Watching the DCAU is both good and bad; on the one hand, you get to see a cartoon produced by people who genuinely understood the character the characters they were writing for and how they appealed to viewers. On the other, that's actually incredibly rare, particularly when it comes to DC, so be prepared to be disappointed when watching or reading 90% of all other representations of the same characters.

If you're looking for something to read in the same vein, the companion comic for Batman: The Animated Series was actually pretty fantastic, using the same well judged takes on the character that made B:TAS such a runaway success. It's called Gotham Adventures, look it up.

Gah, I am such a comic book snob...