About Prisoner of Arkham

This blog is one idiot's quest to read every Batman comic ever published.

Is that even possible? I'm not sure. With over 800 issues of Detective Comics and 600+ for the main Batman series alone, I'm probably looking at well over 2000 issues of comics, and likely more. My plan is to work my way out from the core canon, while occasionally dipping into the obscure. Along the way, I'll post brief reports on the plot of each issue and its significance for the Batman mythos.

A few rules: I'm only counting series or stories where Batman is a main or title character. That doesn't exclude much, but I'm sure I'll be grateful for it someday. I'll also limit myself to writing 200-500 words per issue. That way, I'll both prove that I actually read the issue and keep myself from getting bogged down analyzing the complex themes of some issue of Legends of the Dark Knight.

I plan to post every time I read a new Batman comic, rather than committing to a regular schedule (say, 5 posts a week). I have a theory that this will make things go a little faster. A timeline would, of course, be wishful thinking, since I don't have even the faintest idea of how many comics I'll have to read to complete this quest.

Who am I? Well, as previous mentioned, an idiot. I'm also a secondary history teacher, a writer (I'll probably shill my novel, which is heavily Batman-inspired, from time to time), and a Batman nerd. Like a lot of people in my neurotic almost-30 cohort, my introduction to the Dark Knight came from three sources: Batman Begins, Batman: Arkham City, and Batman: The Animated Series. I bought my first Batman comics in college: Year One, The Long Halloween, and The Killing Joke. To make clear my personal prejudices, I have basically no interest in the broader DC universe, I consider Batman: The Animated Series to be the definitive version of the character, and my favorite comics writer is Dennis O'Neil. I have a soft spot for Batgirl, especially Stephanie Brown. I listen to hard bop or atmospheric black metal while I read. 

I am also now a Prisoner of Arkham, and I need to a read a lot of comic books before I can get out of here again. Wish me luck.