Chris is on Infinite Earths

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

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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Tuesday, February 13, 2024

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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Monday, February 12, 2024

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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Sunday, February 11, 2024

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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Thursday, February 8, 2024

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!

NML Crossing on Youtube

Monday, February 5, 2024

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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