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I just wanted to make an all-encompassing Captain America thread, since it looks like there isn't a general one for his comics.

Fresh on my mind are the comics surrounding America's bicentennial; compiled in the Marvel Epic Collection Captain America: The Man Who Sold the United States. The real draw for me was actually the Nomad storyline, which I had built up in my head after hearing the period referenced that the four-issue arc was pretty underwhelming. Captain America abandoning his mantle for a new identity is groundbreaking on paper, but it wasn't very convincing in execution; they didn't commit to the bit. After all, it was only four issues.

I have to applaud Mark Gruenwald's later attempt at the same concept where Cap was forced to relinquish his title (rather than by his own accord). This arc lasted more than a year and really went out of its way to raise uncertainty as to whether the future status quo. This was in large part due to a focus on the replacement Captain America. Surprisingly, there is a replacement Captain America for the Nomad arc, but his tenure is very, very short-lived. It's actually a shocking bit of violence for the time, but I guess that's what Steve needed to get out of his funk.

I really wanted to like it, but the rest of Englehart's run is pretty unremarkable (his strengths are on full display on Batman, however). During the Red Skull encounter, a major retcon is introduced into Falcon's backstory. It's left up in the air whether it's true or not, but they ultimately commit to it. Which I can respect, as much as I don't like retcons in general (especially when you're retconning a Stan Lee story).

One standout issue is a one-off transitional story by Marv Wolfman. There's something about being a well done, back-to-basics Cap story that really made this a fun story.

Now, I was so consumed with reading this collection for the Nomad story that I neglected to even note that this period marked Jack Kirby's triumphant return to his co-creation. The art and action are immediately dialed up to 10; it's like Kirby never left. The stakes are appropriately high, and it's a perfect tie-in to America's real-life bicentennial.

Ironically, my standout story is from a story without much action to it. Cap is staking out an estate before S.H.I.E.L.D. can raid it, and encounters a terminally ill girl. I think the cover doesn't do it justice by proclaiming it as a tragic love story (it really isn't); the beauty comes from the interactions of two people missing a genuine human connection in their lives, and how they manage to help each other. For Captain America in general, it shows Steve's softer side for helping civilians in ways unrelated to his military training.

Let me start by saying that it's pretty common knowledge nowadays that Bill Finger co-created Batman. But what is it about this that makes normies vigilant about proclaiming this, or tearing down Bob Kane to make their point?

Firstly, the facts: the prerequisites for being a comic book creator weren't as well established before the silver age. It seems like there was this belief that if you conceived of the character, you were the sole creator (as Stan Lee maintained before Steve Ditko protested). The common understanding nowadays is that there's a conceptual and visual element that goes into creating a comic book character; usually assigned to a writer and artist.

As this became more established, Bill Finger was willfully neglected from the conversation when it came to Batman's creation, even subject to some false claims by Bob Kane before he eventually softened his stance and gave Finger more credit later in life. This became officially recognized in 2015.

The point? I felt compelled to make this point because we've reached a ridiculous point where there's abundant vitriol and misinformation whenever Bob Kane is so much as mentioned.

Michael Uslan, one of the leading champions of giving Bill Finger his credit, simply shared a comic panel from Superman: Zero Hour that showed different Batmen sharing the scene, inspired by the art of Kane, Frank Miller, and Neal Adams (crediting the influences as such).

So a guy comments that it should be Bill Finger. Thinking he made an honest mistake, I just correct him that Bill did not draw that Detective Comics #27 Batman, and that it should rightfully be credited to only Bill Finger because he had the idea to revise the infamous "red with domino mask" Batman prototype. So this guy was willfully being an idiot and it became popular to accept this as fact, calling me incorrect.

So is it right to give Bill Finger credit where it isn't due because of the transgressions against him in the past? Is it productive to only celebrate Bill Finger in the context of tearing down Bob Kane? People honestly made the argument that Kane being callous to Finger, or using ghost artists made it okay to miscredit them. Also, taking this genius's claim to its logical conclusion, the Neal Adams and Frank Miller Batman should also be credited solely to Bill Finger, since he had the idea for the batsuit.

As someone who's well-read on comic history, and especially golden age Batman, it's a little annoying to see the influx of assholes with a surface level knowledge confidently spew disinformation. There was an immediate, positive impact of internet exposés bringing  Bill Finger's contributions to light to a wider audience, but far too many people try to condense this story and parrot their own conclusions. It's only when you're in a forum of serious Bat-fans that you can actually have a serious and objective conversation or debate about the history, and that's a shame.

I've been skipping around in Batman's history from his beginnings to the modern age, so this was one influential era I've been meaning to cover - essentially the midway point. Sadly, there's not much for graphic novel coverage, but one of my comic book shops has the DC Archives for it (well, a grand total of all two volumes that were ever printed). For some reason I've been seeing an influx of those old hardcover editions re-appearing in comic book shops, but I digress.

These collections are interesting in that they combine both the ongoing Batman and Detective Comics lines into one book; they separated the Golden Age lines into Detective Comics, Batman, and World's Finest despite all the lines sharing the same talent and continuing the same stories. On the contrary, I think this New Look era is where lines started to truly diverge and do their own thing (World's Finest had since turned into a team-up book).

I was immediately surprised by how well the rebranding aged. They jumped right into things with Detective Comics #327 putting Batman and Robin into a new case without getting bogged down explaining any visual/tonal changes. John Broome crafts a smart and concise detective story in the limited space he's allotted. I compare this favorably to one of my other recent reads, the Silver Age Teen Titans, which was very much of its time in the 60s. New Look Batman brings back a timeless quality to our hero. He's not campy or dark and gritty, he's just grounded. These are the lessons that should be gained when looking to bring Batman "back to his roots" (as has been attempted many times since).

The art is of course just as notable as the tonal shift in writing. Carmine Infantino's penicils create a more realistic depiction to align with the writing. He plays up the dashing and attractive elements in his leads. Batman gets his yellow oval, but his facial structure also changes to size down his jawline. Some changes that didn't seem to stick from the redesign were shortening the mask to expose more of Batman's nose, shortening the ears, and moving them to the back of Batman's head. You'll probably notice these changes were all directly implemented in the Batman TV show. this isn't he final step for the modern Batman's design, but one significant step forward after more than two decades of a consistent design and style.

Infantino also gets credit for redesigning Robin, but it's not nearly as pronounced as Batman. It's really the matter of aging him up. Even as Robin became a teenager nearly two decades earlier, he still had the same design as when he was a young child.

Something not discussed nearly as much is that Batman's original team still had a presence in this era on the Batman books; that being Bob Kane's studio, and Bill Finger and other writers. They still craft solid stories, but they still carry the 40s writing and art style with them. It's not as fresh and exciting as what's going on in the Detective Comics world. I'm a little biased because I prefer the more modern pacing of Broome's stories. Though there will always be a place for Finger's charming Batman stories (it's not like he helped create the character or anything ). The editorial changes were also evenly distributed, where this team saw the debut of other major changes, like the new Batmobile, new Batcave, death of Alfred, and arrival of Aunt Harriet.

The Batman stories still carry the distinctive Kane style; the compromise was that Joe Giella would ink both lines for consistency, but you can tell many changes are an afterthought. Batman's seemingly drawn with his original chest emblem, which means the yellow oval needs to be larger and lower on his chest to accommodate it. His face also appears to be retouched in closeups to implement some of the mask and chin changes.

I hope to see this era expanded on in the future. When it comes to reprints, there is no way that there will be one continuous collection of Batman comics; they've started and stopped too many attempts at cataloging the Golden Age comics. The best practice is to start with a new editorial era like this.

I notice there's no general thread for comic's most beloved antihero, so I'll start one here.

One of my favorite comics of all time might be the one-shot Punisher: No Escape. It's an exhilarating comic from beginning to end - and I do want to stress beginning; just look at that cover painted by Joe Jusko.

Plot wise, this may be your standard Punisher mob revenge story. Though there's something to be said for excellent execution in terms of art and pacing. Furthermore, you get more bang for your buck by adding some crossover characters into the mix; U.S.Agent as backup for the heroes, and Paladin to add a formal supervillain to the conflict.

I've mentioned before that U.S.Agent is one of my favorite superheroes, but sadly hasn't had many good stories since being relegated to a supporting role in the Avengers West Coast. Would you believe that this Punisher story offered more character development for him than all the AWC issues before this point (and then some)?

U.S.Agent is a great guest character for the Punisher because of the dichotomy between the two. Both were soldiers; one during wartime and one during peace. Both are extremely patriotic heroes that love their country, but interpret that in very different ways. Agent embodies this by taking orders directly from his superiors, whereas Punisher has a more flexible moral code when it comes to the acts he'll commit to protect the average citizen. Throughout the story, Agent follows Punisher's example to question authority when he encounters a moral dilemma. This finally has its payoff when Agent refuses an order to assassinate Spider-Woman in AWC 74.

The story keeps most of the status quo intact by the end, but there's enough of a twist that it still feels satisfying.

I've only gotten serious about reading comics within the past few years, but I've quickly found my niche of heroes/artists/writers that I follow. As with all hobbies, without any kind of limit in mind, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

For me, Spider-Man was probably the first hero I followed as a kid. It goes without saying that the original Ditko era is classic through and through. Romita breathed new life into the character and defined him for years to come. Even past him and Lee, there were always great arcs to be found every so often. I mainly read through Epic Collections, so at least one arc with every volume is great enough to justify the purchase. Though I finally draw the line with the Clone Saga. I can do without the retcons, and all the added lore and science fiction elements stretch the suspension of disbelief. It's very 90s in a way that I haven't become nostalgic for yet.

Batman was my second favorite hero as a kid. I've read hundreds of the original stories, and I'll keep reading so long as DC keeps re-releasing them, though it already looks like they won't make it to the 50s. But regardless, my heart is mostly in the immediate post-Crisis stories of the 80s/90s. Unlike Spider-Man, these were still part of the comic culture when I was growing up, but still stand up beyond nostalgia. My cut-off has been Troika (following the prerequisite Knightfall saga), but I may continue reading on until the point where the classic writers finally drop off.

For Captain America, I actually started with some Mark Gruenwald stories and immediately sought out the rest of his run. I figure this is my stopping point, since I don't think any stories can follow his. For more of the character's lore, I went back to the original silver age run by Lee and Kirby. So far, that's been solid enough for me to read on (I'll try to fill in the blanks from the 60s to the 80s eventually).

As with many projects during the MCU's golden age, I checked out Frank Miller's Daredevil and found that was perfect for coming off of the TV show. I've since read the first few years' of Stan Lee issues, and despite one of the best assortments of rogues, I just didn't find myself as enthralled by the storytelling.

Punisher's solo series' in the 80s/90s have all been solid. Hasn't been a bad take yet, so I plan to keep reading. Though the Circle of Blood miniseries is still top for me.

I found myself delving into the Avengers West Coast series after U.S.Agent was transported there from his main Captain America series. I've read a couple years in, but haven't really been hooked since the initial Vision Quest arc by John Byrne.

[Add a point if Robin engages in a task independent of Batman (especially something Batman can't do).]

As you may know, I've been trying to read through all the Golden Age Batman stories in chronological order. It's been quite an undertaking; all the tropes are on full display. In the midst of the WWII era, I've noticed a bit of a Robin problem. In short, writers don't seem to know what to do with him, and he's a liability.

Now Robin's importance to the history of comics can't be understated; he famously added much-needed banter with Batman, and created an avatar for the younger children reading the stories to relate to. But it becomes an issue where there isn't much for Robin to do, or even worse, he simply stands in Batman's way. Here's a formula for how I would determine if a story is a good Robin story:

Add a point if Robin engages in a task independent of Batman (especially something Batman can't do).
There's been some excellent stories that make use of Robin's unique abilities, not just always fist fighting alongside Batman. Early stories had Robin fight with a sling instead of his fists, he also had his own dragster and batplane. He gets to shine as an actor when the job calls for going undercover as a child.

Add a point if Robin saves Batman.
Robin's fulfilling his role best when Batman has someone watching his back.

Deduct a point if Robin is put into a trap that Batman has to save him from.
It can be a powerful motivator when Batman is fighting for Robin's safety, but it loses effect when it happens too much and has the unintended consequence of making Robin look incompetent. Even worse, sometimes Batman will have a foe beaten, only to have it end in a stalemate when they threaten Robin.

Deduct a point if Robin is knocked out by trauma to the head.
This happens way too much to be a pattern. Villains get away by knocking out Robin and/or Batman and choose not to kill them for some contrived reason.

If your total is in the positives, it's a good story. It's not that I'm looking for an invincible character, but more variety in the stories that are told. A bit of the character's wish fulfillment is lost when he's always getting his bell rung.

I've been attempting to catalog the continuity of all the original Batman comics. While release order is well known, this does not always reflect the in-universe timeline. I'm attempting a reading order that smoothes out as much inconsistencies as possible.

Also, this is a non Earth-One retcon timeline: Justice League of America #82 creates the conflict that the Golden Age and modern Batman are two separate characters, despite no indication of such a change occurring (in contrast to the Flash, who is clearly two different characters in each interpretation). Therefore, the original Batman continues until the comic mentions that he's no longer the same. But that's a way's away; I'll keep the list updated as I go.

Some notes about the listing: for simplicity, entire book names are mentioned when there's only one Batman story, or there's no need to break them up. In the case of the latter, I list out the full title of the story as well as the source comic. One of the biggest examples is how the early Joker stories often took place back-to-back. Dates have also been added where they're mentioned within the comic.

I took the liberty of placing The Giants of Hugo Strange before Robin's introduction in Detective Comics #38; this story represents one of the only instances of Robin being absent since his introduction in Batman's early career. Without any excuse given, it makes better narrative sense to push it back.

One change I've resisted making was placing Detective Comics #42 after Detective Comics #48. My reasoning is purely aesthetic; Batman's car in #42 is dark blue/black, then bright red in #48 before becoming the classic bat-themed Batmobile from Batman #5 onward. One of the reasons I didn't make this change was the #42 car was still a generic pre-Batmobile, whereas by #48, it was formally dubbed the Batmobile (before taking on the look).

Public Enemy #1 from Batman #4 ends on June 13, 1941. Jimmy McCoy is freed from prison in 1941, and he meets his fate on Friday the 13th... the only Friday the 13th for 1941 is June 13.

I think I was the first person to discover an anomaly that places World's Finest Comics #5 much earlier than release; in the story, one of the gangsters disguises themselves as Trigger Burns, a gangster active in the Philadelphia area. But in the earlier story Crime Does Not Pay from Batman #5, Burns is said to have died days earlier. Thus, I've placed the events of World's Finest Comics #5 as late as possible (immediately before Crime Does Not Pay).

Batman 9 (or at least the Joker story) takes place before the events of Detective Comics #60 (released IRL a month after). This is simply due to the chronology of the Joker's story; Batman 8 sees Joker sent to prison, Batman 9 sees Joker break out of prison, Detective Comics #60 has Joker start the story on the run. This reading order also leads into Detective Comics #62 with no conflicts.

While there's no re-arranging (yet), there appears to be a missing Joker story between Detective Comics #62 and #64 where Joker escapes prison.

World's Finest Comics #6 briefly mentions Joker is still at large. Since he was free at the end of #64 but apprehended at the end of Batman #11, this story logically takes place between the two.

The flashback from Detective Comics #65 is also dated 1937 (placing the present day story in spring 1942). So far, this is the earliest known date of operation for Batman.

Two-Face's first story is told uninterrupted between Detective Comics 66 and 68.

The main story Brothers in Crime story from Batman No. 12 doesn't have an exact place in the timeline, despite having the oddly specific time range of May 11, 1939 through June 1939. Logically, most stories take place around their cover date, but Robin's first appearance was cover dated April 1940. In order to not push the timeline back any further than it needed to be, this story was placed immediately after Robin's first appearance.

Around the Clock with Batman! from Batman #12 had to be pushed back based on a comment that Batman had only fought Joker six times at this point in his career. This would place it between Batman #5 and Batman #7. I placed it right before the latter as that's the latest it could have taken place. This also works nicely because the previous comic in chronology was World's Finest Comics #3: this is the first appearances of Scarecrow, whom the mayor mentions was already arrested. The mayor also mentions Batman has previously encountered the Penguin, which then presents a conflict because Penguin's first appearance in Detective Comics #58 comes after Joker's seventh appearance. I've remedied this by pushing Detective Comics #58 a little earlier to take place just before this story.

The only way to fix the inconsistency with Joker's appearances in Around the Clock with Batman! is to move all Joker appearances that occurred after six encounters after this story (stories from Batman #7, #8, #9, Detective Comics #60, #62, #64, and stories from Batman #11 and earlier in #12). It's unlikely that these appearances occurred back-to-back like this, but this is the closest place I can put them to their release order without any conflicts. They also don't work too terribly as a continuous story. Also consider that these all have to occur before Joker's next story in Batman #13. There's only three stories chronologically in between, so it's not like there's a huge number of possible combinations,

Detective Comics 67 has a clue of the season by saying Robin is seeing the first robin of the season. I'm assuming this means early spring, but I really don't know much about robin migration patterns to suggest a place chronologically. If this were early spring, that would put it before World's Finest Comics #6, since that was well into spring 1942. But again, since I can place that definitively, I'll leave it as-is.

For Detective Comics #71, I deduced that it was November 1942 from the cover and splash page. It's mentioned within the story that it takes place over Tuesday to Saturday. This corresponds with one of the calendar pages Joker is ripping away on the cover, thus the story takes place November 24 through 28, 1942. Also taking place well enough after The Case Batman Failed to Solve on November 18 (from Batman #14) that the other stories could still occur in between.

1. The Legend of Batman - Who He Is And How He Came To Be (From Detective Comics No. 33) (1924)
2. Detective Comics No. 65 (flashback) 1937
3. Detective Comics No. 27
4. Detective Comics No. 28
5. Detective Comics No. 29
6. Detective Comics No. 30
7. Detective Comics No. 31
8. Detective Comics No. 32
9. The Batman Wars Against The Dirigible Of Doom (from Detective Comics No. 33)
10. Detective Comics No. 34
11. Detective Comics No. 35
12. Detective Comics No. 36
13. Detective Comics No. 37
14. The Giants of Hugo Strange (From Batman No. 1)
15. Detective Comics No. 38
16. Brothers in Crime (From Batman No. 12) (flashback) (May 11, 1939 - June 1939)
17. The Cat (From Batman No. 1)
18. The Joker (From Batman No. 1)
19. The Joker Returns (From Batman No. 1)
20. Batman No. 2
21. New York World's Fair Comics 1940 (1940)
22. Detective Comics No. 42
23. Detective Comics No. 43
24. Detective Comics No. 44
25. Batman No. 3
26. Detective Comics No. 45
27. The Case of the Joker's Crime Circus (From Batman No. 4)
28. The Riddle of the Missing Card (From Batman No. 5)
29. Detective Comics No. 46 (1941)
30. Detective Comics No. 47
31. Blackbeard's Crew and the Yacht Society (From Batman No. 4)
32. Public Enemy #1 (From Batman No. 4) (June 13, 1941)
33. Victory for the Dynamic Duo (From Batman No. 4)
34. Detective Comics No. 48
35. Detective Comics No. 49
36. Book of Enchantment (From Batman No. 5)
37. The Case of the Honest Crook (From Batman No. 5)
38. World's Finest Comics No. 5
39. Crime Does Not Pay (From Batman No. 5)
40. Detective Comics No. 50
41. Detective Comics No. 51
42. Detective Comics No. 52
43. Detective Comics No. 53
44. World's Finest Comics No. 2
45. Detective Comics No. 54
46. Batman No. 6
47. Detective Comics No. 55
48. Detective Comics No. 56
49. World's Finest Comics No. 3
50. The Trouble Trap (from Batman No. 7)
51. The North Woods Mystery (from Batman No. 7)
52. The People Vs. The Batman (from Batman No. 7)
53. Detective Comics No. 57
54. Detective Comics No. 58
55. Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make (from Batman No.
56. The Strange Case of Professor Radium (from Batman No.
57. The Superstition Murders (from Batman No.
58. Detective Comics No. 59
59. World's Finest Comics No. 4
60. The Four Fates (From Batman No. 9)
61. The White Whale (From Batman No. 9)
62. Christmas (From Batman No. 9) (December 24-25 1941)
63. Detective Comics No. 61
64. Batman No. 10
65. Detective Comics No. 63
66. World's Finest Comics No. 6 (May 1942)
67. Payment in Full (from Batman No. 11)
68. Bandits in Toyland (from Batman No. 11)
69. Four Birds of a Feather (from Batman No. 11)
70. Detective Comics No. 65 (spring 1942)
71. Detective Comics No. 66
72. Detective Comics No. 68
73. Brothers in Crime (From Batman No. 12) (1942)
74. They Thrill to Conquer! (From Batman No. 12)
75. Around the Clock With Batman! (From Batman No. 12) (May 25-26)
76. Wanted: Practical Jokers (from Batman No. 7)
77. The Cross Country Crimes(from Batman No.
78. The Case of the Lucky Law-Breakers (from Batman No. 9)
79. Detective Comics No. 60
80. Detective Comics No. 62
81. Detective Comics No. 64
82. The Joker's Advertising Campaign (from Batman No. 11)
83. The Wizard of Words (From Batman No. 12)
84. World's Finest Comics No. 7
85. Detective Comics No. 67
86. Batman No. 13
87. Detective Comics No. 69
88. Detective Comics No. 70
89. The Case Batman Failed to Solve (from Batman No. 14) (November ?-November 18, 1942)
90. Prescription for Happiness (from Batman No. 14)
91. Swastika Over the White House! (from Batman No. 14)
92. Bargains in Banditry! (from Batman No. 14)
93. Detective Comics No. 71 (November 24-28, 1942)
94. World's Finest Comics No. 8
95. Detective Comics No. 72
96. Your Face is Your Fortune! (From Batman No. 15)
97. The Boy Who Wanted to Be Robin! (From Batman No. 15)
98. Two Futures (From Batman No. 15)
99. The Loneliest Men in the World (From Batman No. 15) (December 24-25, 1942)
100. Detective Comics No. 73
101. Detective Comics No. 74
102. World's Finest Comics No. 9 (March 1943)
103. Batman No. 16
104. Detective Comics No. 75
105. Detective Comics No. 76
106. Batman No. 17
107. World's Finest Comics No. 10
108. Detective Comics No. 77
109. Detective Comics No. 78 (1943)
110. Batman No. 18
111. Detective Comics No. 79
112. World's Finest Comics No. 11 (1943)
113. Detective Comics No. 80
114. Batman No. 19
115. Detective Comics No. 81
116. The Centuries of Crime (from Batman No. 20) 1943
117. The Trial of Titus Keyes! (from Batman No. 20) (May 29, 1943)
118. The Lawmen of the Sea (from Batman No. 20)
119. Bruce Wayne Loses the Guardianship of Dick Grayson! (from Batman No. 20)
120. Detective Comics No. 82
121. World's Finest Comics No. 12
122. Detective Comics No. 83
123. Batman No. 21
124. Detective Comics No. 84
125. Detective Comics No. 85
126. Detective Comics No. 79 (flash forward, 1944)
127. World's Finest Comics No. 11 (flash forward, 2043)

Doesn't seem to be a thread for just the original serial. I've just finished it for the first time. I just purchased the DVD recently from a store with a dedicated superhero movie section. The owner actually warned me that this isn't the modern Batman, saying Batman was in sweatpants. On that note, it's interesting how perception of this movie has changed over time. As I understand, it was a success during its original run, but subject to amused mockery and derision in the 60s, which directly lead to the 60s Batman show. Nowadays, it's all but forgotten, and contemporary reviews dwell too much on the racial element. While it's not for modern audiences, any Batman fan should appreciate the historical significance, especially any reader of the Golden Age comics.

I think this movie exceeds at following the source material. People complain that it doesn't adapt any storylines or features any preexisting villains, but this was still ground zero for superhero cinema (only preceded by Captain Marvel). The episodes very much capture the tone and formula of the comics at the time, which which commonly saw Batman battling gangsters, mad scientists, and even occasionally brain control.

It's safe to say that the Joker was already recognized as Batman's arch-nemesis by this point, so that would have been an opportunity. Funny enough, the inspiration for his likeness, Conrad Veidt passed away shortly before production started. But regardless, the villains all feel straight out of the comics. We actually see a lot of the henchmen throughout the story; many of them appear throughout the episodes and feel less like faceless goons.

I love the action and the fight scenes; it's very frequent and engaging. There's no grace to it, just a bunch of brawlers duking it out. Only critique I have is that Batman and Robin get beaten way too frequently. I know this trope appears in the comics frequently at this time, but seeing them overtaking with every fight can be tiresome.

Everyone knows about the excellent Batman video game for the NES by Sunsoft. Though it wasn't super accurate to the movie, some fans have pointed out that the game features enemies from the comics. Or does it?

Let me start from the top, the manual is how we know these villain's names: Killer Moth, Electrocutioner, Firebug, Shakedown, Heatwave, K.G. Beast, The Enforcer, Deadshot, Nightslayer, and Maxiezeus.

You'd think that a lot of them are intentional reimaginings of the characters from the comics; Killer Moth and Firebug are close enough. Heatwave is a surprising choice (borrowing from the Flash's rogue gallery), but he has the same functionality. But then you get into the more bizarre; K.G. Beast is literally a ninja character, this interpretation makes no sense as a Soviet operative. Sure, K.G.Beast has used a katana and throwing stars at different points. But there's no getting around the fact that this was just designed as a generic ninja character. Look at the manual artwork and it's even more apparent.

Deadshot is a guy firing a revolver in the game. Doesn't resemble his classic comic appearance with wrist-mounted magnums, but technically his very first appearance was just a guy brandishing revolvers.

Electrocutioner sports a drastically different look with a mohawk and a collapsable spear on one hand and two large nails on the other. The style of electrical attacks is very different, and it seems like "electricity" is the only thing he has in common with his comic counterpart.

"Shakedown" and "Maxiezeus" are your generic running guy enemies without any attacks. But what's odd is that Shakedown is the weaker of the two. When it comes to brute strength, there's no competition between the two in the comics: one is a normal guy, and one can take down buildings. The sprite for "Maxiezeus" even better resembles Shakedown, but that's all up to interpretation with Nintendo.

I'm not even sure who exactly The Enforcer is referencing; the Batman villain is a costumed hero that fights with martial arts, in comparison to the video game character who flies around in a jetpack and fires a gun. Since there's precedent to borrow from other DC properties, he actually has more in common with the Enforcers of Firestorm's rogue gallery, with a more armored appearance, firing projectiles, and the ability of flight. It's much closer, but only in the vaguest of terms.

Nightslayer is another that's similar in name only. He's a slow moving enemy with a giant nail weapon, in contrast to the spry thief in a minimalist costume of the comics. The manual states that he's a skilled martial artist, but that's yet to be seen.

So what do we make of this? While it was developed and published by Sunsoft, localization still plays a part in differentiating games between regions (as any Mega Man player will tell you). Sunsoft of Japan was not involved in the branding of the game in the US, where Sunsoft of Japan was responsible for writing the game's manual. While some character bear a passing resemblance to their comic counterparts, the ones that don't are a testament to the fact that the game was not programmed with these characters in mind.

Yet it's still interesting that someone at Sunsoft knew about these characters that only comic book fans would pick up on. I'd imagine the A-list villains were all off limits, but having Firebug in your game wasn't going to conflict with any future movie plans. Interestingly enough, Maxie Zeug was mentioned as being a resident of Arkham Asylum in the novelization to Batman & Robin. If you twist things enough, that exists in the same continuity as this game.

Of the iconic and reoccurring villains, which do you think are their definitive episodes?

The first one that came to mind was Riddler's Reform. Riddler is easily a top 5 Batman villain, but the writers evidently really struggled with him. The first two episodes aren't bad by any means, but strike me as a modernized, re-envisioned take on the character relying more on science fiction technology. But with Riddler's Reform gives us a truly classic take on the character and a solid episode.

Mr. Freeze gets Heart of Ice. Easy pick that's still talked about to this day.

Some villains like the Joker are tough; there's a lot of iconic episodes and I don't think one in particular stands out.

Which films stuck out to you for their action? What scenes worked in particular? For me, a good action scene is comprised of impressive stunts and continuous shots. A lot of fans laud the warehouse scene of Batman v Superman, and appropriately so. But I've gone back to the cathedral fight of Batman, and it still wows me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR1GPhCdXyM
To start, Batman dispatches of Philip Tan and George Lane Cooper with ease; two accomplished stuntmen and fighters are more played for laughs. But Clive Curtis really brings the fight with his scenes. Something often missing from "goon fights" is a back and forth: bad guys get knocked down and are promptly forgotten about. Here, Clive and Dave Lea at Batman trade blows and seek to outsmart the other, using the environment to their advantage. Giving Batman a beating isn't something to be taken lightly, but competent stunts make it believable. There's no cutting away when Batman is dodging the hook being hurled at him, and it feels like a comic book scene brought to life. Even more impressive is Joker and Vicki continuing to dance in the background as the scene progresses.

The abandoned plans for Burton's Batman 3 have rightfully taken precedent in continuing the Burtonverse, but there remains other entries loosely related to Burton's two films.

First is the Nintendo game. While I think there's too many conflicts for it to fit nicely with the events of the film, I think the excellent assortment of villains should be adapted eventually down the line. We have Killer Moth, KGBeast, Deadshot, Maxie Zeus, Shakedown, Nightslayer, Firebug, Enforcer, and Electrocutioner, Heatwave, and the Enforcer. There was something satisfying about Keaton's Batman facing off against these classic comic foes in the setting of the '89 film. While the finer details were hard to see on Nintendo, they did all receive redesigns to make them more in line with the Burtonverse; a couple bosses even received illustrations depicting this.

Now, the game's story was simply that these villains were hired hands of the Joker. While that wouldn't exactly translate to a cinematic Batman, I think a team up would be cool after everything is formally introduced. KGBeast has always been a favorite of mine, and the films taking place around the fall of the Soviet Union gives a good opening for his backstory. Firebug actually had a personal connection with this Batman because it's mentioned that Batman put his brother away. You could write that as one of the Grissom gangsters or Joker goons (or even the bell tower goon that Batman dropped to his doom).

Bringing back the Joker is another issue that we've hear rumors of for Batman 5; either as a hallucination or in the flesh. Ocean's loose sequel to the Batman 89 game, is all about the Return of the Joker. It's funny that the original game killed the Joker much like the film, but the beta version simply had Batman deliver a brutal Bat-punch before arresting him (the Joker's return seems to suggest this version transpired). The newspaper comic strip had a lot of similarities with the film; they cheated a bit and had Joker fall into a bay rather than splatter on the pavement.

Speaking of the newspaper comic, the only villain that was unaccounted for by the films was the Mad Hatter; another fine candidate for Keaton's opponent. It helps that his first appearance coincided with Vicki Vale's in the main comic. The Riddler also had a featured storyline, however he is already very much associated with the "Batman 3" project as portrayed by Robin Williams.

Something fans have also been clamoring for is a Superman crossover. Most everyone has Reeve as their top choice, which I agree would also be phenomenal for these two titans that defined a genre to finally meet. But there's actually other continuity that already teased this. Most prominent is Lois and Clark The New Adventures of Superman, which features the Keaton Batmobile. We also know that Nic Cage's unseen Superman would have explicitly existed in the same continuity as Burton's Batman. Now could these references be easily consolidated or ignored by future writers? Most likely, since that's pretty much what had to be done with the Schumacher films.

I've seen the Flash (John Wesley Shipp) and Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) brought up as well, but that leads us into the newly established live action multiverse in the Arrowverse shows. Because of the rigid distinctions for different film universes, the live action Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash and Batman are all now confirmed to be in different universes. This may have also just been a throwaway gag, but the 89 universe was seemingly mentioned as being a fictional universe within the 1990 Flash show.

It's worth mentioning that the Catwomqn movie also references Batman Returns. Though since these continuities have branched, this can be attributed to either the Burtonverse or the Schumacher universe.

I've noticed that Batman Day became officially sanctioned by DC in recent years, which is great:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Day

But going back to reading Batman's early issues, the first Batman Day actually dates back to 1942. Somehow, it's escaped fans to the point where I see absolutely no mention of it on the internet. Batman Day has been on July 23 to coincide with Batman's first appearance, as well as the third Sunday of September in subsequent years. But not a soul remembers the actual date that Gotham's mayor decreed "Batman Day" - May 25th.

In Batman #12, there's a story called Around the Clock With Batman, starting with the first Batman Day parade in Gotham. I wonder if it was by sheer coincidence that DC also launched a real life Batman Day, but there you have it folks.

I've been reading through the Robin Archives compiling Robin's very first solo outings in Star Spangled Comics, and so far I love it. I figured I might share some random thoughts. Robin had long been an interesting character in his own right with Dick occupying a much different role than Bruce. These adventures are concurrent with the ongoing Batman stories, and while a lot of the stories are scaled down for a lone teenager to handle, a lot of stories are large scale conflicts where Batman simply isn't available in time to intervene, like when Robin had to dispose of a stolen atomic bomb. And sometimes, there's no stakes at all and it's just a fun adventure story, like the times he went back in time through hypnosis.

The "Robin Crusoe" issue was fascinating; it starts with Robin crashing the Batplane he received as a birthday present years ago. In all it's a great survival story that shows Robin's true resilience, but I feel like there's a few issues present. Robin's radio transmitter being destroyed by water seems like a recent convenience, and the fact that he doesn't have a utility knife at his disposal seems odd considering all the gadgets he does have (wouldn't a batarang have done the trick?). This issue may also unwittingly be the first appearance of the Nightwing mullet as Robin is unable to cut his hair whilst on the island, which makes me wonder how long he was really missing for. The story says at least a few weeks, but the math on growing out a few inches of hair suggests a while... where was Batman?

A trope that the comics run into in general seems to be the bad guys knocking Robin out with a hit to the head to assume he's dead, or put him into a death trap. I'm no expert on concussions, but being bludgeoned repeatedly with a blackjack can't be good for your long term health.

The Clock King is one of my favorite characters from Batman: The Animated Series, and the character of the same name from Green Arrow's rogue gallery bore virtually no resemblance to Temple Fugate. Turns out, Robin's enemy Clock bore a much closer resemblance to the eventual villain, and was likely a more direct inspiration. I think he at least inspired the Clock King of the 60s series, as both instances were written by Bill Finger (many of these issues still being penned by Batman and Robin's creators is a treat as well).

Something interesting to note is that the comic continuity still adhered to the real-life timeline and Robin is now a teenager in high school, making him about 14 or 15 now.

I know there's a topic on the new 4K home video release for the original four Batman films, but I don't believe there's a separate discussion for the films being re-released in theaters in promotion of the event:
https://www.fathomevents.com/collections/batman-80th-anniversary
How did the screenings go for you? How did they look? What was the crowd like?

I wasn't feeling 100% for the first two, which I already regret. I've seen them separately for other special theatrical events, but this remaster with new soundtrack seemed like it was worth catching. There was only a handful of people for Forever, and only one other person in the theater for Batman & Robin. Kind of sad, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to see such important movies in theaters that I was just too young to before.

I can tell you he films looked great. It was very sleek and didn't have the natural grainy look that the first two films had. An unfortunate side effect of such pristine quality is being able to see through a lot of older visual effects. In this case, Batman Forever had a few moments that lingered on the cityscape that stood out, but Batman & Robin surprisingly stood up well. Still two good examples for what I consider the experimental age of CGI. The original Batman had some dodgy compositing issues, but as I recall, Batman Returns held up best of all.

I went to Batman Forever with a friend that was not familiar with the film, and the introduction before actually set the stage quite well and gave an adequate background for the environment when it was released. Unfortunately, I was too late to see the introduction for Batman & Robin. Meanwhile the projector was off and cut off some of the bottom of the screen.

I recall talks of the soundtrack to the original Batman being redone and modernized. I didn't really notice that with the latter two films, but they probably wouldn't have made much difference. Burton's films always reminded me of old Hollywood and seemed intentionally timeless (a lot of stock sound effects, like guns were intentionally dated). Schumacher significantly modernized the feel, though the street level shots of Gotham still do feel in line with the previous films (though I just noticed the Taco Bell in the climax of Batman & Robin).

I can't thank Warner enough for doing this, and as much as I wish this got some positive reception for the original Batman quadrilogy, my own experience sees that this was under-attended despite being advertised decently online.

Batman & Robin wasn't and will never be a serious film - that's not to knock it, but it was made with different intentions than the previous films. People lump the Schumacher films together, but Batman Forever took a serious premise and made it more accessible through jokes and family-friendly content. Batman & Robin was a different beast altogether. There's always been talks of proposed "directors cuts" and "fan edits", and it's definitely feasible for Batman Forever; Tim Burton specifically brought in Schumacher to follow in his style, and that was his intent before the studio guided him into another direction. But Batman & Robin was always silly and lighthearted and there's no way to salvage together a serious cut that never existed in the first place.

Let me switch gears and talk about where this movie shines. It's basically a tongue in cheek parody of superhero movies and comics in general. Just like the Dark Knight Returns, this movie took the concept of Batman and took it to comical extremes - in polar different directions, mind you. People compare it to the 60s series a lot, and I don't think that's a completely fair assessment. They both have a more lighthearted view of the character, but 60s Batman drew directly from the kitsch factor of the contemporary comics of the time whereas Batman & Robin went more for a parody approach. It almost makes sense when you consider that the original Batman is a classic that could never be duplicated. Why not just have some fun with the concept?

Another similarity with the 60s series is that it provides appeal to kids through action and humor for older audiences. It delivers on action with impressive choreography and effects that aged well enough. Arnold was also the perfect man for the job when it came to delivering action and witty cracks.

The only area where the film really failed was with moments that felt too serious, namely with Alfred. Michael Gough is a seasoned actor that we got to know and love during the duration of the series. He plays a heartbreaking role, but it feels out of place in an otherwise goofy movie. The rivalry between Batman and Robin, and Bruce's love interest are other low points that don't serve the essence of the film.

I still don't get all the hate. People talk about it like it's a "so bad it's good" movie, but all the laughs and absurdity were all intentional.

A mind-blowing fact was just brought to my attention, and that is that there's one actor who was in both Tim Burton's Batman and Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins - Vincent Wong. He portrayed "Crimelord #1" and "Old Asian Prisoner", respectively. Feel free to bring up any alternate reality theories.


Wong sadly passed away in 2015, but not before leaving a long, impressive resume:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0939379/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t21
If the Batman connection wasn't enough, he was in three different Bond films, with three different Bonds (Connery, Moore, and Brosnan). He was also in the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors film, which you Bat-fans are probably already aware of the Batman connection:


Anyways, there's only one other actor (to my knowledge) that has appeared in both series' (but not Burton's films), and that's Senator Patrick Leahy. As of now, he's been in three Batman series', being introduced into Synder's universe in Batman v. Superman. While mostly cameos (and skipping out for Batman Begins), he actually did play a reoccurring character, albeit an unnamed character, as a member of the Wayne Enterprises Board in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/adam-west-wants-be-ben-afflecks-batman-universe-940833

Saw this article shared by West himself. While it's not likely, he says he'd like to play the role of Bruce's father, come back from the dead. I'd be thankful to see any role from Adam West - I'm surprised they haven't given the fans a nod, like a Stan Lee-esque cameo. I'd even love to see him return as the Gray Ghost personally, it's such a famous storyline and something only Adam West could pull off.

What are your favorite posters from any Batman film?

My top pick has to be the IMAX poster for The Dark Knight Rises:

It's incredibly rare that you see such an artistic poster in today's day and age. Wish this was the main poster.

Of course the poster for Batman gets a mention:

There really is power in simplicity, and this poster says much more than any Photoshop collage could. I also love the Batman Returns teaser poster than only showed the head of the bat symbol and the word "Returns." Though giving it to the Batman poster for coming first.

Also giving credit to the Batman v. Superman posters, those were well done. The whole street art style really looked great.

Even for those who didn't enjoy the movie all the way through, what were the small moments of the film that you enjoyed?

Loved the Deadshot backstory. Especially the scene of him fighting Batman; it was incredibly brief, but it felt like one of the most genuine comic book moments I've seen in a while.

The Joker scenes, once again extending to his appearance with Batman.