Welcome back to this neglected series of posts, now with one of the best (and funniest) films of the Coen brothers.
In 2001, Joel and Ethan Coen returned to their roots with The Man Who Wasn’t There, a straight-up crime thriller about an ordinary barber who bites off way more than he can chew by getting entangled in a web of blackmail and murder. Well, perhaps ‘straight-up crime thriller’ is pushing it… Yes, the picture is set in the 1940s, has a neatly worded voice-over, and is beautifully shot in black & white, so in a way it feels even more like the films noirs that originally inspired the Coens than Blood Simple or Miller’s Crossing did. Yet there are also heavy splashes of dark comedy throughout, somehow spliced with moving melancholia, as if setting the tonal blueprint for what became the acclaimed TV subgenre of men dealing with midlife crisis by venturing into a criminal enterprise with shocking results (like in Breaking Bad, Ozark, or Your Friends & Neighbors). It also contains a new spin on the brothers’ skill for memorable dialogue: this time, the protagonist is unnervingly quiet and self-contained (arguably Billy Bob Thorton’s greatest role, acting with the slightest facial expressions), creating a constantly amusing contrast with all the talkative people around him, once again brought to life by a fantastic cast (ranging from regulars like Frances McDormand and Jon Polito to newcomer James Gandolfini, who fits like a glove into the Coen world). Visually, the motifs of smoke, shadows, and spirals enrich the atmosphere while evoking the themes of deception, ambition, existential angst, and twists of fate.
Of all the noir classics in the DNA of The Man Who Wasn’t There, I’d say the strongest influence is Tay Garnett’s The Postman Always Rings Twice. Suspenseful, twisty, and twisted, this 1946 adaptation of a James M. Cain novel shares much of the mood and a few plot beats in another tale of amateur criminals driven to disgrace by the postwar promises of the American dream. Among other rhymes between the two movies, there are courtroom scenes that do not go as planned and, of course, the ending (here with a more fatalist, religious note, but the closing lines sum up both narratives…). And sure, old Hollywood couldn’t be as explicit about sexual matters, but this film powerfully works around censorship restrictions to convey the sizzling tension between John Garfield and Lana Turner.
Then again, it’s also interesting to see Coen-esque motifs relocated to other cultures and geographies, from Mozambique (2019’s Redemption) to Argentina (2023’s The Delinquents). With his knack for cool compositions, metafictional touches, and perverse sense of humor, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has often given the brothers a run for their money as the master of neo-noir. His Bad Education is an even more sinuous and mesmerizing tale of blackmail, likewise dragging classic genre tropes into the 21st century, albeit arrestingly shot in garish colors and placing homosexuality at the center of the narrative. While The Man Who Wasn’t There kept a straight-faced, non-judgmental distance towards 1940s’ homophobia, Bad Education (whose elaborate chronology stretches from Francoism to the early 1980s) uses taboos and sexual fluidity to add even greater deception to its story.
As for the comic book, this time the choice couldn’t be easier: To Have & to Hold.
Just like The Man Who Wasn’t There, Graham Chaffee’s To Have & to Hold is a brilliant recreation of classic film noir that rises above mere pastiche, capturing the genre’s aesthetics and period feel while cleverly filtering them with a modern perspective. Set in 1962, its largely nocturnal story also revolves around a great cast of flawed, frustrated people dreaming of more satisfying lives, including a cuckolded husband whose best laid plans combine crime and revenge… and who finds himself at the mercy of human whims and ironic coincidences. The expressionist brushstrokes, with a striking style reminiscent of Johnny Craig or David Lapham at their best, are not only highly atmospheric, but they also flow with incredible confidence, communicating much of the (internal and external) action visually. My favorite drawings are of brief moments and revealing poises of characters wrapped in deep thought, usually with a cigarette in their hands and a gaze pointed towards the distance, looking, if not profound, at least intensely concentrated on figuring out a path away from their present condition.
(A couple of years ago, Chaffee followed this with a similar project, Light It, Shoot It, a neo-noir in 1970s’ Hollywood that, suitably, builds up to more of a grindhouse vibe.)
In 2002-2003, the mood got increasingly grimmer in most Batman and Batman-adjacent comics. Blame the George W. Bush administration, 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, or just the franchise’s takeover by fanboys in the form of writers and editors trying to recreate the late ‘80s, with a push for more mature (i.e. downbeat) storytelling, playing up the ties to crime fiction… With a few exceptions, though, the visuals still stayed clear from the realist paradigm, their cartooniness occasionally prompting a kind of dissonance.
The result was hit and miss, as far as I’m concerned, but I appreciate the ambition, including the attempt to weave together the various Gotham City titles into an overarching murder mystery (basically extending the gesture of Officer Down).
BRUCE WAYNE: MURDERER? [The first part of this internal crossover had Bruce charged with murder. It was not the first time this happened (see, for example, Shadow of the Bat #55 or The Batman Adventures #6), but here the premise got an extended treatment across several issues and different series. The story has been collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?, with the first edition leaving out the unrelated subplots from Chuck Dixon’s comics.]
Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure: ‘The Fool’s Errand’
Detective Comics #766: ‘Procedure’
Batgirl #24 [No title.]
Nightwing (v2) #65: ‘Bustout!’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Batman: Gotham Knights #25: ‘No Exit’
Birds of Prey #39: ‘The Gun’
Robin (v4) #98: ‘The Thin Line’ Robin (v4) #99: ‘Where the Road Ends’ [This comes later in the cover’s labelling of the crossover (and in the collected editions) but it obviously belongs here, as it follows directly from the previous issue’s cliffhanger, whose resolution would be spoiled by reading this after Gotham Knights #26...]
Nightwing (v2) #67: ‘Madhouse’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force) [Likewise, it makes much more sense to read this here before carrying on with the main storyline. Nevertheless, the issue isn’t collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #26: ‘Innocent Until’
Birds of Prey #40: ‘Switchback’
BRUCE WAYNE: FUGITIVE [Batman went on the run, alienating those around him. Once again, the project benefitted from the previous years of books building up a strong Gotham cast: as the Dark Knight became more unlikable, it was interesting to follow the reaction of the other (more sympathetic) characters. The new status quo also allowed for some slightly looser continuity, as Batman could have adventures outside of prison and everyone else could deal with parallel stuff, beyond the urgency of trying to get him released. Still, I’m mostly prioritizing comics that tie into the investigation and the fugitive status quo. Again, the first wave of collections (in 2003) streamlined the comics by removing pages with unrelated – and unresolved – subplots. In 2014, DC put together thicker collected editions of Murderer? and Fugitive with much more material.]
Batman #600: ‘The Scene of the Crime’ (main story collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2) [Curiously, Ed Brubaker has written another (much cooler) comic with the same title… Anyway, besides the main story, the issue includes a trio of fun pastiches of previous Batman eras.]
Birds of Prey #41: ‘Felony Matters’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1 and fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batman: Gotham Knights #27: ‘Murderer? Positive I.D.’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1 and in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batman #601-602: ‘Turning the Town Red’ (collected in Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Batgirl #25: ‘I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds’(collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death)
Batgirl #26 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in Point Blank) [No title.]
Birds of Prey #42: ‘Karen’s Story’
Detective Comics #768-70: ‘Purity’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Batgirl #27: ‘Tag’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Nightwing (v2) #68: ‘Time & Motion’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1, fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Batman: Gotham Knights #28-29: ‘The Mortician’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer?)
Nightwing (v2) #69: ‘Ins & Outs’ (partly collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v1, fully reprinted in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Birds of Prey #43: ‘Deadly Convergence’ (only five pages collected in either edition of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Birds of Prey #44: ‘Blind Spot’ [A trio of awesome issues that follow directly from #43. Since they are centered on Black Canary, they don’t clash too much with the notion that the rest of the cast is mostly focused on clearing Bruce.]
Birds of Prey #45: ‘The Killing Ground’
Birds of Prey #46: ‘Cretaceous Picnic’
Batgirl #28 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in Point Blank) [No title.]
Batman #603: ‘The Turning Point’ (collected in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Batman #604: ‘Reasons’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #771: ‘Access’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batgirl #29(collectedin Batgirl: Point Blank and in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive) [No title.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #85: ‘The Sentinel’ [Let’s catch up with Azrael, whose issues form a relatively tight arc, eventually leading into the ‘Bruce Wayne: Fugitive’ storyline.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #86: ‘Rescues’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #87: ‘Kenny’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #88: ‘Lost and Found’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #89: ‘Sibling Rivalry’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #90: ‘Denial’ [Sets up Gotham Knights #30.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #30: ‘Turnabout’(collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #91: ‘Confession’ (collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #92: ‘New Boss’ (partly collected in 2014’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #93: ‘Reordered’
Detective Comics #772: ‘Principle’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman: Gotham Knights #31: ‘Clean’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman #605: ‘Courage’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v2, in the 2014 edition, and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #773: ‘Atonement – part 1’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Detective Comics #774: ‘Atonement – part 2’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Batman: Gotham Knights #32: ‘24/7’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, in Gotham Knights: Contested, and in 2005’s Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told)
Batman #606-7: ‘Death Wish for Two’(collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, and in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2)
Detective Comics #775: ‘Atonement – part 3’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3 and in the 2014 edition)
Batgirl #33: ‘Father’s Day’ (collected in 2003’s Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, v3, in the 2014 edition, and in Batgirl: Point Blank) [The series’ previous three issues were a fill-in written by Dixon, which I’m placing later.]
WORLD WITHOUT YOUNG JUSTICE [A set of tightly connected Robin and Young Justice stories. Robin #100 actually starts in the aftermath of #99 (and certainly before Nightwing #68), but it spans a bit of time, to the point that by the end Stephanie Brown has adopted a new look, with shorter hair. I therefore think the opening works better if read here, as a flashback.]
Robin (v4) #100: ‘The Price of Justice’
Young Justice #44: ‘The World What Once We Knew’ [Kicks off the ‘World Without Young Justice’ crossover]
Impulse #85: ‘Glimpses of You’
Robin (v4) #101: ‘Redone by the Vandal(s) of Time’ [Follows directly from #100 and then joins the crossover.]
Superboy (v3) #99: ‘Doosmboy’
Young Justice #45: ‘Bang Bang Bedlam’s Purple Hammer’
Impulse #86-7: ‘Crisis on Impulse’s Earth’ [Caps off the ‘World Without Young Justice’ crossover]
Robin (v4) #102: ‘Stage Presence’ [Follows from #101 and returns to the series’ main storyline.]
Robin (v4) #103: ‘Down Comes the Sun’
Robin (v4) #104: ‘Kerosene’
Robin (v4) #105 [No title.]
Robin (v4) #106: ‘Joyride’ [Batman and Robin finally have a proper talk about the events of ‘Murderer?’ and ‘Fugitive,’ so this is a sort of coda.]
CATCHING UP [These are various tales published (at least partially) during ‘Fugitive,’ but which did not directly concern the murder mystery angle. In theory, they could take place while Bruce was at large, but that would mean scattering readers’ (and characters’) attention, so I think they work better here. You can read each batch in the order you prefer, so I’m listing them alphabetically.]
Batgirl #30-32 (collected in Batgirl: Point Blank)
Catwoman (v3) #5-11 (collected in Catwoman: Crooked Little Town as well as in Trail of the Catwoman and No Easy Way Down)
Detective Comics #763-772 (backup stories) [‘Lost Voices’ (#763-772) introduces the neat police detective Josie Mac and ‘The Hunt’ (#773-775) introduces the Tracker, yet another vigilante in Gotham City.]
Harley Quinn #20-25 (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis) [The Joker shows up in #25 (the final issue of Karl Kesel’s run), even though he is supposedly locked up in the Slab, a maximum security prison specifically designed for metahumans. Perhaps he escaped, as usual, but in general I assume much of this run was seen through Harley Quinn’s deranged imagination…]
JLA #62-65 (collected in JLA: Golden Perfect)
Nightwing (v2) #70 (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force) [Final issue of Dixon’s amazing original run.]
The Titans #37-44 [Somehow, Nightwing finds the time to go on a bunch of adventures with his buddies… A guest appearance by Oracle in #39.]
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia (collected in Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, v1)
Young Justice #46-51
MOVING ON [As usual after intensive crossover events, the series were given room to develop on their own for a while, many of them shifting creative teams. Again, you can read each batch in the order you prefer.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #94-100 [Wraps up one the worst Batman series.]
Batgirl #34-37 (collected in Batgirl: Point Blank) [Concludes Kelley Puckett’s and Damion Scott’s inaugural run.]
Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne
Birds of Prey #47-49[Dixon was a tough act to follow, so editor Lysa Hawkins brought in a string of indie writers to follow him on this series. This arc was by Terry Moore, of Strangers in Paradise fame.]
Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman + Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle[A couple of specials dealing with the relationship between Barbara Gordon and Selina Kyle.]
Catwoman Secret Files & Origins (collected in Catwoman: Crooked Little Town and in No Easy Way Down)
Detective Comics #776-783[‘Dead Reckoning’ (#777-782) is a great detective yarn that makes ample use of Batman’s supporting cast and rogues’ gallery. The Joker is still imprisoned in the Slab. The backup story of #782 is a nifty little piece called ‘The Mourning After.’ The backup of #783 is a prologue to ‘Death and the Maidens.’]
JLA #66-90 (collected on JLA: The Obsidian Age, Book One,Book Two, Rules of Engagement, and Trial By Fire) [One of the remarkable features of Joe Kelly’s run was the romantic tension between Batman and Wonder Woman.]
JLA Classified #32-36 [Based on the team, it should be set around this time.]
JLA/JSA Secret Files and Origins + JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice [Metamorpho, who had been considered dead since 1997’s JLA #1, is alive again!]
Nightwing (v2) #71-75 [Devin Grayson takes over as writer and hits the ground running.]
Back to cinema this week… and back to the Old West.
Not the wokest of genres, westerns nevertheless often provide great fodder for thinking about history and politics (especially in America), along with the obvious thrills.
Take gender dynamics, for instance. It’s not just that practically none of these pictures pass the Bechdel test – in my list of Gotham Calling’s Top 50 Westerns, there were even more instances of violence towards women than of violence towards Native Americans. Usually, pointing out that most film violence is nevertheless directed towards men is just a way to dodge the issue (by pretending like there isn’t a specifically misogynistic dimension in our society and culture), but in this case I think it’s worth noting that, traditionally, westerns have been more than a male-dominated genre… For the most part, these are movies *about* masculinity, committedly thematizing, defining, and sometimes deconstructing how men behave or should behave, including towards women. Similarly, I think it’s too narrow to describe them as casually racist, since they tend to explicitly address the topic of race relations in the US (between whites, blacks, Mexicans, and different indigenous communities), albeit not always critically.
With that in mind, here are a dozen works from various decades that approach these themes in very different ways:
Barbary Coast (1935)
Although not as iconic as Howard Hawks’ later westerns, Barbary Coast has a lot going for it. For one thing, it’s set in 1850 San Francisco, during the California Gold Rush, presenting the city as a chaotic, vice-ridden, quasi-lawless town, where Edward G. Robinson plays a pirate-looking predecessor of his gangster characters. In turn, Miriam Hopkins plays a tough-talking Hawksian woman, even if settled with a few melodramatic beats. There are plenty of great scenes, but my pick goes for two of the most cynical trial sequences in the whole damn genre.
My Darling Clementine (1946)
In John Ford’s take on the myth of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the gunfight at the OK Corral you’ll find the director’s signature racism and sentimentality, but also many of his best features, including a keen eye for evocative visual compositions and a rough, boisterous energy that is hard to resist. The geekiest among you may also approach My Darling Clementine as part of the elaborate backstory of Fred Van Lente’s fun mini-series Eternal Warriors: Last Ride of the Immortals (a backstory that also includes much of the first decade of comics of the rebooted Valiant Universe!)
The Last Hunt (1956)
A grim, vicious affair that goes further than most of its contemporaries in terms of questioning settlers’ worldviews (instead of just presenting American genocide as a matter of self-defense and ‘civilization’). The Last Hunt is also a fascinating movie on other levels, including its commitment to teaching us in great detail about hunting and protecting buffaloes… Yep, cue in a pretty direct allegory about the treatment of Native Americans.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The folks of a poor Mexican town terrorized by a local bandit cross the border and spend what little gold they have to hire seven (very macho) gunslingers to train them and protect them. I’m sure you’ve encountered at least one of the countless variations of this story before, but this iconic Hollywood adventure stands out due to its cast’s magnetism, the epic musical theme, and a particularly pure/blunt approach to the material. If John Sturges’ classic is hardly a work of subtlety, at least it conveys an unspoken complicity between these men that is actually a major appeal of The Magnificent Seven and it may help explain why the film became such a massive success worldwide – including in the Soviet Union, despite the blatant allegory of American benign intervention abroad. To be sure, like most movies listed here, this one contains some un-PC elements, but there is also humanism in the way the heroes are transformed by their interactions with the local community. (By contrast, the cartoony 2016 remake made some half-hearted attempts at diversity while treating everyone as cardboard characters, racism as a mere joke, and the locals as little more than cannon fodder.)
Duel at Diablo (1966)
I had to include at least one cavalry western, which is among the most interesting – and problematic – subgenres in this type of fiction, emphasizing the military dimension of nation-building. Here we have a particularly dirty, nasty take on the mythology, equal parts archetypical and revisionist in its approach to racial relations. And although the overall gesture isn’t exactly unique – especially within this list – Duel at Diablo gets an extra point for co-starring the incredible Sidney Poitier.
Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (1967)
This film is so disjointed in terms of both editing (it must beat some kind of record for close-ups) and narrative (the ingredients are all there, but bafflingly shuffled together) that the result is the most surreal western this side of Alejandro Jodorowski’s El Topo… I’m sure purists find it hard to watch, but I can also see why others would consider Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! a sort of weird masterpiece, pushing the genre’s aesthetics beyond breaking point and into sheer awesomeness. Despite the odd English title, there is no connection to the original Django other than the horror-like levels of bloody violence.
God Forgives… I Don’t! (1967)
More spaghetti western magic, but this one more conventionally put together, even if stylishly edited and photographed with ultra-dusty colors. This yarn about ruthless men torturing and deceiving each other at every turn in the name of greed or manly pride was the first collaboration between the mountain-like Bud Spencer and the acrobatic Terence Hill. The two actors would go on to do a ton of movies together, but I like God Forgives… I Don’t! much better than their later comedic outings…
100 Rifles (1969)
An underrated piece of counterculture begging for cult classic status. 100 Rifles may be the closest Hollywood got to nailing the feel of a Zapata Western (it was even shot in Almeria), but it stands out precisely because of the way it daringly uses the setting to engage with the era’s hot topics in the US, such as Vietnam, armed insurrection, different types of racism (complete with an incendiary-for-the-time interracial romance), and the genocide against Native Americans. If this makes it sound preachy, don’t worry: the quest for the titular rifles in order to rise up against the Mexican oppressors turns into a dirty, riveting adventure full of surprising choices, held together by cool cinematography and a charismatic cast.
Apaches (1973)
A solid, action-packed yarn with a twist: in this East German production, the titular Apache are the heroes whereas the villains are cigar-chewing, scalp-hunting white men. This inversion on the genre’s traditional perspective has been done elsewhere, but rarely with such gusto – rather than belabor its anti-imperialist polemic, Apaches just fully commits to its violent story, interspaced by moody horse-riding interludes (shot in Bulgaria) with a very nifty soundtrack.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
With its stunning photography, ornate language, lyrical music, homoerotic subtext, and contemplative meditation about the legends of the Old West, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a more classic Hollywood oater (with a touch of gangster picture) than I was led to believe – and a fine one at that, even if the result is just a bit too polished and self-important for my taste… Neat title, though.
First Cow (2019)
Very slow burn, but soooo worth it… In her typical taut, restrained style, Kelly Reichardt spins, out of the first cow in Oregon, a suspenseful drama about frontier life in the wilderness, male relationships, and embryonic capitalism. First Cow proves the western setting can hold its appeal even when approached through an entirely different sensibility.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
The other remarkably beautiful, slow-burn revisionist western in recent years was also directed by a woman. Set in a ranch in 1925 Montana, The Power of the Dog follows the bubbling tension between an aggressively masculine bully and those who don’t share his rough ways, but such familiar dynamic is given a peculiar texture in this sensitive drama… The result is not as subtle or as clever as First Cow: the dialogue with the genre is more direct (including the obligatory visual nods to The Searchers) and the homoerotic undertones are hardly a novelty (especially compared to the complex relations developed by Reichardt). Still, the whole thing does build up to one hell of a payoff at the very end.
It’s World War III out there, so this increasingly feels like the band playing on the Titanic… Still, if you’re nevertheless in the mood for some light weirdness in your life, here is a reminder that, back in the 1960s-70s, the original Teen Titans comics often ventured into horror (albeit often with goofy results), as conveyed by the awesome Nick Cardy:
It took a while to return to this project, for various reasons, but here we go again!
As usual, I’ve identified collected editions where you can find some of this material, but I haven’t kept up with all of DC’s publications, so many of the issues may have been republished in further books (and probably were).
Anyway, this is what was taking place in and around Gotham City back in 2001…
EXTENDED BATMAN FAMILY [After the Officer Down crossover helped consolidate the new era of Batman titles as their own corner of the DC Universe, we started to get more interactions between the various cast members of Gotham-related books. Once again, my ideal reading order tries to pack together story arcs and issues that directly flow into each other (especially via cliffhangers) while alternating between series. I’m skipping Young Justice #31-34 (collected in Young Justice, v4) because Robin is nowhere to be seen, so those issues can be read at any point before Young Justice: Our Worlds at War.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #70: ‘Cry for Atonement’ [This issue starts not long after #69, but it kicks off an arc that lasts for weeks and culminates in Azrael adopting a new suit and moving out of Gotham City, so I’m placing it after Officer Down.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #71: ‘Brothers’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #72: ‘Hell & Back!’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #73: ‘Homecoming’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #74: ‘Accused’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #75: ‘Fallen Angel’
Catwoman (v2) #91: ‘The Short Road’ [The series’ final issues closely follow the various threads from Bronwyn Carlton’s run.]
Catwoman (v2) #92: ‘Tag’ [John Francis Moore takes over as writer, but basically wraps up Carlton’s story.]
Catwoman (v2) #93: ‘Fear Is Here to Stay’
Catwoman (v2) #94: ‘You Don’t Have to Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #76: ‘There Shall Be a Beginning’ [Set forty days after issue #75. Following intense mourning, Azrael gets back to crimefighting, now based out of Ossaville (about 100 miles north of Gotham).]
Detective Comics #755: ‘Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Commissioner Gordon’s retirement dinner. Sasha Bordeaux has been Bruce Wayne’s bodyguard for four months.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #14: ‘Sibling Rivalry’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested) [A couple of separate issues dealing with how Gotham Knights #11’s revelations psychologically affect, respectively, Nightwing and Robin. In this reading order, #11 was quite a while ago, but there’s no reason the topic can’t continue to linger on the characters’ minds. Also, although Azrael shows up in Gotham with his new costume (because Batman asked him to team up with Nightwing), this does not mean he isn’t living in Ossaville.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #15: ‘Far from the Tree’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested)
Batgirl #13: ‘Batgirl’ (collected in Batgirl: A Knight Alone and in To the Death)
Batgirl #14 (collected in Batgirl: A Knight Alone and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Batman #588-590: ‘Close Before Striking’ (collected in Batman: False Faces and in Batman by Brian K. Vaughan) [This cool tale, written by Brian K. Vaughan, retcons the origin of Matches Malone.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #77: ‘Poison Road’
Orpheus Rising #1-5 [Introduces yet another Gotham vigilante… I’m placing the mini-series here because most of the following comics contain running subplots, so this seems like the place where it would cause less of a disruption.]
Batgirl #15 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Birds of Prey #28-30: ‘History Lesson’[In #28, Dinah Lance gets to know where Barbara Gordon works and lives.]
Nightwing (v2) #54: ‘In the middle of the cold, cold night’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)
Nightwing (v2) #55: ‘Love & Death’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)
Nightwing (v2) #56: ‘Stalked’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)[Dinah bumps into Nightwing at Barbara’s place.]
Nightwing (v2) #57: ‘Yesterday Never Dies’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)
Nightwing (v2) #58: ‘A World of Hate’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)[The relationship between Barbara and Dick seems to be getting more serious.]
Robin(v4) #87: ‘Secrets Revealed’
Robin(v4) #88: ‘Secrets & Lies’ [Spoiler meets the new Batgirl.]
Robin(v4) #89: ‘A Serpent in Paradise’
Robin(v4) #90: ‘Snake Bite’
Robin(v4) #91: ‘Kid Kobra’
Robin(v4) #92: ‘A Leap of Faith’
Robin(v4) #93: ‘Close to Home’ [We find out the Riddler has been released from prison.]
Robin(v4) #94: ‘A Question of Timing’ [Final panels tease Joker: Last Laugh.]
Detective Comics #757: ‘Air Time’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [A very nice one-and-done tale. I’m switching the order here because this works better if read before Harley Quinn #6, whereas issue #756 works better if read afterwards.]
Harley Quinn #5: ‘Larger Than Life’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v1)
Harley Quinn #6: ‘Who Wants to Rob a Millionaire?’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v1) [The Riddler is on the loose. Harley Quinn goes after Bruce Wayne and it seems Sasha Bordeaux still doesn’t know about his secret identity. Oracle tries to contact the rest of the cast and we get snapshots of where they are, aligning the continuity: Batman is in Detective Comics #757, Robin is in Robin (v4) #90, Nightwing is in Nightwing (v2) #56, Black Canary is somewhere before Birds of Prey #31. (I’m not sure about Batgirl… perhaps Batgirl #15?)]
Harley Quinn #7: ‘Gods and Monsters’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v1) [The cover mocks the ‘Batman Dies!!!’ non-event.]
Harley Quinn #8: ‘Be Cruel 2 Your School’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Night and Day and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v1)
Harley Quinn #9-12: ‘Quintessence’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Night and Day and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Batman: Gotham Knights #16-17: ‘Matatoa’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested) [Nightwing tells Batman he’s dating Oracle.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #78: ‘The Amazing Adventures of Captain Death’
Batgirl #16 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #18: ‘Cavernous’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested)
Batman #591-592: ‘Shot through the Heart’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1) [Sasha still seems unaware about Bruce’s double life.]
Superman (v2) #168: ‘With this ring…’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Continues directly into Detective Comics #756.]
Detective Comics #756: ‘Lord of the Ring’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Sasha finally finds out Bruce is Batman.]
The Titans #26: ‘Nothing Personal, Just Business’
The Titans #27: ‘Desperate Measures’
The Titans #28: ‘The All-Nighter’
The Titans #29: ‘Kid Stuff’
The Titans #30: ‘Sins of the Past’
The Titans #31: ‘Crowded House’
OUR WORLDS AT WAR [As a crossover event, Our Worlds at War is more of a Superman cosmic adventure, so I’m only including the tie-ins where the Gotham cast plays a key role.]
Batman: Our Worlds at War: ‘Hidden Agenda’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1)
Young Justice: Our Worlds at War: ‘Comedy of Eras’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
Young Justice #35: ‘War Torn’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
The Titans #32: ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ [The story isn’t related to the crossover, but they mention Tempest is off in the events of JLA: Our Worlds at War, so it’s set at the same time.]
JLA: Our Worlds at War: ‘A Date Which Will Live in Infamy’ (collected in Superman: Our Worlds at War, v1 and in Our Worlds at War – Complete Edition)
Nightwing: Our Worlds at War: ‘Die, Die and Die Again’ (collected in Nightwing: Shrike)
Batman #593-594: ‘Sanctuary’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1)
Young Justice #36: ‘Kissing on the Apokolips’ (collected in Young Justice, v5, in Superman: Our Worlds at War, 2, and in Our Worlds at War – Complete Edition)
Impulse #77: ‘Split Decision’ (collected in Young Justice, v5, in Superman: Our Worlds at War, 2, and in Our Worlds at War – Complete Edition)
Superboy #91: ‘War Letters’ (collected in Young Justice, v5, in Superman: Our Worlds at War, 2, and in Our Worlds at War – Complete Edition)
Young Justice #37: ‘War of the Words’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
Harley Quinn: Our Worlds at War: ‘Our Fighting Forces’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Night and Day)
World’s Finest: Our Worlds at War: ‘Finale’ (collected in Superman: Our Worlds at War, v2 and in Our Worlds at War – Complete Edition)
The Titans #33: ‘Lies’ [Most of the Titans are off ‘dealing with cleanup of the War.’]
PRE-JOKER: LAST LAUGH [Unless there was a good reason for placing them before, I’m putting the issues with cover dates from late 2001 here, between the crossovers Our Worlds at War and Joker: Last Laugh.]
Detective Comics #758-760: ‘Unknowing’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Sasha and Bruce finally discuss his secret. Vesper Fairchild returns. Backup for #758 is a neat little character piece about the new police commissioner, Michael Akins. Backups for #759-762 are the great ‘Trail of the Catwoman’ (collected in Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street, in Trail of the Catwoman, and in Catwoman of East End Omnibus), in which Slam Bradley investigates Selina Kyle’s disappearance since Catwoman (v2) #94.]
Detective Comics #761: ‘In Thirty Days’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Bruce trains Sasha.]
Detective Comics #762: ‘Passings’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Lt. Harvey Bullock leaves the police force.]
Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score (collected in Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman and in Catwoman of East End Omnibus) [Part of this awesome graphic novel takes place simultaneously with the ‘Trail of the Catwoman’ backups from Detective Comics #759-762]
Batgirl #17 (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #19: ‘The Factor of Fear!’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested)
Nightwing (v2) #59: ‘Where’s Freddie Minh?’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)
Batgirl #18 (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Nightwing: The Target (collected in Nightwing: Shrike)
Batgirl #19 (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death) [No story title.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #20-21: ‘Retribution’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested) [Ra’s al Ghul is still bitter over Talia’s betrayal back in Detective Comics #750.]
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #79: ‘Driven to Extremes’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #80: ‘Deadly Faux’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #81: ‘Azrael Works’
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #82: ‘Blackout’
Nightwing (v2) #60: ‘The Threshold’ (collected in Nightwing: On the Razor’s Edge and in Shrike)
Nightwing (v2) #61: ‘Lethal Force’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Batgirl #20 (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death) [No title. Batgirl and Spoiler become friends.]
Batman #595: ‘Out of the Past’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1) [Sasha is already in on Bruce’s double identity.]
Birds of Prey #31: ‘The Big Romance’ [These next issues form an extended arc and culminate in a page setting up Joker: Last Laugh. Talia al Ghul is supposed to be running Lexcorp, not hanging out with her father, but I can accept they made some kind of temporary truce during the holidays…]
Birds of Prey #32: ‘The Stray’
Birds of Prey #33: ‘The Courtship’
Birds of Prey #34: ‘Heart-Breaker!’
Birds of Prey #35: ‘The Shout’
JOKER: LAST LAUGH [Not long before leaving the regular Batman books, Chuck Dixon got to pen, along with Scott Beatty, a massive, riotous Joker-centric extravaganza crossover event.]
Joker: Last Laugh: Secret Files & Origins [The main story, ‘A Clown at Midnight,’ picks up immediately after the final panel of Birds of Prey #35.]
Joker: Last Laugh #1: ‘Stir Crazy’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #83: ‘The Evil Men Do…’
Nightwing #62: ‘Midnight Madness’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)
Joker: Last Laugh #2: ‘Siege Mentality’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
Birds of Prey #36: ‘Canary Caged’
Harley Quinn #13: ‘Night and Day’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Night and Day and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Young Justice #38: ‘Stuff Happens’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
Detective Comics #763: ‘La Cucilla’ (collected in New Gotham, v2)
Batgirl #21 (collected in Batgirl: Fists of Fury and in To the Death) [No title.]
Joker: Last Laugh #3: ‘Lunatic Fringe’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
The Titans #34: ‘A Child’s Laughter’
Joker: Last Laugh #4: ‘Everyone Knows This is Nowhere’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
Batman #596: ‘City on Fire’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1)
JLA #59: ‘Bipolar Disorder’ (collected in JLA: Terror Incognita)
Joker: Last Laugh #5: ‘Mad, Mad World’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
Robin #95: ‘Book of the Dead’
Joker: Last Laugh #6: ‘You Only Laugh Twice’ (collected in Batman: The Joker’s Last Laugh)
CHRISTMAS 2001 [So many of the issues cover-dated February 2002 acknowledge the holiday season that this feels like a quasi-crossover, especially as DC invited cover artists across the board to experiment with the title placement, giving it a particular visual (in)coherence… The DCU’s Christmas isn’t haunted by the 9/11 attacks, perhaps because the comics were made months in advance.]
Batman #597: ‘Crooked Miles’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v1)
Nightwing #63: ‘Red, Fright and Blue’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)[Deals with the fallout from Joker: Last Laugh. Guest appearance by the Blue Bettle.]
Robin #96: ‘The Big Cats’ [Same.]
Birds of Prey #37: ‘Red, Black and Blue’ [Same.]
Detective Comics #764: ‘Hearts’ (collected in New Gotham, v2)
Batgirl #22 (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death) [No title.]
Young Justice #39: ‘Petal to the Metal’ (collected in Young Justice, v5) [No appearances by anyone from the Batman family, so there’s no clear place where to put this issue. I’m inserting it here, because it doesn’t yet feature the holiday motif. (In fact, this is a sort of epilogue to the awesome Hourman series.)]
JLA #61: ‘Two-Minute Warning’ (collected in JLA: Golden Perfect) [I’m pushing this one here because it has a nifty scene where Batman speaks to Lucius Fox, clearly set before the events of Gotham Knights #23.]
Batman: Gotham Knights #23: ‘Fear of Success’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested)
Batman: Gotham Knights #24: ‘The Devil You Know’ (collected in Gotham Knights: Contested) [Set in the aftermath of #23. It’s snowing. Supposedly set a week after Batman #595.]
Detective Comics #765: ‘Vacancies’ (collected in New Gotham, v2) [Heavy snow.]
Batman #598: ‘Santa Klaus is Coming to Town’ (collected in Batman by Ed Brubaker, v2) [Christmas time.]
Young Justice #40: ‘The Night Before Doomsday’ (collected in Young Justice, v5) [Same. (Although the link is thematic rather than chronological: this is set in a previous Christmas, as Robin had not yet left the team.)]
Nightwing #64: ‘On a Christmas Evening’ (collected in Nightwing: Lethal Force)[Same.]
JLA #60: ‘Merry Christmas, Justice League – Now Die!’ (collected in JLA: Terror Incognita) [Same.]
The Titans #35: ‘Friends and Lovers’ [Snow.]
The Titans #36: ‘Generation Gap’ [Still snowing.]
Batgirl #23: ‘Little Talk’ (collected in Batgirl: Death Wish and in To the Death)
Robin #97: ‘Starstruck’
Harley Quinn #14: ‘Welcome to Metropolis’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Harley Quinn #15: ‘Metropolis Mailbag’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Harley Quinn #16: ‘Both Sides Now’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Harley Quinn #17: ‘#1 Am the Loneliest Number’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Harley Quinn #18: ‘The Bride of Bizarro!’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Harley Quinn #19: ‘Going Out with a Bang!’ (collected in Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis and in Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition, v2)
Catwoman (v3) #1-4: ‘Anodyne’ (collected in Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street, in Trail of the Catwoman,and in Catwoman of East End Omnibus)
Azrael, Agent of the Bat #84: ‘Wahoo!’
Birds of Prey #38: ‘The Next Little Thing’
Young Justice #41: ‘Mishmosh’ (collected in Young Justice, v5) [Since Robin is no longer in the team, this series becomes more disconnected from the main line’s chronology. I’m placing these issues here because it is a logical break.]
Young Justice #42: ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
Young Justice #43: ‘Liberty Throughout the Land’ (collected in Young Justice, v5)
