Episode 95: Kylo Ren is a Piece of…

We all know that, if you are of the comic book and genre entertainment persuasion, the only Goddamned thing you and we are talking about is the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It has been three years and two months since The Mouse bought a galaxy far, far away, and with that kind of time to anticipate a movie, what did you think we were going to talk about?

We are joined this week with guests:

• Boston comedian Ross Garmil,
• New York comedian and Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore staffer Benari Poulten, and:
• longtime friends of the show Trebuchet and Pixiestyx!

And we spend a couple of hours talking about The Force Awakens. Specifically, who we think Rey is the daughter of, who we think is behind The First Order, how the non-speaking players are better than they’ve ever been, how Kylo Ren is a real jerk (a kneebiter, if you will), and a bunch of other Star Wars stuff!

Be warned: This show is full of spoilers. If you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, give this show a pass. Seriously. Assume the first two words we utter are the names of who gets killed.

And, for even more disclaimers:

• We recorded this show live to tape, with minimal editing (although there’s a little extra post-processing in effect this week, thanks to our furnace unexpectedly turning on). While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like the speculation about where a tube sock might figure into the Rey’s origin.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss to hear speculation about Rey’s origin that not only would ruin the new movie, but his or her ability to enjoy an adult relationship for quite some time? Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:50:26 — 105.3MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 64: My Safe Word Is Phantom Menace

The big genre news this week came in the form of about four minutes of film assembled by marketing departments: the second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which debuted at a panel at Star Wars Celebration last week), and the first for Superman V. Batman: Dawn of Justice. So, like everyone else in fandom, we discuss them: the content, how they play with expectations by showing us glimpses of long-loved characters and / or story beats from classic comics, and how they really tell us nothing while promising us everything… and how that can drive one mad with useless speculation based on roughly 45 seconds of footage, combined with slightly more dialogue than a Vine video and some kickass music.

We also talk about our plans to cover next weekend’s C2E2 convention in Chicago, including our planned schedule for this show during and after the convention:

• We will release a recap of Friday at the convention sometime on Saturday, 4/25,
• We’ll release a recap of Saturday’s programming at our show’s normal time on Sunday, 4/26, and:
• We’ll release a full recap, including panel audio, on either Monday, 4/27 or Tuesday 4/28.

We also discuss:

• Convergence: Supergirl Matrix #1, written by Keith Giffen with art by Timothy Green II,
• The Tithe #1, written by Matt Hawkins with art by Rahsan Ekedal, and:
• Archie Vs. Predator #1, written by Alex De Campi with art by Fernando Ruiz!

And, the usual disclaimers:

• 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 arguing over whether Chewbacca has had plastic surgery done, and where he gets his hair colored and highlighted.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, assume that you will discover which members of the Riverdale Gang have had their spines removed.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your employer to hear which sexually transmitted diseases are most reminiscent of Midichlorians? Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:52:08 — 101.2MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 44: Jedi Montessori Academy For The Bacterially Challenged

The first Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens teaser trailer dropped on Friday. It’s 88 seconds long, it features less than half of that in new footage, it gives us almost no story context… and it’s enough to get the geek world shrieking like teenagers at a One Direction concert.

So we talk about the trailer: why it was so effective, the smart choices director J. J. Abrams made to turn Generation X’ers all giddy like, well, teenagers at a One Direction concert, and how 88 seconds was all it took to change our opinions about the upcoming movie from ambivalence to legitimate anticipation.

We also discuss the solicits for week three of DC’s Convergence event. This round, which drops on April 22nd, seems to feature versions of DC heroes from before Crisis On Infinite Earths, with antagonists from the Tangent Universe. So sit back, relax, and hear about a week designed to somehow simultaneously appeal to 50-year-olds and Millennials!

We also talk about:

• Gotham By Midnight #1, written by Ray Fawkes with art by Ben Templesmith, and:
• Spider-Man 2099 #6, written by Peter David with art by Will Sliney!

And now the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics than you might be used to, it also means anything can happen. Like comparing Teen Titan Jericho to a specific form of intestinal distress.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout warnings ahead of time, consider this your master caution alarm.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Don’t be a filthy Jericho; get yourself some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:50:38 — 88.2MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 19: Emo In A Leotard

In this week’s podcast, Amanda and I are joined by longtime Crisis On Infinite Midlives contributors Trebuchet and Pixiestyx! Trebuchet read comics as a kid and came back to them as an adult, and Pixiestyx didn’t read any comics until adulthood. Which make them the perfect guests with whom to discuss:

• Star Wars: Episode VII! And more specifically, why we aren’t feeling all that excited about it,
• Considering the comics industry is dying (almost literally) to bring in new and lapsed readers, what factors, books, and events brought Trebuchet and Pixiestyx to comics in the 21st Century,
• Uber #14, written by Keiron Gillen with art by Gabriel Andrade,
• The Walking Dead #128. written by Robert Kirkman with art by Charlie Adlard, and
• The United States of Murder Inc. #2, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Michael Avon Oeming!

But first, a few disclaimers:

• This show is recorded live to tape, and may contain more pauses, “um’s”, and references to tube steaks, lips and Kobe assholes than your average comic book podcast,
• There are spoilers here. We try to warn ahead of time, but proceed at your own risk, and
• This show features adult, profane language, and is not safe for work. We all found headphones with which to record the show, so you can damn well hunt some up to listen to it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:52 — 85.1MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Nothing From Nothing Means…: Star Wars Day Video From J. J. Abrams And Lawence Kasdan, And Star Wars: Rebels Trailers

So it is Star Wars Day because of a vagary of pronunciation (if Ben Kenobi had talked about the august of heaven, we’d be doing parking lot lightsaber duels in much more humid temperatures), which is something that would generally mean less than nothing beyond an excuse to fire up the Blu-Rays of the original trilogy while drinking White Russians with blue food coloring dripped into them.

But this is the first Star Wars Day in a decade where there’s a Star Wars movie actually in production, which means that today of all days, there is an expectation that we will hear something from the people producing that movie about the movie in question. And, true to expectations, a video was posted to YouTube by Star Wars: Episode VII director J. J. Abrams and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. And thanks to that video, we have learned something important!

That thing being that Abrams and Kasdan are aware of Star Wars Day, and that they understand that they should acknowledge it to the fans, left they face shock and damage!