Well, there's over 70 years of issues there. Not an easy question to answer. Is money a issue here? Is there a certain era of Batman you prefer? Any favorite writers or artists?

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There are lots of different runs of Batman that have a variety of different appeals to different readers. Virtually everything about making such choices is subjective, though; for example, "not too priciest" really depends on factors like a collector's income.

With that caveat aside, here is my (subjective) take on a broad subject: I'll ignore the initial Kane/Finger/Robinson issues (and even the earliest Gardner Fox issues) based on your "not too priciest" qualifier; those early issues are bank-busters for all but Hollywood and pro sports stars. The first notable rise in quality occurred when stories drawn by Dick Sprang were first published (Batman #18, Aug.-Sept. 1943, according to comics.org). Sprang was the best, but by no means the only, Batman artist of the period; you may want to check credits on the Web before buying. Sprang's career as artist at DC (primarily on Batman) lasted until about 1963. Unfortunately, the scripts he was given declined in quality (IMHO) from about 1955 till 1963; some fans (including me) tend to blame this on editor Jack Schiff.

The second notable rise in quality on Batman occurred when new editor Julius Schwartz brought in the "New Look" Batman, beginning in Batman 164 (June 1964). Schwartz brought in new writers (e.g., Gardner Fox, returning to the character after a long hiatus) and artists (e.g., Carmine Infantino), who were well received by fans. This bright patch lasted about two years, until the series took a turn to a "camp" aesthetic influenced by the (IMHO) wretched Batman television series.

Once the television series was rightly canceled, a mood of drama was restored in the Batman comics. This sense of drama was soon elevated to the third and fourth notable rises in quality, when first, artist Neal Adams (who first drew Batman in related titles, and on covers, finally doing a story in the Batman title in #219, Feb. 1970), and then, writer Denny O'Neil (who first wrote Batman in Detective Comics, finally doing a story in the Batman title in #224, Aug. 1970) started drawing and writing the stories. O'Neil and Adams finally started working together (first in Detective Comics, then in the Batman title in #232, June 1971), and the stories they did together in 1971 and 1972 were pure gold. In my opinion, this is the high-water mark of the Batman title.

Adams seems to have become disenchanted with aspects of working for DC (he later became quite outspoken about work-for-hire), and his output diminished. O'Neil became alcoholic (it's no secret; O'Neil has written openly about this), and the quality of his stories became inconsistent. Batman carried on through the mid- to late-1970s at an unremarkable level.

Schwartz's editorship came to an end in the late '70s or early '80s. He was followed by Paul Levitz, then Dick Giordano, then Len Wein. Each continued in the dramatic vein established following the television series; none (IMHO) did anything remarkable with the series.

The fifth notable rise in quality occurred soon after Denny O'Neil, now clean and sober, became editor with Batman #401 (Nov. 1986). The first few issues were pretty standard heroic drama, but the quality surged with #404 (February 1987), and the beginning of "Batman: Year One" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. Even after the conclusion of this four-part series, O'Neil and his writers and artists seemed inspired by the fresh energy injected by Year One. O'Neil remained editor until the turn of the millennium, and kept the title at a consistently high level not often seen in comics. It was O'Neil who was editor for the metastory events "Knightfall," "Contagion," and "Cataclysm." O'Neil ended his run on a rather high note, soon after wrapping up "No Man's Land."

It's kind of a shame that you limited your inquiry to Batman (1940). There was a lot of great work in that "other" Batman title (Detective Comics), including more O'Neil/Adams work, a fine (if all too brief) run by editor-writer Archie Goodwin (#437-443), a comeback by writer O'Neil (without Adams; notable issues were #457 and #s 483-487, 490, 491) and an exquisite series of stories written by Steve Englehart, raised even higher in stature once he was joined by artist Marshall Rogers (#469-476). And of course, there was that 1986 mini-series "Batman The Dark Knight" by Frank Miller, that managed to catch some attention at the time.

I don't know that they were almost forgotten. Isn't Batman: Dark Detective the inspiration behind many of the themes from the The Dark Knight movie?

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"Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival"
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One thing not mentioned is that in a lot of the story arcs,the story is split between both Batman and Detective Comics.This happened alot in the 80's.So if you want the full story you had to buy both titles.

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I am a big fan of Ra's al Ghul,so my suggestion is to start at Batman #232-244.Just awesome.

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"You want me to trade you my comic for small rectangular sheets of green paper with the images of dead white men?"

Ouch, he said not too pricey :L) That run is kinda high (at least in decent shape). Been looking to get that but waiting for a good deal of sorts :)

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Big signatures are REALLY annoying.

Try here: http://www.ioffer.com/i/batman-comics-3-dvds-1-to-713-dc-comics-527964684

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