The Black Casebook

With three years of The Black Casebook in the books, it only seemed right that we celebrate by turning the floor over to you, my beloved listeners, for our annual mailbag episode. This one has it all: giant robots, a salute to Morrowind, how to rescue Tim Drake, Berserk Korner, and all the esoteric bullshit you can handle. And much more!Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Here's a teaser for something Nat from Collective Action Comics and I have been cooking up together. This summer, we'll be releasing a bonus episode for our patrons about Knightfall, the most notorious defeat of the Caped Crusader's career. I'll be writing and performing the script, while Nat produces and adds music and ambience.It's gonna be good. See you in a month or two.

Where were you when the lights went out? Like a specter from the past, The Black Casebook returns to discuss Strange Apparitions, the seminal Bronze Age story that set the stage for the modern Batman to come. Released amid the 1977 New York blackout and the crumbling postwar consensus, Strange Apparitions is a story about what happens when the lights go out—and an entire city, cast into darkness, is forced to dream of what comes next.Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠⁠, Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro music by ZHRØ.

Let's hear it for the boys. The Black Casebook returns with a deep dive into The Black Mirror, an Oedipal tale of fathers and sons that pits Dick Grayson, now in the role of Batman, against James Gordon Jr., reimagined here as a twisted psychopath. While Dick tangles with new threats popping up across Gotham, James sets an insidious plan into motion that could permanently infect the city with his brand of sadism.Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠, ⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro music by MichiJung.

Size matters. In humble appreciation for Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's shockingly good debut installment of Absolute Batman, we're reopening The Black Casebook for a bonus deep dive into what makes this issue work so well. True, it's a comic that dares to ask, "What if big? What if big boy?" But it's also DC's boldest attempt to resurrect that old Frank Miller magic in a decade. Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠, ⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, (allegedly) on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The city never sleeps. The Black Casebook returns with a MEGA-sized exploration of Dark Knight, Dark City, Peter Milligan and Kieron Dwyer's underrated classic about the secret history of Bruce Wayne's hometown. Lost in the shuffle of Batman's golden age, Dark Knight, Dark City revolutionized the relationship between Batman and Gotham in the course of a thrilling three-part showdown with the Riddler. For my guest spot on The Infinite Library podcast to discuss City of Glass, click here. For my guest spot on Marvelous! to discuss Showgirls, click here. Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠, ⁠ANERA⁠, ⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠, or the charity of your choice. ⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro ambient noise by NickR2020.

As of today, Year Two of The Black Casebook is officially in the books. Thank you to everybody for your support and your questions! I hope you enjoy this long, occasionally coherent victory lap of a Q&A, and I hope you're as excited as I am for what the next year has in store for the show. ⁠We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠ and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠⁠Music by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠.

The trial of the century. The Black Casebook returns with a deep dive into one of the most controversial eras in Batman's recent history: the Tom King run. The former CIA officer envisioned a Gotham without hope, protected by a man without joy; and by “Cold Days,” that man is well and truly broken. "Cold Days" sums up three years of Tom King into three issues, a confession of all the reasons why his Batman run was doomed from the start. Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, ANERA, Doctors Without Borders, or the charity of your choice. ⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro ambient noise by Sami Hiltunen.

A birthday miracle? To celebrate my encroaching obsolescence, here's a fun chat I had with Nat from Collective Action Comics about Joss Whedon's The Avengers (as well as The Age of Ultron, unfortunately) and Mark Millar's The Ultimates. Despite their superficial differences, these Gen X texts all offer unique insights into the respective pathologies of the Bush and Obama eras. Collective Action Comics will make its triumphant return soon to discuss The Death of Superman, and can be found at all these places: https://linktr.ee/CollectiveActionComics Meanwhile: We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A Christmas miracle. To close out 2023, we're taking the plunge into the kinky, gender-bending world of Batman Returns, the strangest blockbuster ever to have a Happy Meal tie-in. After the many compromises involved in making Batman '89, Tim Burton used his newfound freedom to take the biggest swings he could imagine—and with the help of one of the most stacked casts in any superhero movie, he ended up with a bizarre masterpiece. We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro music: "Greensleeves" by klankbeeld, via freesound.org.

From the twisted mind of Casebook Walt! We're looking back to the early '90s and the heyday of American crime with a deep dive into "The Last Arkham," the terrific arc that introduced scarified serial killer Victor Szasz alongside a new version of Arkham Asylum. In the process, writer Alan Grant raises questions about the nature of power and madness that strike at the heart of what the Dark Knight, and his dark city, represent. ⁠⁠We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠@blackcasebook⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Let's raise the stakes. This month, we're investigating Grant Morrison's brilliant, challenging Batman run through two lesser-known stories: "The Three Ghosts of Batman" and "The Club of Heroes." Besides being incredibly entertaining, these arcs can help unlock the deeper meanings that make the Morrison run such a classic. ⁠We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky @blackcasebook, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠. Synopsis ambient noise by Osiruswaltz.

Hoo-ray for Hollywood. We're turning our gaze to the stars this month for One Bad Day: Clayface, which might be the best Batman comic in a decade. Essentially a super-sized Batman: The Animated Series episode, the story follows the artist formerly known as Basil Karlo as he tries to carve out a new life for himself in Tinseltown. As Clayface looks to the future, we dig into his past, excavating his character history to understand why his bid for a second act was doomed from the start. We have a Patreon⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠ and Instagram ⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠. Synopsis music by ⁠Setuniman.⁠

I have to become...more. Year One of The Black Casebook is a wrap! Let's celebrate a year of hard work, announce some plans for Year Two, and answer a slew of questions from Listeners Like You. We have a Patreon⁠⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠ and Instagram ⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠⁠Music by Black Plastique⁠⁠. Here's the Batman playlist I mentioned during the Q&A.

I'm not mad, just disappointed. This month's casefile digs into one of the most notorious Batman stories out there: "A Death in the Family," which for more than 15 years marked the last appearance of the maligned second Robin, Jason Todd, courtesy of fan bloodlust. We follow the winding path of Jason's character history and Jim Starlin's Batman run to figure out whether this could have been avoided, touching on the history of human sacrifice, Arthurian myth, and Sylvester Stallone's 1986 masterpiece Cobra along the way. We have a Patreon⁠! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠@blackcasebook⁠ and Instagram ⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠, and you can write in to ⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. ⁠Music by Black Plastique⁠. Intro ambient sound by Audio_Dread.

This is a big one, folks. What better way to kick off 2023 than with a deep dive into The Dark Knight? Christopher Nolan's take on The Empire Strikes Back captured the accelerating pace and constant anxiety of the War on Terror, all while gesturing toward--for better and for worse--the Obama era to come. There's also a really badass truck flip. We have a Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro ambient sound by e0fd96. You can find Spencer Ackerman's outstanding history Reign of Terror, which was an essential resource for this episode, here. I highly recommend it, as well as Spencer's appearances on the CEREBRO podcast.

It is happening again. For our last casefile of 2022, we turn to what might be, pound for pound, the two best Batman stories ever written: 1974's "Night of the Stalker," by Steve Englehart, Sal and Vin Amendola, and Dick Giordano, and its 2005 remake "Deja Vu" by the late, great Darwyn Cooke. Despite being less than 30 pages combined, these two stories contain the very essence of the Dark Knight, and exploring them takes us to some new and exciting places. We have a Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro ambient music by InspectorJ.

A few words on the late, great Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman and a hero in his own right. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. We also have a Patreon. Music by Black Plastique.

IF IT BLEEDS, WE CAN KILL IT. For our special Halloween episode, we're taking a look at Dave Gibbons' and Andy and Adam Kubert's Batman vs. Predator in all its '90s glory, a book that--against all odds--turned out to be one of the best Batman comics of the decade. We have a Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro ambient music by Cormi.

This week, we're going back to the future, as the Dark Knight wages a crusade against a fascist police state in Paul Pope's Batman: Year 100. Released in 2006, Year 100 is a window into the anxieties of the Bush years, as well as a thrilling starting point for exploring urban legends, folk heroes, and cyberpunk as methods for resisting authoritarianism. Oh, and I work some Shakespeare in there, too. We have a Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro music: a combination of "Buzzy Cyberpunk Pads" by madamdata and "Cyberpunk Bass" by Wax_vibe.

Well, they can't all be winners. This time, we're covering White Knight, Sean Gordon Murphy's revisionist take on Batman and the structural nature of crime in Gotham City. In the process of carving this turkey, we explore the place of "realism" in superhero comics, along with the Freudian and Gothic trends that have been a part of Batman's story from the very beginning. We have a Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro music: "Alone on the Tundra" by szegvari.

The Black Casebook returns! This week, we're covering a modern classic: The Court of Owls, the debut story of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's legendary run on Batman. This casefile has everything: cosmic horror, Satanic churches, bat psychology, Arthur Schopenhauer, and more, all to parse out what the Court of Owls metaphor really means. Patreon! You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Intro music: "Lost in the Dream" by SoundFlakes.

Way back in March, I sat down with Nat Yonce of Collective Action Comics to discuss the politics of Batman, both in specific incarnations like Year One and the Dark Knight trilogy and as an American cultural symbol. Does Batman always have to be fascist? The answer may surprise you. It was a hoot and a half, and I hope you enjoy this Twilight Zone-style peek at a parallel universe where The Black Casebook isn't scripted within an inch of its life. Collective Action Comics will make its triumphant return soon, and can be found at all these places: https://linktr.ee/CollectiveActionComics Meanwhile, you can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. I'll see y'all in a few weeks to chat about our old friends in the Court of Owls.

The Batman goes global this week as we explore the Orientalist framework supporting Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' classic, if problematic, Saga of Ra's al Ghul. Underneath Adams' genre-defining artwork and O'Neil's boy's-adventure storytelling is a West vs. East dichotomy older than the Demon's Head himself. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique.

The Bat goes noir. This week, we're delving into one of the most iconic and tragic Batman stories ever created: Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween. We explore the historical roots, artistic method, and psychological fatalism of the book, situating it alongside L.A. Confidential and Fargo as one of the great '90s neo-noirs. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique. Casefile intro music: "NOIR" by Kjartan Abel. Visit kjartan-abel.com/library to download royalty-free music for your next project. CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

Just a little old-fashioned speculatin' on where Matt Reeves and co. could go with their Batman sequel, now that it's been officially announced. Will the Court of Owls be unveiled as the power behind the throne in Gotham City? Have the scars left by Chris O'Donnell healed enough to bring Robin into this universe? Let's find out. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique.

Time to give Matt Reeves his flowers. This week, we're diving into the characters, themes, and cinematic style of The Batman (2022), which might be the Caped Crusader's finest live-action outing. ALSO: You can listen to my interview with Collective Action Comics about the politics of Batman by joining the CAC Discord server here. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique.

Hey, you gotta start somewhere. One of the most controversial and challenging stories in the Dark Knight's canon, Arkham Asylum is also one of the most important. Batman's all-time bad trip is a different kind of Year One, a skeleton key of ideas that can unlock new meanings in every other Batman story. You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have. Music by Black Plastique.