to clean up Gotham. Batman is very dark in this story unlike any version of Batman we had seen before it. This also pre-dates the Sin City and 300 .

2. Batman: The Killing Joke
This one is by Alan Moore. This story show how crazy and brutal the Joker really is. At one point shoots Commissioner Gordon’s daughter in the spine leaving her crippled for the rest of her life.

3. Batman: Year One
After finishing the Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller continues to revamp Batman by retelling Batman’s origin while also modernizing the character as well.

4. Batman: The Long Halloween
Picking up on a subplot from Batman: Year One this story dives into Batman’s early career. This book captures Batman perfectly.

5. Batman: No Man’s Land is a novel based on a huge run of Batman comics involving the destruction of Gotham City, the disappearance of Batman when Gothom most needs him and how the supporting characters deal with the disaster.

Thats enough for now, here is a little peak at the new movie:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PPh-C9pRU[/youtube]

My favorite Neil Gaiman book is American Gods and now it is on the web for free. Not not through bit-torrent, here:

Browse Inside this bookGet this for your site

So why give it away for free? Thats easy, maybe you will buy it or other books by Neil Gaiman. Well anyway, check out the book and see if you like it.

Neil Gaimans site and announcement

If you like the book and want to buy it:

I picked up one of S. M. Sterling’s new books called Sky People. Sky People is kind of a tribute to the old science fiction pulp magazines. In the Sky People, in the early 1960′s Russia and the US launch probes to Venus and Mars.  When Venus is found to be a planet very similar to Earth and full of life, the space race is on in full force. Flash forward to 1988 and the U.S. Commonwealth base, Jamestown on Venus and the adventure begins.