BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

This week, one of the defining writers of DC Comics in the 80s and early 90s will turn 75 years old. John Ostrander has a storied career over more than 40 years. He created an indy hit with his creator owned mercenary, Grimjack, and wrote some of the best received Star Wars comics ever. His work at DC includes The Suicide Squad, the Spectre, Martian Manhunter, Hawkworld, Manhunter and The Kents. But if you have that length and breadth of a career, you're going to wind up writing some Batman. So this week, we're reading three Ostrander stories featuring Batman or his rogues. We discuss the value of melodrama in the life of a supervillain. learn some facts about Penguin's favorite fictional character and read one story that probably shouldn't have been included in an episode meant to celebrate a writer, since even the best sometimes miss.

And here is the link Kevin Conroy reading the dialogue from a scene in The Dark Knight, as promised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xIcjQGcgLk

Deadshot # 1-4

Batman: Penguin Triumphant

Grotesk (Batman V.1 # 659-662)

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 been a while, but we're back reading the three series/runs that we have been following (mostly) in order. In No Man's Land, both Batman and Jim Gordon make some choices that definitely won't come back to bite them on the butt. In the Morrison run, they investigate ethics in vigilantism and Jason Todd's hair color. And in Injustice, well, things still find a way to get worse.

Content warning: This episode was recorded a month ago, and the opening contains a lengthy discussion about problematic creators, a topic that feels especially sensitive after events of the past week, as well as discussions of child endangerment, homophobia, transphobia, and suicide. If you want to skip right to the comics talk, that begins at timestamp 17:50.

Mosaic (Batman V.1 # 565/ Detective Comics V.1 # 732)

Revenge of the Red Hood (Batman and Robin V.1 # 4-6)

Injustice: Year Two Vol. 2 (Injustice: Gods Among Us- Year Two

#6-12, Annual # 1)

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 law of diminishing returns is often true. It's like that movie with Michael Keaton, Multiplicity (see, already brought it around to Batman!), the more times you tell a story, the more diluted or off it becomes. We have seen this proven wrong a few times: the newest versions of the Monk, the Monster Men, and the first Batman/Joker confrontation are ranked highest. Sadly, the same can not be said for the first meeting of Batman and Superman. We already covered three, and the best was the first, and Patreon backer John Wickham brought three more, and none of them are better. This time as have an early Silver Age story, a New 52 story and latter day Frank Miller. So... yeah...

The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team (World's Finest Comics # 94)

Cross World (Batman/Superman V.1 # 1-4)

Superman: Year One # 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

Josh Weil is back, and he's bringing his favorite character with him. It's time for Batman to team up again with Ollie Queen, Green Arrow. We're reading the classic Haney/Adams story where Ollie grows his signature facial hair, a team up that also includes the Question, and some questionable content involving Poison Ivy.

And just to be clear, the proposed episode title of "Flipper Penis" would have lead to some issues on some podcast apps, or otherwise that would be the title.

The Senator Has Been Shot! (The Brave and the Bold V.1 # 85)

Fables (Detective Comics V.1 Annual # 1, Green Arrow V.2 Annual #1 , The Question V.1 Annual # 1)

Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow

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

Comic books are, by their very nature, a blended medium. They are a synthesis of words and pictures, and the best ones exist in a space where the two are speaking the same language. Podcasting is an aural medium, told entirely through words and sounds. That is all to say that it's not always easy to blend the more visual nature of comics with podcasting. And this week, well, we're discussing three single issues with iconic covers. We have a classic 60s cover inspired by the height of Batmania, a Todd McFarlane cover that has been made into statues and ads, and a Simone Bianchi cover that Will remembers from its use as the prototypical Detective Comics cover on Comixology.

Batman's Baffling Turnabout (Batman V.1 # 183)

You Should Seen Him... (Batman V.1 # 423)

Sharkbait (Detective Comics V.1 # 828)

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

We've read a lot of great comics for this podcast. Tonight? We are not doing that. Tonight we are reading three stories that were on the document of possible episode topics marked as "Three Stories that Matt Remembers Hating." And Matt's taste has apparently has not changed much since he first read these, because this is, far and away, the lowest ranked episode on average of any we have done. See the complete destruction of a beloved Batman cast member, read the story Matt has dubbed "The Bad Lebowski," and see if you can appreciate a book where Batman is an honest to goodness abusive parent to Robin

Content warning: Will got so angry a couple times in this episode, there was nothing Matt could do to make his volume within the normal register of the show. Listeners using headphones have been warned.

War Crimes (Batman Allies Secret Files 2005, Batman Villains Secret Files 2005, Detective Comics V.1 # 809-810, Batman V.1 # 643-644)

Darker Than Death (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 207-211)

Robin & Batman # 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

"Jason Todd was dead. There is no doubt whatever about that." Sorry, now that I have used that expensive English degree to paraphrase Dickens, we can get on with this intro. This week, we're returning to stories featuring Jason Todd, including one of the biggest Batman stories that we haven't covered yet. See Post-Crisis Jason meet Dick Grayson for the first time, wonder what might have been with the release of the version of Batman #428 where Robin Lives! and I hope you're up on everything going on in DC Comics is 2005 and 2006 before you listen to us try to break down Under the Red Hood.

White Gold and Truth (Batman V.1 # 416)

From the DC Vault: Batman # 428- Robin Lives

Under the Red Hood (Batman V.1 # 635-641, 645-650)

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 winter here in the US, and it is cold (well, it should be anyway. Damn climate change). And who is colder than Victor Fries, the villain known as Dr. Freeze. Wait, it's Mr. Freeze? Isn't he at least a Ph.D if not an MD? So Dr. Doom can call himself a doctor with his honorary degree from Latveria U, but Freeze is just a mister? Well, that's something. Anyway, Freeze was a pretty generic cold villain until he was redefined for Batman: The Animated Series. And since then, that particular origin has made tis way into the comics, with different variations. This week, we're reading three different versions of that modern Freeze origin. One comes from Will's favorite, Paul Dini, one is from the New 52 and one is part of DC's recent One Bad Day one-shots.

Batman: Mr. Freeze

First Snow (Batman V.2 Annual #1)

Batman: One Bad Day- Mr. Freeze

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

Of all of Jack Kirby's creations at DC, the Fourth World is probably the most well known, the most expansive, and the most ill used by other creators over the years. Some really get the wild cosmic and Shakespearean vibe the King of Comics was putting down. Some don't and just try to make the New Gods just any other team of super heroes. And because of the high cosmic of the Fourth World, Batman usually approaches these characters from a different angle; as opposed to Superman, he rarely goes to New Genesis or teams up with Orion. But sometimes, Batman does cross paths with the heroic gods of New Genesis and the dark gods of Apokolips. This week, we're looking at three of those stories. We have a Bob Haney joint from the 70s, Jim Starlin trying his cosmic hand at DC and the next stop on our look at Grant Morrison's DC opus

Death by the Ounce (The Brave and the Bold V.1 # 128)

Cosmic Odyssey # 1-4

Final Crisis (DC Universe # 0, Final Crisis # 1-7, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond # 1-2, Final Crisis Submit, Batman V.1 # 682-683)

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 Valentine's Day week, and I may or may not have forgotten about that when I was scheduling episodes this year. Fortunately, ComicsXF writer and friend of the show Tony Thornley picked some stories that work pretty well for Valentine's Day. You see, these are all about love: brotherly love, romantic love, and the love between best friends. We're reading three stories of Dick Grayson and the people closest to him: Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Wally West.

The Boys (Nightwing V.2 # 25)

On Wings (Bords of Prey V.1 # 8)

Doorway to Nightmare (Flash Plus # 1)

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