Before receiving a comic book of his own, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics, cementing his identity as a detective even before he was known as the World's Greatest. In the eight decades since then, the Caped Crusader has solved innumerable mysteries, big and small.
Sometimes he teams up with the Justice League or other superheroes to crack his cases, but more often he works alone, stalking the rooftops and alleys of Gotham in search of the one clue that will break a mystery open wide. The DC Universe is home to many an incredible investigator, but for skill and tenacity, Batman is unmatched — and these stories from the comics prove it.
Updated March 1, 2023, by Levana Chester-Londt: Batman is relentless when an unsolved mystery falls into his lap, and won't rest until the truth is uncovered. It takes a great deal of deception to pull the wool over Bruce Wayne's eyes, as his perceptiveness and general distrust of people have forced him to be over-attentive with most interactions. Great heroes like Nightwing and the Red Hood wouldn't be the proficient investigators they are (or were, depending on the timeline) if Batman hadn't taught them all they know. The Dark Knight may not be the perfect father figure, but he is a great role model, particularly when it comes to solving crimes.
14 JLA: New World Order
The Hyperclan made a stellar first impression after landing on Earth and sharing the sob story of their planet's destruction, declaring that they have arrived to stop humanity from suffering the same fate. Everyone jumps on board with celebrating these mysterious alien visitors, urged on by the Hyperclan's terraforming abilities.
However, the Justice League was not as easily swayed. Although Superman is the first to air his suspicions, Batman is the one to unearth the Hyperclan's sinister origins. After "playing dead" and sneaking under the radar, Batman used the Hyperclan's Martian roots against them by exploiting their weakness: fire. With the Martian Manhunter's stealthy assistance, the rest of the League are freed from the enemy's clutches, and the battle finally sways in their favor.
13 Batman: Hush
While it's not uncommon for villains to attack Batman out of the blue, the series of unfortunate events that befall the Dark Night this time is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Even after suffering a severe brain injury, Batman picks himself back up and gets to the task at hand: discovering the mastermind behind the villains' strange behavior, and tracking down that missing ransom money.
Although the Gotham City baddies are no strangers to criminal activity, Batman notices that their recent antics are out of character, not to mention more aggressive. Looking into Tommy Elliot's death is the spark of inspiration Bruce needs. He follows the trail left by his nemeses, eventually leading him to the deplorable Hush. Following further investigation, Batman figures out who Hush is and how he controlled the corrupt masses, as well as the man pulling Hush's strings.
12 Gotham by Gaslight
Batman takes a trip back in time and puts his detective skills to the test during the Victorian era, taking on the case of Jack the Ripper. Following the tutelage of the renowned Dr. Sigmund Freud, Bruce quietly resumes his vigilantism; however, his situation becomes dire when he is framed for the Ripper's murders and sentenced to death.
Even behind bars, Batman doesn't lose hope and continues to search for the killer, with James Gordon as his go-to man for "outside" information. With just one inconspicuous photograph, Bruce manages to connect the dots between his father, Thomas, and one Jacob Packer, who began his killing spree as an act of vengeance for his broken heart and unrequited love for Martha Wayne.
11 The Long Halloween
Batman finds himself in a time crunch when a serial killer goes on a rampage, shedding blood during the most festive day of each month. In this continuation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, Bruce begrudgingly teams up with Dent and Gordon as they investigate Carmine "The Roman" Falcone's questionable activity, which sets off a chain of unfortunate events accompanied by a string of murders.
Batman eventually gets ahead of the game and puts Sal Maroni under police protection before Holiday can lay their hands on him, while quietly inserting himself undercover as the mob boss' bodyguard. He successfully baits Holiday, forcing him to reveal his identity and visit the inside of a jail cell.
10 Broken City
100 Bullets, Wonder Woman, Transmetropolitan — these are just some of the titles to which Brian Azzarello has contributed. Broken City is another, and the talents of this hard-boiled crime writer show. It's not a story awash in supernatural occurrences or otherworldly escapades; it's a tough little story about what it looks like to be a good detective on a hard case.
Broken City captures the pathos of Batman, features clean detective work, and is beautifully illustrated as well. It's hard to capture in a single volume what makes the World's Greatest Detective what he is, but Broken City brings it all together with a sprinkling of some of his greatest villains, too.
9 Tower Of Babel
Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's greatest foes, turns the Dark Knight's own strengths against him by seizing the contingency plans Batman had formulated in case other members of the Justice League ever went rogue. Using these plans, Ra's al Ghul dismantles Earth's strongest super team.
While treating every friend like a potential foe may not be a charming personality trait, it is one that has helped Batman solve mysteries and save lives throughout his career. Tower of Babel is the storyline that shows the ill consequences of what is nonetheless one of Batman's foremost strengths. He can predict the behavior of others and design countermeasures, winning fights before they start. It only hurts to see when it's against friends.
8 Mythology
The 1,000th issue of Batman was a milestone for obvious reasons, and the issues leading up to it needed to be memorable. Issues #994-1,000, "Mythology," spin a mind-bending, globe-trotting mystery that brings Bruce Wayne to his limits, but that's far from unfamiliar territory for the Dark Knight.
What makes the story a foundational part of Bruce's identity as the World's Greatest Detective is what the finale says about his psychology. Time and again throughout his history, he has suffered in the name of his vigilante quest. "Mythology" shows exactly the lengths he will go to if it means getting to the end of another case.
7 Identity Crisis
Comic books are no stranger to controversy, having been entrenched in it in one form or another since the Golden Age. Even by the industry's standard, however, Identity Crisis was a controversial Justice League story. Its mature content demands trigger warnings, and spoilers ruin it.
One of the story's defining moments pivots around how Batman's view of crime and morality separate him from others. Like Rorschach, he simply holds himself and others to a higher standard and refuses to flinch from that standard no matter the personal cost. Whether one agrees with his particular moral code or not, it's undeniable that he honors it as few others would.
6 The Button
DC Comics is home to many brilliant detectives: Jim Corrigan, Mister Miracle, The Question, Renee Montoya, and Detective Chimp, not to mention the heroes that Batman has personally trained. Yet few (with the arguable exception of Rorschach) have gone through quite as much as the Dark Knight.
Traumatized by his parents' death when he was only a boy, Bruce has struggled to cope with that original wound even as his Rogues Gallery has tortured him physically and emotionally over the years. "The Button," a mystery kicked off by the discovery of the Comedian's iconic smiley face pin, showed the kind of strength a detective needs to come face to face with their deepest losses.
5 Court Of Owls
Gotham City is assailed by two forces: the maddened, masked variety of crime and the more conventional version, often governed by old-money crime families. The story Court of Owls unites them both.
The titular organization, through a combination of wealth and targeted assassinations, had played puppeteer to Gotham for decades. Now it falls on the shoulders of the Bat to drive them into the light. The Court's dealings are elusive and their Talons are deadly, so only a detective with Batman's mixture of studied skills, natural intuition, and combat expertise could triumph over them.
4 Time And The Batman
Bruce Wayne is the original Batman and will always be the name with whom the role is associated, yet others have worn the cowl over the years. In various timelines, Batman grows told old or ill, retires, dies, or disappears. When he does, another member of the Batfamily dons the Batsuit in his stead.
Time and the Batman proves that even in Bruce's absence, the lessons he has instilled in Dick Grayson, Damien Wayne, and others mean that Batman will always be a great detective, no matter who Batman is. A key feature of Batman's greatness as a detective is that Batman is more than Bruce Wayne.
3 Final Crisis
Who can solve a mystery that a god wants to stay unsolved? In Final Crisis, readers learn that the answer is Batman. Since even that stupendous act isn't enough glory for Batman in as significant an event as this one, the Dark Knight then plays a pivotal role in striking down Darkseid before being struck down himself.
Grant Morrison, as the writer of Doom Patrol, Animal Man, and other titles, is an industry legend, and his contributions to the Batman mythos are both some of the most fun and most impactful. Final Crisis is evidence of Batman's greatness as a sleuth, but it's also a testament to the greatness of the hero altogether.
2 Batman: R.I.P.
Another Grant Morrison tale, and one in many ways as polished as Final Crisis, Batman: R.I.P. explores a plot by the Black Glove and the Joker to destroy Batman at last. Bruce Wayne is known for having endless contingency plans, preparing for every eventuality, even betrayal by his closest friends.
His nigh paranoid planning may distance him from some, but it undoubtedly also allows him to unravel mysteries and survive catastrophes that would have spelled doom for any lesser detective. Batman: R.I.P. could've been a permanent end for the Bruce, and if he weren't the World's Greatest Detective, it would've been.
1 Year One
Part of being the World's Greatest Detective is having the determination required to train for the role in the first place. Following the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne left Gotham City and trained abroad for twelve years to hone the detective skills he would need to conduct his war on crime.
Forensics, martial artics, botany, linguistics, cryptography, and acrobatics were only a handful of the fields Bruce forced himself to master in order to prepare himself for his new role.
Year One shows the fruits of that labor: a new hero, still untested and uncertain, but already with glimmers of the legend he will become. It's all thanks to his unshakable commitment to detective work and justice.