batcavejanitor

*gulp* Look...it's not that I don't appreciate Aparo and the impact his art had both in DC and comic books in general I'm just not the biggest fan of Bronze Age-isk comic book art. I agree that modern comic book art can sometimes devalue the impact of some of comic book's greatest moments in history (such as Aparo's work in Death in the Family and Knightfall, both of which I grew up on), and I've been reading comics since I was 8 years-old, that art style just isnt my favorite. I like the paneling, Jason Todd's death scene is one of my most memorable comic book moments, and I always get a kick out of Batman slugging Sups but I can't stand Joker's elongated face/chin, I NEVER have like the gray and blue batman, and I hated even more the desert backdrops (what's with Batman-family members never dying in Gotham). So...sorry to disappoint but I can't help it.

My Top 5 Essential Bat-books/Bat-stories to get started with: Batman: Year One Frank Miller's retelling and official origin story of Batman. It's grittiness and simplicity (just a guy in a mask fighting crime) is the perfect set up to Bruce Wayne's transformation. Batman: Long Halloween & Dark Victory I'm pairing these two together as they are the same storyline. It's arguably a Year Two setting and covers some major charecters and what an early Batman looked and felt like. Plus...it's Tim Sale...come on. Batman: Death in the Family I hated the art (sorry) but the story is maybe one of the biggest in Batman history. So suck it up and get it over with. Batman: Knightfall vol. 1-3 Epic story line, major role in Batman's history, good story, and with all this Battle for the Cowl stuff you'll get a more comfortable feel for today's Bat-family (the two robins in particular). Batman: HUSH vol. 1 & 2 I hope I don't take any heat for this; I loved HUSH. Some people might argue whether the ending was worth the hype and when it's all said and done the story doesn't play a major role in Bats history (introduces a new villain though)...I just think it's a great modern Batman story. It's a good mystery (which is what Batman is supposed to be), has GREAT art, and will give you a good feel for today's Batman and what all he's capable of. Of course when you break it down to just five there is a lot missing (The Killing Joke, Under the Hood, War Games/Crimes, No Man's Land, and on and on and on) but I feel like if you went out today and bought all 5 I have listed you would have a pretty good feel for the modern Batman's comic book history. Another good site for some chronological Batman trade references; batmantrades.com. enjoy!

YES! EPISODE 47! CANT WAIT TO GIVE IT A LISTEN!

Well at instocktrades.com the price is much reduced and I would only really be paying the shipping cost. My issue is I could get the fancy and nice looking Civil War hardcover or combo for two cheaper trades.

I got a little spending money because of Valentines Day and I'm looking for a trade to buy. I've been wanting to read Civil War for awhile and saw the thick hardcover at Borders for $40. Is the big one worth it? It looks very good, would look great on my shelf, and like everyone else I prefer Hardcover over Softcover; however if the story or whole shi-bang of the big expensive book isnt worth it I'de rather by the softcover and spend the rest of the money on another trade.

I just think it would be HILARIOUS to hear you and James talk about some of the AD charecters. Tobias especially. All of them though, their isn't a bad character or episode. And that tease is killing me, lol.

As much as I love comics/superheros my suggestion is out of that genre. Arrested Development If you don't know the show than your life is unfulfilled. Stop what your doing right now, go to a store, buy all 3 seasons, and prepare to be blown away. The podcast wouldn't take super long either, there's only 52 or 53 episodes. "Yooou want me to be explicit?"

I'm excited for all of this. I think I'll only be picking up Battle for the Cowl and Azrael though. My first thought is this, I never want someone to replace Bruce. Bruce Wayne IS Batman, no one else. Stick him in a Lazarus pit, put a spell on him, or let him hop of Flash's back and run him through time or something if DC is worried about him getting old, but I don't think I'll ever be ok with a permanent Batman who isnt Bruce. Since all this is most likely temporary though... I want to see Jason Todd or Hush. If Nightwing or Robin got it I feel like they would just run around and do a lot of what Bruce would do, except not as good (I want to someone piss of Batman thinking "Batman doesn't kill" and BAM, they're dead). I've always loved Hush and although I didn't like the idea of a returning Jason Todd, Judd Winick kicked ass in Under the Hood (making me love Jason Todd again). Plus, given Hush's current state he could play both Bruce and Batman. MAN that would rule. Also, I don't know where she went (maybe I missed a story) but why isn't Lady Shiva being brought up at all? She helped re-trained Bruce when he broke his back and as far as I know is still considered one of the best assassins in the DCU. Obviously she couldn't be Batman but I miss her character in the comics.

I've been listening to a lot of the older episodes too. I'm a podcast junky but I gotta admit...this is my favorite podcast of all time. MAN I CANT WAIT FOR THEM TO GET BACK. And I love the long podcasts, heck...they could even go longer. I work 8 hours on week days plus the drive...that means a 8.5 - 9 hour podcast would be ok with me. lol

Mike and James have referred a couple of times to the Superman: Doomsday movie and I'm wondering if they ever reviewed it? I know it's not in DCAU continuity (thank God) but was it ever reviewed on another podcast or on the Earth-2.net site? I finally saw it the other day. BTY...didn't love it. It had it's moments (Lex Luthor was bad a and Superman-Clone killing Toyman was nice) but I had my issues with it too (Doomsday being in the movie titled Doomsday for 5 minutes, the crazy cheek bone thing on Sups face that I stared at the whole movie, and Lois Lane).

Contagion was bad, that's true but Cataclysm was better than RIP. If I bought and read every issue of RIP does that count as 'giving something a chance?' Not to mention I've bought Morrison's other stuff (Batman and Son, All Star Supes, 52, etc). I guess my main gripe was that with all this hype nothing blew my mind in RIP. I remember reading Hush and when Harold got shot I flipped, when I saw Jason Todd tear off Bruce's cowl in Red Hood I crapped my pants, when the Joker shot Sarah Essen in No Man's Land I wanted to cry, when Jezebel Jet turned bad, when the Black Glove turned out to be a group of rich people gambling, when Bruce said he knew Hurt was lying about his parents, and when Batman went missing after a helicopter crash I yawned. I guess to each his own...I just thought it was all a little anti-climactic.

I don't hate Grant Morrison though; I liked All Star Superman and LOVED 52. I just hope someone offers him a better deal and he starts a new Plastic Man story or something.

As a loooong time Batman reader I gotta admit that RIP was maybe the most disappointing Batman story for me. I shared Mike's disappointment with the bad guys intelligence and waste of pages with story that didn't matter. When it was all over I said out loud to myself, "Sooo...what was the point of the goons chasing Robin? And the big ending finale is Bruce disappearing after a helicopter crash?" Then a local car salesman commercial came on the TV and I found it more interesting than the dumb comic I had just bought. "I don't want to feel penalized for not having read what's come before." My thoughts exactly Mike. And to take it further, were penalized even further for not having read Final Crisis yet. Dr. Simon Hurt is officially one of the lamest villains ever. If the Joker, Two-Face, Hush, Poison Ivy, or any of the other villains had gotten a hold of Batman they for f'ing sure wouldn't dress him up in his full suit and bury him alive just barely below the surface. COME ON! The whole thing was just DUMB. Finally...THANK YOU Dan for bringing up the Alex Ross covers. Annoyed the crap out of me! They never had anything to do with the story and gave a false impression of an Alex Ross worthy story.

Another great episode! Good ol' Ace! I second the hating for Big Time; he's basically Solomon Grundy with some Goonies sloth mixed in. And I thought the general idea behind "Where's Terry?" was great, just ruined by some punk kid and Max. I was hoping for an all Bruce story where he saves Terry life in the end, oh well. Also, I hope were in for an expletive heavy rant in the next episode when reviewing "Speak No Evil", the thought of hearing a future rant was the only thing keeping me from throwing the computer out my window.

Well, to each his own. I don't think Grant Morrison is the worse human ever (I enjoyed 52), I have lots of trades both in Batman and in other charecters that I want to catch up on (Green Arrow and Marvel's Civil War), and Tony Daniel's 'Battle of the Cowl' looks interesting. I think I might take a break from Morrison but there's no way I'm going to let a story I didn't enjoy ruin a character for me. Batman will always be around. The story disappointed me but I don't want to come off a lunatic who's pulling their hair out or hunting down Grant. I haven't enjoyed his run as much as I did some others...life will move on.

My main arguments are as follows: A- Someone "killing" Batman was inevitable, someone was going to eventually try it. And I know DC isn't going to kill Bruce Wayne permanently. So I'm ok with a solid kill Batman attempt...I just didn't like the way it went down (matter of opinion I guess) B- I feel like Grant Morrison strings a long the readers with promises of great reveals and great endings that never happen. I don't mind doing some back tracking and catching up if the end result is going to be awesome (or if I'm promised an end result in general) but I feel like every time I get to what I think is the end, Morrison wants me to read and buy even more (because what I just finished reading wasn't really the ending). And if I don't read and buy more than the next story won't make sense...which I feel is a MAJOR push to get me to spend money rather than just enjoy a good comic.

Ok...Malpractice, Preston Nelson, and Koete...my original complaint wasn't that I didn't like the way Batman went out. I think it's awesome that Batman (a man) shot and killed a god. That part is killer. What disappoints me the most, and for the first time since I was 9 years old makes me want to stop reading Batman, is that I feel like Grant Morrison is manipulating me. First (and somewhat off topic)...lets not pretend that Batman is the only one who's ever taken out Darkseind. Superman threw him into the f***ing Source Wall (where he stayed until Superman had to take him out). In Kingdom Come (which I know isn't in official continuity but worth noting) Orion deposed Darkseid, thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would be killed by his own son. Back on the topic at hand...I mainly feel like Grant Morrison's has created a story line within the Batman mythos that can only be understood if I go out and buy all of his comics, each one promising me a great ending/reveal that will be worth the money...and so far that has been a lie. I feel like I'm the fat kid who's been tricked to exercise by placing me on a treadmill and tying a twinky on a stick just baaarley out of reach. Batman and Son ended on a open-ended cliffhanger ending, Resurection of Ra's al Ghul ended on a non-ending story wrap up, Batman RIP didn't finish Bruce's story, Final Crisis #6 has now shown his death but wait...in a recent interview with Grant Morrison from wizard he says, "I'm coming back to this story." then..."And I keep on stressing for people not to think of this as death. This is part of the story. There's more cool sh-- to come." there's more..."The story is not by any means over." GREAT! So now I have to buy more of his crap! I just HATE being strung a long. I feel like he knows I'm loyal to the character and unless they cancel the title I'm going to keep buying...no matter how badly they treat my favorite character. Blue Beetle got his own big story, Superman got his own HUGE story line, Tim Drake's f'ing Dad got a big climax, Batman...got a couple of pages in between fighting tigers and a battle in Blüdhaven. But wait! 'The quick and easy death is justifiable because it's not really the end of the story. It's not over. Save your money. I'll really reveal what I want to do with Bruce in my NEXT title...make sure to buy it.' And I DO have issues with the way he went out. Batman...BATMAN...should get more respect than what he got in that issue. *whew* My apologies for the lengthiness of this post...got kinda carried away. Screw Grant Morrison. He owns me $4 f'ing 25 and a good Batman story (that doesn't make me want to shoot myself).

Stavros...thank you. Pretty much exactly how I feel.

Really? I guess should have written a little spoiler warning on my last pots...I'll go back and edit it. Well, I know you don't want to spend the money on the issue but I'm curious what your thoughts on it will be.

So, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post on the DC boards. I haven't read to much of what everyone is saying so I hope I don't make a fool of myself here... **minor SPOILER warning** Just ran to the comic shop on my lunch break, spent $4 f'ing 25 on Final Crisis #6, ran back to my desk to read it, and... I WANT MY MONEY BACK! This is how Grant Morrison takes out the dark knight? This piece of s*** is going to be in Bat's history now? $4.25, months of hype, and I get two pages of crap artwork in the middle of a story that a tag team of shakespeare, einstein, and lucifer himself couldn't understand? I liked 52 (generally), and Morrison's run on Batman had it's moments (I like Damien) but this was my last straw. I'm DONE with anything Batman + Grant Morrison.

GREAT EPISODE! Lately the "future" of comics has been on my mind a lot. $4 is ridiculous, and like the comparison of gas used on the podcast I feel like if we (fans of buying monthly's) keep buying them it will just be an excuse for them to go up again in a year or two. I'm buy both trades and monthly's, buying the monthly's for things I really enjoy and saving the trades for charecters I'm not caught up with anyway. AND...I forget who said it in the podcast about DC should make some of their prices $3.25-$3.50...well Secret Sex #6 in Feb (a series I'm really enjoying) is 40 pages for $3.50. A jump up from it's price this month, Secret Six #5 32 pages, $2.99. I really enjoy this story line so far and the extra 8 pages...I just might do it. Gail Simone is on a role. I wonder too how Marvels digital comics are going to fare. As for myself I'm thiiiiiiis close to paying $10 for a monthly subscription.

Yeah, my school did it too...with an actual egg. I never took that class but I had some friends who did. LOVED that episode too. The line of Batman digging through trash for food...classic.

I haven't listened to the episode yet but wanted to say... I was really starting to warm up to Payback (with the whole anti-hero thing going on) until I learned he was a 5th grader. I'm anxious to hear the guy's thoughts. Loved the Egg episode. Had issues with Sneak Peak. Cant wait to listen!

I LOVED this movie and would be in line to buy the Special Edition DVD should they come out with one (course, they're probablly wont be a line).

When will episode 45 be coming out?