Episode 20: Proper Use of Big Ben
Welcome to the twentieth 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 the second episode of the month they discuss the various books that were associated with the animated Batman shows of the nineties, though just about everything is fair game.
It’s a shorter than usual episode this time out because someone (Andy) had a train to catch.
Seriously. He had a train to catch. The man was going to find comics.
It’s a noble endevour.
Anyway, things get animated this time out as the guys look at the second issues of two of the animated tie-in comics from the ’90s. In Batman Adventures #2 the Joker draws Catwoman into his plot and she leads Batman on a chase to England. Big Ben is involved but it actually has to do with the plot and isn’t just a prop to let the audience know that the characters are in London. Then in Batman and Robin Adventures #2 the Two-Face two parter concludes with a bunch of people getting kidnapped and Dick Grayson being kind of a jerk to Batman.
There is a time and a place to tell someone, “I told you so!” and being tied to a chair after a scarred criminal kidnaps you is not that time.
Just saying.
Below is a gallery of covers and pages from the comics we discussed this time out.
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.
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Next Time: Don’t listen to the lies Michael told you at the end of the episode. Next month we celebrate Superman’s birthday by looking at some awesome Superman/Batman team-ups!
Great show fellas. I really need to go back and pick up all of the Batman and Robin Adventures comics. After buying the entire run of the first volume, I dropped in and out of subsequent series. My mistake, as these books are fantastic and timeless.
In our area, as in most of the country I believe, BTAS had 3 premieres over a 3-day period. On Saturday of that weekend was “The Cat and the Claw Part 1” as you describe Michael. A very weak show to debut with, but chosen because of Catwoman’s popularity after Batman Returns earlier that summer. To be honest, the episode left me a bit less than overwhelmed. I was whelmed.
On that Sunday night was the prime-time premiere of “On Leather Wings”, the actual pilot of the show, and what a great one to start off with! A highlight of the series, and using Man-Bat showed that this show was going to go deep into the Bat-Mythos. This one-time Sunday showing during this period led to the misnomer that the show was initially prime-time. It wasn’t, but later after the show gained popularity, Fox put it back on for regular Sunday night airings for several months.
And then “Heart of Ice” debuted that Monday in the usual weekday slot. Definitely the best episode of the early run, and perhaps the best PERIOD.
So glad you guys are covering these books. They deserve WAY more love than they got then or now (other than Harley’s 1st appearance, which I happily own!). I told my LCS owner (who was later my boss) at the time that Batman Adventures was the BEST Batman book out there at the time. I was right!
Chris