Funny Book Forensics 283 You Think I am Done!?

[00:00:07] Speaker A: Actually, you know, I told you we were doing two episodes today or two comics today, but we're not. We are doing three. [00:00:12] Speaker B: No, we can't. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Midnighter 1011 and twelve. We're finishing this way out. [00:00:19] Speaker B: No, Dan. But that's too many episodes. I don't have that kind of time. [00:00:23] Speaker A: It's not too many. It's not going to take long. [00:00:28] Speaker B: I got booted out of DC. I can't open up the book, so I can't even read along with you. I don't even know what we're looking about. I'm not lying. [00:00:39] Speaker A: This is not even funny. [00:00:41] Speaker B: I wish I was laughing, but I'm not. I'm crying. I have tears. [00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, this is the best podcast recording time right now. So what you're telling me is we don't have time because I have to get you back into DC Comics is what you're saying. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Because I can't open the thing. And now you wanted me to start the episode, and now I'm telling you. [00:01:03] Speaker A: I can't even look at what you. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Want me to look. [00:01:06] Speaker A: Know, you could have led with that. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Before we started recording, but you didn't want me to. You just said record, so I just do what Dan says. [00:01:14] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, well, that's. Nobody else does. I'm not sure why you would feel that way. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Because I felt that way all my life. [00:01:23] Speaker A: Jeez, that's. Well, this is the best start to a podcast ever. Yeah. Well, let's focus on before we get into this colossal disaster of a comic book that we're reviewing. Yeah, I should just note that I mentioned John again, and you'll notice he's not here. [00:01:52] Speaker B: John is. He will eventually. Someday. Come on to the thing that we are talking about. He was asking if I was ever going to release the episode of Narrative Gunslingers that he was on, but I doubt that that's ever going to happen. [00:02:07] Speaker A: Well, if you all knew how to actually use the website, I noticed that you were trying to post episodes of narrative gloveslingers in the wrong place, which entertained. [00:02:16] Speaker B: I did it the way that he told me to do it. [00:02:18] Speaker A: You should follow my podcast instructions, except use the narrative gunslingers template instead of the funny book forensics template. I have written instructions for you. [00:02:30] Speaker B: Did I use the funny book Forensics template? [00:02:33] Speaker A: No, you did not. You in fact, didn't make, see little inside baseball. For everyone. To do our system, you have to make a blog post, not a podcast post, Greg. But I see your stuff in the podcast post. [00:02:48] Speaker B: No, what's funny is I did it, which are you talking about, like, three episodes? Like, or the most recent episode? [00:02:58] Speaker A: I mean, I just see narrative gunslingers in the wrong place, and I just assume you don't know what you're doing. By the way, I just did it. [00:03:04] Speaker B: The way that he told me to do it. [00:03:06] Speaker A: You should definitely get into the DC account, share this experience. Right. I'm. [00:03:13] Speaker B: I'm going. I'm doing it. You know what's funny is this is all the same. We'll find out. [00:03:21] Speaker A: It's all the same. It's only the games we play. What? [00:03:25] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:03:26] Speaker A: Everywhere. I'm just messing up all the lyrics. [00:03:29] Speaker B: Unknown error. It's not letting me in. [00:03:32] Speaker A: That's insane. [00:03:33] Speaker B: I know. Well, I would send you a screenshot. [00:03:36] Speaker A: But, I mean, unknown error. [00:03:38] Speaker B: Unknown error. [00:03:39] Speaker A: Why don't you hit Ctrl F Five for me and then log in again? This is great. [00:03:46] Speaker B: Renowned error. [00:03:48] Speaker A: Okay, why don't you clear out your history of anything related to DC Universe and try again? And we are definitely starting over, because no one wants to listen to. [00:03:58] Speaker B: This is. This is real life, dude. People like real life. [00:04:03] Speaker A: Yeah, people love me. Giving computer instructions. [00:04:07] Speaker B: I mean, I don't know. [00:04:09] Speaker A: Maybe, you know the best thing ever? [00:04:12] Speaker B: What's that? [00:04:13] Speaker A: We're trying to review an issue with an advertisement for Batman v. Superman. Dawn of justice on the COVID That is funny. And this is happening because this is as much of a shit show as that movie was. [00:04:25] Speaker B: Oh, that's not true. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Batman shot people. [00:04:29] Speaker B: Okay? It is bad. It's bad. [00:04:32] Speaker A: Batman doesn't shoot people. It's true. That's his whole point. Well, I guess that's not true. If you go back to the very early Detective comics Batman. [00:04:42] Speaker B: Yeah, this isn't working. [00:04:45] Speaker A: Well, what device are you using? [00:04:47] Speaker B: I'm using the laptop. My laptop. [00:04:50] Speaker A: Okay, well, can you try a different browser? [00:04:53] Speaker B: I will try a different browser. [00:04:55] Speaker A: Have you turned it on and off again? [00:04:57] Speaker B: I can't turn it on and off again, Dan. We'll mess up the podcast, and that's the most important part of the day. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Yeah, we could totally start this podcast over, and it would not be an issue. [00:05:09] Speaker B: It is an issue. People want to hear the reality that we're in. [00:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. The reality we're in is I spent all day building spreadsheets, so now I can talk to you about how to restart your computer. [00:05:20] Speaker B: That's great. Exactly the truth. That's the fun, right? [00:05:28] Speaker A: Some amazing pivot tables today, let me tell you. [00:05:30] Speaker B: Pivot tables. Everybody loves those pivot tables. [00:05:34] Speaker A: Actually, I need some coaching on those fancy pivot tables. [00:05:39] Speaker B: Oh, I don't do those anymore. [00:05:41] Speaker A: I just didn't. [00:05:42] Speaker B: Unknown error again in a new browser. What if I start a new computer, a different computer, and do it over there on that computer? [00:05:51] Speaker A: I don't know why you're having a message that says unknown error. That doesn't. [00:05:54] Speaker B: I don't know. I had to work off of two computers yesterday to record with Sol. [00:06:00] Speaker A: Did this just start happening yesterday? [00:06:04] Speaker B: No, it wasn't yesterday. It was just like, me being lazy. But this DC thing is just now. [00:06:11] Speaker A: Great. [00:06:11] Speaker B: Maybe I just got to turn off the computer and turn it on again. [00:06:15] Speaker A: It's possible. I probably have a workaround. [00:06:18] Speaker B: Well, I'm starting up a different, well. [00:06:20] Speaker A: I do this workaround. Tell me about the parasite. [00:06:26] Speaker B: What about the parasite? The parasite is a parasite, man. That's what a parasite is. If you don't know what a parasite is, then you need to go back to junior high biology. Because parasites, they latch on. [00:06:41] Speaker A: I meant the comic book character who's been in multiple cartoons, multiple different storylines. Do you have a memorable parasite issue special anything? Because I do. But I was wondering if you actually read enough DC Comics to have one, and if you don't, that's fine, but I'm not even being mean. I'm just the parasite spin in all over the place, right? It's not like true parasites been all. [00:07:07] Speaker B: Over the place because that's what parasites do. I think my favorite appearance is in the Midnighter episode issue. [00:07:14] Speaker A: Oh, shut up. [00:07:18] Speaker B: You tell me your favorite. [00:07:20] Speaker A: Oh, right. This is that thing where you really don't know anything about the Parasite, and then you're like, oh, tell me your favorite. So did you read kingdom come? [00:07:29] Speaker B: It's been a while. [00:07:30] Speaker A: It's been a while. Do you remember what made everybody hate the superheroes and started parasite? Yes. Do you remember what happened? [00:07:38] Speaker B: Of course. Parasite works. Parasite magic. [00:07:41] Speaker A: I see. That's exactly parasite. There was a nuclear bomb in the middle of Kansas. [00:07:49] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:07:50] Speaker A: It started everything. [00:07:52] Speaker B: Yeah, in the middle of nowhere. [00:07:53] Speaker A: Workaround for this. So it's great. I'm having fun. [00:07:57] Speaker B: What? [00:07:58] Speaker A: I don't have a workaround for this. [00:08:00] Speaker B: That's okay. I'm starting up another computer. I've got it going. It's happening. You tell me about. Keep telling me about parasite. [00:08:06] Speaker A: Well, that was it. I mean, that's it? That's all you had? Well, yeah, it was an appearance. I asked you for your favorite appearance, and you're like, hey, okay, so I was just thinking while we get started and you get this crappy comic loaded up. I've been picking some comics for a while and I was thinking about my favorite comics. I just got done walking the dog. I had surgery last week or, well, two weeks from now, two weeks before, by the time this comes out. [00:08:36] Speaker B: But. [00:08:39] Speaker A: It'S been a lot of thinking time, I think still about 60%. This is not the most enjoyable podcast recording I've ever done, but I'm a trooper and I'm here. [00:08:48] Speaker B: It's true. You are. I'm impressed. I'm glad that we have so much distance between us so that you can't get so angry that you throw something at me. [00:08:59] Speaker A: You're glad that we don't have distance. We have distance because let's just say the wound on my body is not ready to be in public. But besides that, it's one of those things where I had some deferred maintenance to take care of and we got it taken care of. But what I need from you while you start this up. So I was thinking of some comics that I wanted to talk about that would be fun, besides your insistence that we go find us one comics which don't exist anywhere except on that crazy website so and so sent us with a million pop ups, which I'm not going to go to. [00:09:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we're not going to do that. [00:09:40] Speaker A: I don't need porn popping up in the middle of us. One, though. That would make a completely different story. What do we call that? You know what? I'd probably get eliminated from the Internet for saying that term. [00:09:55] Speaker B: It's a different. [00:09:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I believe it's something about lounge and small creatures with scales that move where truckers go. Okay, yeah. So I'll let you use your imagination. Of course. They did that in the Queen movie, too. In Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah. Freddie shows up at a truck stop. [00:10:18] Speaker B: Gotcha. [00:10:18] Speaker A: Awkward. [00:10:19] Speaker B: Awkward? [00:10:20] Speaker A: Well, it's awkward because it was like, hey, why does he need to go there for sex? [00:10:25] Speaker B: Gotcha. [00:10:26] Speaker A: Kind of like the know, I don't know. Goes nowhere for sex. I guess because his boyfriend tried to murder him. [00:10:34] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, that's what he does. [00:10:37] Speaker A: And then he hung out with the Suicide Squad. Because that makes sense. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Yes. [00:10:42] Speaker A: These crossovers really have been disrupting this series. [00:10:45] Speaker B: It's true, they have been. [00:10:47] Speaker A: But I was going to say, too, what comic story got you hooked into comic books? [00:10:54] Speaker B: Oh, what story got me hooked into comic books? [00:10:56] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, mine was one, right? Like, I had read comic books when I was a kid, but my mom bought me that one Legion of superheroes story and I was hooked, right? I had gotten comics. I had some Hulk comics when I was really little, too little to probably understand them. She bought me one of those three packs, and I read some Avengers comics over and over and over and over and over again. The same one. Just kept reading, kept reading. But when she bought me that issue of Legion was the Starboy origin that hooked me. All of a sudden, I wanted everything that had to do with the Legion ever. I just wanted to read comics. I was just fascinated by this. And mostly to me, it was just because of the super bright future, right? [00:11:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:44] Speaker A: It was one of those origin stories which I always have loved. I love origin stories of heroes. It was a compelling character and a compelling origin story, and to me, it just hooked me in. And then I wanted everything. And then, of course, I got into some fun stuff. Probably the Teen Titans didn't hold me long because it was not a good part of the run, but I started getting into, like, West Coast Avengers, which is classic, and then some various. And then X Men, right. Because everybody had to read X Men in the late 80s, early 90s, right? And the 9000 covers that Jim Lee put out for X Men number all of the covers. But for me, it was that one Legion issue, right. I mean, what was your hook into comics as you try to load this midnighter piece? If we can't get it loaded, we'll just talk about this. [00:12:31] Speaker B: I got it loaded. But the one hook, for me, I would say it's a toss up because I'm going back to the comics that I was given as a kid to look over and look at, but they're the ones that I always went back to because that's the box that I continually had. And a lot of the books in there, Howard the Duck run. And I always find it interesting because. [00:13:06] Speaker A: Howard the Duck makes so much sense for you. [00:13:09] Speaker B: Well, and it's such a weird comic, right? And it's definitely not one geared for a kid, but I think my dad, my uncles just figured, oh, Howard the Duck, he's a kid, it's weird. He's not going to get it. He's not going to understand it. A lot of the stuff that's going on in it, it's fine. And then I also like spooky stuff. So any of the Ghost House type stuff or any of the terror tales and other things like that, that I would end up with those old, like, comics. I liked those types of books because usually there was three stories in there they all had. I mean, thematically they were spooky, but they all had different types of things going on. And I liked the fact that you could get a multitude of stories in one book. Right. So I always thought those were good and fun to read. As I got older and reading other stuff, I don't know, I guess there is definitely room for other stuff that popped up. I would say I find it interesting because my younger cousins were into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoons, and I was into the comics. And to try to explain that they were two different worlds to my parents and my aunt and uncles, they just assumed that I liked the same thing that my younger cousins liked, even though they were two, I mean, had the same name. Two different things at the time. Right, right. [00:15:11] Speaker A: Very different. [00:15:12] Speaker B: That it's like, this is more grown up. It's a little bit different. [00:15:18] Speaker A: Right? I mean, you have one that's a parody of Daredevil, right? And then you have the cartoon. Yeah. [00:15:24] Speaker B: And then you have the cartoon, which is light hearted and fun and. [00:15:30] Speaker A: Being. [00:15:30] Speaker B: Like a 9th grader and a 10th grader getting teenage ninja Turtle toys. As cool as it was, it was also. [00:15:43] Speaker A: Different. Yeah, well, and the funny thing is, too, we read very different comics. I read very much all superhero. It's Legion of Superheroes 306, by the way, if anybody's counting, is my origin story. Right. Which is also Star Boys Origin story, which is, of course, there you go. And I think when we're looking at this origin story and us being friends, it's hard to wonder. We were friends, but we were comic friends, but we weren't really comic friends. We went to the comic shop together, but we grab the same. Yeah, like, we grabbed very different things. I was grabbing all these team superhero books. [00:16:29] Speaker B: Looking for old G. I. Joe issues that I didn't have in my GI Joe collection. Or how are the ducks? Because I was like, I only need three more. [00:16:42] Speaker A: One. We could go into a used comic shop and not see each other for 2 hours. Yeah, right. Because I would be looking for all the old Legion stuff and Silver Age stuff, and you had no interest in that and still don't, for that matter. [00:16:59] Speaker B: I enjoy the stories and stuff like that when I'm introduced to them, but it's not my go to, so I can enjoy it. I can enjoy the art and the writing and the storytelling and the characters, but it's not going to be my go to. It's not going to be something that I'm going to seek out. There's just a bunch of different things in my bag of books. My bag of books, my box of books. In what I like to read. But then again, I'm also the same guy that's going to read the Archie's books too, because I like the. [00:17:34] Speaker A: Know that would be, I mean, less my thing, right? And that's okay. It doesn't have to be everything for everybody. I know. I bought David the intern the whole run of comics leading up to the great Darkness saga for Legion and then the postbooks because he loves zot. Right. And Zot was a teenage superhero that came out at the same time as when Legion was big and when Titans were big. So I buy him the run, and he loved it. Of course, by that time, Legion and Titans were more like 25 year olds as opposed to 13 year olds, but at least the way they were written, right? I mean, you look at the COVID of the issue I'm looking at right now, it's got a man with a full beard. I mean, granted, 15 year olds now can have full beards, right? But back then, that wasn't the norm. No, in 1983. So, yeah, it's a little different. But yeah, these were back when too, and it makes sense, right? Like, back when this was handed to me, my mom thought she was giving me a book called Legend of the Superheroes, which I always think is funny. I don't think she was paying attention. She just grabbed something off the spinner rack to get me to shut. [00:18:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:44] Speaker A: And you're looking at it, and that's great. But also, we talked about this before. This was back when Legion and Titans were at the top of DC Comic. You know, you get a book that's at the top of sales, it's probably written pretty well. And so it captured my interest and it hit me great. It's really interesting too. You don't have a real pinpoint, but that's okay. I think that's probably helped you in your writing too, because it's created this sort of diverse grouping of things, and you can appreciate a lot more things than I do, whereas I get really critical. I'm sure you've all noticed, on the cast. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Yeah. If you really wanted a pinpoint, pinpoint of something, it would probably have to be like, the golden key literature comics. [00:19:40] Speaker A: Okay. I would not have guessed that. [00:19:45] Speaker B: And honestly, that's just because when I was a kid growing up, with my dyslexia, not being able to read all of the books that you're supposed to read to get through the lower grades, my dad would just go get me those books and I would just look at the comic books and put the story together. With the pictures and understand it and then do the book report and write out as much as I could. And a lot of the times they were trying to get kids to do the whole stand up in front of the classroom and present their book report instead of turning it in. So I had no problem getting up and talking about this awesome book that I read. And the teacher would always be mad because my writing would be believe that my writing would be so bad, but my presentation would be so great. [00:20:41] Speaker A: That's really interesting because you sort of flipped, right? Like you did that and then you flipped to real books, right? [00:20:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:48] Speaker A: And when I was that age, I read every real book I could get my hands on. And then I stopped reading real books when my mom and teachers started forcing me to read things they wanted me to read. And I'm kind of stubborn, as you're aware. [00:21:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:07] Speaker A: And I was reading everything, and then all of a sudden, I just remember one day my mom, we were at the store and I wanted a book, and she went and picked one out for me instead of letting me pick it out. And I set it down and never read it. I have no idea if it was good or not. I just was like, I'm not going to do this. And it was sort of the same thing. 6th, 7th, eigth grade, they started handing me books to read, and I just would not read them. [00:21:31] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I read all the comics first and then jumped into the real books, but then also, too, a lot of the books that I read as we got older, those were also not choice literary. [00:21:51] Speaker A: But you kept reading, though. [00:21:52] Speaker B: I mean, I kept reading books, but they were frowned upon as like, oh, really? You're reading Stephen King's Bachmann books or you're reading all these? I mean, that's not to say that Ray Bradbury is not a good writer. It's just to say that a lot of times it was frowned upon where they wanted you to be reading something a little more. WhateveR the reading level was or whatever. [00:22:24] Speaker A: I read one fiction book from grade eight to grade twelve that wasn't assigned one. I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That is the only fiction book. It wasn't a comic book that I read. I mean, great book to choose, right? [00:22:39] Speaker B: But, yeah, definitely great book. [00:22:41] Speaker A: It's interesting. I just didn't do, I read tons of nonfiction, right? I did all sorts of projects and debate and everything else. So I was reading, it wasn't as if I wasn't reading right. I was reading a ton of stuff, but I didn't read any nonfiction or any fiction because, and even I stopped reading things that were assigned to me. I remember reading like the Pearl by Steinbeck, which is a terrible book. I don't know why you'd force anybody to read it. It's a God awful, horrible book. It's as bad as these crossover midnighter episodes with the Suicide Squad. It's terrible. [00:23:15] Speaker B: I would say, honestly, we force young readers to read Steinbeck so that they have an understanding of what life was like. [00:23:23] Speaker A: But that's not even the good Steinbeck book, right? Like, if you'd had me read Grapes of Wrath, I love history. I would have totally been interested in that. But they didn't. They had me read the Pearl, which is a brutally terrible story about a pearl and its curse. Right. It's awful. And yeah, I get it. When you go for riches, it's the end of your life. Oh, no, it also just teaches you terrible things. But besides that, it's just an awful story, right? [00:23:53] Speaker B: On the inverse, if you want to read a good story, that teaches you about how riches and things are not things to strive for. Read, being there. [00:24:04] Speaker A: I want riches, so I don't, honestly. [00:24:07] Speaker B: You would love the story being there. Yeah, I would love that being there. If you don't want to read it, you could watch the movie made in the. [00:24:17] Speaker A: I probably should read it, though. Well, no, that's the thing though too, right? [00:24:20] Speaker B: It's only 117 pages, dude. [00:24:23] Speaker A: Granted, it's a lot longer, but if you're going to have somebody read the Pearl, just have them read Lord of the Rings. Have them read the three books. Right. It's a lot better and it's a lot more interesting. And it's basically the same story, except way cooler. There's fighting and stuff. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Or just watch the animated movies back then. [00:24:45] Speaker A: Or the radio play. Yeah. [00:24:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:24:48] Speaker A: Well, let's get into this Midnighter book we left off a while ago in comic book time and Dan and Greg time, and we had a suicide Squad crossover. We're back to the gosh. Okay, let's start with this is. We're back to Orlando, Aco, Petris and Ferhardo Jr. This cover is sweet. It is pretty. It, is it issue three or issue four when the violators just on the front of Spawn? Just the big mouse. [00:25:22] Speaker B: Yeah. This has a very violator. [00:25:25] Speaker A: It is. Well, and I remember I asked Tod McFarland about that book when I had it signed. I think you were there with me. I think we had like, books one through six signed or whatever. Yeah, I'm 90% sure you were there with me when that was going down and somebody was there with me. And I'm assuming it's you. It's a long time ago. We were getting our book signed. [00:25:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:46] Speaker A: And I asked him, I told him how much I love the COVID and he said it was the easiest cover he ever drew. It was just a big mouth. Yeah. And he's like, this is easy. And I'm like, but it's amazing. I mean, it may be the easiest cover you've ever drawn, but it looks really neat. And I feel this way about this book, this cover, too. I think some of Aceio's covers have been more complex than this one. Yeah, but this gets to the heart of the story, theoretically. I mean, this should be a story all about the parasite, right? [00:26:16] Speaker B: That you would think so. I mean, you got parasite of the COVID Parasite's looking like he's biting down on Midnighter's face, and you got a. [00:26:25] Speaker A: Prey, and it says he's prey of the parasite. [00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah, this looks like nothing but parasite. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Besides the Batman versus Superman, dawn of Justice Advertisement at the top, that ruins. [00:26:37] Speaker B: The COVID a little know. Okay, I'm not even. So I'm out the other night shopping for the shop, and I'm like going through and hitting the DVD sections and stuff like that and a brand new sealed Blu ray for this movie sitting there. And I almost bought it and I had stopped myself, and I was like, you don't want this. [00:27:00] Speaker A: I don't hate the movie. Honestly, I don't hate the movie. [00:27:04] Speaker B: I don't want it because I already have it. [00:27:07] Speaker A: Well, here's the best thing about this movie that you should know. So I was in Texas when this movie came out for one year, teaching down there. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:16] Speaker A: And wasn't the best time of my life, but Texas was a nice recovery place where I was at. I worked out every day. I rode at my bike every day. I was kind of by myself, though, and alone, and everybody was talking about how terrible this movie was. So I bought a ticket to this movie, and my tire blew out on the way to watch the movie. [00:27:35] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:27:36] Speaker A: And I bought the ticket online, so I couldn't refund it or anything. And so instead of watching this movie, I changed my tire. It might have been a better use of my time. [00:27:50] Speaker B: I've watched the movie like seven or eight times in a row in one day, mainly because I kept having things happen and then having to rewatch it over again. And I thoroughly enjoyed that day. I had a good time. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Well, the good news is I think we're going to start reviewing this comic, and I think we're going to get through three comics in 30 minutes. [00:28:16] Speaker B: I don't think so. [00:28:18] Speaker A: Okay, well, let's do it. [00:28:20] Speaker B: Try and watch us fail. [00:28:22] Speaker A: Okay. There is a lot of text in this book. [00:28:24] Speaker B: I know. [00:28:25] Speaker A: Read it all. We're not going to read it all. [00:28:29] Speaker B: Okay. [00:28:30] Speaker A: There's a lot of midnight. Are getting Necketer and Necketer as it goes. [00:28:33] Speaker B: Yeah, it's true. [00:28:34] Speaker A: Okay, well, we start, and we're in Boston now, by the way, Boston won the wild card and then won the opening round against Bay. And, you know, the Mariners, by the way, had a completely winning record against Tampa Bay this year, and if they had gotten through the wild card, they probably would have beat Tampa Bay, and then they'd be playing, but they're not. And so the Mariners season is sort of like this comic book. Like, almost good. [00:29:02] Speaker B: Almost good. I feel like it's because I wore my Mariners hat for two minutes. [00:29:07] Speaker A: Yeah, you did it. It's your fault. I always feel that the team was messed up and that the American League East. [00:29:15] Speaker B: I put it on before I left the house, and I was like, no, I got to take it off. And I took it off, and that was, like, the downfall of the day. I put it on. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Well, it wasn't a good day for Robert here. No garlic win wrote on his head. [00:29:29] Speaker B: Yeah, his face is jacked up. [00:29:31] Speaker A: This is such a departure. Like, I get the Harlequin here. They had to put Harlequin in every movie, or should I say Harley Quinn instead of a Harlequin, there is another Harlequin character. So I'll say, make sure I say. I just. I hate this version of Harley Quinn. [00:29:58] Speaker B: Hate it. I hate it so much. [00:30:00] Speaker A: Well, what was going on with Amanda, Connor and Palmiati at the same time? It was so much. You know, we get sort of. In the movies, we get like a cross between the two. Right. Um, that's here. And what they were, so. But I think Robbie. Right. Plays her more. Know, Amanda Connor's sort of vision was. [00:30:21] Speaker B: Got it. [00:30:22] Speaker A: And you definitely have the cartoon, too. That's out right now. That is all just Connor and Palmiati's version of the character, right? [00:30:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:31] Speaker A: It's in his second season, and it's. Oh, what is the actress's name? Played Penny on Big Bang Theory. [00:30:38] Speaker B: I thought you're going to say from Peewee's Playhouse, I'm Penny. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Penny from. Anyway, we can look that up later, but, yeah, it's great. No, not that not. I'm Penny. It's Penny. Penny. I know that version. Yes. So we got all that in there. I'm surprised my dog didn't start barking. That went down. [00:30:59] Speaker B: Freaking out. What's going on? What's going on? [00:31:03] Speaker A: Well, anyway, we're trying to find Midnighter. He's missing, the fake version of Huntress is all upset. And we're back to spiral looking for. Great. Yeah. So now we're at an Arctic Baffin island task Force X black site. I wonder how close this is to the Fortress of Solitude. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Oh, pretty close. [00:31:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Because, I mean, isn't that where Midnighter and Apollo go for hookups? Maybe when they were dating? Of course. [00:31:30] Speaker B: Yes. Of. [00:31:33] Speaker A: Midnighter is like. It's amazing. The leather of his suit's been all ripped up. And, yeah, he's sparring with Amanda Waller. It's very exciting. [00:31:44] Speaker B: They're chatting. [00:31:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And she's like, yeah, I took your toy. You snuck into my house and broke into it. And she had plans for that pistol from the previous issue. [00:31:53] Speaker B: Great. [00:31:54] Speaker A: It sounds like a comedown issue. Right? Like, we finished up the storyline, but now he's captured. So they're starting a mini storyline. And now, of course, we have Floyd Lawton, who, of course, is Deadshot. [00:32:09] Speaker B: Yep. Deadshot. [00:32:10] Speaker A: And he's going to spar with Midnighter. This is fun. And Waller's completely embarrassed by his sparring. So there we was. That was fun. Okay. Now she's getting into it with Deadshot because Waller just has to yell at anybody. And by the way, we mentioned last time the kind of difference in the Waller character drawing. [00:32:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:34] Speaker A: And I mentioned I didn't really like this version because I liked Amanda Waller with a little bit of heft on her as a character and age. Yes, both heft and age. Because it fit the character. It fit the origin story. And now we've got this version of Waller, and that's fine. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Everybody's younger in this book series. [00:32:56] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of amazing. Yeah. Well, this was a new 52, after all. And anyway, they finish up with the classic Daniel Bryan wrestling line. You're a B player. I mean, you're on the B team. And she tells him to go get to work. So that's exciting. Really. I have no idea what's happening in the story. [00:33:15] Speaker B: Nobody does. Not even them. [00:33:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's been a problem. So as we kind of skip through a little bit, she reminds everybody that people have bombs in the back of their neck and that's why she can control them. God, it's continued trope. We should take a drink every time she mentions the bombs she has in the back of people's heads. [00:33:37] Speaker B: Yes. I mean, it's pretty much just the whole entire. All the way. [00:33:41] Speaker A: Yeah, we get it. We get it. And in the movie too, right? Yeah, we get it. You can explode people. [00:33:49] Speaker B: Did they do that in the new one? I hadn't seen the new one yet. [00:33:53] Speaker A: Yes, they do. In the first ten minutes. [00:33:56] Speaker B: Oh, come on. [00:33:58] Speaker A: Yeah, you need to watch the new one. I was kind of giving it sass, but it's pretty good. Okay, I'll watch it. It's different than the first one. It doesn't go to a crazy witch story. I'm sad that they ruined a character forever in the first movie, but not so sad because it's a Suicide Squad, and you can get a whole lineup of new characters anyway, and the story can justify it. So, yeah, that's all fine, but there was a couple of deaths in the new one that pissed me off. Just because they were characters that were persistent should not die. Not that it has to follow the comic, but there's some characters I think had more use to. Hey, you know, it's. It was fun. It was a fun movie. And it has Starro. It has Starro the Conqueror. [00:34:49] Speaker B: Yes. So I hear many people talking about this. [00:34:54] Speaker A: This is interesting. So we flipped a page, and now Midnighter is more naked than he was before with a big cut on his leg, but we're not sure why. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Yeah, after all the electricals and all the zappings and the punchings. [00:35:08] Speaker A: Oh, that makes you naked. [00:35:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it does. Well, I mean, you know, crowbars. [00:35:14] Speaker A: Okay. [00:35:14] Speaker B: Right. [00:35:15] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fair. So they're torturing him, and he's still not saying anything. Then Waller's like, does that speech work on the rank and file? Actions speak louder than words. So how about I just blow your brains out? And I'm like, yeah, please, because that would end the series. So we flip the page, and of course, Midnighter breaks out of everything, takes out the goons that were torturing him, and, yeah, we're moving on. Now Midnighter's fighting everybody that's around, but there are no of the Suicide squad around because Waller smartly sent Floyd away and told him he was a B player. [00:35:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:50] Speaker A: So that was smart. So Waller basically sends everybody who's competent away. Midnighter beats up all the actual B team people and just leaves. He just walks in a jet? Just walks right out of the jet. I mean, that's how this would go. [00:36:04] Speaker B: Yep. [00:36:05] Speaker A: And I see, his shoulder is now showing, too. So a little bit more naked each scene. You kind of liking this. This is like some sort of feTish. [00:36:13] Speaker B: Just wait, man. Two more pages. The whole midnight is going to be looking like it's 1973. [00:36:20] Speaker A: That's true. He will. So I've read this book. So now we're to the next page. And, hey, look, we're back to the B players in the Suicide Squad here. And they're all chatting and Floyd's chatting. I don't know who that is. Is that the thinker up there? [00:36:38] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:36:39] Speaker A: Well, we've got Harley, we've got Deadshot, we've got parasite. [00:36:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:43] Speaker A: And Harley looks over and goes, Leatherman. She's very yay. Yay. And there, he's even more naked now. You can see his hairy chest. [00:36:52] Speaker B: Yeah, he's got the hamburger hanging. [00:36:57] Speaker A: Like he's almost to the level of man. Where's a Sean Connery level here? [00:37:03] Speaker B: Yeah, he looks like an extra from Xanadu. [00:37:10] Speaker A: Don't make me laugh. It hurts. No, the. Yeah, so someone needs to. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Somebody needs to show you how it's really done. I don't know where we're going here. Okay, well, now we've got parasite. Watch yourself. We get a big double Lloyd Lawton standing in the middle, ready to take on Midnighter. So this will be fun. He fires a bunch of bullets at Midnighter, and Midnighter just dodges all of them because he's midnighter. And then. That's great. And then he says, there's only one way to make you scream on the next page. And he's found it. And he says, like, it's going to go hurt a lot. And he shoots him and blam. And he thinks he's got him. He's got him. Midnighters. And Deadshot's standing over Midnighter. And Midnighter said, and I've got you where I got you. Weren't you listening? And he crushes his hands. [00:38:11] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:38:13] Speaker A: Now this is what I don't like about crossovers like this. Okay, so you're going to crush Deadshot's hands in a book. [00:38:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:22] Speaker A: I assume this must carry over to Suicide Squad, right? I mean, all the other issues after that. Deadshot's had issues with his hands and been scared and had trouble firing his guns, right? [00:38:32] Speaker B: Yeah, you would think. [00:38:33] Speaker A: I mean, this is something that's been going on ever since this story, right? [00:38:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:38:37] Speaker A: You do something like that in a story and it's stupid because nobody believes it's going to stick, right. It's like a wrestling stipulation that's not upheld or a fight stipulation or promising you're going to get something done at work. Right? Like nobody actually believes any of those things will actually happen. [00:38:56] Speaker B: When I say I'm going to do something, I make it happen. If I'm going to jump off the top turnbuckle, I do. I didn't say something done at work. Everybody knows. [00:39:08] Speaker A: That's not for sure. If somebody promises me they'll get me something by the, say, the end of today, and I never saw it today, and I need it to work on something tomorrow. Not that I'm mad about that at all. Yeah. Come on. Script writing. Pay off the stories of Suicide Squad and then there's like, no repercussions post, right? [00:39:31] Speaker B: You don't have the same writers and editorial teams working on all the books straight across. They should be have notes, right, in a giant board that says, what's going on in book A should happen in books B and C as well. [00:39:44] Speaker A: And I'm not going to go back and read this version of the Suicide Squad book to verify that there was carryover. [00:39:50] Speaker B: I mean, true. Most people aren't. Most people never did. [00:39:54] Speaker A: Well, now the parasite's coming after him. [00:39:57] Speaker B: No. [00:39:58] Speaker A: And the parasite must have eaten a lot because he is gigantic. He's. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Yeah, super gigantic. Looks like Power Rangers. [00:40:08] Speaker A: Yeah. And so? Well, the parasite says, your powers taste good, little man. He says, want to see what a closed fist tastes like? And then all of a sudden, he's knocked out. [00:40:18] Speaker B: No. Boom. [00:40:20] Speaker A: And Harlequin goes and hits him with a gun. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Boom. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Flat. But he's more naked than he was before. [00:40:25] Speaker B: Yeah, just taking it off. [00:40:30] Speaker A: Okay, so she says, 90 night slugger. And they go get Bendix. And now he's tied up again. Midnighter has been in chains, in torn leather. Tied up. What kind of book is this again? [00:40:45] Speaker B: I don't know, man. It's a teen book. [00:40:48] Speaker A: It's a teen book. It's a teen book with a dominatrix fetish theme going on. Or I guess not dominatrix because that would not be what Midnighter would be into, but dominance fetish. [00:41:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:02] Speaker A: Grimbor. Yeah. Okay, so, by the way, we were supposed to have parasite featured, right? And he was featured for like a page. [00:41:12] Speaker B: Yeah, one page. Yeah, I've noticed. That is like the deal with most of the times when they show somebody on the COVID of one of these books. It's like a page to four pages of the 15 to 20 pages of the book. Yeah. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Well, good news. Now they're going to blow him out of the sky. Okay, that's. By the way, the art's all right. Yeah, the panel layouts are even better than the art. [00:41:37] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. No, that one page. Just boot those two pages. Oh, man. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Okay. And we flip and we get a giant kaboom. [00:41:45] Speaker B: So good. [00:41:46] Speaker A: Next issue, picking up the pieces. So Midnighter must be dead, right? Yeah, he was in a plane in the sky and it blew up. And last time I checked, he doesn't have the power to fly. [00:41:56] Speaker B: Yeah, he does not have the power to fly. [00:41:59] Speaker A: Who could possibly save him, Greg? [00:42:03] Speaker B: I don't know, man. I don't know. [00:42:06] Speaker A: But if we go to issue eleven. [00:42:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:08] Speaker A: We have a big golden man on the COVID and it says, Apollo returns. Oh, that's. Who can save him? Gay Superman will save him from the sky death. All right. [00:42:22] Speaker B: The sky death. [00:42:24] Speaker A: Yay. [00:42:25] Speaker B: Ooh. Scooby Doo and the Scooby Apocalypse. [00:42:29] Speaker A: I love that book. [00:42:30] Speaker B: It's so good. [00:42:31] Speaker A: Love that book. Maybe we should do that. [00:42:36] Speaker B: We could. It's a good book. [00:42:38] Speaker A: It's good. How much of it did you read? [00:42:40] Speaker B: A couple of issues. And then I don't know what happened, but it was a toss between this one and a couple of the other books that there was a bunch of different stuff that had come out at the same time. [00:42:53] Speaker A: Well, I think all of this must be on DC Universe infinity, right? Yeah. Okay. [00:43:02] Speaker B: Whoa. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Well, we're back. And. Wow. So if Midnighter is a 1970s leather daddy, Apollo is not. That. [00:43:17] Speaker B: He is the opposite. That's a total bodybuilder pose. [00:43:22] Speaker A: Yes. [00:43:23] Speaker B: Hands behind the back. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Paulo is into some muscle worship. Completely shaved. [00:43:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, the only thing that's, like, missing is, like, an oily texture. But that halo around him with everything. [00:43:39] Speaker A: Yeah. He is good boy porn, and Midnighter is bad boy porn, right? [00:43:49] Speaker B: Totally. [00:43:50] Speaker A: And my favorite, of course, is because I love it when he calls. [00:43:53] Speaker B: Is he holding a Superman cup behind his back? [00:43:56] Speaker A: I think he is, actually. [00:43:58] Speaker B: I find that very funny. [00:44:00] Speaker A: That's very clever. [00:44:01] Speaker B: But I also find it very hard to hold cups behind your back like that. I've tried to do it before and you always end up dropping them. [00:44:08] Speaker A: Let me try that out right now. Dude, it's not that bad. I'm holding, like, a 32 ounce cup behind my back. It's all good. [00:44:16] Speaker B: Yeah, now try to get out of that pose. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:21] Speaker B: Now take that cup and do the pointing thing upward. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:44:25] Speaker B: Are you palming it? Are you holding. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Fingering it? I'm fingering it. [00:44:31] Speaker B: Okay. [00:44:32] Speaker A: So why finger my cup? Yeah, it's kind of difficult. That whole tippy thing, like palming is fine. Yeah, I got it. Yeah. [00:44:40] Speaker B: Imagine if it was a hot cup of coffee, Dan. [00:44:44] Speaker A: It's a cold cup of that stevia soda, whatever it's called. Zevia. [00:44:49] Speaker B: Oh, Zevia. Yeah, that stuff's great. Like when you're expecting it, but when you're not expecting it and you blind, grab something out of the refrigerator and you know what really open. [00:44:58] Speaker A: You know what really sucks, though? My favorite. There's like a strawberry flavor. I was just thinking grape and there's a strawberry flavor. And the Whole Foods near us, nobody else sold it but the Whole Foods. And the Whole Foods is out of it indefinitely. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:45:11] Speaker A: Like they said, we're going to get it back someday, Dan. But right now we just don't have it. [00:45:15] Speaker B: We just don't have it. [00:45:16] Speaker A: And we don't know when we're going to get it. And I'm like, but strawberry is my favorite of those flavors. I like the Ripper. All right. I like the grape. Okay. Strawberry is definitely my favorite. And I can't get it. I'm really, you know, we get this here and Midnighter's in bed and you know, I love it when he calls Apollo Andrew. So he says, why am I in your apartment, Andrew? Okay, blah. And it sounds like a bad eighty s boy band thing. We got Andrew and Midnighter dancing to save the day. And he said, you slept almost a day. You almost died. You called me, remember? And of course he did because clearly, as gay Batman and gay Superman, Andrew would have given midnighter a lowest ring lane like call device, right? [00:46:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, of course. [00:46:12] Speaker A: That makes sense. Or some way, some hint. I mean, they've got to have something, right? Because Lois Lane can always call Superman. So midnighter should always be able to call. Yeah, yeah, that only makes sense. They go to almost a day before we've got the auto destruct activated. He's about to die and he says, I need you. Okay. That's the call phrase. And there we go. Apollo's looking at midnighter as a little kid to that picture he left in the apartment. So I guess that was. [00:46:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:43] Speaker A: And the most important thing is that Apollo has to start cooking his high protein green vegetable breakfast. [00:46:52] Speaker B: Oh, yes. [00:46:53] Speaker A: To go take care of this. So he's disrupted his workout and eating schedule. You just don't do that to a guy. [00:46:59] Speaker B: No, it'll mess up the whole entire day. [00:47:01] Speaker A: Well, there we go. Apollo goes, saves the day. And Midnighter says, almost too late Apollo. You have something better to do? And he says, shut up and hold on. So that's a very loving. They're okay. So that's why we killed his boyfriend and turned him into Prometheus. Because now we've got Apollo back. So who needs other boyfriend if we have Apollo? [00:47:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:21] Speaker A: Okay. And we're back to the suicide Squad again. This is super duper exciting. Just what I wanted was more of the Suicide Squad in this story. I thought we were done with this. [00:47:31] Speaker B: You got them all? They're all in the same place. [00:47:34] Speaker A: Oh, jeez. And now we get fake Deadshot from the movie. Great. Okay, cool. Fake dead shot. Yeah, I'm sort of done with this page. Don't even want to talk about it. Okay. Oh, no more suicide Squad. Geez. I've got a DNA capsule. And now. Oh, it's Bendix. Okay. Yeah, this is fun. Lex Corp. What a joke. To think how easily Luther could be of use to us if he just had some. Oh, okay, well, this goes on for three. Let's summarize the fly here with some dialogue from the book. Don't be charged. Once fully charged, the unified will have a Kryptonian class abilities tactical nervous system that makes midnighters look like a rough draft. If I lost control, you couldn't stop it. Okay, so that's what they're doing. They're trying to replicate midnighters abilities, but then give the programming into Kryptonian class strength and power. Yay. Okay, this was fun. So they put something with nuclear circles on it in the thing. Of course, because that's how you get people powers, right? [00:48:41] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. [00:48:43] Speaker A: That's what the whole did. Yeah. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Did they get it from a submarine? [00:48:48] Speaker A: I don't know. But now we do get the payback. You delivered the DNA, so I'll hold up my end of the deal. Spiral attacked you? You want them neutralized? My door fields can transport you anywhere. So he's going to use his doors and. Okay, everything's with it. All these people that either we got Spiral, we've got the suicide Squad, we've got the doors are back, we've got this origin story for Midnighter. [00:49:13] Speaker B: Spiral Suicide Squad are all like, the same, but they're not. They're two different halves of the same. Would. You would think they would work together well. [00:49:23] Speaker A: And now we're back to Opal City, home of man. [00:49:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:26] Speaker A: And Apollo. [00:49:28] Speaker B: Apollo. [00:49:28] Speaker A: Yeah, and we've got a monologue going on by completely naked Midnighter. So he's now completely naked? [00:49:35] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Well, except for the bandages? Yeah, it's so many word bubbles. [00:49:40] Speaker A: And now he's apologizing. I broke what we had together. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Prometheus, blah, blah, the gardener. Blah, blah, blah. [00:49:51] Speaker B: You're the only. [00:49:51] Speaker A: I crushed Prometheus's skull because I realized Midnighter is not who I am. Blah, blah, blah, blah. But at the end of the world, there wasn't anyone else I wanted to see. So, basically, what Midnighter's whole summary of his events are. I did all these things, and by the end of that, I experimented with everything, and you were the only one left, so I called you. How nice. [00:50:13] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. [00:50:14] Speaker A: And Paula is like, well, as lines go, not bad for you. So you really think I'd let someone blow you up? And they get back together, they're about to kiss, they're making friends, and Apollo gets a call, and he's like, who's this? And, hey, it's Marina. Lucas. MidniGhter's handler. [00:50:34] Speaker B: From book number two. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Yep. And the jail and the conversations. [00:50:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So she has a prominent role in this story. [00:50:44] Speaker A: She's got a lot of tech there all of a sudden. [00:50:46] Speaker B: Yeah. It's almost like she's, like, his Oracle. [00:50:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I like it. I'm down with that. I'm down with that character development. [00:50:53] Speaker B: That's fine. [00:50:55] Speaker A: Okay, now they go to a spiral auxiliary base in Tacoma, Washington. [00:51:01] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. [00:51:04] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I'm right here. [00:51:08] Speaker B: Do you think I can find this at the. I'm I'm looking at the buildings and stuff like that. It looks like the hospital, but it's smaller. [00:51:17] Speaker A: The buildings don't look very Tacoma. And the mountain sure is close. [00:51:21] Speaker B: Yeah, it's superimposed Tacoma. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Okay, well, anyway, thanks for the call out, Orlando. I appreciate that. Right here in Tacoma, Washington, coming to you live from Tacoma, Washington. [00:51:34] Speaker B: Changed it around. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Forensics. Yes. So we're here and. Okay, great. By now, Bendix has what he needs to finish the unified. Waller's squad shuts down my network. And the door. When they bomb my apartment, it won't regrow in time. So this is a spiral problem. Okay, nice summary. Thank you. Waller thinks she can control Bendix, but she can't. He'll kill thousands of civilians to further his agenda of control through fear. Okay, so nice summary. We've just summarized all the storyline that didn't make any sense. [00:52:08] Speaker B: Yep. Oh, my goodness. What's happening to this base? [00:52:13] Speaker A: I don't know, but something always happens. Move before they. Damn it, Apollo. On it. Okay, now we get one of those cool pages with all the cool panel layouts of a spinning kind of thing. So they're trying to figure out where the door went and where they got dropped. And I love this spinning thing. And they're in Turkmenistan. [00:52:36] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:52:37] Speaker A: Okay, so we made it to Turkmenistan. Cool. And now we're at the spiral and. Okay, so Apollo is gone, right? Because he's in Turkmenistan and Helena the matron, not Helena the Huntress, asks midnighter, does he just always go off like that? Yeah, he's freaking Superman. Of course he does. So that's fine. And now we've got Captain Boomerang and the Parasite. And Captain Boomerang is going to take on Midnighter. This should go well. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Yeah, should go well. Uh oh, no. Didn't go. [00:53:16] Speaker A: No. Okay, well, yep. Midnighter takes out Captain Boomerang right away by pinning him down, literally. And then he destroys the heart of the parasite very quickly. Man, this Suicide squad is such a threat. So worth having that giant parasite cover last issue where Parasite looked like he was going to murder Midnighter and Midnighter literally kills him in a panel. [00:53:39] Speaker B: Murders him. [00:53:41] Speaker A: Yes. And so now we've got that other guy that's not Deadshot, but it's like Deadshot. [00:53:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:47] Speaker A: Not Deadshot. [00:53:48] Speaker B: No. What is he? Inquisitor? No, I don't know. He's foresight. [00:53:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's that guy. [00:53:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I almost said foreskin, but it's totally different. [00:54:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a midnight or an Apollo thing. Just leave that alone. So we don't really know. But if there was, I'm probably guessing it. Definitely Midnighter. [00:54:12] Speaker B: Definitely. [00:54:12] Speaker A: You're not going to touch that. So we'll just move on from there. Yeah. So the unified Civilians workshop. A worship superman and Batman and the Flash. Okay, this is fun. And we're back to this unified plotline at the team one safe house. This is so confusing. Okay, that's fine. We're just going to roll with it. So a bunch of Kirby crackle and stuff happens. [00:54:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:39] Speaker A: And then we get an amazing page at the spiral base. Oh, my. This layout is super cool. Okay, you're on the art. It's just a bunch of squares and crazy things going on. [00:54:50] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:54:51] Speaker A: And Midnight dancing. Foresight guy. Yeah, it gives us Midnighter's power is kind of breaking down. And he calls him a joke. And then we go back to the next page is a twelve panel grid where you're kind of getting how Midnighter gets him back. And he's like, you look tired. And then all of a sudden he's broken through the power set. And he asks him, do you like what you see coming? And he smacks him and breaks his arm. Midnighter, guy's very violent. [00:55:24] Speaker B: Yes, very violent. [00:55:26] Speaker A: And then the matron says, midnighter, we can study him. Do not kill him. Which is so classy. I love it. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:33] Speaker A: So we move into all of this, and so they say, they've beaten gods before. Tell me that wasn't a bluff. We get moving, and we get to the team one safe house. Again, he says, what happens to when a terrorist gets a yellow power ring? The enemy is evolving, but the unified combines the power and discipline required to police the world. Who needs airstrikes? The unified can walk into the Viper pit and wipe threats clean off the map. So that's what we've worked towards. So all powerful. We get the all powerful version of Superman, and then we get this guy in a big red suit and says, you'll do it all without a second thought. Isn't that right? And he said, I'm not here to question orders. And we get this guy in a red suit that looks awful. A lot like Apollo. No, midnighter. I'll give you a hint. We read like a whole comic series about the guy. [00:56:25] Speaker B: He had a satellite one. [00:56:27] Speaker A: He had brother, I his. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Talking about. Are you talking about OMAC? [00:56:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, who else has a big eye on his uniform? Yeah, I think he just made an OMAC that can go through these doors and communicate. Is he dumb? Mac. He's kind of like the McRib version of OMAC. [00:56:52] Speaker B: So he's iMac, right? [00:56:54] Speaker A: Like you have ribs and you have the Micrib. Right? And then you have OMAC, and he's an iMac. [00:57:00] Speaker B: He's a womack. [00:57:00] Speaker A: I can go with that. Yeah. Or I thought he was Mick Mac. [00:57:03] Speaker B: He's Mick Mac. [00:57:04] Speaker A: I like it. Mick. Okay, so he says, after you, everything's going on, okay, and just a little demonstration somewhere that needs to be reminded who's in charge. Okay, so we finally got the big baddie in the red Eye suit, and now we go to Fandu, the second most populous city in Madora. [00:57:24] Speaker B: Oh, no, this is not. [00:57:26] Speaker A: Madorans are in trouble. And Mick Mac is saying nowhere to hide the filth. [00:57:31] Speaker B: These are the people from the first book with the guns that shoot the sound waves. [00:57:36] Speaker A: Yep, and now we got people coming through the doors now. The Suicide squad's working with Mac. Mick Mac. [00:57:42] Speaker B: Caddy Whack. [00:57:43] Speaker A: I just don't think Harlequin would work with this guy. [00:57:46] Speaker B: Probably not, but she's getting paid one way or another. [00:57:49] Speaker A: Well, anyway, they get there, and here we are. [00:57:51] Speaker B: Back of her head, dude. [00:57:53] Speaker A: Last page. Batman and Superman are here. Harlequin doesn't have a bomb in the back of her head. She just does this for. [00:57:59] Speaker B: Oh, okay. She just does it for. [00:58:03] Speaker A: Yep. And we get a nice picture of Batman and Superman. You want to fight Hollow and Midnighter. Fantastic. [00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah, this is a nice page. [00:58:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I like take. Actually, I would hang that. Look. Now, Aco has drawn out these final issues, and I have no issue with, like, I think his art is great. I think there's some lazy art, a little bit, like, in Apollo's face here on this last page. [00:58:32] Speaker B: Okay. [00:58:34] Speaker A: And I think some people would call it stylistic. Sometimes I call it a little bit lazy. Right. Maybe it's the inking that's the problem. Yeah. Actually, I'm going to go with the inking on this because look at his body structure and everything. He was drawn as a muscle figure. Right. Earlier. He got a lot more definition. [00:58:53] Speaker B: Have a lot of definition on his. It is Tummy Tum. [00:58:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Now he's looking sort of like an old man, but it's cool how I look. [00:59:02] Speaker B: You know who he looks like to me right now? And this is like a throwback to. He looks like, oh, man, why can't I think of the. Now I can't even think of the character's name. But from NCIS. [00:59:24] Speaker A: If it's NCIS, I have no idea. So you're out on your own here. You have to talk about. Shows I actually watch usually involve superheroes. [00:59:32] Speaker B: Well, because he's not his. Yeah. [00:59:35] Speaker A: Well, anyway, make yourself happy. Flip the page. [00:59:39] Speaker B: I'm flipping the page. What? Future quest. [00:59:43] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. We have Johnny Quest, we have space Ghost. [00:59:48] Speaker B: All this good stuff. [00:59:49] Speaker A: Who are the fake Fantastic Four people? I've forgotten their names. [00:59:53] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:59:58] Speaker A: Anyway, this is fantastic. [01:00:00] Speaker B: Impossibles. [01:00:01] Speaker A: Is it the Impossibles? I think that's right. That's got to be it. Yeah. This quick verification here, I think so. Google asked me if I meant the Impossibles, and I did. You were correct. It is the Impossibles. Great job on your Hannah Barbera. Yay. The Impossibles first appeared in 1966 on CBS. The series of shorts appeared as part of the Frankenstein Jr. And the. Oh, why is Frankenstein Jr. Not here? Frankenstein Jr. Is he. He's. [01:00:36] Speaker B: He's up there in the big corner. He's the giant. [01:00:39] Speaker A: Oh, there he is. There's Frankenstein Jr. Yeah. He's the most prominent figure on page. [01:00:45] Speaker B: It's like the Iron Giant. [01:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Well, new monthly series from DC Comics in 2016, the Art by Evan Doc Shaner. Come on. That's fantastic. Not to again, it's styles of art. Right. Like, I do like the ACO stuff, and I love the ACO panel layouts, but Doc Shaner's art is so freaking beautiful. [01:01:06] Speaker B: True. I mean, written by fellow Pacific Northwesterner. [01:01:13] Speaker A: Well, Jeff Parker. Yeah. [01:01:15] Speaker B: Jeff Parker. [01:01:16] Speaker A: Well, let's go back to the ACO again. I do love the ACR. So I don't want to be a jerk and sit there and compare it to, it's, this ACR has been really. I mean, let's give it the credit it deserves. [01:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:29] Speaker A: The storytelling has been a mess. Everything's been all over the place. We know Orlando, we discussed this in the past episode. Right. We know Orlando has faced a lot of challenges in these crossovers. We started talking about it way back in issue four and five. [01:01:44] Speaker B: Right. [01:01:45] Speaker A: With the Dick crossover. Right. Yeah. So I think we can power through twelve so we can do something else next time you want to try to get through this. All right. [01:01:55] Speaker B: We'll hammer down and try to knock this out in a really quick amount of time. [01:02:01] Speaker A: Well, it's not going to take long because everything blows up. [01:02:04] Speaker B: Everything blows up. All right. If we can do this in 15 minutes or less, we got it. Because this will be a very long episode for everyone. [01:02:12] Speaker A: Yeah. It is issue twelve, and it is the last issue of the series. And we got midnighter standing in front of a bunch of people he's beaten up and saying, including poor Floyd Lawton again, poor guy. [01:02:23] Speaker B: He's beaten him up like three times in this book series. [01:02:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Even Harley's knocked out. I mean, who'd they have to pay to get Harley knocked out on a cover? The Batman office. They must have bribed the Batman office. Right? They're like, hey, okay. What? You think I'm done? He sAys, yes, you are done. Because this magic series has to come to an end. [01:02:44] Speaker B: It does. [01:02:45] Speaker A: We flip. We get more Scooby Doo Apocalypse on the COVID Thank you. [01:02:48] Speaker B: But then we go right into art. [01:02:50] Speaker A: Very different art, by the way, but beautiful. [01:02:53] Speaker B: I find it interesting. So in this issue of Midnighter, Aco doesn't do the whole run. [01:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Hugo Petrus jumps in. Well, that's been a lot of the problem. Right. [01:03:06] Speaker B: He doesn't do the whole book, though. [01:03:08] Speaker A: But that's been a lot of the problem is the inconsistent art in the. So. But he does do page one. And we've got the matron, we've got midnighter, we've got Apollo, and Midnighter's like, don't piss us off. [01:03:20] Speaker B: Yeah, you got a very detailed Apollo in the background. [01:03:23] Speaker A: So now we've got a giant fight in Madora. This is, man, shocking. Everybody's beat, you know, they're all fighting. It's exciting. [01:03:34] Speaker B: Yes, it's fighting and exciting. There's a lot of fighting. [01:03:38] Speaker A: And they're looking for unified. I mean, McMac, and they're like, he's around. We'll find him. Okay, you got to work through a bunch of this other stuff. It looks like Midora is now trashed. This is fun. Good job, Amanda Waller. You've destroyed Midora with. [01:03:57] Speaker B: Oh, man. Just destroyed this. [01:04:00] Speaker A: Like this. I do like this layout where she's standing on top of the building like the Roman Emperor. Help me out. You're not helping me out. [01:04:09] Speaker B: I'm not helping you. [01:04:12] Speaker A: Burn, Nero. Yeah, there you go. [01:04:14] Speaker B: I did. I helped you out. [01:04:16] Speaker A: You did. Help me out. That's the image we have right here. Yeah, she's watching Rome burn, and all of a sudden, watching Rome burn. We see Mick Mac shoot laser eyes, X ray vision, heat vision, whatever you want to call it out of his eyes. I'll call it Ultravision. [01:04:30] Speaker B: He's just blasting everything. He doesn't it. His mission is to use heat vision. [01:04:35] Speaker A: And here we know Midnight are beating up everything because he doesn't care, right? [01:04:40] Speaker B: Because he's the one who started the fire. [01:04:42] Speaker A: And guess who's back down at the bottom of the page? Our good friend Multiplex. [01:04:47] Speaker B: Multiplex. Multiplex all over the place. It's not just one. It's a bunch. [01:04:52] Speaker A: Yeah, well, that's what he does. [01:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought he's like, the main multiplex. [01:04:58] Speaker A: No, you can't kill the main multiplex. He doesn't know how to. He's not that good. [01:05:02] Speaker B: Oh, man, even Midnighter can't do it. [01:05:05] Speaker A: And then we get next page. Damn it. More multiplex clones. Because, of course, that's what we were saying when we saw multiplex show up again, too. So, damn it, this fight must go on. Okay, so we have a big fight going on, and all the people, Madora, are just, like, being eviscerated. They're crying down in the corner, and we have somebody tapping Mick Mack on the shoulder and says, excuse me. Oh, and it's Apollo. Okay, found him. So Apollo versus the unified. [01:05:36] Speaker B: This sounds like a wrestling match if I've ever heard of one. What's going to happen next? [01:05:40] Speaker A: The main event. What happens when Superman fights anyone? [01:05:46] Speaker B: Crunch. That's what happens. [01:05:48] Speaker A: And then we've got police shooting guns at people. And Midnighter puts a stop to that because we have to have the social commentary in the issue. And then we get to the nice. Okay, that seems so out of place. I appreciate this scene. Right? I appreciate it. But it's out of place. Right? It's as out of place as that scene in the bar, in the Russian bar where he beats up everybody earlier in the series. [01:06:14] Speaker B: You would think if Midnight is going to beat up everybody in a bar for a comment, you think he would just like, oh, hey, a cop with a gun going to shoot an unarmed person that's just trying to run away. Let me just take care of this. [01:06:26] Speaker A: Right. Also, Midnighter is indiscriminately just beating up everybody. [01:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:31] Speaker A: And pretty sure he would all of a sudden wreckshot break the arms because this is the violence we can't have. But every other piece of violence is. Yeah, yeah. Again, work up to, like, these are nice touches, but work up to something like. Like, give us a reason. Midnighter would do this in the middle of the. I appreciate. Again, I appreciate the notion of, you see something wrong, you immediately stop and take care of it. But within the context of the story, it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. [01:06:59] Speaker B: It's kind of wonky, that's for sure. [01:07:01] Speaker A: Now I'm on a rant. Okay. [01:07:02] Speaker B: It's okay. Moving on. [01:07:04] Speaker A: So we keep flipping the pages, and inevitably we're going to get to a Bendix Waller showdown. [01:07:09] Speaker B: Oh, man, they're going to fight. I thought they were friends. [01:07:12] Speaker A: I thought Bendix leaves. Of course. Just like they predicted, out one of the doors. [01:07:18] Speaker B: Oh, man. [01:07:18] Speaker A: And there's Waller to see Rome burn all by herself. [01:07:22] Speaker B: No. [01:07:24] Speaker A: So now we've got the greater Fanda Oblast, whatever that is. And we've got a big fight going down between Mick Mac and Apollo. And they are fighting. Fighting, fighting, fighting. And of course, Apollo zaps him and hurts him. And that's it. [01:07:43] Speaker B: He's got fighting. [01:07:45] Speaker A: Yep. Okay. And Apollo kills, presumably. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Kills him. [01:07:50] Speaker A: Yeah. He's not quite Superman. [01:07:54] Speaker B: I don't. I don't. I don't think he kills him just like that. I mean, Apollo's good, but I don't think he's that good. [01:08:01] Speaker A: He's that good. So as Midnighter will tell you in the monologue, down at the bottom, strong as Superman. You were just born. No way. You're at full solar charge. Tactical nervous system. My ex just burned it from your superconductive gray matter. Invulnerability. We're in Midora we're in Madora. The whole country worships sonic technology. This is a standard Midoran sonic revolver. Mundane. Right? But I've bypassed the failsafes, and I know just where to shoot to vibrate your invulnerable blood to your invulnerable Blaine until it pops like a grape. I guess he's not dead. We got to let Midnighter kill him because it's his book. Yeah, if there's killing to be done, it's going to be done by Midnighter. And we get a really cool twelve panel shot of McMacktheunified being murdered. [01:08:49] Speaker B: It's very much like an 80s movie right here. Like this whole entire panel layout with all the heat blast, all the crackle and everything. [01:09:04] Speaker A: And we even get a comment from Midnighter saying, hey, I've always wanted to kill Superman. Which seems, again, slightly out of place. Yeah, I mean, it's funny. Don't get me wrong, it's cute, but it's funny. It's dark. [01:09:17] Speaker B: It fits with the whole entire Batman versus Superman run. Like all the adverts in this book series. [01:09:27] Speaker A: Yep. And then we turn the page and we finally get a. And it's done. All right. Oh, it's still not good. God, it's still not done. [01:09:36] Speaker B: Still not done. [01:09:38] Speaker A: Let me tell you a secret. Bendrix removed my right super marginal gyrus, the part of the brain that corrects the lack of empathy. I do not feel thing when I kill other people. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He's there, okay, finally, he's dead. But he hurt midnighter. So midnighter is beat up. And that gives us a nice scene where Apollo comes to take care of him and says, hey, you just missed it. Some of my best work. And he says, you look good. I punch through a lake to set on fire. Half of my uniform is burnt off. That's always been a good look for you. So now we get muscle man. He is pretty shredded down at the bottom, and they've saved the day while destroying an entire country. We now have a whole group of refugees to deal with. They're rounding up some multiplexes and. Yeah, it's great. [01:10:34] Speaker B: Back to the God garden. [01:10:36] Speaker A: God garden? Yeah, that we still have no background on. Except the whole story. Yeah, son, don't expect much from that word gardener. I created you. You can hate it, but we are family. That's the only reason I'm here. Your ongoing hobby of lying continues to bear fruit, but your former partner is still creating, operating. Henry Bendix is alive. Then maybe you should stop playing house and come home and do the real work with me. Shut up. I'm here as a courtesy. Bendix could come after you. Just understand I have a home down there with people who see me as a person, not as a means to an end. And if you ever question them again, I'll kill you myself. So there's the end and moral of the story. So now we're just going to get some wrap up, right? [01:11:19] Speaker B: Yep. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Okay. We go back to Boston. And Robert, apparently his head is completely. [01:11:24] Speaker B: Oh, he's. He's healed and he's. I mean, they're just hanging out. And they're all just hanging out in there. [01:11:33] Speaker A: Yep. Bonnie hears leather coming in, so it's like they say, we almost started without you. Your boss Drops me here with an NDA and wagged his finger, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, this is great. So they're all hanging out in Boston. All the friends are back. [01:11:47] Speaker B: Yep. [01:11:48] Speaker A: The documentary must be done. [01:11:49] Speaker B: Must be. Or close to it. [01:11:51] Speaker A: It's gotta be close. They ask him what's next for Midnighter? And he's like, he's going to Detroit. [01:11:57] Speaker B: He goes to Detroit. [01:11:59] Speaker A: Okay, interesting. And we get to come here often, he says, only to remind free rage power brokers that I fixed my apartment. My doors are back, and I can find you at any time. So he threatens Waller. Okay, great. For what? She's eating, and she stays in great shape. [01:12:15] Speaker B: I know. Hot dog. [01:12:16] Speaker A: Looks delicious. [01:12:17] Speaker B: It does. [01:12:18] Speaker A: Now we're back to Boston. Okay. Big party happening. This is fun. Hey, everybody throws down. We're wrapping up the series very quickly. And now we're back to Opal City. And, yes, finally, we're getting the precursor for the next series, the Midnighter and Apollo series. And Apollo is complaining that the uniform could be a little less complicated. He wants to take it off, and he says, no, we're wrapped. [01:12:48] Speaker B: And I'm just getting started. [01:12:50] Speaker A: He's just getting started. And that's the end. [01:12:52] Speaker B: And that's the end. Yeah, but the Apollo Midnighter series, how long did that go on for? [01:13:01] Speaker A: I think it was like six issues. I don't think it was very long. [01:13:03] Speaker B: Not very long. If this is the build up to that. And that was only six issues, that's, to me, disappointing because it seemed like it was building up to a much larger series. [01:13:14] Speaker A: It seemed like it was building up to, I don't know what is. There's so many dangling plots, right? [01:13:19] Speaker B: Yes. It seemed like it was building up to a bigger book run and something that would have a lot of different tie ins and stuff like that. Is that Mad dog in there? [01:13:30] Speaker A: Well, I think the goal. Right. It seemed like the goal was to build Midnighter as a, I mean, Midnighter had other runs, so it was the first one. But I felt like it was to build a universe for Midnighter. Right. And I don't think it ever gets. It goes, and it goes back to his original, like, hey, it's, these people are here and these people are here. And there's some dangling plot threads. But it goes back to his norm, his standard. Right. He's back in Opal City, the Midnighter and Apollo will run. I was correct. It was six issues immediately following the series. [01:14:04] Speaker B: And that was it. [01:14:07] Speaker A: And I read it. I was excited for it. I wanted to see them do something. The crazy thing is I didn't give up on Steve Orlando after this book. Right. I was, well, you know, there's a lot of things that seem to go on, so maybe in the Midnight or an Apollo book, they'll let them. And, and they did. But it only got six issues. Maybe leave them alone and let them universe build. So that one major difference, everyone is in a billion crossovers. [01:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:38] Speaker A: So it's a thing, but yeah, I told you we could do this last one in a few minutes because it's just a wrap up book. Right. [01:14:44] Speaker B: It's just a wrap up book. You were right. [01:14:46] Speaker A: So overall, I know we're running on like an hour and 24 minutes did force that ish. But we did have the big piece at the top. Of course, I probably could cut out a little bit of our top talk. [01:14:57] Speaker B: But what do you guys think about everybody loves the top talk? [01:15:01] Speaker A: Everybody loves top talk. [01:15:02] Speaker B: Yeah. The stuff that we talk about at the top of the hour is the best of the entire conversation. [01:15:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, when you're reviewing Midnighter books. Yeah. I guess it's all about the top talk. We had a lot of talk at the top. Any final thoughts on the series? [01:15:23] Speaker B: If you haven't read it and you're interested in it, give it a look. As much as we banter back and forth and talk about it being disappointing in some places but good in some places, that's what it is. It's like anything out there. Some parts are not so great. Some parts are really entertaining. And I think that's all you can ask for in a comic book is for it to be entertaining. So for as much of the things that don't really fit in certain parts of this that feel like it's shoehorned in in some of the crossover bits, there are moments of this book that are thoroughly delightful. There's a lot of really good art, even though the art does take a bunch of different turns because you've got ACO in and out, but you get a lot of different experiences with the different artists that are taking on those different books in this series. [01:16:27] Speaker A: Very kind way to say that you get Aco and then a lot of jobbers. [01:16:31] Speaker B: But see, I find that some of those bits and those pieces also are nice because some of those takes on this character and the characters within this book series or this book run, they do such a great job with their own style, telling this story and taking Orlando's story and putting it together. And again, Orlando did a good job telling the story. I'm sure there's a lot of things editorially that we don't know as readers that were challenges. [01:17:13] Speaker A: It's not my favorite Steve Orlando book. Understand that bluntly. And you and I disagree on the art. Right? Like, I thought we had one really strong artist and then a lot of mediocre artwork built in. [01:17:26] Speaker B: There were some parts where art choices. I was also like, what? Why? But other things I thoroughly liked that were like, well, that's interesting. I kind of like that. [01:17:39] Speaker A: Well, I think what we're going to do next is going to be something we're going to do. A palette cleanser. [01:17:44] Speaker B: Oh, a palette cleanser. [01:17:46] Speaker A: Yes. So I have in my hands, but I will have a nice PDF version over to you. I bought a Kickstarter book, all right. A while back called Glitter Vipers. [01:17:57] Speaker B: Okay, cool. [01:17:58] Speaker A: And would you like me to read the description of Glitter Vipers to you? [01:18:02] Speaker B: Yes, please. [01:18:03] Speaker A: Glitter vipers follows Manchester drag queen by Felicia and her friends after they find themselves victims of an awful hate crime and decide to fight back. So they strap up, hit the streets, and are ready to fight back against bigotry and hatred with a sequined baseball bat and some badass righteous fury. [01:18:22] Speaker B: Sweet. [01:18:23] Speaker A: I figured this would be a nice palate cleanser. [01:18:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:18:26] Speaker A: And so Joe Glass actually has a lot of stuff on Kickstarter, so follow him on Twitter and enjoy it. But I think as a transition to the next issue, I think this will be fun. I'm about to drop this in our share right now so you can grab Greg and awesome. I'll just put it in the root of the so and let's get some pub out for Joe Glass. But also, I think you're going to have a lot of fun reading about by Felicia and her crew. [01:18:51] Speaker B: That sounds just the title of the book. I'm excited. [01:18:56] Speaker A: It is fun. It is fun. So we'll have a little bit of fun with this one and then we'll get back to something more serious or something down the road. But let's have a pallet cronisier for next week and we'll go ahead and read this and get on next week and review. Glitter Vipers. [01:19:12] Speaker B: Sweet. Glitter Vipers it is. I'm excited. [01:19:14] Speaker A: Awesome. See, you didn't know, but I actually had a plan. [01:19:17] Speaker B: Oh, he had a plan, everybody. Dan with the plan. [01:19:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I am also looking at and super excited my impossible Jones, Volume one. And the impossible Jones comic just came in from Carl Keeshol. And I'm kind of excited about having that too, in my grubby little hands. But I need to read it, so that's fun. [01:19:40] Speaker B: Cool. [01:19:41] Speaker A: I've been getting a lot of Kickstarters lately. Do you have a Kickstarter or something? You're already done. We have like one by the time this airs. Yes. [01:19:51] Speaker B: We have one week left for Starlight issue number four. But Starlight issue number four, what you. [01:19:56] Speaker A: Really mean is you've been done for two weeks. [01:20:00] Speaker B: Yeah, but we're getting ready for issue number five. [01:20:03] Speaker A: Okay. And issue number five, let's say this happened to be two weeks in the future. When would issue five be coming out? [01:20:09] Speaker B: Sometime further down the line. [01:20:12] Speaker A: Okay. Do you have a month estimate? [01:20:14] Speaker B: No, because. [01:20:18] Speaker A: We don't know. Probably January. [01:20:21] Speaker B: I wish I could say that. But currently, right now, with the state of affairs with supply chain and other. [01:20:27] Speaker A: Stuff like that, just make sure you're. [01:20:30] Speaker B: Seeing a lot of stuff going on in the Kickstarter world that's being affected by paper printing and other stuff. Even though we go through a local printer, they are being affected by paper production and other stuff in ink that they don't have any control over and we don't have any control over. So in the future, that might be a problem. We had a Slight backup on our printing for the last issue for number three. So we might see some issues with printing issue number four. [01:21:07] Speaker A: So we're hoping for December or January. [01:21:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And that also might cause issues getting out the Kickstarter for number five. Because as we do, we like to try to drop a Kickstarter after we've actually fulfilled those previous Kickstarters. Because that is the kind of the rule of thumb, right? [01:21:29] Speaker A: Yes. Generally, you want to have your book out before you start selling another one. [01:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:37] Speaker A: Any thoughts on how many issues are you going? [01:21:40] Speaker B: Six. Seven. [01:21:42] Speaker A: Okay. So in issue seven, are you going to have a graphic on that too. [01:21:48] Speaker B: After seven, we plan on doing a nice compendium or full book of everything so all the issues put together. So yeah, you would see a nice graphic. [01:22:04] Speaker A: Perfect. It'll be a nice thing to bring to shows, too. [01:22:07] Speaker B: It would be. It will be. [01:22:10] Speaker A: It will be. You'll go to shows again. [01:22:12] Speaker B: I know Travis and Bret have gone to some shows in the last couple. [01:22:16] Speaker A: Of months and you and I are. [01:22:17] Speaker B: Going to go to a show eventually. Yes. [01:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it's going to happen. I'm just going to drag you and take you with. Kidnap you eventually. It'll be okay. Anne has another person at the store now. [01:22:30] Speaker B: Sometimes. Occasionally, right? [01:22:31] Speaker A: Sometimes. But she could handle a weekend without you. It'd be okay. [01:22:35] Speaker B: They weren't there this weekend. [01:22:37] Speaker A: Right. But the world cannot operate without Greg there. So it'll be no. [01:22:41] Speaker B: Yes, maybe. [01:22:43] Speaker A: Yes, it can. [01:22:45] Speaker B: Sometimes. It's been getting crazy, man. The holidays are kicking. [01:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's okay. [01:22:50] Speaker B: Weather changes, people get crazy. [01:22:53] Speaker A: Or Palmer. We'll send Palmer. [01:22:54] Speaker B: Okay. Send Palmer. Palmer will take care of business as he does. [01:22:58] Speaker A: Actually, no, Palmer will have soccer. [01:22:59] Speaker B: So. [01:23:00] Speaker A: Well, I don't want to get too much into my personal life, but anyway, by the way, Palmer is not in my personal life. He's been happily married for many, many years. [01:23:10] Speaker B: Palmer is a mutual friend of ours that is a super fantastic person, a great friend and somebody that, honestly, if the chips are down, you call. [01:23:24] Speaker A: If you need a ride from a hospital for a procedure, hE's there for you. I'll just say that. [01:23:28] Speaker B: Or if you need something moved and you're like, I need an extra set of hands, Palmer will show up. [01:23:37] Speaker A: Or if you need somebody to set up A-D-D game, contact our good friend Palmer. That's right. If he wants me to, I'll put his info in the podcast. [01:23:48] Speaker B: He's put together some really cool d d stuff. [01:23:50] Speaker A: He has put together some really cool d d stuff. I've been a part of a couple of the campaigns and he even set up one that I'm in now with another DM, which has been a lot of fun. [01:23:59] Speaker B: Nice. [01:23:59] Speaker A: So we beat up a guy like a half orc. [01:24:04] Speaker B: Wow. [01:24:05] Speaker A: Yeah. He was not a nice guy. [01:24:08] Speaker B: Is your character like Midnighter? [01:24:10] Speaker A: No, my character is amazing, actually. I am a half elf. So we did this backstory thing that Palmer gave me to create characters with. [01:24:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:24:18] Speaker A: And let me tell you, you're going to laugh. I have a half elf character and this half elf grew up in a wizard's house, but he has no magical powers whatsoever. [01:24:28] Speaker B: Okay. [01:24:29] Speaker A: I wanted to make a fighter, because I always paid distance characters, like, usually magic users, but when we did the character history, he ended up using a bow. So now I still sit in the back and shoot a bow at people, which is hilarious. However, I grew up in this hut, and I had an unknown protector who happens to be a bullywog. [01:24:49] Speaker B: A what? A bully dog. [01:24:51] Speaker A: A bullywog. It's a giant frog. Oh, it's a giant, like, standing frog. [01:24:56] Speaker B: Okay. [01:24:56] Speaker A: So this frog just walks around scaring the shit out of everyone. [01:24:59] Speaker B: Sweet. [01:25:00] Speaker A: We walk by. Yeah. They're all like, why do you have a giant frog next to you? [01:25:04] Speaker B: Why wouldn't you? [01:25:04] Speaker A: This has been fun. Yeah. And the frog hates snakes, and there were snakes in the wizard's chamber and killed the wizard, as the frog does. Yeah, like, it's great. So it's this completely random thing, and I'm sure the listeners now are completely tuned out. They're like, I do not care about Dan's character, but they're like, a lot of fun. [01:25:23] Speaker B: They're like, okay, you guys are nerds. We're nerds. We're all nerds. But you guys are really a whole other level of nerd handle. [01:25:30] Speaker A: Some DND character creation, then you're not into cOmics, because so much of comics can trace back to some of this and shoot, man, it's great. It's great fun. [01:25:43] Speaker B: Just RPGs and stuff like that. If it wasn't for, I talked about TMNT earlier, after the blast or after the bomb, but that was, like, a whole thing that I was into in my scouting days. We would just sit there and roll up characters and play on a trip, because that's what you do. [01:26:11] Speaker A: Let yourself interact with other humans. That's what this does. And I think that's besides stranger things, I think one of the reasons DND had a rebirth is because people are so desperate to interact with other humans after COVID, and it's just fun. Sometimes it's fun to get off the computer and actually just enjoy other human company, and it allows you to do that, and it allows you to do it in a fun and creative way, and it helps you tell stories. Right. [01:26:35] Speaker B: But you can also do it on the computer too. [01:26:38] Speaker A: You can do it on the computer. You could do it over Skype. There's lots of different ways. Or Skype. Did I say Skype? [01:26:43] Speaker B: You did. [01:26:43] Speaker A: You do over Skype? Like, what year is this? 1998. [01:26:47] Speaker B: I was just on Skype the other day, dude. [01:26:49] Speaker A: Of course you were. [01:26:50] Speaker B: I was Skype in it up. [01:26:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, anyway, on that note, I think we should probably wrap this bad boy up. [01:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah, wrap it up. All right. [01:27:01] Speaker A: Unlike, wrap it up. Unlike midnighter, for most of the issue, he was unwrapped. [01:27:05] Speaker B: Most of the issue? [01:27:06] Speaker A: Like a can. [01:27:07] Speaker B: Half eaten. Wait. [01:27:08] Speaker A: Wow. I didn't know you were so into midnight. [01:27:12] Speaker B: Or Greg. [01:27:16] Speaker A: I had no idea. You have let me know. A part of you I had no idea existed. [01:27:21] Speaker B: Favorite Batman. [01:27:23] Speaker A: That's true. Might be my favorite Batman. [01:27:27] Speaker B: And on that note, goodbye. Have good ones. [01:27:30] Speaker A: This episode of Fun Book renders. [01:27:34] Speaker B: I can't turn it off. I'm on the wrong computer. [01:27:38] Speaker A: Oh, jeez. [01:27:39] Speaker B: I got it. Hold on. [01:27:41] Speaker A: When the chips are down, we can't even stop or.