Episode 97 - One of These Stories Has a Very "Now" Feeling

About this episode

Andy and Mike discuss Elseworlds Batman stories set in the 1930s and late 1800s, exploring themes of politics and crime.

Andy and Mike are back with more Elseworlds fun with stories that take place in the 1930's and the late 1800's! And boy was it a mixed bag. First up is Batman: Dark Allegiances , written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. This story, the one set in the 1930's, has a self-made Bruce Wayne fighting against corrupt politicians and a racist secret society with a dash of fascism thrown in for good measure. For a story set in the early part of the 20th century and published a little over three decades ago there is a really "now" feeling to it that Andy and Mike make a meal of. They also talk about the two-fisted action, men in suits, women that know their own mind, and the guest appearance from Hitler. There is some contempoary policial talk during this section if you have a problem with such things, but when the sub-text in the story is text in real life it's hard to avoid. Next up is Batman: Two Faces , which has the elevator pitch of "Batman meets The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde". Bruce Wayne is a wealthy socialite that has an interest in fighting crime. The death of a friend at the hands of Two-Face pushes Bruce to create a serum that makes him stronger, faster, and better and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Andrew Leyland, Michael Bailey

Topics covered

• Elseworlds
• Batman
• 1930s
• crime
• politics
• superheroes

Keywords

• Batman
• Dark Allegiances
• Two Faces
• Howard Chaykin
• superheroes
• political themes
• fascism
• Jekyll and Hyde

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Batman: Dark Allegiances, Batman: Two Faces

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