#also you said in tags that youve seen lego batman and honestly? a very solid foundation for batman compared to most batman media it actually

[spectral-honey]

tbh it depends a bit on what kind of thing you want from batman i think? bc batman media varies wildly in characterization and themes so all the batman related media will vary wildly in genre, also if you mean the batman fandom as in bruce wayne-centric, batman & Gotham vigilantes and/or batfam centric, batman rogues-centric, or batman-working-with-other superheros centric that can change where you might want to start as well. hopefully thats not overwhelming, i just think seeing what youre most interested in can help narrow down which media is best to start with. i’ll recommend the stuff ive seen/read tho to give ideas and because my taste is superior (lie)

i unfortunately haven't read many comics because it turns out i actually don't enjoy the way DC does comics most of the time, so the only one i can recommend since i HAVE actually read it is the Red Robin run, which is Tim Drake centric. again i dont prefer DC comics so i have kind of mid feelings about it, but if you want to interact with the batfam fandom i think its where a lot of the fandom draws from for Tim Drake and his relationship to the other bats.

(honestly i consume DC comics mostly through the form of other people posting specific good comic panels to the internet or posts reviewing comics. sometimes also just literally reading character or comic wiki pages. the panda redd on tiktok & youtube does funny skits based on real events/characters from the comics and he actually likes the comics so its way more fun to watch his content where hes actually enthusiastic about it for me)

i also did see someone already recommended the wayne family adventures webcomic which i have read and it is a very fun, if fairly simplistic comic. its vibe is very slice of life and good batfam feels which is a criminally neglected part of batman content so its understandably popular

for movies the robert pattinson batman was genuinely really really good, i think its very good batman characterization and the riddler in the movie is a cool, more deadly spin on him than other iterations. the christian bale movies are also not bad, but they are definitely action movie first batman characterization second. the villains in those movies are also pretty cool but i do think ras al ghul’s characterization sucks as does batman’s. bane, joker, two face and scarecrow are pretty interesting though.

as for other media i REALLY like the batman unburied podcast, which has a really good morally-gray riddler and also has some focus on barbara gordon in addition to a really well characterized batman. posion ivy also appears in it and i really like her backstory in this, and hugo strange gets a fun little moment too. also the casting list for this kind of makes me go insane, they have winston duke (who plated m’baku in black panther) voicing batman and emmy raver-lampman (who played allison in umbrella academy) as poison ivy and just. chefs kiss j’adore imagining their actors in these roles. anyway highly recommend this one possibly-probably my fav batman media

also ive been watching the OG teen titans and it is fun and good for getting a feel for dick grayson’s robin outside of batmans direct influence, and since it isnt centered around him specifically you also get some of the other titans general story too. the under the red hood animated movie is good and gets you a major part of jason todd’s story as its about his turning point into the red hood.

the TV show gotham is VERY much trashy drama TV but if youre into that and want batman-related content it can be fun. i never watched past the second season since it wasnt out when i was into it, but i kind of still love the penguin from that show he was really great. it also features young bruce and catwoman and joker-but-they-didnt-have-the-rights-to-him-so-hes-technically-not-but-also-a-lot-of-people-still-really-like-him-as-an-iteration-of-the-joker. also, young jim gordan failing miserably at fighting corruption just like in general

as for media about batman rogues ive seen joaquin pheonix’s joker, its a good movie and well acted but i think it isnt great for understanding kind of any other joker iteration since it diverts a lot from who he is in like any other batman media. not to discourage watching it if you want to, just it isnt really close to the usual interpretations of joker. the killing joke animated movie also exists and from what i know is one of the more well known joker backstories and some of the info in it can be significant when connected to other characters (like, jason choosing the name red hood because it was technically the first moniker the joker went by? idk just interesting stuff).

harley quinn birds of prey is also a good movie and definitely follows the vibes of where harley quinn characterization has been for a while and also introduces you to a few other gotham vigilantes in the meantime. the harley quinn cartoon is good and pretty funny but also its definitely of the “adult cartoons that use edginess as comedy” so if youre not into other adult cartoons its probably not gonna be as fun. the suicide squad (the SECOND not the first i havent seen the first) is kind of the technical predecessor to birds of prey though not necessary to watch, if you like kind of gory action movies it is also fun but not necessarily harley quinn centric.

also bc its DC some of these are really dark or have just kind of general tw/cw id give about them so like if you have a particular sensitivity to something or just want to know generally what to expect feel free to send an ask or something i can tell you what i at least noticed or have been told about these

,,, sorry this is long but i started typing to just leave a comment under the post and by the time it got too long for a comment it was too late to turn back

I'm probably gonna regret this but how do I get into the batman fandom??? like what comics/movies are good to start with???