There was a time in the pre-Crisis days when Batman and Superman were the best of friends. But then the Crisis, and Frank Miller, came along, and things changed. For most of a decade, Batman and Superman's relationship ranged from confrontational to cordial. Patreon backer Josh Weil returns this week to trace the evolution of that relationship back to friendlier terms in three Superman stories guest starring Batman.

Dark Knight Over Metropolis (Superman V.2 # 44, Adventures of Superman V.1 # 467, Action Comics V.1 # 654)

Hazard's Choice (Action Comics V.1 # 719)

Superman: The Wedding Album

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Last week was three random books from Will's collection. This week is three stories that Matt has wanted to cover that don't easily fit in with any themes he has come up with yet. We read some more black and white stories, the sequel to a highly ranked sorry by a late, great writer and an annual from some legendary creators.

Batman: Black and White- The Gotham Knights Stories Vol. 2 (Batman: Gotham Knights # 17-49 or Batman: Black and White Vol. 3 TPB)

Don't Blink (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 164-167)

Villains in Love (Batman V.1 Annual # 11)

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We're back picking through random volumes of mostly weird stuff from Will's bookshelf that he hasn't read before. We return to the wonder that is the Batman '66 follow up series, a sequel to a classic Batman story that may not be as classic and some more Kevin Smith Batman that is something else.

Trigger Warning: This episode was recorded on November 6th, so the opening bit is a lot of feelings about the US Presidential election. If you want to skip that and get to the comics, just start around the 9:18 mark.

Batman '66 V.2 (Batman '66 # 6-10)

Wrath Child (Batman Confidential # 13-16)

Batman: Cacophony # 1-3

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Our annual all ages Thanksgiving episode is back, with a new volume of Wayne Family Adventures. the sequel to the charming Batman & Robin & Howard and a one off crime story from the animated universe.

Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 2 (Wayne Family Adventures #26-51)

Batman & Robin & Howard: Summer Breakdown OGN

How This World Goes? (Batman: Gotham Adventures #21)

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Batman rogues have some seriously strange evolutions. Some, like the Joker, have a path you can easily follow. Others, like Mr. Freeze, have just become completely different over the years. Another like that is Catman, created in the mid-Silver Age as yet another anti-Bat before becoming a joke character, and then evolving into a morally grey anti-villain (I'm coining that right here). Patreon backer Matt McThorn wanted to talk about some Catman stories, so we're reading his first appearance, his first post-Crisis appearance and the mini-series that redefined him for the modern era.

Challenge of the Cat-Man (Detective Comics V.1 # 311)

Cats (Detective Comics V.1 # 612)

Villains United # 1-6

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It's been a while, but we're returning to the three runs that we're following in order. In No Man's Land, we take a break from big story revelations for an anthology month of four of shots. In Grant Morrison's run, Dick Grayson brings Batman's corpse to England to a Lazarus Pit and learns something unexpected (by everyone but Tim Drake, because he's the best). And in the world of Injustice, John Constantine joins the resistance against Superman, as the moral darkness continues to spread

The Calm Before (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 118, Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 86, Batman V.1 # 566, Detective Comics V.1 # 733)

The Blackest Knight (Batman and Robin V.1 # 7-9)

Injustice: Gods Among Us- Year Three Vol. 1 (Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Three # 1-7)

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A fixture in the Bat titles from 1999-2011, and again since Rebirth, Cassandra Cain was the second full time Batgirl. Trained from birth to be a living weapon, Cassandra had to learn not just how to fit in with the Bat family, but how to fit in among normal people. This week, just in time for her new mini-series, we discuss two early stories of Cassandra Cain and the mini-series that tried to rehabilitate the character after editorial missteps left her in a bad way after One Year Later.

Down With the Ship (Batman: Gotham Knights # 2)

Speech & Consequences (Batgirl V.1 # 4-9)

Redemption Road (Batgirl V.2 # 1-6)

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And we have reached the end of October, the spookiest of months, and this the end of villains month. And to wrap it up, we're getting one of the spookiest of Batman villains: Man-Bat. Dr. Kirk Langstrom has an origin really out of the pages of Spider-Man, but someone has wound up a fixture in the Batman titles. Also, he has had more mini-series than any other Bat rogue. Go figure. We read his first appearance, a bizarre prestige format mini that feels straight out of 90s Vertigo and another mini that, while featuring some beautiful Man-Bat art, doesn't feature a ton of Man-Bat, alas.

Man or Bat? (Detective Comics V.1 # 400, 402,407)

The Subterraneans (Batman: Man-Bat # 1-3)

Legends of the World's Finest # 1-3

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Black Mask was Hush before Hush: a villains obsessed not with Batman but with Bruce Wayne, seeking to bring down Bruce for childhood grudges. But over the years he has evolved into a more sadistic figure. As villains month nears its end, we read three stories featuring Roman Sionis: his first appearance, his return in the run up to Knightfall and the story that establishes his modern rivalry with Catwoman.

Losing Face (Batman V.1 # 386-387, Detective Comics V.1 # 553)

Warpaint (Batman V.1 # 484-485)

Relentless (Catwoman V.3 # 12-16)

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Killer Croc is a character who has evolved a great deal over his time, and that pun is only half unintended. He has been a mobster, a monster and an anti-hero. This week, for Villains Month, we look at three different interpretations of Croc. In one, he's a barely human monster running from humanity. In another, he's a supervillain on a killing spree. And in the third, he is the mayor of Monstertown in the sewers of Gotham during Joker War.

Swamp Things (Batman V.1 # 521-522)

Batman In Barcelona: Dragon's Knight

Monsters of Men (Detective Comics V.3 # 1026)

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