Holy friendship, Batman! This week we’re chatting with lifelong nerd, designer of everything at Jordandené, and my husband Joey Ellis. In addition to doing all of the hand-lettering, branding, and design work at Jordandene, Joey and his two partners run the agency GrandArmy. They’ve done lots of cool design work (does the lettering in Taco Bell’s Live Más look familiar?), and people have even gotten tattoos of some of their branding projects. Some look better than others.
Joey has been a pretty big nerd for his entire life, carrying his comic books, drawings, and action figures around in a briefcase as an elementary school kid (because Bruce Wayne did it). He always loved Batman the most, starting with Batman: The Animated Series. He didn’t have any superpowers and became the best through hard work, determination, and, you know, a lot of money.
The world of Batman is overwhelming, so Joey put together a list of animated movies and graphic novels that someone new to the world could easily jump into. Or, you could watch the Lego Batman movie, which is just a real treat all around.
Thanks again for hanging out with us, and please help show your support by subscribing, leaving a review, or checking out our Patreon.
Stay nerdy.
Batman Animated Movies for Newbies
- Mask of the Phantasm (A prequel to The Animated Series, which is one of the best on-screen versions of Batman)
- Year One
- Gotham Knight (A collection of shorts by a group of anime creators)
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (Set very far into the future of The Animated Series continuity. Very dark)
- Under the Red Hood
- The Dark Knight Returns (Part 1 & 2)
Batman Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks for Newbies
- Year One (Frank Miller’s update to Batman’s origin story.)
- The Long Halloween (Another early days story that introduced the Falcone crime family later seen in Nolan’s Batman Begins. Also shows Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two Face)
- The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller’s take on an aging, messed up Bruce Wayne dealing with an increasingly bizarre, violent future)
- Joker (Lee Bermejo’s take on the Joker. Super brutal. Super violent. Was a huge influence on The Dark Knight’s depiction of the Joker.)
- Noel (A sequel of sorts to Joker – Bermejo’s take on A Christmas Carol through a Gotham City lens)
- The Killing Joke (Alan Moore explores Batman’s complex relationship with the Joker. Amazing art by Brian Boland. Also tells the story of how Barbara Gordon loses her ability to walk, which starts her on the path to becoming Oracle.)
- Batman Vol. 1-9 (Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s recent iconic run on Batman)
Special thanks to our editor + music composer Dan Ison
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