The Overlooked Dark Knight: The New Adventures

Welcome back to The Overlooked Dark Knight, the show where Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey shine a light on Batman stories people tend to…overlook. It's right there in the name. This time out Andy and Mike dive into Detective Comics #1027, the celebration of Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics #27. Andy felt that this issue had mostly left the Bat conversation and was therefore ripe for discussion on this show. After a short conversation about anniversary issues in general, the guys go rapid fire through each of the stories. From a tale going through Batman's bad guys to the Bat family getting together to solve the murder of GCPD police officer to Bruce Wayne playing a game of golf to the vigilante that guarded Gotham before Batman to a story about the Wayne family to how a young GCPD officer navigates the corruption inherent in the system, this special, oversized, variant cover fueled issue has a wide variety of stories, most of which are a lot of fun. One is just an advertisement for another series, but that was DC during the era this book was published. It may not seem like it, but Andy and Mike do like feedback even if they are crap at getting to it. The most direct way to do this is to email them, which you can do by directing your thoughts to [email protected]. You can also leave a comment over on their Facebook page. You can also leave a comment at the new web home of the show, The Bailey Planet. Next Time: Andy and Mike talk about the stories in Detective Comics #1000!

This time out Andy and Mike talk about the main story from Detective Comics #359, which is the first appearance of the Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl. Now, some of you might be thinking that the Barbara Gordon Batgirl is quite popular, so how is her first appearance in comics in any way, form, or fashion "overlooked"? Mike actually makes the argument for why this version of her origin can be considered overlooked before the guys dig into "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" Andy and Mike talk about the "New Look" era in general, Carmine Infantino's art, the general sexism and misogyny of the era and how that is reflected in the story, and more. Then they look at the unaired Batgirl pilot that was produced between the second and third season of the 1966 Batman series. Pilot might actually be the wrong term to use. This was a seven and a half minute presentation reel used by the producers to show the studio and the network what a Batgirl would look like. The guys have a lot of fun talking about the reel, which is shockingly good and less misogynistic than the comic book introduction. It may not seem like it, but Andy and Mike do like feedback even if they are crap at getting to it. The most direct way to do this is to email them, which you can do by directing your thoughts to [email protected]. You can also leave a comment over on their Facebook page. You can also leave a comment at the new web home of the show, The Bailey Planet. Next Time: Andy and Mike talk about the stories in Detective Comics #1027!

Welcome back to The Overlooked Dark Knight, the show where Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey shine a light on Batman stories people tend to…overlook. It's right there in the name. This time out Andy and Mike tackle Batman: The 3 Jokers, which despite being a sequel to four previous Batman stories that are considered by many to be classics has not stayed in the Bat conversation. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jason Fabok, this Black Label series is the payoff for a plot point brought up during Johns' Justice League run where Batman learned that there were actually three people calling themself the Joker. It is also, as previously mentioned, a sequel of sorts to A Death in the Family, The Killing Joke, Under The Red Hood, and, to a certain extent, The Origin of Batman from Batman #47. Topics covered during the course of this episode include Jason Fabok's amazing art, how the nine panel grid format really helped the story, Jason Todd as a character, Barbara Gordon as a character, how Batman is the ultimate Gen X Dad in this story, the Joker and what he represents to Batman, how Jason comes off as an incel, and more. It may not seem like it, but Andy and Mike do like feedback even if they are crap at getting to it. The most direct way to do this is to email them, which you can do by directing your thoughts to [email protected]. You can also leave a comment over on their Facebook page. You can also leave a comment at the new web home of the show, The Bailey Planet. Next Time: Andy and Mike talk about the first appearance of Barbara Gordon in the comics and on the television!

Welcome back to The Overlooked Dark Knight, the show where Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey shine a light on Batman stories people tend to…overlook. It's right there in the name. Originally, this episode was going to be Andy and Mike's discussion about Batman: The Three Jokers. But for reasons explained in the show, and somewhat later in these notes, they went in a different direction. Back in December of 2001, DC Comics released the first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Written and drawn by Frank Miller with color by Lynn Varley, this three issue series is the sequel to 1986's The Dark Knight Returns. To say this was a big deal in the comic book world is an understatement. There were no stops on the hype train and hopes were high for the follow up to one of the most important Batman stories ever. And then it came out. And reactions were...mixed. To mark the upcoming 25th anniversary (because it definitely can't be called a celebration) and to serve as a low key follow up to Andy and his some Micheal talking about the original series over on Hey Kids Comics (which you can find by clicking on this link) Andy and Mike look at The Dark Knight Strikes Again. They talk about the lead up to the series, how the story defies conventional commentary, what Frank Miller might have been saying, ask if this was supposed to be taken seriously in any, way, shape or form, compare it to another Frank Miller Batman story that has become controversial, how the story relates (or maybe doesn't relate) to 9/11, how the idea that Frank Miller's Batman became the template for decades to come isn't exactly true, and more. Mike also previews the Batman related panels he'll be part of at this year's DragonCon! Also, after the main show, stick around for the tangents that Mike cut out of the main show. Because this is something that Andy and Mike are trying. To read the article that Mike mentions during this portion of the show click here. It may not seem like it, but Andy and Mike do like feedback even if they are crap at getting to it. The most direct way to do this is to email them, which you can do by directing your thoughts to [email protected]. You can also leave a comment over on their Facebook page. You can also leave a comment at the new web home of the show, The Bailey Planet. Next Time: Andy and Mike take a look at Batman: Three Jokers. For reals this time.

Welcome back to The Overlooked Dark Knight, the show where Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey shine a light on Batman stories people tend to…overlook. It's right there in the name. This time out Andy and Mike get together to do something similar to something they did separately. Some time back Mike had the idea to cover all of the various issue ones of Superman over on It All Comes Back to Superman and he told Andy he should do the same on Hey Kids Comics with Spider-Man. Well, they've both done that now, so they thought it might be fun to do the same with Batman. And that's where this episodes comes into play. The guys look at Batman #1 from 1940, Batman #1 from 2011, Detective Comics #1 from 2011, Batman Rebirth #1 from 2016, Batman #1 from 2016 and Batman #1 from 2025. They talk about how much fun the Golden Age stories, how Batman didn't change all that much during The New 52, what hot garbage Detective Comics #1 was, Rebirth, how Batman is a super-hero despite what most people say, and how great the newest volume of Batman is. Mike evens gets all weepy at one point over a stuffed dinosaur. It may not seem like it, but Andy and Mike do like feedback even if they are crap at getting to it. The most direct way to do this is to email them, which you can do by directing your thoughts to [email protected]. You can also leave a comment over on their Facebook page. You can also leave a comment at the new web home of the show, The Bailey Planet. Next Time: Andy and Mike take a look at Batman: Three Jokers.