How to Read Batman: Bad Seeds

Batman: Bad Seeds is the most recent Gotham crossover for DC Comics. Poison Ivy (as Gotham City’s mayor, Pamela Isley) makes a desperate deal: in exchange for immunity over the murder of Bog Venus and protection from her enemies, she gifts Gotham to the Parliament of Trees, initiating an aggressive, hyper-accelerated terraforming event. Over the course of one dark night, prehistoric megaplora and carnivorous flora burst through the streets, threatening to render the city unbreathable and reclaim it by sunrise.

Here is everything you need to read for the event.

Optional Setup

These books give background of the environment in Gotham, but can be skipped because the events are happening in the background of Chip Zdarsky’s bigger narrative; you might need to read his full run to fully understand what is going on with the main story.

• Batman Vol. 4 #145-152 (2016): Dark Prisons – While this is part of the bigger Zur-En-Arrh story by Zdarsky, it does contain the issue where Vandal Savage becomes commissioner of the Gotham PD, along with setting up the political climate that Gotham is headed towards.
  
• Batman Vol. 5 #153-157 (2016): The Dying City – This completes the Zdarsky run and lays the groundwork for Bad Seeds. It features the death of Gotham’s previous mayor, establishes the rocky relationship between Savage and Mayor Isley, and starts Savage’s hunt for the Bat-Family.

Essential(ish) Setup

Essentialish because you won’t be completely lost without reading them. A cliffnotes rundown of these books would be enough to fully understand the event. I do feel like you will get something out of reading both books because they are really good.

• Batman #1-12 (2025) – Matt Fraction builds on Zdarsky’s run and outlaws the Bat-Family (and arrests Barbara Gordon; see Barbara Gordon: Breakout), creates the armed TUCO group to handle vigilantes, and locks Gotham into a military state.
  
• Poison Ivy #41-46 – G. Willow Wilson sets up Ivy as Mayor and how the power causes her to spiral out of control. We see more of the fracturing of her relationship with Savage, and Gotham as a population. It also deals with her struggles with the Parliament of Trees. Issue 42 of the run is where Ivy becomes Mayor.

The Main Event

Below is 24 issues in the event. The main books to follow are Batman, Detective Comics, and Poison Ivy; the rest of the books are supplemental material that ties into the larger narrative.

That said, I recommend reading it all; it’s an old-school Batman crossover that touches many books – think No Man’s Land, Knightfall, or War Games. I really hope that they make trades of the event rather than for each individual title.

Week 1

• Poison Ivy #47 (official prelude)
• Batman: Bad Seeds – Sunset #1

Week 2

• Batman #13
• Batgirl #23

Week 3

• Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #1

Week 4

• Batwoman #7
• Detective Comics #1113
• Catwoman #91
• Nightwing #142

Week 5

• Harley Quinn #66

Week 6

• Poison Ivy #48
• Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham General #1

Week 7

• Batman #14
• Batgirl #24

Week 8

• Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2
• Batman: Bad Seeds – Streets of Gotham #1

Week 9

• Batwoman #8
• Catwoman #92
• Nightwing #143
• Detective Comics #1114

Week 10

• Harley Quinn #67
• Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham General #2
• Poison Ivy #49
• Batman: Bad Seeds – Sunrise #1

There will be some major fallout from the event. Batman will start a new status quo in his own title. The new Gangs of Gotham book will look at the underworld and the crime organization Torus. Ivy will continue in her current series, but her life looks completely different.

Looking for more reading orders? Check out our library of them. If there are any that you are looking for, throw them in the comments below.