Batman Comic Recommendations?

I've got this recommendation image for you, though it's certainly out of date. I haven't read comics in a good while. I know nothing about the most recent reboot, for example.

In terms of chronology, it rarely matters in comic books since things are rebooted every so often, and issues that are heavily steeped in continuity (as in, you have to know tons of specific backstory before you get what's going on) tend to be less fun anyway. As long as you remain chronological in a single run/continuity, it works out fine. There are dozens of Batman titles, and plenty of "#1"s to go around.

Year One certainly isn't a bad place to start; after that, maybe Long Halloween and the Killing Joke. If you've played through all Arkham games, you can jump in pretty much anywhere since the games contain a ton of background already. And if you haven't played all Arkham games already -- get started on Asylum rightaway!

I'm a long-time Batman reader. My collection spans from 1975-2008 complete. I don't like the modern books, but I can recommend some older works.

The Cult
Year One (Batman #404-407)
Venom (Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20)
Actually Legends of the Dark Knight #1-20 as a whole
Shadow of the Bat #1-4 (or maybe 5) (Batman as a prisoner in Arkham)
Ten Nights of the Beast (Batman #417-420)
Death in the Family (Batman #426-429)
Detective Comics #569-574
Detective Comics #469-476 (available as Strange Apparitions graphic novel)
Kightfall
No Man's Land (extremely large but amazing story)
Really anything between 1987 and 2000 when Denny O'Neil was the group editor for the Batman titles

Long Halloween is my favorite, and the rest of the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale ones are good too.

I haven't read too many Batman comics, but one I'd definitely recommend is The Killing Joke by Alan Moore

If you want to read them chronologically, Year One is a fine place to start. You could really start in the early 70s when Denny O'Neil became the writer and really redefined Batman and introduced a lot of great characters like Ra's Al Ghul and redefined others. Batman still has some silly moments before Year One though, so if you want the grim and gritty Batman who despises life and is angry all the time stick to Year One and later. That makes your starting points Batman #404 and Detective Comics #575. Robin's origin is retold right after Year One in Batman. It's honestly all great comics after that through the end of No Man's Land in 2000. It's still solid for years after that though the Grant Morrison takeover went in a direction a lot of long-time readers didn't really care for (myself included). Yet, a lot of readers really loved it.

I'll second The Killing Joke as a fantastic read, especially if you just played Arkham Origins. A lot of the Joker story from AO was based on The Killing Joke.

Thanks everybody I appreciate it. I've just ordered Year One, The Man Who Laughs and The Long Halloween on amazon, Looking forward to getting into some Batman adventures.

http://www.superheroes-list.com/p/death-of-family-reading-order.html

Batman: The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns, I recommend these two.