In regards to what you have coming up: I was recently in my local comic shop with my 10 year-old grandson. By the register, was an illustration of Batman by Frank Miller from the Dark Knight Strikes Again. He said, "Is that supposed to be Batman?" I said, "A lot of us asked that question at the time."

i really miss the old style and look of Gotham City. although it's now modernized,the original version of Gotham will always have a special place in our heart.

Tower of Babel works cause it's Batman's worst impulses of paranoia twisted by someone monstrous like Al Ghul. Hell even JL Doom did justice to that by the end line about his contingency plan: The League itself.

The early 2000s was the era of Hush as well as Under the Hood, which were two massively important storylines (even if Hush is a bit overrated). Then you had the Grant Morrison run in the late 2000s-early 2010s which I will honestly say is one of the best eras period.

The popularity of Adam West and the 1966 TV series saved Batman from being canceled by DC comics. So give some respect to that show.

I remember that one reason Bob Schreck probably got the job was because he was Frank Miller's editor on "Sin City" at Dark Horse Comics and Miller initially wanted Archie Goodwin to be his editor on "The Dark Knight Strikes Again"; after Goodwin passed away, Miller wanted DC to hire Schreck to be his editor on his Dark Knight Returns sequel. Reading between-the-lines, there was some fallout between Miller and Denny O'Neil that kept Miller from wanting to work with Denny. Regardless, this gave Schreck a lot of clout at DC when he came in - he was also going to edit Kevin Smith's "Green Arrow" book. Denny's "illness" Rucka is referring to is most-likely the heart attack he had around that time, which he would confide about in interviews a few years later. I think O'Neil abruptly stepping down and Schreck taking over had more to do with O'Neil needing to take care of himself than anything else. It's a pity that his initial idea for the direction that the Batman books would take (Batman - superhero, Detective - crime/police stories, Gotham Knights - Batman's "Family") veered off and back into carrying crossovers again. Eventually, both the Superman and Batman lines started generating massive crossover storylines in an effort to cover up constant improvisations by making it seem like they meant it to happen the way they did - "Our World's At War", "Infinite Crisis".

That's really sad to hear how O'Neil was treated at DC. Unpopular opinion but O'Neil did more for making Batman great than Frank Miller. I actually have several issues from this era. I used to be a big Rucka fan but over time I realized how disjointed the stories became towards the end

28:58, the two henchmen aren’t named Dennis and Neal for Dennis O’Neil but for Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams!

I was delighted to see you rip this sordid era of Batman apart. Sadly the worst is still yet to come in terms of Bob Schreck’s catastrophic reign as Batman Group Editor. We truly will never have another Dennis O’Neil again. 😞

Ah, thank you for pointing out he hypocrisy of Batman's elaborate contingency plans for his friends yet simultaneously lacking the same dedication for his own villains. I like Batman but sometimes he's written really for lack of a better word edgy.

I hope the batman 2004 gets a mention, that was my childhood

Murderer and Fugitive were pretty good. The Sasha Bordeaux subplot was quite poignant.

I knew Schreck was a hack when, in an interview, he described getting the first script for Miller's disgraceful _All-Star Batman & Robin_ : "I'm a forty-year-old man giggling like a kid, 'Shucks, this great!'"

The 2000’s was a mixed era for DC and Marvel in general, on one hand you had stuff like New Avengers and Johns’ Green Lantern, on the other hand, you had stuff like One More Day and Identity Crisis.

In the early 2000s I think Time Warner had a huge influence on what was published. That would explain the "new guard " power struggle with new "Yes Men". Also, the industry was drastically changing then. Writers quit working together as teams, and held back in pitch meetings, and writing on side titles because head title writers got all the glory. Once again you've made a extraordinary in depth peice. Bravo and thank you sir!!

As for Larry Hama, it's fair to point out that the tone of the books was imposed on him by higher-ups... Looking back at his interview, it explains a lot...

There was an issue where Batman called up Aquaman and had him fish the Giant Penny out of the water near the cave. Maybe all the major repairs were just favors from the Justice League.

You mentioned Larry Hama. He is under - appreciated writer. He created the original G.I. Joe comics that I liked as a kid. He was a Vietnam veteran, so he knew military stuff. He later wrote an excellent limited series called Nth man, which was one of the best ninja-style comics ever. He also wrote the Wolverine series for a while.

I want to thank you for explaining these later years of Batman for me, and putting it all in context. Hey, I'm happy for people who discovered Batman in the 2000s and enjoyed it , but by 1997 I was completely DONE with his comics- you perfectly explained why. Batman in the comics became unrecognizable to me, and personally I took it as a signal to maybe "grow up" and move on. I vividly remember just browzing over new issues at comic shops and Barnes & Nobles Bookstores and actually being disgusted with the sloppy cheap writing. By 2002 I was done with both DC and Marvel Comics, and was only buying small indie press and foreign books from Europe and Asia. On the bright side Indie publishing had literally taken over by 2000s and I had adult friends who NEVER read comics in the 90s who were now reading Saga, Love & Rockets, etc.

Those early ‘00s issues of Detective from Rucka and Martinbrough were honestly some of the best Batman comics of all time. Great stories and visually inventive. Loved them.

Batman Murderer/Fugitive was the first ever “adult” comic I read. It still holds a place in my heart and I loved hearing everything about the storyline!

DC comics and Bob Shreck deserved the DKSA story after how Denis was treated. So for that reason I can enjoy the story unashamedly.

I think you got the Scott McDaniel and Brubaker dynamic wrong. Brubaker had an interview years after he left DC and he talked about how frustrating his time on the main Batman title was. He didn't like that he was put on the ''action/Superhero book'' because he cared more about slower more dialogue driven stories that focus more on psychology and inner turmoil, but he was forced to do action most of the time because McDaniel is an action artist whose style didn't really mesh well with the type of slow paced noir stories he wanted to tell. Brubaker also talked about his frustration with his Catwoman run and how it was derailed by tie-ins with bigger line-wide events and by DC turning down his pitch for the second half of the series (before using elements of that same pitch after he left). The first issues and up until #24 of his Catwoman run were great, and they simply played to his strenghts as a writer. Strengths that he would take to a whole other level during his time on Captain America and Daredevil when he left and went to MARVEL shortly after as he was done with DC's bullshit. Brubaker also got to writer actual noir and detective, dialogue focused stories with smaller scale and slower pace during his short run on Detective Comics (e.g Dead Reckoning and Made of Wood) which were pretty good before him and Rucka worked on Gotham Central which was also dialogue based and way less action heavy and it was one of the brightest spots in the Batman books of the early 2000s. There is a reason Nolan's Joker was inspired from a storyline from this series (Soft Targets) and it's no wonder that people are excited for him being a head writer on the new Batman animated series that is supposed to be noir driven.

This was such a fascinating video. Thanks for putting it together. I would love to hear more behind the scenes of DC Comics from the 90’s-2000’s.

To be fair, Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) didn't even know Bruce Wayne = Batman until her first crossover issue (#24). And then she didn't even have time to process anything because she had to deal with a certain death duel with Lady Shiva in #25. Once that's all cleared up, she's the one that started the ball rolling. She's the key to it all ironically in Bruce finding the humanity lost because she's the reason he was targeted to begin with. In all honesty, I love Batman: Murderer?/Fugitive because of the depth it gives EVERYONE in this story. Bruce, Sasha, Dick, Alfred, Babs, Cass, Tim, and Steph are all on point here. Great characterizations. It's a superior version of "Gotham War". The grand problem is, sure the main Batman comics got "better", but then the opposite happened. The Bat Family comics lost their drive or got canceled due to inept leadership and editing. Look at Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Gotham Knights, and Birds of Prey (once Simone left). Just problem after problem. Along with a hidden agenda after hidden agenda (aka Dick being slated for death or Cass being axed because some higher-ups wanted Babs back). Denny O'Neill was the glue and sadly though many praise it, "Batman: Hush" was the grand downfall of the Bat Family comics. It's a problem that still afflicts the Bat Fam today. I think the only two Bat Fam characters who recovered are Dick Grayson and Cassandra Cain. But that could change at a drop of the dime with another bad run ("Ric") or being pushed into limbo (or multiple pushes in Cass's case because higher-ups wanted Babs back as Batgirl).

Ed Brubaker was my first Batman comic, OUR WORLDS AT WAR one shot. I wondered why a black man was Commissioner, what happened to Gordon. Honestly, despite Brubaker being responsible for my discovering Batman comics when I was a boy, I just didn't have nostalgic feelings for him. But this video had served me to understand why Batman's comic fell apart despite having great writers like Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka.

Great video - the office down story/Denny Neil retirement makes perfect sense! Chuck Dixon has stated on his channel that the Azrael series was a retirement severance for Denny - guaranteed to run 100 issues with him no matter what sales levels were (cool of DC to do that).

I personally loved this era of Batman! Devin Grayson's Gotham knights run and the Bruce Wayne murderer/fugitive saga are some of my favorite Batman comics!

Was just wondering when you’d upload again. Good to see you, king

Chuck Dixon has spoken a few times about how he wanted Wayne manor being rebuilt on one site and then mysteriously moved over the Batcave overnight being too much for Denny O'Neill. It shouldn't have been a problem when you already have villains like Ra's al Ghul, Clayface and Manbat, and Clark Kent and Lex Luthor had visited Gotham earlier in the storyline.

Tower of Babal makes perfect sense. Taking down the league is a simple enough matter for a guy reputed for his intelligence. Let's be honest he's kinda holding back with not using any tech from the leagues Adversaries for this. And not having similar plans for his villains has to do with the fact he fights these guys on a bi-weekly basis, elaborate plans only work once or twice, eventually your opponent will adapt.

I find it AMAZING that you have a low opinion of JLA: Tower of Babel. 12:40-13:45

I’m glad someone has the same disdain for Hammas Batman run as I do. It’s the worst Batman/detective comics run from post crisis up until flashpoint. And I’ve read every one of them.

I disagree about Tower of Babel. How many times did the JL fought against villains like Starro or Eclipso, who could control their minds? How many times did they fought evil versions of themselves who took over their planet? I don't think Batman would go through this experiences and just simply say "Ok, we solved this today so it will never happen again". Also, Batman does has a history of allies turning against him and becoming villains (ex: Harvey Dent and Jason Todd), so it' understanble he would have trust issues, specially with his friends, who are all super-humans. Sure, we can argue that Batman could at least tell the members of the JL about his plans, but this could take away one Batman big advantage in the team, that everybody understimate him, thinking he's just a guy in bat-suit when he a genius and strategic (a detail that help him save the JL in some adventures). If he told the heroes about his plans, then, whenever one of them turn against the JL, Batman would be his/her first target.

This is the period I'm must interested in because just like you said nobody remembers or care about of these years in the Batman comics. I always wanted to know who Sasha was and the implications of Bruce Wayne Murderer in the continuity. I was really surprised how you compared the Dennis O' Neil situation and the Officer Down storyline as well as the writers feelings towards the new editorial changes. I feel so lucky of having found your channel and following you for all these years. You are THE Batman channel in KZfaq as I always say. Thank you Salazar for your hard work ❤️🦇.

The art of Detective Comics was definitely bold and different compared to the other titles, but I much preferred it to the awful art McDaniel was doing in the main Batman line. Gotham Knights was my favorite of the books, for the beautiful art and for the stories. But after dealing with the landscape of No Man's Land for a year, it was REALLY jarring to open the books to find a 6-month time jump and the whole city is rebuilt? Seriously? ALL of it? That was more than a little unrealistic to me unless the JLA came to Gotham and helped out. Yeah, Bats threw Supes out early into the onset of the NML, but once the NML order was lifted and things were being rebuilt, is there any reason he wouldn't have come _back_ to help out? Or Green Lantern? I mean, what's the point of having these heroes exist in the same universe if they aren't going to help rebuild after disasters? Isn't that what they do? It surprises me that Denny didn't want ANY DC superhero crossover in the Bat books, but I do agree with not bringing the entire JLA in to help rebuild the manor because that would have revealed who Bruce was. The fact that he kept his identity secret from the JLA and that he has these deep-seated trust issues about revealing his identity--as well as being a compulsive planner with pessimistic leanings regarding what can happen to the world if superheroes go nutty--set up the wonderful Tower of Babel storyline over in JLA, and the ultimate resolution of both Bruce AND Clark revealing their identities to the team was compelling reading. I did see a panel somewhere of Alfred bulldozing the remains of the manor into the cavern to cover up the old cave since there was a deep chasm open underneath the house that took down a lot of the structure. A coffee table book I bought explains that Bruce had an old Scottish manor belonging to the MacDubh clan (I believe he is the last surviving member) shipped over to the states in sections and rebuilt on the old house foundations. But no one explains what the hell they do to make the proper foundations for it. I mean, yeah, he can buy off inspectors and whatever, but houses (and in this case, a freaking castle) NEED a foundation, and somehow he has to seal up that chasm. Ok, so what did he do, dig it back out again in order to restore the cave? It made no sense. And yes, there was a concerted effort on O'Neill's part to get rid of all the "silly" trophies and props that had become part of the Batcave back in the 60s. O'Neill wanted to take him in a more serious direction and get away from the crazy props like the giant penny and the T-Rex, and he didn't think Batman would be the type of guy to save stuff like that. But there was such a clamor from fans that it was decided to ultimately add a trophy room to one of the levels of the new Batcave. You can find cross sections of the new Batcave by searching 2000's Batcave pre-crisis, or check out the Cass Cain mainframe wiki casscain.fandom.com/wiki/2000%27s_Batcave_(Pre-Crisis)

Murderer/Fugitive was great tho. Probably one of the very best Batman arcs ever made, if not the best.

Already watched the whole thing, four times

Spiderman also didn't recover in the 2000s after the events of the infamous Clone Saga. Although we were given the first movie and the Ultimate comics, four men came to destroy Spiderman: Joe Quesada, Michael Straczynski, Kevin Smith, and Mark Miller. They are the ones who created stories so abysmal that they ruined the Spiderman mythos like Evil That Men Do, Sins Past, Civil War, and of course, One More Day. The Achilles heel that destroyed Peter and MJ's marriage by making a deal with the devil himself to save Aunt May's life after being shot by one of the Kingpin's assassins.

Fantastic video! I never put much thought into why I stopped reading Batman when I did and thanks to this video i have my answer: Dennis O'Neil got fired. It it wasn't for Grant Morrison, I probably never would've picked up a Batman comic again.

Tower of Babel wasn’t presenting the idea that Batman being an edgy cold person is cool but rather criticizing Morrisons and others modern idea of who Batman is, it deconstructed Batman and blatantly tells you his behavior was immoral and gross. If you read ahead past that arc he apologizes for his behavior and admits he was wrong for it.

I did love Scott McDaniel’s Nightwing! He and Chuck Dixon really developed BludHaven 🐳 and had a Killer monthly book!

The Batman comics from this time are the flip side of what DC was doing with Superman. While Batman was moving farther from his Silver Age roots for grim and "realistic" stories, the Superman went all in on the Silver Age: Krypto and Supergirl were back, General Zod was a big enemy, and Krypton was revealed to be exactly like how it was in the comics from the '60s with retro-future architecture and Flash Gordon tech. Strangely, a few years later Grant Morrison devoted his Batman run with Silver Age motifs while Superman got progressively darker and more violent in the name of "maturing" the character.

33:39 That's Taskmaster, Luigi, you didn't make him

Appreciate the captions, I'm very hard of hearing and it's difficult to make out words at the best of times.

I completely agree with your observations about the modern batman. he seems to have strayed so far from the old more grounded batman written by Denny O Neil. He always seems to be able to do anything and fight anyone these days just using his convenient plot armor. It feels like they've lost sight of who batman is supposed to be a grounded superhero with more grounded conflicts and villains.

You often see a lot of people bring up Tower of Babel as some big feat or triumph for Batman that he could totally beat anyone, but it's as you pointed out, one of Batman's lowest points in his career. Indeed, if Batman is so invested in creating formulaic plans to take down his own friends, why can't he do the same against his enemies in his own turf, whom only a few of have powers but nowhere near the level of the League? But people aren't willing to entertain the idea that Batman could do wrong for whatever reason despite claiming him as "flawed and relatable". Though in my experience, the "flawed and relatable" is just referring to him having no superpowers and being grimdark. "Superheroes get possessed and they have superpowers" And Batman doesn't? Because people seem to operate under the foregone conclusion that Batman isn't susceptible to brainwashing. If anything, his paranoia would highlight he should be the first to be taken out for willingly betraying the trust of his colleagues. Not to mention he has a lot of money, which obviously went into funding these plans. Being rich is in itself a superpower as well.

Great to hear your thoughts on all this. This period was messy at points but I think it has some of the best Batman stories. I don't hate Officer Down on its own, but the O'Neil connection you mentioned makes it a lot more interesting. I think Murderer/Fugitive is enduring in large part because of its refutation of Bruce being nothing more than a mask, a viewpoint still held by droves and droves of Batman fans to this day. I think the mystery itself is engaging enough, though I do take issue with the degree to which Batman becomes detached from the case. I get that he might not feel motivated enough to clear his own name if he's come to think that he doesn't need to be Bruce Wayne, but the fact that he seemingly stops caring about solving Vesper's murder is just too much for me. And then you throw Sasha into the mix and it's just unfortunate. I still really enjoy the story though, Rucka's coda with Bruce and Sasha in the park is great. And you're right to point out Vesper's change in portrayal. She's good in both incarnations, though I miss her 90s personality. I am, I guess, glad that Vicki didn't get killed off instead because I like her, but Vesper dying sucks too. Grayson on Gotham Knights and Rucka on Detective are some absolute highlights for this period for me. Just really great stuff all around in my eyes. And I appreciate the shout out to Orpheus Rising and The Hill at the end, both of those are really awesome too. Also, I think a lot could be said on how Tower of Babel has negatively influenced both perceptions and portrayals of Batman in the years since.

love your videos dude, just read the fugitive arc and was looking for a video talking about this era of batman in depth. i quite like this era of batman, but mostly because I love Scott McDaniel's art

Thank you for the music playlist Mr.Knight I will thoroughly enjoy it right after I'm done with this video :)

Denny O'Neil gradually got pushed out of the editorial position. After February of 1998, he became co-editor of the Batman titles until he was finally replaced about 2 years later in February of 2000. By that time he was about 60. He still wrote Azrael up until about 2003 even when he battled health issues and had a heart attack in the autumn of 2002. After that, he wrote sporadically on DC's titles until 2020 when he passed away.

32:00 does anyone know this comic here. I love azreal and nightwing and would love to read this story line.

Great video! This era of Batman is one that I missed out on because I wasn't buying new comics very often. When I did buy comics it was mostly back issues of Batman and Detective Comics from the Knightfall era, or back issues of DC's Star Trek comic book series from the '80s and early '90s. And collected editions were just starting to be taken more seriously as a way to get storylines to people who weren't able to buy comics on a weekly or monthly basis. The same thing was happening with TV shows at the time too with the advent of DVDs and the realization that a season of a TV show could be released in a multi-disc DVD box set after the season had finished airing on whatever network it was on. The same thing kinda happened with comics around this time too. You also have to factor in the changes that society was undergoing with 9/11 happening in 2001, and the constant threat we were under from terrorist organizations at that same time. So I think that had something to do with the change in the Batman comics, and comics in general, around that time. Police Procedurals had also become a phenomenon at this time. Alot had changed and those changes were reflected in the comics that were coming out.

Absolutely love these videos. I binge them all the time. Hope when you catch up to current Batman, that you cover either Dick Grayson, Superman, or The Flash

great video and amazing playlist!

For me that Matches Malone with Scott McDaniel on art was the worst. It's was an F concept with an F execution. If I recall, he actually hypnotizes himself into believing he's Matches Malone. It's so bad.

03:06 Your criticism is they didn't explain why Batman changed his shirt?

Just discovered this channel via Owen Likes Comics. Really enjoyed this video even though I feel it’s a bit harsh on the Rucka and Brubaker issues. I thought they were great. Will definitely check out your other videos!

The Bat family had outside help. Hell, Bruce called on Aquaman to try and get the penny up.

Does anyone know - where is the best place to read Rucka’s run on Batman Detective Comics?

Officer Down wasn't a Batman story, it was a Commissioner Gordon/Danny O'Neil story 🥲

Me worrying we're gonna run out of Salazar's videos

man the contingency plans, the start of the whole "prep time batman" cliche which just ruins the character for me. like i don't hate batman v superman scenarios where batman manages to win a hard fought battle utilysing every advantage ie the dark knight returns, but him just having these plans for everybody just ready to go and some evil batmen being so effective they take down the justice legue singlehandedly is just way too much. like even ignoring the abilities which range from creating anything from your mind, full intagability, faster than light speed and all the members having godlike strength and durability... the whole point of a team is to cover eachothers weaknesses, even if this was 60's cartoon justice legue where aquaman literally just has his fish telepathy and flash can't time travel. it still goes against the reason why you'd make them a team, they are simply stronger than the sum of their parts so making one member just flat out stronger moreso makes them a boss than a team member, it unbalances the team, like why have superman when wonder woman is just as strong without the weaknesses? why have flash if superman is also ultra fast? kinda goes into why i think the justice legue is a bad superhero team in itself but having one member be able to solo them is just an insane writing decision.

I agree that crime noir music enhanced batman comics so much, whenever I read batman I just put the GTA 3 theme looping in the background

Tbf, this era had the JL animated series and Batman Begins. So, it wasn't all bad .

I have a much bigger complaint about the spikes on Batman's gloves disappearing one month after the big rollout of Batman's new costume without explanation than the disappearance of the New Look oval without explanation. There were readers who called for its removal 20 years before, so my reaction was "Finally." I thought the Roger Robinson Gotham Knights issues were consistently good, including the story with the Australian and the issue with the roaches. I had a lot more interest in Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive than the crossover events during the Denny O'Neil era, like No Man's Land and Knightfall.

Sadly, most of my two longboxes of Batman comics are from the late 90s to early 2000s. They're basically worth their cover price, if that.

Gotham was an average city for much of its comic book history, it was based on New York. It didn't become an art deco nightmare until Anton Furst's concept art for Burton's 89 film changed it forever. It became the de facto style and carried over into the comics and the Animated Series, until the early 2000's.

A big problem with "Bruce Wayne: Murderer" is how Bruce had no agency except when he had to be hyper-competent. He's discovered with the body right away with no chance to either hide the body or report it (Imagine if he tried moving the body someplace it would be discovered so as not to incriminate him). His secret identity is at risk only somehow he's careful enough to leave no evidence in the manor connecting him to Batman and his latest partner completely refuses to talk. It sets up an appearance of the status quo being radically altered except it goes back to relatively normal by the end.

Sal…you did it again! Awesome video!

I started the video dreading that someone with a clear preference and nostalgia for the 90s would rip apart the more sophisticated 00s. And while I did get some of that, I genuinely appreciate the look at the behind the scenes regarding Denny and the metaphor of Officer Down, which I hadn't noticed before. Now, some criticism of your criticism. The reconstruction of the cave and the lost trophies wasn't ignored. In the lead up to Murderer, there's an issue where Batman calls Aquaman to retrieve the giant penny from a lake in the cave. You criticise Officer Down because Batman doesn't do anything, claiming it shows poor execution. But what you're describing is actually the concept of the story, and you don't say anything about its actual execution, the detective work carried by the bat-family, the art, coloring, prose, etc. You say Batman doing the job "would have been an opportunity for character growth" but the entire point of the story was to put Bruce in a bad place where he'd slowly alienate anyone around him until they payoff of Fugitive. It was a long arc, meticulously planned. This criticism is like saying Batman is too smart to tire himself out fighting in Knightfall, and that it would show character growth if he took a break and relied on others more. In both stories the point is to take the character down so that he can raise back up again. The only difference is there's less action in Officer Down, which I think is the heart of your problem. It kind of goes with the territory of a 90's focused channel, but it's disappointing. Claiming that "it might be one of the worst Batman stories ever made" is too rich when you praise Legacy, a story that is little more than mashing action figures together with zero substance. It's also a bit grating that in all of your videos you present your opinion and then add something along the lines of "the general consensus is that the story is bad" like that's even quantifiable. I always wondered, where do you get these general consensus from? I'll grant that you acknowledge Rucka and Grayson being great, and I completely agree on Zeiss being the worst. But too often in this video you seem to quantify whether a story is good depending on whether Batman is happy and triumpanth, and have too little to say about things like the script, the dialogue, the technical execution.

I think calling a two-tone colour scheme bizarre is exactly the kind of closed mindedness that turned vertigo into 'bat' label. Any experimentation with the medium of comics is immediately written off by the irritatingly loud and omnipresent batman fans, leaving us with the meaningless pulp that DC has been shitting out for two decades now

Early 2000’s was great. Don’t know what you’re talking about. Grant Morrison came out of this.

Incredible work!! and In the end you really struck a chord, I bought DK2 and will always regret it

THAT FRAME AT 6:15. I read that comic as a kid and have been looking for it. It's the guy with the hammer, right? Is there a name? I've been looking for it for literal years

I hold Greg Rucka's and Ed Brubaker's time writing Batman comics up there with Denny O'Neil's and Steve Englehart's tenure.

"Officer down" was the last of the batman comics published in Mexico by "Vid editorial", the publisher that carried both DC and Marvel in Mexico for about 30 years, i found it mediocre.... but now? now i know, now i think its awesome. Thanks dude!

Your videos are amazing!

I feel both Batman and the Batfamily peaked in this era. However, It all goes downhill with Hush and hits the nadir with the infamous War Games

I'm actually a pretty big fan of a lot of the stories you covered in this video.

Gotham city really needs that gothic edge to bring out that surreal touch to batman

The 2000s era of Comics were mostly just edgy edgebait where all the heroes had to have something terrible happen to them, including grape, lots of grape, Batman getting graped, and a few others getting graped... I fucking hate most of the 2000s comics...

Excited for this one! batman books from this era were some of the first batman books that I collected

I legit had no idea about all of these new/reused additions to the storylines of the new millennia. These videos are really passionate and well-put together.

According to Chuck Dixon, Denny O'Neil wanted HIM to replace him as group editor but he declined

Shawn Martinbrough's art being "polarizing" for that run is insane when it looks that good

Every era can be a mixed bag but there were some fantastic Batman stories in this era. The Matches Malone story was great! Bruce Wayne wanted was also a good one. Brubaker and Vaughn told some top notch Batman stories in my opinion

insane to put the cover of Batman Murderer to try and say this was a bad era for Batman like c'mon dawg

Were you even reading the Bat books in the late 90s early 2k's? There were some epic stories in those years. I collected all of the Bat family titles from '97 through '06. Great stuff.

Your perspective on officer down brought me to tears, I’ll never think of that story the same again

Was it? Because I feel like everything since Grant Morrison's 7 yr reign of damage was just that

I'm glad you mentioned the possibility of Superman / the Flash helping repair things. If I were forced to write a Batman comic, it'd be a flashback story to Batman's early days, when Batman was a loner, the Bat Cave was little more than a cramped hole in the ground, and he had only a few custom items in his belt. There'd be a Justice League adventure where Batman mentions that he has only one explosive Batarang so they need to make it count, and as the adventure wraps up, the Flash says to Batman: "I heard you mention you were low on Batarangs ... for what it's worth, I'm good with a soldering iron, and I work fast. If you want, I can build you a crate of them." So Batman sets him up with supplies, but more than that, he starts realizing that he's got actual friends in the league. Next time he needs Batarangs, he invites the Flash over, and pretty soon they turn it into a regular event that is as much about camaraderie as it is equipment. Superman gets in on it too, expanding the cave into the shape we know it today, and hanging with Barry and Bruce. So it'd be the story not only of how the Batcave was constructed, but also how Bruce learned to be a little less alone.

Adam West deserves your respect and so does his work.

David Caine otherwise known as Nick Fury.

You've really become the new definitive lore master of comic book Batman; also love that you included Azrael's Gotham Knights and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storyline, it's nice to remember is few glory moments in the 2000s before they made him go completely insane afterwards for basically no reason

Great video! That's really creative how you created a specific playlist to listen to while reading the noir-ish comics. Keep up the good work! And, oh my goodness, I never considered you having to review the Dark Knight Strikes Again and the other stuff Frank Miller wrote during that time. I remember people were in shock at how terrible DKSA was. It seemed like it was deliberately made as awful as possible. Oh well. Good luck on that!

This was a very interesting video; however, I would love to see your thoughts and opinion on the Batman: White Knight series

LOVE YOUR VIDEOS Please continue with the history of Batman

Great video Salazar. I'm subscribed

I’m only halfway through and I’m loving this video! A fascinating insight to how the comics reflected the reality. Thank you!