Remember Last Laugh?
Remember Last Laugh?
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
Reading NML, in one of its editions Otis Flanegan meets with Mr. Feeeze and says the last time he saw him was in Blackgate.
I can't remember once seeing Freeze in Blackgate, any of you guys remember it?
I don’t remember it either, but doesn’t Freeze’s NML appearances come from early enough after the Heart Of Ice reintroduction that he was still kind of “new” in lining up with the now recognizable form? I know the old “Mr. Zero” design and portrayal still showed up in Robin: Joker’s Wild in 1991, and I know it had to wait until the Heart of Ice version before he relay became the guy we know and his profile really rose again.
He might have made one of the earlier, pre-Heart of Ice appearances in Blackgate.
On another note, I’m curious about when the Post-Crisis Huntress gained Batman’s ire. I know it wa as fixture of the period, but I really want to know what exactly was the inciting incident. Anybody know?
Like action, adventure, rogues, and outlaws? Like anti-heroes, femme fatales, mysteries and thrillers?
I wrote a book with them. Outlaw’s Shadow: A Sherwood Noir. Robin Hood’s evil counterpart, Guy of Gisbourne, is the main character. Feel free to give it a look: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...E2PKBNJFH76GQP
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Yeah, I didn’t think there was any specific incident or meet-up point... unless it was an element of her first introduction as a Helena Bertinelli instead of Helena Wayne.
Anyway, I found the “Everyone Loves the Drake” podcast; it’s a Tim Drake fancast, and it’s connected to a family of podcasts that will apparently feature Azrael as well. One of the episodes they had focused on the “War of the Dragons” mini-crossover between Detective and Robin where King Snake gets overthrown. Anybody got any similar “mini-crossovers” they like?
Like action, adventure, rogues, and outlaws? Like anti-heroes, femme fatales, mysteries and thrillers?
I wrote a book with them. Outlaw’s Shadow: A Sherwood Noir. Robin Hood’s evil counterpart, Guy of Gisbourne, is the main character. Feel free to give it a look: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...E2PKBNJFH76GQP
I think the Detective Comics arc pre-Knightfall (#652-653) is definitely the "inciting incident" you're looking for. I believe this two-parter was the first time Chuck Dixon wrote Huntress, and then Robin III: Cry of the Huntress immediately followed. It's been a while since I read these issues, but I recall Huntress basically caused the death of a terrorist in the process of stopping a bombing. Batman got on her case for not using a nonlethal alternative, and she was unapologetic.
Also, not really a "mini crossover" exactly, but I really enjoyed the mayoral election subplot that ran thru the bat books in 1995/1996, leading up to Contagion. I thought it was very well coordinated between Moench, Dixon, and Grant.
Last edited by kevink31593; 06-02-2020 at 06:58 PM.
Post CBR reboot join date: May 2014, Pre CBR reboot join date: April 2005
Official DC message boards join date (as Batman Fan 31593): April 2000
I've identified the time Freeze was in Blackgate. Detective Comics #670 Cold Cases, Azbat almost kills Freeze before Montoya stops him, they arrest Freeze, since Arkham is still destroyed in the Knightquest Saga, the obvious thing to have happened is they arrest him in Blackgate in some special cold cell made for him.
Finally finish my reading of NML, one of the things that caught my attention was the fact that Barbara lives in that apartment with the clocktower right upstairs. They always show Jim in her apartment, but never on the clocktower room.
I know he doesn't know about the fact that she is Oracle, but doesn't he know that she has all those computers right upstairs in the clocktower room?
The logistical challenge part is always kind of funny when it comes to stuff like this, and sometimes hoses when a stable of writers are cohesive and when they’re not.
On another note, I was flipping through my No Man’s Land TPB, and ran across that issue (Batman: No Man’s Land #0) where Bruce is in self-imposed exile at the start, seeming to be in denial and spending his time at a Monaco casino before letting some thugs beat him up due to his guilty conscience... before a meeting with Talia sees him recommit to returning to Gotham.
The thing here is... I actually *do* love the idea of Talia becoming “the ex from hell” as Damian’s mother, and being the leader of Leviathan and all that.
But this issue and her appearance here really makes me think that we missed out on something delicious with the combination of Death and the Maidens trying to make Talia more outright evil by brainwashing, and then Morrison writing her as though she were always blindingly obviously evil.
The fact she was a loyal servant to her dad makes her own villainy understandable in concept, but this scene where she seems to admire Bruce for his heroism, has broken with her father, and leaves him saying she “won’t wait for ever” feels like it would be a perfect set-up for her growing more bluntly evil in a more organic way and ratcheting up some heartache for her fall in hindsight. I’m a Bruce and Selina fan all the way... but I really do think a more nuanced and complex arc for Talia and Bruce would have been of immense benefit to the franchise.
Like action, adventure, rogues, and outlaws? Like anti-heroes, femme fatales, mysteries and thrillers?
I wrote a book with them. Outlaw’s Shadow: A Sherwood Noir. Robin Hood’s evil counterpart, Guy of Gisbourne, is the main character. Feel free to give it a look: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...E2PKBNJFH76GQP
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
So I'm finally getting around to some of the lead-in stuff to Knightfall that I've never read before.
Read Sword of Azrael for the first time and now I'm in the stretch of BATMAN/TEC where Bruce is first feeling overwhelmed and sick.
Honestly, it's kind of funny, I expected a much slower burn, but the stuff Batman goes through in the pre-Knightfall stretch might actually be worse than what follows. The level of blood loss is so ridiculous it almost slips into parody. (And given Dixon's "the General" arc, I'm not entirely sure he wasn't going for parody.) I can suspend disbelief through most of Knightfall...but some of these issues, I think there's no way Batman should be alive, even by comic book standards!
Last edited by David Walton; 06-09-2020 at 01:48 PM.