BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

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)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

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)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

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

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

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)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

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)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

The second week of villains month, and we love a theme, so why not use this week to have our second Two-Face episode? We've covered a lot of Two-Face stories both for the podcast and the column, and we're swinging back to some classics. We have the first appearance of Two-Face (a two-parter, of course), the annual that redefined Two-Face in the post-Crisis era and an animated series story that puts a spin on that very annual.

The Crimes of Two-Face (Detective Comics V.1 # 66,68)

The Eye of the Beholder (Batman V.1 Annual # 14)

Lucky Day (Batman: Gotham Adventures # 2)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

It's October, the spookiest month of the year. So, what better time to focus on the villains of the Batman universe? There are five Thursdays and we'll be focusing on five villains, all but one we haven't had a spotlight on before. The first villain is a favorite of Matt's, one who has appeared in some of the higher ranked stories on the big board: Mr. Zsasz. The (as Will calls him in the episode) "knife pervert" of the rogue's gallery, we read the story of his origin, a story of him and Batman both being hunted by the GCPD, and a lost tale that was found and printed in an odd manor.

The First Cut is the Deepest: The Secret Origin of Mr. Zsasz (Batman Chronicles # 3)

Victims (Detective Comics V.1 # 815-816)

Draining (Batman: Arkham- Mr. Zsasz [originally intended for Batman: Gotham Knights # 12])

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

It's strange to think that Jason Todd has been back from the dead longer than he was actually dead now. For those of us who read Batman comics in the 90s, the death of Jason was possibly the most important moment in Batman's life after the death of his parents. But he is back, and is now a member on good standing of the Bat family. That was not always the case either. John Wickham joins the podcast to talk about the stories that bridge the gap between "Under the Red Hood" and Grant Morrison's "Revenge of the Red Hood" They are... certainly something, including himbo Dick Grayson, the Brickhouse and not as much battling for the cowl as a story name might imply.

Brothers in Blood (Nightwing V.2 # 118-122)

Seeing Red (Green Arrow V.3 # 69-72)

Batman: Battle for the Cowl # 1-3/ Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?/Batman Alive?

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Our very first Dick Grayson backer, Josh Weil, makes his return to the podcast this week, but he's not picking the stories. Instead, he has gifted his picks this month to our youngest backers, his sons, David and Alexander. They give us stories that show they love sidekicks, young butlers, and giant monsters.

Robin War (Robin War # 1-2, Grayson # 15, Detective Comics V.2 # 47, We Are Robin # 7, Robin: Son of Batman # 17, Gotham Academy # 13, Red Hood/Arsenal # 7, Teen Titans V.5 # 15)

Young Alfred: Pain in the Butler OGN

Justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs Kong

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Batman is a loner. Except for Alfred, the Robins, the Batgirls, Signal, Batwoman and the Justice League. But before many of those characters, there was Ace the Bathound, the first of numerous Bat pets, mostly brought into the cave by Damian, another noted loner , and that club now includes Titus, Alfred the tuxedo cat and Batcow. Another noted dog lover is this week's Patreon backer, Dan Grote, who asked us for stories about Bat pets. So we're going into all ages territory for some Scooby Doo and Tiny Titans, and then reading what might be the most heart warming story Mark Russell ever wrote.

A Dog-gone Crisis (Scooby-Doo Team-Up # 18 [Digital 35-36])

Aw Yeah, Pet Club! (Tiny Titans # 13,17,21,23,28,33)

Hounded (Batman: Urban Legends # 11-16)

Check out our current ranking list at www.comicsxf.com/batchat-rankings/

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Follow the show on Twitter @BatChatComics and support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill