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This week, we're covering the B:TAS debut of the one and only Ra's Al Ghul—well, the second part, anyway. (But don't worry; the first part isn't that important!) When Batman refuses to be Ra's' heir, the back-from-the-dead villain decides to kick his satellite-based world destruction scheme into action. Can Batman stop him before billions perish? And more importantly, can the early 90s Fox Kids audience handle this much buff male shirtlessness? Listen in for answers to these questions and more!

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Anonymous

I guess it's my turn to be the Genius at Work and say that Orpheus' lover was Eurydice. Persephone was Hades' wife. Also, Batman really missed an opportunity to say "Sit, Ubu, sit. Good boy"

withasilentG

Lupin Part 6 is on Hi-Dive which used to be a part of VRV but now is its own streaming service

Devin Hoffarth

This episode reminds me of one of the most bizarre episodes of Batman Beyond. There's some big spoilers in here so read at your own peril: In one episode of Batman Beyond, Talia returns and informs Bruce that Ras is dead. Talia is voiced by Helen Slater still HOWEVER: it's revealed halfway through the episode that Ras actually stole Talia's body and basically put his brain into her body. And the most fucked up and weird part? When he reveals this Talia begins talking with David Warner's voice. How the fuck does that work? Why!? Why god am I seeing this sexy woman talk with David Warner's voice!? Anyway great podcast.

Olympian Comics

These episodes are better than Mask of the Phantasm? Fighting words. To me Mask of the Phantasm is truly one of the best explorations of the character of Batman. Whereas most episodes are more about being Batman. So really fun and exciting, but I am not sure if they have quite the emotional resonance that Mask of the Phantasm gives.

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

Great episode. I can definitely agree that a vast majority of writers after Denny O'Neil and Len Wein really didn't know where to take Ra's at all, though I do think his role in the Contagion & Legacy crossovers from the late 1990s is pretty good, even if it's not entirely new territory for the character. The Nolan version is OK in Begins, but then the revisiting of the League in Rises borders on nonsense, and the Ra's of the TV shows (Arrow and Gotham) are both very generic... which makes total sense in Gotham's case. -- I'm glad Henry brought up ecofascism, cause one thing that really stands out as glaring when revisiting old superhero media is how many villains are ecofascists and how no alternatively solution to climate change is ever offered within these stories. Obviously, part of that is, solutions are hard, and for a universe like Marvel or DC to remain relatable, their Earth also needs to be dying. I certainly wouldn't say writers like Denny O'Neil don't believe in the issue, but when it comes up so damn much with villains that it's a trope, it's uncomfy as time goes on and we see how stories like that do tend to help perpetuate the status quo over the years.

Anonymous

Man, glad to hear the B:TAS team were willing to give 0’Neil and Wein some real credits in the show. But I do worry that it never seems like the artists get as much credit. I guess it would be difficult to try to involve an outside artist in a project like this, but I really wish there was a way to give them some “created by” credit too. Just watching Hawkeye now I can’t believe that David Aja is only given a “Special Thanks” when the entire visual design of that show is based on his artwork.

Anonymous

I think the great Marty Pasko (also sadly recently passed) being one of the story editors, might have something to do with having Denny & Len write for the series. He talked about the contrast to working on Spider-Man where he was pushed back on every time he tried to get a comic writer to adapt their stories. “Of course Marv Wolfman understands this story, it’s his story! “ etc etc

James Babbo

Very nice overview of Denny O'Neil's & Len Wein's careers but there were a few errors. As Henry likes to give creators their due I'm sure he doesn't mind these corrections. While O'Neil was part of the shift by writers to move Batman away from the campy period, it was Steve Englehart along with artist Marshall Rogers who created the story "The Laughing Fish." And while the O'Neil/Adams team did reintroduce The Joker in "The Five Way Revenge" (Batman 251) he's still doing goofy death traps & using exploding cigars. It was Englehart & Rogers (in Detective #475) who made him an insane sociopath who will kill at a whim. Also along the topic of OTPs - Steve Englehart created Bruce's love interest Silver St Cloud who figures out that he's Batman for the simple reason that she would know because she's sleeping with the guy! as Englehart stated in numerous interviews. Lastly, Wolverine was indeed created by Lein Wein in Hulk #180 & 181 but the artist was Herb Trimpe. Not John Romita Jr. Enjoying the series!

Joe Hodgson

It's pretty neat that this show was able to bring in the comic writers who first tackled these characters/stories and almost make it a precedent. I know Len Wein did do the Wolverine origin story for X-Men ("Repo Man") and a few others, but it seems the Saban machine resisted going much beyond that. I might be in the minority of viewers that doesn't think much of this episode. I enjoyed the introduction of Ra's in "Off-Balance" and I think Part One of this arc is terrific, but it loses me here. The ridiculous placement of the Wayne Enterprises building and the stupid manner in which Ra's behaves at times seems to undermine the character that was being built. Admittedly, I have no connection to the source material so the beefy sword fight just doesn't do much for me. I feel like it's all downhill from here for Ra's too as his repeat appearances aren't particularly great (I'd probably consider the Jonah Hex one-shot as my next favorite Ra's appearance ahead of "Avatar" and the Batman Beyond episode), and yet he's still one of the first villains that comes to mind when I think of this show.

Anonymous

Bob is correct: That 3rd Chris Nolan Batman movie can go to hell. Although, I actually really DO like Batman Begins…quite a bit!