I've you want an all-around great Batman book involving a lot of Gotham and a lot of exposure to the characters and the setting, plus a very good storyline, I'd say The Long Halloween.
As excellent as The Killing Joke is, I wouldn't suggest it for someone who it only aiming to read one Bat-Book - it's the kind of thing that's especially good if you already know the characters. I wouldn't suggest Knight Fall for a similar reason.
edited 24th May '12 12:38:50 AM by KnownUnknown
I recommend Batman as well. Granted, The Court of Owls trade-paperback is the only one of the current lines I've read, but it's great. I had a real impression that Batman was actually struggling against his new villain. And the simple, smooth, stylized art is just beautiful, though not everyone's cup of juice.
edited 24th May '12 5:42:29 AM by Braincogs
Took advantage of the 99 cent number one sale to sample the batbooks (except Catwoman, I've heard enough about Catwoman #1 to last me a lifetime).
That was a good call guys, Batman was the best by far. I'm now all caught up on it * . It's a little sad that most Batbooks haven't progressed since Batman: The Ten Cent Adventure, generic crime fighting set to Fauxlosophic Narration, leading up to a "shocking revelation" on the last page. That's been the template for most batbooks I've read since '02.
Also worth noting that both Dark Knight and Batman used the issue one trick of Batman's narration being a speech Bruce Wayne was making at a big society event.
if you were in the uk batman legends is the way to go
It collects three issues within one comic. At the moment its Morrisons batman inc from pre new 52 and batman and batwoman from new 52
" I did the right thing, didn't I? It all worked out in the end." "In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends."League of Morrison Fans Aseemble!
But no really, in defense of Morrison's Batman: Batman has always been about a guy fighting fear. Some of his best bad guys are the stuff of horror movies: Joker, Scarcrow, Clayface. Morrison's direction since Batman and Robin has been to borrow Lynch's asthetic of the horrific. I think it works really well. I think the (re)infusion of body horror and mind horror to Batman is a breath of fresh air. Mr. Pyg is a new classic imo.
The main thing I dislike about Morrigan's Batman is that he generally seems to have eschewed the villains as being foils or dark sides of characters, the dark but almost grounded "Naked City" vibe of Gotham and the tensely bleak atmosphere of the whole thing in favor of making everything and everyone audaciously depraved.
Which worked really well for Doom Patrol, but doesn't work anywhere near as well for Batman. The sadism of the villains just doesn't work because they're often so over the top in their depravity, and in a few cases it feels like that's all that's gone into defining them - it's the main reason I disliked Flamingo, for instance. And in some cases it feels like he's making the characters more deviant or edgy for the sake of it.
That said, there are things and specific instances I like about Morrigan's Batman, but in general I don't like the tone of it all.
edited 11th Jun '12 12:50:16 AM by KnownUnknown

I'm more of a Superman guy, but I kinda want to get into Batman. That said, I'm not a millionaire, and there are about seven gillion bat-books in the new 52. So I'd like to at least try and limit my spending to just one, but which ought I to pick?