The rubicon has been crossed. Batman has pushed his family away harder than ever before, and now he must face off with them as well as Catwoman’s criminal empire. And Vandal Savage’s plans become clearer in Batman #138, written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Jorge Jimenez, colored by Tomeu Morey and lettered by Clayton Cowles….
Big Two superhero comics are an iterative process. What was conceived in the 1930s and 40s has evolved and changed over the intervening three quarters of a century. Usually? That’s for the better. Characters get deeper and develop more of an internal life. Plots become more mature. Art becomes more realistic, or more stylized. And…
Batman is a creature of shadow who usually eschews the light. But even the Dark Knight can be touched by that darkest of human endeavors that lives in the brightest of spotlights: politics. Dick Grayson Tier Patreon backer John Wickham joins us to talk about a very of its moment story of Catwoman getting involved…
James Robinson might be best known for writing the 90s classic, Starman, but he’s written a bunch of Batman too. And this week, Josh Weil stops by to talk about three of Robinson’s stories. We have a Pulp Heroes annual, and two tales of Two-Face. There are some unfortunate sexy corpses, questionable editing and the…
Batman and Robin are back together! Bruce and Damian Wayne are living under the same roof and doing their best to act like a fairly normal father and son. But as the animal villains of Gotham revolt, the Dynamic Duo face a mysterious new threat. Batman and Robin #1 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn…
I kind of can’t believe we made it this far, but here it is: episode 100! And for that, we’re hitting one of the last legendary Batman stories we haven’t touched, and one we’ve slowly been building towards for many of these 100 episodes, the culmination of the first act of Grant Morrison’s epic run:…
The Gotham War is in full swing, and Batman is giving no quarter. The Bat family is siding against him, Catwoman is doing her best to maintain her word on protecting her crew and new players are moving into place. Batman #137 is written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Jorge Jimenez, colored by Tomeu Morey…
We’ve done episodes before that look at three versions of one story. But of there’s one story that has seemingly been retold more than any other, it’s the first Batman story, “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.” This week, we’re reading four versions of that story over three issues, plus some other stories in an…
After months of exhaustion, Batman collapses and awakens weeks later to find Gotham changed. Crime is down, and the city is quiet. But the reason is not what he would like it to be: Catwoman has organized the city’s small-time crooks and is enforcing rules. As he and the family meet with Selina, lines are…
Joker is Batman’s most dedicated foe. Ra’s al Ghul is the deadliest. The Penny Plunderer is the most ridiculous (that’s up for debate, but he’s my pick). But no criminal is more integral to the Batman mythos than Joe Chill, the man who killed the Waynes (except in Batman ’89, but the point still stands)….
What happened when the heroes who would some day be the World’s Finest met for the first time? Find out in this new version of the first meeting of Batman and Superman in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #18, written by Mark Waid, drawn by Travis Moore, colored by Tamra Bonvillain and lettered by Steve Wands. Trapped in…
BatChat religion correspondent Robert “Bobby TwoBucks” Secundus is back this week, and he’s brining with him Jean-Paul Valley, the vigilante and sometimes fanatic known as Azrael. We chart the journey of Azrael from the beginning of his ongoing to his most recent mini-series, with a stop off in an alternate world that is… something. We…
Deep in his own dreamscape, Batman travels to find what will allow him to free himself and fight Insomnia. But what waits for him behind that fearsome and locked door? Knight Terrors: Batman #2 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Guillem March, colored by Tomeu Morey and lettered by Troy Peteri. Batman is dead,…
While Gotham City is an integral part of the Batman mythos, Batman is an international hero, and there are plenty of stories that take Batman out of the grim confines of his home city and out into a wider world. This week, we read three such stories: one a tour of the great cities of…
Commissioner James Gordon has existed literally as long as Batman has, having appeared in Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman. Over the years, he has changed and evolved as many comic characters have. Originally mostly a deskbound civil servant who was just here to turn on the Bat Signal, Gordon has become an important…