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…
Shush stands revealed as Damian learns the identity and origin of this new foe, while Batman remains the prisoner of the Cult of Man-Bat. Batman & Robin #9 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Simone Di Meo and Nikola Cizmesija, colored by Rex Locus and lettered by Steve Wands. Serial killer Christopher Killex is…
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…
Batman has escaped the prison set up by Zur, who now inhabits Failsafe’s robot body. He must prepare to finally confront his robot double. But various other factions are circling Zur, including Gotham’s new police commissioner, Vandal Savage, and Amanda Waller, whose agenda is only helped by a rogue metahuman. “Dark Prisons” begins in Batman…
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…
Gotham is getting stranger. Not only is there a Bat-Man, but now seeming undead Monster Men are rampaging and killing political movers and shakers. Bruce Wayne is in a strange new world, and he has some hard decisions to make if he wants to save his city. The Bat-Man: First Knight #2 is written by…
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…
Batman is back in Gotham, and the city has changed. The Orghams have made it clean, but at a cost of the city. He must gather his allies again and make a final stand. But Catwoman seeks help from a most unexpected source. The lead story of Detective Comics #1,084 is written by Ram V,…
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…
While Damian and Flatline confront her sister, who it turns out has decided to go into the family business of crime, Batman teams up with Shush to put an end to Man-Bat’s reign of terror. But there is more than one betrayal before this issue is out. Batman & Robin #8 is written by Joshua…
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…
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…
Batman receives startling revelations about how long Joker has known about Zur-En-Arrh and who has been manipulating the rivalry between Batman and Joker for years. With this knowledge, Batman is more committed than ever to escaping Zur’s prison and stopping the rogue robot before it can further destroy his reputation and his family. “Dark Prisons”…
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,…
Batman has reached the end of his journey across the sands. Now, all that remains is the last temptation by Dr. Hurt and the Demon Barbatos. Batman must step up and face these dark spirits down to rise from this journey reborn. And in Gotham, the Question finds evidence of the truth she has sought,…