Okay. Skipping a lot. Seen recs before for this type of thing, but must ask anyway.

Things I've read:
Batman Year One
Robin Year One
Batgirl Year One (reading now)
No Mans Land
Dark Knight Returns
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Some other random bat trades, long ago.

What should I read now? I'm interested in this Barbara Gordon / Dick Grayson stuff, but I'm slow about the universe. I'm mostly interested in sticking with trades and novels. So... what next?

So... what next?

Well... I just made Emily read Batman: Arkham Asylum, so I guess I'll throw it out here, too.

Heh. That's one of the random ones I read a while ago, Vic. But it was good. Thanks for the suggestion. =)

Where can I get the goods on how Babs turned into Oracle, new batgirl replaced her, et cetera? I got most of the backstory sort of as an aside in No Man's Land, but is there a place that goes over it better?

The Killing Joke?

Although if you Arkham Asylum, I'd guess you'd already read TKJ.

Actually, no. I probably should. Added to my list.

ETA: I am far too excited about the smoochies that just occurred in Batgirl: Year One. This is going to be bad, I tell you.

Ooooh, this is a good list/set of suggestions. I am just getting into this universe and have been trying to find the best starter set to get me going. Is there an essential set of Birds of Prey books that I need to read to get the post-Batgirl Oracle story, or should I just start working my way through the series?

There's a terrific Oracle (as distinct from Batgirl) origin in Batman Chronicles no. 5. However, as it's one I have in cyber form, I'm not sure how easily available it is on paper.

I personally loved the Miller's interpretation of the Batmobile in Dark Knight Returns. Now that's respectin' authoritay.

I read Nightwing/Huntress in the comic book store today. It seemed like an excuse to get Nightwing and Huntress to hook up. I mean, there was a decent detective story surrounding the sex, but that was pretty much it.

So should I read Cataclysm before No Man's Land? What about Contagion and Legacy? They seem to all follow one another. And is it okay to read the post-NML Nightwing (Darker Shade of Justice) without having read any of those?

Every time I go to the comic book store, they're always there: NML #2 and #5. THAT DOESN'T HELP ME, DAMMIT!

So should I read Cataclysm before No Man's Land? What about Contagion and Legacy? They seem to all follow one another. And is it okay to read the post-NML Nightwing (Darker Shade of Justice) without having read any of those?

Contagion and Legacy are pre-Cataclysm. Read them first, if you need to read 'em. They're useful, but not essential. Nightwing's life in the 'haven starts right after that. Cataclysm and NML are essential, though I think you can kind of get away with reading the novelized version of the latter if you can't find all the trades.

Is there an essential set of Birds of Prey books that I need to read to get the post-Batgirl Oracle story, or should I just start working my way through the series?

She's pretty firmly established as Oracle by the time BoP starts. After a minor Green Arrow binge this weekend, I'm re-thinking my list of pre-BoP must-reads to include Longbow Hunters for some Dinah backstory, but in any case, I think you can start with the first BoP trade and work from there.

In other comics news, venturing out of Gotham can be dangerous. I am cursing Winick. It's his fault. The only reason my Green Arrow binge can be counted as minor is that my GL binge in the last several hours has been three trades and about 7 individual issues.