I had the pleasure of interviewing Chuck Dixon for my comics podcast some years ago. It was a real treat to hear all the stories from DC Comics during this era - the pressure to top Death of Superman, Denny O'Neil's preference towards certain characters, all of that. Chuck Dixon is a true legend and one of my favourite writers.
Chuck Dixon has always been one of those writers that always got overlooked by my friend group but when we would talk about consistently great books it was always his name that came up as an example. Very much one of the all time greats for keeping the spirit of comics alive.
@@Unquestionable I told him that my liking of Nightwing came from his run and I hold that as the standard. Kyle Higgins' run was great but Chuck Dixon was the bar to hit for me.
Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams had already started the change towards a grittier Batman in the early 1970s with Daughter of the Demon and he'd gotten a bit darker as the years had gone on. In general, pre-Dark Knight Returns Batman was less emotionally traumatized and socially stunted then current incarnations. I don't think that's a bad thing.
The problem is it was the same thread as in his good stories, but he kept pulling on it and it unraveled. "Logical" progression became increasingly insane.
@@George_M_ MIller's Batman works when Bruce is a beginner starting off who hasn't learned to chill out and that vengeance isn't everything, and it also works when Bruce is old and jaded, as the world has fallen apart around him. It doesn't really work well for a Batman in his prime who has sidekicks and other superheroes he regularly works with.
I don't really think Miller's Batman is ever 100% "it" except for in Year One. Even DKR has some stuff in it that's questionable, but it works in the given circumstances crafted to be considered more than "acceptable". Writers should, on occasion, be allowed to veer from mainstream continuity in order to experiment, and it seems like that was all Miller ever wanted to do with the stories he's both most heavily criticised negatively and positively for. Like imagine if people went after Gotham By Gaslight because Batman exists in the Victorian age. That'd be dumb, despite how much the setting affects a character.
Minus the bat-nipples, the movie is a camp-classic imo. It's a bad movie for sure, but it does so much so badly at AAA-budget levels that it becomes surprisingly entertaining. It's like watching a luxury trainwreck full of hammy acting and some terribly awkward scenes, all wrapped up in a Batman theme. You learn a lot about what NOT to do in film by watching that movie too, which has some value in itself albeit in a roundabout and silly way. I wish the haters would just Cheel Owt already, it's been almost 20 years /s
@Supercohboy I wasn't around when batman and robin came out. I was born two years later 1999 and batman is my favorite superhero and my decade is the 2000s.
@@Supercohboywe will never chill out. Regardless of what happened behind the scenes with Schumacher and the WB that movie killed Batman in cinema for nearly a decade and ruined the reputation of my boy Bane for the normies.
As born in later half of the 80's, the 90's offered arguanly the best Batman related content ever! The comics was pure awesome, the legendary Batman TAS that set new grounds of excellence, the toys and video games etc-etc just great. Beside the major cheesy Batman Forever and Batman & Robin movies, it was great! Today it is not even a shadow of all that greatness.
@@LeonsCoolJacket Well I can't say I liked the Suicide Squad treatment. But more is the awfull comics now. I have not enjoyed any Batman comics since before 2010 because they are either poorly written or poorly drawn, and in recent years Woke BS I could not care more. And I was not a big fan of the recent movie either The Batman as a fetish dressed RFiddler did not fit IMO his original character, or the race swapping of James Gordon or Robert Pattison as Batman.
The '90s! It was a bittersweet time for me. Two art forms were collapsing for me by the late 1990s- Hip Hop music and DC/Marvel comics! The 1st one is discussion for another day, but for the 2nd, by the late '90s I had more or less given up on the "big two" companies and was exclusively buying independently published and foreign graphic novels. Marvel and DC was only for "browsing" to see how far they had fallen. But Batman was my biggest disappoint since it was my number one book back in the BRONZE AGE '80s, but he had become unrecognizable to me by 1998. I was tempted to buy issues of the Long Halloween when it was coming out, but the toxic chaos of DC during this time (cancelling Milestone Comics, and cancelling Dwayne McDuffie's Milestone/JLA crossover for petty reasons) convinced me to leave DC and Marvel for good and instead support small independent publishers, and explore foreign graphic novels from France, Germany, Asia, Iran, Africa, and Latin America.
Salazar you magnificent bastard, you’ve done it again. Not only the narrative on this video is very detailed and straight forward, with amazing little editorial facts that I’ve never heard before, but in top of it all you close it with a hopeful an reflective message for the future. Cheers to that my friend!
I've been re-reading the 80s-90s Batman titles and watching your videos along with that has really elevated the experience. Having the historic and cultural references and influences on the stories makes the stories so much more enjoyable. You're quickly becoming one of my favourite content creators, it's clear how much time, effort and research you put into your videos. I wish you the best, you deserve a much larger following and I hope you get the credit you deserve this year!!
You seriously make the best Batman documentaries on YT fr! I’m very interested hearing your thoughts on Batman in the 2000s, particularly Nolan & The Batman 04 animated series (my childhood fav), that area wasn’t as big as the others but the character certainly got a much needed huge glow up.
Yes, Salazar should definitely make videos on the New Gotham Era with Brubaker and Rucka up to Infinite Crisis maybe even Final Crisis and Batman Reborn
You have gotten really good at making these videos. I have been watching for a few years now and this is a Master Level Batman presentation. Please keep them coming.
I was in the middle of the “Bat-conflict” growing up in the 80’s with the 1960’s reruns and being introduced to Frank Miller’s influence on Burton’s version of the dark knight!
This is great work man!! Extremely in depth information as always!! I'd love to see a complete video on Chuck Dixon. The 90s was pretty much his own universe. He doesn't get enough credit. Dixon has shared pieces of his side of the DC fallout in numerous interviews and podcasts, but I've never heard the complete story
I got a lot of information for this video from Dixon's own channel. I put some of his videos in the description in case you want to check them out. And also, thanks for the kinds words!
Batman 89 was the movie that indirectly got me into comics. I did not see the movie until later but it meant my favourite book shop had a display of Batman items including my first ever comic purchases - the Dark Knight Returns and then the Killing Joke. This lead to me finding my first comics issues Detective Comics: The Mud Pack and Batman: Year Three, which in turn lead to my first visit to specialist comic book shop and my first purchase from it, newly being put on the shelf Legends of the Dark Knight #1. It was Miller and Moore that got my into Batman comics, it was Grant and Breyfogyle that kept me dedicated to buying everything for the next 10+ years, and No Mans Land that burned me out with too much and while I kept getting every issue of Batman and Detective for almost the next 20 years until my local comic shop closed, I stopped getting most of the other bat related titles, just an occasional special or graphic novel.
@@louurich9087I really believe that the 1980s doesn't get enough credit for being a Golden Age in almost every artform: Music- the rise of Punk, Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, and Pop; Rise of VHS Horror, Action, Independent films, Music Videos still developing; Dance, etc. We really tske the 80s for granted. It was truly a Golden Age in performance arts, aside from the horrible socio-economics.
It really was a span of time that a lot of good stuff came out of. I mean, basically almost everything you see on any screen, has been some kind of sequel, reboot, retelling, or rehashed reinterpretation of an intellectual property (IP), of that time. Obviously not everything, and some IP's, such as Batman, are older then the '80s & '90s... But it was at that time they get taken seriously, or gain a proper place in pop culture...
I was taught by Tom Lyle back while I was in art school. He had mentioned his time working on the Robin series with Chuck Dixon along with the creation of Stephanie Brown aka Spoiler. While the move to marvel made sense, he would ultimately be part of the messy Spiderman clone saga. RIP Tom Lyle.
Great video. Corporate interests will always dominate, but luckily the creators were able to still tell good stories in spite of that. The 90s are probably my favourite decade for Batman comics.
This is a phenomenal video, you are up their as one of the greatest youtubers in the comic book genre and this video shows it. This video is a love letter to batman
@@MutantsInDisguise seeing it as an entirely different series is a stretch. There were character redesigns and yes, it was more kid friendly, but it was just a continuation of TAS.
@@Allen2saint I think he meant to say "the polarizing redesigns/changes in the animated series." I still don't find the redesigns that polarizing. The only one I didn't really like was Joker's redesign.
Excellent! This is a grand finale for your '90s series. Love the effort, research, moral, and bat-love in all your videos. I'm glad Alex Lennen turned me on to your channel. Do you know if there was any more information released on the mysterious puppet villain never premiered?
I haven't found any more information about that mysterious character. Only what Kelley Jones has said in interviews. But thanks for writing! I love reading comments like this one :)
Hello Salazar, I've been watching your content for a while now! The way you talk about Batman and the knowledge and love that you have for this character is absolutely amazing! The way that you connect all of your points together is truly inspiring! Thank you for making these Batman essay videos and I look forward to continue watching them in the future!
SK the work you present on this channel is outstanding! You are accurate, insightful and a delight to a lifelong Batmaniac like myself. I’m interested to get youre take on the recent dc vault release of the alternate version of death in the family. It felt like this version was made with little intention to ever publish. Even Batman proclaiming he’s alive seemed ridiculous. Anyway keep up the excellence!
Thank you for this HONEST masterpiece explaining the Batman of the '90s! It was a bittersweet time for me. Two art forms were collapsing for me by the late 1990s- Hip Hop music and DC/Marvel comics! The 1st one is discussion for another day, but for the 2nd, by the late '90s I had more or less given up on the "big two" companies and was exclusively buying independently published and foreign graphic novels. Marvel and DC was only for "browsing" to see how far they had fallen. But Batman was my biggest disappoint since it was my number one book back in the BRONZE AGE '80s, but he had become unrecognizable to me by 1998. I was tempted to buy issues of the Long Halloween when it was coming out, but the toxic chaos of DC during this time (cancelling Milestone Comics, and cancelling Dwayne McDuffie's Milestone/JLA crossover for petty reasons) convinced me to leave DC and Marvel for good and instead support small independent publishers, and explore foreign graphic novels from France, Germany, Asia, Iran, Africa, and Latin America.
Kelley Jones's Batman art is how Batman should be portrayed. As a pseudo-vampire/supernatural being sent to punish evil while he is protecting the weak.
I grew up during all this era but aside from the BTAS wasn't into comics until No Man's Land, with the preview of it in copy of Wizard my mom had bought me by mistake only to kick start my teenage years as a comic junkie. The dark gritty Batman is very much something I love in small doses but overall much prefer things like Morrison's run which embrace not only the long history of the character but also walks that fine line between over the top and down to Earth in equal measure. This video is an excellent deep dive into what was happening with the character during such an insane era.
*The Long Halloween,* *Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend,* *Birth of the Demon,* *Gothic* and *No Man's Land* with runs on the Batman title like Alan Grant/Norman Breyfogle and Doug Monech/Kelly Jones. All good stuff. *The Animated Series* was and still is to me the most defentive version of the character.
Salazar I consider you to be the De Facto Batman historian in UA-cam.. Please, as a long time subscriber, may I suggest an idea for a Batman video? This idea is something I believe you are the one and only ,who could successfully accomplish in your signature informative and entertaining manner , because you are so knowledgeable regarding Batman stories, that even with me, being a decades old Batman reader, still to this day I learn constantly from your videos!
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I don't usually take video requests because I can't promise anything, but you're free to leave any suggestion and I'll be sure to consider it!
As someone wasnt alive in the 1980s or 90s, it is interesting how the conflict changed by the end of the 1990s decade. Following Batman Begins in 2005 and on, its interesting how the mainstream think Batman is only this "Violent superhero who beats up the mentality ill and he's took dark with mommy and daddy issues! Why can't he more light hearted" when in the actual comics these days flesh him out as a hopeful and engaging character whos just as human as me and you. But the mainstream only know Batman as the former
Salazar Knight back at it and reminding me why this character is my favorite of all time. Definitely a pallete cleanser after his treatment in Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League. I had no idea Tod McFarlane was the one responsible for the current origin of Jason Todd.
I may have expressed wrongly there, but Todd was not involved in Jason's new origin. It was writer Max Allan Collins and artist Chris Warner. Apologies for any confusion.
Same thing happend to the TMNT franchise after the 1st 90's film.....As bad as it was for the turtles around that time the goofy tone fits slightly better with the turtles than it does with Batman
Great video and a nice dive into the 90s comics I've met Alan grant years ago in the village not far from my home town moniaive and one of the driving forces to the moniaive comic festival and the comic guests that came to it. He was a lovely man and loved his shadow of the bat comics.
Excellent analysis. Clear example of how constant deconstruction (then becoming standard) skew a character. Biggest issue readers and writers taking wrong lessons from these comics, then spilling slowly over Main Earth Batman doing irreversible damage to his character. From Bruce's over controlling nature while also being emotional mute which was present in 80s but has been turned up to 11. Sabtagoing relationships, constantly paranoid, distrustful, constantly brooding and grumpy needs are not nesscarily bad. Issue is that Rather that writers his as arc to grow beyond that, its actually glorified and seen as a good thing. Constant blows with Superman in order to prop Batman up essentially losing trust and friendship they once had before Frank Miller story. While dumbing downing Superman in order for the fight happen. Essenttial eroding all family and friend aspect Batman from Golden and Silver Age.
Yeah, the '90s were the dark ages of comics. Hell, it was the same era that bankrupted Marvel. The only way to save the company is to make movies and create the Ultimate comics. And which superhero saved their skins in each category ?... Spiderman !
I have a lot of nostalgia for the 1990- 1996 period. I wore out the VHS of the first Burton movie and got a few comics here and there through 1992 but Knightfall was where I really started following all the titles faithfully leading up to the climax of Bane breaking Batman's back. Heavy stuff for a kid my age back then. I think I had the entire Prodigal run but at that time I was starting to seek out older books I had missed and stopped keeping up with the new stuff
Salazar, i have a few questions: First of all, can you make a video about batman: war on crime? It's absolutely phenomenal. Second of all, do you have brothers or sisters? And if you do, do they like batman too, or do they think you're a nerd that needs to go outside? Third of all, are you british or american? Your accent is confusing to me. Tho maybe it's because english is my second language. Final question: will you ever do a face reveal? Thanks and i hope your channel will crack a mill soon. And considering the fact that you're almost at 20k, this future looks more and more likely.
1. War on Crime is a great story, but not really a great video imo. 2. My younger brother is not into comics at all and he doesn't really care what I do. 3-4. I like to keep my nationality/face a mystery, for now. Thank you for writing and please, call me Sal :)
Sadly, Batman and Robin Syndrome is still present in many movies today. Batman and Robin Syndrome: To take something both kids and adults can enjoy and dumbing it down for kids to the point where it's unwatchable. the biggest examples of this are Batman and Robin and Megamind 2
25:33 Legends of the dark knight actually did show a scene from Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns, specifically the scene in which Carrie Kelley watches Batman layout the mutant gang leader
You have to include the introduction of Ra's Al Ghul in any retrospective of Batman's evolution. It was the greatest leap forward introducing a criminal mind with the discipline, resources, motivation, and skill to meet Batman's every move as well as manipulate him like a chess piece. Moreover, he had deduced his secret identity before even meeting him and still never disclosed it. Among all of Batman's adversaries, one could argue that Ra's was the most honorable. But more to the point, Ra's took Batman a new direction that enabled the expansive explorations cited in this video.
The Killing Joke is a schlocky piece of absolute drivel that we only remember because of Brian Bolland's artwork. Batman fans and the other Batman writers reviled it when it came out and it was destined to only be a forgotten Elseworld experiment until Tim Burton name dropped it. Then mainstream normies read it and praised it as "mature" (read: "edgy") and DC editors clung to it as a "classic" (read: "cash cow") and made it a regular continuity staple despite protest. The Death in the Family, on the other hand, was executed in a very schlocky way but was an attempt to cater to the overwhelming negative reaction to Jason Todd, even moreso after they already soft rebooted him. It at least ended up providing grist for Batman stories regarding his psychology and addressing the consequences of recruiting child soldiers into a war on crime, and ultimately set the stage for Knightfall, a great story. All Killing Joke led to was an increasingly perverse Joker trying to one-up himself since that disgusting caper had usurped The Laughing Fish as the story to beat
I disagree with the whole double standards comparison between Jason and Batgirl situation. Death in the family had, as you say, a convoluted setup and clear mimicking of Miller's ideas just to create this shock value/hype generating event, with no real point beyond that. Meanwhile, having Barbara crippled was done explicitly in story to prove a point, for Joker to demonstrate his deranged ideology that anyone can be as evil or crazy as him with one bad day. It's actually the main story why Joker in popular media still says that and those in the general public often take that idea at face value and run with it, either for memes or seriously. And the point of the Killing Joke is that the Joker is wrong. Jim Gordon, despite the torture, humiliation, and life altering trauma that was inflicted upon him and his family did not break, he still wanted to uphold his morals to take the Joker in. That single fact is what makes the Killing Joke such a complex, compelling narrative. Anyone parroting the "one bad day" argument misses the very lesson that story was trying to tell and it also makes it vastly more important and poignant a tale than Death in the Family. So no, there is no double standard in this instance. One is shock value the other is a cornerstone story that expands every character involved. This isn't to discount the rest of your video which clearly took time and effort, but I genuinely disagree with that comparison and that takeaway.
i’ve been thinking that, even btas has a moment where batman gives harley a dress and says he had a bad day once. pretty much saying one bad day is all it is just a day, have a better tomorrow
8:27 I always consider The Long Halloween and Dark Victory as sequels to Year One. Along with batgirl year one, Robin year one, and Nightwing year one, because I heard those are all canon to Long Halloween.
I realized that after spending my hard earned money on The Death and Return of Superman crossover and the Knightfall crossover that DC was only interested in robbing their young fans with long, boring, crappy stories that went nowhere instead of providing them with value. So when the ultimate cash grab No Man's Land came out I quit buying DC Comic completely for years. I came back during the Grant Morrison run then left again right before the massive cash grab failure that was The New 52. I haven't been back since. I read back issues of The Brave and the Bold from the 70s now. Much better! A whole complete story in one ish WOW!
Not really, it only really came up in Detective 33, 38, Batman 1, and 47, during that period you only saw the murder of the Waynes twice and it was 8 years between those stories, not to mention it straight up does not come up during the Silver Age and is only mentioned once in passing in the 66' show which is done so off handedly that most people who watched the show probably forgot that it ever came up. It wasn't like in the late 80s when both Bernie Wrightson and Jim Aparo got to draw Frank Miller's rendition of the murder of the Waynes in quick succession. The late 80s is when the origin became gratuitous.
@@brianjong8945Funny how people just make shit up. You are right. Yes it was "a big deal" that it created the character but besides that it wasn't talked about much. It's like the dude who argued with me that Venom is Spider-Man's greatest foe. I conceded that Venom is definitely one of Spider-Man's most recognizable but they really weren't enemies for THAT long (when compared to Spidey's other foes) before burying the hatchet and working together multiple times.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Chuck Dixon for my comics podcast some years ago. It was a real treat to hear all the stories from DC Comics during this era - the pressure to top Death of Superman, Denny O'Neil's preference towards certain characters, all of that. Chuck Dixon is a true legend and one of my favourite writers.
Chuck Dixon has always been one of those writers that always got overlooked by my friend group but when we would talk about consistently great books it was always his name that came up as an example. Very much one of the all time greats for keeping the spirit of comics alive.
@@Unquestionable I told him that my liking of Nightwing came from his run and I hold that as the standard. Kyle Higgins' run was great but Chuck Dixon was the bar to hit for me.
Is there a link to this interview?
@@silhouettefilms. I deleted the show years ago so there isn't anything.
It wad a good show, 2 hours talking to one of my favorite writers.
Being 10 in 1989 was a good age. Hooked on Batman ever since and the movie ruled my world.
Same bro
Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams had already started the change towards a grittier Batman in the early 1970s with Daughter of the Demon and he'd gotten a bit darker as the years had gone on. In general, pre-Dark Knight Returns Batman was less emotionally traumatized and socially stunted then current incarnations. I don't think that's a bad thing.
Miller understoood Batman for two stories...and then completely misundertood him in his following two.
The problem is it was the same thread as in his good stories, but he kept pulling on it and it unraveled. "Logical" progression became increasingly insane.
@@George_M_ MIller's Batman works when Bruce is a beginner starting off who hasn't learned to chill out and that vengeance isn't everything, and it also works when Bruce is old and jaded, as the world has fallen apart around him. It doesn't really work well for a Batman in his prime who has sidekicks and other superheroes he regularly works with.
TDS is a hell of a drug.
Miller definitely has some kind of PTSD post 911
I don't really think Miller's Batman is ever 100% "it" except for in Year One. Even DKR has some stuff in it that's questionable, but it works in the given circumstances crafted to be considered more than "acceptable".
Writers should, on occasion, be allowed to veer from mainstream continuity in order to experiment, and it seems like that was all Miller ever wanted to do with the stories he's both most heavily criticised negatively and positively for.
Like imagine if people went after Gotham By Gaslight because Batman exists in the Victorian age. That'd be dumb, despite how much the setting affects a character.
Being a Batman fan was tough in the mid to late 1990's. I was a kid then and I loved all the movies including Batman & Robin.
Minus the bat-nipples, the movie is a camp-classic imo. It's a bad movie for sure, but it does so much so badly at AAA-budget levels that it becomes surprisingly entertaining. It's like watching a luxury trainwreck full of hammy acting and some terribly awkward scenes, all wrapped up in a Batman theme. You learn a lot about what NOT to do in film by watching that movie too, which has some value in itself albeit in a roundabout and silly way.
I wish the haters would just Cheel Owt already, it's been almost 20 years /s
Not really, because the new adventures was banging, plus no man's land was about to start.
@Supercohboy I wasn't around when batman and robin came out. I was born two years later 1999 and batman is my favorite superhero and my decade is the 2000s.
@@Supercohboywe will never chill out. Regardless of what happened behind the scenes with Schumacher and the WB that movie killed Batman in cinema for nearly a decade and ruined the reputation of my boy Bane for the normies.
As born in later half of the 80's, the 90's offered arguanly the best Batman related content ever! The comics was pure awesome, the legendary Batman TAS that set new grounds of excellence, the toys and video games etc-etc just great. Beside the major cheesy Batman Forever and Batman & Robin movies, it was great!
Today it is not even a shadow of all that greatness.
@LeonsCoolJacket the movies sucked but I wouldn't say the media was bad when we had BTAS along with the comic runs during the 90s.
@@LeonsCoolJacket Well I can't say I liked the Suicide Squad treatment.
But more is the awfull comics now. I have not enjoyed any Batman comics since before 2010 because they are either poorly written or poorly drawn, and in recent years Woke BS I could not care more.
And I was not a big fan of the recent movie either The Batman as a fetish dressed RFiddler did not fit IMO his original character, or the race swapping of James Gordon or Robert Pattison as Batman.
The '90s! It was a bittersweet time for me. Two art forms were collapsing for me by the late 1990s- Hip Hop music and DC/Marvel comics! The 1st one is discussion for another day, but for the 2nd, by the late '90s I had more or less given up on the "big two" companies and was exclusively buying independently published and foreign graphic novels. Marvel and DC was only for "browsing" to see how far they had fallen. But Batman was my biggest disappoint since it was my number one book back in the BRONZE AGE '80s, but he had become unrecognizable to me by 1998. I was tempted to buy issues of the Long Halloween when it was coming out, but the toxic chaos of DC during this time (cancelling Milestone Comics, and cancelling Dwayne McDuffie's Milestone/JLA crossover for petty reasons) convinced me to leave DC and Marvel for good and instead support small independent publishers, and explore foreign graphic novels from France, Germany, Asia, Iran, Africa, and Latin America.
@@juniorjames7076 Interesting. I could have easily understood with todays content, but the 90's content? There was some of its best art style ever (!)
I kinda liked Batman Forever as a callback to the silver age of the character but it definitely wasn’t what the character needed at the time.
Salazar you magnificent bastard, you’ve done it again.
Not only the narrative on this video is very detailed and straight forward, with amazing little editorial facts that I’ve never heard before, but in top of it all you close it with a hopeful an reflective message for the future.
Cheers to that my friend!
This channel is excellent. Thank you for the incredible effort.
No man’s land was the first Batman graphic novel I ever read when I was 9, so I’ll always love it.
Thank You for all the work you put into these videos. The best Batman themed channel on UA-cam.
What a great trip through my teens and 20s. Well done; thank you!
I've been re-reading the 80s-90s Batman titles and watching your videos along with that has really elevated the experience. Having the historic and cultural references and influences on the stories makes the stories so much more enjoyable. You're quickly becoming one of my favourite content creators, it's clear how much time, effort and research you put into your videos. I wish you the best, you deserve a much larger following and I hope you get the credit you deserve this year!!
You seriously make the best Batman documentaries on YT fr!
I’m very interested hearing your thoughts on Batman in the 2000s, particularly Nolan & The Batman 04 animated series (my childhood fav), that area wasn’t as big as the others but the character certainly got a much needed huge glow up.
Yes, Salazar should definitely make videos on the New Gotham Era with Brubaker and Rucka up to Infinite Crisis maybe even Final Crisis and Batman Reborn
U got my respect for having my favourite animated Batman as a profile pic
@@JayJ4y95 Nah he gotta do Grant Morrison too
You have gotten really good at making these videos. I have been watching for a few years now and this is a Master Level Batman presentation. Please keep them coming.
Thank you so much for all the years of support!
I could watch this guy talking about Batman forever. Really love the way you formatted this video
We really Love you too Salazar !!!
Great video and God bless you and yours !!!!
I was in the middle of the “Bat-conflict” growing up in the 80’s with the 1960’s reruns and being introduced to Frank Miller’s influence on Burton’s version of the dark knight!
Ah, 90's Batman and Looney Tunes Joker, my absolute delight !
This is great work man!! Extremely in depth information as always!! I'd love to see a complete video on Chuck Dixon. The 90s was pretty much his own universe. He doesn't get enough credit. Dixon has shared pieces of his side of the DC fallout in numerous interviews and podcasts, but I've never heard the complete story
I got a lot of information for this video from Dixon's own channel. I put some of his videos in the description in case you want to check them out. And also, thanks for the kinds words!
Batman 89 was the movie that indirectly got me into comics. I did not see the movie until later but it meant my favourite book shop had a display of Batman items including my first ever comic purchases - the Dark Knight Returns and then the Killing Joke. This lead to me finding my first comics issues Detective Comics: The Mud Pack and Batman: Year Three, which in turn lead to my first visit to specialist comic book shop and my first purchase from it, newly being put on the shelf Legends of the Dark Knight #1. It was Miller and Moore that got my into Batman comics, it was Grant and Breyfogyle that kept me dedicated to buying everything for the next 10+ years, and No Mans Land that burned me out with too much and while I kept getting every issue of Batman and Detective for almost the next 20 years until my local comic shop closed, I stopped getting most of the other bat related titles, just an occasional special or graphic novel.
I love hearing stories like this. Thank you for sharing!
Finally, the 2000s. Thank you so much sal for all the videos from the late 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and etc. We now progress on to a new chapter.
Fantastic video as always bro
I’d love a more in-depth look at the Jim Aparo Batman or Batman in the 2000s
Im so glad this youtube channel is slowly getting bigger. You mean so much to the Batman community! No matter what dont stop making videos!
Another excellent video, Mister Knight.
Man, the 80s and 90s sounded like a helluva time to be alive. Makes me jealous, honestly.
The '80s were awesome, the '90s sucked!
@@juniorjames7076 they both sucked. Comics may have been better in the 80s, but overall both decades sucked.
@@louurich9087I think he means overall, and I kinda agree the 80s seemed like a more interesting decade to live through then the 90s.
@@louurich9087I really believe that the 1980s doesn't get enough credit for being a Golden Age in almost every artform: Music- the rise of Punk, Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, and Pop; Rise of VHS Horror, Action, Independent films, Music Videos still developing; Dance, etc. We really tske the 80s for granted. It was truly a Golden Age in performance arts, aside from the horrible socio-economics.
It really was a span of time that a lot of good stuff came out of. I mean, basically almost everything you see on any screen, has been some kind of sequel, reboot, retelling, or rehashed reinterpretation of an intellectual property (IP), of that time. Obviously not everything, and some IP's, such as Batman, are older then the '80s & '90s... But it was at that time they get taken seriously, or gain a proper place in pop culture...
I was taught by Tom Lyle back while I was in art school. He had mentioned his time working on the Robin series with Chuck Dixon along with the creation of Stephanie Brown aka Spoiler. While the move to marvel made sense, he would ultimately be part of the messy Spiderman clone saga. RIP Tom Lyle.
Excellent job. Keep it up. Wanted to see this sooner 😂❤🦇
This video deserves more love
Hello Sal congrats on concluding the 90's chapter of Batman excited for you covering the 00's for Dark Knight
it's so cool to see a video that honor's batman's legacy shortly after suicide squad kill the justice league's disrespect to batman.
Can I quickly say I absolutely love Batman dark victory
The late 90s truly broke the Bat.
Btw, truly this is the best UA-cam channel about the Batman, my favorite comic book character.
Awesome, gonna watch this tonight! Great work, SK!
Great video. Corporate interests will always dominate, but luckily the creators were able to still tell good stories in spite of that. The 90s are probably my favourite decade for Batman comics.
Great video as always❤
Excellent episode, my brother, thanks you!!
This is seriously the best batman channel I've ever come across on UA-cam. You've just earned a subscriber in me.
Excellent video as always.
Great presentation, Salazar. Very nice edited, too.
This is a phenomenal video, you are up their as one of the greatest youtubers in the comic book genre and this video shows it.
This video is a love letter to batman
Great video! Very entertaining! Learned a lot.
Love the hard work and passion you put into every video! 🦇
Amazing video, dude!!!!
Love your videos dude 👍
What a great video!
The song transitioning ch. 1 to ch. 2 is amazing
Great video bro..
God I love your videos bro
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
There was nothing “polarizing” about the animated series. It was universally praised.
The guy was referring to The New Batman Adventures, which was a different series from the 92 one, like it or not.
@@MutantsInDisguise seeing it as an entirely different series is a stretch. There were character redesigns and yes, it was more kid friendly, but it was just a continuation of TAS.
@@Allen2saint I think he meant to say "the polarizing redesigns/changes in the animated series." I still don't find the redesigns that polarizing. The only one I didn't really like was Joker's redesign.
@@Allen2saint The Batman Animated Series from 1992-1995 was universally praised. The New Batman Adventures was not. How is this hard for you to grasp?
@@obvioushieidude7668its the pedantic redditor energy thats holding him back
Excellent! This is a grand finale for your '90s series. Love the effort, research, moral, and bat-love in all your videos. I'm glad Alex Lennen turned me on to your channel. Do you know if there was any more information released on the mysterious puppet villain never premiered?
I haven't found any more information about that mysterious character. Only what Kelley Jones has said in interviews. But thanks for writing! I love reading comments like this one :)
One of us will have to ask if him we come across him at a convention! Above anything, I'd like a name... @@SalazarKnight
Very well done documentary my friend! These kind of videos are why I keep my UA-cam premium subscription lol
Hello Salazar, I've been watching your content for a while now! The way you talk about Batman and the knowledge and love that you have for this character is absolutely amazing! The way that you connect all of your points together is truly inspiring! Thank you for making these Batman essay videos and I look forward to continue watching them in the future!
Your videos will always remind me why batman is my favourite super hero of all time
Glorious video.
Excellent episode
this was worth the wait🙂
Love your Batman videos , I learn something new every time I watch and rewatch them 🤙🏾
Excelente video, como siempre!!
SK the work you present on this channel is outstanding! You are accurate, insightful and a delight to a lifelong Batmaniac like myself. I’m interested to get youre take on the recent dc vault release of the alternate version of death in the family. It felt like this version was made with little intention to ever publish. Even Batman proclaiming he’s alive seemed ridiculous. Anyway keep up the excellence!
The opening is so hype.
Thank you for this HONEST masterpiece explaining the Batman of the '90s! It was a bittersweet time for me. Two art forms were collapsing for me by the late 1990s- Hip Hop music and DC/Marvel comics! The 1st one is discussion for another day, but for the 2nd, by the late '90s I had more or less given up on the "big two" companies and was exclusively buying independently published and foreign graphic novels. Marvel and DC was only for "browsing" to see how far they had fallen. But Batman was my biggest disappoint since it was my number one book back in the BRONZE AGE '80s, but he had become unrecognizable to me by 1998. I was tempted to buy issues of the Long Halloween when it was coming out, but the toxic chaos of DC during this time (cancelling Milestone Comics, and cancelling Dwayne McDuffie's Milestone/JLA crossover for petty reasons) convinced me to leave DC and Marvel for good and instead support small independent publishers, and explore foreign graphic novels from France, Germany, Asia, Iran, Africa, and Latin America.
Kelley Jones's Batman art is how Batman should be portrayed. As a pseudo-vampire/supernatural being sent to punish evil while he is protecting the weak.
🤘🤘🤘🦇🦇🦇🧛♀️yesss
I grew up during all this era but aside from the BTAS wasn't into comics until No Man's Land, with the preview of it in copy of Wizard my mom had bought me by mistake only to kick start my teenage years as a comic junkie. The dark gritty Batman is very much something I love in small doses but overall much prefer things like Morrison's run which embrace not only the long history of the character but also walks that fine line between over the top and down to Earth in equal measure. This video is an excellent deep dive into what was happening with the character during such an insane era.
This video is a work of art 🎉
*The Long Halloween,* *Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend,* *Birth of the Demon,* *Gothic* and *No Man's Land* with runs on the Batman title like Alan Grant/Norman Breyfogle and Doug Monech/Kelly Jones. All good stuff.
*The Animated Series* was and still is to me the most defentive version of the character.
Salazar I consider you to be the De Facto Batman historian in UA-cam.. Please, as a long time subscriber, may I suggest an idea for a Batman video?
This idea is something I believe you are the one and only ,who could successfully accomplish in your signature informative and entertaining manner , because you are so knowledgeable regarding Batman stories, that even with me, being a decades old Batman reader, still to this day I learn constantly from your videos!
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I don't usually take video requests because I can't promise anything, but you're free to leave any suggestion and I'll be sure to consider it!
Gracias!
Great summary. Really
As someone wasnt alive in the 1980s or 90s, it is interesting how the conflict changed by the end of the 1990s decade. Following Batman Begins in 2005 and on, its interesting how the mainstream think Batman is only this "Violent superhero who beats up the mentality ill and he's took dark with mommy and daddy issues! Why can't he more light hearted" when in the actual comics these days flesh him out as a hopeful and engaging character whos just as human as me and you. But the mainstream only know Batman as the former
Because they only think batman works as a dark and edgy hero.
Even the design of Az-Bat is a knock on Liefeld with the tiny weird feet
Amazing video.
Salazar Knight back at it and reminding me why this character is my favorite of all time. Definitely a pallete cleanser after his treatment in Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League.
I had no idea Tod McFarlane was the one responsible for the current origin of Jason Todd.
I may have expressed wrongly there, but Todd was not involved in Jason's new origin. It was writer Max Allan Collins and artist Chris Warner. Apologies for any confusion.
Same thing happend to the TMNT franchise after the 1st 90's film.....As bad as it was for the turtles around that time the goofy tone fits slightly better with the turtles than it does with Batman
Great video and a nice dive into the 90s comics I've met Alan grant years ago in the village not far from my home town moniaive and one of the driving forces to the moniaive comic festival and the comic guests that came to it. He was a lovely man and loved his shadow of the bat comics.
Excellent analysis. Clear example of how constant deconstruction (then becoming standard) skew a character. Biggest issue readers and writers taking wrong lessons from these comics, then spilling slowly over Main Earth Batman doing irreversible damage to his character.
From Bruce's over controlling nature while also being emotional mute which was present in 80s but has been turned up to 11.
Sabtagoing relationships, constantly paranoid, distrustful, constantly brooding and grumpy needs are not nesscarily bad. Issue is that Rather that writers his as
arc to grow beyond that, its actually glorified and seen as a good thing.
Constant blows with Superman in order to prop Batman up essentially losing trust and friendship they once had before Frank Miller story. While dumbing downing Superman in order for the fight happen.
Essenttial eroding all family and friend aspect Batman from Golden and Silver Age.
Yeah, the '90s were the dark ages of comics. Hell, it was the same era that bankrupted Marvel. The only way to save the company is to make movies and create the Ultimate comics. And which superhero saved their skins in each category ?... Spiderman !
There's a reason he's my favorite Marvel hero!
@@SalazarKnight Mine too.
I just want to say that this video hits way different after watching the Bronze Age episode
Will be funny as hell when you cover the "crazy steve" batman comics lol
8:47 - I am so glad for this. Pre-Crisis Jason Todd was absolutely terrible, being nothing more than a cheap Dick Grayson Clone.
I’d actually say the 90’s was the best decade for Batman, most of his best stories come from this decade
I concur and co-sign ! 70s-90s Batman FTW !
Pick any DCAU show story.
I have a lot of nostalgia for the 1990- 1996 period. I wore out the VHS of the first Burton movie and got a few comics here and there through 1992 but Knightfall was where I really started following all the titles faithfully leading up to the climax of Bane breaking Batman's back. Heavy stuff for a kid my age back then. I think I had the entire Prodigal run but at that time I was starting to seek out older books I had missed and stopped keeping up with the new stuff
The animated series still holds up in 2024,true masterpiece
Salazar, i have a few questions:
First of all, can you make a video about batman: war on crime? It's absolutely phenomenal.
Second of all, do you have brothers or sisters? And if you do, do they like batman too, or do they think you're a nerd that needs to go outside?
Third of all, are you british or american? Your accent is confusing to me. Tho maybe it's because english is my second language.
Final question: will you ever do a face reveal?
Thanks and i hope your channel will crack a mill soon. And considering the fact that you're almost at 20k, this future looks more and more likely.
1. War on Crime is a great story, but not really a great video imo.
2. My younger brother is not into comics at all and he doesn't really care what I do.
3-4. I like to keep my nationality/face a mystery, for now.
Thank you for writing and please, call me Sal :)
Ok, sal. Got any ideas for on what to start on in the 2000s of batman comics? I suggest you start with something big to grab people's attention.
The Grant/Breyfogle was the height of my collecting. It was a great run!
Awesome video!! But I think BTAS actually did adapt The Dark Knight Returns in one episode if im not mistaken
The original cartoon, from 92 to 95? You mean the flawed sequel to that cartoon that everyone ignorantly considers its 'third' season.
That was the New Batman Adventures
@@MutantsInDisguise os the 4th sesson. The og btas had 3 sessons and tnba has 1
@@michaellabonte6390 nope. Both the original cartoon and the sequel had 2 seasons each.
@MutantsInDisguise check your facts my friend. I'm literally looking at the box sets rn
Man batman has definitely been through so much in the comics especially in the 90s.
Please make a video on the 2000s of Batman
Sadly, Batman and Robin Syndrome is still present in many movies today.
Batman and Robin Syndrome: To take something both kids and adults can enjoy and dumbing it down for kids to the point where it's unwatchable. the biggest examples of this are Batman and Robin and Megamind 2
And many MCU movies.
@ not really. Part of Batman and Robin syndrome includes no sexual themes or swearing, which the MCU movies have
25:33 Legends of the dark knight actually did show a scene from Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns, specifically the scene in which Carrie Kelley watches Batman layout the mutant gang leader
Wasn’t Nightwing’s black and blue suit in the comics inspired from the movie Robin costume with black and red?
You have to include the introduction of Ra's Al Ghul in any retrospective of Batman's evolution. It was the greatest leap forward introducing a criminal mind with the discipline, resources, motivation, and skill to meet Batman's every move as well as manipulate him like a chess piece. Moreover, he had deduced his secret identity before even meeting him and still never disclosed it. Among all of Batman's adversaries, one could argue that Ra's was the most honorable.
But more to the point, Ra's took Batman a new direction that enabled the expansive explorations cited in this video.
12:41 what double standards? The Killing Joke is a well written story, The Death in the Family is pure schlock.
The Killing Joke is a schlocky piece of absolute drivel that we only remember because of Brian Bolland's artwork. Batman fans and the other Batman writers reviled it when it came out and it was destined to only be a forgotten Elseworld experiment until Tim Burton name dropped it. Then mainstream normies read it and praised it as "mature" (read: "edgy") and DC editors clung to it as a "classic" (read: "cash cow") and made it a regular continuity staple despite protest. The Death in the Family, on the other hand, was executed in a very schlocky way but was an attempt to cater to the overwhelming negative reaction to Jason Todd, even moreso after they already soft rebooted him. It at least ended up providing grist for Batman stories regarding his psychology and addressing the consequences of recruiting child soldiers into a war on crime, and ultimately set the stage for Knightfall, a great story. All Killing Joke led to was an increasingly perverse Joker trying to one-up himself since that disgusting caper had usurped The Laughing Fish as the story to beat
Happy your batman stories😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 much love
I was born in 95 and I remember watching the live action Batman movies when I was younger 🥲
Anything Bruce tim and Paul don’t touched (the DCAU) is completely gold.
I disagree with the whole double standards comparison between Jason and Batgirl situation.
Death in the family had, as you say, a convoluted setup and clear mimicking of Miller's ideas just to create this shock value/hype generating event, with no real point beyond that.
Meanwhile, having Barbara crippled was done explicitly in story to prove a point, for Joker to demonstrate his deranged ideology that anyone can be as evil or crazy as him with one bad day. It's actually the main story why Joker in popular media still says that and those in the general public often take that idea at face value and run with it, either for memes or seriously.
And the point of the Killing Joke is that the Joker is wrong. Jim Gordon, despite the torture, humiliation, and life altering trauma that was inflicted upon him and his family did not break, he still wanted to uphold his morals to take the Joker in. That single fact is what makes the Killing Joke such a complex, compelling narrative.
Anyone parroting the "one bad day" argument misses the very lesson that story was trying to tell and it also makes it vastly more important and poignant a tale than Death in the Family.
So no, there is no double standard in this instance. One is shock value the other is a cornerstone story that expands every character involved.
This isn't to discount the rest of your video which clearly took time and effort, but I genuinely disagree with that comparison and that takeaway.
i’ve been thinking that, even btas has a moment where batman gives harley a dress and says he had a bad day once. pretty much saying one bad day is all it is just a day, have a better tomorrow
I find completely stupid that DC fired they're best writers. And seeing comics today, they didn't learn from their mistakes
8:27 I always consider The Long Halloween and Dark Victory as sequels to Year One. Along with batgirl year one, Robin year one, and Nightwing year one, because I heard those are all canon to Long Halloween.
I realized that after spending my hard earned money on The Death and Return of Superman crossover and the Knightfall crossover that DC was only interested in robbing their young fans with long, boring, crappy stories that went nowhere instead of providing them with value. So when the ultimate cash grab No Man's Land came out I quit buying DC Comic completely for years. I came back during the Grant Morrison run then left again right before the massive cash grab failure that was The New 52. I haven't been back since. I read back issues of The Brave and the Bold from the 70s now. Much better! A whole complete story in one ish WOW!
Buddy the OG 30-40s Batman still made a big deal of his family being murdered
Not really, it only really came up in Detective 33, 38, Batman 1, and 47, during that period you only saw the murder of the Waynes twice and it was 8 years between those stories, not to mention it straight up does not come up during the Silver Age and is only mentioned once in passing in the 66' show which is done so off handedly that most people who watched the show probably forgot that it ever came up. It wasn't like in the late 80s when both Bernie Wrightson and Jim Aparo got to draw Frank Miller's rendition of the murder of the Waynes in quick succession. The late 80s is when the origin became gratuitous.
@@brianjong8945Funny how people just make shit up.
You are right. Yes it was "a big deal" that it created the character but besides that it wasn't talked about much.
It's like the dude who argued with me that Venom is Spider-Man's greatest foe. I conceded that Venom is definitely one of Spider-Man's most recognizable but they really weren't enemies for THAT long (when compared to Spidey's other foes) before burying the hatchet and working together multiple times.