Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Second start of the podcast. Juliet the dog tried to photobomb the beginning of the podcast, which is always a welcome sight compared to looking at me.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: It was fantastic. She was so cute.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: I called her down here so she would go to sleep next to me and, well, she thought we were doing something else and involves the words W and ock.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Oh, no, no, definitely not.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: It's a very dangerous, dangerous word. I'm actually toying with fate by saying it that way.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: Yeah, you are. Because we're doing something that's pod and cast.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Yes, well, and we are on to Jimmy Olsen, number 136. And we've got a hulking Jimmy on the COVID We learned. I thought that was last.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Ho ho ho. Green Giant.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: It is. Well, I don't know, but we just.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: We learned the last baby carrots.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Ew. They didn't have baby carrots.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: They had those little square ones.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. I was gonna say all the baby carrots are hiding out in the incredible Jimmy Olsen's underwear.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Carrot. Carrot squares.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Carrot squares.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: How you often wondered, like, what was the point of the whole peas and carrots mix? Right? Like there's one good part which is.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: The carrots, and then.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: And then there's one terrible part.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: They want you to. They're trying to get rid of those peas, Dan. They want you to. They. They gotta. They gotta get rid of em somehow. So they mix them in.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Somebody explain. Oh, God.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: I was gonna say they mix em in with the good thing that you like and they. They sell it as a mix.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: Did somebody explain to me what an English pea is? So they all look like peas to me.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: And I'm. I was at Whole. No, not Whole Foods, at. At Trader Joe's. And they had English peas and they seemed like they speak with an accent, I guess. I don't know. Are they special?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Pre shelled?
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Are they an Alex Ross painting?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Like, what are they like. Like pre shelled pistachios?
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Pre shelled peas? That didn't sound that exciting. Like I was.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: You didn't have to. You didn't have to shell them yourself, Dan.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: No, they.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: They sell themselves because they're shelled themselves.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: It's. Well, it. This all started with the jolly green Jimmy.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: Jimmy's jolly green Jimmy.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Ho ho ho.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Gonna beat you if you have a jolly. If you have a jolly green Jimmy, please call 911 immediately. Do not take priapus. Priapus for a healthy Jimmy.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Side effects may be diarrhea, headaches, ear bleeding, nose Bleeding death. Death.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: And a punch to the face.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Jolly Green Jimmy says, don't do it. Ho, ho, ho.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: And this is why your new leader of health in the country won't let the advertisements come on for the drugs.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, no, he's cool like that. But if you rub olive oil on it, on everything, then you'll. You'll be fine.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I mean, everything's fine. You know, I believe clones have a measles outbreak. Susceptibility.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: Oh, dude.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: So they should not live in the United States right now.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Yeah, they shouldn't. Bad news.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: We're just going to make everybody sad if I go down the street.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Yeah, don't go down there.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: I think we should immediately go to this interesting cover where we get a yellow background.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: It is bright.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: With the Newsboy Legion looking through a hole in the yellow background. Well, not all of them. We've got the mouth guy.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: The mouth guy.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Bob Hope Jr.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Yes. Bob Hope Jr. Words. Big words. But he's little.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: No, no, that's not big words.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Oh, that's not big words. Is the other guy.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Sorry. Yeah. I've got Flippa Dippa, the worst. The worst gimmick in the Newsboy Legion, but gets all the airtime, so that's good.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: He's got a great. He's got a great microphone.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: Name Scrapper, who we can just compare to the Newsboy Legion's version of the Punisher.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Oh, What?
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Yeah, gross.
Did you hear about this, by the way? I have not watched the new Punisher show.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: I saw the. I saw the clip.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Yes. Apparently it turns out the Punisher doesn't like anyone and shoots everyone. And then people got outraged by this.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: As, you know, people do. Oh, no.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Have you ever read the comic books? 0punisher comic books. And they just put a Punisher tattoo on themselves and thought, oh, man, this Punisher guy, he's somebody I should model myself after.
I actually talked to a good friend who until very recently.
Well, is still technically, but until very recently, was the ethics. The Admiral Stockdale ethics chair at the Navy War College.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: For some reason they resigned.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: But for some reason. Is something going on in the world.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: That would cause an ethics chair at a.
Yeah.
College to resign. I. Anyway, I hear people are doing it.
But mentioned. I mentioned the Punisher thing to Pauline and she shared that people were still coming in with those tattoos and had no idea what they meant.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Boy, they.
Silly. Silly. They just.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
I should call her by her doctor name. But we'll use Pauline for now to protect the innocent.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Yeah. I will tell you, if you are a fan of the Punisher and you don't align with the views of those who rock the Punisher gear. Don Nguyen, who I know is a fantastic artist, worked with the creator of the Punisher to create a new Punisher logo. It's not the one that you see in the comics or anything like that, but it is something that is very, I guess, much like what the Punisher's message is to those.
It's quite good.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Well, so I hate the Punisher character. So. Always have. I've never. And you can vouch for this?
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I know this isn't.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Just me broadcasting out.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: It's never been. He's never. Never been your dude, which I get.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: And.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: And. And it's like, as a kid, you're like.
People are like, oh, you should read this. And it's like, okay. And then you grow up.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: I was honestly more interested in the. The fake Punisher than the actual Punisher. The Vigilante.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: The Vigilante, or Mad Dog?
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Well, Vigilante.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Mad Dog.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Not Mad Dog. No. Very different. I know, but Vigilante, remember, came out of Teen Titans.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah, but Mad Dog's pretty cool.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Wild Dog.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Wild Dogs.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Wild Dog. Wild Dog. Wild Dog was more of the Punisher rip. Complete Punisher ripoff. Whereas I think Vigilante, Vigilante was kind of like a cross between the Punisher and Two Face. Right.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: And of course, the Vigilante on Peacemaker is a completely different character.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Well, I mean, they had to make them very different.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, on Peacemaker, it makes sense, though, because you're taking a 60s character in an 80s character that are now out of place in time, and then you're trying to place them in time. I think if you make the Vigilante a lawyer, and it doesn't work, right? Yeah, it doesn't work now, and that's fine. But, I mean, spoiler alert. The Vigilante commits suicide in the comic.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Damn.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: And I think, Right. The Punisher can just magically live with all the things the Punisher did. I always felt like. I mean, I'm not advocating for suicide. Let me be very clear now. I've reached into very sensitive territory. Wow. Dan, if you're in trouble, please reach out. I know. Now, if you're in trouble, reach out. Obviously, I'm not trying to make light of suicide. I am purely talking about the story arc of the Vigilant character. I want to emphasize this. The story arc of the character makes more sense that that person wouldn't be able to live with all the things they did.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: Very true.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Than the Punisher continuing to go on. And being a character that exists this far in time, it literally doesn't make sense. This is a character who started on a killing spree because his family was murdered. Right.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: I will say.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: And now continues to just indiscriminately murder.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: There are moments, there are moments in his character arc where he doesn't. I'm not going to say has full. Like, doesn't seek forgiveness. Forgiveness, but he does have moments of like, oh, hey, I need to realign my.
My thoughts a bit.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: But that's not the Punisher people like.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: I know it's not the Punisher people like, but.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: And that's also the. Isn't. Isn't that the Frank Miller Daredevil storyline? Yeah, I mean that. That is the Catholic Daredevil story.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: It is very much. Oh, I mean, Frank Castle's very much from a very big family that aligns with that because I believe he is as well, so.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Well, anyway, I got the guilt. I mean, everybody can like the Frank Castle if they want to. I. It's never been a character for me in the same way that like, I don't like the John Wick movies either.
I'm sorry. It's just not for me.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: On the, on the flip side of the coin, I appreciate the John Wick kun fu movies just because they're. They're interesting and, And I don't.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Killed the dog.
[00:10:01] Speaker B: They killed the dog. But that's why he goes for the vengeance Dan. And then he continues to go.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: I mean, if somebody killed my dog, I might go John Wick, I guess on someone.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: But okay, maybe you'll like the ballerina storyline a little bit better.
[00:10:15] Speaker A: Anyway. I don't know. I'm more of a diehard. Well, anyway, let's get back to Jimmy Olsen. Back to Jimmy gone. This is.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: I know.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Let's go back to a comic book that actually has some creativity and see, now I'm being terrible with the Punisher.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: That's okay.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: I just, I. You know, I mean, again, all characters have a place in time. I mean, you get to go watch Taxi Driver as well. Right. Like, there's lots of things to watch and see. It's just. Anyway, well, I wanted to bring up the Punisher because it's a semi current event and you know, sometimes we talk about these things. We're going back in time to Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen and the DN Alien, the Denali Denalien, the D. N Alien.
It is D. Period. End period. Aliens. So I guess it's D.N. aliens.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: D.N. alien.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: Aliens. Sounds like a rap.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Sounds like a rap group by Flipper Dipper.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: Hey, it's. It comes.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: Didn't see any of the other Newsboy Legion that could front a rap group.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Big words. Flip a different. Back to back. I mean, talk about it. It's very much like, I could see that. That mash right there. And then all of a sudden, scrapper pops out, and he's like. He's like, yo, hold up. I got a thing to drop. And then he's like, wait a minute. I dropped it.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Isn't basically like, big words. Like, that's big words. Rapping would be Daniel Radcliffe rapping, right?
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Oh, but it'd be awesome because it would be like highbrow.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Daniel Radcliffe rapping was awesome.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: I know. It would be like, just the highest of highbrow, and it'd be amazing.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Well, anyway. Yes. Well, you know what? I'm actually getting down with the Newsboy Legion raptor.
What would we call them?
[00:12:11] Speaker B: They'd be dnaliens.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: That.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Yeah, that's fair. Or, you know, that could be. It would be either. Yeah. DN Aliens.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: The new new edition.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: The Newsboy Legion edition.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Hot off the press, hot off the presses.
Well, we are deep in a. We do have the yellow cover we talked about. We're deep in a federal underground complex. You know, it's funny because we said before we started this podcast, we were going to stay on point, on track, deliver exactly what the listeners were looking for. And so far, we've talked about the Punisher rap groups, aliens that have taken over the health and human services.
You know, maybe that's where the DN aliens are. It would make sense.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Exactly.
That's where they're at.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Well, we have the rampaging Hulk on page two. Yeah. Incredible Jimmy Olsen smashing the Incredible Jimmy Olsen.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: He's just smashed Superman. He's like, boom. Take that fist to the face.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: How did they not get sued for this?
[00:13:19] Speaker B: You know, Kirby's really smart. He's like, it's not the Incredible Hulk. It's Incredible Jimmy Olsen. Look at this. I mean, they don't even.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: I mean, it is very much a golden age Jimmy Olsen. Right. Where Jimmy Olsen gets the powers of another character or something like that, but it just happens to be another character from a different comic book company whose shorts happen to be green instead of purple.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. He's just. And he's from this corner. In this corner, from parts unknown. Incredible Jimmy Olsen taking On Superman.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: The Incredible Jimmy Olsen.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: The Incredible Jimmy Olsen.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: And he has synthetic kryptonite. Because we're in the modern age of the 70s.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: That's right.
He's got little pouches of synthetic kryptonite just slinging them.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Well, the guardian, Mr. Harper, is gonna defend them.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: What if Mr. Harper was.
Well, those were the Hogans, but it was the Valerie Harper show, right?
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. Valerie Harper.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: And then it became the Hogans after.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: She died in a fire.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: Well, she didn't. Not in real life.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Not in real life, but in the show.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: I believe it's a contract dispute.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. She wanted more money. She wanted it. She wanted the. They were like. We already gave the show your name.
She wanted it to be the Valerie Show, I believe.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, and then I believe the. I believe that's what it was called. I don't think it was called the Hogan family originally. And I believe that. That then Peter Pan came and saved the day.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: The uncle?
[00:15:03] Speaker A: No, Sandy Duncan.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Oh, Sandy Duncan. Yeah, that's right. Cindy Duncan. I was like, yes, Cindy Duncan came in.
Well, she was the.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: She was the aunt, but she was Peter Pan. Yeah, she was before that. Yes.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Well, anyway, so it's always fun when you know that the story isn't keeping my attention because I get very distracted very quickly.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Get distracted.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: I just like. Okay, so the Guardian. Let's get into the Guardian for a second.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Let's get into the Guardian.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Never been a huge fan of the Guardian character. What?
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Why not? He's blue and gold, like your favorite. Your team.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: I think it was. Because you know what? I think I will be a Blue and gold, like my team.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: Yeah, Blue and gold, like the Mariner.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: B and G. No, B and G.
Oh, that team.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that team. The best team.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: No, don't incorporate the Guardian into Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. That's not. No.
I think my problem with the Guardian is I. Until I started now, going back and reading these issues, right, I didn't get the whole Project Cadmus thing because we weren't even calling it Project Cosmic yet. I get that, but I didn't get it. And now. Now I'm finding out about it for the first time. So now maybe that I know the origin, all this other stuff that I've read will make sense.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: That makes sense.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: By the way, this was written and drawn by Jack Kirby. It says so right here.
Yeah, well, it says it's true. The Guardian is back. But he is the Guardian of a new and frightening age. He is a child of the project. A new and far reaching experiment which could change humanity as we know it. For the big picture is unfolding and each segment of it reveals the terrifying pattern of the forces the likes of which have never been seen on Earth. Yes. And the birth of forces which are yet to play their part in this great saga. Well, we found out that they were cloning everybody in Superman. Asshole Superman. Which is like, yeah, we're cloning people.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Cloning people. Oh, my gosh. What if. What if Superman is a clone maybe?
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Oh, you know what? That would explain some things because he has just been a super jerk.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: He's super. Oh, no. Jimmy's not safe.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Well, the Guardian, he needs the Guardian.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Because like, asshole Superman could just pick him up and fly him really, really high in the sky and drop him like a baby bird trying to learn how to fly.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: The Guardian doesn't look like he's gonna last very long. Fighting.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: The incredible Jimmy Olsen.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: No, I mean. I mean, Guardian's got old man strength, but Jimmy Olsen's got that incredible Jimmy Olsen strength.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: While the Guardian gets dispatched. And then the super. The dnalien says, destruction, death. I shall kill everything that moves, then wreck the project. So he's a very in depth, three dimensional character that we found.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Yeah, he's got.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: I'm sure he'll appear all the time.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: He's got a lot to say.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Well, he grabs Jimmy and is like, you have same face as me.
[00:18:19] Speaker B: Oh, no.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: That makes me angry.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Oh, no.
Give me your beans, Jack.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Me when I'm angry.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: Can't be stopped.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Superman's back and he breaks the floor. And that breaks the denalien.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: The denali.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: And the Denalien falls and he can't breathe and stuff. And then he passes out because he's not angry anymore.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Oh, man, that's. And then he doesn't know the secret. He's got to be angry all the time.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: And then a whole bunch of miniature scrapper paratroopers come. I am not making this up. Friends. This is not. This is. We are 100% serious.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: 100%. It is crazy. Like, I flip the page and I'm like, whoa, there's a ton of them. They're popping out of everything.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: And they come and wrap the Incredible Jimmy Olsen in.
They freeze him.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it's kind of weird. They pull down this like, little gun thing that like, it's like a big water pistol. But it looks like the way that it's framed in that last panel looks like they're just peeing.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: It does. And then.
And Then after they pee on him, they create Han Solo. And.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Yeah, they carbonate.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: And George Lucas was reading this. He's like, damn, it's very clear.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: He's like, oh, my gosh, I need to put this in a movie sometimes. That's. I mean, he got all his best ideas from everybody else.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: So very clear here. And scrapper's very excited. He thinks his little scrapper sort of cute. He's.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: Aw, this is my babies. This is.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: This is super creepy.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Do you think they let him keep one?
[00:20:07] Speaker A: I mean, no.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: Couldn't it just have one?
They come down in a really gimmicky plane.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: He says, well, they say they have a billion questions for the Guardian. But then Makkari and Simeon are talking to Darkseid.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Oh, we got this plan, Darkseid. We're gonna. We're gonna set up this website. I know you don't know what a website is. It's a new thing. It's gonna happen in about 30, 40 years from now. Websites are gonna be amazing. We're gonna sell stuff on it. People are gonna bid on it. We're gonna get their credit card information, and then. And then you're going to have all that money.
Don't you want the money? And he's like, no, you idiots.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Well, I think they do. They want the Earth.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, they do. They want all.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: And they.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: They had resources.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: They head back to the site, to the project, to see if they've won here.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: It's a really cool piece, this. The project piece, and that's really cool.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: The wild area, the habitat. Well, anyway. In the domain of the Harrys.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: But.
Well, Makari and Simeon are pontificating, and we find out that they have a bunch of their own Beasts of Burden clones.
[00:21:36] Speaker B: But they're in eggs. They're gonna sell the eggs and make some money.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that Simeon just said, oh, Rocky, Rocky.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: What they got. They got Sly on Ice?
[00:21:49] Speaker A: No, the other Rocky.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Oh, the other one.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: As in Rocky Horror?
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Oh, Rocky.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: The one that's actually a clone.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: He's on a slab. Oh, my gosh. That makes sense. That's who's carrying the thing in the next panel.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It's all coming together. Oh, my gosh.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: It all. It all links together. So the Guardian comes back, and they're talking to him, and he's like, I would like to answer all your questions, but I somehow feel strange.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: He needs a meatloaf.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: And then the dads come in and they, like, want to take the Guardian.
They're like, we Cloned the Guardian. See, we liked him so much, we cloned him.
And then the dads proceed to explain that the Guardian vanished, and they didn't know what happened to their friend, and they didn't know who Jim Harper was. And so then they found out he'd been fatally wounded. But then they remade him. And then Flippadipa's dad is like, hey, I joined in too, because these folks were really good to let me help clone things.
And this is weird. And I don't understand why the newsboy Legion became a bunch of cloners.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: Well, they thought they're a clone now.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: Well, they put their green toy away on the next page.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: It's more silver now.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Brionic capsule. Yeah, he's kind of silvery, like he's encased in a silver substance. Do you think that that sort of looks like a surf board?
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Kind of does.
It kind of does.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: I wonder, if you were encased in a silvery substance and you had a surfboard, what would you do with it? I don't know. You would have your messenger go off right in the middle of the podcast.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: Oh, no.
Yeah, I know. I turned.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Travis.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: I turned off mine.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: No, that was yours. Anyway. It wasn't mine.
[00:23:53] Speaker B: I turned it off.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: Yeah, it was totally yours.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: I turned it off.
I did.
I got a message on the side, but I turned off the sounds.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's. Anyway, it happens, you know, you just fess up to it. You played your cash register noises and you played those noises.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: I didn't play that noise. It wasn't me.
I'm looking. I don't see anything. Anyways, Silver surfing surfer just happened again.
What?
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Well, it's okay, you know, Jason. Listener. Jason wants to get a hold of us.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: And is still asking us to do Godzilla.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: We're gonna have to wait.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: But because we have too much Kirby goodness. Because we're going to flip the page. Things muted and we get those DNA backgrounds again where Superman is another message.
DNA.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Yes.
He knows.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: Apparently. Jason and Travis, exactly what we're doing right now.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: Jason and Travis, they're the best. We love you guys.
Jeff is a call.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: We love it. We. We love it. When we're in the middle of the podcast. You know exactly what we're doing and you message. So.
And this is great for all the other listeners I know. Have no idea what's going on.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: If you other listeners.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Should we tell all the other listeners when we record, it just starts.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: You can start messaging us too, and then you could be part of the show. Just like everybody that messages or calls.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: Us does right in the middle of the show. Yeah. Well, anyway, after that interlude, we get back to finding out all about the project and the special tanks we use for cloning.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: What?
[00:25:44] Speaker A: And we've made superior beings like the Harrys and the Zoomway. And Superman explains what DNA is. Oh, to all the children, Superman. And then he explains that if you use this magic dial machine, you get normals, step ups and aliens. And so you get all these different characters based off of how we reorganize the DNA. And then we meet Double X. Yeah, Double X.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: He's going to give it to you.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Who I've honestly never. Wow. Who I've never understood at all as a character in all the times I've read Double X, I've never understood. So it was nice to see the introduction of Double X because I've never understood the character. And now, you know, Double X is just always at Cadmus. And I had no idea why or where Double X came from.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: And he came from the project.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: He's also a. He was grown. Yeah. Now, if you turn the machine. So basically, if you go Back to page 20 and you turn the machine in a certain way, you actually could win the Showcase Showdown.
[00:26:54] Speaker B: Oh my gosh.
Are you on the show with Bob Barker or with Drew Carey? That's the big question, though.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: Bob Barker, of course. Have you spayed your pets?
[00:27:08] Speaker B: It is 1990 and you are homesick drinking ginger ale or 1990?
[00:27:15] Speaker A: 1985.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: 1985. He was still doing the show in 1990.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: What were you doing? Watching the Price is Right. Weren't you watching something else?
[00:27:23] Speaker B: I wasn't going. I wasn't. I wasn't going to class. I got one of the. My dad. My. Had my dad sign one of those things that said I was going to take a. Take a school trip, but it was to get to like leave campus whenever I wanted.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: I'm not saying that I did that in high school too, but you probably learned that from me. So.
[00:27:42] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: I'm not saying that. I just left every day at a certain time and disappeared second period. Maybe we were a bad influence on each other.
[00:27:55] Speaker B: I think, you know, the library.
The library at the school was only so big, but the library at UW was so much better.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: That is true. You were actually doing things. I was just going home. So anyway, well, we found out that Double X is an alien species, was grown here.
And that now, but for all the good guys that are grown by Superman and the Harry's and everybody else that Live there. I still am questioning how this got started. So was it just the whole Newsboy Legion got together and decided to grow?
[00:28:31] Speaker B: All these folks, I think they were called in.
[00:28:33] Speaker A: Became this entire thing. And the news.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: The Newsboy Legion was called in by the government. We know you guys are good together, but why don't you work with us under our own.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: And then they broke into a song.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Yes.
And they were singing all about how they needed to.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Do you know any newsy songs?
[00:28:53] Speaker B: I don't know. I was going to say they're like tap dancing and stuff like that. And then singing about how everybody need to get paid to do their jobs and stuff like that. And there was no scabs. And why. That's. I'm pretty sure that's like one of the songs.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: There we go.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: And then, you know, like, Christian Bale is dancing around and stuff like that. And then all of a sudden, Christian Beowulf.
Christian Bail Wolf. Yes.
And. And that would be awesome. Doogie Howser's buddy, he pops up and he makes some funny remark, and he's all like.
He's all like, hey, I got a cool hat. And what do you think about that? And, you know, they're slinging newspapers over there.
[00:29:35] Speaker A: I'm gonna blow in your mind right now. If I could clone things, I would create a newsies slash sandlot crossover.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: If you could clone that or just create it, like. I mean, like, make it happen.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: I mean, I should just create it.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Like, make a newsy.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: What if we had, like, a newsy sandlot Mighty Ducks crossover?
[00:29:53] Speaker B: So it's all three of those things happening at the same time. So it's.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: They all exist in the same universe.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Exist in the same universe. So you got the Sandlot kids hanging out with the really bad hockey team that's getting better. And Emilio Estevez is like, hey, kid, is that. Is that a Babe Ruth baseball. I haven't seen one of those in a long time. And then these are like, Babe Ruth. Oh, wow. I saw him.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: You gotta watch out for that dog, though.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And they're just like. They're all gelling, hanging out, singing songs.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: And then they all break out into a song. Yeah. Distributing newspapers to the masses so that the.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: So that the kids in the sandlot can go somewhere in the pool. And then the Mighty Ducks get better jerseys.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: Like, how would your song go? If you were gonna start that musical, I expect you just to make up. I'd be like, on the fly.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: Look out, kids, here we come. We're the guys who get it done. We're the new Z. Mighty Duck brigade. Hold on. What about the Sandlot Kids? We're the Sandlot Kids and we're here to say we came to the sandlot here to play. We're gonna get my dad's baseball. Wait, I shouldn't get that baseball. No, you should. I'm Emilio Estevez and I'm here because the court made me. And then I'll get the baseball. And that's Doogie Howser's friend. And he runs in, he gets the baseball and comes back out and breaks into another song.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Yeah, see? Okay. Yeah, I mean, I'm down with all this. All right, well, in the back to the comic book™tm.tm.
the Four Armed Monster is born. Oh, my God. Meet them next issue.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: It's cracking out of an egg. That's gotta be so expensive, Dan.
A big.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: I mean, eggs, so far you're sitting on, we've got a lot of nothing going on.
[00:31:51] Speaker B: But these guys. Like Simeon is sitting on stacks on stacks of money right there with all those eggs.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Well, I don't know.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Like he doesn't even know right then how much money.
[00:32:08] Speaker A: I mean, so far this book is just telling us a lot of things.
[00:32:13] Speaker B: True.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: And I really don't know what's going on.
[00:32:18] Speaker B: It's a wild book because it's in the wild. The wild place.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: Yes, but objectively. Okay, this is obviously Jack Kirby, but objectively, tell me what's happened in the last four issues.
[00:32:32] Speaker B: Well, I mean, Jimmy Olsen goes to the area that he's in. He becomes the leader of. Of the bikers. He meets the Harrys, he escapes some bad things while they meet the Mountain of Zoom Doom.
They, they, they have to deal with asshole Superman.
They shoot him a bunch of times with, with kryptonite guns to subdue him. And then he fights himself with the help of the Guardian. You know, who's guarding them. Who's guarding them?
[00:33:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, so far, my honest assessment of this series is it's okay.
Now I'm reading the whole omnibus and when I fit it into the rest of the whole Jack Kirby universe, it's much more interesting. But honestly, I don't like the Newsboy Legion at all.
I don't see how they really fit into the story at all. I'm sorry, it just doesn't. It's like. It's like Jack wanted to just grab one of his old things and bring it back so he could play with his old toys again. And I get that, but it doesn't really fit in with me because he's creating so many new toys right now. And even in that Jack Kirby interview, that where he said, you know, I don't, you know, don't be like Jack Kirby. If you were like Jack Kirby, you would create something new.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: I feel like, like holding on to the Newsboy Legion is counterproductive to that. In the other things I'm reading him build. Yeah. I mean, I honestly, like, so just for context, the books that came out, we mentioned these. Like, you have Jimmy Olsen, the Forever People, the new gods, and Mr. Miracle. So those are the four books.
[00:34:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: And so far, I really like the New gods.
I like Mr. Miracle.
[00:34:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: I feel like that the Forever People so far is a cheesy teen team book. Yeah.
Because they form, like, the Infinity Man.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Infinity Man. Yeah.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: And it's like, it's kind of cheesy because, like, anytime they get into trouble, like, they all have powers, but it's like, okay, let's form the Infinity man, and then the Infinity man will take out the baddie.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: And if you don't have that book, you never get Captain Power.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Well, that's fine, but I, I. It's not fine, but it's fine. But I think, like, so far, that book is.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: You don't get a Megazord with the Power Rangers.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think you do get those things, but it's. Anyway, it's not.
It's okay. I mean, that book is all right. It's. They're all, like, in tenement housing now. Then this book. Yeah, well, no, they are like, that's that story. And then this book is kind of starting that. And if you're not reading the other books, you could see the thread line here without reading any of the other books. But it really doesn't make sense. Right. Like, I still don't. And, And I'm waiting, Right. I'm still trying to figure out, like, why the Newsboy Legion is even here, why their parents were here, why they didn't know their parents were here, why they're cloning everyone. I don't understand that. I mean, it makes sense. Like, I get. They're sort of creating this new age. I, you know, read in one of the interviews is like, Jack Kirby's way of, like, coping with the new 60s atomic age. Right. Looking at these things.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Now. Now, here's what I am into in this book. I'm certainly. We looked at the rest of the D.C. lineup in the Direct Currents last on the last podcast, and it looked horrendous.
So we're still waiting on the Green Lantern Green Arrow book. Right. To come out, which was not a sales. I mean, we've covered some of those issues. It was not a monetary success. Right. No, at all. In fact, the book was canceled, and it was brought back later, so. But it was great stuff. So we're still waiting for. Sort of. We're still waiting for the Denny O'Neil era of Batman to happen. We're still waiting for the Bronze Age. We're still waiting for the Legion relaunches. Right. We're still waiting for.
You know, we're not there yet. We haven't gotten to.
We haven't gotten to that. And so we're in this time. So good on Jack for creating something different, sort of transitioning, helping us transition into the Bronze Age.
But so far, honestly, if I have to be completely objective. I'm sorry. It's okay.
The art is beautiful.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: But the story, it's like an Image Comics thing.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: I mean, it's. I think he's laying down.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: The groundwork's beautiful. The story doesn't make any sense yet.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: He's laying down the groundwork and.
[00:37:18] Speaker A: Well, how long until Youngbloods lays down all the groundwork?
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Oh, damn.
You know, it takes a couple of issues, I would say, with the.
[00:37:27] Speaker A: About Brigade and Cyber Force.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:35] Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's true. Like, we've seen. I mean, you know, we've seen history. Repeat this, I think, a little bit, right? Where we gave the artist time. Unfettered, right? Like, you know, unfettered. No editor. Because Jack has no editor here. Jack is his own editor.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: He's doing his thing.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: He's creating his own universe. That's what he negotiated. And we've seen this happen. And, you know, Spawn survived, Right. Savage Dragon survived. But, I mean, I would call it more of a. The fact that it's just. The creator continues to make it, right. Like, it's not like Savage Dragon has been a major monetary success ever. Right.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: But it's got. It's. There's stuff that's compelling in those books to people.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: Well, well, sure, but I'm just saying, like, Spawn made it, I think, just on Todd's sheer willpower. Right. You know, Savage Dragon makes it on Eric Larson's sheer willpower. The rest of those books.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: They'Re pretty to look at, but you're right. I mean, Brigade's a. You're waiting.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: Brigade wasn't even pretty to look at. Yeah.
I mean, Wildcats made it through, but honestly, Wildcats got a cartoon and everything. But that was on the sheer force of just Jim Lee. And Jim Lee eventually, like, sold everything to dc, Right. You know, it's. It's. And Jim Lee had. I mean, there's some monetary success there. But Wildcats was not a good book either. Just gonna lay it down. Sorry to the Wildcats fan out there, but it's not a good book.
And this is an okay book. I like some of the things we're losing. Some of the things I liked, though, in the book. So let's go to the letter column and see some of those things.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: As a reminder, I was going to say before we move on, like, I mean, part of the reason why I feel that Jack brings back some of those things might be, you know, like, in any good character or any good story that's being built, you sometimes bring in those things that have that nostalgic feeling to bring people back in that might not normally pick up a book. So if you had fans that would.
[00:39:56] Speaker A: This is the opposite of nostalgia. Like, this is.
This is not.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Yes and no. I mean, you got the kids of the Legion, of the Newsboy Legion. And then he brings in the Newsboy Legion, the originals, you know, their parents or their dads. And then it's kind of like anytime you watch a movie where you got a character actor that just eats the scenery and you're like, oh, that person. And you've seen them in a lot of stuff, they're not. They're the support, right? They're not. They're not the main character. They're just there and they're putting in some funnies. They're doing something interesting, weird. They're. They're there to make you wonder, to talk about it, to. To. To either ask questions like we've been doing as we're reading along, or maybe to drive certain things. Not all of it, but some of it. So I feel like the Newsboy Legion is there as a. As a character actor in a sense. You know, they're. Well, they're supporting Jimmy in his mission to get into this area. He. He's trying to break his own ground a bit, you know.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Well, if I could offer a counterpoint.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Certainly. Please. This is funny book forensics. This is what we do.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: If I could offer a counterpoint, because we do have Green Lantern, Green Arrow coming in at this time. Right?
[00:41:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Okay. And I did a quick lookup, and I believe we've recited this before, but Neal Adams was the awarded best cover in 1967, best full length story in 1968 with Bob. Ha. Best pencils in 1969. Best individual story with Denny O'Neill in 70 and 71. Best pencil art in 1970. And now we have Jack Kirby with his very blocky art, which is not Neal Adams at all. Right. We have the opposite. So the readers are clamoring for Neil Adams art. The critical readers. Right. And so we could almost even compare this to like professional wrestling in a way. Right. Or any other industry. But let's. We can. You know, I don't know why I go to professional wrestling, but you go for the. Is it. Do you want the perfect match or do you want the wwe?
I mean, and you have Neal Adams, who's not making all the money yet, but Will. Right.
And you're getting. And eventually him and Denny will do Batman, right. And revitalize it. But we're not quite there yet. Right.
And you get this new, very slick art, quick moving story.
And then we have Jack Kirby creating this whole new world. Right.
But you have the old Jack Kirby art attached to it.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:39] Speaker A: Which is. I love. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying. But if you're looking. If you're a reader, and this is why the Superman faces got redrawn partially, right. You're looking at this Jack Kirby art, which was the art of the last age of comics and two ages of comics ago. I mean, Jack Kirby's been around since the 40s, right. So now we're looking at this art.
He does some really cool things with the backgrounds. Like the DNA background is really cool. There's some really experimental art. But then you have the cheesiest thing on page 20, which is a completely silver age. Like, what are those things called when. Like the game Mousetrap. What's the word for those devices?
[00:43:24] Speaker B: It's a. Hold on a second. Again, it's a.
It's right on the tip of my tongue. Yeah, it's the something.
[00:43:32] Speaker A: Rube Goldberg.
[00:43:33] Speaker B: Yeah, Rube Goldberg.
[00:43:35] Speaker A: And it very much looks like a Rube Goldberg machine. And it's very ridiculous with the signs on the wall that says normal step ups and aliens. This is just not. Whereas you get the Neil Adams very realistic art. Right. And you know, that's the future of DC Comics there, Right? So and so now we've got this. This is my argument. Right? So we do have a.
The Newsboy Legion emphasizes the weak points of this. The Newsboy Legion emphasizes the weak things. All this other stuff emphasizes the new cool storytelling that he's trying to do.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: So your wrestling analogy is like, you'd rather go See a live taping, aew, while I go see little people wrestling.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: I would even say that. I think the analogy is, I didn't even say I'd prefer one or the other saying, do you prefer the new workers that can still do things in the ring or do you want to see the old guys pose? And it's literally what happened this last weekend. I mean, WrestleMania was terrible. And now I'm going to admit I did not watch all of it. I watched four of the matches. I watched the John Cena Cody Rhodes match, which was God awful, which you already knew the outcome of the fakest looking hot garbage match ever. John Cena can't move. He can't do anything. You're literally putting. Well, and you know this, when you go in, you're putting two showmen in, right? Both of them are known for their showmanship, not necessarily like their in ring general prowess. Cody Rhodes more than John Cena for sure. But yeah, that's. And that's exactly what you got in a match.
If, you know, now if you're following all the storylines and the stories and everything and then that's the match, that could be something. But I think in the same way that match emphasizes the weak points of that instead of emphasizing the strong points, right? You should have a lot of something going on to, you know, and then running Travis Scott out there to be your hot new act. Number one, not a hot new act at all. And two, like, didn't bring anything to the story. Like, if you didn't watch WrestleMania, Travis Scott interferes to help John Cena win. Nobody believes that Travis Scott and the whole 125lbs of him is going to be able to move around or hurt people.
Unless he actually stomps Cody Rhodes in the head while he's prone on the mat and breaks his eardrum, which actually happened a month ago. Oh, geez. So, because he's a jackass, right? So the, the hardcore wrestling fans already hate him anyway. So anyway, you have a total letdown. I watched the other main event from the night before, the Triple Threat. I was gonna say all people over 40.
[00:46:28] Speaker B: So. So the, the winner did take the. The correct winner did take the title then.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: I don't think so.
[00:46:36] Speaker B: Well, no, I mean, because, I mean, if you're taking the title from Ric Flair, an age, an aged showman and another aged showman should take the title.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: I disagree. I don't think it's. I don't think it's hot, right? I mean, the product is very hot. The storylines are hot. And I guess what I'm saying is Jack Kirby's strengths are weaving this cool new world and this new storytelling. And by bringing in these old characters, this is where the analogy happens. You're bringing these old characters to take it. They don't fit. Like, the Rock and John Cena don't fit into that WWE world now. Right.
Your main event the night before got a much better reaction where you have. Even though Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are getting up there in age, and CM Punk is definitely. But CM Punk didn't win, and he still fits in the storyline and he can still move around the ring, at least when he's not broken.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: When he's not broken.
[00:47:31] Speaker A: And John Cena has never been able to move around the ring. Right. Like, that's not his strength. And so.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: But he can rap.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: Like, now he's even more limited. And, you know, in this storyline, right, in this story here, we've got the strength of the cool art, but now we're bringing back, like, the Guardian. We're bringing back the Newsboy Legion. I mean, the Guardian's costume looks ridiculous compared to everything else going on in these.
[00:47:56] Speaker B: True, true. I mean, it is a throwback. It is definitely a throwback.
[00:48:01] Speaker A: It's the most simple costume. It's just a blue body suit with yellow underwear over the top and a cool helmet.
It is not a cool helmet. The Peacemaker has. Way cooler.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: I was gonna say it looks just.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Like the Peacemaker's helmet, which was probably stolen by, you know, Action Charlton Action Comics for that. Right. Like. But anyway, I guess some of the concepts in here are really great and they are really moving forward. But you see, like, the handwritten. The project and the habitat in the wild area. You see the background things. It's not doing a service to what he seems to be moving for in the rest of everything. And that's my biggest issue with this right now. It just emphasizes the weak points and underplays the strong points.
And I'm not saying I'm not enjoying it, but I'm waiting to figure out where the hell it's going.
[00:48:57] Speaker B: Well, you just wait till the next issue where just.
[00:49:00] Speaker A: You're like, just wait till the next issue.
[00:49:02] Speaker B: It's gonna go places you never imagined, Dan. The DNA.
[00:49:07] Speaker A: Well, I'm sure. I'm sure it will.
[00:49:08] Speaker B: They're gonna put you in their ship and they're gonna bring you to a place.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: The Four Armed Terror.
[00:49:13] Speaker B: Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[00:49:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:49:15] Speaker B: The Forearm Terror is gonna put.
[00:49:16] Speaker A: You said it's coming next.
[00:49:17] Speaker B: Gonna put you in A in a shoot, in a leg lock. And then it's just gonna be.
[00:49:25] Speaker A: I did read the next issue and we basically have the freaking Oculus in the next issue.
Well, and that's really cool. And again, to my point, that's what I want to see in these Jack Kirby stories. Right.
Future. The future, not the past. We don't need the past in these stories.
As I talk about a story that was written before I was born.
[00:49:54] Speaker B: So we don't need the past in this past. Oh, I'm so past the past of the past.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: But that's. That's my rant. I don't want anybody to think that I'm just gonna shill for Jack Kirby all the time. Right. Right now the story is going absolutely nowhere.
It's henchmen of the week.
[00:50:13] Speaker B: I mean, you're not wrong.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: Basic one single issue storytelling.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:18] Speaker A: There's a background thread and universe that we're building behind it.
And again, without the other issues, it's not working unless you have the other storyline going on around it.
Yeah. And I'm waiting for these things. Like, I'm waiting, when are the forever people going to show up here?
I'm sure it'll happen, but I'm waiting for it. And, you know, maybe, you know, he has other editorial forces here. Like, he does have to work with the Superman office on editorial here. So there is that. Maybe that's why we're getting the villain of the Superman of the month.
[00:50:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:58] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, this is like the first season of Smallville.
[00:51:01] Speaker B: It kind of is. You're not wrong.
I'm waiting for bone break.
[00:51:11] Speaker A: But anyway, okay, that's my rant. I'm done.
[00:51:13] Speaker B: No, it was a good rant. I mean, needed to get it out. He needed to get it out, people. He had to free himself of that burden he had.
[00:51:21] Speaker A: It's okay, we are going to pull up the tablet here and share what Jack Kirby took over. Okay, so we've got. Because this one is one of my favorites, it has the publication data at the bottom of the letter page and total copies of Jimmy Olsen in the preceding 12 months. 627,102. So very much down from the other Superman titles, which you saw. Millions. So again, a little bit of evidence that Jack Kirby said he took the book with no creative team on it, but also definitely taking a book that was lower in the sales.
Paid circulation, sales through dealers, carriers, street vendors, counter sales.
333,361 mail subscriptions, 178. It seems very small.
[00:52:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:17] Speaker A: Total paid, circulation 333,539. So.
And, yeah, so they printed 620, 27,000, but over 293,000 of those were returned.
[00:52:34] Speaker B: Nobody likes returns, I can tell you that.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: No, so, I mean, again, not a hot book.
So when you're getting over half of the books returned, so very cool. I mean, we'll see what happens. I'm sure sales went up and you get a hot artist in there where you're putting Denny O'Neill and Neil Adams, nobody's heard of them, and you're putting them on the book and they're getting it through the beauty of what they do.
[00:53:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:03] Speaker A: But anyway, all right. Yeah. I mean, we'll see. I'm anxious to find out.
[00:53:08] Speaker B: Only time will tell people.
[00:53:11] Speaker A: So I don't know. You tell me. I like. I mean, I'm not saying I dislike it. I'm just. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere right now. It's.
[00:53:19] Speaker B: It's like Lego Man. You gotta click it all together. You gotta put this piece with that piece and then the other piece, like, so, like you're saying all the other books surround it and make it, you know, stronger and better.
[00:53:33] Speaker A: And that is what he said he was trying to do, right? He was trying to make graphic novels.
I just don't know if we were ready for it then.
[00:53:40] Speaker B: People weren't. Man, he was before his time. He was a new guy.
[00:53:44] Speaker A: He was always before his time. That's what made him amazing. But, yeah, well, we'll see.
We'll see. So, yeah, that's it for me. I guess we should advertise.
[00:53:56] Speaker B: All right.
[00:53:56] Speaker A: You know, Greg is an author and sells books, like, True. Yeah, and sells books like something about.
[00:54:05] Speaker B: Kids at Space Camp Absolute Zero's Camp Launchpad. Find it at your local book retailer, Amazon, or at your comic shops.
[00:54:15] Speaker A: And sometimes maybe the one last copy at the Museum of Flight.
[00:54:18] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right, Museum of Flight. Or come on down to the Retro Emporium in Kent, Washington, on three on Meeker Street. Meeker Street. Yeah. And come get a copy there. I might even be.
[00:54:29] Speaker A: You also can sign it. You could also go visit our friend Paul Boudreau at Certified Martial Arts in University Place and go train. Greg's going to come down and actually start draining. I understand.
[00:54:43] Speaker B: I had to make the time, but, yeah, I want to.
[00:54:46] Speaker A: Saturday morning. All right, let's do it.
[00:54:49] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. My grandma would be so mad.
[00:54:50] Speaker A: I'm not going to be here. I'm flying away.
[00:54:52] Speaker B: You're flying away. I'd get down there and Paul will be like, oh, you're here. All right, let's go.
[00:54:58] Speaker A: Let's go. Well, you can go do striking with the new heavyweight striking championship. A light heavyweight striking champ. That'll be fun.
[00:55:06] Speaker B: I would be scared.
[00:55:07] Speaker A: I want to see that happen.
[00:55:08] Speaker B: I'd be scared.
[00:55:08] Speaker A: Yeah, it would be scary. Well, I. I think that's it as far as what we're doing. But we'll be back soon with another episode and we'll be on to some more Jimmy Olsen. I guess that's 137. We'll see what happens with the Forearm Menace. Or Arm Menace.
[00:55:24] Speaker B: Forearm Terror.
[00:55:25] Speaker A: Yeah, it's right here. Forearm Terror.
[00:55:28] Speaker B: The forearm.
For those that can't see, he's showing you his forearm.
[00:55:34] Speaker A: The Forearm Minutes. Look at that.
All right. Well, we're out. Bye.
[00:55:41] Speaker B: Bye.
[00:55:42] Speaker A: Goodbye. Have a good day. Bye. I'll stop ranting. We still love Jack Kirby, even if I said bad things about him. Bye.
