Podcast - Episode 5: Ant-Man!!!

Dave and I saw Ant-Man this week and we spoil the hell out of it in this Giant-Size Ant-Man episode (actually a normal length episode). And can I just say, it was nice to have a recorded conversation with Dave about a Marvel movie after writing out all those dialogues for our Countdown to Age of Ultron recaps on this blog.

First we discuss the Batman vs Superman trailer, which you can watch here:

And I really go off on "Renner of the Week" Jesse Eisenberg's dumb 'genocide' comments about Comic Con. You can read about what he actually said here.

We talk about the X-Men: Apocalypse images, which you can see here.

And I try to talk coherently about Hayley Atwell's DubSmash videos. I can't. Just watch these and try not to die (like you haven't watched them a million times already). You can see the whole epic battle here.

Mic dropped, @clarkgregg @ChloeBennet4 ? Consider it picked up and thrown out of the f***ing window... pic.twitter.com/HJFGi3yOUC

— Hayley Atwell (@HayleyAtwell) July 15, 2015

#TeamCarter we celebrated 😝 pic.twitter.com/oGbhysHXB4

— Hayley Atwell (@HayleyAtwell) July 15, 2015

Just follow Hayley Atwell on Twitter and Instagram. She's the best. You can check out the full Pajiba 10 2015 list, which is a great list of sexy people that I fully endorse. It's also full of hot pics and gifs like this one:

I keep talking about how awesome Planet Hulk is on the podcast and I keep not mentioning either the writer or the artist's names. which is very dumb and horrible. So here they are:

Planet Hulk is written by SAM HUMPHRIES!

Planet Hulk is drawn by MARC LAMING!

As I mention, the Ant-Man end of credits scene makes me lose my damn mind. There is a good in-depth look at both end credits scenes here. This line made me very sad:

“Add in Sebastian Stan’s intense acting and it doesn’t take much to believe that this Bucky is also one who has pretty much decided to give up.”

— Andrea Towers, Entertainment Weekly

Bucky!!! Noooo!!! I love youuuuuu!!!

Dave had another idea about the end credits scene, which he has drawn here and it is the best:

On the episode I refer to the writer of the Paul Rudd article as a man. It was a woman! Ugh! I am part of the problem!!! You can read that great New York Times article on Paul Rudd here, and you can join me in trying to solve the Mystery of the Obnoxious Avenger that the author clearly hates (I still think it's Downey, though my heart wants it to be Renner). Here's the quote, for quick reference:

“Twenty feet away, a different Avenger hammily belted show tunes into a personal fan while some crew members pretended to laugh. Noninclusive.”

— Molly Young, The New York Times Magazine

Big thanks to Dave for letting me go on about Magic Mike XXL for awhile. It's basically all I can think about.

I am not kidding about adding Sebastian Stan to Magic Mike 3. I mean, I know these movies don't need more white dudes, but please. I went home after recording and Google image searched things like 'Sebastian Stan dancing' 'Sebastian Stan shirtless' and 'Sebastian Stan lips' for quite awhile. More than usual, even.

Next week we are totally going to talk about comic books on this podcast.

Podcast - Episode 4: The Wrath of Cons

Recoded in the middle of San Diego Comic Con (but nowhere near San Diego Comic Con), Dave and I discuss some of the announcements made over the past few days, including...

• Star Wars Star Wars Star Wars
• The terrible idea to make a Killing Joke animated movie
• A DEVIL DINOSAUR COMIC!!!
• Max Landis's stupid thing!
• Poor Ben Affleck 

We also talk about Arthur Suydam's appalling/amazing behaviour at Montreal Fan Expo. You can see the story here. And you can read his absolutely astonishing bio on his website here. 

And here is that Photoshopped image from his site that shows a "giant line-up" at his table.

You can see the very funny gif campaign that Chris Haley started on Twitter in response to Max Landis stating that he "sort of wanted to do the opposite of All Star Superman" here.

"I sort of wanted to do the opposite of All Star Superman." pic.twitter.com/iweRkGNWUP

— thechrishaley (@thechrishaley) July 10, 2015

You can watch the awesome Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episodes with Winter Soldier here and here.

You can see all of the Archie #1 variant covers here.

We talk about our own personal con experiences in the second part of the episode. I had already documented my times at HeroesCon in 2008 and 2009 in a few blog posts with lots of pictures, so if you want to check those out here they are:

Report with images of sketches from HeroesCon (2008)

Photos from HeroesCon (2008)

Report and images from HeroesCon (2009)

I mention that the reason I went to HeroesCon is because I was invited by the nice guys at The Dollar Bin podcast, so please check their site/podcast out!

And here is the awesome Rorschach sketch that Dave Gibbons did for Dave!

Important Information I Have Gathered From Reading Avengers Fan Fiction

I have been reading a lot of Avengers (movieverse) fan fiction lately (shut up, I don't care).

Here is what is important to the Avengers, according to the thousands of fan fiction stories out there:

• Coffee;
• Movie night;
• Disney movies;
• Take out food in general, Thai food specifically;
• Pranks;
• Pancakes;
• Having sex with each other.

Here is what is important to Tony Stark specifically:

• Everybody else's love lives;
• Pepper Potts;
• Bruce Banner;
• Spicy food;
• Classic rock;
• Making and consuming green smoothies;
• Gifting team members with Avengers merchandise to annoy them;
• Bothering Steve Rogers;
• Helping Steve Rogers;
• Sometimes having sex with Steve Rogers;
• Improving Bucky's bionic arm;
• Friends.

Here is what is important to Bruce Banner specifically:

• Yoga;
• Meditation;
• Tea;
• Healthy eating (usually vegetarian);
• Tony Stark;
• Listening to people talk in a therapist kind of way;
• Protecting everyone from himself;
• Not pranking people.

Here is what is important to Natasha Romanoff specifically:

• Clint Barton;
• Nothing;
• Guns;
• The Little Mermaid;
• Vodka;
• Steve's love life;
• Trying different hair styles.

Here is what is important to Clint Barton specifically:

• Being annoying;
• Hiding in high places;
• Sleeping in high places;
• Natasha Romanoff;
• Sometimes having sex with Agent Coulson;
• Video games;
• Obnoxious movies.

Here is what is important to Thor specifically:

• Jane Foster;
• Having a great time;
• Not really being around all that often;
• Loki;
• Sometimes having sex with Loki;
• Being generally agreeable about everything;
• Introducing everyone to Asgardian things like hardcore alcohol and hardcore aphrodisiacs.

Here is what is important to Steve Rogers specifically:

• Bucky Barnes;
• Pretty much just Bucky Barnes;
• Sometimes Tony Stark;
• Sometimes Natasha Romanoff;
• Brooklyn;
• Losing his virginity;
• Drawing;
• Jazz;
• Hot dogs;
• Jogging.

Also note that:

• Sam Wilson is everyone's free therapist, and is generally the nicest guy;
• Darcy is a Mary-Sue for authors and sleeps with everyone;
• Everyone lives together in Avengers Tower and it is like a college dorm;
• Pepper Potts takes care of all problems;
• Bucky is sarcastic and sexy, or he is broken and sad;
• Bucky likes orange juice;
• The Avengers and/or S.H.I.E.L.D. have a lot of missions that require agents to pose as a couple;
• All of the Avengers listen to more Fall-Out Boy and One Direction than I would have guessed.

This is the important information I have gathered so far. I love fan fiction guys. Hit me up with/for recs! I'll see you on the beach with my iPad out!

Podcast - Episode 3: Our Favourite and Least Favourite DC Characters

There were a few little technical problems with our podcast this week so there are a couple of awkward edits. It also runs a little long, but that's only because it's so jam packed with sparkling wit and brilliant insight. We promise not to make a habit of 90 minute episodes.

Too much Marvel talk lately has prompted us to talk about our favourite DC characters. Dave and I each roll out our lists of our top ten favourite DC characters, and our five least favourite. My list is not super surprising, but Dave's is straight bonkers (my opinion). You'll notice something weird happening before we talk about Blue Beetle. Dave had to re-record the intro to it and we lost a bit of the talk. Just know that I love Ted Kord.

We talk about the upcoming Image titles announced at Image Expo. You can check out the full list with descriptions on the Image site here: July 2015 Image Expo Announcements

You can see the Entertainment Weekly Batman vs Superman cover and images here: Exclusive Batman vs Superman Photos

We finally début The Renner Report this week (with a stinger that makes me laugh out loud). You can read the super insane Jeremy Renner Playboy interview here: if you want to read about him "kindly choking" people out. Please read it. Please.

When we were talking about our favourite DC characters we mentioned Halloween 2007 when I dressed as Barda and Dave dressed as Orion. I promised I'd post pictures, so here are some:

Serving Kirby face.

New Gods gotta eat!

If you are interested in reading the list of my top 10 favourite DC characters that I wrote for Mondo Magazine in 2007, you can check it out here. It's pretty close to this list I made for this podcast. My thoughts are much more coherent when written down.

I've thought about it since the last episode and I have decided that Guy Gardner should be played by Jamie Bamber in the upcoming Green Lantern(s?) movie. Let's re-brand Guy as a very hot ginger!

I mean, right?

Podcast - Episode 2 - Canada!

Happy Canada Day! And if you aren't Canadian, happy new comic book day!

It's like i'm looking out my window!

This week Dave and I discuss the mountain of comic news and gossip that came out in the last week or so, including a director for Black Panther, a new Dr Strange book from Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, and a DC casting switcharoo for professional dreamboat, Chris Pine. 

We also talk about the first issue of Brian K Vaughan and Steve Skroce's new comic, We Stand on Guard, and discuss our favourite Canadian comic book characters and creators. We barely scratch the surface, really, but it's still a fun talk! Apologies to the zillions of Canadian comic creators who don't get mentioned. We mention, like, three.

Click here to listen, or head on over to iTunes to download/subscribe. New episodes will be posted every Wednesday. At least until America attacks Canada for our water supply.

We are going to be providing detailed posts with links, images, videos and more to supplement the podcast episodes. So here is some bonus material to enhance your listening experience for this week's episode!

First, if you like the song we use as our theme, Wordburglar's "Drawings with Words", check out the video! Look for Dave around the 1:40 mark!

I talk more than anyone needs to about The Covenant this week, since I watched it right before recording this episode. Here is the trailer:

And here is the whole damn movie, if you feel like watching the most ridiculous dialogue ever written tumble from Sebastian Stan's perfect mouth:

And here is a Sebastian Stan gif from the movie that I like:

There is no sex in this movie. I am serious. this is his reaction to being thrown up against a locker by a dude.

If you want to read the full "article" about Anthony Mackie describing the perfect woman for Chris Evans, it's here. And it's weird.

How often does Anthony Mackie's iPod play Earth Wind and Fire songs in Evans' presence while on "shuffle" mode?

I mention that one of my favourite sports is hate-reading Jeremy Renner's Twitter account. Here are some choice recent douchy tweets.

First he makes light of Chris Evans' inability to fulfil his dreams of fatherhood:

That is seriously cold.

And he makes a cool frat boy joke for Chris Evans' birthday:

Dick?

He also posts a lot of pics of himself wearing sunglasses, looking like an ass:

Montreal is too close to my home.

In the Canada section of this episode, we reference a few things that I had written about previously on the blog. Here are some links:

Jeph Loeb writes Wolverine as a Canada-hater

Rating the Super Hunks: Wolverine

Veronica In Canada

Archie gang goes to Canada

Good news! Dave was not imagining the comic where Spider-Man goes to the Calgary Stampede!

woah! It's the first appearance of turbine!!!!

And here is the official video for Plumtree's song, Scott Pilgrim, which inspired the comic.

I decided not to make a Canadian references bingo card for We Stand on Guard because it's too mean. It would be downright un-Canadian of me, really.

Thanks for listening! Please send us your dreamcasting choices for Guy Gardner. You can hit me up on Twitter @rachellegoguen and Dave is @paskettiwestern

Minor Villain Showcase: PHOTON

A while ago I wrote my second bio for this site. Afterward, I happened upon my first one and realized that both times I had made a point of mentioning obscure 1970s Marvel super-villain Photon as a formative part of my comics-loving childhood, yet somehow had never written about him. So here you go:

Has anyone ever uttered a true statement on a comic book cover?

Photon appeared in a two-part Spider-Man/Nova team-up, the setup of which is pretty well-summarized by this splash panel:

The eternal question. Asked from time immemorial

Here are some facts about Photon's only adventure (to date):

- Rich "Nova" Ryder's scientist uncle Ralph gets murdered.

- Uncle Ralph is a wordplay enthusiast, and so we learn that Peter Parker anagrams to "Kree Trapper". We also get the above photo in which the murderer is revealed to be Jason Dean by dint of tricky calendar arrangement.

- Peter Parker is ostensibly on-hand in order to study Dr Ryder's physics library, but really he's there to team up with Nova. We all know it. 

In unison: "Goodbye fools!"

Here are some things that I thought were true about Photon until I revisited him for the purpose of writing this:

- I thought that he worked for AIM, because there are little AIM goons running around. Also because AIM is totally the sort of organization that would give one of their middle-management guys a laser gun and a code name instead of, say, dental benefits. Turns out that one of the OTHER suspects was an AIM middle-manager, and Photon was just too lazy to do his own hero-killing.

- As a corollary  to the last one: I thought that he, and not the little AIM goons, came up with the above anchor-based death-trap, which has long been one of my favourites if only because it was one of the earliest I ever encountered. Can you blame me? That ASM cover is very misleading.

"Like I was some sort of... bug-man!

- I misremembered him as wearing the classic big-time super-villain colour combo of purple and green but it turned out to be more of an off-red. A shame, really, because one of the things about Photon that I DID remember correctly was:

No quip, quote, quibble or quiz! No diatribe, debate, discussion or dirge! No fanservice, filibuster...

- He may be a two-bit jerk punching above his weight class, but he has the villain-speak DOWN. I can only assume that he spent his evenings leading up to this one just watching and rewatching old footage of the FF confronting Dr Doom and taking notes. This is a guy who has some assumptions about how successful a super-villain he is going to be.

Finally, something that I didn't remember about Photon but that kind of makes me like him more:

- As I said, he didn't turn out to be working for AIM, where about one in three guys who aren't in beekeeper outfits have villainous identities. No, he was a Maggia guy, which makes it much more likely that this is just something that he came up with on his own, that it might be a decent second job - in addition to his main gig as a mobster - to be a goof in a green mask that he probably sewed himself. I have to admit: fairly endearing.

SO, that's the secret behind my affection for generic 70s super-villain Photon: misremembering a lot of details and affection for dumb goofs. Until next time, I remain,

JOHNATHAN