BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

So, because of a combination of vacations and heavy workload, editing a proper BatChat did not happen this week. Instead, we're taking an episode of our Patreon exclusive content from behind the pay wall. Tune in to hear a tribute to the man who defined Batman for a generation: Kevin Conroy. And if you like it, follow that Patreon link at the bottom of this post to get plenty of more of this even...

Hey look, it's Valentine's week! And since Grant Morrison once called Batman a, "hairy chested love god," who are we to argue? That means it's time for three tales of the Dark Knight and romance! Strange Apparitions (Detective Comics V.1 # 471-476) The Return of Scarface (Batman V.1 # 475-476, Detective Comics V.1 # 642) Perchance... (JLA # 90) Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.co...

Hugo Strange is one of Batman's first recurring nemeses. And when Strange appears, he often brings with him his Monster Men, evil science experiments that Strange uses for his twisted plans. This week, in another thrice told tale, we see three versions of Batman confronting Strange and his creatures. The Giants of Hugo Strange (Batman V.1 #1) Batman and the Monster Men (Batman and the Monster Men...

Of the many writers who have written tales of the Dark Knight over the past 15 years, few if any have left their mark as much as Scott Snyder. Creator of the Court of Owls, with an impressive 52 issue run on Batman proper, not counting many other series and mini-series, Snyder explores the fears of modern society, and specifically his own, in his writing. This week, it's time to read three stories...

A sinister laugh over the airwaves. A threat. And death with a rictus grin. Those are aspects that each version of Batman's first encounter with his greatest foe, the Joker, have in common. But as with many tales from the Golden Age of comics, this is a story that he been told and retold numerous times. This week, we look at three versions of that story, where the Dark Knight first crosses swords...

Batman, as I think this show has proven, is a character who exists, and works, in an infinite number of permutations. And of all of those, one of the most famous is that of the campy Batman '66. But does that Batman work with other characters from other franchises, or is his bright world a little too bright and weird for that. It's the question asked and answered in this week's episode, where we l...

So, this is, to quote Will, by far our stupidest episode ever. But it's episode 69, so Will wanted to go wild with it, and Matt really didn't want to find a new co-host, so he agreed to this. It's three Batman stories with panels that have spawned internet memes. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1-6 The Joker's Comedy of Errors (Batman V.1 # 66) The Clash of Cape and Cowl (World's Finest Comi...

One of the earliest foes that Batman ever faced was the vampire known as The Monk who, at the end of his first storyline, Batman killed. With a gun. It was the Golden Age. But death has never kept a comic book character down, and with alternate Earths and reboot, The Monk has returned in very different forms multiple times. Patreon backer Tim Rooney asked us to cover the Bronze Age Monk story, and...

It's time to say goodbye to the old year and ring in the new one with three new takes on Batman in this year's Elseworlds episode! Now granted, one of these Batmans is pretty familiar and one is an old Batman, but one is certainly very different. And hey, it's tradition, so there we go. Happy new year to one and all, and we look forward to another year of chatting Bat. Kingdom Come # 1-4 Batman/Da...

OK, so if you've listened to this podcast, you know that your intrepid hosts love a good tangent. This week, well, the tangents take over for a while. You get your standard moments of Star Trek (what are the actually good episodes of TOS), but you also get ten minutes on the oeuvre of a band it turns out both Matt & Will love and they didn't realize it until recording: The Barenaked Ladies. Oh, an...

Damian Wayne remains a character who is controversial around these parts; Will can't stand him, and Matt, well, he's the kid who beat up Tim Drake, so there remains some beef there. But there are all sorts of stories of Damian, and many of them are stories of Damian in possible futures or alternate worlds, and this week we're diving into three of them. This one goes out to our youngest fan, Alexan...

Fellow ComicsXF writer Tony Thornley joins us this week just in time for the new Batman/Spawn crossover to talk about other times that Batman has met characters from across the comic book omniverse. Batman meets alien hunters, an arachnid themed hero and the hellspawn he'll be meeting again. Intercompany crossovers are a weird and wild beast, and these stories are no different. Batman Vs. Predator...

Welcome to teen hero comics of the 90s. It's a very very mixed bag. For all the charm that some have, some... don't. Friend of the show and Patreon backer Josh Weil really wanted to talk about Impulse #50, so we found some other stories of teen heroes in the 90s and Batman, specifically the teen heroes of Young Justice. This gave Will his first non-Star Trek exposure to two time GLAAD award winnin...

It's Thanksgiving, and we here at BatChat are the giving types. So we want to give you something you can share with your whole family to drown out the talk of politics and sportsball of various sorts this American turkey day. So we are once again digging into all ages Batman stories. This episode we see team ups with Superman, Scooby-Doo and (kinda sorta) Encyclopedia Brown! Batman's Mystery Caseb...

He's muddy. He's powerful. He's... a lot of different people, actually. Because there have been many villains named Clayface, and this episode we look at three stories featuring different permutations of that particular rogue. Also, a brief tribute to the mate, great Kevin Conroy. The Mud Pack (Detective Comics V.1 # 604-607) The Great Joker/Clayface Feud (Batman V.1 # 159) Larceny, My Sweet (Batm...

It's another Patreon request, as Abigale Heartbalm returns. She wanted to talk about the original Venom story, and after we realized she meant the Legends of the Dark Knight arc about the super steroid and not a DC/Marvel crossover we didn't remember, it was decided that this week's theme would be Batman and drugs. Venom (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20) Leaves of Grass (Batman: Shadow o...

So, this week, it's Matt's birthday recording, and as opposed to Will, who picked stuff based on gut instinct (and who must have had a stomach ache based on what we got), Matt went with three stories from his younger years that he remembers really liking. The results are considerably better. We get some Grant and Breyfogle, John Ostrander writing a comic within a comic, and rare Brian Stelfreeze i...

Batman and Halloween: two great tastes that taste great together. This week, we're going back to a creative team that we have read a lot of work by, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, for their first collaborations on Batman, and the last we have to cover, the Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials. They're spooky and gorgeous, but can they top the previous stories by these creators who made such a st...

We recorded this episode mere days before the Will's birthday, and so it was up to Will to pick the stories. So he satisfied his curiosity about the story where Scarecrow kills his dean, adds in some more Moench and Jones and closes a narrative loop for the podcast. The results for the Big Board are... Well, my mom always said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Fort...

In another moment that makes Matt feel like he's not so slowly turning to dust, "Hush," the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee neo-classic, is turning twenty years old this week. Or is it a classic? That is what Matt and Will are looking at this week, with three stories starring the Batman villain most likely to make you want to punch him in his arrogant jerk mouth, the Riddler. Hush (Batman V.1 # 608-619) Remarka...

Ed Brubaker is one of the best crime writers in comics, and before going over and writing some of the best comics on the market for Image, he did runs on various Batman and Batman family titles. This week, we're reading three stories from three different runs on those titles. Fearless (Batman V.1 # 582-583) Made of Wood (Detective Comics V.1 # 784-786) Soft Targets (Gotham Central # 12-15) CW: Sui...

This is the one Matt has been waiting for. To tie in with the first issue of his new ongoing series, we're looking at three stories from the history of the best Robin, and Matt will brook no argument on this one, Tim Drake. See his origin, his return to Gotham from training, and his dark night of the soul. A Lonely Place of Dying (Batman V.1 # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61) Shadow Box (Batman V.1 #...

It's another Patreon request this week! John Wickham, Jason Todd tier backer wanted us to talk about the story where Swamp Thing comes to Gotham and turns the city into a jungle, so we are, as well as two other stories where Batman meets Swamp Thing. The Garden of Earthly Delights(Swamp Thing V.2 # 52-53) The Brave and the Mold (Batman V.3 # 23) The Delta Connection (The Brave and the Bold V.1 # 1...

Batman: The Animated Series turned 30 years old last week, and with it, the show's most popular addition to the Batman canon, Harley Quinn. Harley went from Joker's henchgirl to starring in her own comics, animated series and movies, making her easily one of the two most popular characters in all of comics over the past 35 years. So this week, we're looking at three stories that track Harley's evo...

He's a billionaire who fights crime with nothing but his wits and his training. He has a family of sidekicks. He is known for having all sorts of emotional baggage and issues. He is... Green Arrow. This week, we sit down with Patreon backer Josh Weil to talk about three stories where Batman meets an Emerald Archer. It Takes Two Wings to Fly (Detective Comics V.1 #559) The Brotherhood of the Fist (...