BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

There are those creators you just come back to, whose work never ceases to amaze. Darwyn Cooke is one of those creators. Passing on too young, Cooke still left an impressive body of work, a lot of which was Batman or Batman adjacent. We're returning to his work this week with two intertwined tales of Catwoman and a one shot that follows up on New Frontier that proves even the best creator does miss every now and then.

Trail of the Catwoman (Detective Comics V.1 # 759-762 back-ups)

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score OGN

Justice League: The New Frontier Special

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

At 120 episodes, we've covered a lot of Batman comics. A lot. But I think few have been more contentious, both in the fandom and on this podcast, as the ones this week. Because this week we're talking about the Tom King run, the creator with possibly the biggest gaps in his work on The Big Board, and specifically the stories around the not-wedding of Batman and Catwoman. We see the proposal, with Tom King's formalist tricks, some one-shots not by King that really don't do much, and the issues leading up to the wedding, which contain some of the heights, and the nadir, of King's run. All while joined by return guest, and Will's better half, Abigale Heartbalm.

Every Epilogue is a Prelude (Batman V.3 # 24)

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding # 1-5

The Wedding (Batman V.3 # 44-50, DC Nation # 0)

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

Ah, my sweet summer children, let me tell you of a time called the early 90s. It was a time of hope. It was a time of questionable fashion. And it was a time when there were only three monthly Batman family titles, and one of them very rarely interacted with the others. This week, we're going back to those times long ago and reading three small inter-Bat title crossovers. We see Harold join the cast of the Bat titles while Penguin pines for a soap star and does his best Hitchcock impression, Batman trips balls to stop a brain stealing psychic entity, and the first crossover that had all three Bat titles and brought the architecture of Batman '89 to the comics

The Penguin Affair (Batman V.1 # 448-449, Detective Comics V.1 # 615)

The Idiot Root (Batman V.1 # 472-473, Detective Comics V.1 # 639-640)

Destroyer (Batman V.1 # 474, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 27, Detective Comics V.1 # 641)

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

Will is so very tried. Three weeks in a row of big superhero stories. Not a single mobster or Year One era, bare bones Batman story to be found. Because this week, Dick Grayson tier Patreon backer Josh Weil is back, and we're talking Batman getting super powers! We get a Freaky Friday with the Justice League, a messy alien invasion and a Geoff Johns joint that doesn't know what it wants to be.

JLA: Foreign Bodies

The Enemies Among Us (Superman/Batman V.1 # 28-33)

The Amazo Virus (Justice League V.2 # 35-39)

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

Last week, we talked about the Justice League International. This week, Dick Grayson Tier Patreon backer John Wickham joins us to talk about the other late 80s DC team that spun out of the Legends event, the Suicide Squad. And while the Justice League was mostly comedy, the Squad is not. We read three very different versions of the Squad in a story where Amanda Waller shows her metal, the New 52 origin of Harley Quinn and a Rebirth event where the Suicide Squad faces a Justice League that has moved past the Bwah-Ha-Ha era.

Up Against the Wall (Suicide Squad V.1 # 10)

The Hunt for Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad V.4 # 6-7)

Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad # 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

The Justice League International era of the mid-to-late 80s was a sea change for the Justice League franchise. While there were still superheroics, the book became grounded in character based humor; the series was basically a workplace sitcom. And early in the run, Batman was a regular member, basically the grouchy boss who couldn't put up with all these shenanigans. And if you've listened to this show, you know that Will loves nothing more than shenanigans and humor in his Batman comics, right? Right? Ok, this one is going to be something...

Massacre In Gray (Justice League V.1 #5-6)

Hit Or Miss! (Justice League International Annual #2)

Bruce Wayne in Bialya (Justice League International V.1 #16-17)

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 the New Year, and so here at BatChat we like to look at different versions of Batman at this time, so we're going back into Elseworlds territory. But this year, it's a very specific type of Elseworld: the historical Elseworld, ones transplanting DC heroes and concepts into bygone days. And specifically we're looking at three stories from the early 20th century: Batman as a Robin Hood-esque thief in the 1910s, Batman doing all sorts of bizarre stuff in the mid-30s (He goes to a party with Hitler, for &%*#$ sake) and a film star playing Batman who maybe gets a little into his role. Happy New Year, everybody!

Batman: The Golden Streets of Gotham

Batman: Dark Allegiances

Batman: Hollywood Knight #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

Merry Bats-Mas to one and all! We're getting near Christmas, and so it's time to go back to the holiday stories in Gotham well (and if you think we might run out any time soon, have no fears, we've got stories for years). This year, we're reading the first Batman Christmas story, which features some weird not-really tie ins to A Christmas Carol, an animated universe Batman story by Paul Dini, so you know Will has feelings, and a truly mixed bag Batman annual from the dawn of the Rebirth era.

Christmas (Batman V.1 # 9)

A Christmas Riddle (Batman & Robin Adventures # 3)

Batman V.3 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

I was going to start this with the Court of Owls nursery rhyme, but I believe I did that when we actually covered the original Snyder Court of Owls story, so instead you're just going to get my usual ramble. This week, Patreon backer Matt McThorn has a request, and it's stories of the Court of Owls and the sensational character find of 2012, Calvin Rose, the Talon turned hero. Who's that, you may ask if you weren't reading Batman related comics in 2012 and 2013? Well, listen here and find out. We also look at a one off that goes into some of the history of the Court and read their introduction to the DC Animated Universe.

Exquisite Dread (Batman and Robin V.2 # 23.2)

Scourge of Owls (Talon # 0-7)

Court Fight (Batman: The Adventures Continue-Season Two # 1-2)

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

Originally introduced in the 1950s, Batwoman has gone from a forgotten character to one who is a queer icon and headlined her own TV series. Kate and Kathy Kane are very distinct characters, and this week, we'll be reading stories featuring them both, thanks to a request from Sam Hopper. We see Kathy meet Bat-Mite, Kate's first solo outing and James Tynion IV's run on Detective Comics begin in a story that not just features Kate but Tim Drake, so we all know Matt has feelings about that one.

Batwoman's Publicity Agent (Batman V.1 # 133)

Elegy (Detective Comics V.1 # 854-857)

Rise of the Batmen (Detective Comics V.3 # 934-940)

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