(I originally read these comics between late January/early February 2016)
'Batman: Black and White' started as a four-issue limited series in 1996, the driving concept being to showcase short, b&w stories by acclaimed creators. Among them were Bruce Timm, Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Brian Bolland, Denny O'Neil and Archie Goodwin.
The next Batman: Black and White stories appeared as back-ups in the otherwise lacklustre 'Batman: Gotham Knights' comic from 2000 to 2004. There were still occasional gems, but some of the talent was decidedly second (or even third) rate by my reckoning. These forty-nine stories are collected in two volumes, the first of which has five previously unpublished stories, hence why I'm including the trade paperback cover.
There was a second Batman: Black and White series in 2013, seventeen years after the first.
There've been a total of 104 stories amounting to 852 pages. The diversity of art styles is vast. I didn't like every one but there's sterling work by Timm, Jorge Zaffino, Kubert, Matt Wagner, Jordi Bernet, John Buscema, Ronnie del Carmen, Dave Gibbons, Eduardo Risso, Steve Rude, Tim Sale, Paul Rivoche, Darwyn Cooke, Alan Davis, Dave Bullock, Michael Cho, Paolo Rivera and Chris Samnee, all of whom rank amongst my favourite artists.
Unfortunately, the stories are a different matter. I'd say only about a quarter of them are entirely satisfying. Obviously there is only so much one can do in eight pages but some of them are so slight as to be virtually pointless vignettes. Also, too many of them take an oblique or ambiguous approach and I hate ambiguity in stories. Your mileage may vary.
As an extra, here's the 'motion comic' adaptation of Bruce Timm's short story, 'Two of a Kind':
Batman: Black and White (1996) # 1-4 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
The back-up stories from Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) # 1-16 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
The back-up stories from Batman: Gotham Knights (2000) # 17-49 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
Batman: Black and White (2013) # 1-6 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
