The Black Casebook – Détails, épisodes et analyse

"But, at night to Mohammed, he confessed his doubts: It will not be as we dream, when those of us who survive finally get there. Corrupt politicians have already ensconced themselves. They are waiting for us—waiting for us not as brothers but as our masters. They will use us." 

– As told to John Berger, "Two Recumbent Male Figures Wrestling on a Sidewalk"

"For a moment, he actually feels he can’t go on, can’t function anymore, living two lives with enough stress for ten but less than enough sleep for one."

– Doug Moench, BATMAN #484

The United States is a broken empire. It just doesn't know it yet. 

The 1990s marked the full bloom of the international counterrevolution, whose mission to destroy the gains of the 20th century had just seen its first major victory in the destruction of the USSR. With no systemic power to oppose it, capitalism molted the old skin of social democracy, unveiling its truest form to hollow fanfare and a dead-eyed audience.

Bereft of an external enemy worth organizing against, unsatisfied with the empty calories of the video game war, confronted with the grim realities of vaunted liberal democratic values, Americans tried to make sense of life at the end of history. Whose triumph was this? 

Even superhero fans found themselves yearning for—but never quite finding—meaning in heroes whose integral, inflated violence now seemed both superfluous and insufficient to the moment. Despite having "won" the Cold War, maybe what American audiences needed to see was one more domino fall.

***

⁠⁠⁠⁠The Black Casebook:

Email

Twitter

Bluesky

Instagram

Patreon

---------

Collective Action Comics:

Email

Instagram

Twitter

Bluesky

Patreon

---------

Our episode art was by the great Kly, whom you can (and should) support on Patreon.

With three years of The Black Casebook in the books, it only seemed right that we celebrate by turning the floor over to you, my beloved listeners, for our annual mailbag episode. This one has it all: giant robots, a salute to Morrowind, how to rescue Tim Drake, Berserk Korner, and all the esoteric bullshit you can handle. And much more!

Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A Christmas miracle. To close out 2023, we’re taking the plunge into the kinky, gender-bending world of Batman Returns, the strangest blockbuster ever to have a Happy Meal tie-in. After the many compromises involved in making Batman ’89, Tim Burton used his newfound freedom to take the biggest swings he could imagine—and with the help of one of the most stacked casts in any superhero movie, he ended up with a bizarre masterpiece.

We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro music: "Greensleeves" by klankbeeld, via freesound.org.

From the twisted mind of Casebook Walt! We're looking back to the early '90s and the heyday of American crime with a deep dive into "The Last Arkham," the terrific arc that introduced scarified serial killer Victor Szasz alongside a new version of Arkham Asylum. In the process, writer Alan Grant raises questions about the nature of power and madness that strike at the heart of what the Dark Knight, and his dark city, represent.

⁠⁠We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky ⁠@blackcasebook⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Let's raise the stakes. This month, we're investigating Grant Morrison's brilliant, challenging Batman run through two lesser-known stories: "The Three Ghosts of Batman" and "The Club of Heroes." Besides being incredibly entertaining, these arcs can help unlock the deeper meanings that make the Morrison run such a classic.

⁠We have a Patreon⁠⁠⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠, on Bluesky @blackcasebook, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠. Synopsis ambient noise by Osiruswaltz.

Hoo-ray for Hollywood. We're turning our gaze to the stars this month for One Bad Day: Clayface, which might be the best Batman comic in a decade. Essentially a super-sized Batman: The Animated Series episode, the story follows the artist formerly known as Basil Karlo as he tries to carve out a new life for himself in Tinseltown. As Clayface looks to the future, we dig into his past, excavating his character history to understand why his bid for a second act was doomed from the start.

We have a Patreon⁠⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠ and Instagram ⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠. Synopsis music by ⁠Setuniman.⁠

I have to become...more.

Year One of The Black Casebook is a wrap! Let's celebrate a year of hard work, announce some plans for Year Two, and answer a slew of questions from Listeners Like You.

We have a Patreon⁠⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠ and Instagram ⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠⁠Music by Black Plastique⁠⁠. Here's the Batman playlist I mentioned during the Q&A.

I'm not mad, just disappointed. This month's casefile digs into one of the most notorious Batman stories out there: "A Death in the Family," which for more than 15 years marked the last appearance of the maligned second Robin, Jason Todd, courtesy of fan bloodlust. We follow the winding path of Jason's character history and Jim Starlin's Batman run to figure out whether this could have been avoided, touching on the history of human sacrifice, Arthurian myth, and Sylvester Stallone's 1986 masterpiece Cobra along the way.

We have a Patreon⁠!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠@blackcasebook⁠ and Instagram ⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠, and you can write in to ⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

⁠Music by Black Plastique⁠. Intro ambient sound by Audio_Dread.

This is a big one, folks. What better way to kick off 2023 than with a deep dive into The Dark Knight? Christopher Nolan's take on The Empire Strikes Back captured the accelerating pace and constant anxiety of the War on Terror, all while gesturing toward--for better and for worse--the Obama era to come. There's also a really badass truck flip. 

We have a Patreon!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

Music by Black Plastique. Intro ambient sound by e0fd96.

You can find Spencer Ackerman's outstanding history Reign of Terror, which was an essential resource for this episode, here. I highly recommend it, as well as Spencer's appearances on the CEREBRO podcast.

It is happening again. For our last casefile of 2022, we turn to what might be, pound for pound, the two best Batman stories ever written: 1974's "Night of the Stalker," by Steve Englehart, Sal and Vin Amendola, and Dick Giordano, and its 2005 remake "Deja Vu" by the late, great Darwyn Cooke. Despite being less than 30 pages combined, these two stories contain the very essence of the Dark Knight, and exploring them takes us to some new and exciting places.

We have a Patreon!

You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter @blackcasebook and Instagram @blackcasebookpod, and you can write in to blackcasebookpod@gmail.com to share any Bat-thoughts you have.

Music by Black Plastique. Intro ambient music by InspectorJ.