Episodios

  • Episode 232: Return to WIll's Bookshelf

    Episode 232: Return to WIll's Bookshelf
    Apr 2 2026
    OK, so normally I would have something pithy to say about suffering through Will just picking random stuff of dubious quality that isn't available on-line and Batman '66 trades, which I just did. But what I really want to focus on are the vagaries of fate and coincidence. As you'll hear if you just start this episode, we recorded this on March 18th. And three days later, on March 21st, the news of the passing of Sam Kieth broke on-line. We have had Kieth stories in some anthologies, but Through the Lookingglass is the first story we've done that Keith was the writer of the entire thing. And sadly, none of his other Bat work is available easily on-line, so a Sam Kieth-centric episode is not in the offing currently. But I just want to say, his work will be missed by me. Whether it's his thick, hairy Wolverine, the surreality of The Maxx or his often forgotten contribution as the first artist on The Sandman, Kieth left a footprint as big as The Maxx's. RIP Sam Kieth. Batman '66 V.4 (Batman '66 # 17-22) Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice # 1-2 Batman: Through the Lookingglass OGN 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
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    1 h y 20 m
  • Episode 231: A Mother & Daughter Reunion (w/ Abigale Heartbalm)

    Episode 231: A Mother & Daughter Reunion (w/ Abigale Heartbalm)
    Mar 26 2026
    I know there are a lot of superheroes who are orphans and would do anything to have their parents back. Maybe they should talk to Cassandra Cain. That particular Batgirl has a much more trying set of parental relationships. We've read a bunch of stories about her and her dad, the mast assassin David Cain. And while we have read only a couple stories about it, the more interesting relationship is between Cass and her mother, one of the DC Universe's greatest martial artists, Lady Shiva. Abigale Heartbalm joins us to talk about three stories featuring Cass and Shiva. The first is their battle to the death, the second involves some Freaky Friday stuff (although not a mother/daughter swap, which I now want to see) and the first arc of Cassandra's current ongoing series, where things between them reach a much more final conclusion. I am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds (Batgirl V.1 #25) Vice Versa (Batgirls Annual 2022, #13) Mother (Batgirl V.6 #1-6) 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
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    1 h y 25 m
  • Episode 230: That is the Question

    Episode 230: That is the Question
    Mar 19 2026
    When she was created for Batman: The Animated Series, I can't imagine the series creators realized what a life Renee Montoya would have in the comics. Technically appearing in comics before B:TAS premiered because of the much longer lead time for animation, Montoya has gone from beat cop to detective to vigilante to police commissioner and back to vigilante. And most of these changes are thanks to one writer: master of crime and superhero comics Greg Rucka. Ross Holmes's newest Patreon request was to talk about some stories featuring her time as a vigilante, as the second hero to use the name of The Question. And what better week to read three stories written by Greg Rucka then the week he returns to the Bat titles with the new volume of a character he created (and Montoya's on again/off again love interest), Batwoman? We trace Montoya's time from right after DC's first event weekly, 52, through the events of Final Crisis and to her solo back-ups in Detective Comics. 52 Aftermath: Crime Bible- Five Lessons of Blood # 1-5 Final Crisis: Revelations # 1-5 Pipeline (Detective Comics V.1 # 854-865 Back-Ups) 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
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    1 h y 26 m
  • Episode 229: Some Bones About It

    Episode 229: Some Bones About It
    Mar 12 2026
    The DC Universe has a lot of strange looking characters. King Shark is a bipedal shark man. G'Nort is a walking, talking dog alien. Animal-Vegetable Mineral Man is... well, look him up. Dude looks weird as all hell. But amongst the more macabre looking characters is super villain turned superhero turned super spy Mr. Bones, a guy whose soft tissue, from skin to organs, is invisible, so he's basically a walking skeleton. This week, a Patreon request from Dan Grote, first Patreon backer, editor-in-chief at ComicsXF, and Matt's best friend of over 30 years, has us looking at three times Bones ran into the Bat family. See Bones and his Infinity Inc. teammates meet the Outsiders (and Batman on 1 page). Read Bones sending Cameron Chase to find out Batman's secret identity in two issues of one of DC's best series that didn't last a year. And think about what might have been if the payoff of the New 52 arc featuring Bones and the DEO pulling Batwoman's strings hadn't been cut short. From Here to Infinity (The Outsiders Special # 1, Infinity Inc. Special # 1) Shadowing the Bat (Chase # 7-8) Batwoman/Wonder Woman: World's Finest (Batwoman V.2 # 12-17) 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
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    1 h y 21 m
  • Episode 228: The Fall of the House of Wayne

    Episode 228: The Fall of the House of Wayne
    Mar 5 2026
    BatChat has been running now for 4 and a half years, which is pretty unbelievable to me. That is not quite as long as Grant Morrison's 7 year run on the Bat titles. or as tempestuous as the last period if that run. This week, we do indeed arrive at the grand finale of that epic, the final arc of Morrison's Batman Inc., as well as the next arcs of No Man's Land and Knightquest: The Crusade. Expect discussions of AzBats's mental health, exactly when Chuck Dixon went from kinda conservative to right wing crank and what might have been if the the New 52 didn't jam itself into the last third of the Morrison run. Tally Man (Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 19-20) Escape to Blackgate (Nightwing V.2 # 35-37) Gotham's Most Wanted (Batman Incorporated V.2 # 7-13, Special # 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
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    1 h y 15 m
  • Episode 227: Shadow of the Cat (w/ Sam Hopper)

    Episode 227: Shadow of the Cat (w/ Sam Hopper)
    Feb 26 2026
    Catwoman has been around for over 80 years, and like all good Bat villains, she has changed with the times. But it's amazing how much of the character has been there through the ages. Patreon backer and friend of the show Sam Hopper joins us to look at the evolution of Catwoman, what has stayed the same and what has changed, in three stories from three different eras. In a Golden Age story, Selina works to prove she's gone straight. In a Bronze Age story, well she also works to prove she's gone straight. And in a glorious story of Silver Age madness, she is not going straight at all, but is instead turning Lois Lane into another Catwoman and Superman into a housecat. It's as wild as it sounds. Catwoman: Empress of the Underworld (Batman V.1 # 65) The Catwoman's Black Magic (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane # 70-71) Shadow of the Cat (Batman V.1 # 323-324) 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
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    1 h y 14 m
  • Episode 226: Riddle Me This, Will (w/ John Wickham)

    Episode 226: Riddle Me This, Will (w/ John Wickham)
    Feb 19 2026
    We've read plenty of his stories, and if you are a long time listener to the podcast, I'm sure you realize that Tom King is a writer who has some serious variety of placements on the big board. He has multiple stories in the top 10, plus a number of stories lingering near the bottom. Tonight, friend of the show and Patreon backer John Wickham returns, and he's picked some more Tom King, including his Eisner winning Riddler story that baffled both Matt and Will in how it got there. Plus, John's vendetta against Will reaches new heights; he's come with a game that fits pretty well with ol' Eddie Nygma's schtick. The Fall and the Fallen (Batman V.3 # 70-74, Secret Files # 2) An Unimportant Man (The Penguin # 6-7) Batman: One Bad Day- The Riddler # 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
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    1 h y 23 m
  • Episode 225: Date Night (w/ Josh Weil)

    Episode 225: Date Night (w/ Josh Weil)
    Feb 12 2026
    Love is in the air. It's nearly Valentine's Day, and for the past couple of his appearances, Patreon backer and friend of the show Josh Weil has mentioned that he's been considering selecting one of the few truly whimsical and just plane fun stories Tom King has written: "Date Night," where Batman an Catwoman go on a double date with Superman and Lois Lane. And since this week his appearance lined up with Valentine's, we figured it was time to finally add that story to the big board. Also, Bruce and Talia go on an animated series style date in Paris in a story with an inappropriate title and Nightwing and Oracle get married in a crossover that is mostly forgotten but was a breath of fresh air at the time. Super Friends: Date Night (Batman V.3 #36-37) Last Tango in Paris (Batman Adventures V.1 #13) Birds of Rage (Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1-2) 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
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    1 h y 25 m