Batman Books Issues #22

This is Kevin Conway, and I am the goddamn Batman.

Oh yes, but think of the fun. Welcome to... The

Pole Bag. Join us as we dig out our latest comics.

and discuss them with the rotating panel of the

GCRN crew. So sit back and enjoy this week's

Pole Bag. Hi, this is Kevin Conroy and you're

listening to the Geekcast Radio Network. Spoilers.

Hello and welcome to episode 23 of The Pole Bag.

I'm your host, Steve Megatron Phillips, and joining

me is... DFJ1Mike, hello. Yo. What's going on?

Not much, you? Not much. Um, it seems like forever

since we did a Batbook, but since we were so

late with the 20s, it's only been two episodes.

Oh, boy. Um, yeah, so... Since we last recorded

Batman 66, the new ongoing comic series, it's

a digital first. It's similar to Batman, Superman,

Justice League Beyond, but it's all Batman 66

stories. It's new stories inspired by the classic

TV series. That has come out and it's damn good.

I mean, I can hear Adam West and Burt Ward in

my head when I read this. I can hear the Commissioner

and Chief O 'Hara. It's a damn good book, and

the people that are on this are... It's Jeff

Parker writing. Jonathan Case is doing art. Also,

I believe Mike Allred is doing art as well. It's

basically, take the TV show, put it in 2D form,

and that's what this is. It's absolutely awesome.

Absolutely love it. So I'm reading that we're

not actually gonna be reviewing it cuz as I've

said before we will in the future but Specifically

to the batten numbered books. We're sticking

to those mostly in the in the closing the show

I'll talk about Batman Beyond but we're trying

to keep the bat centric episodes strictly to

what's going on currently with DC not Any like

we're not gonna do Batman Superman. I don't even

know if I want to read that past issue, too What's

been going on with you? Not much just been working

on stuff with the site of course keeping up with

the random news comic wise and Film wise yes

over The last couple of weeks, Comic Con, San

Diego Comic Con happened and a whole ton of news

came out. Most people will know last time in

episode 21, I was severely depressed with potentially

Nightwing getting the axe and even though they

still are maintaining that Nightwing will be

severely affected from... Forever evil from villains

month. They still don't say how and obviously

they're not gonna give that away But we've got

a news article that I'll talk about a little

bit in a little bit about Kyle Higgins the writer

of Nightwing Saying where the book is gonna go

after villains month and stuff like that. So

Very very awesome. But first up we have some

Batman Superman news. First of all, they announced

The next DC live -action film will be Batman

Superman thoughts on that first of all just the

fact they announced that that's the next film

I'm not sure how I feel about that I Mean I'm

ready for another bad Batman film don't get me

wrong and seeing what actor they pull But I don't

know if I'm really excited for a versus Yeah,

I because especially with the director coming

out right out and saying that oh, there's no

way that Batman can beat Superman That's like

Michael Bay saying Frank Welker isn't gonna be

in Transformers four or five. Well, you know

I know Zack Snyder has a affinity for Superman

and everything else but We all know the biggest

trope for Superman is his planet. So, what's

the one thing Batman would do? Hold kryptonite.

Hold up a sliver of kryptonite. Bing bam boom.

Beat. End of story. Yes, Superman is godly when

he's on Earth. Yes, he has superhuman powers.

Yes, he could probably beat Batman to death.

But apparently... I don't know when this was,

but apparently everyone was all up in arms over

Man of Steel. Oh my god, he snapped Zod's neck!

Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen Man of Steel

yet. I've never... Yeah. I've never... Like,

the whole, quote unquote, he doesn't kill thing...

that's batman saying i've never like okay sure

superman's the boy scout sure he's not gonna

cross a line like that but it's never been his

overall mantra it's never been like his parents

didn't get you know shot by a mother you know

i mean uh... i'd just i don't get that but uh...

you and i both actually wanted to be a batman

beyond movie Well, I mean, I think it would be

something better than... I mean, I'm glad they're

not doing another Origins film. Yes, that is

good. But, um, I still think that it would be

better to have a Beyond film than have them keep

rehashing Bruce Wayne. Yeah. I also saw an...

it isn't in the news items that we have, but

I saw a linked article on DC Comics fan's page.

on Facebook Rumors are now these are just rumors.

I'm not taking anything into account for them

whatsoever, but Rumors are they're looking at

Jensen Ackles to play Batman Well that was a

rumor Yes, it's not gonna actually take place.

I mean they're gonna get some other guy that's

more high -profile Oh yeah, most definitely.

Who could actually, let me ask you, who do you

think in today's male, and I don't like, overall,

who do you think would be a good Batman nowadays?

Because we've had, so far, not counting the TV

series and not counting the old TV movies, in

live action we've had Keaton twice, Kilmer, Clooney,

and then, okay, yeah, but he's... He still credited

as Batman Clooney and then of course bail For

the Nolan verse. So who do you think who would

you like to see in? Under the cowl It's kind

of a toss -up for me. I mean, I don't really

have the answer to that I I think that I Think

Ackles could do a good job at it only because

he can do the the deep voice but not sound like,

I wear hockey pads. He can do the almost Kevin

Conroy -ish kind of deep voice when he's pissed

off kind of thing in the shows. I think he could

pull that off like the switch between, you know,

casual drunk Bruce Wayne and the, you know, the

dark, you know, darkness of Batman. I think he

could pull it off really well and because he's

built to. Yeah But also like and then and the

other hand I've I've heard rumors before that

of they had a long list of people that they said

that probably could do it and Army Hammers name

was popping up a little bit too and I could see

him theoretically doing it I'm doing it because

of how he appeared in the Lone Ranger, I could

see it. I mean, granted, the film was weak, but

just by judging by appearance and like his overall

acting ability, not that film, but just overall

acting ability, I think he could do it too. But

I think, I mean, I would be fine if they did

Ackles. I mean, I'm not just saying that because

I like Supernatural, but I think that he has

the chops on either side. To do it, but again.

He's not a big enough Film actor for them to

actually pull him in You know it would be really

awesome if WB just shocked everybody hired Kevin

Conroy for the voice and No, not even though.

No just have him Have Kevin Conroy be the next

live -action Batman. I'm sure a Why couldn't

he be he's too scrawny? He can puff other there.

Oh, yeah, he's in his late 50s early 60s. There's

no way he could There are plenty of actors that

have there's no way he could pull off the look

of Bruce Wayne and play Batman I I don't know.

There's no way dude. There's no way and they

would never put a voice actor in the place of

an actor so with this batman superman superman

batman wherever the hell they're gonna call the

thing uh... news we also have the movie affecting

arrows choice of dc heroes this comes from comic

book dot com arrow producers mark guggenheim

and andrew krisberg may have to give up one of

their dreams and the Superman versus Batman movie

is at least partially to blame. We've heard the

fans and we're very well aware that they would

like to see Nightwing and various other bad characters

on the show, the paratel digital spy, but that

is a little bit out of our control and I think

that movie, in quotes, announcement made it a

lot more out of our control. Honestly, they would

have never allowed it anyway just because it's

a Batman franchise piece. They won't let anything

related to Batman touch television. I Don't see

why not like I don't see why not but they won't

let anything like that touch it They've hinted

at Bruce Wayne in the show, but they can't physically

name him as Bruce Wayne Yeah, like I mean there's

it's WB. I don't get that. I don't care if it's

WB I don't care if it's CW. I don't care what

it is. I just don't get that it's like What are

they so afraid of of having Batman on TV again?

I mean really even if it was just a Let's say

for example a three episode arc of arrow where

they team up for three episodes I mean come on.

It's not the end of the friggin world I Don't

true, but I just I I don't see them ever allowing

it to happen Despite the fact that I would love

to see Batman come to the actual pool you know

back to TV oh yeah most definitely but they'll

never allow it yeah it sucks the next one comes

from newsarama the countdown in which we help

DC decide who to kill next boo damn you DC If

the last several months worth of DC comics are

anything to go by, the death of a superhero's

loved ones may be the new death of a superhero,

in terms of somewhat odd and worrying trends

in storytelling. In the past few months alone,

we've seen, spoilers everyone, both Damian Wayne

and Cliff Baker die. And a month earlier, Lois

Lane and her unborn child were sacrificed to

ensure that Injustice Gods Among Us got off to

a suitably daunting start. Trinity War likewise

started with a death this month, though this

supporting character was of the super -powered

variety, as Dr. Light met a gruesome and mysterious

end at the hands or eyes of none other than Superman.

she was I believe she's the cop in Metropolis

I could be wrong I don't remember it according

to this she's Batwoman's love interest but I

remember her from Superman the animated series

as being one of the cost of metropolis Jimmy

Olsen and they killed Jimmy enough times I mean

come on Jimmy's one of those token characters

that dies and comes back all the time number

eight is Mira Aquaman's wife Seven is Orion one

of Wonder Woman's people Carol Ferris from Hal

Jordan Five is Steve Trevor also of Wonder Woman

fame Lois Lane for real this time. Yeah, right

for number four number three Amanda Waller I

don't see that making a huge wave if they did

that. Well, she's the head of the suicide squad.

Oh So it's the Cadmus suicide squad. Yeah, it's

got like Harley and James Gordon jr. And Yeah

If you want to take out a character like Batman,

you have to destroy his support structure first.

The Joker had the right idea in the just completed

Death of the Family, but he took that idea in

the wrong direction. Number two, Alfred Pennyworth.

If they kill Alfred, like I thought when I first

read, we even went over this over on Keepcast

Radio, I thought he did kill Alfred, even though

I know he just blinded him or whatever. And number

one, their Nusrama's choice for the next DC killing

Commissioner Gordon. They say it's difficult

to imagine that the idea of killing Jim Gordon

hasn't really been looked into countless times

over the years. There is, of course, the Officer

Down storyline in 2001, not only because of Gotham

without Gordon would be a significantly different

city for Batman to operate within, especially

if Gordon's replacement was less friendly to

the idea of vigilantes helping out behind the

scenes, but also because Batgirl would be devastated

if anything bad happened to her father. give

your disgruntled opinion I mark my words this

is what's probably going to happen with the entire

fallout of the death of the family afterward

they've because everything is going to hit home

with Batman they've made it clear Batman is like

the central focal point of the DC universe for

the most part pretty much yeah They're reinventing

half the characters now at this point. They're

going into things that are changing you have

Damien dead you have Catwoman dead. Mm -hmm.

So what does that leave you you have? You have

Batgirl Barbara Gordon who at this point is taken

off the bat who's learning to be a cop They're

going to kill Gordon because he's getting to

be to the point he wants to take down Batgirl

because of James Gordon Jr. He's going to step

over that line of the law. He's going to get

killed in action, and then they're going to redeem

him in the last minute. And Batgirl, AKA Barbara

Gordon, is going to become the police chief.

I don't. I don't disagree with what you're theorizing.

At the same time, I don't think... That would

explain how she became disgruntled towards Batman

specifically. Yes, it would, but I don't... The

problem I'm having with this is the whole Beyond

storyline. Because in Beyond, she is Commissioner

Barbara Gordon. And I don't think... Young bad

girl. I don't think this happened to you this

like 20 something 30 something, but I don't think

that would have happened Then I think it would

have it's gonna happen down the line when she's

40 or 50 I think it'll be in her 30s, but it

at this point. I'm just going to say that If

they don't make her commissioner she'll end up

making some kind of a lieutenant or detective

and and It will not turn out well for Bruce They're

going I'm guessing they're gonna kill Gordon

I'm hoping that That somehow there's more emotion

behind it as far as the storytelling Gail Simone

she's doing I Can't say enough good things about

that woman as a writer. She's amazing. I've just

read Batgirl volume one. Yes, I know I went back

and started from the beginning but whatever it's

it's easy to jump around with that but It's one

of those things where she is a damn good writer

and I'm hoping that she would do something along

the lines of Batgirl revealing herself to her

father. I think and explaining Good. I was gonna

say I think in Gordon's last moments, I think

Bruce and Barbara will come clean with him Yeah

That's quite possible Now for at least my and

I'll let you handle the the final news story

for my excitement and what has brought me out

of my stupor and Depression of DC and what is

pretty much renewed my faith is newsarama has

a new Interview with Kyle Higgins, and I believe

as of this recording uh... he is going to be

uh... in the fat cave once again on fatman on

batman with kevin smith i don't know when that's

gonna be out but uh... i saw him tweet about

it the other day but he gives them a new interview

and uh... they're talking about is dick gracing

smooth chicago permanent and kyle's pretty much

saying yeah you know that getting kyle has even

told me you know the first thing you You think

of when you think of Dick Grayson, oh, he was

the first Robin became Nightwing. You know, he

and Kyle has always said that he wants to keep

that be the origin, but he wants Nightwing and

Dick Grayson to evolve past. Being in Bruce's

shadow and what better way to do that than to

basically Centralize him in somewhere other than

Gotham and putting him in Chicago is I? I can't

you know we'll get to it later when we do the

reviews But I can't say enough between Batgirl

and Nightwing there are my two favorite books

from DC at this point. They really are The writing

the art everything about those two books is just

damn awesome There is actually going to be a

first Nightwing annual Coming up at the end of

October. I believe it gets released October 30th

Which is going to revolve around Dick and Barbara

and You know where the two of them are after

villains month And everything else and you know,

she's taken off the bat and he's had so much

happen to him over this long period of time and

You know, can they still, it's basically the

way I'm understanding it from reading this interview

and obviously all these news links will be in

the post. It's basically, you know, can they

still be friends? Can they still work together?

And, you know, is there anything left for them

to do? Because I've always felt, and I know that

the DC animated universe kind of put a pin in

the whole Barbara and Dick Grayson thing, but

I've always felt that those two were the, were

the couple. for the two of them i have never

felt that bruce and barbara should have ever

been together whatsoever and it's not just age

difference at all it has nothing to do with that

is just richard grace and and barbara gordon

just that coupling has always been i've always

loved that so what is the final story sir well

the final story is Why Batman needed a new origin?

Yes, which I don't totally agree with Yeah, to

be honest But they're going back and refreshing

his tragedy and Basically rewriting him Before

he actually becomes Batman, but he's on his way

to training to be the vigilante. That is Batman

I Just I don't know I don't I don't know what

to think about this yet I'm still not totally

sold on the concept. I mean I like a few aspects

of it As far as his his retelling but again,

I think it's kind of unnecessary Yeah And I still

don't like the fact that it's a six year gap

between this point and the Current universe see

the current universe before they went zero year

Yeah, and he has a ten -year -old son named Damien

and he's had three Robbins previously to Damien

Yeah, which doesn't add up so until they can

clarify that entire mess. I Am not sold on it

and I am Almost to the point I don't care about

the issue All right, well we are gonna get into

some issues after this first up will be detective

number 22 and after this clip my brain is not

a nice place to be so apparently the Dark Knight

detective is not ready yet. We're gonna start

out with Batman and Catwoman which is the Batman

and Robin ongoing Number 22. The cover is...

Actually, this might be the best part of the

issue for me, is the cover. It's basically Batman

and Catwoman standing on the Bat -Signal, and

it's green and black all around, and it's a very,

very cool cover. Written by Peter J. Tomasi,

art by Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray. This issue,

I didn't care for whatsoever. I did care about

one thing here, is the Carrie Kelly angle, and

the story that's playing out with her and Bruce

and Alfred and Titus the dog. Still think that

dog needs to be named Ace the Bat -Hound, but

whatever. I like that part about it, but... Because

I don't read Catwoman and I don't read Justice

League It was kind of a shock to me to realize

to find out that Catwoman is an auxiliary member

of the Justice League That's really strange The

art when it comes to Batman and Catwoman, it's

it's very very strange I will say I do like how

they There's a scene in the book where they're

disarming people and it's all in shadow So it's

like a red background with their profiles and

shadow. I like that. The story itself, it was

alright. Like I said, outside of the Carrie Kelly

stuff, I just didn't care for the Catwoman story.

I like the character, I just didn't like her

in this. And coming up next for... Batman and

Robin or whatever you want to call it next for

issue 23 Will be Batman and Nightwing And I don't

know what's Outside of Villains Month, which

is also happening and we will have Here in the

pullback Steve and I are gonna do a two -parter

episode where we cover four issues of a character

that we want to talk about for Villains Month,

we'll announce more about that at the closing

of the show. But I don't know where, like after

Batman and Nightwing, I don't know what they're

gonna do after that. No clue. At all. Alright,

we'll be back after this. And we're back to the

pull bag, and next up is the Detective Comics

number 22. Which the cover has a nice split of

Batman and the Wraith which is basically his

polar opposite It's like a shattered glass version

of Batman. So it's basically Owlman then, right?

Not really Well, Owlman was Batman's Evil opposite

in an alternate universe. Yeah this one's like

Batman, but he kills and He's Yeah, he's Thomas

Wayne. No, it's not But uh his His sidekick is

scorn and He fails him and he throws him off

the elevator. He kills him and throws him off

the helicopter That they're flying away on But

he has a plan for Batman more or less Not really

much Action or stuff going on but it was pretty

much I Mean it was a good issue. It featured

this new character and kind of introduced him

and his no -nonsense kind of Personality but

It was kind of slow like little sluggish going

through the issue But it's I it it's pretty much

all set up for issue 23 But the character looks

badass and I'm looking forward to seeing the

throwdown between Batman and and Wraith Interesting

that they would name the character so close to

race You never know it could be Probably is.

I doubt it, but it could be. Maybe it's Batman's

clone. Maybe it's Robin. It's Batman's clone.

Why you gotta bring Hardac into this? No, I'm

not bringing Hardac. It could be Damien Wayne's

clone that killed Damien Wayne. Oh my god. It

could be. More than likely it's not. I wish the

Joker would have just cut that kid's head off.

It could be Dick Grayson. No, don't even go there.

I will reach right through these computer wires.

And I'll cut your hands off. Yeah, right. All

right, anything else on Detective 22? No, just

mostly pick it up. Even if the character doesn't

appeal to you. pick it up for the cover, because

the cover's pretty awesome. Alright, we're gonna

move on. Welcome to Gotham. I never thought I'd

hear myself saying this, but where's the bat?

We're handling this. Oh, that's reassuring. Up

next is Batgirl 22, The Ultimate Sacrifice. Now,

I gotta say, out of all the bat books, the p

- uh... Fernando Passeron and Jonathan Glapion,

or Glapon, I don't know how to say his last name,

I'm sorry sir. These people for Batgirl on the

art, and specifically the covers, they look like

paintings. They really, like out of all of the

Batbooks that I've seen covers for, the Batgirl

covers look damn amazing. 23 and 24. Look like

masterpieces you would see in an art gallery.

They look so awesome this cover is basically

bat girl with a knife cutting off the bat symbol

and a blood -drenched chalk line body Around

her midsection kind of like laying that out,

but just absolutely awesome We start off the

issue exactly where 21 left off where she is

having to get ready for this date with this kid

named Ricky Apparently Ricky is a former car

thief who she caught once So They start going

on this date they get into trouble with a gang

and she kicks their ass Again absolutely love

the art. It's just so very fresh so very awesome

So after they after she beats these guys up instead

of uh... going to the opera like ricky suggested

they go back to his house and have a home -cooked

meal with his mom uh... and after which uh...

we have her meeting commissioner gordon for lunch

and whatever else and they eventually go to the

shooting range now most people might find this

kinda like what the hell batgirl hates guns because

hello the joker shot her but Gordon just wants

to protect her wants to make sure you know she

obviously knows how to protect herself I mean

she is Batgirl but he doesn't know that and yeah

there's that scene in the the final scenes of

the book are Gordon and Batman arguing about

Batgirl and I mean it's pretty much knockdown

drag and I mean Gordon essentially just slugs

him which was hilarious oh it was it's awesome

it is so awesome that you know and the reason

why he why Gordon slugs Batman That was for allowing

a bright young girl who only meant well to follow

in your damn footsteps. Do you understand that

it's not just my son in this story? Her life,

her freedom, all her potential are gone. Now

that, that line, that what Gordon just said there

leads me to believe, and I'm probably wrong,

I'm just guessing that at some point, as we said

in the intro with the news, she will reveal herself

to her dad. Probably should probably have that

guilty conscience and have to go oh you screwed

up You know I killed my brother Yeah, and the

next event for Batgirl is Batgirl wanted and

I cannot wait You have I sent this to you digitally

you had a chance to look it over What did you

think of the art in the writing for this one?

I think it was pretty good. I I more so look

at the story because I've read comics with some

pretty shitty art. I'm not saying this has shitty

art because it doesn't. Right. But I'm just saying

I look at the story primarily. Oh yeah. Yeah.

But overall I think it was pretty good and it

was a nice evolution of the character and kind

of doing something different that hasn't been

done. Yeah. And kind of involving her... Beyond

the the character of Batgirl Yeah In the closing

of the show we will talk about another part of

Batgirl Beyond So we are gonna move on to the

next issue Here kid, I think you lost this Could

have handled him coulda woulda didn't You sound

just like Batman I'm nothing like him. Yeah,

right the mask the attitude the long underwear

drop it Next up is Nightwing 22 Against the man

who murdered his parents This cover is so awesome.

You've got Nightwing the new 52 Nightwing And

he's he's updated his I think it's pronounced

s chroma sticks. I could be wrong on that But

he's updated his sticks. It also shows John and

I believe her name is Mary grace. I could be

wrong. I just remember the great the flying Grayson's

from Batman forever. I'm sorry folks. I'm probably

wrong but Nightwing Dick Grayson's parents and

him With with Tony Zuko falling as well and man

Kyle Higgins is really knocking it out of the

park The issue starts off with his roommate Michael

Getting a phone call from I believe it's the

mayor Er, no, it's not the mayor, it's, uh...

It's... I don't know who that is. Wow. That's

crazy. Um... It's one of the mayor's lackeys,

or it's one of the policemen or something, and,

uh... We then cut to the mayor's office directly,

and Nightwing pops in upside down. I love this

image. Did you... You saw this, right? Oh, yeah.

Nightwing in Showtime I love this image. I actually

got the digital version and I Saved this image

and cropped it out and it's my current Facebook

profile picture Nightwing upside down So awesome,

so he and the mayor have some words and He's

basically still on the hunt for Billy Lester

aka Tony Zuko He does he's able to plant a bug

In the mayor's office, which was hilarious Yeah,

very hilarious because at first when he was reaching

it like that that page where he's reaching across

the mayor's desk I thought he was doing was I

thought he was gonna reach out and grab the mayor's

hand to stop him from you You know most businessmen

have that? Undermount alarm for the guards to

come. Mm -hmm. That's I thought he was doing

it first. I realized. Oh, hey, it's a bug Then

we go to Nightwing and the girl that nearly accosted

him a Couple issues back when he first moved

in having lunch or dinner or whichever So that

was interesting Where are we now? More of this

footage stuff more of the Michael character editing

the footage and giving it to his editor Then

the prankster comes into play and the prankster

is Pretty much gonna blow stuff up We then cut

to Billy Lester who is Tony Zuko's alias and

he and his family his two boys and His wife or

I assume we're in Miami. That's what it looks

like So that's that's an interesting thing there

you know Nightwing is attempting to stop the

prankster and as I said before stuff blows up

and We pretty much leave the issue With With

Nightwing facing off against the prankster And

what looks to be the cops as well Or it might

be one of the prankster goons. I don't even know

if the prankster has goons off top my head um

and the prankster is organizing all these yeah

they look like police officers wow he's got all

these police officers at the last panel i believe

they're police officers or they're workers or

they're just ordinary citizens of chicago his

final line is then you'll live as long as you

can stay still because he's got them all wired

and the next issue is windy city gone wild I

absolutely love the art in this. I did mention

last time that I love Brett Booth's art. It was

a damn shame that he only was on Nightwing for

a couple of issues, but apparently the new artist,

Will Conrad, is going to be the full -time artist

for Nightwing going from here forward. I've said

this before ever since I've been reading Nightwing

no matter what the artist it doesn't between

Nightwing and Batgirl Even though they've changed

artists. It doesn't like I don't see a difference

in the styles the only difference I saw in Batgirl

was when the speech bubbles chill like the the

narration bubbles changed, but Will Conrad does

amazing amazing work absolutely loving where

Nightwing is going. What were your thoughts on

Nightwing 22? I just like how he's getting more

in your face and kind of confrontational but

still keeping his kind of edgier sarcastic tone

when he's saying stuff. Oh yeah. He's becoming

more like Batman even though he doesn't realize

it. Yes. The mask the long underwear. You're

just like him. No, I'm not I love old ones. I'm

sorry But yeah, no nightwing is is amping up

I'm going to be definitely getting the I know

forever evil the DC event that's coming up I

know that's supposed to be a seven issue event.

So whatever issue nightwing is like whatever

issue it's gonna deal with him I'm definitely

gonna get that issue. I don't know if I'll get

all seven because That's expensive. Well, not

only is it expensive, but it's, again, for me

it goes to character. I'm not gonna buy an issue

about Aquaman if I don't give a crap about reading

about Aquaman, you know, so... Alright, well,

we'll be back after this clip from Batman. The

timeline's restored to equilibrium. We're the

only two people who remember what happened. Last

up is... Batman. Zero year secret city part two.

I love this cover the forging of the bat symbol

Yep, absolutely love it I don't like how they've

They've done variant covers because they're releasing

multiple versions of the book. They're releasing

like a black and white for like a combo pack

where you can get I assume the combo packs are

the regular book plus a digital copy I just don't

think it works that well in black and white but

here in the color is just absolutely awesome

Where do you want to start with Secret City Part

2? I guess that first panel looks like he's in

the care at the entrance to the cave like before

he falls in so that's interesting um and then

we have a pirate's flag a green skull on a pirate's

flag um and it's the red hood gang attacking

a blimp yay i know this is supposed to be six

years from you know six years in the past from

whatever now is but The people in even six years

ago and Gotham still use blimps Really, that's

a Batman blimp. I know I Don't know I felt the

story was kind of lacking here. I felt it was

quite lacking in a lot of areas I mean, you have

the blimp and he's posing as Cobblepot. Yeah,

I didn't get that at all. And it took me a while

to figure out that he was posing as Cobblepot

until I actually saw Cobblepot. And then I was

like, oh, that's who he was supposed to be. And

then we get to, you know, the fact he steals

some DNA from the one guy. And then. His uncle.

Like, basically, oust him in front of everybody.

Yeah, that was a douche thing to do. And then

he has his showdown with the Riddler. Which,

that was really interesting. I liked that. I

liked that about it, yeah. That was one of the

stronger parts of the issue. Was that whole altercation

going on. Yeah, it was because what was interesting

about it was just how they did it Well, they

put him on a timer, but the timer was going around

that dial Yeah, so as long as the the dialogue

fit within that dial he would answer it But the

second it was over he was gone Yep, and I found

that really interesting how they did that but

he dropped clues to Bruce to figure out how to

get out of there Yeah, who? Flawlessly figured

it all out and then Nigma's like too bad you

have to die But you know and then you get a scene

with him testing out his Grappling hook with

Alfred. Oh Yeah, that was that was a pretty emotion

The Bruce Alfred scenes, at least in this issue

and issue 21, are really, really powerful because

you have Alfred not so sure about this path that

Bruce wants to go down, and Bruce keeps testing

this auto voice activated grappling hook, and

he's like, Come back. Come back. Alfred turns,

I was talking to the thing, not you. You know?

I know, that was quite funny. yeah that was quite

interesting overall though I felt like I don't

know it just it didn't feel like I guess it's

gonna be a slow build over the year that they're

going to be doing this but this almost felt like

it was an expositional issue like it You know,

like Damien's spouting exposition during Batman

15. I get the whole thing of having to explain

everything for the retelling of the origin, but

quite honestly, I just don't care. Like, I want

Batman running around, you know, outsmarting

the villains. I don't care where he learned it,

honestly. I mean, because everybody knows all

the origins. We've seen enough of the cartoons.

We've seen enough of the comics. I mean, it's

been done to death. I just I'm not saying that

he's writing crap because he's not. He's writing

it really well. It's it's really well thought

out and articulated. But with the whole reboot,

if they were going to reboot it, they should

have just rebooted it. They should have slowly

started everything back out. Went down to and

I'm not saying like do away with the Nightwing

comic or the red Robin comic or the right foot

or any of that But they should have never insinuated

any of the previous, you know timeline or anything

else or If they were gonna go back a certain

amount of years They should have just mentioned

it in the zero year and not gone back in the

actual current timeline They should have just

done it this way and then it would have been

covering those bases they could have explained

everything in the new way and then so when they

went back to the prime timeline then everybody

would be like oh okay I get this but instead

it's convoluted between the two timelines and

yes I know I keep beating it like a dead horse

but I'm sorry it's just that's the main confusing

part to me and it bothers me like no other and

I think that You know if you're gonna do it fresh

do it fresh But if you're not going to completely

do it all fresh, there's no point retelling it.

I would rather just see Batman beating skulls

and You know It seems like to some degree They're

trying to recreate their past success DC is and

to an extent it is working yes, but They're going

back to some of their old wars or you know war

issues like in Justice League or some of their

You know, so year one at zero zero and and and

so on so I mean it's I Kind of see the retreading

purposes, but at the same time one is more I

know it's I know it's different because your

one is is him as Batman Learning to be Batman

Right, but year one is also and I haven't read

it, but I've seen the movie and I know people

are gonna Oh, he's just seen the movie But year

one to me and I don't know how much of the actual

comic got into the film year one is a Commissioner

Gordon story Well that that particular part is

yeah, you know the final page before we get to

the backup story is young Bruce Wayne being chased

by Army of Bats and it's black and white and

it says next the end of Bruce Wayne That is very

interesting to me which is insinuating the death

of Bruce Wayne in the birth of Batman Right,

you know In the backup story, I don't know what

it is, dude. I hate the backup stories Well,

I don't care who who writes them. I just I hate

every backup story I wish they would just stretch

or add more to the current story in the timeline

and skip those extra five six pages Because they

drive me nuts. I understand them. I don't like

them Did you like the ones for death of the family?

No, I couldn't I didn't if they would have wrapped

them in with the actual issue Okay It threw me

for a curve, not only because it was a different

writer, but it was a different artist. And not

only that, but if it was that important to be

in a side story, mostly for Death of the Family,

it should have been in the main issue. It should

have been. I understand it was a part, you know,

it was in the actual issue as far as it was actually

in the front back cover. It should have been

intertwined in the story, not at the very end

of, you know, the pages. It should have been.

sprinkled in throughout itch there's I don't

know I I see you know I understand the gimmicks

and everything but if you're just reading the

the backs you know the back issue things in the

very end you're gonna have a freaking clue what

the hell's going on unless you read the rest

of the issue or or that saga I mean it's it's

so convoluted that you know it's it's to the

same degree of having Batman Beyond Unlimited

and having Superman Beyond and then having Justice

League Beyond and then having You know all these

other comics in there it throws me for a loop.

I wish they would just do whatever that set thing

is and You know write it not not have to split

it up or You know add extra things in that don't

need to be there It's okay. No, I'd be picky,

but it's you know spending money on that shit.

It's it matters the thing is like I agree with

you death of the family I didn't even I didn't

even pay attention to the backup stories here

in zero year because Snyder said they're going

to tie in and it's going to be Bruce at different

ages I really like them here I think they're

damn good you know in part one we had Bruce at

19 here we have him at 21 and the reason why

I like it is because the very end of the backup

story ties into the very end of Issue 22 with

the Sphinx so I thought that was damn good. I

Really did like that. I will say and I have said

this before and You I believe you agree with

me on this The one thing that DC needs to get

rid of I wouldn't even care if they put two more

ads get rid of channel 52 all together Yes, that's

a waste of three and a half four pages. Yeah

Very much so it bring back the letters page for

two pages And then add the other two pages back

to the issue Yeah, yeah Overall Batman 22. It

was it was cool. How they did the Riddler thing

with the timer I've never seen that done before

and again, I've only been reading comics since

last year, but like heavily but You know, I really

thought that was great. The cover is great The

backup story I enjoyed, but other than that,

it's kind of a filler issue. There's really nothing

there outside of the Nigma stuff and the stuff

with Alfred. Yeah. I kind of agree with you.

I mean, I hate, I hate bashing DC. Like I really

do. It bothers me that I even having these words

come out of my mouth. But the fact of the matter

is, is it's just. It's not as good as I thought

it was going to be Yeah, like I Once it got past

death of the family you okay You have brooding

Bruce because his son died in a different series

and I that's another thing I hate the intertwining

between stuff like I understand certain sagas

should have it But there are certain points that

I just think that they should have a certain

Set of storylines going on within that story

and then just let them go in that storyline Yeah,

no I agree Now I don't mind when there's like

crossover like if Batman shows up in Batgirl

for an issue or two Or if you know, I don't mind

when they do like character crossovers. It's

the storyline for crossovers like yes Batman

ink cross into everything Because and that's

the thing. It's like Because I don't collect

Batman ink. I don't care. Yeah I don't care either.

I do eventually want to get the two, even though

I've said before how much I loathe Damien Wayne

and he's gone for now. I do want to catch up

and get the Batman and Robin first two volumes

in trade eventually because I do want to read

that. I do want to see if Because I've only been

exposed to Damien and in issues that he's been

in I haven't like Batman and Robin I know is

his seer like that's his series where he and

Bruce are But I outside of it. I think I started

at issue 15 So again, I do want to go back and

see if maybe I'll like the kid a little bit more

I doubt it but zero years got to pick up man.

It really does I'm the first I'm almost done

Like literally I just I just assumed stick with

Detective at this point. Yeah, like it's not

doing anything for me Yeah All right. Well, we're

gonna go to a quick break You're gonna hear some

audio clips and some other stuff and we'll come

back to close the show after this Give me a triple

Now, we are back and before we close the show

up, we're gonna head 65 years into the future

with Batman Beyond Unlimited. And basically issue

17 is Batman and the Metal Men. The Metal Men,

I don't remember who the hell they are. I honestly

never really they remind me of like The three

fantastic four type villains that are in the

animated series, but I don't remember where they're

from actually It does have really interesting

interactions in this with old Bruce or not over

some old Barbara and old Dick Grayson thought

that was really cool Other than that Batman's

Beyond Unlimited 17 is pretty much the Metal

Man story and then in the final issue before

it transitions to Batman Beyond Universe and

starts back at number one We have Batman Beyond

Unlimited number 18 Batgirl Beyond Yes, you heard

right And what's super cool about this is There's

only two stories in here. There's the Batgirl

Beyond story and the final chapter of Batman

Beyond Unlimited Batgirl Beyond basically has

a Not so old but not so young Barbara Gordon,

Commissioner Barbara Gordon. It's before she

gets like really old like what we see her in

the animated series Basically kicking ass taking

names and and uh and stomping crimes. She looks

absolutely awesome The right it's almost as if

gail simone wrote old barbara. I know she didn't

I know it's um It's uh adam beechin, but uh actually

no, it's not adam beechin. It's uh, let me look

here really quick It's um scott peterson Wow,

that's a really unfortunate name for that writer

Mr.. Peterson well Scott Peterson the whole Lacey

Peterson thing is So I love the Batgirl Beyond

I hope they continue with that That's something.

I'm really interested in reading and basically

the Batman Beyond story wraps up with under cloud

being stopped and Basically Max has Maxine Gibson

has this idea instead of destroying under cloud

Why not have the bat family the old bat family?

put it to use and and you know all that stuff

I Will say the final pages. I don't like how

Terry is drawn He's all beat up and bruised and

that there's one panel that he just doesn't look

like Terry McGinnis at all whatsoever And Bruce's

final words are, in the meantime though, as you

think it all over, we'll continue marshaling

and preparing our bat family, as it were. I hope

you remain a part of it in some shape or fashion

after you've made up your mind, because the mission

always continues. And whether in form or in spirit,

there must always be a Batman. Next, Batman Beyond

Universe starts. So I'm really looking forward

to Batman Beyond universe because I want to see

what Kyle Kyle Higgins is gonna do with that

I'll be honest. I'll probably try it You should

dude, I mean I Would say I mean if you know,

I don't know how much of a bad girl fan you are

I'm not really a bad girl fan But bad girl beyond

was was damn awesome pretty cool But yeah, no

Batman Beyond universe is gonna be and they said

that it's supposed to be still It's it's still

Terry, but he's well, I mean it's it's still

The multiple Comics in a comic I think it is

yes, because if that's the case, I'll probably

just pick up the trade Only because I don't want

to deal with all the rest of the crap that I'd

be buying I'd rather get all of what I want.

Yeah. I actually tried asking around for what

the second, because the second, I believe the

second volume of Unlimited is, should be coming

at some point. Hopefully soon because I believe

that's going to be issues 14 to 18. So you can

read that all in one go. And I'll probably be

picking that up as well. But I've pretty much

Like, if they're gonna do it this way, how they

did it in issue 18, if they're gonna do Batgirl

Beyond and Batman Beyond and just have it those

two, I don't mind that at all, because Batgirl

Beyond was damn good. But yeah, you're right,

if they're just gonna do Batsuit and Justice,

I still gotta get it, though. I still gotta get

single issues, and like I've said before, I'll

just trade them in for credit at my comic shop.

But no, I can't wait till next month when Kyle

takes over. Adam Beechin's run was damn awesome.

He treated the characters just as if we watched

them in the animated show. It was absolutely

awesome. I know Kyle is just going to do the

exact same thing. Some announcements for the

pull bag. I don't know what episode number it

is off the top of my head. I believe it's 29

and 30. Steve and I are going to be doing Villains

Month coverage, but we're only going to be doing

the characters that we want to discuss. I believe

it's the Joker, Raish, Joker's daughter. For

me, the Ventriloquist, which is a bad girl villain.

The new female one. Two -Face. And I think there

are a couple more but we're gonna have a two

-part episode four issues each of villains month

stuff but villains month in September is going

to be really interesting because they're gonna

have villains books coming out every single week

depending on which which bat book you're you're

getting them from because and in some cases the

villains issues are gonna be Like say you got

Dark Knight Detective and Batman and Robin, you

could have a Villains book and all three of those

in one week in September. So Villains Month is

going to be epic and it's going to be really

interesting to see what they do with it. Any

other final thoughts, sir? No, I think that's

it. Alrighty then why don't we go ahead and rate

these issues today for me with just as a cursory

rating I really loved Batman 66 I'll give it

a four and a half which is almost perfect Batman

and Catwoman I'll give it a three stars with,

well no, three and a half stars which is I liked

it. I just, I don't know there's certain things

about that issue I just didn't care for at all.

Batgirl for me gets a five star which is a perfect.

Loving that series, same thing with Nightwing,

perfect. Batman 22. Kind of give it a three which

is for our rating system is is barely passing

It's just it's not pulling me in like I thought

it was going to what about you for the stuff

you read Detective I'd probably give it a four

point five just because it was better than zero

year to me Zero year, I'd give probably a four

Nightwing I'd give a four point five and Batgirl

I think I'd give It's kind of a toss -up for

me, either 4 or 4 .5. Either way, it's... I would

think I'd rather actually read that over reading

Zero Year. Alrighty, then. Next up in the pull

bag, you're gonna hear an Origins episode from

Art Danner of Off the Cuff. Yes, that's right,

the video game guy is talking comics. For now,

I am TFG1Michael with Steve Megatron Phillips.

Be sure to make your great escape into comics.

We will catch you next time. Coming to Grand

Rapids, Michigan on September 21st and 22nd is

Grand Con Gaming and Comics Convention presented

by Celebration Cinemas. Join us in playing or

chatting it up with fellow enthusiasts in a community

that understands your passions. Get lost in the

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Admire costumes and art from vendors and attendees.

Meet the creators behind your favorite mainstream

and independent games and comic books. Check

out unpublished games and sneak peek at things

to come. You can get all this and more at Grand

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