Batman Adventures

A while back, I interviewed Matthew K. Manning and I spoke briefly about how he once wrote a young adult novel in the Tony Hawk's 900 Revolution series, which is about a group of radical teens searching for the pieces of Tony Hawk's skateboard, which was shattered with the mystical force of the world's most incredible skateboard trick. And honestly? I thought that was the most jealous that I could be of someone else's writing career. Now, though, Manning has managed to top himself as the writer of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, in which the animated versions of both franchises collide in a dimension-hopping adventure. And next week, when the second issue hits, the focus is on the villains as the Joker and Harley Quinn team up with Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady --- and nothing good will come of this.

Superhero comic books are a great way to get kids of all ages reading, while teaching solid moral lessons and giving them something to aspire to. However, it can be difficult parsing which titles are suitable for kids and teens, and which titles most assuredly are not, so ComicsAlliance has put together a list of some of the best choices. Today we're looking at DC Comics, which has been making increasing attempts to be more inclusive and provide a wider range of comics for all audiences over the past couple of years. Whether it's comics for fans of TV shows, new spins on classic franchises, or a Young Adult take on political satire, there's something for everyone these days at DC.

Last week, when DC launched a big sale on Batman Adventures, I did what I always do in that situation and told everyone to buy and read all of them immediately, because they are the best Batman comics of the '90s. But as good as they might be, there's one issue that stands out, one that rarely gets mentioned despite feeling like it ought to be a pretty big deal: Batman Adventures #25, which features the first meeting of the Animated Series Batman and Superman. And it's also, as reader Geoff DeSouza put it when he asked me about it, "one of the best weird comics ever."

Okay, seriously: Unless you're performing life-saving surgery or flying an airplane, then stop whatever you're doing and head over to Comixology right now. There's a massive Back-To-School themed sale going on until next Tuesday, focused on DC's all-ages titles like Batman Adventures, Superman Adventures and Impulse - and if you know anything about those books, then you probably already know that they're some of the best comics the company has ever put out.

This week on Comixology, DC has a modest sale built around Harley Quinn, dropping the price on collections for everyone's favorite lovestruck villainess down by a little more than half. It's a pretty weird bunch of comics, too, pulling in everything from her mid-2000s solo series to the more recent New 52 relaunch, and even the digital-first Ame-Comi Girls series. But down at the very end of the list, there are two collections of comics based on Batman: The Animated Series listed at five bucks each, and folks, if you can find a better deal than paying less than $10 for sixteen of the best Batman stories of the decade, then I want to see it.

When San Diego rolls around next week, it'll be time once again for the Eisner Awards, the comics industry's second-most prestigious honor. The first, of course, is our own ComicsAlliance Memorial Awards, but for some reason, those don't get the press that the Eisners do. Go figure. Point is, DC is celebrating the occasion with a digital sale this week that seems like it's designed to remind you that they've put out a lot of award-winning comics over the past decade. But as always, that comes with an interesting problem, although it's not the one that we usually have when it comes to sifting through the dollar-book sales: In this case, it's pretty likely that you already have this stuff. I mean, look, if you're the one person still waiting on a price drop to grab All Star Superman, then by all means, get over there, drop the twelve bucks and come back when you want to talk about how great that Jimmy Olsen issue is, but I suspect that if you're reading comics news online, then you probably already have Watchmen in one form or another. There is, however, one title, buried way at the end of the list, and if you don't have it already, it's one you need to pick up: 1994's Batman Adventures Holiday Special.