Somehow, as we near 200 episodes, we still stumble across holes in our coverage. He's appeared in a lot of stories we've covered, but we have never done an episode purely focused on Penguin stories. So this week, we remedy that. We're reading Penguin's first appearance, the story that changed him from supervillain to mobster and the start of his recent maxi-series.

One of the Most Perfect Frame-Ups (Detective Comics V.1 #58)

Odds Against (Detective Comics V.1 #683-684)

The Fall and Rise of Oswald Cobblepot Part 1 (The Penguin #1-5)

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Superman was pretty great, huh? We wanted to keep the good times rolling this week with an episode featuring characters other than the big guy who appeared in the movie. I really wanted to do a Batman/Mr. Terrific team up, but outside team settings, there aren't really any, so we instead went with a classic Bob Haney Metamorpho story, a Batman/Guy Gardner story that doesn't end with Gardner unconscious and the story of Maxwell Lord's infamous heel turn.

Alias the Bat-Hulk (The Brave and the Bold V. # 68)

2011: A Space Oddity (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors # 13)

The OMAC Project/Sacrifice (Countdown to Infinite Crisis # 1, The OMAC Project # 1-6, Superman V.2 # 219, Action Comics V.1 # 829, Adventures Of Superman V.1 # 642-643, Wonder Woman V.2 # 219)

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The birth of the new DC Cinematic Universe... DC Extended Universe... DC... ah whatever the hell they're calling it, kicks off on the big screens this week with the debut of James Gunn's Superman film, so we're obviously tying in because SEO is a powerful thing. We have three more stories of the World's Finest heroes with a delightful Bronze Age oddity and two tales from the President Lex era that feel strangely prescient nowadays.

The Werewolf from Krypton (World's Finest Comics #256)

Lord of the Ring (Superman V.2 #168/Detective Comics V.1 #756)

Public Enemies (Superman/Batman V.1 #1-6)

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The revolving doors of any prison or mental health facility in Gotham City are running jokes, and rightly so; they can't keep a D-lister like Ratcatcher locked up, let alone someone like the Joker. But they do keep winding up back in custody, so there has to be story potential there, right? This week's episode looks at three times Joker wound up locked up. A graphic novel from Dixon and Nolan finds Joker on death row, a tale of Joker's first time in custody and there's a mystery of exactly how all of Gotham's rogues wound up in a warehouse together and only Joker is talking.

Apologies for the sound on Matt's end: this and the next couple episodes had smoe issues, but it's definitely listenable, just echoey.

The Joker: Devil's Advocate OGN

Do You Understand These Rights? (Batman Confidential # 22-25)

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox # 1-7

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Doug Moench wrote Batman stories for about a decade over the course of his runs on the character. And while his Bat work is probably best associated with his collaboration with Kelley Jones, generally his best known collaborator is penciller Paul Gulacy, with whom he defined Shang-Chi over at Marvel. That isn't to say he didn't work wit Gulacy on Batman though. This week we read three of those team-ups, including two Legends of the Dark Knight arcs defining the post-Crisis Hugo Strange and a Batman/Predator crossover.

Also, this episode is partly brought to you by Matt's local library, which had a copy of that out of print crossover. If you're looking to read comics you can't find elsewhere? Check your local library. They're great resources.

Prey (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15)

Bloodmatch (Batman Vs. Predator II #1-4)

Terror (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #137-141)

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The evolution of representation of queer characters in mainstream superhero comics is something that entire books can, and should, be written about. So I'm not going to wax rhapsodic about all the changes here, but it's June and thus Pride Month, and so we're back with queer Bat characters. First we wrap up Greg Rucka's run on Batwoman, next we see the first HarlIvy wedding (in the Injustice Universe of all places) and we read one of the DC Pride anthologies, the one that includes the brilliant story written by the one true voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy.

Cutter (Detective Comics V.1 # 861-863)

Injustice: Year Zero (Injustice: Year Zero Chapters 1-14)

DC Pride 2022

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We're getting near 200 episodes of this show, and many of those episodes have been experiences where we discover fun, fascinating comics. And then there is this week. Patreon backer and friend (?) of the show John Wickham made his pick for his return, and he decided to pick three stories related to the Joker and Joker related characters that could make it to the bottom of the Big Board. He he succeeded. The New 52 Harley, Joker's Daughter and her nonsense underground kingdom and Three Jokers all appear, all are terrible, and one takes it's spot in the opposite of rarified air at the very bottom of the Big Board. Try to guess which one. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Harley Lives! (Detective Comics V.2 #23.2)

Down Under (Catwoman V.4 #22-24 & 26, Batman: The Dark Knight v.2 #23.4)

Batman: The Three Jokers #1-3

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We're back to our three runs we're following in order. In No Man's Land, we meet a new character who will be an important part of the Bat Family moving forward. In the Morrison run, we get some side stories in the run up to The Return of Bruce Wayne. And in Injustice, Renee Montoya hits Superman with the Washington Monument.

Mark of Cain (Batman V.1 #567, Detective Comics V.1 #734)

Time and Batman (Batman V.1 #700-703)

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Four V.1 (Injustice: Gods Among Us- Year Four #1-7)

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Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight was a title like no other at the time, with its rotating creative teams of big name creators. As the series progressed, some of the creative teams featured less well known creators, but the series always tried to do something different, even if some themes came up over and over. Patreon backer and friend of the show Josh Weil stumbled across a trade featuring three LotDK stories of Batman fighting monsters called, well, Batman: Monsters, and those are the stories we cover this episode.

Werewolf (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 71-73)

Infected (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 83-84)

Clay (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 89-90)

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Y'know, sometimes you get an episode request, and you wind up with stories better than you could have expected. Patreon backer and friend of the show Matt McThorn specifically wanted to talk about the Batman annual with the origin of Clownhunter and art by James Stokoe. So we decided, what better theme than more annuals. And not to spoil too much, but we wound up with not one, but two new stories in the top 100 of the Big Board. And one very weird story quite a bit lower, but that's still a great showing for the night.

There is Hope in Crime Alley (Batman V.3 Annual # 5)

Everyday. (Batman V.3 Annual # 4)

Slade's Demon (Batman V.1 Annual # 12)

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