Podcast - Episode 3: Our Favourite and Least Favourite DC Characters

There were a few little technical problems with our podcast this week so there are a couple of awkward edits. It also runs a little long, but that's only because it's so jam packed with sparkling wit and brilliant insight. We promise not to make a habit of 90 minute episodes.

Too much Marvel talk lately has prompted us to talk about our favourite DC characters. Dave and I each roll out our lists of our top ten favourite DC characters, and our five least favourite. My list is not super surprising, but Dave's is straight bonkers (my opinion). You'll notice something weird happening before we talk about Blue Beetle. Dave had to re-record the intro to it and we lost a bit of the talk. Just know that I love Ted Kord.

We talk about the upcoming Image titles announced at Image Expo. You can check out the full list with descriptions on the Image site here: July 2015 Image Expo Announcements

You can see the Entertainment Weekly Batman vs Superman cover and images here: Exclusive Batman vs Superman Photos

We finally début The Renner Report this week (with a stinger that makes me laugh out loud). You can read the super insane Jeremy Renner Playboy interview here: if you want to read about him "kindly choking" people out. Please read it. Please.

When we were talking about our favourite DC characters we mentioned Halloween 2007 when I dressed as Barda and Dave dressed as Orion. I promised I'd post pictures, so here are some:

Serving Kirby face.

New Gods gotta eat!

If you are interested in reading the list of my top 10 favourite DC characters that I wrote for Mondo Magazine in 2007, you can check it out here. It's pretty close to this list I made for this podcast. My thoughts are much more coherent when written down.

I've thought about it since the last episode and I have decided that Guy Gardner should be played by Jamie Bamber in the upcoming Green Lantern(s?) movie. Let's re-brand Guy as a very hot ginger!

I mean, right?

Podcast - Episode 2 - Canada!

Happy Canada Day! And if you aren't Canadian, happy new comic book day!

It's like i'm looking out my window!

This week Dave and I discuss the mountain of comic news and gossip that came out in the last week or so, including a director for Black Panther, a new Dr Strange book from Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, and a DC casting switcharoo for professional dreamboat, Chris Pine. 

We also talk about the first issue of Brian K Vaughan and Steve Skroce's new comic, We Stand on Guard, and discuss our favourite Canadian comic book characters and creators. We barely scratch the surface, really, but it's still a fun talk! Apologies to the zillions of Canadian comic creators who don't get mentioned. We mention, like, three.

Click here to listen, or head on over to iTunes to download/subscribe. New episodes will be posted every Wednesday. At least until America attacks Canada for our water supply.

We are going to be providing detailed posts with links, images, videos and more to supplement the podcast episodes. So here is some bonus material to enhance your listening experience for this week's episode!

First, if you like the song we use as our theme, Wordburglar's "Drawings with Words", check out the video! Look for Dave around the 1:40 mark!

I talk more than anyone needs to about The Covenant this week, since I watched it right before recording this episode. Here is the trailer:

And here is the whole damn movie, if you feel like watching the most ridiculous dialogue ever written tumble from Sebastian Stan's perfect mouth:

And here is a Sebastian Stan gif from the movie that I like:

There is no sex in this movie. I am serious. this is his reaction to being thrown up against a locker by a dude.

If you want to read the full "article" about Anthony Mackie describing the perfect woman for Chris Evans, it's here. And it's weird.

How often does Anthony Mackie's iPod play Earth Wind and Fire songs in Evans' presence while on "shuffle" mode?

I mention that one of my favourite sports is hate-reading Jeremy Renner's Twitter account. Here are some choice recent douchy tweets.

First he makes light of Chris Evans' inability to fulfil his dreams of fatherhood:

That is seriously cold.

And he makes a cool frat boy joke for Chris Evans' birthday:

Dick?

He also posts a lot of pics of himself wearing sunglasses, looking like an ass:

Montreal is too close to my home.

In the Canada section of this episode, we reference a few things that I had written about previously on the blog. Here are some links:

Jeph Loeb writes Wolverine as a Canada-hater

Rating the Super Hunks: Wolverine

Veronica In Canada

Archie gang goes to Canada

Good news! Dave was not imagining the comic where Spider-Man goes to the Calgary Stampede!

woah! It's the first appearance of turbine!!!!

And here is the official video for Plumtree's song, Scott Pilgrim, which inspired the comic.

I decided not to make a Canadian references bingo card for We Stand on Guard because it's too mean. It would be downright un-Canadian of me, really.

Thanks for listening! Please send us your dreamcasting choices for Guy Gardner. You can hit me up on Twitter @rachellegoguen and Dave is @paskettiwestern

Minor Villain Showcase: PHOTON

A while ago I wrote my second bio for this site. Afterward, I happened upon my first one and realized that both times I had made a point of mentioning obscure 1970s Marvel super-villain Photon as a formative part of my comics-loving childhood, yet somehow had never written about him. So here you go:

Has anyone ever uttered a true statement on a comic book cover?

Photon appeared in a two-part Spider-Man/Nova team-up, the setup of which is pretty well-summarized by this splash panel:

The eternal question. Asked from time immemorial

Here are some facts about Photon's only adventure (to date):

- Rich "Nova" Ryder's scientist uncle Ralph gets murdered.

- Uncle Ralph is a wordplay enthusiast, and so we learn that Peter Parker anagrams to "Kree Trapper". We also get the above photo in which the murderer is revealed to be Jason Dean by dint of tricky calendar arrangement.

- Peter Parker is ostensibly on-hand in order to study Dr Ryder's physics library, but really he's there to team up with Nova. We all know it. 

In unison: "Goodbye fools!"

Here are some things that I thought were true about Photon until I revisited him for the purpose of writing this:

- I thought that he worked for AIM, because there are little AIM goons running around. Also because AIM is totally the sort of organization that would give one of their middle-management guys a laser gun and a code name instead of, say, dental benefits. Turns out that one of the OTHER suspects was an AIM middle-manager, and Photon was just too lazy to do his own hero-killing.

- As a corollary  to the last one: I thought that he, and not the little AIM goons, came up with the above anchor-based death-trap, which has long been one of my favourites if only because it was one of the earliest I ever encountered. Can you blame me? That ASM cover is very misleading.

"Like I was some sort of... bug-man!

- I misremembered him as wearing the classic big-time super-villain colour combo of purple and green but it turned out to be more of an off-red. A shame, really, because one of the things about Photon that I DID remember correctly was:

No quip, quote, quibble or quiz! No diatribe, debate, discussion or dirge! No fanservice, filibuster...

- He may be a two-bit jerk punching above his weight class, but he has the villain-speak DOWN. I can only assume that he spent his evenings leading up to this one just watching and rewatching old footage of the FF confronting Dr Doom and taking notes. This is a guy who has some assumptions about how successful a super-villain he is going to be.

Finally, something that I didn't remember about Photon but that kind of makes me like him more:

- As I said, he didn't turn out to be working for AIM, where about one in three guys who aren't in beekeeper outfits have villainous identities. No, he was a Maggia guy, which makes it much more likely that this is just something that he came up with on his own, that it might be a decent second job - in addition to his main gig as a mobster - to be a goof in a green mask that he probably sewed himself. I have to admit: fairly endearing.

SO, that's the secret behind my affection for generic 70s super-villain Photon: misremembering a lot of details and affection for dumb goofs. Until next time, I remain,

JOHNATHAN

Introducing the Living Between Wednesdays Podcast!

Hey guys! Dave and I have decided to start recording a weekly podcast and dropping it on Wednesdays. I thought my comic book commentary could be enhanced if you could hear my boyish, squawky voice.

We are still working on the logo, and when it's ready we will be posting the episodes on iTunes. For now you can listen here.

The podcast is divided into three main sections: news/gossip, what we're reading/recommending, and a weekly discussion topic. This week we talk about Marvel's Secret Wars event.

Enjoy!

How Has Sgt. Fury Lost His Shirt This Time?

Sgt Nick Fury is the toughest son of a bitch ever. His original comic series, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos is a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby triumph. The book is everything macho, with the Howling Commandos bravely following their fearless leader into battle after crazy battle. Usually a good percentage of the Commandos are pretty battle ravaged by the end of each issue, and Sgt Fury himself always, always loses his shirt completely. I don't know how many shirts would realistically have been issued to a WWII Sergeant, but Fury is definitely blowing through the U.S. Army's uniform budget.

I would say close to half the time Fury is just ripping his own shirt off and blaming it on battle. Sometimes he has a shirt on in one panel, and then is just wearing tatters in the next. No explanation. None needed.

Let's look at some great moments in shirt loss.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1

Cause of shirt loss: threw a grenade at a tank and got caught in the explosion.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #2

Cause of shirt loss: It seems to just kind of disintegrate while he's firing a machine gun.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #3

Cause of shirt loss: This is actually how the issue opened, Fury shirtless in the snow. So, who knows?

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #4

Cause of shirt loss: I would like to say it was related to the lion that shows up in this issue, but as far as I can tell Fury just takes it off at some point off-panel.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #5

Cause of shirt loss: Fury voluntarily removes it so he can sword fight Baron Strucker.

NOTE: Fury doesn't actually lose his shirt in #6, even though he was in the desert the whole issue. On to #7!

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #7

Cause of shirt loss: Almost everyone loses their shirt in this issue, so I think he maybe ripped his open in solidarity. Unclear.

The shirtless shenanigans continue, and eventually he meets Captain America and Bucky:

It just never stops. Sadly, the shirt loss epidemic doesn't spread to Captain America.

Nick Fury possible goes through more shirts than Bruce Banner. It's definitely a close race.

Avengers #4: The Avengers Defrost a Madman and Make Him Leader of Their Team

So we all know the story: Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, falls to his icy death during World War II. The last thing he sees before succumbing to the ocean's frigid grasp is the mid-air explosion that kills his teenage sidekick, Bucky. Two decades later, our hero's frozen body is discovered by The Avengers while they are searching for the Hulk in the Arctic. 

The story was first told in The Avengers #4. It's a classic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's also hilarious.

It wasn't exactly the Avengers who found Cap's body first. It was actually a group of “Eskimos” who were worshipping the frozen man as a god, because comics were sensitive about other cultures in the sixties. Namor arrives on the scene and is unimpressed. He breaks up the party and just straight tosses Captain America back into the ocean.

Thankfully the Avengers happen to be bopping around the Arctic in their submarine, and someone (Iron Man?) tells Iron Man to throw the brakes on.

They quickly recognize the costume of Captain America. But is it Captain America? Could it possibly be?

"Let's not be hasty...it could be another man wearing Captain America's costume and holding his shield."

Then Captain America wakes up and flips the fuck out.

"I'll smash you all!"

This is seriously so sad. And it gets sadder.

"He is dead -- he is! And nothing on Earth can change that!" Just wait forty years or so, Cap. I think you are going to be unpleasantly surprised.

I love the quick shift from mourning Bucky to "Anyway, who are you guys?"

Cap, being Cap, is quick to gather himself together and let them know that he is indeed Captain America. And that he hates being Captain America.

He tells them, and the readers, his whole sad story. The Avengers listen, but decide that maybe there's a chance this guy isn't who he says he is. Maybe this guy is some sort of con artist who got himself a Captain America suit, froze himself in a block of ice, and bobbed around the Arctic Ocean waiting for the Avengers to pass by in their submarine! Only one way to make sure!

Is that how Wasp fights? She just stands in front of bad guys and is like "Fight's over, unless you want to hit a girl!" Nice strategy.

So anyway, Cap convinces them by being really good at fighting. If he wasn't awesome at fighting, do you think they would have decided immediately that he wasn't the real McCoy? Or do you think they would have taken into consideration that he was JUST DEFROSTED MINUTES AGO AFTER BEING FROZEN FOR TWO DECADES?!

Wait, wait, hold up. He knew the, ahem, Eskimos were worshipping him? What? How?

The Avengers drive their submarine back to New York City. They disembark first, because Cap is napping after the exhaustion of being defrosted and then forced to fight four Avengers for no reason, and are immediately turned into stone statues by some mysterious villain. Cap exits the sub minutes later, and sees 1960s NYC for the first time.

"And why am I bothering to wear my gloves right now? And how did my shield fit through this hatch? And could someone please take me to a hospital? I've had quite an ordeal."

He sees the Avengers as statues, and assumes they are just statues of the Avengers. Makes sense. Then he checks out some ladies.

The girls are still as lovely as ever. All of them. 

The people of New York start to recognize Captain America, because he's dressed like Captain America. One police officer is reduced to tears. It's pretty great.

Rather than go to a hospital, which he should definitely do, Captain America goes to a hotel that he certainly has no way of paying for. He falls in love with television before he even gets his boots off.

I like to think he spent like five straight days just watching television. We need to talk about the costume he's wearing, because he never takes it off in this comic, not even to sleep. It must be SO GROSS. He was found frozen in the damn ocean wearing it.

You might think he's just going to move forward and become an Avenger and become a well-adjusted citizen of the 1960s. This is not the case, because Lee and Kirby are great storytellers. Instead we get pathos and extremely sexy panels like this one:

That panel might be the best thing I have ever seen. It's certainly the sexiest thing.

Cap's lovesick pining for Bucky reaches extremely creepy levels when poor, unsuspecting Rick Jones enters the room.

Aaahh! Run, Rick! Run for you life!

For real, is this going to happen every time Steve sees a young man? Rick does not even look like Bucky. But try telling Cap that:

Seriously, Rick. Get the hell out of there.

"I don't know who the Hulk is, lad. Sounds like a cool guy, though."

Cap pulls himself together, sort of. Rick awesomely deflects Cap's insane ramblings, and Steve decides he needs to convince Rick that he is not crazy. He does this by becoming a commanding asshole.

"He thinks I'm some sort of madman! Well I'll prove to him that I'm not! By putting on this costume!"

They look at some photos from the docks, find one of their suspect, and Cap goes on the hunt. The next panel pretty much sums up Captain America's lot in life:

Cap eventually finds the menace who turned his new friends into statues, using the most inefficient method ever:

For real, he went around New York City carrying a photo and looking in windows.

Anyway, Captain America takes out some thugs and even gets some quips in while he's doing it.

This is where things get really weird. In a reverse Scooby-doo twist, Cap removes the villain's human mask to reveal a crazy-looking alien. My favourite part of this panel is the reaction of the hired goons:

A bunch of stuff happens. The Avengers stop being statues. They all end up back in the Arctic to fight Namor.

Stan Lee continues to not hide his crush on Captain America:

"If only there had been heroes like the Sub-Mariner in my day! And maybe a man who could fly and ignite himself! And a boy who could do the same! What invading we could have done!"

The Avengers move to attack Namor, but Namor has an "ace in the hole," as he says because that is a term that an Atlantean would probably be familiar with. Namor has captured Rick Jones, and he will kill him. Except Cap isn't going to sit back and let Bucky, er, Rick get killed.

"Make one move towards me, and the boy's life is--WHA?!!" is so funny.

Namor gets sick of this shit pretty quickly. He tosses Captain America aside like a bag of garbage.

Long story short, Cap does find a way to out-maneuver him. The Avengers win the day, and then pop the question to Captain America, who says yes without even hearing the offer.

"Like a man!" Wasp is like "I'm right here, guy!"

And that's the story of how a mentally unstable, severely traumatized Steve Rogers became an Avenger.

"Thanks, five different-shaped Buckys!"

He moves into the Avengers mansion, never receives any treatment of any kind, and a couple of issues later he slaps Rick Jones across the face when he dares to wear Bucky's costume. Because Rick thought that was what Cap wanted. And can you blame him?!

"Get out! GET OUUUUUUTTTT!!!!"

My point is, there's no way the movies could possibly be too heavy handed by comparison when it comes to having Steve Rogers obsessing over Bucky.