Friend of the show and Patreon backer Josh Weil decided to take up a challenge: come up with three stories that he thought could make the top 50 of the Big Board. And gotta, say, with no spoilers, he did a pretty good job. We see Bruce Wayne mourning the loss of his son, Batman and Catwoman taking a post-engagement trip and Nightwing taking fight.

Undone (Batman & Robin V.2 # 18)

Rules of Engagement (Batman V.3 # 33-35)

Leaping Into the Light (Nightwing V.4 # 78-83)

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We’re in the heart of June, which is Pride Month, so BatChat is joined by the hosts of the Gotham Outsiders podcast to talk about three stories featuring the queer residents of Gotham. Kate Kane’s origin is revealed, Tim Drake comes out, and animated Harley and Ivy go on a road trip. Oh, and towards the end, Will does his Matt impression, something that editor Matt couldn’t bring himself to cut.

And buckle in for this one, folks. We definitely earn that “E” for explicit this episode.

Go (Detective Comics V.1 # 858-860)

Sum of Our Parts (Batman: Urban Legends # 4-6, 10, DC Pride Tim Drake Special # 1)

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series- The Eat, Bang, Kill Tour # 1-6

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We're joined this week by our newest Dick Grayson tier backer, Matt McThorn, who wanted to talk about series released under DC's mature readers (mostly) super-hero imprint, Black Label. We have the infamous debit book of the line, where Batman goes full frontal, a story of the Joker driving his therapist insane (not that therapist, another one), and a journey through a dark mirror Gotham. And yes, even Gotham can have a dark mirror, as hard as that is to believe.

Batman: Damned # 1-3

Joker: Killer Smile # 1-3, Batman: The Smile Killer # 1

Batman: City of Madness # 1-3

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I was going to try to come up with something funny and misleading to make it seem like we were talking about the Marvel character Venom for this intro, but my brain isn't coming up with anything. This week's episode is about Bane, the man who broke the Bat, and does indeed spend a lot of time interrogating his relationship with the drug that powered him at the beginning of his life: Venom. We read the follow up to his first appearance, the story where he joins the Secret Six and some Tom King, so you know Will has feelings.

Thanks to the History of Batman Facebook group for the graphic accompanying this episode over on ComicsXF. Remember, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

Batman: The Vengeance of Bane II

Unhinged (Secret Six V.3 # 1-7)

I Am Suicide (Batman V.3 # 8-13)

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The Joker has wreaked unspeakable trauma on Batman over the years of their rivalry. But there is one man who he has possibly hurt as much, if not more: Jim Gordon. The Joker and Gordon's relationship goes back as far and Joker and Batman's, and Joker has often focused on Gordon. This week, we look at three of the encounters between Gotham's top cop and the Clown Prince of Crime. We witness a flashback to Gordon and Joker's first solo confrontation, see what happens the first time the two meet after The Killing Joke and read an opus as Gordon goes on a worldwide hunt for Joker.

Duty (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #105-106)

Wildcard! (Batman V.1 #450-451)

The Joker V.2 #1-16, Annual #1, Batman V.3 #100, Batman: Joker War Zone

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For those of you out there who back the BatChat Patreon, you have heard Matt & will talk about all manner of Batman media: movies, episodes of animated series and live action TV, narrative podcasts. And this week, we're taking that energy, but swapping it around so we can talk about the comic adaptations of three of the highest ranked stories on the Bonus Episode Little Board: Batman '89, Mask of the Phantasm, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Batman: The Official Comic Adaptation

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm- The Animated Movie

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

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Matt here, and I am going to be writing in the first person for this one. When I started this podcast, I don't know what I was expecting. Will and I had been writing the BatChat column for a while. Dan Grote and I had been recording the ComicsXF Interview Podcast (then WMQ&A) for quite a bit longer. I just wanted to talk Batman some more. I didn't know if it would work, and if it did if it would last. And here we are, ranking story 400. I just want to thank everyone for listening, out Patreon backers for backing, and Will and my friends and partners for putting up with all this chatting about Bat. We're going back to some anthology series this week, a favorite topic for us, with a collection of Batman: Black and White stories, a Legends of the Dark Knight from James Robinson (a favorite of mine) and Dan Brereton (a favorite of Will's) and a Secret Origins with some truly excellent creators.

Batman: Black & White- The Gotham Knights Stories V.1 (Batman: Black & White Vol.2 TPB)

Playground (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 114)

Original Sins (Secret Origins V.2 Special # 1)

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Having multiple heroic identities is not something unique in the Bat family. Pretty much everyone has had more than one except for, well, Bruce Wayne. But Stephanie Brown has had three very distinct identities that all very much signify different things about the character. And as we have covered some of the worst stories about her, we only thought it fair to cover some better ones. So this week, we're reading the first appearance of Spoiler, one of Steph's few run ins with a major villain as Robin, and debut as Batgirl.

Inquiring Minds (Detective Comics V.1 # 647-649)

... And Red All Over (Detective Comics V.1 # 796)

Batgirl Rising: Point of New Origin (Batgirl V.3 # 1-3)

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It's time to celebrate! Matt's other show, The ComicsXF Interview Podcast, reached episode 300 this week. And so for that celebration, that show's co-host, the first ever BatChat guest, Matt's best friend of over 30 years, ComicsXF editor-in-chief Dan Grote is joining BatChat again. We are talking stories from three creators who have been interviewed on the podcast formerly known and WMQ&A (find out about the name change by listening). Those creators are Kelly Jones (with a side of another BatChat fave, Matt Wagner- https://soundcloud.com/dan-grote-754829938/wmqa-episode-280-dracula-motherfers-with-matt-wagner-kelley-jones), Joe Kelly (https://soundcloud.com/dan-grote-754829938/wmqa-episode-241-joe-kelly-talks-about-his-dad-classic-cars-and-sonics-feet) and Scott Snyder (https://soundcloud.com/dan-grote-754829938/wmqa-episode-125-scott-snyders-eternal-darkness, https://soundcloud.com/dan-grote-754829938/wmqa-episode-200-scott-snyder-helps-us-celebrate)

Darkest Night of the Man-Bat (Batman V.1 # 536-538)

Who Would Win? (Superman/Batman V.1 # 78)

Nowhere Man (Batman V.2 # 19-20)

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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)

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