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The BatPod presents Gotham Currents, a podcast about Batman comics. In this episode, they discuss a black label comic called Batman First Night, book one. The hosts talk about the unique premise and the artwork in the comic. They also mention their email account and social media pages. They give credit to the band that created their theme song. They take a break and then dive into a detailed review of the comic, discussing the plot and the artwork. They talk about the noir and 1930s feel of the book. The hosts share their thoughts on the cover and the overall atmosphere of the comic. They end the episode by teasing what will be discussed in the next episode. The BatPod presents Gotham Currents, Episode 2, a podcast about current releases of Batman comics. Welcome to Gotham Currents. My name is Bill Beer and joining me tonight, John Coose. Hey, Bill. How you been? Good. Excited to jump in on this second episode of our new spin-off podcast from The BatPod. I am too. I'm excited about that by itself, this comic in particular. Yeah, we got a unique book tonight because I've never ventured into all the issues that I've ever covered. I've never ventured into talking about a black label comic, the new DC Elseworlds. But after I read this, I bought it initially. I really liked the premise and the Batman first night book one. When I initially, I pre-ordered this because the premise sound very interesting to me. It's a story from the thirties with a current flair or whatever you want to call it. Edge. Sort of like a current edge. Yeah. And that sounded very interesting to me. And once I read it and it came in a larger size and it's one of those, you know, DC has done some of those black label books and a giant, I'd say a giant size. I don't know how to describe it exactly. What would you say? An extra large, oversized? Well, it kind of reminds me of those ones we might've had when we were kids. Those oversized ones. Remember those? It's almost like a magazine size. Yeah. Like a life magazine size. Yeah, definitely. The artwork in this is a great book to look at the artwork in and in the oversize. But before we get too far, I just want to mention we set up an email account if you want to join the conversation. It's got some currents at gmail.com. We're on Twitter, Batpod, and Facebook. We have a Batpod Facebook page. Not Gotham Currents, but it's the Batpod. We also want to give credit to the artist who did our opening theme song. It's by a band called the Weekend Fixers. The band is special to me because it's sort of an experimental band, sort of techno dark wave stuff, led by my childhood best friend, Scott Alan Martinez, and he's got a partner in Belgium named Jack Matthew Tyson. They met over the internet in a forum of people that do music like this, and they've created a collaboration where friend Scott composes the music and sings it, and his partner mixes it and produces it from Belgium of all places. So anyway, so a shout out to my friend Scott. The song name is Purple Blossoms. You can find the Weekend Fixers on Spotify. Absolutely. Thank you for doing that for us. That's pretty cool. I have to say. First time we've had like, you know, I had some original music, but not from somebody that I know, so that's very cool. We're going to go ahead and we're going to take a break here, and when we come back, we're going to talk about Batman First Night, book one. The Batpod is a spoiler podcast. Please read the comics we're reviewing so you can enjoy the show. My inheritance has cost me. The car and gadgets are nice, and I've almost gotten used to the smell in the cave. It's the criminals. Since my father died, they focus their attention on me. Hey man, somebody killed this lady. And the people around me. My father's enemies have gotten more twisted with age, more violent and suicidal. Crashing this plane with no survivors. Because they know their inevitable end is near. They've seen Batman die. They've seen each other die. I can't believe they killed him. Yeah man, things are getting really bad out here. The Riddler. This puzzle is far more than any mere game. Doctor Death. You and I go way back, Batman. Two-Face. I still believe in Harvey Dent. All gone. Like the life I hoped for beyond this mask. Everything I have, everything I am, is because of him. I'm the Batman's daughter. I am the Hunter. And tonight, I'm hunting the man who destroyed my life. Join us as we talk about the OG Helena Wayne, the Huntress, at TheHuntressPodcast.com. Reach us on Twitter at HuntressPodcast. You can email us at feathersandfoes at gmail.com. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening and supporting the Ride On Network. Our book tonight is The Batman First Night, book one. Your writer, Dan Jurgens. Artists, Mike Perkins, colorists, Mike Spicer, editor, Matthew Levine, and Chris Conroy. And we get a cover here, and it's kind of a unique cover. It has a white background. You have sort of like a symbol or insignia of the Batman First Night, and you have a shadow of Batman in his cape, and you have characters in the shadow. You have a car, a couple cars. You have Tommy Guns, looks like Commissioner Gordon with a gun, and the Batman at the top, and Wayne Manor. And what did you think of this cover? No, it was striking. And yeah, the Batman First Night logo looks kind of Art Deco 30s-ish, it kind of fits the era. And it looks kind of painted. Like, it looks more like a painting in some ways. You immediately get the sense that this is the 30s, you've got a couple gangsters with Tommy Guns, you've got Batman with the longer, pointy ears, reminiscent of the early, early Golden Age Batman, and you've got some classic 30s cars, and it kind of says, oh, it's definitely Elseworlds. Like, you know right off the bat, this is not continuity. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, the way the Batman looks there, he sort of looks like, when I first saw it, he sort of looks like Wolverine in his mask, you know, with his hair and everything. It's really, his cow ears are really spread apart, really wide, and they are wide. They're not super thin and long. They're kind of long, but they're just almost like ears. Like, if you were imagining a bat with ears, it sort of looks like that. Yeah, it looks more like a bat than what we think of as Batman in a lot of ways, you know, because bats don't have little, tiny ears. They have these big, sweeping ears, kind of like the Man-Bat. Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So. In this issue, it's Gotham City in 1939, a mysterious man in shadow uses a radio and calls out to his followers. Elsewhere, Commissioner Gordon investigates a murder at a diner of Councilman Hodges, who has been decapitated. Bruce Wayne, playboy of Gotham, picks up Commissioner Gordon and they discuss the murders of city officials and what to make of the mysterious new Batman. Gordon calls the mayor, telling him dark forces are murdering city officials, just as strange deformed monsters break in. The Batman smashes through the skylight. He lures the creatures to the rooftop, but is thrown off the building. A rabbi, Jacob Cohen, saves him and takes him into the synagogue and offers him encouragement. At Wayne Manor, Bruce meets film producer and actress Julie Madison, who complain about Wayne Enterprises pulling funding from their film. Lifting a print from the knife he took from the monsters, Batman visits Gordon at the station late at night. He asks for help matching the print, and Gordon reluctantly agrees. Maxie the Pimp meets Batman in the alley, and his girl, Tilly, tells Batman that the monsters are linked to a man called Johnny the Whip and are the dead brought to life. Batman contacts Gordon at Blackgate, waiting for the execution of a prisoner. Gordon says the print belongs to a criminal executed two months ago. And Batman realizes the connection. He shuts down the power to Blackgate just before the prisoner is executed, lets the prisoner go, but he is captured and placed in an electric chair, with the electricity turned on as their issue ends. So a heck of an issue, lots of things going on. You know, we're in 1939, and it really feels that way. And once you get into this book and this artwork, are you familiar with Mike Perkins? Is that a guy you're familiar with at all? No, I'm not. Okay. The only thing that I really read from him that I recall, there was a new Swamp Thing series in the last few years, you know, when it wasn't Alec Holland, and I can't remember what the character's Swamp Thing is. He did that series, and he did Brubaker's Captain America from the early to mid 2000s. Some good stuff here. And it feels like he's perfect for this book. What did you think of the feel of this book as we jump into it? Yes, I love sort of the film noir, so the Philip Marlowe, sort of 1930s sort of stylistic movies, and that's how I felt when like, you know, like Maltese Falcon, you know, things like that, and had a very cool sort of gangster-y feel, reminds me of some of the early James Elroy books, like L.A. Confidential kind of vibe, you know, very, very noir, very noir. So it struck me well, because I like, I love that, that feel. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, here at the beginning, you know, you have a gentleman in shadow, he's giving this speech, drinking what looks to be whiskey or something like that, and he's talking to a transistor-like radio, maybe podcasting back in the 30s. They're on a frequency, and he has like a little old-fashioned microphone, and very cool. I really like that. It's like, they show you the villain right up front, or they show it to you, they don't tell you who it is, but. Yeah. Well, you know, before, real quick, before we get to that, I love the double splash page right after the cover, which shows these newspaper headlines, and it really kind of sets the stage for the book, you know, it's different newspapers, one's the Daily Star, which we know is the Golden Age version of the Daily Planet, and there's headlines that are really showing what's happening in 39. Most of it has to do with what's happening in Europe, with the Nazis on the march, and Mussolini, and I think it's deliberate that he shows a couple of headlines. One that says, Hitler threatens annihilation of Jewish race, and then the other one, another one says, Nazis loot and burn Jewish temples and shops and temples, and we'll get to where I think that sets the stage for something that happens in the book, but then there's a couple magazine covers that kind of look like Life or Look magazine, and I think there could be a couple of foreshadowings in here, maybe, because like, you know, these other headlines are what really happened in real life, like in our reality, but then there's one that says, chemical magnet dies in factory acid tank, questions surround Alfred Stryker's lethal plunge, so I'm going to think that at some point, this character's going to be relevant, because that's not, you know, relevant to our real reality. That's from Detective Comics, you know, the first appearance of Batman, I think that's where that come from. Okay, there you go, see, you're the Batman expert, and then there's this other one, police apprehend Master Jewel Thief Frenchie Blake finally in custody, Commissioner Gordon denies rumored involvement of enigmatic Batman, is that also a reference to, a nod to? It could be, I'm going to admit, I don't know all the Golden Age stuff real well, I've read bits and pieces here and there, and we got another newspaper there, it says, no end in sight for depression, unemployment rate stands at, looks like, 19% or something like that. Yeah, no, you're, yeah, you're right, and that also obviously was a pressing issue in America at the time, so yeah, so back to this opening scene with the guy in this, you know, clearly, you know, wealthy domicile, and he's, you know, very stylish, you know, his face, you see the drink more prominently, and that sort of a two-way radio that's got clearly a speaker aspect to it, and he's got a mic, so yeah, so this is, this is already telling us right out the gate, there's, there's a sinister character, and basically he's kind of just monologuing about, there's a looming war, and he's going to somehow take advantage of it, meaning World War, World War II's coming, and he's going to be, figure out a way to exploit it, or something. I know, I have a feeling I already know who this is, just based on the story, and what happens in Batman issue one, you know, with the Monster Men, and we get Monster Men in here, so I speculate this is Hugo Strange, of course I'm not 100% sure, Monster Men, you know, they showed up in the first issue of Batman number one, he fought some Monster Men, but, you know, Batman in that book was a killer, he used guns, he actually, one of the Monster Men in that first issue, he hung by his Batplane, and snapped his neck, so. They retconned that later, with the no killing mantra, right? Right, right, so yeah, I have a feeling, I could be wrong, I could be, but it'd be interesting, it's interesting to see, you know? Yeah, for sure, for sure, no, that'd be great if Jurgens, who, I love Jurgens, didn't mention that, but if he pulls a bunch of stuff out of those early comics and makes them his own, you know, yeah. Yeah, it definitely feels like, and when we jump to the next scene, I tell you, it feels like, this is Gotham, it feels like New York, almost, you know? You have the signs for Nick and Joe's Italian Spaghetti House, and get the first glimpse of Commissioner Gordon, and reporters, you know, in their fedoras, harassing Gordon with questions, and the one guy that's leading Gordon through, he's like, shut up already, you bloody leeches. Yeah, yeah, well, you know, Gotham City is a nod to New York, D.C. didn't really use real cities for a long time, so this is, yeah, definitely got a New York vibe, with the fire escapes, and all that stuff, and on the front of buildings, you know, and this is like a splash page, right? Let you know here on this page, you know, some things that are going on, the murder rate's out of control, and that sort of thing. Right. Some say Nazis are behind it, and the bat creature. No, these are like, Gordon being peppered randomly by these reporters. Yeah. And they're just like, shut up! We get into, you know, where Gordon's headed inside this restaurant, where there's been a murder, and this is where, you know, the front cover has this age requirement on here. Right, yeah. It says 17 plus mature, and, you know, it's like an R-rated movie, basically. Right. And you get, it shows you the dead body, and it's been decapitated, and that sort of thing. Yeah. And the one vibe I got out of this particular scene here is, you know, Gordon, his police force, there's not too many good cops on this, because they're, like, laughing in the background and making jokes and that sort of thing. They're setting the stage that, you know, he's got guys under him that probably are corrupt, but also, like, not serious people. No. After they discover it's Councilman Hodges, there's a lady there, and he says, are you his wife? And she's like, me? Nah. And then, you know, one of the cops make a comment of who it is, and she's like, you're awful judgmental for a man who comes around begging for freebies, copper. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. Second page in particular, but the first page, too, is the 17 plus is right out of the gate. There's literally a decapitated head on a table. Yes, and they have, like, a close-up. They have the Commissioner Gordon and the cops in the background, and you're, like, facing headfirst right at the decapitated head. Which is 20 feet away from the body, so they literally carried it over there. But this Lady of the Night, let's call her, or I guess we can call her an escort, to be kind, probably. She looks kind of, like, Mae West-ish with her hair the way it is. It has, like, a flower on her gown or some kind of ruffle. Yeah, and she basically implies that she is with Councilman Hodges, like, every Friday night or something like that, and is not his wife. No, but she does look a little, there at the beginning, she looked like, she didn't look too disturbed to me. Just, by the way, she was looking, but then when he asked her, you know, what happened, and she does look a little worried, as she described, you know, a couple big mooks stormed in, beat them to a pulp. Yeah, and she kind of looks incredulous, like, what do you mean, like, what happened? So this is our first glimpse that this is maybe a serial killer situation or a pattern, because she implies that this is becoming normal. Yeah, and, you know, it's a real quick thing, except for maybe John Constantine a little bit now and then. I don't know if he's still smoking or not, but, you know, comics are trying to, are, you know, sanitizing. Getting away from that, yeah. I think Gordon's lighting her cigarette with his little stogie thing, right? And it's got a great vibe to it. It's dark, and you just feel like, oh, this is a grim, this is a grim environment, not withstanding the murder of just generally, we're already introduced to prostitutes within, like, a page and a half, you know? Yeah, and we're also, you know, the warden at Blackgate is like, he can't wait to send, you know, these killers to old Sparky. Right. They're introducing the electric chair pretty quickly here. Yeah. Jim Gordon walks outside, really cool picture of a dapper Bruce Wayne leaning against a really cool 1930s convertible, right? And, you know, basically what he, he's, he's asking, it's clearly a bad part of town, so Jim's surprised he's there, right? And then, then we find out that Bruce is, he tells him that, well, my dad was friends with Councilman Hodges. Yeah. And then Jim gets in his car, which, and then they go off. I guess Bruce gives him a ride. Well, in the, and, you know, the original books, you know, that came out back in the 30s, Batman and Gordon were, like, friends. And you sort of get that vibe here a little bit that they're very familiar with each other, and, you know, they're just having a conversation as two people that maybe hang out occasionally would have a conversation. I mean, they're, they're talking about, you know, the depression, the war, even mentions Hitler, Nazi party. Yeah, they're, they're clearly familiar with each other. Yeah, they're kind of going over what's going on in their world right now. And the murders and the Batman. Well, you know, it's like Juergens is clearly going to, there's got to be something going on. This is a second mention or third mention within five pages of the American Nazi party. And, you know, so like, it's not just fiction, right? Because in 39, at Madison Square Garden, like, I think it was 20,000 people showed up to a rally for the German American Bund, which was a, you know, pro-Nazi organization. And, you know, I think if I remember correctly, there was swastikas flanking a portrait of George Washington. So Juergens is going, laying some groundwork, I think here for some Nazi stuff out of the gate. The sort of a realistic take of what the world was really like then. Right, which we don't really talk about much. You know, when I was in high school, I didn't hear much about the American Nazi party at a rally at Madison Square Garden. But I've heard it in comic books. This is the second comic book this year that I've heard that mentioned because I was, it was J. Michael Straczynski was writing Captain America. And in flashbacks, when Steve Rogers was a kid, they were talking about these rallies and different things that they were having. Mm hmm. I think there's a nice touch in one of these. You see a marquee for a for a movie. And it's Mr. Smith goes to Washington with James Stewart. And it's just an interesting contrast, all this darkness. And then in the background, you've got this feel good, pro-democracy, small guy goes to Washington, do good kind of a thing. It's a real, it's a contrast to what they're talking about. Now, when they get in to talk about the murders and they're talking about these beast men and they're talking about the Batman. Do you notice the movie that pops up there on the right? It's like a movie advertisement or something. I don't know. Maybe that is a theater, too. It's Son of Frankenstein. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is RKO Royale or something. But yeah, yeah, they're clearly they're just kind of just bantering. And they're talking also about sort of these murders that have been happening with these beast men. You know, at first you're thinking like, OK, are they really beast men? Because I mean, the Batman is not a bat. Are these just guys that are like just humans and they're just, you know, coming across as beast men? It's unclear yet. You know, is this real or it's just, you know, rumors? Bruce drops him off. It looks like probably out front of one of the precincts or a police station because there's a cop standing there, I guess. And then the cop makes some, you know, comment about Bruce Wayne's car costs more than he makes in a year. But then Jim reveals that, you know, he's been kind of looking after him or at least interested or concerned about Bruce Wayne ever since his parents were murdered. So that's sort of the connection, I think, you know. Maybe he was a beat cop at the time or something. But he even mentioned, you know, he thinks there's some seriousness underneath, you know, his playboy attitude kind of thing, which always there was always the thing that Gordon knows. And here you sort of get a thread that Gordon could figure it out, you know. Maybe, maybe. Do you think that when he tells the cop Bruce does seem to be the embodiment of the idol rich that he says seems and he might not. He didn't say is right. Seems to be. Yeah, yeah. Could be. Then we cut to cut away to Bruce driving to an abandoned warehouse. There's a car parked inside of it. He goes to the back of it, pops a trunk and puts on his costume and he's off. And then and that's his Batmobile, you know, his red Batmobile. That's the first Batmobile. OK, I'm glad you're here for some of these things. I've read a lot of this early stuff, but I forgot. Yeah, cool. And you see, you know, the first shadow of him in the Bat costume down there in the bottom. So then we move to a conversation that the mayor's having with Gordon about the murder of the council member. And and then he's demanding, like, you got to catch him or I'll find somebody who will blah, blah, blah. And then then the doorbell rings and he's and then Gordon's like, hey, don't don't answer that door. And then the mayor ignores him. And the guy guy walks out, sees that his manservant butler guy or whatever has just been killed by two. What, Bill? What are these guys? Monster type. I mean, they have like boils on top their heads or the one guy at least does pretty ugly mutated monsters of some sort. And they're and they're wielding machetes. Yes, yes, wielding machetes. Yeah. And then they start strangling him. And then, boom, splash page, Batman coming through the sky like glass. This is an incredible picture. It is. It absolutely is. This is our first appearance. It's really got a ton of movement to it. Yeah, it does. And the way this cape is, it's different than his cape as of today, because it's, you know, they have all these points on this cape. It's almost like wings. And in his hands are like the end of the capes that has like these bars that are embedded in the cape, like he's using it to float down, sort of. It's very different. Yeah, because those, what do you call them? The bars or whatever. It allows him to hold the ends because if you're just holding the ends of a cape, like it would probably just flop down. But since they've got the support structure, like a skeletal structure to it, it stays intact and it probably could make him float. Yeah, it's a great scene. There's a big melee between Batman and these guys. He tells, you know, the guy to run and everything. And the guy starts, the mayor starts stumbling up the stairs. Batman's not doing too well in this fight. But he does, you know, he does reach down to his utility belt and grabs, you know, something. And they kind of highlight, you know, these little capsules that he has on his, and he kind of cracks the capsule and throws it. And he throws this, whatever it is, I don't know if it's a flashbang or whatever you want to call it, trying to lead these guys away from the mayor who's trying to help his wife. And they go up to the roof. Yeah, it's like a, it's almost like a mini phosphorus grenade, flashbang grenade of capsule form. Yeah, he leads them to the roof. They get into it pretty, he almost gets taken down and he visibly says to himself, No, not yet. Not now. And he, he kind of takes away the one of the machetes. And then they pick him up and just like, toss him off the roof. And I don't know if he, the way he's fallen, I don't know how he gets his cape into action that he's not, you know, splattered. Yeah, he's not splattered. But then the next panel, we see them just jump off. It's probably three stories. Yeah, and they land on their feet. So we know there's something either supernatural, enhanced or something because nobody, nobody would survive that or they could survive without breaking their, might break their legs. But these guys just stand up. And then he's, he managed to scurry away into an alley. And he's kind of, he's just laying there. He would have been done for if they found him in a rabbi out the back of a synagogue, kind of pulls him in for safety. Yeah, and this was kind of neat because he was going to get slaughtered. He was going to get slaughtered. In that alley. So he basically drug him inside, you know, and he's like, who are you? And he says, you're the one with the mask. Who are you? Right, right. But here again, there's more references to what's happening in Europe because, you know, he obviously rabbi's Jewish. He's talking about what's going on in Europe and whatnot. So we have another little clue here that Juergens has thrown in some aspects of sort of Nazism and whatnot. And then they kind of conclude after a bit of discussion, which includes Batman kind of agreeing with the rabbi's worldview about things. And then kind of the rabbi kind of says, if you ever need some shelter, you know, I'm here kind of thing, right? Yep. And then that's that. Then that's that scene. Yeah. And we get Bruce heading back to Wayne Manor and you see a little bit of a makeshift bat cave. It's not really the bat cave, but it's like there are test tubes and colored solutions like he has his own crime lab sort of thing. But it looks really empty in comparison to what we're used to seeing. Yeah, there's no high tech. No, anything. Nothing. It's very gritty. But the one cool thing is, you know, in these older houses way back when they had all these bells set up in a certain area of the house when a doorbell went off or something like that, they have these little bells with lights on them. Have you ever seen any of those before? Yeah, I think my wife forced me to watch Downton Abbey. Oh. And so it's a big mansion. And so, you know, the rich could ring a bell and that would signal to the servants that, you know, somebody needs something in the master bedroom or whatever. But it looks like this might be the kitchen or something. Yeah, it almost looks like the kitchen. Yeah. So Bruce is, and that's something real quick, is that he's let the house kind of go. Yeah, there's no he doesn't ever expect any guests. And we should note, and I don't know if this that he's got no he's got no butler. He's it's just him. Yeah, it's just him. They said Alfred, you know, hasn't been around since he went to college and that sort of thing. And we do. Yeah, he's got it. He has it. The way you put it with Gordon was I haven't I haven't heard from you or seen. Like, he doesn't know what happened to him or something. So here we get, you know, Julie Madison, who's an actress and it was his first girlfriend, you know, in the bad books. We get her and this producer. And basically, this scene is to show, you know, this house is kind of he's got these expensive things in this house. And it looks all run down. And he's he's the rich. He should have a maid or butler or something. And with one phone call, you know, he can they said the funding wasn't, you know, winning prizes was going to fund this movie. And they pulled out funding because of insurance. And with one phone call, he changes that a little bit. Yeah. And she if anybody's listening, ever saw any of these films from that time period, she's got a real brash attitude. She kind of reminds me of Rosalind Russell and His Girl Friday or like Catherine Hepburn in like movies like Bringing Up Baby or the Philadelphia Story, where she's really like got this super strong, pushy, domineering personality. And yeah, but it was it was it was great. And, you know, yeah, you're right. She's commenting on how he's let the place go and all this other stuff. But then he makes a phone call to verify what they're saying. And then she basically demands that, you know, he call them back and tell them that it's funded again. And then they leave. And then he says, a little bit, you know, that's what I told him. So he did that, which was pretty cool, you know. So then we moved back to the the lab, I guess. And he's doing the fingerprint thing on the machete that he managed to abscond with. And he pulls a print. Yep. And this leads to him meeting up with Gordon for the first time. And, you know, he uses this little cape, almost like Dracula, you know, they cover their face and that sort of thing. Yeah, because when he enters the room, he's got his cape over the bottom part of his mask. Yeah, because Batman wouldn't sound like it's actually more realistic in some way to like muffle your frame to muffle his voice. You know, then then and so he doesn't get recognized because they've, you know, been around each other. And that's true. Basically, Batman shows him the print says because Batman realized that back at the lab, he's like, well, OK, I got a print. But what can I do with this print? Unless I, you know, run it through a crime lab or something. So that's why he's there. And Gordon reluctantly agrees to do it. He's almost like not sure why he's doing it. Like, why am I even doing this? Like, but he does it. There's something about Batman's sincerity, probably that makes Gordon. Well, and he tells Gordon, he reaches Gordon to, you know, he says, you're devoted to Gotham and have served her well your entire life. You'll trust me because you want to serve her now. Yeah, it's a great line. That's a great line. And Gordon agrees. And that scene ends. And then we go to Max's. I guess you'd call it a brothel. Yeah, definitely. And so there's some more 17 plus. And apparently one of the patrons is abusing one of the ladies of the night. And he's not. And Maxie, as the proprietor, is not. He doesn't tolerate that. Throws a guy to the ground, slams his face against the ground. And then he goes outside. And then, oh, there's Batman lurking in the alley. And he knows him. Right. Or does he know him? Are we sure he knows him? Yeah, I think he knows him. I think he's gone. I think he's gotten tips from him before. Yeah, he's gotten tips from him before. Because the idea would be that a proprietor of a brothel is in a criminal element. And he might be he might be close to criminals. So and then the actual lady who's got a black eye comes outside. And she's the one that gives, you know, he doesn't really, you know, this. Maxie doesn't really want this lady to come around. And because and she says, look, all I know there was a client who works for Johnny the Whip. And they talked about all this. What a gravy job. Got zero risk. And they got super strong soldiers. And here's the thing. They're dead. These giant mooks are dead. They're they were brought back to life. Yep. So we now know what's going on with the guys who were able to jump off a three story roof. And then he calls he ends up calling Gordon after this. And it's like the fingerprint. And he's like dead end. He says, but because that guy has been dead for like a couple months. Yep. And he died by electrocution. Yes. And so Batman puts two and two together somehow. And he heads off to Blackgate where they're about to electrocute a convicted felon. And he he busts in, shuts down the the power of the whole prison, manages to, as you said earlier, he managed to get the guy out of the chair. But but the policemen or the I guess you'd call them prison guards, managed to throw Bruce in or Batman into the electric chair and flip the switch. I didn't see that coming. You know, I saw one come in and the way this artwork when he comes in, you know, especially where the prisoners like this green mist is all around. Like, you know, he threw a gas pellet or something. And he comes in, he lets this prisoner. And it's not like he let this prisoner, you know, out of the prison. He just let him out of the chair. Exactly. And then he gets knocked in the head. And well, they managed to get the lights back on, right? Put them in the chair. And as soon as they get them strapped in the chair now, they don't have the little head thing on. No, they don't. All the way. But you can see how the little, you know, metal thing is attached to the strap a little bit and. Coil. The coil and it breaks the strap. So I don't know. Just like the scene where he jumps through the skylight. This has got such movement to it. And you feel. Yes. And he's got to sound like electricity sound him screaming. And, you know, it's got tons of movement. And it kind of reminds me and maybe I'm reaching here, but like the the old serial movies from that time had a lot of cliffhangers, like a train going to go off a off a ravine. And that's when they cut it. Like until next week, you won't know. So like we're we're like left with how's he going to survive this? Right, right. So and that's how it is. And it's pretty cool. It does make you want more, because, I mean, even if he sort of somehow survives, there's still cops there or prison guard. Yes. So now this was a really good first part. You know, it gives you clearly the state of what the world is in, you know, the depression and that sort of thing. And these murders that happen, you witness, you know, an attack. You see a murder. You see how this Batman is working, how he has this front, you know, with Commissioner Gordon and that sort of thing. But you see he's all alone. There's no Alfred. I'm curious to see if we'll get an Alfred here coming up. It'll be interesting, that's for sure. Yeah, it definitely will be. And it could have ended with a more subtle cliffhanger with like somebody, you know, we find out that there's zombies and like, but no, Batman's an electric chair. And it does make me go, you know, I don't feel like that often sometimes when I'm reading monthlies where I'm like, oh, my God, I got to wait. I got to wait a month now. You know, you know, sometimes it happens, but it definitely happened this time. I only have to wait like an hour because I have the second issue upstairs and I can just go and read it. Fair enough. Yeah, but when you read that one, you're still going to have to wait a month, though. Right. Yeah, that's true. So anyway, well, I'm really glad you told me to read it. And we were talking about covering multiple books and it's neat to offset a continuity book, the Batman book that we did last time with an Elseworlds black label period piece book. It's neat. Yeah, it definitely is different. That's for sure, because I read a lot of these. But if it doesn't hook me in the first issue, I don't go back because I had mentioned another book and I'm not going to mention what it is because somebody might say, oh, that's my favorite book. But it didn't hook me. And I like you might not want to read that because, you know, it was just not for me. But if it did hook me like this, you know, because there's how many Batman minis do we get in a year? I would say like seven to ten, you know, different ones. Plus various ongoings. Yeah. And just how many Batman stories have there been? It's hard to make Batman fresh. If you think about it, it might be one of the hardest characters to write. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We didn't we didn't mention that the costume is pretty close to the original with the gloves, the purple gloves. Purple gloves. So anyway, man, I'm looking forward to it anyway, man. Well, this was super fun. And yeah, I'm looking forward to the next time we'll probably be covering what issue we cover in when we go back to the ongoing to back to Batman. It will be 146. All right. Cool. So I guess we'll head out of here. So until next time, same time, same channel. We will see you later. Later, guys. Take care. Bye.