Bailey's Batman Podcast

Episode 18: Mike “vs.” The Nolan Films Part 2

And the debate continues.

Donovan Morgan Grant (he of BatmanUniverse.net, Spider-Man Crawlspace and The Next Dimension: A DragonBall Z Podcast fame) is still with me on this episode to wrap up our talk about the Christopher Nolan Batman films.  In this final installment we dig deep into both Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises.  What did I like about the films?  What didn’t I like about the films?  How will Don try to sway me and defend the movies?  How many references can I make to Nolan and company lifting stuff wholesale from the comics and why would I be upset about such a thing?  Am I upset about such a thing?  Do I just like asking questions?  Listen and find out.

Next time: The show will return.  I don’t know when but it will return!

Episode 17: Mike “vs” The Nolan Films Part 1

I don’t think it is a secret that I have some issues with the Christopher Nolan Batman films.  There are parts of those movies that I like and there are parts that I really don’t like.  Recently I sat down with my friend Donovan Morgan Grant (he of BatmanUniverse.net, Spider-Man Crawlspace and The Next Dimension: A DragonBall Z Podcast fame) to have a spirited debate about the pros and cons of the Nolan Trilogy.  In the first part we begin (no pun intended) by discussing fandom in general and then make our way into Batman Begins.

Just to be clear; these episodes are not three hours or me complaining about the films while Don defends them.  If you are going into this expecting me to just rip the movies to shreds you are going to be disappointed.  I tried my best to be fair with my criticisms and honest about what parts of the films I actually liked.  I’d also like to thank Don for not only coming on to the show to talk about the Nolan Trilogy but also sending me my copy of Dark Knight Rises, which was mighty keen of him as I did not want to pay money for it.

Next time: Mike “vs” The Nolan Films Part 2!  Coming in a just a few, short days!

Episode 15: A Chill In The Air

This time out I am joined by podcasting legend Scott Gardner.  In addition to now mailing me a check for writing that Scott is one of the Freaks over at the Two True Freaks Podcasting Network where he co-hosts such shows as Star War Monthly Monday, Comics Monthly Monday, Star Trek Monthly Monday and more.  Scott joins me to talk about a Golden Age Batman story that was pivotal to the Dark Knight’s evolution as a character.  In Detective Comics #33 Bill Finger and Bob Kane revealed that Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed by a common thief.  Nearly ten years later Finger and Kane returned to that story and expanded on it in a tale from Batman #47.  “The Origin of Batman” revealed how the Caped Crusader came face to face with yesterday and confronted Joe Chill, the man that shot his father which caused his mother to have a heart attack.  Scott and I discuss the story in-depth and then go on for quite some time about the place this story has in Batman’s history including the episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold which adapted it.  Scott even reveals his TRUE feelings for the sixties Batman television series!  It was a fun conversation and Scott is welcome back any time.

During the episode I mention that Scott and I discussed this story or at least elements of this story years ago on an episode of Back to the Bins.  You can find that episode here.  Check it out!

Also Scott and I were both reading this story in a 1976 trade paperback titled Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes.  This is an amazing book with an equally amazing cover so if you happen upon it at a reasonable price I would heartily recommend it.

Also, here’s the Who’s Who entry I talk about late in the episode.

EDIT: I nearly forgot to post Keith’s image.  Sorry, Keith!

Awesome, ain’t it?

Bailey’s Batman Podcast is a proud member of the Batman Podcast Connection.  Head on over to that site to check out a plethora of great Batman related shows.

Subscribing to the show is easy and fun.  Well…it is easy at least.  The RSS feed link can be found here or you can subscribe through iTunes here.  The e-mail address for the show is baileysbatmanpodcast@gmail.com. Write in.  I like getting feedback.

Next time: Three…count them…three reviews in one packed episode!

Episode 14: The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told

This time out I am joined by Tom Panarese (of Pop Culture Affidavit fame) to talk about The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, a 1988 hardcover that was part of a series of such books DC published in the late eighties and early nineties.  It is a collection that, at the time, spanned Batman’s publishing history and Tom and I talk about each and every story.  Why?  Because we both loved this book as teenagers and it seemed like a fun idea to hang an episode around.

Tom has a blog and two podcasts where you can find his thoughts on comics and pop culture.  One of the podcasts and the blog are both called Pop Culture Affidavit.  There Tom discusses whatever pops into his mind in addition to the regular feature My Life as a Teen Titan where Tom relates his history with that group.  He also hosts Taking Flight: A Robin/Nightwing Podcast.  There Tom charts the history of Jason Todd, Tim Drake but most importantly Dick Grayson and his time with the Titans.  All of those can be found at Pop Culture Affidavit. Check out Tom’s blog and podcasts because they are awesome.

To close things out here is the back cover as well as the front and back cover to the softcover edition of The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told.

Next time: No clue, but it will have something to do with Batman.

Episode 13: The Batman Forever Commentary

Happy Halloween/Samhain, everyone!  To celebrate that most awesome of holidays I decided to sit down and record another full length movie commentary.  You would think that I would go with Batman Returns as that is the next film in the franchise following 1989′s Batman but since Batman Forever (or at least part of it) takes place during Halloween I thought it would be fun to skip ahead and cover this one instead.  I must apologize for the rushed nature of this episode as I was up against the clock while I was recording it and at one point my wife came in to ask me a question and I nearly had to stop  the recording at that point.  I decided to soldier on and even with that minor and amusing interruption I had  a grand time recording this.  This movie was a tough nut to crack as there are aspects I really like and aspects I really…don’t like.  So grab some popcorn and soda, pop in your DVD or VHS of Batman Forever and enjoy the commentary!

Next time: Tom Panarese stops by to discuss the Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told!

Episode 12: Batman #400

This time out I am joined by Andrew Leyland (he of Hey Kids Comics and Fantasticast fame) to talk about the epic Batman #400.  Well, technically we talk about Batman right after the Crisis on Infinite Earths and have a pretty healthy discussion on exactly when the Pre-Crisis Batman ends and the Post-Crisis Batman starts.  Along the way we also look at Detective Comics #566, which has an awesome cover and a…well, I hesitate to really call it a story but you’ll see why when you listen to the episode.  After all of that we devote a good hour and a half to the anniversary issue in question.  Finally I begin a new feature here on Bailey’s Batman Podcast, namely Who’s Who in the Batman Universe.  I thought it would be fun to read through a Batman related entry from DC’s original Who’s Who series at the end of each episode and so I am going to start…reading a Batman related Who’s Who entry at the end of each episode.  For this inaugural installment I present the Earth-2 Batman.  For grins here’s the entry in case you want to follow along at home.

And also for grins here is the back cover to Batman #400, which is the front cover without all of the copy.

I’d like to thank Andy for coming on the show and appreciate his understanding when something happens at the end of the episode.

Bailey’s Batman Podcast is a proud member of the Batman Podcast Connection.  Head on over to that site to check out a plethora of great Batman related shows.

Subscribing to the show is easy and fun.  Well…it is easy at least.  The RSS feed link can be found here or you can subscribe through iTunes here.  The e-mail address for the show is baileysbatmanpodcast@gmail.com. Write in.  I like getting feedback.

Next time: A Halloween surprise.

Episode 10: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2

Hey, it’s part two of an epic conversation about the legendary The Dark Knight Returns.  Joining me once again are Donovan Morgan Grant, who is a reviewer over at the Spider-Man Crawlspace, panelist on the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast, panelist on the Batman Universe podcast and co-host of The Next Dimension: A Dragon Ball Z Podcast and Michael Kaiser, the former co-host of Legends of the Batman, The Mighty Shield: A Captain America Podcast and the New 52 Adventures of Superman.  In this second installment we spend a lot of time talking about Superman’s role in this story.  Like, a lot of time.  And there isn’t as much yelling and screaming as you would think.  We also talk about the last two issues and the cultural legacy of the series.

I want to thank Don and Mike for coming out to play.  It was such a blast and they are welcome back to the show anytime.

During the course of the episode I mention two other podcasts that have discussed this story.  The first is the Batman-On-Film podcast, which covered the series back in 2001.  You can find that episode here.  Also Jim Moon has been doing an entire series within a series over on the Hypnobobs podcast called The Natural History of the Batman and while I recommend you listen to all of the Batman related episodes he touches on Dark Knight Returns during this episode.

Bailey’s Batman Podcast is a proud member of the Batman Podcast Connection.  Head on over to that site to check out a plethora of great Batman related shows.

Subscribing to the show is easy and fun.  Well…it is easy at least.  The RSS feed link can be found here or you can subscribe through iTunes here.  The e-mail address for the show is baileysbatmanpodcast@gmail.com. Write in.  I like getting feedback.

Next time: Batman #400 with Andrew Leyland!

Episode 9: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1

This time out I not only have my first guest hosts on the show but also talk about one of the most popular, discussed, analyzed, lauded and criticized Batman story of all time The Dark Knight Returns.  Joining me on this two part journey are Donovan Morgan Grant, who is a reviewer over at the Spider-Man Crawlspace, panelist on the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast, panelist on the Batman Universe podcast and co-host of The Next Dimension: A Dragon Ball Z Podcast and Michael Kaiser, the former co-host of Legends of the Batman, The Mighty Shield: A Captain America Podcast and the New 52 Adventures of Superman.  In this first installment Don, Mike and I talk about the history of the Dark Knight Returns, our histories reading the series and then finally we get into the first two issues.  It was a fun conversation and that fun isn’t over yet as we still have two issues to talk about.

I want to thank Don and Mike for coming out to play.  It was such a blast and they are welcome back to the show anytime.

Bailey’s Batman Podcast is a proud member of the Batman Podcast Connection.  Head on over to that site to check out a plethora of great Batman related shows.

Subscribing to the show is easy and fun.  Well…it is easy at least.  The RSS feed link can be found here or you can subscribe through iTunes here.  The e-mail address for the show is baileysbatmanpodcast@gmail.com. Write in.  I like getting feedback.

Next time: Issues three and four of Dark Knight Returns!

And remember…