Month: June 2019

BAILEY’S BATMAN PODCAST EPISODE 26: THE KNIGHTFALL SAGA 25 YEARS LATER

Episode 26: The Knightfall Saga 25 Years Later

Twenty-five years ago (at least twenty-five years ago on the day this episode is released) Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #63 hit the stands.  That issue marks the official end of a saga (though there would be Aftermath issues and several follow-up stories) that began nearly two years before in the pages of a mini-series called Batman: Sword of Azrael and eventually spread out over all of the main Batman titles and even into the (at the time) new satellite books, like Catwoman and Robin.  Knightfall, Knightquest, and Knightsend are the three acts of a story that explores what happens after the Batman is broken and replaced by a man that is much more violent than Bruce Wayne ever was.  Tom and I discuss this event from its behind the scenes beginnings (dispelling a myth along the way), to the Venom storyline in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, to Sword of Azrael to the Vengeance of Bane special (where I put my foot down about some people’s perception of Bane as a character) and then into the three movements of the story itself.  There are some tangents along the way, but this is an exploration of the quality of the story, what it meant for Batman, and what it meant for us as readers.

Hey, look!  Images tied to the episode.

First up is a gallery of the various collected editions associated with the story, including the first trades from 1993 and 1995, the next printings put out in 2000, the mammoth trades released in 2012 and the more recent omnibus covers.

Here are the covers to the trades and single issues of the stories that paved the way or led into the Knightfall saga.

Here are the covers to the novelizations of the story, plus the covers to the cassette and CD releases of the BBC adaptation.

Finally, Tom and I mentioned that an issue of Wizard: The Guide to Comics caused a bit of a dust up at DC.  Here is that cover, because it feels like you can’t talk about a big storyline in the ’90s without talking about Wizard.

Next Time: I’m not quite sure what the next episode will be.  I am working on a follow up to an episode I released five years ago and I have a few DragonCon panels that I can release, so it will be a surprise.

OVERLOOKED DARK KNIGHT PRESENTS: BATMAN 1989…30 YEARS LATER

The Overlooked Dark Knight Presents: Batman 1989…30 Years Later

Welcome to a special episode of The Overlooked Dark Knight.  Normally, this is a non-index index show where the hosts, Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey, look at Batman comics that rarely, if ever, get talked about.  In one episode they will talk about Bat books from the late seventies and early eighties.  In another episode they will talk about the animated Adventures titles that DC published in the nineties.  Sometimes they talk about whatever strikes their fancy.

But not this time.

This time Andy and Mike are completely abandoning the “overlooked” aspect of their mandate to discuss the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie that put Batman on the path to becoming DC’s most popular character and allowed him to step out of the shadow of the sixties series (which is a lot of fun, but there was a time it was considered by some to be silly) and into the light of pop culture.

30 years ago today, Batman hit theaters.

It was kind of a big deal.

The guys discuss this movie from every angle.  Mike goes over the development of the film and then they dig into the phenomenon that became known as “The Summer of the Bat”.  They talk about the movie.  They talk about the novelization.  They talk about the comic book adaptation.  They talk about the T-shirts and the trading cards and the action figures and the graphic novels that popped up on bookstore shelves and other assorted bits of merchandising.  Andy and Mike also discuss the score and the soundtrack to the film and the fact that this was one of the first movies to have two soundtrack release.  Towards the end Andy discusses his trip to the cinema to see a screening of the film from just a few months ago.

It’s a fun, nostalgia filled two hours, complete with sound samples from the VHS release of the film in late 1989.

Michael went a little overboard with the images this time, but during the course of the episode, he and Andy talked about a lot of different things, so he thought visual aids would be a good idea.

First up is the cover and selected pages from the Batman Official Movie Souvenir Magazine published by Topps. Take particular note of the lying ad for the action figures.

Next up is a gallery of covers from the official novelization as well as the covers to The Further Adventures of Batman and The Further Adventures of the Joker.

Next is a gallery that includes the covers of both the Prestige Format and Newsstand edition of the comic book adaptation and some pages from that comic as well, so you can see the amazing Jerry Ordway art.

Here is a sampling of the two trading card sets put out by Topps.

Next up is a random bunch of images that include subscription offers, ads for the special version of the Prince soundtrack and other assorted bits of business that Mike thought was cool enough to scan.

Here are the three covers to the version of The Untold Legend of Batman that came as a mail away offer from the Batman cereal that was sold during the summer of 1989.

Books about Batman that were either published that summer or a year or so earlier were all over the book stores during the time Batman was in theaters.  Here are some of those books. Included is the cover to one of the black and white reprints Andy talked about during the course of the episode.

Michael talked about an article he read in Comics Scene.  This was the article that told Michael that the movie was coming.

Next up is a gallery of magazines that were published before and during the film’s time in theaters.  Not only do they show how the publishers used Batman to try and get another sale, they are also a fun look back at that summer.

Finally, here’s an ad that appeared in many comics and comics related magazines during the summer of 1989.  This is a good example of the type of merchandise that came out associated with the film.

Before Michael wraps up these show notes, here are videos showing what the trailer looked like as well as the Diet Coke ad and Warner Bros. Catalog short that appeared before the movie on the first VHS release.

During the course of the episode, Michael mentioned an interview from Comics Alliance with the author of the novelization, Craig Shaw Gardner.  Check that out by clicking on this link.

Next Time: Some fun Batman comics as the 80th birthday celebration continues.

OVERLOOKED DARK KNIGHT EPISODE 34: BATMAN YEAR 3 PART 2

Episode 34: Overlooked Celebrates Batman’s 80th Birthday-  Batman Year 3 Part 2

Welcome to the thirty-fourth episode of The Overlooked Dark Knight.  The is a non-index index show where the hosts, Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey, look at Batman comics that rarely, if ever, get talked about.  In one episode they will talk about Bat books from the late seventies and early eighties.  In another episode they will talk about the animated Adventures titles that DC published in the nineties.  Sometimes they talk about whatever strikes their fancy.

Andy and Mike are celebrating Batman’s 80th Birthday for the next year.  It’s going to be fun.  They are doing this by covering stories outside of their normal mandate.

Not that they have a mandate.  But they do.  It’s complicated.

This time out the guys finish up their look at the 1989 re-telling of Robin’s origin that is, for some reason, called Batman Year 3.  In the final two chapters things get really interesting.  Alfred thinks about killing a guy.  Batman works with the underworld.  Nightwing continues his trip down memory lane.  Tony Zucco’s story takes an interesting turn and Nightwing is forced to fight at an orphanage.  In addition to story commentary, Andy and Mike spend some time talking about the other comics that were on the stands when these books were first published.

Keep an ear out for a special appearance by Tom Panarese.

Here are a handful of images from the comics discussed during this episode.

Andy and Mike want your feedback on this episode so they can read it on an upcoming show!  You even have options in how you leave your feedback.  The most direct way is to leave a comment right here on the site.  You can also send all questions, concerns, fears and trepidations to overlookeddarkknight@gmail.com.  Then there’ the Facebook page, where you can also leave a Batman related question for Andy and Mike to answer at the beginning of the show.  If you talk about this show on the social medias please include a #overlookeddk so the guys know where to find it.

If you want to subscribe to the show here’s the RSS Feed and the iTunes link.  If you use iTunes please leave us a review.  Not only will we read that on the air like the other feedback but it really helps the show out.

Next Time: A special retrospective of THE film of 1989…Batman!

IT ALL COMES BACK TO SUPERMAN EPISODE 12 – DOOMSDAY CLOCK #10…WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Episode 12 – Doomsday Clock #10…What Does It Mean?

Most of the time, when I read a new comic I go through it, decide if it was good or not, and move on quickly.  Occasionally I like a book so much that I just have to talk about it with friends.  Rarely does a new comic grab me and not let go, but Doomsday Clock #10 did just that.  I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.  Forty-eight sleepless hours and several re-reads later I finally realized why and decided to talk about what this issue did to me and what it possibly means.  What is Doomsday Clock?  What does it represent for the larger DC Universe?  What does it mean and say about Superman?  Do certain characters represent something in the real world?  Can background music serve as a running joke that only you, as the host, will get?  All of those questions (with the exception of the last one) are discussed and explored.

Below is a gallery of images from Doomsday Clock #10.

Also, here are some of the “Polaroids” I “took” for the cork board posted above.

Next Time: Again…no idea.  This show isn’t planned out.  But, something will be coming at some point, because vague is always good when it comes to podcasting.