I love comic books but just don't have the time to be a regular reader. I like classic characters, though, like Superman, Batman, X-Men, etc but it's always difficult to find self-contained stories that don't require knowing all the ins and outs of what a character has gone through or knowing that certain events happened.

What are your favorite self-contained series or graphic novels in comics? I'm looking for suggestions of things that are great stories that happen to have comic book characters (like Watchmen, Dark Knight, Hush, etc.) rather than cheesy comic book adventures (like All-Star Superman, which is a little too golden age for me).

I thought, since it's Father's Day weekend, I will talk about a father in a favourite comicbook run of mine - Bruce Wayne from New 52 Batman and Robin by Tomasi.

For a lot of Batman fans, me included, Bruce is the mask. The New 52 Batman and Robin run is the first time Bruce was a person for me. We see him back from the dead and now teamed up with his young son, Damien. At the beginning of the series, Damien is transitioning from being Grayson's Robin to Wayne's. A transition that is not dissimilar to working for your fun big brother to suddenly working for your demanding dad.

Bruce and Damien is a really interesting pair because previously you always get a serious partner and a fun one. In the original, Bruce is serious and Grayson as Robin is fun. Later, Grayson becomes the fun Batman, and Damien becomes the serious Boy Wonder. So pairing Bruce and Damien, you end up with serious and serious. However this is not the case, and readers end up seeing two people with similar personalities both loosening up.

Bruce has to become more than Batman to be a father and in doing so, Bruce stops being a mask and starts being a real person.

I am trying to leave out spoilers, for both the plot and the characterization, which honestly made this really hard to write. For those who haven't read it, I recommend it. For those who have, what do you think?