EPISODE 246 - DRAGONCON 2016 PART 2: THE SUPERHERO-VERSARY

Episode 246 - DragonCon 2016 Part 2: 2016 Superhero-Versary

This time out I present the second week of my DragonCon 2016 coverage with the Superhero-Versary Panel that took place on September 5, 2016 at 8:30 in the morning.  The panel was well attended for 8:30 on the final day of the con and I had a lot of fun talking super-hero birthdays.  Like last year we talked about a bunch of super-heroes celebrating their 75th anniversaries in 2016.  I was once again blessed to be joined by a great group of people.  They were:

• Geena Phillips: Writes and blogs about social justice issues and can be found on Twitter @geenacanblowme.
• Philip Schweier: Writer for Comicbookbin.com and one of the organizers of Gnomecon.
• Kevin Eldridge: Is a host on the Flopcast. 
• Joe Crowe: Co-director of the American Sci-Fi Classics Track and one of the grand pooh bahs over at RevolutionsSF.

If you want to follow along with the discussion feel free to download the Powerpoint Presentation I Put Together For This Panel.  

Also I wanted to give Rebecca Raymer of Creators.Co for writing about this panel.  She reached out to me through Twitter and here is a link to the article she wrote.  I cannot express how much it means to me that someone liked this panel enough to write about it. 

Next Time: WONDER WOMAN PANEL FROM DRAGONCON WITH GEORGE PEREZ!!!! 

EPISODE 245 - DRAGONCON 2016 PART 1: WATCHMEN 30 YEAR, 35 MINUTES AGO

Episode 245 - DragonCon 2016 Part 1: Watchmen 30 Years, 35 Minutes Ago

DragonCon 2016 is over but the fun hasn't ended.  I was fortunate enough to be on a bunch (12 in all plus a few I got pulled up on) of the panels on the American Sci-Fi Classics track this year and while not all of them have to do with comics some of them did.  One of those was the Watchmen: 30 Years, 35 Minutes Ago, which took place on September 5, 2016. This was a fantastic conversation where we talked about Alan Moore as a writer, the themes of the story, the amazing art by Dave Gibbons and we even touch on the prequels that were a published a few years back.

We also take a few shots at the Zach Synder movie.

If you liked what you heard on this panel and want to check out the various podcasts my fellow panelists host they are...

• Gary Mitchel - (yes, that is his real name) is one of the hosts of the RevNews and RevCast shows over at RevolutionsSF.
• The Rad Ranger - host of the Rad Ranger Radical Radcast and also appears on the Needless Things Podcast from time to time.
• Will Price - Doesn't host anything but you can find him on Facebook.  
• Kevin Eldridge - is on the Flopcast.

I do apologize for the sometimes spotty audio.  I recorded this with my phone and sometimes it was hard to hear people but I think you can get the gist of what was said.

I also apologize for not getting the name of the young lady in the Silk Spectre costume.  She was very nice and even posed for a picture with us.

Thanks again to Gary Mitchel and Joe Crowe for putting up with me again this year.

Next Time: Get out your favorite paper hats because it's time to celebrate some super-hero birthdays with the 2016 Superhero-versary Panel!

EPISODE 244 - THE KILLING JOKE

Episode 244 - The Killing Joke

In the first installment of Views From a Superstitious and Cowardly Lot (the series within a series where I talk about Batman) Andy Leyland and I talk about Batman: The Killing Joke.  To say that this is a controversial story is an understatement.  For years The Killing Joke was considered a seminal Batman story.  A must read.  A violent look at the relationship between Batman and the Joker.  A game changer.  Now the worm has turned and The Killing Joke isn't seen as a bastion for mature comic book storytelling.  It's an unnecessary story that damaged Barbara Gordon as a character and furthers the trope of killing or maiming a female character to further a male character's story.

For nearly two hours Andy and I talk about all of these issues and more.  We look at the story as a story and then look at how this story treats its characters.  Barbara Gordon is brought up more than once and the two of us get to vent about how we're sick of rape being used as a gimmick.  I'm not going to lie.  This episode has some fun points but Andy and I go to some pretty dark areas and we don't shy away from it.  We ask a lot of questions and try to judge this story fairly.  What are our final thoughts?  Listen and find out.

As I mentioned Andy and I talk about some pretty serious issues in this episode.  Normally I keep this a pretty light affair but for this story things get real.  Because of that I wanted to warn everyone because I know there are people out there that, for a variety of reasons, get very upset when they hear about sexual assault and violence towards women.  Because of that I am issuing Views' first ever trigger warning.  Some people think that trigger warnings are silly and that people should just suck up and get over whatever is bothering them.  To those people I say, "Too bad."  I have seen the effects of PTSD and if giving out a trigger warning spares someone an episode then it is totally worth it.

Besides...my show, my rules.  Don't like it?  I really don't care.

Andy Leyland was nice enough to stop by.  Be sure to check out his other shows, which include: Hey Kids Comics, The Palace of Glittering Delights, Listen to the Prophets: A Deep Space Nine Podcast, The Fantasticast and Keep 'Em Flying: A Firefly Podcast.

Next Time: I will finally release the awesome Suicide Squad episode Thomas Deja and I recorded.  It's keen.  

EPISODE 243 - KINGDOM COME 20 YEARS LATER

Episode 243 - Kingdom Come 20 Years Later

Kingdom Come turns 20 this year.  Alan and Emily Middleton help me talk about it.  

...

What?  You want more than that?  I mean what else can I say outside of the fact that Kingdom Come is now 20 and that the wonderful daughter/father team of Emily and Alan Middleton were nice enough to stop by to spend about three hours talking about this epic story?

...

Okay.  I'll put a little more effort into these show notes.

This time out I am joined by the previously mentioned Alan and Emily Middleton (hosts of Shortbox Showcase and Dorkness to Light) to discusses the already mentioned Kingdom Come.  There are many different ways we could have tackled this subject.  The art alone merits its own episode.  We chose to tackle the story from the standpoint of the characters so after a short history lesson and a somewhat entertaining synopsis the three of us dive into the main players of this story.  Superman.  Batman.  Wonder Woman.  Captain Marvel.  The now badly named Mankind Liberation Front.  All of them get thrown under the microscope as we talk about what the stories means to those characters, what those characters mean to us and where things went right or wrong.  I also go over the merchandise, the adaptations and the legal problems that crop up when you publish a companion book to a series put out by a large corporation.

I'd like to thank Alan and Emily for coming out to play and the fun isn't over.  This is actually part one of a two part podcasting crossover event and the second part should be up in a few days over at the Dorkness to Light podcast.  There Alan and Emily were nice enough to have me on to talk about the biblical and spiritual aspects of this story.  Be sure to listen to that episode and everything else these two produce podcasting and blog wise because they're awesome and deserve your support.

Next Time: Thomas Deja stops by to talk about the first eight issues of John Ostrander's Suicide Squad! 

EPISODE 242: VIEWS ON REBIRTH MONTH ONE

Episode 242: Views on Rebirth Month One

DC Comics has once again revamped their line.  You might have heard about this.  It's been in the papers.  After five years of creative upheavals and weird directions and just bone headed decisions the powers that be decided that something was missing in the DCU and so they tapped Geoff Johns to craft a course correction for the line.  The result?  DC Rebirth.  

I usually shy away from covering newer comics for a variety of reasons but this is a pretty big deal and...shockingly some might say...I've really liked what DC has been laying down.  So I thought it might be fun to talk about the first month worth of books and I brought a friend along for the ride.  Joining me to this time out is Kevin Cushing, formerly of the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast and other fine shows.  Kevin has not been podcasting at all over the past year or so.  Some say he's been on the run from the mob.  Others say that he was framed for a crime he didn't commit and disappeared into the Los Angeles underground.  There's this rumor that he wasn't all that hot on new comics so he's stayed away from the microphone.  No matter the case he's back on Views and I was glad he decided to join me.

After a brief discussion about the DC Univerese: Rebirth one shot we dive into all of the Rebirth comics from June.  We spend a lot of time on the Superman books because it's my show and I am so in love with the new creative regimes on Action Comics and Superman that it just felt right to talk about them for so long.  We also go over Batman, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lanterns, Aquaman and Green Arrow in that order, which just so happens to be the order I read the books when I pick them up at the shop.  It's a fun two hours worth of comic talk.  What titles did we like?  Did we have any problems with them?  Has Rebirth been worth it?  Listen and find out.  

Thanks again to Kevin for coming out to play.  Hopefully we'll get together to record another one of these next month!

Next Time: The father/daughter team of Alan and Emily Middleton stop by to start a two part crossover with one of their shows  that is all about the 20th anniversary of Kingdom Come!

EPISODE 241 - TOTAL JUSTICE

Episode 241 - Total Justice

Continuing the three month non-series The 2016 Views Summer of Absolute Awesomeness!  Every episode in June, July and August will be in some, way, shape, form or fashion remind me of reading comics in the summer!  Big events!  Books I read during the summer!  Stuff that's just a lot of fun!  That's what this non-series is all about!

The calendar says it's June so that means it's time for Views' annual anniversary episode!  As usual The Irredeemable Shag (host of the Justice League International: Bwah-Ha-Ha Podcast and co-host of The Fire and Water Podcast) is with me and our topic this year is total team work, total tech...TOTAL JUSTICE!  Twenty years ago Kenner Toys put out a line of action figures based on the DC heroes with the added hook of FRACTAL ARMOR!  What is FRACTAL ARMOR?  You'll have to listen to the episode to find out.  You'll also hear Shag and I go through EACH AND EVERY FIGURE of the line as well as EACH AND EVERY FIGURE of the follow up JLA line.  

But that's not all!  Between each segment you'll get to hear all of the songs from the Total Justice: The Ultimate Weapon audio drama that came out as part of the merchandise associated with this line.  Maybe audio drama isn't the best way to describe it.  Maybe pseudo rock opera is a better description because this thing is your typical JLA vs Darkseid story mixed with a bunch of songs that were mostly nineties rock but there was some hip hop mixed in there as well.  These songs are insane and because of that I have to share them with you.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!  For one of the talky talk segments Shag and I are joined by Tom Panarese (host of Pop Culture Affidavit and In Country) and Stella (host of Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast and co-host on several of The Batman Universe shows) to talk specifically about the audio drama.  Stella and Tom are an added bonus for this anniversary episode with no increase in the cover price of the show!

During the episode Shag mentioned he had 12 Aquaman figures from this line.  Here's a picture of those figures which can also double as a snap shot into the mind of an addict.

I'd like to thank Shag, Stella and Tom for joining me on this episode and as usual for these anniversary shows I'd like to thank all of you for listening to Views.  I have been extremely blessed with a very loyal audience that has stuck with me through multiple weeks and months with no episodes and I hope you've been enjoying 2016 because I've managed to get new episodes out on a regular basis.  It means a lot that people want to hear me and my friends ramble on about funny books.

Next Time: Haven't decided yet but it is bound to be a lot of fun.

EPISODE 240 - IRON MAN REBORN

Episode 240 - Iron Man Reborn

Continuing the three month non-series The 2016 Views Summer of Absolute Awesomeness!  Every episode in June, July and August will in some way, shape, form or fashion remind me of reading comics in the summer!  Big events!  Books I read during the summer!  Stuff that's just a lot of fun!  That what this kind of, but not really connected series of episodes is all about!

Welcome to another installment in my series of episodes marking the 20th anniversary of Marvel's Heroes Reborn initiative.  This time out the Armored Avenger gets the spotlight and since I know very little about Iron Man in general I have a special guest to pick up that slack.  Joining me is Luke Jaconetti (host of Earth Destruction Directive and co-host of Vault of Startling Monster Horror Tales of Terror, both available through the Two True Freaks Network) who is quite the fan of the cool exec with a heart of steel.  Together we take a close look at the first six issues of the Heroes Reborn Iron Man series and discuss the new origin, the inclusion of the Hulk characters into said origin, the team-ups with the other Heroes Reborn heroes and our opinions on the villains that this "new" Iron Man faces.  Other topics include the similarities between this initiative and the Ultimate brand that Marvel would begin less than ten years later, how the Mandarin in this books has a lot in common with the Mandarin from Iron Man 3, how weird it is that a series of stories can feel like they are moving forward and still marking time until the next creative team comes on the book and even some movie talk right there at the end.

Be sure to check out Luke's show via the links in the previous paragraph.  This episode was a lot of fun to do and we had so much extra audio that at some point I am going to put out a "shoot the breeze" type episode where we talk about fandom and a whole bunch of other random topics.  I don't know when I will be getting to that but I'll have it out before the end of the year.

Next Time:  It's the 9th Anniversary show, which means that the Irredeemable Shag will be dropping by as well as a few other surprise guests.  Our subject?  TOTAL JUSTICE!