Episode 65: C2E2, Day 1: 86’ed At The Convention

We are in Chicago, attending and reporting from C2E2 after years of having San Diego Comic-Con be our main convention. The first day is concluded, and it is a very different experience from SDCC… starting with the fact that I’ve never eaten anything in San Diego that made me spend several hours shivering and vomiting on a marble bathroom floor.

As such, we don’t have as much day one news as we’d like, but we spend some time discussing how Friday at C2E2 is a day where you can actually walk the floor without having to stutter walk around people like you’re trying to avoid calling a sandworm. You can actually meet and interact with creators without having to elbow crowds out of the way (with some exceptions – hi, Scott Snyder and the 500 people waiting to meet you!), and still get some big comic news.

This is just a quick recap show covering the first day; we’ll have a second quick show to briefly cover Saturday going up on Sunday night, with a complete recap show, including panel audio, coming on Monday or Tuesday.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:26 — 31.1MB)

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Thanks for listening, 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 63: Sprayed With Genetic Rage

Let’s be honest here: if you’re a comic book fan who’s connected enough to be listening to comic book podcasts, there’s a good chance that you have a subscription to streaming Netflix. And if you do, you probably spent this weekend the way we did: binge-watching Daredevil. And possibly binge-drinking Daredevil beer.

So we discuss the show, including the parallels between Kingpin’s and Daredevil’s character arcs, how effective the characterizations of other supporting characters were, and the general adult nature of the show (vis a vis violence and alcohol). We also talk about how the show stacks up against Mark Waid’s current comic book version of Matt Murdock, what we hope to see in the future from the show, and whether a certain relatively high-profile character’s unexpected death amounts to Suicide By Kingpin.

We also discuss:

• Convergence: Nightwing and Oracle #1, written by Gail Simone with art by Jan Duursema, and:
• The Walking Dead #140, written by Robert Kirkman with art by Charlie Adlard!

And now the 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 an impromptu pitch for Batman: I Punch Your Groin.
• This show contains spoilers. This show especially contains spoilers for the Daredevil TV show. Like, we ruin the whole thing. Like, we air recordings taken of us watching the show, that include dialog of the show. So consider yourself warned.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. For example, we talk about “Jerk Hawkman.” Only we don’t use the word “jerk.” So get some headphones.

Oh, and by the way: if you’re looking for that Web site that has transcripts of at least some of the episodes of Daredevil? Here you go. And that reference to Bullseye maybe being in the show? Here’s the source.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:08:49 — 114.8MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 62: A Parasite On Brainiac’s Crotch

This week, we are joined by Crisis On Infinite Midlives contributors Trebuchet and PixieStyx. And we discuss the last couple of episodes of CW’s The Flash, which featured the introduction of the effects of time travel in this corner of the DC Universe, as well as the return of Mark Hamill as The Trickster from the 1990 TV series about the character.

So we talk about how a show that, for some, is just a superhero soap opera featuring whiny 20-somethings in jobs they wouldn’t be qualified for until 2025 in real life, has very quickly become a byzantine story about multiple universes, branching timelines, character legacies, and the consequences of trying to alter your own history. And we present our theories about what’s to come in the future, ranging from the very DC idea of The Flash being a Doctor Who-style fixed point in time, to the idea that it might have been someone very different behind that red blur Barry Allen saw as a child.

We also talk about:

• Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1, written by Cavan Scott with art by Blair Shedd,
• Convergence #0, written by Dan Jurgens and Jeff King, with art by Ethan Van Sciver, and:
• No Mercy #1, written by Alex De Campi with art by Carla Speed McNeil!

And, as always, the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape (although a few small edits were made to this week’s episode due to technical issues with our mobile recording studio). This means this might be a somewhat looser comics podcast than you are used to, but it also means that anything can happen. Like an adamant demand for scotch with extra cheese.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, just assume that we will ruin things for you. Like learning that the Ninth Doctor was in the Time War and is totally bummed about it.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Trust me, you do not want your employer to discover Trebuchet’s favorite strawberry dessert. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:52 — 82.8MB)

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Thanks for listening, suckers!

Episode 61: With Princess Leia Muffins On The Side

It’s a somewhat truncated show this week, as Rob has been battling a bug for the past couple of days. However, The Show Must Go On, particularly when you do a show about superhero comics during a week when the first medically-created superpowers were discovered. Sure, they’re crappy superpowers, and they run the risk of making you see C’thulhu in every dark corner, but I guess you’ve gotta start somewhere.

More importantly, we wanted to announce that while we will not be covering this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we will be covering The Chicago Comic And Entertainment Expo the last weekend in April! So in this episode we talk about why we chose to cover that particular convention, a preliminary schedule of podcast episodes we’ll be releasing during and after the con, some of the more interesting panels we want to take in and cover, and how C2E2’s guest roster and programming schedule remind us pretty strongly of SDCC as it was ten years ago.

We also discuss:

• Darth Vader #3, written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca, and:
• Miami Vice: Remix #1, written by Joe Casey with art by Jim Mahfood!

And now the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While it might mean a looser comics podcast than you’re used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like finding out whether “pig slapping” means what Amanda thinks it means.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that we might ruin your knowledge of the current mental state of Lt. Martin Castillo (that state being “shaky.” See? Spoilers everywhere!).
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Do you want your boss to know Rob’s definition of “pig slapping”? Of course not. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:23:07 — 75.3MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 60: Fluffy Plus Mosquito Plus Time Equals Tragedy

It has been, bar none, the crappiest week in comics news in recent memory – when the high point of the week’s news is that Larry Wilmore hosted a nationally televised round table discussion on how comics aren’t diverse enough (bookended by nerds-in-basement gags), it’s probably best to just pretend the whole thing just didn’t happen.

So that’s what we pretend. Instead, we took the occasion of the release of IDW’s The Fly: Outbreak #1, written by Brandon Seifert with art by Menton3, as an excuse to revisit one of our favorite movie franchises. Sure, The Fly might seem like simple Cronenberg body horror, but if you take a few steps back, what you really have is, starting with the original short story, a series of classic tales of science gone wrong, with unintended circumstances that imbue someone with extraordinary abilities in the face of terrible tragedy. Sure, it’s presented as horror… but if Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko had drawn it, we’d be arguing over which actor should be playing Seth Brundle right now.

We also discuss:

• The Amazing Spider-Man #16.1, written by Gerry Conway with art by Carlo Barberi, and:
• Batgirl #40, written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, with art by Babs Tarr!

And now the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you’re used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like a discussion over why real superheroines know to avoid a stack overflow error (and why that isn’t a reference to a wardrobe malfunction).
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that we might ruin the ending of a 29-year-old horror movie (that’s based on a 57-year-old short story).
• This show used adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss to know how many Godzilla wangs worth of snow we got this winter? Didn’t think so. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:03:36 — 109.0MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 59: The Adventures of Midget Gordon

DC’s Convergence event is almost upon us, so news about the soft reboot is coming fast and furious. And this week, that news included pictures of new costumes destined to be worn by Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. And there’s just something about a costume redesign that drives comics fans into screeching frenzies of either hate or excitement, isn’t there?

So we discuss not only the new costumes (and speculate on the circumstances that make them necessary), but superhero costume changes in general, including when they have and haven’t worked, and which ones have spun us up the most in our 40 years of reading comics (hi, Fall From Grace armored Daredevil!)

We also discuss:

• Howard The Duck #1, written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Joe Quinones, and:
• Southern Cross #1, written by Becky Cloonan and drawn by Andy Belanger!

And now the 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 learning the definition of “Batman’s Old Fashioned Texas Love Tubes.”
• This show has a lot of spoilers. While we make an effort to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that we could ruin certain plot points. Like whether or not Howard is, in fact, a duck.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your employer to hear speculation about where Wi-Fi Barbie keeps her antenna? of course not. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:58 — 97.0MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 58: Go Eat Shawarma And Get Your Kumbayayas Out

It’s been a packed week here at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office. We spent a lot of time watching, and rewatching, and re-rewatching the new trailer for Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and, like all good comic book enthusiasts, we spend a bunch of time dissecting what we saw, speculating on what we didn’t see, and ghostwriting what we’d like to see.

In addition, since we finally had our cable and Internet back online long enough for the Home Office TiVo to get the episodes of The Walking Dead that we missed, we binge-watched it and discussed what we liked, what we didn’t like, subtlety versus heavy-handedness, plot versus theme, and why it is more likely that AMC would kill Robert Kirkman this season than it is they would Daryl Dixon.

We also talk about:

• All-New Hawkeye#1, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Ramon Perez, and:
• Guardians Team Up #1, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Art Adams!

And now the 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 an argument over whether The Walking Dead is in dire need of a musical episode.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that we might ruin everything from the ending to last week’s The Walking Dead to the fact that Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to be rated PG-13.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your Mom to hear what we think about “sweet biscuits”? Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:09:16 — 116.5MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 57: Toaster Babies

This was a big week of classic genre movie news for we members of Generation X: it was announced that not only will District 9 director Neill Blomkamp be directing a new Alien movie with Sigourney Weaver’s involvement, but that it will take place around the story timeframe of Aliens, and that there’s a possibility that it will disregard the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. You know, like most other Alien fans have been doing since 1992.

Further, Ridley Scott announced that he will be producing a sequel to Blade Runner, to be directed by Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve, and including Harrison Ford, who loved his experience making the original so much that he refused to talk about it for decades.

So Amanda and I discuss whether or not it’s a good idea for these actors to try to return to franchises they left behind 18 and 33 years ago respectively… but more importantly, whether either of these franchises even need a sequel or reboot, and what kind of stories set in these universes would be most exciting for we old school fans to see. And, ultimately, whether or not it is possible to ignore the Aliens Vs. Predators movies enough.

We also talk about:

• The recently released Power Rangers fan film starring James Van Der Beek and Katie Sackhoff (and why it reminds us of Alan Moore),
• Spider-Gwen #1, written by Jason Latour with art by Bobbi Rodriguez, and:
• Batman #39, written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo!

And now the disclaimers:

• This show is recorded live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you’re used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like the speculation that Harrison Ford’s copy of the Blade Runner 2 script read: “We’ll pay you 30 million dollars.”
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout out warnings ahead of time, be aware that a spoiler could come at any time. Like the revelation that Alien: Resurrection is truly horrible.
• This show contains profane, adult language and is therefore not safe for work. Your boss doesn’t want to hear about how we want to slap around “Sigourney Weaver’s bald convict”, so get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:57:14 — 101.7MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 56: SDCC 2015 – Joyless Blue Glory Hole

It has been another apocalyptic week at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office. Continued terrible weather in Boston has led to water pouring into our walls, eliminating our Internet connectivity and therefore our access to any kind of comics news. In fact, this episode is being published thanks to the free Wi-Fi at our local bar, which is the only reason we are here. Yup. No uncontrollable drinking problem here! You don’t know us! You think you’re better than us?

Ahem.

So without much in the way of comics news, we spend this episode talking about what we know. And this week, what we know is trying to register for San Diego Comic-Con 2015. So we discuss the process, what we like, what we don’t, and how it has evolved over the years.

And here’s a little appeal: since it looks like we might not be able to attend SDCC in July, we’re looking for another regional convention we might take a crack at covering. So if you have a favorite convention that takes place over the summer that you think we should cover, let us know at crisisoninfinitemidlives at gmail dot com!

We also discuss:

• Moon Knight #12, written by Brian Wood with art by Greg Smallwood, and:
• Justice League #39, written by Geoff Johns with art by Jason Fabok!

And now, the legalese:

• We record this show live to tape. While this might mean it’s a looser comics podcast than you might be used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like a discussion about how Amazo would lose to Captain Underpants.
• This show contains spoilers. While we try to shout warnings ahead of time, be aware that we might ruin plot point or two.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. You want your boss to hear about the frustrations about a swirling blue hole? Didn’t think so. Get some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:06 — 75.1MB)

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Enjoy the show, suckers!