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7. Batman: Nine Lives

“…were in a 1930's Detective Story?”

Nine Lives is a pretty fun little noir, even if Batman isn't really the main character of the piece. Nine Lives is a story of PI Richard Grayson, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and the murdered Selina Kyle.

The book is a good detective story, but its really more of a tour through a platoon of alternate versions of the Batman rogues gallery. We have the consistently embezzling banker Edward Nigma, the cold and emotionless killing machine known as Mister Freeze, and the clever card shark Jack, nicknamed the Poker Joker.

The OGN is also formatted as a widescreen comic book, like 300 or The Private Eye, which really draws attention to the beautiful artwork by Gotham Central artist Michael Lark. Plus, its written by Dean Motter, and I feel he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being a goshdarn good noir writer as often as he deserves.

Oh, and we need to give Nine Lives credit for Private Dick Grayson. That's just fantastic pun work.