Podcast - Episode 39: Sick Day Comics!

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Guys, I'm sick. Sick enough that I thought we'd have to cancel the podcast completely this week! Gasp! But instead, inspired by an afternoon spent watching plucky Steve Rogers overcome all obstacles in Captain America: The First Avenger, I wrapped my flu-addled brain around how to record via Skype and Dave and I ended up recording a pretty ok episode!

So this week we share our favourite "sick day" comics. The comics that sooth our souls when we are feeling under the weather. It's pleasant. 

First we talk about a few other things, including the Dr. Strange set photos, which you can see here and here and probably elsewhere. For the record, this one is probably my favourite:

mads-mikkelsen-benedict-cumberbatch-dr-strange-set-52.JPG

Here's young, hot Steve Rogers looking all hot, thanks to Daniel Acuna:

Yes. Yesssssss.

Let's keep the hotness train rolling. Here's a link to some scans of the Sebastian Stan interview in the Malaysian men's magazine, August Man. And, hey, if you need some incentive, here is a sample photo:

Man, go to hell, Sebastian.

And of course there's a hot behind the scenes photoshoot video:

Which inevitably led to hot gifs made from the video:

Man, I am feeling better by the minute here!

As I mention, fans are calling the glorious age we find ourselves in these past few weeks "Sebpocalypse". There is a great recap here.

And if you like Chris Evans (haven't forgotten about you, babe!), he is on the cover of Esquire Middle East and you can find that interview here. It also has a photo shoot video and gifs and all the stuff. He's also very attractive.

Oh, and who likes adorable J.Bone drawings of Steve and Bucky?

I could look at those all day. I do, in fact. The first one is my lock screen/background. Oh my god those guys are probably going to hug in Civil War. They probably are!!! Guys!!!!

ALSO, J drew a very funny little cartoon based on something Johnathan said on last week's episode about Batman v Superman. Check it out.

So there you go. Follow J.Bone everywhere! (Online. Not in real life. That's terrifying).

I'm running out of steam here. Enjoy the episode. Dave and I rec some pretty great comics, so have your pencils ready. I really am feeling a lot better now. 

Podcast - Episode 38: Batman v Superman: The Dawn of Justice

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Man.

So we saw Batman v Superman and thankfully Dave and I didn't have to pay for it (thanks Cal!). Johnathan Munroe joins us this week and he DID have to pay for it (sorry Johnathan!).

Johnathan didn't hate the movie as much as Dave or myself, but he sure didn't like it. Dave couldn't find much to like in it, despite being optimistic going in, and I just hated it. HATED IT.

Here's the thing about Superman and Batman, guys. I mean, I didn't think we still needed to go over this after nearly 100 years of character development on these two, but here goes:

These are aspirational characters. They represent the best of humanity. Humanity. That's important to keep in mind. Because this movie has NONE. Here's what the characters should be:

Superman is all-powerful, but never scary. His goodness is what makes him a hero. He is better than us, but it was mostly learned here on Earth, his adopted home. His values come from Johnathan and Martha Kent, from his Kryptonian parents who made saving the life of their son their final act before dying, and from the wholesome naiveté of small town America. He doesn't need to help us, he doesn't even need to stay here, but he will because he believes in us.

The core of Batman's character is, and always needs to be, hope. He doesn't do what he does because he hates criminals. He does it because he wants humans to be better. And that is why it is so important that he doesn't kill. Ever. Even the most bloodthirsty criminals get a chance at reform and redemption.

Superman teaches us patience, kindness, humility, and concern for our fellow humans. Batman teaches us determination, perseverance, ingenuity, and sacrifice. Together they should be overwhelmingly inspirational, and anything but cynical.

So, anyway, this movie had none of that and was garbage.

Before we get to talking about that, we talk a bit about DC Rebirth, which you can Google, as well as Daredevil: season 2 (Dave finished it, and I am still only up to episode 4), and Jeremy Renner's announcement that he is totally down for a Hawkeye Netflix series.

Oh, and I saw The Bronze! And I really liked it! And I forgot to mention this on the podcast, but J.Bone drew some really great Lance Tucker art (that's Sebastian Stan's character in The Bronze, guys). Check it out:

Sebastian's sex scene body double liked it! That's something!

I am exhausted from thinking about Batman v Superman. I am so glad it is behind me forever. Enjoy the episode! Warning: you can hear the sound of a cat barfing in the background. It's appropriate.

Podcast - Episode 37: Batman LOVES Superman!

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With Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice looming, Dave and I decided to cheer ourselves up by talking about some of our favourite comics that feature both Superman and Batman.

But first! Here is that comment Sebastian Stan left on Instagram that explained the contents of Bucky's backpack/destroyed us all:

Ohhhh godddddddd. This movie!!!!! Who will remove my corpse from the theatre?!

If you want to find out if Sebastian Stan is your soulmate, you can take the BuzzFeed quiz but there is no point because he is MY soulmate.

MINE!

Oof. Those biceps. Anyway.

Here are some links to some old (so very old, holy smokes) blog posts I wrote about some of the comics we talk about in this episode.

World's Finest #302 back-up by David Anthony Kraft and David Mazzucchelli. I have the entire five-page comic posted here, with commentary. It's seriously one of my favourite things ever published.

World's Finest Annual #9 (final two pages) by Elliot S. Maggin and Alex Toth. I posted the entire hot dog vendor prank part of this comic at the end of the blog post here, which was mostly about Action Comics #241, which is one of my favourite Superman/Batman stories ever.

Brave & The Bold #150 by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo. Remember when you are looking at these panels, the goon who is beating the life out of Bruce Wayne is actually Superman.

I've done a couple of posts about the Super Sons, which you can see here and here.

World's Finest #71 by Alvin Schwartz and Curt Swan. You just have to read this comic to believe it. It's so crazy. Here's that panel of the slumped, silent Superman-in-a-Batman-suit, after being knocked out by Kryptonite:

That will never not crack me up.

World's Finest by Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude. I have the little Christmas gift scene posted in its entirety here.

Lois Lane #89 by Leo Dorfman and Curt Swan. Lois marries Bruce Wayne without knowing he's Batman! She's marrying him for HIM! Just an ordinary billionaire hunk!

World’s Finest #189 by Cary Bates and Ross Andru. Superman dies and leaves Batman the gift of unnecessary surgery.

And here is the bonus issue of World's Finest I mention where Batman and Superman get sick of Earth and decide to start a new life in space. Oh, Bob Haney. I love you.

Alright, we are off to watch Superman kill Batman or whatever tonight. We'll let you know what we think next week! Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Episode 36: Civil War Mania

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What a week, guys. What. A. Week.

There was so much Civil War/Winter Soldier/Sebastian Stan coverage in the media this week I couldn't even read all of it.

So this episode is a jumbled mess of trying to piece together our thoughts on everything. Plus, Dave is suffering from a cold. Nothing that a solid hour of listening to be ramble on about Winter Soldier can't fix!

First, let me introduce you to our special guest co-host:

Not a bad looking figure, right?

Here is the travesty that they are calling a Winter Soldier toy that I saw at Toys R Us:

Nope.

I did not enter the contest to win a helicopter ride with Henry Cavill, but I do get hilarious emails about it:

J.Bone did indeed do a really great drawing that imagines Spider-Man being Bucky's annoying friend:

So, so great. Knocking it out of the park as usual, J!

Here are some links to the many interviews and such that I mention this week:

Jeremy Renner being a douche with poor Elizabeth Olsen

Sebastian Stan doing a weird and adorable and sexy video Q&A for Moviepilot

Sebastian Stan on ET

Chris Evans and RDJ on ET

Markus & McFeely on why Bucky is a messed up sad sack

Buzzfeed Q&A with Evans, Stan, Downey, Boseman and the Russos

It's worth scrolling though the Buzzfeed posts because you get to see things like a portrait of Winter Soldier, quickly drawn by Sebastian Stan, as well as a screengrab of his Winter Soldier Spotify playlist. Plus, images like this one:

Boys. Come on. Cut it out.

There's also this really great little video of Sebastian Stan talking about seeing Civil War for the first time. I forgot to talk about it this week, but I will definitely talk about it next week:

Short version: it made him stress eat a whole thing of candy

Here is the new Civil War trailer, by the way:

And here's what you've all been waiting for: the Winter Soldier vs Black Panther Pop Secret packaging!!!

Butter only makes the Winter Soldier more powerful!

Ok, let's wrap this up, with, oh, I don't know...this picture from Friday of Chris Evans wearing the shirt that Sebastian Stan was wearing the DAY BEFORE?!

I mean. Come on. Also: god damn, Chris. Looking good. Trying to keep my eyes above the waist here.

I'm actually going to end this with this screengrab of Sebastian Stan's insane Winter Soldier body:

He's gonna get his shirt off in this movie, right? RIGHT?!

Podcast - Episode 35: Age of Beefcake

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Watching the Oscars got me thinking about a lot of things this past week. Things like: is Henry Cavill a person, or just a robot who sometimes dresses well but usually doesn't; is Sam Smith really that dumb? and, people in Hollywood seem really cool and in-touch with reality. But most of all I was thinking about the size of actors. Like, the size of their actual bodies. Male actors are beefy as hell these days, guys! Are superhero movies to thank/blame? Almost certainly. Is it a problem? Well...

Before we get to the beeefcake, let's get through some other stuff that requires some visual aids and links.

First of all, if you happen to be reading this the day it was posted, and you live in the Halifax area, come on down to Strange Adventures for Ladies Night! I'll be there!

If you wildest dreams include riding in the Batmobile (?!) with Ben Affleck or riding in a helicopter with Henry Cavill, you can enter the Omaze contest here for five more days. Guess what one of the incentive prizes is:

Yeahhhhh! How much can I spend to be on the other side of the planet when Jesse Eisenberg and some douche with twenty thousand extra dollars sit down to dinner somewhere?

Oh, and here's a fun update: those Batman vs Superman $100 super tickets that allow you to see the dumb movie as many times as you want? They are all SOLD OUT.

SOLD OUT, YOU GUYS!!!!

We also mention the joyless Batman vs Superman sticker set that Facebook recently launched. Here it is:

Just super fun. Here are some of the ones I made very quickly:

Oh, the fun I have at the expense of this dumb movie.

And speaking of which, here is the amazing art that J.Bone did in loving tribute to this terrible film:

Ouch! I love that art so much. So much.

Ok, so real quick, here are some important Oscar things. Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman presented together and both men looked excellent:

Sebastian Stan was watching from home (or maybe a hotel room where Evans would be meeting him later) with a big pizza:

I cannot believe he didn't invite me.

Here's a screengrab of Chris Evans flirting with Henry Cavill while Cavill stuffs his beautiful mouth with Girl Guide cookies:

But perhaps even more importantly, here is a screengrab of Christian Bale stuffing his face with Girl Guide cookies:

You're welcome.

OK, so moving on to Winter Soldier, this is the panel from Avengers Standoff Alpha that made me lose my damn mind:

Seriously! What the HELL, comic?!

Here's a version with no text, and I encourage you to provide your own:

You know, something like this:

And, yes, I know that's a shitty font, but I'm tired and I still have a lot of blog post to write.

HOLD THE PHONE

I say on the podcast that I wish Bucky's apron said 'Kiss the Cook' and I am zooming in now and I THINK IT DOES!

I need to lie down.

Oh, and here is that framed photo of shirtless Sebastian Stan that was gifted to me and now sits on my desk at work, making me look completely sane:

I just tell people it's my astronaut boyfriend who is in space and so you can't meet him.

Wizard World Philadelphia has a bonkers line-up of MCU talent, including Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan. And, like, everyone. You can see the details of the VIP packages here. I see that Georges St-Pierre just got added to the Winter Soldier line-up. I've already decided that I'm not going, but when I look at the photo ops from the 2014 Wizard World I almost want to reconsider.

Holy lord. Let's get to our goddamn topic. I was really excited to post a lot of photos of shirtless hunks as evidence to support my argument but I am exhausted!

But still I persevere! 

So here is a side-by-side of Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men movie (2000) and (I think) Days of Future Past (2014) or maybe it's from Wolverine:

In the first photo he looks like a very fit, yet still very human male actor. In the second photo he looks like he is barely containing the nuclear energy that is trapped inside him threatening to destroy the world. And those veins are so gross.

And here we have a couple of actors who did not need to be in the kind of shape they got into for their Marvel roles at all. I'm not sorry about it, per se, but it does seem unnecessary. I give you Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy:

And Paul Rudd in Ant-Man:

Paul Rudd isn't, like, enormous here. But he does look insanely ripped for Paul Rudd. Now, the thing about Chris Pratt is that his new body actually has led to more big roles, like Jurassic World, and even talks of him being the new Indiana Jones. With Paul Rudd, though, I can't really see him becoming an action star at the tender age of 50 (or 19 or however old he is it's really hard to tell).

Mark Ruffalo, on the other hand, got to eat a normal breakfast and not wax a hair on his body and gets completely naked in the first Avengers movie. And we are all richer for it:

So super heroes CAN have body hair. Noted.

Well, I guess we knew that from Henry Cavill's hirsute portrayal of Superman:

There is nothing wrong with chest hair, people! In fact there is everything right with it! Just, you know, keep it in check.

We mention that John frigging Krasinksi is ripped now. That's weird. But awesome? It's a shock to my system for sure:

That beard is working for me. Come get me, Daddy Jim!

And here you have your gold standard for insane super hero bodies, Chris Hemsworth as Thor:

The thing is that both Thor and Captain America should look this crazy. That makes sense. But Ant-Man sure doesn't need to be. Nor does Winter Soldier, but, again, not complaining:

And here we have 52-year-old Frank Grillo, aka Crossbones, being more fit than anyone ever:

You really should follow him on Instagram. it's full of insane pictures related to his fitness. Also, his kids are very cute. Plus he posts a lot, unlike some Sebastian Stans I could mention.

So, yes, actors are basically athletes now, and to prove my point, here is a promo shot of Chris Evans modeling Fila, because he is the face of their brand. Which is a brand that probably an athlete would normally the face of:

Again, NOT COMPLAINING. AT ALL. 

If you are interested in looking like Chris Evans, you can follow his simple workout routine, which is detailed here. Acting! 

Or if you want to look like Henry Cavill you can follow his super easy and normal workout plan here. It comes with helpful videos and images of Cavill working out. I have watched them...a few times. 

You can also follow his boring ass on Instagram, which is worth it because sometimes he posts photos like this one:

Ok. I think that's enough. Take us home, Chris Evans!

Podcast - Episode 34: An R-rated Batman vs. Superman Movie? Really?

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Mere days after Dave and I said that the success of Deadpool would lead to a tidal wave of R-rated superhero movies, Warner Brothers Studios announced that there will be an R-rated cut of Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice for Blu-Ray and such. Seriously. Superman and Batman. R-rated.

So we have a few things to say about that.

This was the first week recording with our fancy new mics and mixing board and, yes, I need to turn Dave's mic up more next week and turn my own mic down. Will do!

We talk a bit about Hail, Caesar! this week because I finally got to see it. I specifically talk about Alden Ehrenreich and how I am now in love with him. Look at this beautiful thing:

Siiiiiiiiigh.

Anyway, great movie.

If you want to read Jennifer Garner's awesome Ben Affleck shade, the Vanity Fair article is here.

And, hey, speaking of Daredevil (?), here is the latest (as of today) trailer that we discuss on this episode:

I forgot to mention this on the podcast, but I was a guest this month on Sean Jordan's Weekend at Burgie's podcast, and it was released this past week. You can listen to that here.

Here are those Paul Renaud preview pages that show the return of young, sexy Steve Rogers. Check it out:

Daaaaaaamn. That's some sexy Steve. A whole pile of hot Captain Americas, really.

Ok, well. Enjoy the episode. Thanks for listening, as always. Follow us on Instagram!