Batman roasting on an open fire; Knightcast nipping at your ears… The dynamic hosting duo of Chris Franklin and Ryan Daly have brought special guest Captain Entropy to help them cover a classic* Christmas comic. Join the Trinamic Trio as they discuss Legends of the Dark Knight #79 written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Steve Yeowell and Dick Giordano. After that, Chris and Ryan respond to listener feedback from the last four episodes.
* The mid-90s counts as classic. It was 30 years ago.
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Music: “The Batman Theme: Epic Version (feat. Mask of the Phantasm + Imperial March” arranged by Samuel Kim. Check it out on Youtube right here: https://youtu.be/m-AnLl9Vyb8?si=H5SsJPY_L8FMdtG5
Additional music: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Scott Weiland
Thanks for listening!
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A note to our listeners: I mention Batman having the yellow oval in this story. In the pages Ryan shared in the image gallery, he does not, so I briefly thought I had spaced out when reading this comic. But I did double check, and in the complete issue, Batman suddenly has the yellow oval symbol on pages 5 and 6. The rest of the issue, as on the cover, he has the non yellow oval, big bat symbol! So not only does his Batmobile magically change…so does his costume!
Weird that we didn’t notice that. I blame Captain Entropy for not brining it to our attention.
Yeah, that one’s on me. Sorry.
You think maybe Yeowell was seeing what he could get away with?
My guess? Yeowell drew the oval-less logo throughout. On those pages, he didn’t detail it very well, and Giordano just lapsed briefly into his standard Batman and redrew/inked the oval in. And no one was going to correct those pages, even if they saw them, because he was Dick Giordano, and although I think maybe he’d retired as a DC exec at that point, he’d been one of the head honchos just a few years prior.
I listen every month and would write in more – but there doesn’t seem any point as Chris says EVERYTHING I would say, normally ant the exact same time I’d say it.
It’s uncanny.
This time it was the Robin artists question where he said the exact same names I said at pretty much the exact same time!
It’s like he’s Derren Brown, or some such.
Anyway, favourite Batmobile is the 60s one and the muscle car, a great Robin (Dick) artist you didn’t mention is Scott McDaniel and I hope you all have an excellent Christmas.
I know taste is taste but I’ve never got the love for Scott McDaniel’s art, Andrew. His layouts are interesting, especially high perspective shots, but his figurework is just horrible. Stunted people, heroes with six-packs that look like car grilles… I’d honestly love to know what I’m missing.
Mind, he is better than Damion Scott, I managed just one issue of Batgirl, it felt like DC was taking the piss.
Chris and Ryan, I’m always so happy when you guys drop a new episode. You are two of the best, smartest, and funniest comics podcasters around, whether on your own or together. And greetings to Captain Entropy, who I’m pretty sure I know how it is just from hearing his voice.
Anyway, hope you all have a great holiday, and get a chance to rest and relax. Thanks for keeping the faith!
Greetings back at you, Benjamin!
Yay! Three great podcasters on this one! Such an excellent listen. I did collect a lot of Legends of the Dark Knight, and I couldn’t remember this issue but sure enough I still have it. Who’d have thunk it? I recall the series being part of current continuity during KnightFall/Quest/End, but then doing past or present as they felt like. This story could fit easily anywhere in Batman’s continuity where Alfred is around, which does leave out the whole K-F/Q/E saga plus a year or two when Alf took a break. And thanks for reminding me of this story. It’s not breaking new ground in Batman or even a Christmas comic, but it did it well and a great one-and-done. Great choice.
You’ve all had me thinking too much about how the Chessmen broke into Wayne Manor. The main thought I had is Bruce depends too much on private alarms to protect the Batcave, and none of the alarms go straight to the police because the last thing he wants is cops poking around the manor and messing with clock faces or busts of Shakespeare or the like. But he underprotects the manor itself since it’s the less critical target, relying on the Wayne reputation and the manor’s isolation, plus his own secrecy means intel on valuables in the manor is scarce, making it high-risk for little return. So Bruce underestimated how stupid the “superstitious and cowardly lot” could also be. Add on the burglary happening when Bruce and Alfred are distracted, and it just could work. Barely. Still, it was an interesting mental exercise to consider.
Thanks for the great show! Merry Christmas, guys!
🙂
I dont think you CAN Show breaking into wayne manyor without that being the main story
Ok since questions are my thing I’ll give you one with no limitations this time but I will set up the plot: imagine your a comic book writer and dc’s Batman editor has called and said they are gonna give you a trial run you get five issue of Batman family to run as want and you get lunch a new villain 6 isssue mini series of your choice and your big break for next 3 months your writing the main story in detective comics so what will you do ?
1. Stock up on coffee and a roll of butcher paper that I can put up on the wall to diagram the plot.
2. Write one big story from a variety of angles.
The trigger is the arrival of a new gang, the Gotham Revenge Squad. The Squad is made up of villains with a grudge against Gotham — Answer, Architect, White Knight, Mister Bloom, Agent Orange, Narcosis, Nicodemus, Savage Skull, etc. The Batman Family will have a series of main stories about the costumed (and transformed, like Man-Bat!) members of the Batman family. They’ll be trying to stop individual members of the gang from creating disaster in Gotham and robbing it blind. They’ll do so as individual heroes and sometimes as small teams.
The backup stories will cover the non-costumed family members and their struggles to support the heroes and help save the people of Gotham. This will include Alfred (assuming he’s alive at the time), Lucius Fox, James Gordon, Leslie Thompkins, et cetera. Now that they have Gordon as a beat cop, it might be fun to see him forced to do the work from that street level position. Vandal Savage (current Commissioner of the GCPD) might even get a story, as his interests will be temporarily aligned with the Bat-Family’s. I might use Alfred even if he isn’t alive. I can use flashbacks mixed with current scenes to show how his influence on the family continues to the present day. Bruce Wayne will feature prominently in these backups.
Detective Comics will be about Batman going after the Squad Leader, a mysterious villain known only as Daylight. Daylight hides away at night. He is only active during the day, when it’s more difficult for Batman to go after him (he thinks). His identity is connected to more than just that tactic, however. He’s putting the Gothamites in dire straits to force them to turn on one another. They say character is who you are when you think no one is looking. Daylight wants to expose what he sees as Gotham’s true nature in the light of day, so the world can see why they don’t deserve to continue as a city. Of course, some people do turn on each other — but not everyone, and not forever.
The villain mini-series will be Daylight’s. It will show his side of the conflict — his scheming, his interactions with the Squad, his evasion of Batman, and how he adapts to the monkey wrenches the Batman Family throw into his plan. More to the point, how will he react when the people of Gotham act as a community and help each other, confounding his plan? His actual identity will be revealed halfway through the mini-series, but only in the mini-series.
That’s because the heroes won’t know it until the story’s climax in a treasury-sized DC Special. That’s where Batman will reveal that he’s figured out who Daylight is and where he’s hiding. Of course, he was only able to do so with the help of his family and the people of Gotham, who have come together to resist Daylight and his Revenge Squad. Together they defeat the Squad, unmask Daylight, and save the day!
Thanks for the writing prompt, Bucky!
Sorry I am late. Great episode as usual and love hearing the Captain on any show! A few notes:
1) Batmobile – 70’s sports car but I am surprised no one has mentioned the Breyfogle version, which I always thought was cool.
2) ah Carmine Infantino Spider-Woman. Didn’t like his art at this time but there was … something … about the way he drew Jessica. ‘Nuff Said.
3) I opted not to re-listen to the part where Chris was comparing Spoiler to Cindy. Sounds a little too kinky.
What a coincidence! I love being on any show!
Re: 2), I believe the term is ‘pneumatic’!
As requested, here is my Batmobile related homework. I never knew I’d get stuck with homework listening to a podcast, but here we are.
I remember the EXACT moment I became a Batman fan. My mom sat me in front of the television, and said, “I think you’ll like this.” My five-year old eyes widened when Batman and Robin arrived in the Batcave via the Batpoles. The Batmobile, all black, red, and shiny, intrigued me even more. When Batman started the Batmobile and fire spit out of the tail pipe….I was hooked for life. My mom was thrilled because I was eager to learn to read after seeing Batman comics on the spinner racks. Since the 1966 Batmobile had such an impact on me, it is still my favorite.
For comics Batmobiles, I have to go with the 1970s/early 80s Batmobile that very much resembled a C3 Corvette (1968-1982). I don’t know if I love C3 Vettes because they look so much like that Batmobile or vice versa. James Bond is my favorite movie series, and he’s had some great cars. Smokey and the Bandit is my favorite non-Bond movie, and I love Bandit’s Trans-Am. Even so, no real-world car is more beautiful to me than a C3 Vette, and I think my Batmobile fondness affects my decision. True (and somewhat sad) story. My dad bought a black 1977 Corvette when I reached driving age. He used the excuse he was buying it for me but kept it for himself. After the 1989 movie, a lot of kids pointed at it and yelled, “The Batmobile!” There were shots of the Batmobile in the 1989 movie that made it look similar to a C3 Vette, but that capsule/protuberance whatever on the front of the 1989 Batmobile ruined it for me.
Hot take. In the Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson Batman movie, I liked Bruce Wayne’s C2 (1963-1967) Corvette more than the Batmobile.
Great show, guys. Always great to hear Captain Entropy. I never read this issue before so I dug it up on Infinite Ultra Humanite. All I have to add is that the Batmobile is a damn sweet ride! Loved it. Happy Holidays!
Aussie point of order – Tom Taylor wrote the new origin for Ace the Bathound. I can’t abide Tom King getting the credit for a great comic.
It’s always a treat when Knight Cast swings across from some podcasting Gargoyle, and with a story I’d never heard of to boot. This came during my Non-Batman Phase, which came around about the time No Man’s Land got very silly, and Batman began bullying his sidekicks. I’d probably have enjoyed this, what’s odd is that I have a nagging not-quite memory of some other story centred on a childhood toy of Bruce Wayne. Any ideas? Or was it some other DC orphan, there are a few.
Maybe it’s a Citizen Kane thing.
A big thank you to the good Captain for giving me a shout-out, I honestly don’t know Mark Millar, he did follow me on social media, but now he’s left the platforms!
Captain, my Captain, you have some very odd ideas about British toys, we had exactly the same things as American kids, except we called Clue the correct Cluedo, and didn’t doubly pluralise Lego.
My guess is that young Bruce Wayne read Richie Rich comics.
I’m sure we’ve covered this already, but despite having presented him as a hologram, Batman writer Matt Fraction insists he’s actually being imagined by Bruce. Still bonkers, then.
Favourite Batmobile? The Batmobile of 1950, dig that crazy bubble!