Episode 121: Underground Gozer Society

The new Ghostbusters movie opened this week, after a long production period marked by a non-stop screeching hate frenzy from Bill Murray fans, enthusiasts of old-school J. Michael Straczynski Saturday morning cartoons, and people who think that comedy has been redundant since Rick Moranis donned a track suit to dry hump the windows at Tavern on The Green.

We here at Crisis On Infinite Midlives have long and storied histories with the original Ghostbusters, from Amanda’s devotion to its scientific approach to the paranormal that led to her being interested in applying to Duke University’s Parapsychology Laboratory, to Rob’s appreciation of the flick as an teen-safe entryway to early Saturday Night Live and the National Lampoon. And even with that long and beloved history, we have long been looking forward to the more modern interpretation of the franchise.

So we discuss our feelings about the franchise at large, how we liked (and didn’t like) the new movie, what we’re hoping for from any possible sequel, and Amanda’s theory about how this movie not only doesn’t turn its back on the original movie, but actually makes the concept that it’s a sequel as likely as not.

Regardless, we have no sympathy for those who say that the new Ghostbusters has destroyed their childhood. And we’re not alone.

We also discuss:

• Nightwing: Rebirth #1, written by Tim Seeley with art by Yanick Paquette,
• Wonder Woman #2, written by Greg Rucka with art by Nicola Scott, and:
• Civil War II #3, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by David Marquez!

And, the usual disclaimers:

• This show contains spoilers. If you want to avoid knowing whether every molecule in Melissa McCarthy’s body explodes at the speed of light in a total protonic reversal, consider yourself forewarned and forearmed.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss to learn a whole new definition of “hard but fair”? Then buy some earbuds.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:05:29 — 125.8MB)

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Thanks for listening, suckers!

Episode 53: Ghostblasters!

We here at Crisis On Infinite Midlives live in Boston, and it is the week of a large football contest (so we are told). So we decided to spend this episode talking about an organization and its members who were recently accused of malfeasance, dirty tricks in the face of their fans, and a general betrayal of the public trust.

That organization is, of course, the Ghostbusters.

This week, Ghostbusters director Paul Feig announced his intended casting for the franchise reboot, and the Internet exploded. And not in a good way. So we discuss our feelings and opinions about this reboot, how it works with our feelings toward a franchise that literally changed one of our lives, and why it is arguably the best possible solution for continuing the property. We also talk about how this announcement affected our feelings toward the other recently-publicized reboot: Marvel’s Secret Wars.

We also talk about:

• Batman #38, written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo, and:
• Quantum And Woody Must Die #1, written by James Asmus with art by Steve Lieber!

And now the legalese:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like whether Barbie Princess Power’s super ability has to do with Ken’s genitals.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, assume that you will learn that Barbie Princess Power’s super ability has to do with Ken’s genitals.
• This show contains profane, explicit language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss hearing this much about Ken’s genitals? Didn’t think so. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44:13 — 95.6MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 25: Batman Doesn’t Use Axe Body Spray

We are on the ground at SDCC 2014! We have completed our first full day at the show, bought some stuff, seen some panels, and have a few things to talk about, including:

• How the convention looks a little smaller in scale than it has for the past few years,
• The Batman In The 70s panel, and what our personal “our Batman” stories,
• The Geek Movies of 1984 Panel, and which movies of that year (when Amanda and I were each 13 years old) are our personal favorites, and:
• How you can’t get new comics at San Diego Comic-Con

And here be disclaimers:

• This show was recorded live to tape (on unfamiliar mobile equipment). That means a few more pauses and digressions than you might get in other podcasts, but it also means anything can happen (like a digression on finding dirty movies in the 1980s).
• We use adult, graphic language, and therefore this show is not safe for work. We know from traveling this week that you can buy earbuds for 10 bucks. Do it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:12 — 45.1MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

I Want To Believe Who You’re Going To Call: The X-Files / Ghostbusters: Conspiracy #1 Review

On Wednesday I mentioned that I was as sick as an animal, and that under the influence of three types of antihistamine and some form of Polish pig virus, the new The X-Files / Ghostbusters: Conspiracy crossover sounded like just about my level of fun given my reduced cognitive capacity.

On paper, this kind of crossover is a gimme for big fun. You’ve got Scully the skeptic and Mulder the believer in the supernatural hiding in the shadows, both serious as a bowel prolapse on taco night, confronted face-to-face with big technicolor slime-spitting ghosts and four guys who treat the whole thing like an irritating plumbing problem with a wicked, ironic sense of humor about the experience. Sure, the thing could never be canon – if Mulder and Scully really met Dr. Venkman and company, they’d be able to wave 1080p scan video in Skinner’s face every time he tried to rein him in… or more likely, Smoking Man would have Peter, Ray, Winston and Egon quietly shot in the back of the head in a New York alleyway.

Well, The X-Files / Ghostbusters: Conspiracy #1 doesn’t give us that meeting. It gives us The Lone Gunmen meeting the Ghostbusters – which is a smart way to go in its own way, as it puts comic relief alongside just plain comedy – as the Gunmen investigate the guys as probably frauds and charlatans. And while the Gunmen wind up spending most of the issue as bystanders – what’s Frohike gonna do against a Class Five Full-Roaming Vapor, grump it into submission? – there’s still a reasonable amount of fun to be had in this one-and-done…

Except this issue is part of a great, IDW-wide crossover. Which means a there’s some exposition here that will only matter to you if you intend to follow the remainder of Conspiracy. And considering the next part crosses over with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, well, your mileage may vary.