The birth of the new DC Cinematic Universe... DC Extended Universe... DC... ah whatever the hell they're calling it, kicks off on the big screens this week with the debut of James Gunn's Superman film, so we're obviously tying in because SEO is a powerful thing. We have three more stories of the World's Finest heroes with a delightful Bronze Age oddity and two tales from the President Lex era that feel strangely prescient nowadays.

The Werewolf from Krypton (World's Finest Comics #256)
Lord of the Ring (Superman V.2 #168/Detective Comics V.1 #756)
Public Enemies (Superman/Batman V.1 #1-6)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

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Episode 194: The Requisite Superman Tie-in

Superman was pretty great, huh? We wanted to keep the good times rolling this week with an episode featuring characters other than the big guy who appeared in the movie. I really wanted to do a Batman/Mr. Terrific team up, but outside team settings, there aren't really any, so we instead went with a classic Bob Haney Metamorpho story, a Batman/Guy Gardner story that doesn't end with Gardner unconscious and the story of Maxwell Lord's infamous heel turn.

Alias the Bat-Hulk (The Brave and the Bold V. # 68)
2011: A Space Oddity (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors # 13)
The OMAC Project/Sacrifice (Countdown to Infinite Crisis # 1, The OMAC Project # 1-6, Superman V.2 # 219, Action Comics V.1 # 829, Adventures Of Superman V.1 # 642-643, Wonder Woman V.2 # 219)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 195: Elements, Guys, and Chessboards. Oh, My!

Somehow, as we near 200 episodes, we still stumble across holes in our coverage. He's appeared in a lot of stories we've covered, but we have never done an episode purely focused on Penguin stories. So this week, we remedy that. We're reading Penguin's first appearance, the story that changed him from supervillain to mobster and the start of his recent maxi-series.

One of the Most Perfect Frame-Ups (Detective Comics V.1 #58)
Odds Against (Detective Comics V.1 #683-684)
The Fall and Rise of Oswald Cobblepot Part 1 (The Penguin #1-5)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 196: Wak, Wak Said the Villain

Batman is not just popular here in the USA. As our listeners know, as you are from many countries, people outside America love Batman too. And sometimes we get stories reprinted here in the States that feature Batman that were created in other countries. We're reading three of those today, one from France, one from Italy and one from Japan.

Batman: The Dark Prince Charming Vol. 1 & 2
Batman/Dylan Dog # 1-3
One Operation Joker Vol. 1

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode197: The Batman of Many Nations

The Teen Titans have always been linked to the Bat Family. There are very few iterations of the Titans that don't include a former or current Robin in their ranks. So most Titans stories fit within the remit of this podcast. Patreon backer and friend of the show Matt McThorn specifically wanted to talk about a couple late 90s/early 00s stories featuring Nightwing and his relationship with Batman and the other original Titans, and we decided to throw in one of those completely insane Bob Haney Brave and the Bolds to round it out.

Rebels in the Streets (The Brave and the Bold V.1 # 94)
The Technis Imperative (JLA/Titans # 1-3)
Survival (Titans V.1 # 15-16)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 198: Titanic Team-Ups (w/Matt McThorn)

Next week, the second season of the HBO Max series Peacemaker drops. The first season featured some seriously obscure DC characters, and this week, to tie in with the release of the new season, we're reading three stories featuring three of those characters: Peacemaker, Vigilante and Judomaster. Now, we're stretching the definition of featured here, since one of these characters has never appeared in a story with a Bat character that wasn't just a panel in some big event, but we made it work.

And as promised in the episode, here's a YouTube link to the opening of season 1 of Peacemaker, because it is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mrr3UNALww

Assault on Arkham (Suicide Squad V.7 # 1-2)
Corvalho (Checkmate V.2 # 11-12)
The Vigilante and the Batman (Vigilante V.1 # 47)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 199: Peacemaker- Do You Really Wanna Taste It?

It's a very special week on BatChat. We have now recorded 200 episodes. 600 stories. It's a whole lot. And to celebrate, Matt and Will are together in one room, face to face, along with our first fan, our first Patreon backer, Matt's bestest pal in the whole world, Dan Grote, to read a milestone Batman story, Grant Morrison's The Return of Bruce Wayne, along with two of the stories that inspired it. We're talking Morrison, so there are some deep dives, and Dan brings his expertise about babies, which Matt and Will are sorely lacking.

Since this is an in person recording, the sound quality is different and a little rough, but stick with it because this is a lot of fun.

It Happened in Rome (Batman V.1 #24)
Dark Knight, Dark City (Batman V.1 #452-454)
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 200: Time Travel Hypnosis (w/ Dan Grote)

Lady Shiva walks through the world, leaving a trail of bodies behind her. Not a hero, but often not quite a villain, Shiva has developed relationships with many members of the Bat Family: trainer to Tim Drake, rival and sometimes member of the Birds of Prey, mother to Cassandra Cain. Josh Weill joins the show to take on three of these stories. One is one of her earliest modern appearances with Tim Drake, one where she and Black Canary must avenge their fallen sensei and one where she takes command of the League of Shadows and in the end she must face down her own daughter to bring her plan to fruition.

Going Solo (Robin V.1 #1-5)
Sensei and Student (Birds of Prey V.1 #62-67)
League of Shadows (Detective Comics V.3 #950-956)

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Thanks to Geri Nonnewitz for our podcast logo

Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/batchatwithmattandwill

Episode 201: The Deadliest Woman in the World (w/ Josh Weil

There are periods where certain characters have more of a spotlight than others. Sure, there are always a lot of Batman stories, Joker stories. But then there are pockets of time when we get lots of stories focused on Jim Gordon or the Riddler. Between 2003 and 2006, Mr. Freeze had his day. He appeared in major stories like "Under the Hood" and "City of Crime" in supporting roles, and was central to other stories. This week, John Wickham joins us again to talk about three of these stories: the final arc of the first Batgirl series where Freeze is a small player, a one off fill-in issue and a Legends of the Dark Knight arc with a different vision of Freeze's origin.

Destruction's Daughter (Batgirl V.1 #66-73)
Fire & Ice (Batman: Gotham Knights #59)
Snow (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #192-196)

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

Episode 202: Welcome to the Ice Age (w/ John Wickham)

We're joined by first time guest and long time Patreon backer Sam Hopper to read some Damian Wayne stories from earlier in the character's life. Back when Damian was a truly insufferable brat. I know, for many of his haters he still is, but man, in these stories he is really something else. We read his first encounter with a member of the Superman family, his first adventure as Robin with his father and his first team-up with his best friend, Jon Kent.

Fright Night (Superman/Batman V.1 # 77)
Born to Kill (Batman and Robin V.2 # 1-8)
In the Name of the Father (Superman V.4 # 10-11)

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

Episode 203: Damian Wayne Was Horrible (w/ Sam Hopper)

Each week, hosts Matt Lazorwitz and Will Nevin look at three Batman stories, discuss them and put them on a list that will encompass all Batman stories. Some are great, some are not, but we hope you enjoy them all!

New tracks tagged #BatChat