BatChat With Matt & Will: A Batman Ranking Podcast

The Bat family has grown considerably over the years. What started out as Batman and Robin now contains what seems to be a dozen or more characters. And recent years have seen many attempts to add characters who would be big hits and draw massive popularity. And while this has created some good characters, none of the characters created in period of the New 52 and early Rebirth eras took off to become characters who headlined their own books, for example. This week, we read stories about three of those characters: Harper Row, Duke Thomas, and Gotham Girl.

Ghost in the Machine (Batman V.2 # 12)

I Am Gotham (Batman: Rebirth # 1, Batman V.3 # 1-6)

The Cursed Wheel (All-Star Batman # 1-4, 6-9 Back-Ups)

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

Mainstream superhero comics have been a boys' club since their invention, and while things have gotten better in recent years, it is telling how few Batman comics have women writers, outside the works of Devin Grayson and Mariko Tamaki. For the last week of March, of Women's History Month, we're reading three stories by other women who have written Bat titles. We have a fun and completely insane three issue arc of 90s Detective Comics from Louise Simonson, the first arc of Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey, and a single issue of Gotham Academy that brings Damian Wayne to the school co-written by Becky Cloonan (who will be back in next week's episode for her art).

Control Freak (Detective Comics V.1 #635-637)

Of Like Minds (Birds of Prey V.1 #56-59)

Curse of the Inishtree Quill (Gotham Academy #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

Gotham villains seem to spend so much time fighting each other, it's a wonder they have any time to fight Batman. Friend of the show and Patreon backer John Wickham returns for three instances of villain on villain violence, with Blackgate Vs. Arkham during the Forever Evil crossover, Hush Vs. Talia in the run up to Infinite Crisis and The War of Jokes and Riddles, the Tom King story with the breakout star of Kite-Man.

Arkham War (Batman V.2 # 23.4, Forever Evil: Arkham War # 1-6, Forever Evil Aftermath: Batman Vs. Bane)

Job Termination (Batman: Gotham Knights # 66)

The War of Jokes and Riddles/ The Ballad of Kite-Man (Batman V.3 # 25-32)

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

Friend of the show and Patreon backer Josh Weil is a busy guy these days. Josh is running in a special election as the Democratic nominee to be the new Representative for Florida's 6th District. But Josh is such a dedicated fan that he took some time off from his busy schedule to join us and talk about three Batman stories from the Golden Age of Comics: the first appearance of Dr. Death, the first super villain Batman ever fought; the first appearance of Hugo Strange; and a fun story where Batman and Robin solve murders that are using superstitions as the motif of the killings.

Learn more about Josh's campaign website: https://joshweil.us/

Doctor Death (Detective Comics V.1 #29-30)

Batman Meets Professor Hugo Strange (Detective Comics V.1 #36)

The Superstition Murders (Batman V.1 #8)

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 have a soft spot for Wildcat, the Golden Age hero, member of the JSA, and trainer of heroes. And he has a connection to the Bat family, having trained more than one member. So this week we're reading a perfectly whacky issue of Brave and the Bold as only Bob Haney could write it, and two mini-series by Chuck Dixon that feature Bat characters teaming up with Wildcat

May the Best Man Die! (The Brave and the Bold V.1 # 118)

Batman/Wildcat # 1-3

Catwoman/Wildcat # 1-4

Also, we are adding a fourth story to the Big Board, as we are removing one. Due to the mounting sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman, it has become difficult to feature a book that he headlined at the very top of the list. While any other entry on the list that features Gaiman's work is an anthology, "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" Is a book that can't be discussed without Gaiman's contribution, and so it has been removed, and we are also reading "Succession" from Detective Comics V.1 Annual #4, by the wonderful and legendary Louise Simonson, so the Board remains evenly divisible by 3. Please listen to the cold open of the show for more details on our thinking.

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 sit and write this introduction on a February morning where it is in the mid 40s and going up to the low 50s today, but it's still winter, and so we were thinking about the snow and cold when coming up with episodes, and when you think of cold and Gotham, who else do you think about but Mr. Freeze? We feature his first appearance this week, when he was Mr. Zero, as well as an animated series tie-on and the first arc of Gotham Central where Freeze is the antagonist.

The Ice Crimes of Mr. Zero (Batman V.1 # 121)

Polar Opposites (Batman: Gotham Adventures # 5)

In the Line of Duty (Gotham Central # 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

I usually try to put something witty or informative here. But this week, Patreon backer Matt McThorn is back, and he asked us to read Neal Adams's mad dream, Batman: Odyssey. He didn't know what he was getting himself or us into, so we have forgiven him, but this one feels like an all-timer. We also read two Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams stories from the 70s, as well as a classic EC Comics story that we don't rank since it's not a Batman story, but ties in with what we're talking about, and you can read it on-line HERE: https://from-dusk-till-drawn.com/2016/05/02/master-race-by-bernie-krigstein-usa-1955/. It ties in with Night of the Reaper, so if you haven't read that and a reading along, I would suggest reading that before reading this story. But aside from that homework, get ready for dinosaurs, the hollow Earth, stream of consciousness and Jazz wizards.

A Vow From the Grave (Detective Comics V.1 #410)

Night of the Reaper (Batman V.1 #237)

Batman: Odyssey (Batman: Odyssey V.1 #1-6, V.2 #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

Lightning can strike twice. But not often. The original Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series was a collection of classic creators doing amazing stories. DC has tried to recapture that magic multiple times, and that lightning has never quite hit again. Legends of the DC Universe was another attempt to get that magic, but this time for the entire DC Universe. Three of the arcs of that series featured Batman related characters: one featuring Robin, one featuring Batgirl and one featuring the Joker. This week we read those three stories.

Fear of God (Legends of the DC Universe #6)

Folie a Deux (Legends of the DC Universe #9-10)

The Fishy Laugh (Legends of the DC Universe #26-27)

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 wanted to talk about Paul Dini and Alex Ross's graphic album, Batman: War On Crime, so the logical episode theme was more Paul Dini stories, so this is not Matt 100% forcing more Dini on Will. And while Matt didn't do it intentionally, well, he did wind up picking a story with Zatanna, because there are so many of them. But he also picked a story with some fun characters that sadly have been forgotten that Dini created, and that's a point in his favor, right? Right?

Batman: War on Crime OGN

Opening Night (Detective Comics V.1 #843-844)

Final Cut (Batman: Streets of Gotham #4, 7, 10-11)

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 always a good time for us to return to the runs that we're following in order. This time, things go from bad to worse in No Man's Land, Dick Grayson investigates Wayne Manor for clues to Bruce Wayne's whereabouts while Damian has a strange encounter with Oberon Sexton, and the magical war in the Injustice world reaches its epic conclusion.

Claim Jumping (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 119, Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 87)

Batman Vs. Robin (Batman and Robin V.1 # 10-12)

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three V.2 (Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three # 8-12, 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