While the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy is mostly his and his brother’s script work, they both draw a lot from the source material, the comic books from over the years, especially the darker, grittier ones. Maybe that’s why the Dark Knight trilogy have been going so good.
Secret Origins
A series of DC Comic books that was famous during its run in the 1980’s claryifying the newly formed post-crisis DC universe. The Batman issue showed a lot about Bruce Wayne’s training before returning to Gotham and becoming Batman, the basis for the first movie in Nolan trilogy, Batman Begins.
Batman: Year One
One of Frank Miller’s finest comic books, depicting Bruce Wayne’s first year as the caped crusader and the beginning of his relationship with Jim Gordon. The comic book ends with the scene that also ends Batman Begins, as Gordon and Batman discuss a new and mysterious criminal, the Joker.
Batman: The Long Halloween
This comic book limited series influenced both the Dark Knight and Batman Begins, depicting the mob wars between the Falcone and Maroni families, but more importantly, shows the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two-Face.
The Dark Knight Returns
Another Frank Miller comics, this time off-continuity, telling the story of a 55 year old Bruce Wayne donning the bat-suit once again after a long long time which was followed by ‘The Dark Knight Strikers Again’. The premise, of Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement after 7-8 years according to the early plot synopsis, is what we’ll see in ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’
Batman: Knightfall
This was during the mid-90’s, when DC were killing off all their heroes. Well, they didn’t kill Batman, they just had Bane get the better of him, figure out his identity and break his back. The upcoming movie is about Bane’s rise and being victorious, temporarily according to the trailers, over Bruce Wayne.
Batman: No Man’s Land
Gotham recovering from a major earthquake and the chaos that follows, as Bruce Wayne/Batman tries to pick up the pieces. I don’t know about a natural disaster, but there’s going to be a lot of disasters during Bane’s onslaught on Gotham.
Batman: Prey
A story that is a lot about the forming of the relationship between Gordon and Batman, but also about Hugo Strange breaking Bruce Wayne down mentally, through a highly successful smear campaign. These issues were touched a bit in TDK and will be visited again in TDKR.
