DFWRob

October 6, 2017 12:10 pm I only watched the Gifted and took everyone's advice and skipped Inhumans. Although I am a fan of Agents of Shield and disagree with Connor that A.o.S looks cheap. The special effects for Daisy, Ghost Rider and Hive over the past couple of seasons have been really impressive for a TV show. But onto the Gifted - I enjoyed it. I liked the family dynamics of the show and hope that as a TV show they'll have time to let the characters breathe and explore the parallels between Mutants and real world minorities in a way the movies sometimes don't have time to do (like the comics traditionally have). You can already see them alluding to the plight of illegal immigrants today. I'm glad they didn't immediately make the parents muthantphobic bad guys and put the kids on the run. While i'm sure it would have been fine it would also draw too many comparisons to Runaways which is also coming soon. Making it a show about the Struckers and Lorena and her baby does make it unique compared to the terrible family dynamics of the CW shows. The cliffhanger certainly worked too. I'll be back next week. Whether I stick with the whole season is a tougher answer with sooo much on TV nowadays. I also haven't even finished Legion...

September 29, 2017 4:26 pm For context for my comments, I'm definitely a Trekkie. I watched reruns of all five previous series over and over again when I was growing up and have read dozens of the books. And I absolutely loved Star Trek Discovery. There was certainly a small piece of me who felt irked by some of the canonical inconsistencies that Mike and Ron commented on like the holographic projectors. But I am so much more impressed with the amazing look and feel of the show. The only thing that even comes close in my mind to the visuals is Game of Thrones. I was immediately hooked with the story and i'm really interested to see Michael's journey from here and what the discovery is doing that needs her skills. I'm also so use the practice of creating my own continuity from comics that I have no problem just saying to myself this is a different star trek than TOS or the Kelvin timeline. The rest is all marketing BS.

September 5, 2017 4:56 pm Great show guys! Thank you for the countless hours of entertainment you've provided over the last 10+ years. A couple of thoughts I had. 1. I found it kind of sad that Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns are still the "go to" books seen as the very best of the art form. There really hasn't been anything better after 30 years? I guess i'm in the minority that as I've grown up these books have lost a lot of appeal for me. Especially DKR. I can't stand Millers version of Batman (and all the other writers who have done an ultra violent Batman since). 2. Thanks for turning me onto the Great Albums podcast. I've already listened to a few and found it terrific.

June 5, 2017 1:24 pm I thought as a singular film it was terrific. I didn't think it dragged at all and never found myself looking at my watch. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine really shined on screen and played off each other and the rest of the cast so well. From a plot standpoint I thought they made a smart choice setting it at the very end of WW1 and that even the final battle with Ares was earned as they emphasized Diana's singular focus on him throughout the movie. But as a "sequel" to BvS it raised some questions and created some missed opportunities. 1. Where was Diana throughout the rest of the 20th century? Giving up on humanity and living a life of seclusion flies in the face of the character we saw here. 2. Why have Ares kill off the rest of the Gods? Athena, Hermes, Apollo and the rest have been key players in the comics for 75 years. By killing them off I feel like they lost a lot of storyline opportunities.

June 5, 2017 1:09 pm It didn't even seem like Ron was talking that fast. I've heard him go much faster in other podcasts.

April 28, 2017 5:27 pm Thanks for conducting such a great interview Josh! Full disclosure - I am a comic book fan, pro-wrestling fan and video game fan but I don't listen to Aubrey's podcast. I probably should. I do however occasionally run into an interview of him such as this one and always find him such an interesting character. Considering he's had his dream jobs in what are reportedly some very difficult companies to work in I find it refreshing that he comes off as honest but not as jaded and cynical as so many former comic book and wwe writers do. The overlap between WWE and comics are also fascinating. I grew up loving both because at the time in the 80's for kid's entertainment these were "serialized shows." So many cartoons would be one-and-done episodes which were great for repeat viewing. But my lifelong obsession with WWE and comics comes down to being a "mark" and letting my imagination run wild with what could happen on next weeks episode or in next months issue.

March 14, 2017 4:51 pm Ever since listening to this episode I've been thinking about Ryan's question about "essential" runs and trying to think of the what recent comic book runs I would hand to a friend saying this is the "modern classic" they need to check out. Like Ryan said, some characters are easy Thor has two: Aaron & Ribic's Thor: God of Thunder (2012) or Aaron & Dauterman's Thor (2015 Lady Thor). Hawkeye: Fraction & Aja Hawkeye (2012) Luke Cage & Iron Fist: Walker's current run of Power Man & Iron Fist (2016) Daredevil: Waid & Rivera's Daredevil (2012) Captain Marvel: Kelly Sue DeConnick's run (2012) Wolverine/Deadpool/X-Men: Remender Uncanny X-Force (2010) Wolverine/X-Men: Jason Aaron's Wolverine & X-Men (2011) Punisher: Punisher Max (2010) Nova: Loeb's Sam Alexander as Nova (2013) Man, 2012 was a heck of a year! Some characters have great runs that aren't quite as recent but are still very relevant: Captain America: Brubaker's Winter Soldier/Death of Captain America (2005) Iron Man: Fraction's Invincible Iron Man (2008) Hulk: Planet Hulk (2006) Fantastic Four: Hickman's run (2009) and FF (2011) Young Avengers: First Volume in 2005 Jessica Jones: Alias (2001) Runways: First volume in 2003 Cosmic/GotG: Annihilation started in 2007 Real Eye-Patch wearing Nick Fury: Secret Warriors (2008) The character I had the hardest time with is Spider-Man. Slott and Bendis has had such long run's with either the MU or Ultimate versions of the character that have been good, but don't have a singular stand out story you could hand to someone off the street. The closest I can think of is the first Ultimate Spider-Man annual that introduced Kitty & Peter or the "Big Time" era where Pete started working at Mercury Labs.

February 13, 2017 10:58 pm I love Jimmy Eat World. I knew it was going to be a great episode from the opening song. I wasn't expecting it to be a crazy hilarious episode that would leave me with so many questions. 1. What happened to the W+D? 22 seconds? It seemed like it got cut out by how quickly the discussion changed to Power Man and Iron Fist. Which I agree that it's a bummer to hear the series is ending. 2. Action Comics - So what's happening with 52 Clark returning? I wanted spoilers! I just want the storyline over with so they can focus on Superman and Son goodness. 3. JLA Rebirth - Did you guys read it and just forget to talk about it? Or didn't realize it came out? 4. Star Wars Bureaucracy...uhhhhh isn't that the worst of the prequels? 5. So what song did Josh have in his head that he needs a patron to figure it out? And Alex, I completely understand how you feel. I grew up with Tim Drake, Kyle Rayner, Wally West and read DC in the 90's from Death of Superman to Final Crisis in the 2000's as devotedly as Ron followed the X-Men The fictional moments in these characters lives really had an impact, especially their various deaths or book cancellations. That's the power and magic of escapism in comics. So you are definitely not the first to go through this. Every generation of comics fans has. You can read old letters columns or Wizard magazines with fans outraged and heartbroken at the death of Barry in the 80's, Hal in the 90's that by the 2000's we had all just accepted that characters are killed and come back. I would argue that the New52 was even worse than the death of many characters. Instead they were written by Scott Lobdell (ughh). But all it takes is the right creative team with the right pitch to pull you back in!

January 13, 2017 11:19 am Hey John - I agree that the Jean Grey analogy isn't the best example of character replacement. It was just the earliest example I could remember to make the point that characters have been killed off and replaced by "diverse" characters since the 70's. I myself have been reading comics for 25 years. I've seen the cycle of characters die, getting replaced, and come back too life to many times to count. It's a comic book trope. And it is typically the quickest way of introducing "new classic" characters like you asked for. I also don't believe in the idea that Marvel or DC are purposefully trying to "assassinate" a character or devalue their brand. They are just publishing books (good and bad) to see if anything surprising sticks or sells. The clone saga is still worse than anything they are doing to Thor or the FF today. All that being said... you are right that there are plenty of bad books. But there are always plenty of bad books. I can only ever afford 8-10 books a month anyway so I try to cherry pick the best and avoid the worst. I agree with you that I have no interest in the current Captain America, X-Men or spider-man books. That Miles hasn't been good since he was plucked from the ultimate universe. But I LOVE Mighty Thor, Ultimates, Nova, Iron-Man and I'm excited to try out Champions after BC1's recommendation above.

January 9, 2017 11:06 am I totally agree. I still can't believe that Marvel killed off Jean Grey only to make way for a new team with Storm and Thunderbird because they needed more female and minority characters, it's disgusting... Obviously being sarcastic, but this is hardly a new phenomenon. And the "old man syndrome" may be that you and the guys have seen it just one too many times. Every team shakeup and new character has in some way always been "mandated" or "editorially driven". But it is essential in mainstream superhero comics to continue to develop a roster of characters (if only just to kill them off in major events) and find new ways to diversify them for new stories. The most fun Marvel books of the past 5 years IMO have been their young "editorially driven minority" heroes dealing with acne and superpowers. Ms. Marvel. Young Avengers. Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man. Sam Alexander Nova. I would say that the New52's biggest mistake was erasing its young heroes and their typically lighter, more fun books. Teen Titans has been terrible for 5 years. It's a mistake I think DC has recognized and is fixing with Rebirth titles focusing on the various Robins and Superman's son. I say bring on the new characters. If it works - great. If it doesn't - they'll revive an old hero to meet market needs.