I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that Scott Snyder's run on Batman has been hailed as not only the best of the New 52, but also one of the best runs of Batman in history. Hell, it's the comic that got me into comics, it's that good! But the question is, why? There are a lot of things to consider with this comic, having several factors working against it INCLUDING:

1) Being hot off the heels of Morrison's Batman run, another critically acclaimed version of the character.
2) Being surrounded by the bad press of the New 52.
3) Having the difficulty of working with a VERY long standing character like Batman, meaning he could have easily set off several fans.

But then, he also in my opinion, had a few things going to make his run really unique, INCLUDING.

1) Being surrounded by the bad press of the New 52, possibly leaving it to look like a Godsend amongst the rest. (Said as a reader of New 52)
2) Snyder being a genuinely talented writer who's meticulous planning, unique twists on old ideas, and skill at horror make him perfect for the book.
3) His collaboration with Greg Capullo, a very talented artist in the industry.

But I'm curious fellow comic readers, what do YOU think makes Snyder's run as good as it is? Are you a fan like me, or are you hoping he'll be leaving the book soon? Let's create an awesome discussion!

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Because Batman was far more than angst and was treated like a real person at times! That's why I liked him!

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Because Batman was far more than angst

Looking at you Superman!

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I suppose so, but then, the best Batman's never were about the angst. Batman at his core was made interesting due to his exterior circumstances, his villains, and Gotham as an entity in of itself. I really admire how well Snyder takes some of these ideals and twists them around a bit. For example, the Court of Owl's storyline twists the idea of Batman controlling Gotham on it's head, presenting him as facing an unknown and hostile opponent in the Court. Death of the Family meanwhile, showed just how tightly Batman was tied to his enemies, the Joker's analogy of Batman being a King, and his rouges being his "Court" was something I enjoyed a great deal.
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Superman is not about the angst! He's never been about the angst!

4712971 I'm taking New 52 Superman...and Man of Steel to extent

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Oh how I wish Lunar were here, he'd end this argument right now with his all encompassing knowledge of Superman... But as he's explained to me in the past, the New 52 Superman is actually more like the GOLDEN age Superman. He doesn't know his power, he doesn't understand why people revere/fear him, as he feels he's just a hero, nothing more special then that. The problem with the New 52 Superman was, the writing staff was inconsistent. It's like having chapters of a book, and swaping writers every chapter, no one could keep things CONSISTENT! No one had a base to write on, since every writer was only writing one volume, they couldn't keep his character consistent!

4712994 I've actually heard good things about Superman now as he is completely de-powered

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That's kinda what I'm saying. This is kind of like how Bob Kane's Batman and Denny O'Neil's Batman weren't really about angst when it wasn't needed, and neither is this one. And it's every bit as unique a depiction as Bob Kane's and Denny O'Neil's. Denny O'Neil's version will always be my favorite, he's a generally nonviolent Batman with almost blatantly Asperger's qualities, made him stand out and more relatable for me, plus, he's the main inspiration for the depiction seen in the animated series. Still, as I implied, Scott Snyder's Batman is arguably one of the absolute best takes since then.

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I might have to pick up O'Niel's un if it's that good. But yeah, really the thing about Snyder is he really does his best on this one. I also think it's thanks to his pretty close friendship with Greg Capullo, from what I've read. The two just seem to go together perfectly, Capullo's dark style complimenting Snyder's horror scenes quite nicely. I mean, issue number 5 in the maze, that was some serious nightmare fuel in my opinion.

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I still recommend the following Batman stories

Anything Grant Morrison
No Man's Land
Knightfall
Killing Joke
The Dark Knight Returns
Year One

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Great list! I'd also like to add:

Anything Dennis O'Neil
The Long Halloween
The Batman: Earth One series
A lot of the earliest Batman comics ever, which can be found among the Dark Knight Archives

I might add that I really like Grant Morrison's theories for the Dark Knight, like how a lot of people know or suspect that Bruce Wayne is Batman...eventually, realistically, that would be a common theory, given the tech the Batman has. And how The Killing Joke shouldn't be mainstream canon, as it was originally a graphic novel anyway, and Batman may have snapped the Joker's neck in that comic.

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Ooooh...I forgot the Long Halloween, I like that one...A lot of Dark Knight was inspired by that story.

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Court of Owls, one of if not THE best story lines Snyder did. I just love the concept, design, and purpose of them. It's not like the League of Assassins, who don't deal MUCH in Gotham most of the time. With the Court, Batman has an ancient enemy who's arguably just as dangerous as the League right in his own city and he can't do anything to get rid of them. It also allows for a kind of take on Owlman, Bruce's evil Earth 3 counterpart, to exist in some form in the main universe. Owlman was made as his evil counterpart because owls eat bats... Now he's just one bat against a parliament of owls(A flock of owls is called a parliament) which only INCREASES the metaphorical, and literal, danger they pose. Also? Owls sometimes eat birds to so not even Robins are safe.

Then again, he could always use an owl trowel

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And of course, for Batman comics though jid did mention anything Grant Morrison, he didn't mention THE one to read: Arkahm: A serious house on a serious earth. that's a pretty darn good book that I really wanna read btw. ANOTHER RECCOMENDATION!
Batman: The Black Mirror
This was pretty much the test of Snyder's ability to write for the New 52 Batman. Ten issues for the Pre 52 Dick Grayson Batman, and they were considered pretty darn good from what I hear.

Oh yeah, for other reccomendations from what I hear BESIDES Batman:
Marv Wolfman's run on the Teen Titans.
Showcase Presents/Marvel Essentials: (If you don't mind Black and White Comics)
Superman: Red Son
Ultimate Spiderman
Marvel Zombies
Anything Green Lantern written by Geoff Johns
A lot of Frank Millar's early stuff (Sin City and Daredevil.) (The Daredevil show takes a lot of inspiration from Millar's run.)
Grant Morrison's Animal Man!
Hellblazer (What? I love this book!)
Geoff John's Aquaman. (Mixed for most people, but I love his work with the Atlantean King.)
All Star Superman. (Mandatory reading for any comic fan)
Starman by James Robinson
JLA/Titans Technus Imperative (This little miniseries got Linkara into comics)
Deadpool. (Because, Deadpool is awesome!)

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I actually had a bizzare idea for a story involving the court operating in Equestria, with Owlicious being an agent of there's keeping Twilight under control. But yeah, the whole Thomas Wayne Junior thing was a little weird. But I do love how Snyder managed to update the idea of Owlman into a more modern threat. Many say it's a rip off of the Black Glove, but I find the Court represents the bigger danger. Like you said, they have the Owl eating a bat metaphor, but it's also the idea of Gotham itself. Batman has spent a good deal of time believing he was running the show, he was the one in charge, but the Court... They were the ones who really ran the show, and ultimately this is why I love this comic: It understood how to make Batman THREATENED without making him a complete and utter idiot or backing him into a corner. Like say, the Dark Knight Rises, that one was a threat because he was inexperienced and made some poor decisions. This time, the Court was an active threat because Batman was overconfident, didn't know anything about his opponents, and they were actually pretty tough! Sorry, twas rambling.

4713820 Huh... That's not a bad idea actually, good job.

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Yup, I really do hate the idea that a hero has to be nerfed to be challenged. It's the argument for why people say Superman 'isn't interesting' because he's so powerful nothing can threaten him... UMMM Magic, other Aliens, and Kryptonite? And besides, Superman can still have his ideals threatened, right? I mean, like I said, one of my FAVORITE episodes of Justice League was the appearance of Doctor Destiny (Which reminds me, why isn't the Justice League movie featuring Starro or Destiny?!)

Anyway, each member was trapped inside a dream (The exceptions being Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Batman.) And Superman's nightmare featured him slowly getting more and more powerful... And subsequently being unable to control that power, causing him to kill everyone he loved. See, that's an interesting conflict that both works for Superman, AND features how powerful he can be!

So yeah, people who say Superhero's aren't interesting because of there power... What are they talking about?!

(Also, I'm kinda hoping for a battle between The Rouges and Barry/Wally/Jay in season 2, thoughts?)

4713851 You know it's that reason why a lot of people match up Hulk and Superman in crossover fights. Yes, Hulk isn't ANYWHERE as fast as Superman, but? He can potentially get as STRONG as Superman. Hulk's rage is limitless, to the point during World War Hulk? He was close to SHATTERING Earth just by WALKING on it! It would take about 110 quadrillion megatons of force which is 110,000,000,000,000,000. And? No indication this was even his LIMIT either.

Thor and Superman may get the most match ups, but Thor's main thing, much like Captain Marvel fighting Superman, is the face he has magic on his side. Hulk? I will say this, he could honestly be a legit threat to Superman based on that fact.

It's due to this? I consider Hulk to be Marvel's Superman in that respect. Bruce Banner? Always worries about that, about one day just losing and NO ONE being able to stop him and? It's happened plenty of times in alternate realities. Maestro? Took down ALL the planets heroes without even getting a scratch. This includes Thor!!! Superman? Is capable of the same thing, and Injustice(Who's comics I only keep up with through friends who read them since they incite rage in me due to their rendition of Superman and Wonder Woman) proves that.

As for Barry, I DID hear a rumor that they were going to have Barry as The Flash and reference him. Basically Barry was Wally's uncle still.... But he was The Flash in the 60's and Wally wasn't even born yet and the only villain he had fought? Was Professor Zoom who, in a bid to kill him, ended up cutting Barry's time as The Flash short, but that still meant Wally would become The Flash as a side effect of this change. But the two weren't dead, they just ended up in the Speed Force. Wally and John Stewart actually going back in time to stop it and meet the Green Lantern of the 60's which was Hal Jordan, then with Barry and Hal to the 40's where they'd meet Jay Garrick and Alan Scott.

It was actually going to be a big Flash and somewhat Green Lantern legacy two-parter for JLU, BUT unfortunately they only had The Flash rights for Wally and a few of the main Rogues so they never got to REALLY do that episode. Still would have been cool though.

What I like about the DC Animated Universe is how spread out it is. Yeah superheroes existed all throughout it but... It doesn't seem to be in any kind of ages like Golden Age, Silver Age, and Modern Age. Just spread out and so on, with the current time line just having a lot of superheroes and villains. It's almost like how Marvel does it nowadays with there being a clear START to superheroes like in WWII but not really going into big lapses in them, just superheroes here and there on up until modern day where they really kick off.

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I'd feel wrong if I didn't add this video as a rebuttal.