Batman was created by Bob Kane and first published in 1939. That’s nearly nine decades of artists, inkers, and storytellers giving us infinite permutations of this character, each one just as real and important as the next. My personal favorite is from Batman: The Animated Series, but I remember Adam West’s Batman almost as fondly, and Batman Returns was the first movie I ever truly looked forward to. The Dark Knight feels like a blend of Batman and Heat, two things I absolutely love. For me, there is no definitive Batman; half the fun is the interpretation.

All my favorite Batman stories emphasize his humanity. In a world of gods, ghosts, demons, and demigods of every stripe, Batman is presented as a man driven to his peak, and to his limits, by grief. Despite that pain, he still takes the time to help people even if it is at the expense of his life.

Neil Gaiman uses different versions of Batman to tell the same anachronistic story: the death of Batman. Friends and enemies stand before his casket and each offers a different version of his final moments, while Batman and his mother, acting as a merciful angel of death, stand apart, talking about and reflecting on each story.

What’s fun about this story is that every time the tale is retold, Batman’s design changes to reflect the version being presented and mark his design change and comic book artist techniques through time. Each incarnation and the story they tell highlights his courage, his heart, and the ways he inspired others, even in the face of his own mortality.

I can’t say this is the best version of Batman, but I can say there is no better story for understanding why this character matters—to the zeitgeist and to his own universe.