BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

Welcome to your annual, spooky Halloween week BatChat. We've done weeks with vampires, with Man-Bats, with Demons. This year, we're dipping into stories featuring Matt's favorite classic monster: the werewolf. Batman fights the beast under a full moon over the city, and maybe even turns into one...

Moon of the Wolf (Batman V.1 # 255)

Werewolf Moon (Detective Comics V.1 # 505)

Batman: Full Moon # 1-4

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

For you out there, it has only been one week since our last episode. But we took a week off recording so we could really pack in the comics. This week, we're covering the entire, 26 issue run of Batman & Robin Eternal, the weekly series that ran at the end of the New 52 era. It sees the return of some Bat characters lost in the rest of that era, has a lot of flashbacks and gives us a lot to talk about. Plus? Two one shots starring Cassandra Cain.

Batman & Robin Eternal # 1-26

Help Me Not To Die (Batgirl V.1 # 2)

Thicker Than Water (Batgirl V.1 # 37)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Jim Gordon made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27. You know, the same comic that Batman made his first appearance. So, you can imagine the number of stories that Gordon has been featured in. But especially since Frank Miller made "Batman: Year One" as much about Gordon as it is about Batman, that number has exploded, and the history of that character, and his connection to Batman, has been fertile ground for various creators. This week we're looking at three stories about the life and times of Jim Gordon. These are some gritty and dark tales, and they come with some specific trigger warnings, so if you need to skip over some of this, we understand, but these are some fine comics.

Batman: Night Cries OGN [Trigger Warning: Childhood physical and sexual abuse]

Batman: Gordon of Gotham # 1-4 [Trigger Warning: Political violence]

Batman: Turning Points # 1-5

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

We're back following the three runs we've been reading in order for a while now. No Man's Land reaches its midpoint as the Bat family comes home to Gotham and the identity of the new Batgirl is revealed. Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne face their ultimate challenge as they are trapped between Dr. Hurt and the Joker in the final arc of Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin. And Injustice lurches to the conclusion of Year Four as the Justice League and the Resistance find themselves at war not just with each other, but with the Greek Gods.

Assembly (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120)

Batman and Robin Must Die! (Batman and Robin V.1 #13-16, Batman: The Return)

Injustice Year 4 V.2 (Injustice: Gods Among Us- Year Four #8-12, Annual #1)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Gotham Academy returns to comic shops this week with a new prequel series, so we're reading three stories about teens in Gotham. Tim Drake faces a major challenge with his first confrontation with the man who killed the previous Robin, the Joker. Duke Thomas is recruited into the We Are Robin movement in a Gotham with a very different Batman. And the mystery of Gotham Academy deepens.

Robin II: The Joker's Wild # 1-4

We Are Robin (We Are Robin # 1-6)

Calamity (Gotham Academy # 8-12)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Time moves ever forward. I can't believe that Batman Begins is 20 years old this year. As I question my mortality and life choices, this week we read three stories from the Batman Begins trade, including the movie adaptation, a retelling of Batman's origin by Denny O'Neil and a one off by Greg Rucka.

Batman Begins: The Official Movie Adaptation

The Man Who Falls (Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super Heroes TPB)

Air Time (Detective Comics V.1 #757)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

This week, Deadpool/Batman will be released, the first Marvel/DC crossover in well over a decade. And as anyone who knows how comics work, the biggest characters are the ones who get crossed over, and no one at DC is bigger than Batman. So to tie in, we're reading three Batman/Marvel team-ups. These are some fun books, and we have a good time. Plus, Will finally gets us to reverse the way the show works, and it confuses us both. Glad that's over...

Batman Vs. The Incredible Hulk: The Monster and the Madman (DC Specials Series # 27)

Batman/Captain America

New Age Dawning (Batman/Spider-Man)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

We're joined by first time guest and long time Patreon backer Sam Hopper to read some Damian Wayne stories from earlier in the character's life. Back when Damian was a truly insufferable brat. I know, for many of his haters he still is, but man, in these stories he is really something else. We read his first encounter with a member of the Superman family, his first adventure as Robin with his father and his first team-up with his best friend, Jon Kent.

Fright Night (Superman/Batman V.1 # 77)

Born to Kill (Batman and Robin V.2 # 1-8)

In the Name of the Father (Superman V.4 # 10-11)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

There are periods where certain characters have more of a spotlight than others. Sure, there are always a lot of Batman stories, Joker stories. But then there are pockets of time when we get lots of stories focused on Jim Gordon or the Riddler. Between 2003 and 2006, Mr. Freeze had his day. He appeared in major stories like "Under the Hood" and "City of Crime" in supporting roles, and was central to other stories. This week, John Wickham joins us again to talk about three of these stories: the final arc of the first Batgirl series where Freeze is a small player, a one off fill-in issue and a Legends of the Dark Knight arc with a different vision of Freeze's origin.

Destruction's Daughter (Batgirl V.1 #66-73)

Fire & Ice (Batman: Gotham Knights #59)

Snow (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #192-196)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Lady Shiva walks through the world, leaving a trail of bodies behind her. Not a hero, but often not quite a villain, Shiva has developed relationships with many members of the Bat Family: trainer to Tim Drake, rival and sometimes member of the Birds of Prey, mother to Cassandra Cain. Josh Weill joins the show to take on three of these stories. One is one of her earliest modern appearances with Tim Drake, one where she and Black Canary must avenge their fallen sensei and one where she takes command of the League of Shadows and in the end she must face down her own daughter to bring her plan to fruition.

Going Solo (Robin V.1 #1-5)

Sensei and Student (Birds of Prey V.1 #62-67)

League of Shadows (Detective Comics V.3 #950-956)

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

Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill