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 overlookeddarkknight@gmail.com. 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 overlookeddarkknight@gmail.com. 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.

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 continue their look at one of Batman's weirder antagonists...Man-Bat!

Sort of.

To be fair, the guys do spend the first half of the episode talking about Man-Bat #1, which reads more like a Doctor Strange story, thanks in no small part because of the art of Steve Ditko. The problem is that the issue is kind of a mess. Actually it's a big mess. It's such an odd duck of a comic and the guys might get a little snarky at times, but it's all in good, clean, four color fun.

The second half of the episode is made up of tangents that somehow Mike and Andy bring back to the issue.

This is an odd one. Hopefully in a good way.

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 overlookeddarkknight@gmail.com. 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 the various Batman issues ones from over the years.