Studio: Comedy
Category: SModcast Network
What It Is
Writer-director-actor & podcaster extraordinaire Kevin Smith indulges his passion for all things Batman.
Technical Details
The show has had some lengthy gaps in there since it started in 2012, but they’re keeping up a pretty steady release rate currently of a new episode every week or so. Episodes are generally between an hour and an hour and a half. The show is a Kevin Smith show, so Explicit tag is very much earned. The iTunes page has the entire archive of over a hundred shows.
What About It
This is, of the shows I’ve checked out anyway, the most serious podcast to come out of Kevin Smith’s SModcast Network. Smith is a funny guy and his guests often are as well, so there are always laughs in an episode, but Smith’s love of Batman is serious, not silly. Likewise, these is the least Kevin Smith-centric Kevin Smith podcast. He cracks wise, but if his guest is someone that actually has a real connection to the Batman universe as a creator or something, Smith is there to listen to them talk. This is really kind of an outlier in the SModcast stable and, much as I love the original SModcast, that’s the main reason this show is so phenomenally great. Smith often has on really fascinating guests and gets really great interviews out of them. The very first episode is an interview with Paul Dini, one of the men behind Batman: The Animated Series; later on, Smith interviews people like Arleen Sorkin, the voice of Harley Quinn, Jeph Loeb, the dude behind The Long Halloween and a lot of other stuff, Burt Ward of the original 66 television series & even Stan Lee himself. There are also episodes that aren’t interview episodes; sometimes Smith will bring in Mark Bernardin, a fellow writer, in order to discuss the TV show Gotham or the newest super-hero movie, etc. I tend to like the interview episodes better than the “Utility Belt” episodes, as Smith calls the non-interview episodes. But the show is always interesting and entertaining.
4 stars.
Essential If
I say Killing, you say Joke.
Avoid Like the Plague If
You still haven’t forgiven over that whole “vat of acid” thing.
Best Entry Point
Gonna throw out a couple of options here. First of all, a super-early two parter. Smith landed Mark Hamill, iconic voice of the Joker in so much of the animated Batman universe and the video games as well, immediately. So episodes two and three of the series makes up a long form interview with Hamil that touches on all kinds of stuff, but, shockingly, manages to go for over three hours without discussing Star Wars. So, if you wanna hear about Hamill in some other context than Luke Skywalker, this is for damn sure your jam. Hamill’s a real ball of fire and a great interview subject.
Then as another choice, I’ll give you another two parter. Smith and Bernardin do commentary tracks for the Batman movies occasionally. You download their podcast, sync up to the movie and you know, do the Rifftrax thing. Well, let me just tell you that the Batman & Robin commentary track is a thing of beauty and hilarity. Clearly, it’s the Batman movie you most want to hear comedians riff over and Smith and Bernardin do a good job. Here’s parts one & two.