Podcast - Episode 29: The X-Files!!!

Holy smokes, guys! The X-Files is coming back this week! We had to have superfan Hillary Titley (the Scully to Dave's Mulder), on the show to gush for awhile. So this episode ended up being pretty long. Twice as long as a regular episode, actually. And I think Dave says, like, five words.

Here is our guest, Hillary, holding the framed, signed oh-so-90s David Duchovny photo that we mention:

I was going to post a link to the Civil War panel video but I realized that I included it in last week's post. Hmmm. Well, we can look at some pictures of Chris Evans in a tux at the Golden Globes instead:

Oh knock it off, Christopher.

And here is Sebastian Stan at an afterparty, all safe and happy and sockless:

Did they coordinate their navy tuxedos? We can only guess! (Yes. Of course they did).

It's a long episode, guys. You don't have time to read stuff. I'm done.

Podcast - Epsiode 23: CIVIL WAR TRAILER (And Dark Knight III) with J.Bone!!!

So, last week when I was writing this blog post I was forcing myself to stay awake to watch Kimmel because there was a rumour that the first Civil War trailer was going to be shown. Turns it totally DID get shown! And I have watched it a bazillion times since!

So obviously we had to shift focus for this episode from being all about Dark Knight III to being a little bit about Dark Knight III and whole lot about the Civil War trailer. AND obviously we had to invite J.Bone to come back on the show to gush with us about this trailer.

Guys, the trailer is SO GOOD. Have you WATCHED IT?! Here it is:

Here is the Charlie Murphy/Civil War mash-up that Dave can't stop watching. It's pretty great.

#CivilWar #CaptainAmericaCivilWar pic.twitter.com/08O6z5IEGW

— rap game david cage (@robcanvas) November 25, 2015

And here's that very funny 'I remember your mom' thing someone on Tumblr made:

Here's that Joe Russo quote about the helicopter scene we get a glimpse of in the trailer:

“He’s hanging onto that helicopter for an extremely passionate reason. In stories you’ll read where a mother will lift a car off a child. There’s something very important happening in that scene and for us it really represented his struggle as a character, one man pitted against a helicopter that’s trying to take off. Can he stop it? And what are the limits of his strength? For us, it’s one of the most powerful shots in the movie and it’s Chris Evans, who works very hard to physically exemplify this character. On set, we had him straining against a crane holding this helicopter, and you have this fantastic shot of his muscles bulging and you can feel the pain and the energy and the determination as he tries to stop this thing.”

— Joe Russo

Oh. Em. Gee.

So is Bucky saying Steve's dead here? You decide:

I don't know and I'm a little too distracted by how great his teeth look to figure it out. Hydra has a great dental plan!

J and I couldn't see each other while we were recording, but if we could we probably would have been giving each other this look when Dave was expressing concern about this Captain America sequel being rushed:

Shame on you, Dave. Shame on you.

Here is Faith Erin Hicks' Stucky art. I love watching people join the Stucky train. ALL ABOARD!

And here is that VERY IMPORTANT 2009 Hayden Panettiere video starring Sebastian Stan:

I just want to thank J again for coming on the show. It's always a pleasure talking to him, especially with actual voices instead of typing. And, look, I know that 254 messages sounds like a lot in one evening, but let me be clear that they were part of a conversation and not, like, me sending 254 unanswered messages. Because that would be CRAZY. And, it's not my fault that Sebastian Stan has lips that need to be talked about.

Seriously, recording this was a great time. I love doing this podcast!

Podcast - Episode 14: Let's Settle This

Last week on the podcast I had the pleasure of getting Dave all angry when I suggested that Batman should maybe just kill the Joker. That got us thinking about other arguments and conversations that we never want to have again. So that's what the topic is this week. Yeah, it's a weird one, but it ends with Dave and I getting into a fight over Batman: Year Two. You don't want to miss that.

First we talk about some of the announcements that Marvel made about new or renewed ongoing series for 2016. We talk about Wesley Snipes' depressing campaign to make Blade 4 a thing. We talk about the study that showed that 53% of comic book readers are female. AND I finally got to talk about the shocking and delightful true origin of Red Skull. He was almost called HOT FUDGE, you guys! He was almost ICE CREAM-based!!!

Here are those concept sketches I did. I'm a very good artist:

Man, I wish Joe Simon had never noticed that cherry.

We also reveal the name I came up with for Jeremy Renner's possible secret album that he is maybe working on. And Dave made some great artwork. I couldn't choose one so here are all three.

I can't decide. Maybe number three? They all have a great Eddie Money vibe. I'm glad Dave did this because it saved me having to Google image search Jeremy Renner.

I pronounced Ta-Nahisi Coate's name incorrectly. It's actually Ta-Na-HAH-SI. I am trying a new thing, though, where I just give my best attempt at pronouncing names instead of being like "I don't know how to pronounce this!" because I have a weird name and I know what it's like to have people look at it and say "I'm not even gonna TRY with this one!" I hope I'm pronouncing Alti Firmasyah's name right. Honestly, I hope I'm saying Jeff Lemire's name right.

Dave wasn't lying about that Blade television series. 2006 on the Spike network, and it did indeed star Onyx's Sticky Fingaz! I don't know how I missed out on this whole thing. You can read about it here. Geoff Johns was one of the writers! It actually looks pretty fun. Sticky Fingaz looks great! You can watch the first part of the first episode here.

It wouldn't be a podcast blog post without Sebastian Stan content! Here is where you can watch his entire panel from Salt Lake Comic Con:

I do recommend searching Tumblr for all the fan photo op pictures with Sebastian Stan and/or Chris Evans. A lot of lucky people got to pay money to lay their hands on those men.

Oh, and since I was talking about 1872 this week, here's a cool fan thing someone made about 1872 Natasha and Bucky. It was reblogged on Tumblr by 1872 artist, Nik Virella:

If you are interested in reading my 2009 rant defending Wonder Woman, you can find it here. Nothing makes me angrier faster than someone saying that Wonder Woman is lame. You made an enemy for life, Megan Fox.

Here's the thing, guys. Dave is wrong about Batman: Year Two. It sucks. I put forward a very compelling argument against it way back in 2006. I guess that's what I was doing instead of watching the Blade tv series.

Haha! She who controls the blog gets the last word on Batman: Year Two! Eat it, Dave! Eat it forever!

Just kidding Dave. Please don't draw The Reaper in my sketchbook.

Oh and hey, guess what? It looks like next week's episode WILL be the Age of Ultron one after all! Our good friend Tiina Johns will be joining us! We're gonna eat pizza, drink beer, watch the movie, and record the episode immediately after! It will be awesome!

Podcast - Episode 13: Villains

This week we are talking about villains! All kinds of villains!

Dave and I are drinking beer out of bottles during this podcast, and you can REALLY hear it every time we set them down on the desk. I apologize for that. We will go back to drinking beer out of cans next time. But we WILL NOT stop drinking beer during the recording of these podcasts.

There is actually a ton of background noise on this episode, but that's the only one that's our fault.

Here's the episode!

You get the origin story of Dave and my friendship this week and it makes me look super lame (hint: it involves me buying Jeph Loeb comics from Dave). That story Dave tells is probably set twelve or thirteen years ago, when I was 100% cool and not at all awkward. I will say that Dave did not let on at the time that he thought my taste in comics was terrible, and was nothing but helpful and welcoming. And that's why I still read (better) comics today!

I checked, by the way, and I couldn't find my old university cartoon strip anywhere. I even searched my old Livejournal! My LIVEJOURNAL, guys! It was so embarrassing! Maybe next time I'm in Sackville, New Brunswick I'll see if they have old copies of the school paper in the archive or something. Unless one of our listeners has a bunch of copies of the Mount Allison University newspaper from 2001-2002? It's the world's loss, I guess, if it's gone forever.

Dave and I talk a lot about Captain America: White this week. We probably could have talked a lot more about it. Fortunately there will be more issues! Oh man.

So here are those panels we were talking about. First the Nick Fury one that made me almost actually die laughing:

And the the super awkward Bucky-and-Cap on a motorcycle panel:

Weird, Tim Sale. Very weird.

As we mention, Jeph Loeb has kind of a long history of unintentional homoeroticism. It's what keeps me reading!

Dave mentioned that I post kind of a lot of images of Sebastian Stan on these podcast blog posts. Noted!

Here's that rad Sebastian Stan Collider interview where he gives Zack Snyder the business:

And here is a pic of him at NASA being cute:

And here is a video of him at NASA being cute:

Oh, and here is the cute sketch of him that J.Bone did:

A wee Sebastian Stan face. I stink at likenesses but I think this is close. #sebastianstan #drawing #jbone

A photo posted by J.Bone (@originaljbone) on Sep 18, 2015 at 5:40pm PDT

Aw, look at him. You are great at likenesses, J! Shush.

When we talk about villains, we divide them into categories. There are two categories I didn't get to: Petulant Brats (Loki, for example) and Machines/Monsters Running Amuk (Ultron, Amazo, Fin Fang Foom, etc).

And here's the other thing: I had a whole bunch of awesome information to share about the creation of Red Skull and I forgot to talk about it, so I am going to make sure we talk about it next episode. I don't care what next week's topic is. I'll work it in!

The ridiculous Batman (You're the Sex) song that my legendary band, The Stolen Minks, used to play can be found on YouTube here. No video or anything. You know what, though? I was wrong about Bruce leaving the mask on in the sex scene in Son of the Demon. He leaves the mask on when he fights shirtless, but strips from the waist up (and presumably removes the rest at some point) in the sex scene:

Wowzers!

BUT...when Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert brought this story back into canon they left the mask on in the sex scene! It's like they read my fantasy diary!

Thanks, guys!

Why am I posting all of this? Because I can! I would honestly like that tableau from Son of the Demon painted as a mural on my bedroom wall.

Dave and I also mention our past villain-inspired Halloween costumes. Here is Dave as J. Jonah Jameson in 2010 maybe?

And here's me as Captain Cold in 2008:

Man I was sweaty that night.

I just remembered that I dressed as another villain in 2009: Bizarro! Here I am with the rest of the Living Between Wednesdays team: Tiina as Elasti-Girl (not a villain), Johnathan as MODOK (villain), me as Bizarro (villain) and Dave as Hawkeye (former villain):

As you can tell, sex appeal is a huge factor when I am selecting my Halloween costume. My husband was dressed as Jimmy Olsen that night. Things got weird.

Thank you for listening! We're gonna set up a Facebook group maybe? Is that a good idea? Like a clubhouse where we can all complain about bad art and crush on Winter Soldier?

If you feel like clicking on some stars for us on iTunes we would appreciate it. Especially if you click on all five of them!

Batman Begins Begins

gotham-tv-logo

I have been trying to gather my thoughts about the new Fox series Gotham since it debuted last week. I was really hoping for an Arrow-like experience that would restore my love of DC characters. So far I’m not getting that kind of high at all.

The series is set in 2009, which eliminates the challenge of writing suspenseful situations in a world full of smart phones. Also the characters aren’t burdened by the crushing disappointment of the Lost finale.

Here’s a breakdown of the characters we have seen so far:

Bruce Wayne is a little boy, but I would say older than ten years old. Twelve, maybe? His parents are killed in the series premier’s cold open (spoiler). Now he’s dealing with the emotional aftermath of that by burning and cutting himself, listening to loud metal music, and drawing scary things. Oh, television.

James “Jim” “Chino” Gordon is our hero. He has so far maintained one facial expression for the entire series. He’s basically Rex Banner. He is just a detective at this point, but he lives in what could be Bruce Wayne’s penthouse.

GCPD starting salary: $800,000

Barbara Kean is Gordon’s fiancée and she is WOODEN. She is also a closeted or former lesbian? Who used to date Renee Montoya? Because she is also a lesbian so of course?

Harvey Bullock is a terrible man who is partnered with Gordon. I don’t know if we are supposed to sympathise with this character at all. I don’t.

Alfred Pennyworth is a cool, younger, tougher version of the iconic Wayne butler character. I’m into him.

Selina “Cat” Kyle is a young street hoodlum, stealing to survive. She’s tough and cool and is maybe 13 years old? The actress who plays her is very beautiful and looks a lot like comic book Selina Kyle. I like her.

Training to be Batman's Wife

Oswald Cobblepot is a weird, young psychopath who is largely underestimated by the Gotham underground. They will regret this.

Edward Nygma works for the forensics department of GCPD. He is super annoying and constantly dropping riddles. I’ll bet he becomes The Riddler.

Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen are on this show! I was excited about that. So far they haven’t had a ton to do but I expect they will become allies of Gordon and will provide a lot of the procedural drama part of the show.

Fish Mooney is an original character as far as I know. She’s played by Jada Pinkett Smith so she gets a LOT of screen time. Jada is CHOMPING scenery but it’s enjoyable.

There are some other characters too, like Carmine Falcone and Mayor Richard Kind. They are fine.

The show is 90% dick measuring in the form of men, usually Gordon and Bullock, standing half and inch away from each other and yelling in each other’s faces.

"Go back to Chino, kid."

There’s also a lot of wink, nudge moments that are a little clunky, like the aforementioned riddling of the future Riddler. Or a young red-headed girl named Ivy gently nurturing a bunch of house plants.

The writers cram every cliché they can think of into this show, and overall I just want to fast forward ten seasons so it can be about Batman. There are two intriguing elements of the show for me so far:

1. Jim Gordon developing a friendship/partnership with young Bruce Wayne;
2. Selina Kyle witnessing the Wayne murders and secretly watching Gordon and Bruce Wayne. I hope to see a Selina/Bruce friendship develop.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is plenty of super hero entertainment to go around these days, so if this show never gets better I’ll be fine with not watching it. These aren’t the desperate times of Smallville and Ghost Rider movies. With The Flash, Constantine, and a new season of Arrow on deck, there’s lots to watch.

Kitchen Nightmares

You know what? Every comic book blog is going to be talking about Guardians of the Galaxy today (sentences I never thought I would write, say, four years ago), so I am going to go in a different direction and talk about something important.

My two great loves in life are super heroes and food. I like my kids and stuff, but I LOVE super heroes and food. These two interests are combined in the The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook..

Batman knows that Green Lantern green pepper pizza is disgusting.

I have been desperately trying to get my older son, who is four, interested in super heroes. Since he shares my love of food, I thought this cookbook would be a good gateway.

Most of the recipes involve cutting food into super hero shapes (like watermelon W’s in a Wonder Woman themed fruit salad). A lot involve stencils and coloured sugar and other things I am not ever going to do. Some things are just insane. Here are some highlights and lowlights.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...5000% of your daily recommended food colouring intake!

My son REALLY wants me to make this for him. Basically whenever I ask what we should make for any meal, he requests the “tall Superman yogurt thing.”

I’ll be straight: I am not a mother who cares a great deal about my kids eating 100% natural stuff. But it seems like taking yogurt and adding a half pound of food dye is weird. And yogurt is kind of my go-to food for my kid when I don’t want to do anything more than slop some stuff from a container into a bowl (and that’s if I’m being fancy and not just letting him eat it straight from the container). So adding an hour of work to that process is unappealing. Also, I don’t have parfait glasses or long fancy spoons. Or fresh raspberries! What am I, Bruce Wayne?!

However, I would very much like to see Superman eating this dainty thing.

A much more plausible Superman-inspired food is this fun cheeseburger:

Turn it upside down for a Bizarro Burger!

See, now there’s a creative food endeavour that I can get behind! Cut a cheese slice into a Superman symbol, eat the parts I cut off, squiggle a cute little S on there. I love it! I don’t know what that spinach is doing there because that is like Kryptonite to my son, but this burger is definitely something I would consider doing someday.

Also adorable and not too much work, but possibly insane:

"Mom, can I have my hot dog now?" "Quiet! I'm trying to get this knot tied!"

That’s what happens when Krypto is a bad dog.

Some of the recipes aren’t even trying:

Why haven't I been sticking pictures of Superman in ALL of my food?!

Green Arrow has a terrible idea for your kid’s lunch:

Speedy! I get it!

I hate you, Mom.

Oh boy. Sorry, Ollie. Nice try. You are grossly overestimating your popularity with the kids if you think they are going to eat a lettuce leaf full of celery and gooey chicken in your honour.

Aquaman, on the other hand, knows exactly what the kids want:

Who's the lamest super hero NOW?

Yeah! Just throw a handful of Goldfish Crackers in your cereal, kids! Booyah!

Martian Manhunter is desperately trying to get your kid’s love:

"I have an extra X here, if you want to...kids?"

“Kids. May I suggest placing a fondant X on your cupcakes? It will be super fun. Please, kids, come back. It will only take me an hour or so to make and roll out the fondant.”

Batman knows what’s up:

Serving Face.

I have been seriously considering making that my avatar for all social media. I could look at that picture all day. What is this food? Who cares? I think it’s a pita pizza with a custom cut tortilla or something. But that mouth. THAT MOUTH!

Speaking of amazing pictures, I am about to show you the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I warn you that you cannot unsee it. I give you: The Plastic Man cheese toast:

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Guys.

"Please kill me!"

GUYS.

Also, these instructions:

You know...without the eyeballs it's kinda just cheese toast.

Mmmmmm…I love some edible candy eyeballs on melted cheese. Especially with garlic butter.

I assume you can use your favourite brand of edible candy eyeballs. Try to shop local. I have a guy.

I promise if I ever attempt to make anything in this book I will post pictures. And the book is worth getting, if only to flip through and giggle.