Funny Book Forensics 280 Russian into Trouble with Dick

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Um, that's the best way. Wait, stop. Just stop recording again. I can't stop recording. [00:00:07] Speaker B: This is. This is real life, man. [00:00:09] Speaker A: I needed to leave five blank seconds there and I started talking. It's because I'm so excited about this comic book where we have issue four here and we have another guest artist. [00:00:23] Speaker B: What? [00:00:23] Speaker A: Another one? Yeah. Stephen Mooney. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. So the book's going to look different again. [00:00:31] Speaker A: Yep. Just when I started figuring out what the characters look. Yeah, we have a completely different artist who doesn't really show me what characters look like. Surprise. [00:00:43] Speaker B: Nothing is as it seems. [00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, and nothing is as it seems because that is, like, on the COVID here we have midnighter and a guy. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Who's presumably Dick Grayson, but I thought. [00:01:02] Speaker B: It was a wolf. [00:01:03] Speaker A: I don't know what it mean. If I lined that picture up and said, is that Dick Grayson? Is that Nightwing? Is that Robin? Apparently he has either some incredible vascularity in those arms, or his arms have been cut a lot. [00:01:23] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's. He's got cut arms, man. [00:01:29] Speaker A: He's got cut arms. And the title here from Russia with Grayson. As I discussed in our last podcast, this is the Grayson era of Dick Grayson, where Grayson was under an agent of spiral, I believe. [00:01:45] Speaker B: Yes. [00:01:46] Speaker A: So exciting. We're going to take Nightwing, and then we're going to expose his identity to the world, and then we're going to pretend like he died, and then he's going to go undercover. [00:01:57] Speaker B: Oh, yes. I, for one, find the idea a very novel idea. [00:02:12] Speaker A: Well, they went out and got some great writers for it. I mean, Tom King was one of the writers on this, not this on Grayson. Yeah. So know, marry and break up with the Bat universe on a regular basis. And right now, I'm broken up with the Bat universe because Tom King did several Batman issues and they were great. And then I read DC's latest sort of reboot thing, like this future tense thing or whatever. And the Batman stories were so terrible that I just stopped buying Batman again. But I haven't bought a Nightwing comic since, or Grayson Comic since this series. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Really? [00:02:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, wow. Nightwing was one of my favorite characters. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Six or seven years ago. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I read that and I was just like, yeah, you're not fooling me again. This sucks. And so maybe there's been some amazing Nightwing stories out there since, but I don't know. So awful to me. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Let Dan know if there's some amazing Nightwing stories out there. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Please don't. I don't need to buy another comic. [00:03:25] Speaker B: I'm too busy reading. Did you just say because you just got Trekker. [00:03:32] Speaker A: I've been too busy. I just read the entire Trekker anthology, all 450 pages, and now I have the latest two to read after that, 200 more pages. And then Ron has his new Kickstarter out, too. [00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I think the anthology itself just covers the current Trekker verse, right? [00:03:56] Speaker A: No, it goes all the way back, covers the dark horse stuff all the. [00:04:01] Speaker B: Way back to the beginning. So you're getting the dark horse stories, you're getting everything that was from the presents late 80s? [00:04:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:08] Speaker B: Wow, that's awesome. So that's some bang for your buck. I know. I want to say I'll probably be getting something soon because it's extremely cool. [00:04:20] Speaker A: Like, the anthology is extremely cool. Yeah. So the anthology, I think maybe through his first graphic or first two. [00:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:27] Speaker A: And then. So it's through. I think Chapel Town is the one that's not in it. I think that's. Anyway, so his last couple. But anyway. Yeah. Get on Ron's Kickstarter shoot. He's got another book out. I think one of the really cool things about Ron's Kickstarter, too, is he generally tries to actually finish the book before he launches the Kickstarter. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. That is true to what he. That is 100% Ron Randall is who. [00:04:53] Speaker A: We'Re talking about, by the way. That would be the Ron. [00:04:55] Speaker B: That's the Ron. Ron Randall Travis. K-K-E-R. Travis from Starlight. And he pulled us aside, talked to us before we even ventured down that road of Kickstarters and stuff like that and let us bend his ear for a hot minute and gave us some really good sage advice because he knew nothing about this world before. He'd been doing his own publishing through publishers and then doing all this stuff. And then Kickstarter comes along and just navigating all that, and then all of a sudden he's like, oh, this is how you do it. And he found the ways that made sense and completing everything and then getting it out. And we're trying to emulate that with our own stuff because it makes a lot more sense, it makes for a cleaner production, and that way as soon as you're done, it's ready to go. So we're getting close to being like that. And he's 100%. He wants to make sure that his fan base is satisfied, that new customers get a good experience and people that are really into a good story and a good book get what they're looking for, and you're definitely going to get that. [00:06:25] Speaker A: I don't know why I say I think I know with Ron stuff, too. Like you said, I know it's going to come in a timely manner, sometimes so quickly that I'm surprised. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Right. [00:06:33] Speaker A: And where I've waited on other Kickstarters forever and I just wonder if they're coming. Like, I backed, gosh, Mike Grell's John Sable deluxe hardcover omnibus that was supposed to be delivered in March of 2021. [00:06:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:54] Speaker A: And we're still waiting. [00:06:59] Speaker B: Well, what's crazy is you've got some creators that go through publishers who are known entities and they do a Kickstarter. They have that publisher Stamp on there. People get it jazzed and excited. They back it because they're like, oh, wow, this is cool. You got that logo on your book, and this is going to be great. And I can't wait to get this. And then the year goes by. Books have gone out to publisher or from the publisher to comic book stores. The market already has it. It's already hit the shelves. People are walking around the book and you haven't even gotten a digital copy yet. And this is real deal life because I know for a fact we on the Starlight camp have backed a few of these books just because we know some folks that we want to support them and we're like, what's going on? And they're like, we don't know. We don't handle that aspect of it. And it's like, that is craziness. And that's why it'S interesting to see the level of control somebody like Ron has over his production or like we do or some of the other purely indie creators that are from A to Z, everything that they hands on and making sure that everything is done the way they want it to be done. And that fan service is first and foremost, they're writing their own updates, they're sending out their own packages and getting it out there in timely manner. [00:08:42] Speaker A: Just like the heroes need masks, comic anthology, getting it right out there on time, just boom. [00:08:51] Speaker B: And all that money, like right into getting PPE for. [00:08:56] Speaker A: So, yeah, well, it's interesting, too. I bought Mike Grell Maggie the Cat redo, and that was interesting. So I went in on the John Sable piece and, yeah, still waiting. [00:09:13] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:09:15] Speaker A: Well, anyway, not that this is more interesting than the book, but we had. [00:09:21] Speaker B: A good discussion before we get into discussion. [00:09:25] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I mean, well, we might as well. You know what? Let's go through a little of the book and then we can talk about some other things because I don't think this book is going to keep our interest. We've got a super stereotypical Russian cover here with some Russian church building with crosses all over it. There's crosses everywhere. And Midnighter is holding a hammer and a sickle because based on what we've seen about Midnighter so far, he loves Russians. He stuck his fingers up their noses. He's beat them up. He's gone back and forth to Russia for some reason, but he's been wearing American flag tank tops while he was there. So I never thought of Midnighter as a. We've definitely the character so far we've seen. He loves going to Russia and seeing the things, but I wouldn't say he's fond of the Russians. [00:10:16] Speaker B: I thought you were going to say he's always rushing into trouble. [00:10:20] Speaker A: Well, that's clear with Dick. [00:10:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:10:26] Speaker A: He's always rushing into trouble with Dick. [00:10:29] Speaker B: It's true. He's always rushing into trouble with. [00:10:32] Speaker A: Yep. So we flip the page, and for some reason, even though I'm not reading the hard copy of this, even though I do own it, but it's in a storage unit at the moment, we get an advertisement for a house ad in the digital copy for Batman Endgame, volume seven by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. And we're talking about people that had me break up with the Bat universe. There's Scott Snyder. There you go. I didn't buy Batman comics for a couple of years because of Scott Snyder. And then they had, you know, do this death metal bats, bats everywhere thing, heavy death metal super death Rain of metal death crossover. And it was great. I loved so, so much that I quit buying it in the like, you. [00:11:25] Speaker B: Actually started to read. [00:11:30] Speaker A: Well, you know, I try sometimes. Scott Snyder is a genuinely nice human. [00:11:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:37] Speaker A: He means yeah. And it really should tell you when I'm not buying something drawn by Greg Capullo. Yeah, there you go. The story must be. [00:11:52] Speaker B: Sometimes there's a story out there for everyone, and sometimes there's a story that's just not for you. [00:12:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm sure all of the Gen Z hug it out. Kids love the ultraviolet Batman stuff from the dark, super Dark Mirror universe. Oh, wait, we're going to get sued. Hang on. I can't call it a mirror universe. Anti matter universe. Sorry. There we, yeah, yeah. We don't want to call it the Mirror universe because that's somebody else. Has that got you? Well, there are two franchises might sue us. We might get sued by Star Trek and Netflix. Right? Yeah, it could be bad. Well, Moscow, the 40 have no idea. Is that, like, the 8th Mile Road or whatever? [00:12:49] Speaker B: It's got to be an area in Moscow, which is unknown. [00:12:53] Speaker A: I've never been to Moscow. [00:12:54] Speaker B: Me neither. So I wouldn't know. I don't ever plan to. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:00] Speaker B: I could ask a neighbor, maybe. [00:13:02] Speaker A: Well, we got some. Yeah. I mean, I could just go down to the Marvel market here in Parkland. And I did go there this weekend and got some awesome Russian pastries and international chocolate. Yeah, it was good. They were out of pierogies by the time I got there, though, which was unfortunate. Yeah. [00:13:22] Speaker B: That's terrible, because those are delicious. [00:13:25] Speaker A: They are delicious. It was terrible. So we're here, there are no pierogies. There's a lot of alcohol, and we've got three guys in ties, I guess, or whatever. I don't know. This will be the greatest night of their life. They're riding a taxi. [00:13:41] Speaker B: They're having a good time. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Apparently Russia has checker cabs. Yeah, yellow checker cabs. I guess. I don't know. Like, I've never been there, so I don't know. They probably do, maybe. Yeah. All right. Well, they get there, they say, we've arrived. [00:14:09] Speaker B: They have arrived. [00:14:11] Speaker A: And they know the secret password. So this old lady lets them back, and they say, welcome, travelers, to the inn of Grando. Sure. Okay. Greatness awaits. We only accept cash whenever you get to an establishment that only accepts cash. Sometimes greatness awakes. Awaits. [00:14:41] Speaker B: Awakes, yes. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Maybe awakes, too. Awake. [00:14:44] Speaker B: What is up with all these weird ass Willy Wonkas? [00:14:49] Speaker A: I don't know. This guy is fantastic. [00:14:53] Speaker B: I don't know, man. [00:14:54] Speaker A: Like a Russian pimp. [00:14:57] Speaker B: He's a Russian Willy Wonka. [00:15:01] Speaker A: He's pure imagination. [00:15:03] Speaker B: He is. Oh. The answer to the Moscow has been called the 40 40s, referring to the estimated 1600 of these many golden domes from jeopardy. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Okay, well, there we go with the road they're on. [00:15:21] Speaker B: No. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Well, anyway, this is exciting, these guys. [00:15:30] Speaker B: Somebody was watching Jeopardy when they were. [00:15:33] Speaker A: Yeah, they get in. Men, summon your courage. I present your beast. These guys grab some spikes and some wine and dump it on this really sad looking vampire. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:15:46] Speaker A: And then they. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Vampire. [00:15:50] Speaker A: Yeah, he's not looking so good. [00:15:52] Speaker B: No, vampires are supposed to be, like, scary. He's just, like, help. [00:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah, he's not doing so well. He looks resigned to his fate. Yeah, these guys are these mosque bros. Mosque bros. I like it. Mosque bros. Yeah, they're having a hell of a time here because it's cool. And we get. Midnighter is apparently the name of the story. [00:16:25] Speaker B: Oh, hey, just midnighter, straight up. [00:16:28] Speaker A: Okay. With Steve Orlando, writer. [00:16:31] Speaker B: Did they smash that dude? They just totally. [00:16:33] Speaker A: Yeah, they spiked him. [00:16:34] Speaker B: They spiked him dead. [00:16:36] Speaker A: Steven Mooney, artist. I just want to make sure we get all the credits here because these are important. Okay. Fahardo Jr. Colors, Politano letters. AcO apparently did the COVID which doesn't look like the rest of his work at all, does it? [00:16:52] Speaker B: No, it's a very different. [00:16:54] Speaker A: Seems like a rush, right? Well, you know, it's group editor Mark Doyle. You should be embarrassed. Okay. Moving forward. [00:17:09] Speaker B: Oh. [00:17:12] Speaker A: Making friends, influencing people at DC Comics. [00:17:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:18] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:19] Speaker B: I will never get a letter back. [00:17:23] Speaker A: You didn't plan on it anyway. [00:17:24] Speaker B: That's true. I didn't. [00:17:27] Speaker A: I mean, only if you promise to write Legion of superheroes. Will I? [00:17:32] Speaker B: They would never give me that. [00:17:34] Speaker A: Why not? [00:17:37] Speaker B: Highly doubtful. [00:17:38] Speaker A: You'd have the best resource to write it right next to you. [00:17:41] Speaker B: Right next to me. I know. Well, I always throw out there on. [00:17:45] Speaker A: We could co write it. [00:17:46] Speaker B: I always say we've talked about this, but I don't think anyone ever listening would allow this to be a thing. Nor would they let me write, like. [00:17:54] Speaker A: You could write the stories and I could just fill in all of the backstory. [00:18:01] Speaker B: I would love to write booster gold stuff too, but I don't think that's going to happen. [00:18:06] Speaker A: Well, yeah, that's because Dan Juergens is doing the Blue and Gold series right now. [00:18:10] Speaker B: I know. In the future, like five years from now, you're going to need somebody else, and they might call me up, Dan. And then they're going to listen to this podcast and going to say, nope. [00:18:27] Speaker A: Well, that editor's probably been fired anyway. They fired everybody. [00:18:34] Speaker B: It's true. They have. [00:18:36] Speaker A: I'm really trying to get you a job with DC Comics, aren't I? [00:18:39] Speaker B: I know. [00:18:40] Speaker A: Well, now we have Midnighter Grayson. I'm like Robin Nightwing Grayson. I thought it was Agent 37. [00:18:56] Speaker B: 37, yeah. [00:18:59] Speaker A: Having an intimate dinner, apparently. Looks nice. Anyway, Dick is complaining about being abducted out of a hot zone, and Midnighter immediately starts making fun of him, alluding to him taking orders from a man in black. We already have the references going on. All right, let's get the innuendo going. This is going to be fun. [00:19:26] Speaker B: Oh, yes. [00:19:30] Speaker A: Pig's feet in a garlic in a pressure cooker. That sounds delicious. [00:19:35] Speaker B: It does. Throw it in the Instapot. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Do we have a plot yet? [00:19:41] Speaker B: Not yet. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Come on. Innocent in danger. Someone has to stop me from killing everyone. Right? That's Midnighter. Few barbarians are done insulting the glory of the holodets. You ask about the truant tech from Godgarden. Let me tell the tale of Noi Akiavogic Akhyevich. His throw kill club and the loose lipped hooligan youth that attended. I assume that's the vampire murderers. [00:20:13] Speaker B: Yes, the vampire murderers. The vampires. [00:20:17] Speaker A: Oh, I like the next page. [00:20:19] Speaker B: There you go. [00:20:20] Speaker A: You're like, all right, all right. We have. Robin and Midnight are going to the gay bath. Wait, no, just a bath? Are you sure? [00:20:35] Speaker B: I mean, you could put any spin on it, I guess, but I mean, they're just a good steam and. [00:20:47] Speaker A: Oh, show the video to Valentina. She's going to be all on you, dude. Damn. Too bad she's not here right now. This is some guys. [00:20:54] Speaker B: Not the gay bats, just the bats. [00:20:59] Speaker A: Um, so they walk in. Okay, wait, so that looks like up at the top that it's midnighter, right? Kind of. But it's not. [00:21:12] Speaker B: No, it's not midnighter. [00:21:14] Speaker A: That's the three guys that killed the vampire guys. [00:21:18] Speaker B: Okay, the next panel stepping in. Midnight has. [00:21:22] Speaker A: But you can't really tell because they're all naked. Yeah. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Like a big old stuff. He's got a bunch of branches he's going to whack them with. [00:21:35] Speaker A: Well, that's exciting. This is so amazing. Okay, let's go to the next page. All right. Okay. And those guys tell Midnighter they're going to bust his face. And then they're all trying to hold on their towels while they fight, which is always a good fighting tactic if you're naked and you just have a towel and then you're going to fight somebody. I highly recommend trying to hold the towel on. [00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah, it doesn't work. [00:22:02] Speaker A: It's a good way to win. And then we get people swinging bottles at people and goat fondling. Jackass is what he's called. Are they implying he's gay? Like, what's happening? [00:22:18] Speaker B: I don't know. I think he's just a goat. They just say he's goat fondling jackass. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Okay, well, whatever. They're mosque bros. [00:22:25] Speaker B: They're implying mosques fondles goats. [00:22:28] Speaker A: Anyway, Dick Grayson kicks somebody and yells at midnighter and they joke about knowing he was there. Then they beat those guys up and they leave. Okay, are we good? [00:22:45] Speaker B: I think so. [00:22:46] Speaker A: Okay, this is exciting. [00:22:48] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, hey, Willy Wonka's back. [00:22:51] Speaker A: All right. Yeah, we got Willy Wonka and he brings in a guy from the street. [00:23:02] Speaker B: Street dude. [00:23:04] Speaker A: Yep. And they feed him to the vampire. [00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Or is that Willy Wonka the vampire? [00:23:12] Speaker B: Willy Wonka is the vampire. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Vampire. Got it. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Willy Wonka sheds off his Willy Wonka clothes. [00:23:19] Speaker A: Willy Wonka, Vonka Vonka. Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka. [00:23:25] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go. [00:23:28] Speaker A: The vampire. Yeah. Okay, so it's really interesting because we had a lot of setup here, and apparently Midnighter knew just to steal Dick Grayson from that battle, just to go kill vampires last. We did that show up last issue. [00:23:43] Speaker B: It was last issue. And I don't know if they knew they were going to kill vampires, but sure, they're cool. [00:23:50] Speaker A: Well, we're here, and vampires and these guys in suits go to beat up the vampire, and they're being stalked by Midnighter and Grayson. [00:24:06] Speaker B: Yes. [00:24:09] Speaker A: And they bust their way on the next page into go take down the vampire place and the old lady at the front, like, I don't give a shit. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Do what you need to do. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Do what you need to do. They go take out the guys and then some more guys. [00:24:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like a bunch of dudes with skull masks or whatever. They got helmets. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah, there's some fighting going on. It's exciting. [00:24:40] Speaker B: Everybody's fighting. [00:24:42] Speaker A: There's fighting in blood. [00:24:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:47] Speaker A: And then they're, like, trying to find out if Akiavich is even there. More fighting. Fighting. This vampire tries to grab Midnighter, take him in the sky. Okay. [00:25:03] Speaker B: It doesn't work, though. [00:25:05] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's just fun. Midnighters fighting the big bad. Now he's fighting Willy Wonka. Willy Wonka, right. [00:25:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:15] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, I'm tracking here. Yeah, we're moving through very important dialogue here. We're kind of skipping then. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Not bad. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Midnighter hits him in the face, and his face explodes into a bunch of rats and. Oh, yeah, and bugs. [00:25:40] Speaker B: Midnighter smashes them too. [00:25:43] Speaker A: And then the vampire yells at him and says, you enjoy killing just as much as the people that walk in here. Who are you to judge them? ThaT's exciting. All right, and so Dick Grayson comes in and shoots people, primarily, some vampires. Okay. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Yeah, vampires everywhere. [00:26:07] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, out of stakes. He was out of stakes. [00:26:11] Speaker B: Cuts off his head. [00:26:14] Speaker A: Okay. Vampires seem like an all or nothing deal. Still don't think that's things, flying solo. Yeah. Okay, so more vampire time. Looks like we're freeing some vampires, right? [00:26:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, freeing them to death. They're being freed to death. [00:26:41] Speaker A: Yeah. I see. [00:26:44] Speaker B: Here's your steak. Please die. [00:26:47] Speaker A: This is exciting. Yeah, they freed them all so they can murder each other. Okay. [00:26:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Here's your steak. Kill yourself. [00:26:57] Speaker A: Okay. Humans treated with reprogrammed Martian cells, mimicking vampirism. Oh, hey, we've made it to a plot point. [00:27:06] Speaker B: Yes. These are not vampires. [00:27:10] Speaker A: They're just people. John's. [00:27:13] Speaker B: John John's. Yes. [00:27:16] Speaker A: Or John Jones. [00:27:17] Speaker B: John Jones. [00:27:18] Speaker A: Or John John's. [00:27:20] Speaker B: John John's. Whatever. Yeah. They're not. [00:27:24] Speaker A: And they were booby trapped, and they explode. Okay, so we've gotten nowhere. So all this fighting, we find something out, and then all the clues are gone. All right. This is the best. All right. Now they're back. [00:27:38] Speaker B: Got more work to do. [00:27:41] Speaker A: Wow. Akhyevich protects his investments. Not from me. Someone has to speak for them. Not letting this midnighter. And they're drinking it up at the bar for a. Oh, wow. And now Kazan, Russia. What? I'm watching Akubik. Your filthy science projects were a failure, and he's not seeing it. My beast battalion performed wonderfully. In fact, I'm expanding the program based on their success. But the cell isn't on the old products like the Beast Battalion. It's on new products I'll be offering. Imagine a computer brain that fights a fight a million times in an instant before it begins. Imagine your soldiers winning with it. And imagine me, the man, selling it to you, coming soon. And he has a picture of the. We only need the. [00:28:41] Speaker B: Wait, is he like a Russian? Max Lord? [00:28:45] Speaker A: No. You're like. [00:28:49] Speaker B: No. Sounds like. [00:28:51] Speaker A: It's a scientist. Okay, Max Lord is definitely not a scientist. [00:28:54] Speaker B: He's a businessman. Oh, he's the blue Beetle. [00:28:58] Speaker A: No, it was a joke. [00:29:00] Speaker B: It was a joke. It was totally. He's like a Lex Luthor. I'm being sarcastic, dear. [00:29:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, here we go. We flipped the page. Okay, dark, your two favorite artists. Right. [00:29:20] Speaker B: Here's. [00:29:29] Speaker A: The end. [00:29:30] Speaker B: Are you ready? [00:29:31] Speaker A: On to book five. I mean, I have, you know, it. It. [00:29:40] Speaker B: How do you feel after reading this? [00:29:45] Speaker A: I feel that we covered it with. We. I feel like we gave it as much attention as it needed, or maybe more. So, I mean, we probably gave it a good ten minutes on this book through. And that's probably what that story deserved. [00:30:03] Speaker B: Of all the stories. Of all that we've read so far, and this being number four so far, the other three had much more story in it. [00:30:16] Speaker A: This book, even though we commented on one of the other ones, that it didn't have had a lot of fight scenes. [00:30:24] Speaker B: Yeah, but it seemed like there was more to talk about. This one. There was not a lot to. [00:30:32] Speaker A: Well, the other. It's like you're going back and forth between these different scenes, going back between Oakland and Boston and Oakland and Boston and back and forth around the country and these different fighting things. [00:30:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess that's the only one that was, like, straightforward. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. There was no back and forth. There was no purest. It was the purest beginning to end book in the whole series thus far. [00:30:56] Speaker A: Almost like the writer got told to have a guest star and then just inserted the guest star in there and told the story as quickly as possible with no wrap ups of any subplots or anything like that. [00:31:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I was surprised that there was no midnight or talking to anybody to get some information or help or something like that from one of his. [00:31:17] Speaker A: Where's his boyfriend? [00:31:18] Speaker B: Yeah, where's his. [00:31:21] Speaker A: Oh, he has a new boyfriend, Mr. Grayson. [00:31:24] Speaker B: Where's his other boyfriends? [00:31:27] Speaker A: I don't know. We don't know. [00:31:30] Speaker B: Where's Apollo? [00:31:32] Speaker A: I don't know. Well, we're on to issue five. This is great. Yeah, this is super great. You don't want to talk about Aquaman. [00:31:41] Speaker B: And the creative team behind. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Talk about. We can talk about Oni Press's greatest writer some other time. [00:31:52] Speaker B: Talking about Mr. Bun. [00:31:56] Speaker A: Oni Press does like to use him. [00:31:59] Speaker B: He's a nice dude. I've met him a couple of times. [00:32:04] Speaker A: So I like his haircut. I'm a big fan. [00:32:10] Speaker B: He said nice things about me once. [00:32:12] Speaker A: Well, there you go. See? Well, we're on to the next issue and we've got a great cover with. [00:32:22] Speaker B: Spiral on the background going on. Are they jumping into the mouth of something? [00:32:26] Speaker A: Jumping into teeth? Yeah, there's a lot. Generally, I try to go straight into the mouth. [00:32:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Midnighter's got a crazy. There's a lot going on with his jacket. Yeah. Whoa, what's this? [00:32:47] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:48] Speaker B: Just like dark side war. [00:32:51] Speaker A: Dark side war, man. [00:32:53] Speaker B: It's a Batman and Superman and a Green Lantern and everybody fighting dark side. You got the Flash and. Damn. [00:33:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, moving on. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Moving on. All right. Oh, my gosh. They're in Oakland. [00:33:13] Speaker A: Matt's. Oh, wait. Yeah, there's Matt. He's back. [00:33:16] Speaker B: Hey, it's Matt. Everybody knows Matt, I guess. [00:33:20] Speaker A: Matt and three other guys. Okay. Hey, we got some backstory. That's what I was complaining about. [00:33:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:29] Speaker A: So we get introduced. Is this the first? What? What is. Okay, cool. We're in Oakland. All right. [00:33:41] Speaker B: We're in Oakland and they're running and they're having a superhero, and he's got a hip problem. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Okay. Jason is Jason. Joe and Gerald are know. I'll be lucky to be like them when I grow up. Hopefully you'll be like you when you grow up. Says the mystery man on the other side of the phone. Who's fighting people while chatting. Okay, that's awesome. Matt seems fairly vulnerable here, right? He doesn't seem very maniacal or anything like that to you? [00:34:16] Speaker B: Why would he? He's a dude running with the disc men in 2016. [00:34:25] Speaker A: That is factual. That is amazing. I missed that. [00:34:28] Speaker B: You could still do it because we have them down at the retro emporium right now in stock. [00:34:34] Speaker A: Why is he running with disc Man? Why is he running with a disc man? Anyway? Okay, whatever. [00:34:43] Speaker B: I don't know that pose, though. I don't know. [00:34:49] Speaker A: Oh, God. Okay. Yeah. It's going to be. [00:34:55] Speaker B: To be lapped by old men. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Well, we're in Russia again. Let's just go back to Russia. Okay. Fighting. Fighting. Fighting. Fighting. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Fighting. Fighting. Everybody's got that fire trackle on their hands. Are they souped up, amped up people? What's going on? [00:35:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess. They don't really tell us, though. [00:35:15] Speaker B: They just. [00:35:17] Speaker A: Did they have Martian DNA? [00:35:19] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Okay, well, next page. [00:35:23] Speaker B: Find them up. [00:35:24] Speaker A: We're in Moscow, okay? We get some people talking. This is the creepy guy, right? [00:35:34] Speaker B: This is the scientist guy. He's like, hey, I want to cook for you. I've been cooking since I was a child. [00:35:42] Speaker A: All right? [00:35:43] Speaker B: I can make really good cereal. [00:35:45] Speaker A: He goes somewhere through one of those magic teleport things. [00:35:49] Speaker B: What? He's got a teleport man. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Everybody's got a teleport. That'll be Akibich. Okay. Now we're back in Kazan. Begin looking. Busy, slug. And apparently we're here. Oh, here we go. Okay. Must be a reflex. The Beast Battalion is exceeding projections. Martian cells are easily manipulating and aggressive. Manipulated and aggressive. Yeah, manipulating, too. Yeah. A fire under them. We have that market cornered on monster, sir. Okay, so they're burning. How did they get these cells? [00:36:26] Speaker B: I don't know. They collected them. They collected the cells. They used them and they made monsters. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's great. Okay, so we are off. [00:36:47] Speaker B: Midnighter and dick are having a conversation about the teleport device, the doors. [00:36:58] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:37:00] Speaker B: You're like, I'm checked out. I don't care. [00:37:02] Speaker A: Yeah, which angers it's. [00:37:06] Speaker B: Well, he's talking about they're going to the Metro because it's the only way to go. When you're in Moscow, the Metro takes. [00:37:15] Speaker A: You or any city except in the. [00:37:19] Speaker B: I mean. [00:37:22] Speaker A: Maybe New York. [00:37:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:27] Speaker A: Okay. They're down in the Metro. It looks beautiful down there. [00:37:32] Speaker B: I hear that. They. They would do them like, they put a lot of money into their metro stations and stuff like that pretty wild. Yeah. Something happens in panel three. What's going on? Midnighter? You sneaky guy, you. This is date night. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Apparently, they're handicuffed together now. Why? [00:38:04] Speaker B: Well, now that he's got a hold of Grayson, something else, he doesn't want. [00:38:11] Speaker A: To let him go, I guess. Yeah. I mean, is he taking him into the car and they're going to listen to Delilah all night? [00:38:25] Speaker B: Probably. [00:38:26] Speaker A: Do you know who Delilah is? [00:38:28] Speaker B: Yeah, the talk show host. [00:38:31] Speaker A: She's not a talk show host. She's a radio DJ. [00:38:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that has a talk show, rates. [00:38:37] Speaker A: Love dedications, and then plays talk show. [00:38:41] Speaker B: It is music. She talks to people about their feelings sometimes. [00:38:45] Speaker A: No. [00:38:46] Speaker B: Oh, does she? [00:38:47] Speaker A: Okay, well, usually I thought she just talks them, and then she gives them a know. [00:38:51] Speaker B: Well, yeah, but sometimes they get deeper than that, Dan. Sometimes when you're in the car and you're feeling something because someone tonight. And then she makes a dedication and she says, hey, have you been thinking about that? [00:39:08] Speaker A: Okay, well, they ride the monster train. [00:39:10] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:39:13] Speaker A: There's monsters on bear monsters, and there's bear monsters, and there's bird monsters and bat monsters and rat monsters and probably some cat monsters. I don't see any yet. [00:39:30] Speaker B: And other monsters. [00:39:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:33] Speaker B: Is it a naked lady monster? [00:39:36] Speaker A: There's just panel after panel of fighting. More fighting, more fighting. Okay, pretty simple, Dick. It's called showing off. Last stop, midnighter. You are still prepared. Please, Dick, do you know me at all? And now he's got a sword, and they're fighting a werewolf monster. [00:39:57] Speaker B: Yes, a werewolf monster. [00:40:00] Speaker A: Okay. And the werewolf monster is tossing the hand around. If you don't know at this age, I can't help you. [00:40:11] Speaker B: I mean, because I never seen him. He's always moving around and stuff like that. He does have a big jacket. I don't know. He could have it on his back. [00:40:19] Speaker A: Of course he does. Everybody keeps their sword under their jacket on their back. [00:40:24] Speaker B: I got you. Okay? [00:40:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:27] Speaker B: All right. [00:40:28] Speaker A: It's exactly what I was thinking. [00:40:29] Speaker B: Well, it could be there. I'd never seen it, like, poket bound his leg or anything like that. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Well, they fight werewolf guy and stab him through the head. Do you think he's still handcuffed? [00:40:46] Speaker B: Here's a question. [00:40:47] Speaker A: Have we figured out why they're handcuffed yet? [00:40:49] Speaker B: No, but do you think these monsters were people, too? Like the vampire monsters? [00:40:54] Speaker A: So they're just like an important plot point, though. Like, why would he handcuff him? [00:40:58] Speaker B: Well, it also seemed like an important plot point in the last story where the guy was making vampires out of other people that were homeless. So are you thinking what I'm thinking? That these are all homeless people that were turned into monsters. And now midnight. Yeah, and now Midnighter and Grayson are just running around killing all these people? [00:41:18] Speaker A: Yeah, and they're handcuffed. [00:41:20] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:41:22] Speaker A: Okay, now we're back to Ikovich, or Ikanovich, or, I mean, he's on the phone. [00:41:28] Speaker B: Hold on. My monsters have been getting killed. [00:41:31] Speaker A: Did Grayson break in and all them knives? Yeah, knives are flying everywhere. [00:41:39] Speaker B: Have you ever tried to throw a bunch of throwing knives at the same time? It is difficult. I got a set from my great uncle as a Christmas gift when I was younger, and you just can't just throw them and expect them to stick. [00:41:58] Speaker A: Hold up. Yeah, I get that. So we throw some knives, and then we find out that Ikonovich, or Ikovich or whatever, has telekinesis. [00:42:08] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. So he's like Carrie from King book. [00:42:12] Speaker A: So, like, sure, that's exactly the person I would have picked for telekinesis. But anyway, I don't know what's happening. Okay, so why does he need a monster army? He's, like, literally doing more damage to the two of them than anybody has with his telekinesis. Yeah. [00:42:35] Speaker B: Well, I mean, yes. [00:42:38] Speaker A: And then, Ton, what does your pressure computer brain say? Okay, and then Dick Grayson taunts him, says, I think he won fights, but they're no longer handcuffed, aka Yevich. Yeah. [00:42:59] Speaker B: Okay, well, he needs to go down. He just liquidated those people. [00:43:05] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. [00:43:11] Speaker B: Midnighter's plan is beyond reproach. [00:43:14] Speaker A: He knows everything. [00:43:16] Speaker B: Yeah, he does. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Now he sounds like Batman. [00:43:18] Speaker B: Okay, my plan is beyond reproach. Oh, my gosh. Okay, in your head, how do you hear Midnighter's voice? Is he the dark? [00:43:31] Speaker A: No, he's not the dark. I hear reading this comic as quickly as possible, so I don't really have a voice. [00:43:36] Speaker B: But you don't hear him as the dog? [00:43:40] Speaker A: No. [00:43:41] Speaker B: Is he the dirt? [00:43:43] Speaker A: Yeah, he might be the dirt, actually, but plate is beyond reproach. Sometimes she. [00:43:52] Speaker B: And then he handcuffed them. [00:43:56] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. You might as well give the shout out here to king Falls. [00:43:59] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:44:00] Speaker A: Am right. [00:44:02] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:44:03] Speaker A: Great storytelling podcast, by the way, if you've never picked it up. Highly recommended. And it's much better storytelling. [00:44:14] Speaker B: You can't tell if Midnighter is the dirt or the dark. [00:44:19] Speaker A: But now, after all of that, going through the subway and everything else, we flip the page and he unlocks some doors and slides through them and kicks the guy in the head. Capal guy with telekinesis. Why didn't we just do this at the start of the story? [00:44:36] Speaker B: He's going to explain it in a second. Dan, I read this book already. [00:44:41] Speaker A: Okay? Oh, yeah, your telekinesis appliance. You'll be pulling pieces out of your future, out of your ear canal for days. That's what my fight computer tells me. Ass. Okay, now we're getting mature. You want my brain? I get the appeal. It's the reason your job matches my boot. But this doesn't still explain why they did all this other stuff. Why didn't they just go through those doors and murder him? [00:45:10] Speaker B: Because they had to do it this way, Dan. It's in the script. [00:45:18] Speaker A: That's fair. [00:45:21] Speaker B: Because he was using the telekinesis appliance and he had to wait until it was the right time to go through and directly into his teleport jam. [00:45:34] Speaker A: Well, we get to the next page and midnighter is going to kill this guy. Dick Grayson is going to put a stop to that because Bat folks don't kill. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. [00:45:46] Speaker A: Unless you're in the first 25 issues of Detective comics in the 40s or you're watching any Snyder cut movie where Batman just murders people with machine guns. [00:46:00] Speaker B: Wait a minute. Does that happen in the Snyder cut. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Happened in the Batman. Batman versus Superman. Oh, man, not in the. [00:46:16] Speaker B: Back. [00:46:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, there you go. So he can't feel his back. This is exciting. So they basically took this guy out and they've created an enemy. [00:46:36] Speaker B: Now he's Batman. [00:46:41] Speaker A: Okay, sorry, he's just the middleman. [00:46:44] Speaker B: He's the middleman? [00:46:45] Speaker A: Yeah, he's the middle of Backman. [00:46:49] Speaker B: They created an enemy, but I mean, yeah, they gave him an know how he can survive. [00:46:59] Speaker A: And now we get to the last page where Dick Grayson and Midnight are together in a hotel room listening to Delilah. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Yes. Getting some of their songs that they wanted to hear played and broadcasted. When you were sitting at the park and you looked up at the sky and a rainbow flew overwards and a butterfly came down from the sky and there was a sheep looking cloud, you knew that the day was perfect and that's how this song makes you feel. She Bangs By Ricky Martin. [00:47:41] Speaker A: That'D be better if this was playing right now. And they've got their final barbs in. And then Dick Grayson goes to sleep across. Number one, Dick Grayson has been in enough shitty hotels in Bloodhaven that he should know to take that top cover off. [00:48:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that's where all the bugs are at and all the gross. [00:48:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And there's a big stain on it. Is midnighter and his fighter are asleep. Yeah. And we get, I don't know, something in Russian here. Is that midnighter as well? I don't know. We got Steve Orlando, writer Stephen Mooney, artist Farardo Jr. And Cox on Colors, Napolitano on Letters and ACO, and Fardo Jr. On the COVID again. Oh, wait. What? There's more story. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:48:46] Speaker A: We're back in Oakland. I thought we were done. [00:48:48] Speaker B: I thought we were done, too. Oh, my. [00:48:50] Speaker A: Oh, hey, surprise. Midnighter's back. He's there with. Hey. Thanksgiving together. That's so nice. He's so not bloody. Yay. He did listen to Delilah. He went back and found his true love. [00:49:05] Speaker B: He did. And now they've requested another song. Delilah is now saying over the radio, now that you're back at home and fantastic meals been placed on the table, and you're with those who you love and you care about, you too, know truly what wealth is. [00:49:28] Speaker A: And then we flip the page. [00:49:30] Speaker B: I was going to say money for nothing is playing on the radio. [00:49:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I was thinking steam. Sledgehammer. Yeah, sledgehammer. I want to be. [00:49:49] Speaker B: If they don't eat too much, I'm sure he will be a sledgehammer. [00:49:53] Speaker A: Well, until you turn the page. [00:49:58] Speaker B: Oh, no, that's a Thanksgiving runer right there. [00:50:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:04] Speaker B: That gun is too big for that helicopter. Dude. Who drew this? [00:50:10] Speaker A: Stephen Mooney? [00:50:11] Speaker B: No, this looks like something from some other dude who's not going to be mentioned. [00:50:17] Speaker A: No, the feet look too good. [00:50:19] Speaker B: I know, right? Oh, my gosh. That gun looks too big for helicopter. [00:50:26] Speaker A: Well, you know, that helicopter looks. [00:50:30] Speaker B: Oh, man, they're all packing. [00:50:33] Speaker A: Okay, so I think the best thing that's going to happen is you're going to turn the page. [00:50:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Sometimes you just have to take a shot at something new. Whoa, whoa. [00:50:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:50:46] Speaker B: Turning the page. Bullet. [00:50:48] Speaker A: And after all this great Martian DNA stuff, we get an advertisement for a Martian Manhunter miniseries. [00:50:56] Speaker B: Oh, hey, he can be any one of them. Or all of them, because with the. [00:51:03] Speaker A: DNA, this is exactly what you wanted to find out. Yeah. They really set you up great for this. [00:51:10] Speaker B: They did, actually. That was. [00:51:12] Speaker A: Wow. [00:51:13] Speaker B: Wow. [00:51:14] Speaker A: At least the advertising wasn't another house ad for midnight. Or inside of his own book. [00:51:19] Speaker B: Inside his own book. [00:51:20] Speaker A: And they did try. If the story had been half decent, this might have piqued my interest in this Martian Manhunter book. [00:51:30] Speaker B: Could have been, but it did not. [00:51:33] Speaker A: Ultimately, it didn't. Yeah. Then TK three the master race by Frank Miller. Okay. Yeah, that was great, too. All right. So that was midnighter number four and five, guest starring Grayson. [00:51:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:51:52] Speaker A: So I think I've asked you things like this before. [00:51:56] Speaker B: Yes. Throw it out there. [00:51:58] Speaker A: So if you were writing this book and you were just world building, and you'd gotten to the point where you had your main locations. Right. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:08] Speaker A: And you had your characters, and you were ready to go, and the tension was between him and Matt. Right. And then with Apollo in the background and all of that, and you've got those as your subplots, so to speak. You also have this God garden thing sitting in the background, which can be pulled up at any time. And then editorial comes to you and says, yeah, we know you have three issues written, and you probably have six to eight issues written already. Right? Like, if you're doing this. Right, like, you got your story arc, or at least you've got. [00:52:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:40] Speaker A: Plotted. Right? So you're plotted. You've probably written a bunch. Hey, Greg, in the middle of your awesome six issue story arc here, we want you to write two brand new issues with guest star Grayson. [00:52:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:58] Speaker A: What do you do? [00:52:59] Speaker B: What do assess my. I take a look at everything that I've written, and I assess how I have written everything. I look it over. I take a look at the notes from editorial about the desire to have Grayson put into what. And basically, they've already got these two issues, right. That are already moving forward. Third issue hasn't hit the stands yet, and that's the one that's moving outward. And then they want to put Grayson in there somewhere. After that third issue, basically what I would do is I highlight everything from issue three on, and I delete it, and I start over again. [00:53:53] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:53:55] Speaker B: No. [00:53:58] Speaker A: I burn it all. [00:54:00] Speaker B: And then I curse the editor. No, honestly, I would look at it, and I would sit down and ask. I would ask them how they see the story working. They've already seen my arc at this point. They already know what I'm doing, what I'm presenting and putting forward. So they're going to know the flow. And then I ask them, as the editor, how best do they see this working into this? Because at the end of the day, I could come up with a million different ideas. But if editorial doesn't approve them, then you're going to end up with whatever they end up saying to do, which I feel like maybe that's what happened to Orlando. They're like, no, just write two issues of, yep, hanging out with midnighter. That's what we want. [00:55:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And the interesting thing is, I've read a lot of Steve Orlando stuff, and this seems not it. [00:55:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it seemed like a very big sidestep away from anything that we've been reading in any of the other issues. And, like, you feel. It feels like they gave him. Here's three issues of Grayson. Read this, feel it out, and then see how you're going to make that happen. Here. Emulate it, and make it happen. I will tell you, I've had couple of different things that I've done where I've either had to change things around a lot, make some big edits and stuff like that to fit ideas into things that were new, because it's what editorial wanted, or even go back through something that's existed for a long time. And just because things have taken so long for production and other stuff like that, the world has changed since we created something in Braves and, well, gosh darn it, you know what? We just have to change some of this story because it doesn't fit with the current world that we're in. You have to do those things, and even though something's been written, you just go back through and you're like, all right, cool. And I wasn't joking. You literally just go, okay, cool. Highlight, delete. Let's start over again, because you don't really have 100% say over everything. But I would say if I was given this task, I would really assess the Grayson books. I personally would try to see how could I fit some of the other character stuff that was already existing in the other things and tag them into the existing book. So I think in issue four, there wasn't a lot of callback to any of the other previous issues or any of the other characters and stuff like that. It was just essentially Midnighter and Grayson in Moscow. And I get it for character development for those two, the chemistry, build up the chemistry and everything like that. But I feel like if you had some callback to it or call back to one or two of those characters, it would still be rooted in the, okay, cool. You're still in Midnight or universe. You're not just in this buddy cop or buddy superhero book that we're hearing and seeing right now in number two near the end, you get that. But it's also the weird moment with Matt and the running. It just kind of was like, oh, hey, it's Matt, and he's running. It's nice to see Matt running with some friends and stuff like that, but it's also kind of also not a whole lot of. I don't know. I think maybe I would have had Matt talking with a couple other characters that we've met in the past, not just a bunch of randos. [00:58:39] Speaker A: Yeah, there's that, too. I think. Yeah. [00:58:43] Speaker B: At least two or three people that we know would have been nice that way. There's that Connectivity and feeling of. Okay, cool. This is the same feeling. Because at first glance, I was like, what's going on here? I think I was thrown off, as you were. And I'm sure Orlando was just told just to make this. [00:59:11] Speaker A: Also, if there's any other evidence, too, guess what? The normal artist is back for issue six. It's almost like the story got cut off in the middle. [00:59:26] Speaker B: Interesting. [00:59:29] Speaker A: And multiplex is there in issue six. [00:59:33] Speaker B: What? Interesting. [00:59:38] Speaker A: Yeah, interesting. And the relationship between midnighter and Matt gets discussed a lot in issue six. [00:59:51] Speaker B: Okay, so, yeah, maybe that's exactly what mean, we don't know the inside of it, but that is probably the reality of it. Like, hey, here's the task. Do it. Make it happen. We need to tie this in with Grayson. Grayson's hot, both figuratively and, you know, make it happen. [01:00:15] Speaker A: Yep. Interesting. Yeah, yeah. These are all good points. [01:00:24] Speaker B: And that's the thing for any. Anybody that's writing and wants to write and stuff like that. You're constantly given challenges in your writing and. Or even if you're just editing for somebody. And sometimes you might be working on a project where you think you have twelve pages to work on a short project. And it goes from twelve to nine to three. And you have to figure out how to make a twelve page story into three pages after you've already cut it down to nine or six. So there's always challenges like that and how to make it still connective work. Tell a good story, be true to the characters, and give the audience, the reader, something to actually want to read. As opposed to hot fire garbage. [01:01:18] Speaker A: Yeah, we got hot fire garbage. [01:01:25] Speaker B: You say hot fire garbage, but we're still reading it. And I don't think it's necessarily 100% by, like, well, I only read it. [01:01:32] Speaker A: Because I could get through it in, like, five minutes. [01:01:35] Speaker B: But, I mean, there's an enjoyability factor on some level. It's like, okay, cool. There are moments. And also the learning aspect, too. For me, the best way to be good at what you do is to read and experience other people's things, because if you don't, then yoU're always going to just only do what you do. So for me, reading something that I haven't read. And seeing how other people work through different situations like this, two issues, it's a great learning opportunity for me to say, oh, if I'm ever in this situation, these things I will put into my toolbox so I can pull them out when I need to. [01:02:26] Speaker A: Well, there's some good news here I just want to share with you. Grayson was indeed selling more units than midnighter of. Let's see. Midnighter was ranked, let's see here. In the monthly sales. Let's see if I got the right month or. Oh, so I'm looking at last issue. So, leading into the issue four, which makes sense to look at that month's sales, right. Midnighter number three, was ranked 132nd in unit sales and 156th in dollars out of 367 books being sold at the time. Junior Braves of the Apocalypse is ranked 304. Oh, wait. Sorry. [01:03:19] Speaker B: We're so far down the list. [01:03:23] Speaker A: I don't think you came out in August of 2015, did you? [01:03:27] Speaker B: July. [01:03:28] Speaker A: July. So we'd have to look the month before, and I will in a second. And Grayson was number 48. So, obviously, top 50 book. Top 50 Hero, bat book. But bat book barely cracking the top 50 is not super great either. But anyway, there you go. And you all came out July 2015. Yeah, I was close. [01:03:53] Speaker B: You were close. [01:03:57] Speaker A: Anyway, so, yeah, I'm having trouble getting there. But while we do some great radio, why look up sales numbers? You are right. I mean, there was a crossover. Maybe there was an attempt to do something like you were describing. [01:04:14] Speaker B: Trying to hopefully pick up and move that number and get more fans, people that are like, oh, hey, cool, I like this book. So. I like this book, too. I like Grayson Midnighter would be cool. [01:04:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And so maybe there's some crossover stuff going on. It just seems a little early, too. I don't know. And again, I'm not marketing these things. It may have been brilliant marketing. Right. [01:04:44] Speaker B: Well, I'm sure, like you said, with even the tie ins for the advertising in the back of the books and stuff like that you're seeing, oh, hey, the storyline is all about Martian DNA. And where do we get that Martian DNA? Go figure. Oh, hey. Martian Manhunter book right here at the end of the. It makes sense, right? There's good stuff. They're doing good marketing in those senses, even if they're trying to push their own book inside their own book. [01:05:14] Speaker A: Well, just so you know, you were not in the comic book category, so I can't compare you. You were in the graphic novel category. Do you want to guess what the number one selling graphic novel title was that month. [01:05:35] Speaker B: I couldn't even tell you. [01:05:36] Speaker A: In 2015, it was Fables Volume 22. [01:05:39] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [01:05:42] Speaker A: And Wicked and Divine Volume two from Image was number two. So just kind of like putting you there. Both great. Yeah, very read. Wicked and divine. So you're good there. And you were so far down the list, it doesn't. 267. [01:06:02] Speaker B: 267. [01:06:04] Speaker A: Yeah. That's actually pretty good. That's better than you thought it was going to be, wasn't it? You were. Immediately ahead of you was the Shadow show and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume seven. Wow. And below you was Thor for Asgard Hardcover, Gotham City Sirens, Book one, east of west, which was a great series. Good. Walking Dead, volume five. We beat Walking Dead. No, you beat one of the volumes of Walking Dead. [01:06:41] Speaker B: That's the irony being the child. [01:06:44] Speaker A: So you were 267 out of 514. Wow. [01:06:49] Speaker B: We're like right in the middle of the pack. [01:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:52] Speaker B: That is awesome. Put that in you. [01:06:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:58] Speaker B: There you go. Well, you made me feel good on a day. I felt crummy. Thank you. [01:07:06] Speaker A: See, there you go. So you weren't worst and you weren't best. That means you sold books. [01:07:12] Speaker B: That is true. [01:07:14] Speaker A: Which means you're rich. [01:07:15] Speaker B: No, I'm not. [01:07:16] Speaker A: Because you're a comic writer, which makes you rich. [01:07:20] Speaker B: That's always funny when people ask, what do you do? And I say, comics. And then they ask me to tell them that, give me my best ten minutes, because they think I'm a comic. [01:07:36] Speaker A: That makes sense. You probably could do both. I probably could. [01:07:40] Speaker B: And then they would be like, you're not really that funny, but you are sometimes funny. [01:07:49] Speaker A: Well, the moral of the story here is we have talked about, now, we've extended this to an hour and seven minutes because we were talking about book sales and things like that. I really should support these people on Patreon. This is a great website. Yeah, do it. [01:08:05] Speaker B: Who is it? [01:08:06] Speaker A: The Comic conicron. The comic Con? Yeah, thecomicron.com. So let's give them some proper credit. That's where we are getting the sales data. [01:08:16] Speaker B: People go to the Comic Con and look up your good information, and then if you like what you see and see what you like, then Patreon them. Patreon them. Give them some dollars because it makes sense. [01:08:29] Speaker A: Yes. Okay. Well, this is really cool. [01:08:36] Speaker B: You're just amazed. You're like. [01:08:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm probably going to do this right now. So there we go. Okay. [01:08:44] Speaker B: Very cool. [01:08:44] Speaker A: Well, anyway, good news. Probably should support the people I use their. Steal their research from. [01:08:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:51] Speaker A: Anyway, do it. Okay. So we're good. Well, anyway, do you have any final thoughts here on Mr. Midnighter and Mr. Grayson? [01:09:04] Speaker B: It was a great time to hang out. I thought it was a fun little excursion. But getting back to the rest of the midnighter and his world turned upside down in the rest of the series, finding out what's happening and what's going on in issue number six, I will be glad to see the Dick Grayson storyline of him being Agent 37. As cool as it is. It was him being him and not really being he was him being super but not being special one. [01:09:44] Speaker A: Like a special. We had the opportunity to have Batman and Robin in a hot gay sex scene, and, well, nothing mean. [01:09:58] Speaker B: It ended exactly as I thought it would. Robin asleep on the bed and Batman with his drunk, drunk sitting on the. [01:10:10] Speaker A: I mean, and that's the way it ended. [01:10:12] Speaker B: And a big stain on the mattress with somebody else. [01:10:17] Speaker A: 132Nd best. What? Oh, wait, I'm in the wrong month. I guess before we go, I probably should go to September sales numbers. [01:10:28] Speaker B: Okay, September sales numbers. Here we go. [01:10:30] Speaker A: To see if. Right. I mean, we should go to September sales numbers to see if the Grayson appearance boosted. You know, before we go. Yeah. I want to find this out because I've been making the joke about this, right? [01:10:48] Speaker B: Minds want to know. [01:10:50] Speaker A: Let's see if Greg is right. And indeed it did not. It went from 132nd to 149th. [01:10:59] Speaker B: It went down. [01:11:00] Speaker A: It went down by 17 spots. Wow. [01:11:07] Speaker B: So Grayson being in it made it go down. [01:11:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Let's see if the second one. No, it went down to 152nd, selling a grand total of 13,235 books. [01:11:24] Speaker B: This is depressing. [01:11:28] Speaker A: For contrast, the number one DC book that month was only ranked number 11th. It was Batman, and it sold 109,000 books. [01:11:41] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [01:11:43] Speaker A: Justice League sold 77,000. Justice League sold 56,000. Batman and Robin Eternal sold 54,000. And we're looking at 13,000 units for midnighter. So, yeah, there you go. [01:12:05] Speaker B: It's not really looking good for midnighter if numbers keep going down. [01:12:12] Speaker A: And the Grayson book sold, went down. It was at number 69, selling 32,000 units. So just under triple what midnighter sold. [01:12:25] Speaker B: It seems like if your numbers go down like that, then somebody's going to get the. [01:12:34] Speaker A: Throwing knives. [01:12:36] Speaker B: The throwing knives, they're going to get cut. [01:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:42] Speaker B: So not good. Well, I guess we'll find out what happens in the next book. [01:12:50] Speaker A: Yes, we talk next time. Yeah. On funny book forensics. And we'll excite you with more sales numbers. [01:12:58] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. They are so exciting. I want you to put them in a spreadsheet and then give me a slideshow or a slide deck or whatever they call them nowadays. [01:13:08] Speaker A: I may do that. [01:13:09] Speaker B: What do they call them nowadays? [01:13:10] Speaker A: Is that a challenge? [01:13:12] Speaker B: Yeah, put it up on the old Twitter's there, Dan. [01:13:17] Speaker A: Well, we may be making a graphic. [01:13:19] Speaker B: Out of sales numbers. Want a graphic of sales numbers? And then I want it to look real. You can you make me pivot table? [01:13:29] Speaker A: I can. I've made pivot tables all day. [01:13:31] Speaker B: I want three pivot tables to explain to me how come this book is so interesting. [01:13:36] Speaker A: All right, well, on that note, I think we wrap this up. [01:13:39] Speaker B: All right. [01:13:41] Speaker A: And that's our episode of Funny book Forensics Midnighter Edition with Grayson. [01:13:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it was good. Sorry.