NML Crossing, Episode 034 - Detective Comics #726 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty-Four

Detective Comics #726 (October, 1998)
“Fool’s Errand”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Art - Brian Stelfreeze w/Scott McDaniel
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Vincenzo & Peterson
Cover Price: $1.99

Wrapping up the Aftershock Era with... a Red-Sky issue?!

Rather than going out with a Cataclysmic Bang, we ready ourselves to embark upon the Road to No Man's Land with a wonderful little "evergreen" story, featuring the Joker imparting quite the impactful lesson upon our Caped Crusader.

Potentially the strongest single-issue story of our NML Crossing journey so far!  You're gonna dig this issue... and hopefully, this episode!

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NML Crossing, Episode 033 - Detective Comics #725 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty-Three

Detective Comics #725 (September, 1998)
“At The End Of The Day”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - William Rosado
Inks - Tom Palmer
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Vincenzo & Peterson
Cover Price: $1.99

In our penultimate Aftershock issue, we get to go on patrol with the original Dynamic Duo as they discuss things like "the good old days" and spray people down with literal bat poop!  It's a good time as always... join us, won't you?

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NML Crossing, Episode 032 - Batman #559 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty-Two

Batman #559 (October, 1998)
“Dead City”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - Bob Hall
Inks - Sal Buscema
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

As we approach the end of the Aftershock Era, things can't help but to go from bad to worse for Gotham City and its costumed protectors!  Hope continues to dwindle... almost as much as the Gotham population!  We're very nearly on "The Road to...", and boy, this road be bumpy!

Also: We check out the first official mention of No Man's Land in the pages of Wizard Magazine #83! 

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NML Crossing, Episode 031 - Batman #558 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty-One

Batman #558 (September, 1998)
“Dying City”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - Sal Buscema
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

It's time for a situation report!  Let's take a beat and catch ourselves up on all things post-Quake Gotham City... with an eye toward its uncertain future!

Plus: A dip into the comics journos of the day in Wizard #82, and a collector-focused installment of the NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 030 - Batman Chronicles #14 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Thirty

Batman Chronicles #14 (Fall, 1998)
"Master of the House"
"The Lunatic Fringe"
"Random Encounters"
Writers - Lisa Klink, Bruce Canwell, Greg Rucka
Pencils - David Boller, Jim Aparo, Sal Buscema
Inks - Aaron Sowd, Drew Geraci, James Hodgkins
Colors - Noelle Giddings, Jason Wright
Letters - Albert DeGuzman, Clem Robins
Edits - Vincenzo, Gorfinkel
Cover Price: $2.95

Perhaps the most off-beat issue/episode yet!

Where else can you hear about an old man giving himself a cottage cheese sponge bath, a child who'd rather be eaten than see her captor beaten up... and also have a text-story in a turn of the century comic book?!  It's an odd one, all right!

Plus: A very Jack Drake-focused NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 029 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #79 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Nine

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #79 (October, 1998)
“The Blank Generation, Part Two: A Favorable Wind”
Writer - Alan Grant
Pencils - Mark Buckingham
Inks - Wayne Faucher
Colors - Pam Rambo & Android Images
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

Wrapping up our two-parter with a bang... well, a boom.  The supervillain team-up didn't go as smoothly as the Mad Hatter would've hoped... but, hope itself now (briefly) reigns among Bruce Wayne's Junior-Entrepreneur Club!

But all 'at is just preamble to the return of the raucous NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 028 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #78 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Eight

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #78 (September, 1998)
“The Blank Generation, Part 1: Corporate Nightmares”
Writer - Alan Grant
Pencils - Mark Buckingham
Inks - Wayne Faucher
Colors - Pam Rambo & Android Images
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99

Today our "dark horse" Bat-Book delivers what might just be one of the tentpole issues of the entire NML run.  What can Gotham City do when all of the non-Wayne-owned companies and industries threaten to bail?  Thankfully, the people... those who'll stay... have some ideas, but will it (can it) be enough?!

We also get a peek at an upcoming (super?) villain team-up!

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NML Crossing, Episode 027 - Detective Comics #724 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Seven

Detective Comics #724 (August, 1998)
“The Grieving City”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - James Hodgkins
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Vincenzo & Peterson
Cover Price: $1.95

It's not that the people of Gotham don't believe he exists... it's that they no longer believe in HIM.  What happens when the urban legend of the City having a protector becomes moot... since, what has he done for us lately?  Well, it leads to a crisis of confidence for our Caped Crusader... and it lends a whole lotta weight to our "new normal".  If you've always known Batman as being the "coolest" guy in any room he enters... this is an issue you'll need to read to believe.

We've also got a Letters Page to discuss! 

Plus: A wildly confusing (for me) NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 026 - Batman #557 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Six

Batman #557 (August, 1998)
“Ballistic’s Evidence”
Writer - Doug Moench
Layouts - Vince Giarrano
Finishes - Sal Buscema
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Gotham City gets a visit from... a New Blood?!

The Bruce Wayne Batman has his first team up with the man called Ballistic... and, well... that's about the size of it!

Plus: A hoppin' NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 025 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #77 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Five

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #77 (August, 1998)
“Arwin’s Theory of Devolution”
Writer - Alan Grant
Pencils - Mark Buckingham
Inks - Wayne Faucher
Colors - Pam Rambo & Android Images
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Luck is for losers... but, luck'll beat skill any day!

In today's episode we're checking in with a Professor called Arwin, who no longer believes in Darwin... and is looking to prove his own theory using the Caped Crusader as his test subject!  Lots of interesting food for thought... and, as has become a trend... plenty of callbacks to bits 'n bobs from that New York Magazine article!

Plus: The return of the NMaiLbag, featuring a discussion of comic book annuals, that is as fun as it is frustrating!

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NML Crossing, Episode 024 - Batman #556 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Four

Batman #556 (July, 1998)
“Help Trapped Money Rescue Ruins”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - Norm Breyfogle
Inks - Joe Rubinstein
Letters - Todd Klein
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Back to the flagship for a (relatively) quiet issue, where we check in on the man behind the mask(s), Bruce Wayne, to see how he's handling the Aftershock Era.  We get a bit of tacked-on action, but this is mostly (thankfully) a character piece!

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NML Crossing, Episode 023 - Robin #54 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Three

Robin (vol.2) #54 (June, 1998)
“Repercussions”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Staz Johnson
Inks - Stan Woch
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Letters - Tim Harkins
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Checking in with the Boy Wonder for a nice, quiet post-crossover issue, the likes of which we just don't get anymore!  Get nostalgic for the days before books were relaunched after every event, and we actually got to "take a breath" with our favorite heroes as they adjust to the next phase in their adventures.

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NML Crossing, Episode 022 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #76 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-Two

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #76 (June, 1998)
“Aftershock: The Gauntlet”
Writer - Alan Grant
Pencils - Mark Buckingham
Inks - Wayne Faucher
Colors - Pam Rambo & Android Images
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

Keeping up with the Aftershock theme thus far, this issue is another search-and-rescue... with a slight (and sobering) tweak on the formula.  What happens when a group of trapped partygoers run out of food?

Plus: A look at the first slew of Cataclysm ratings in Wizard Magazine, and a trip into Flashback Land for a peek Bat-adjacent USENET chatter circa early 1998!

All that plus a dip into the NMaiLbag!

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NML Crossing, Episode 021 - Detective Comics #722 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty-One

Detective Comics #722 (June, 1998)
“Statistics”
Writer - Chuck Dixon
Pencils - Jim Aparo
Inks - James Hodgkins
Colors - Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters - John Costanza
Edits - Peterson & Vincenzo
Cover Price: $1.95

Another relatively quiet issue in the Aftershock Era, showing the softer side of the GCPD.

But, the real "meat" of today's episode is a deep-dive (perhaps TOO deep a dive) into the 1995 New York Magazine article that inspired the Cataclysm story to become a thing in the first place!  It's an eye-opening and sobering account of what could happen should a Gotham-esque earthquake hit Manhattan! 

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New York Magazine Supplemental:

NML Crossing, Episode 020 - Batman #555 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Twenty

Batman #555 (June, 1998)
“Trapped Like Rats”
Writer - Doug Moench
Pencils - John Beatty
Inks - Sal Buscema
Colors - Gregory Wright & Android Images
Letters - Todd Klein
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.95

The Aftershock Era rolls on with our titular hero doing a little search 'n rescue in the down below and running afoul of the Ratcatcher!  Lots of fun and interesting chatter to be had today!  Join us, won't you?

Plus: Even another extra-stuffed NMaiLbag! 

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NML Crossing, Episode 019 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75 (1998)

NML Crossing, Episode Nineteen

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75 (June, 1998)
“Aftershock, 1: By Fire… or By Ice?"
"A Long Slow Death"
Script - Alan Grant
Pencils - Mark Buckingham & Norm Breyfogle
Inks - Wayne Faucher & Mark Buckingham
Colors - Pam Rambo & Android Images
Letters - Bill Oakley
Edits - Gorfinkel & O’Neil
Cover Price: $2.95

Kicking off the Aftermath Era, with an extra-sized issue of SotB!  We've got a pair of baddies to TAKE down... and a man who's lost it all to TALK down.  Lotta interesting chatter to be had today!

Also: Chatting up the Alan Grant letters pages! 

Plus: Yet another extra-stuffed NMaiLbag! 

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