Author: ComicsJim

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 215 – The Dark Phoenix Saga Part 2

Welcome back to the 2nd half of our discussion on Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s seminal X-Men storyline: The Dark Phoenix Saga.

In this podcast, we pick up were we left off: The X-Men escaping the clutches of the Hellfire Club and heading back to the X-Mansion. During their flight back, Jean Grey loses control of the Phoenix and the Dark Phoenix emerges…

As you can tell from these covers, the X-Men do not have a good time when the Dark Phoenix is around. The Dark Phoenix attempts to kill all the X-Men, then she goes and snuffs out a galaxy and finally the X-Men have to fight for their lives and the fate of Jean Grey…on the moon. There is a lot of story and we try to cover all of it and more in the podcast.

We also take a look behind the scenes to find out what decisions Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and co-plotters: Chris Claremont and John Byrne made to come to the epic conclusion of the X-Men story.

Towards the end of the podcast, I explain why the Legion of Superheroes (group on the left) look a lot like the Shi’ar Imperial Guard (group on the right).

If you have never read the Dark Phoenix Saga, we highly recommend checking it out. You can read it digitally through Marvel.com or buy a trade paperback like we did. Thanks for listening and we will see you next week.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 215

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 214 – The Dark Phoenix Saga

Since the movies have tried to do a version of the Dark Phoenix Saga twice (X-Men 3 and Dark Phoenix) and have failed both times, Jon and I have decided to talk about the original comic series the story is based upon.

The original Dark Phoenix Saga is officially considered to be issues #129 – 138 (Jan – Oct 1980) of Uncanny X-Men. The creators of this story are:

Writer: Chris Claremont

Artist: John Byrne

Inker: Terry Austin

The unofficial start of Jean Grey’s transition into Phoenix.

This story originally starts as a subplot with Jean Grey in issue #101 (Oct 1976) when Marvel Girl rescues some astronauts. In saving the lives of these people, Jean Grey unwittingly allows a cosmic entity called the Phoenix Force to enter her body. Over the next few years, the X-Men (specifically Scott Summers and Charles Xavier) will notice changes in Jean Grey’s behavior.

It won’t be until issues #129 – 132 when Jean drastically starts to behave differently and is seduced by Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) of the Hellfire Club. Jon and I go over the history on how Chris Claremont and John Byrne were inspired by the show The Avengers for the concept of The Hellfire Club and the characters.

Here is how they appeared in the comic…

left to right: Jean Grey, Jason Wyngarde, Sebasitan Shaw, Harry Leland and Donald Pierce

But did you know that these characters where based on real life actors? It’s true. Here are John Byrne’s inspiration…

  • Peter Wyngarde is Jason Wyngarde
  • Robert Shaw is Sebastian Shaw
  • Orson Welles is Harry Leland
  • Donald Sutherland is Donald Pierce

We explain the connection of these actors to their comic counter parts and how Byrne came up with their comic character names.

We go over some history and some of the story on why this is one of the greatest comic stories ever told. This is only part 1 of the conversation. We will continue this next week with the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix Saga and why TV and movies always get the adaptation wrong.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 214

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 213 – The End League Pt. 2

Last week, we did a podcast on the 2008 Dark Horse series, The End League by Rick Remender. This week we continue to talk about rest of the series (issues 5 – 9). We have 2 different artists during this part of the run: Eric Canete and Andy MacDonald.

These issues can be bought in the trade, The End League Vol. 2: Weathered Statues.

Overall, Jon and I really enjoyed this series. We continue the discussion picking up were issue 4 left off: our heroes are in dire straits and the villains seem like they will win. It is up to Codename: Black to try and turn it around. Codename: Black is the figure on the cover of issue 9 above.

We keep the discussion pretty spoiler free – so you can listen and still get a sense of how the story plays out without revealing the multiple plot twists at the end of issues 8 and 9.

We highly recommend listening to part 1 and then coming back and listening to this part. Then you should go out and pick up your copy of The End League!

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 213

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 212 – The End League

Normally, we would be doing a review of the latest comic related movie this week but Jon and I decided that we were not going to see Dark Phoenix in the theater (we explain why in the podcast) so this week we will be doing a retro review.

We have decided to review the apocalyptic comic, The End League. It is written by Rick Remender with art by Matt Broome. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in 2008 and is collected in trades.

This is a 9 issue series and we review only the first 4 issues. Those 4 issues are collected in a trade called Volume 1: Ballad of Big Nothing.

The story revolves around the last remaining super hero group in a world that is controlled by evil madmen. How did our heroes end up in such a situation? We review why one of the bravest heroes of this world, Astonishman is also one of it’s worst enemies and how his righteous actions condemned the world! Remender and Broome do some great world building in these 4 issues and set the reader up for a ride with heroes that are flawed and villains that are ruthless.

Check out the podcast and then do yourself a favor and check out The End League.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 212

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 211 – New Comics Review

There are new comic series that are coming out all the time. We are reviewing 4 new books that have come out in the last 3 months that you definitely want to check out.

I review 2 new comics and Jon reviews 2 new comics. Jon starts…

Review 1 – Jon Review

Last Stop on the Red Line #1

Writer: Paul Maybury

Artist: Sam Lofti

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts about a murder on the local subway system called the Red Line. It is a murder mystery with supernatural elements set in and around Boston.

Review 2 – Jim Review

Dark Red #1

Writer: Tim Seeley

Artist: Corin Howell

Publisher: Aftershock Comics

The story is centered around Charles “Chip” Ipswich who is a night shift gas station clerk that lives in a rural area. He is also a vampire. Chip is bored with his life until a rival vampire enters his town and then he realizes how good he actually had it. It is a horror comic with political satire undertones.

Review 3 – Jon Review

Batman: The Last Knight on Earth #1

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artist: Greg Capullo

Publisher: DC/Black Label

This is the last Batman tale. How can Batman stop the end of the world? Why can’t he remember what happened? How did the Joker’s head end up in a lantern and how is it still alive? These and many more questions will be asked as you read this last, big adventure of the Dark Knight Detective.

Review 4 – Jim Review

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1

Writer(s): Marc Andteyko, Greg Rucka, Matt Fraction, Brian Michael Bendis

Artist(s): Yanick Paquette, Mike Perkins, Steve Lieber

Publisher: DC

This one shot special features the shadow organization know as Leviathan. They have been taking down all the governmental/UN organizations in the DC universe on the pages of Action Comics and now they have set their sights on the Man of Steel. But how do you take down Superman? By capturing his best friend, Clark Kent! This is a great comic that gives you 3 stories: The continuation of the Leviathan event from Action Comics and a jumping on point for the upcoming Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen comics. It will also prepare you for the upcoming summer event Leviathan miniseries. Get aboard now! This will be the comic everyone is talking about in the coming months.

Comics Misremembered Podcast 211

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 210 – Brightburn Movie (2019)

Superheroes are very popular right now, so why not throw them into a horror movie? That’s what you get with the new superhero horror sub-genre movie, Brightburn.

Technically, Brightburn is not a super”hero” movie. More of a super”psychopath” movie but the marketing is saying superhero so that is what I am writing. Jon and I saw this new movie, from producer James Gunn, and we talk about our expectations of the movie and what we actually thought about it after viewing.

*Spoiler Warning! We talk about plot points about the movie in the podcast*

The mask is a dead give-away that there is something not right with that Brandon Breyer boy. Glowing red eyes and that stitched up maw. He doesn’t look like he will be doing much “superheroing”. He looks like he wants to eat your liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Now the “Evil Superman” genre has been done to death in the comics medium. After we talk about the movie, we go on to talk about how DC has done multiple bad guy superman stories featuring characters like…

from left to right: Superboy Prime, Superdoom and Ultraman. Don’t know who these baddies are? We break them down for you and rate them against Brightburn.

We don’t stop there! We talk about Evil Superman pastiche that exist in other comics such as Irredeemable, The Boys and Marshal Law.

Then there are bad Supermen characters that I totally forgot and just remembered as I am typing right now like Nuclear Man from the Superman IV movie or Kid Miracle Man from Miracle Man (we did do a podcast on Miracle Man and do discuss Kid Miracle Man there). Our podcast is not a complete list of Evil Supermen but we just wanted to show you that this genre has been used so much that it is pretty cliche.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 210

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 209 – The Mask movie (1994)

In 1994, New Line Cinema took a chance on a small comic publisher, Dark Horse Comics and one of their new properties, The Mask. The risk turned out to be a sleeper hit for them and it made Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz over night stars.

Last week, we talked about The Mask comic series. The week, we talk about the movie, which celebrates it’s 25th anniversary this year, and how much of the source material was used in making it. We also go over the long, strange trip the movie took from early scripts to final product and our thoughts on the movie then and now.

The movie was one of the first to use a combination of practical effects (The Mask itself) and computer generated effects like this one:

This still looks pretty good 25 years later and this was bleeding edge technology back then. The Mask character still looks great today:

We take a trip down memory lane and talk about what was popular when this movie was being made and how some of it ended up in the movie. We also talk about how seeing a trailer for a movie was near impossible unless it was a week before the movie came out.

The Mask movie is still great, even today. Jim Carrey went on to become a big star and turned down $10 million dollars to do a sequel which disappointed millions of fans (and 1 Nintendo Power winner). The only other person to have a career after this movie was Cameron Diaz…

In fact, she had just as long and diverse a career as Carrey. We end the podcast by briefly talking about the terrible follow up, Son of the Mask.

Do you think there should be a soft reboot of this franchise? We go over this too.

Your comics pal.

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 209

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 208 – The Mask (1991 comic series)

Jon and I are celebrating our 4th year putting out Comic Misremembered Podcasts! It was on May 19th 2015 that we created a website and posted our first comics oriented podcast and we have been putting one out every week for the last 4 years. Thanks for sticking with us and continuing to listen!

Now, on to the reason you are here. To listen to us talk about comics and comic related items. This week we are taking a step back in time to review the first Dark Horse Comics The Mask series.

Let me talk about the above images. From left to right: The Mask character made his current incarnation debut on the pages of the short lived Dark Horse Comics Mayhem anthology series. Images 2 and 3 are the actual covers for The Mask miniseries for issues 2 and 3 that came out in 1991. The Mayhem shorts were collected together as a #0 issue when the Mask was collected together in trade paperback form.

The Mask was created by Dark Horse Comics founder, Mike Richardson. The character would be written by other writers and artists but is mostly remember for John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke‘s version which is the Mask from Mayhem and the first 3 miniseries.

Jon has never read a Mask comic and I only stated reading The Mask with the follow up sequel: The Mask Returns (1992). I recently bought the 2nd printing of The Mask Omnibus so that we could read and review the 1st Mask series. This will be a 2 part podcast – Next week we will be reviewing the Jim Carrey movie, The Mask and see how much (or how little) of the comic source material was used in the movie.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 208

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 207 – Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia

Interesting story on the new comic we are reviewing in this week’s podcast. I received a tweet from a website called Suspicious Behavior Productions (direct link here: http://suspiciousbehaviorproductions.com/) asking if we would like to review a couple of issues of their digital comics, Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia.

At first, I thought it was a web scam with a name like Suspicious Behavior Productions but it turns out that they are a legitimate indy comic company and not a late 80’s R&B band. I agreed to have them send us a couple of copies of their comic and I was pleasantly surprised.

The comic is written by Ed Kuehnel & Matt Entin, the art is done by Dan Schkade with coloring by Marrissa Louise. All parties involved are very talented.

Premise: A popular wrestler, Rory “Rock & Roll” Landel in 1999 is told by the America Wrestling Federation (AWF) Promoter, Dick Drasin that he will be losing his title to new comer, Bob “Boy Scout” Schultz. Rory is not down for this so he decides to quit in style by cutting one of the greast promos of all time where he declares himself not only World Champ but The Galaxy Champion.

This promo gets beamed out to the stars until it reaches the attention of Planet Wrestletopia’s Ruler and current reigning Galaxy Champion, Manifest Destiny!

Manifest Destiny is dismayed that an Usurper would try to lay a claim to his title so he travels to Earth to challenge the fake Galaxy Champion, Rory Landel to a one-on-one planet cage match. WINNER TAKE ALL!!

Jon and I thought this comic was fantastic and we urge you to give it a try. We are not getting any kickbacks from SBP on this comic. We think it is a really good book that everyone should be checking out. Listen to the podcast for more details on why we think it is so great. We kept the conversation mostly spoiler free.

Here is a direct link to Comixology if you are interested in getting Invasion from Plant Wrestletopia! https://www.comixology.com/search?search=wrestletopia

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 207

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 206 – Avengers Endgame Review

Avengers Infinity War Part 1 summary – Thanos had combined the Infinity Stones to make the Infinity Gauntlet and unleashed his sinister plan: wipe out half the population of the Universe.

This movie was really good.

Avengers Endgame – The movie starts out shortly after the events of Infinity War as Iron Man, Captain America and the other Avengers try to pick up the pieces of the biggest defeat they have ever encountered.

This movie was pretty good.

They try to right the wrongs that Thanos created but all their efforts lead to dead ends. Until Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man shows up with a plan so crazy it just might work!

***SPOILER ALERT!!***

Jon and I go over our thoughts on Avengers Endgame in the podcast. We don’t hold back so there are many spoilers in this review/critique of the movie. The ‘No Spoilers’ Embargo is over! We are giving everyone fair warning!

I can tell you that Jon and I both like this movie but it could have been better. We talk about plot points including a gigantic plot hole that really can’t be forgiven, but it’s not all bad though. This movie had several fun and exciting moments that make it worth recommending.

We also go over what we would have done differently to make this a better movie and what we are hoping for in future Avengers movie.

The movie is 3 hours long so we don’t cover absolutely everything that happens in this podcast. We stick to just the main story arc. There are still plenty of surprise for you in the movie.

Also, if you enjoyed this review, be sure the check out our take on Avengers Infinity War Part 1 which I am linking here:

https://comicsmisremembered.com/2018/05/05/cm-podcast-154-avengers-infinity-war/

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 206


ComicsJim

CM Podcast 205 – Detective Comics #1000 Review

Welcome back to the podcast! We have been covering comic movies that had been coming out over the last few weeks that we had to put this review on the back burner.

There is a 1 week delay before the next big comic movie (more on that next week) so this week we review a landmark comic event – the publication of the 2nd comic to hit 1000 issues!! The comic that gave DC it’s name – Detective Comics had it’s #1000 issue published a few weeks ago and we go over it in this week’s podcast.

Here are a few of the many variant covers. Starting in the upper left corner going clockwise: Alex Ross, Paul Dini, Frank Miller and Brian Bolland.

Similar to Action Comics #1000, the comic is a celebration of Batman and his extended family. The oversized comic has multiple stories by Batman writers past and present like Scott Snyder, Tom King, Dennis O’Neil, Warren Ellis, current scribe Peter Tomasi and more! We review some of our favorite stories from this issue.

This is also a great jumping on point for any new readers that have never read a Batman story before. The stories review Bruce Wayne/Batman’s past and his relationship with the Bat Family and villains. The comic ends with the introduction of a brand new villain, The Arkham Knight.

We highly recommend you pick this up.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 205


ComicsJim

CM Podcast 204 – Hellboy Movie (2019) Review

If a comic book related movie comes out in the theater, we are sworn as Comic Book Podcasters to go see it and let you know if it’s any good.

We saw Hellboy (The 2019 Soft Reboot) last weekend and it was not good. It was not bad, it just was not good.

It was an “okay” movie. Just like Justice League was just okay. Overall, the actors did a great job with the material but there was just way too much material to get through in this movie. Look at the poster above. You see how there are about 20 characters in it? That is about a 1/3 of all the characters that were introduced in this movie!

Way too much backstory and exposition and not enough characterization. This is just one of the many points we make on how this movie could be better.

Was it David Harbour‘s fault? Does Hellboy need Ron Perlman back to work?

No. In fact, I really like Harbour’s portrayal of Hellboy. He differentiated himself from Ron Perlman and left his own stamp on Hellboy. He looked like Hellboy and acted like him.

I would put most of the blame about this movie on the script and it’s direction. Jon and I talk about what could have been different to trim the story and characters down to make this a more enjoyable movie.

If you are a fan of the comic, you won’t be disappointed – ironically enough. It is very true to the source material. In fact, it is too close to the source material and this is why it gets bogged down. You need a scorecard to tell who is a villain and who is the hero.

There are some spoilers in the podcast but we don’t reveal major plot points so you can listen to it and then watch it later to see what we are talking about. Just wait until you can watch it on the movie channels.

Your comics pal,
Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 204

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 203 – Shazam! Movie Review

Jon and I went and saw Shazam! last week and we both enjoyed the movie. The commercials and trailers portrayed this movie as a more light-hearted movie than any of the previous DC Universe movies. This movie does not take itself too seriously and nor should it given the characters and premise.

For those unfamiliar with Shazam!, the story focuses on a teenage boy named William “Billy” Batson that turns into an adult superhero by shouting the word “SHAZAM!” Just imagine it as the movie Big but with super powers and you get an idea on the high jinks that happen.

The director David Sandberg does a great job of taking an obscure hero from the DC Universe and making him relatable so that super hero fans and those that are not would enjoy this movie. This movie has laughs and heart and you may even get a little teary eyed by the end.

Jon and I also like the fact that the movie keeps the original Whiz comics costume and doesn’t try to modernize it like the previous film…

Original look of Shazam. Art by Alex Ross.

As you can see, the movie is very close to the original character’s design.

We both liked the characters (heroes and villains) and overall story of this movie and we hope it does very well so that we get a sequel. Listen to the podcast for our review. We also give a quick Comic History review on why we call this character Shazam! and not Captain Marvel.

I am including the link to our review of Marvel Man here:

https://comicsmisremembered.com/2016/10/08/cm-podcast-72-miraclemanmarvelman/

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 203


ComicsJim

CM Podcast 202 – The Walking Dead Mid Season 9 Finale and Review

Mid Season 9 of the Walking Dead was one of the more impactful seasons for Jon and myself. We are introduced to a new danger in the world named The Whisperers who are lead by the demented Alpha. We learn why Michonne is wary of strangers and how she go her scar. We learn about Lydia, the daughter of Alpha and find out if she will be friend or foe to the new alliance of Alexandria, Hilltop and The Kingdom. And the final question is answered: Can we start to trust Negan?

I ask Jon some question about the show like: What does he think about Alpha, Beta and The Whisperers? Jon goes into an eloquent discussion about the new characters and how he feels they came to exist and how dangerous they can be to everyone.

We talk about some other plot points that happened through the season and the shocking event that happened in the penultimate episode. Jon and I talk about who was lost and how impactful it will be in the show and it’s characters.

We then end the podcast with a review of spoilers that I gave in Podcast 195 and how accurate the comic is compared to the show. It is still a very accurate guide on the events that unfolded.

Here is a direct link to Podcast 195 if you would like to hear the original predictions : https://comicsmisremembered.com/2019/02/17/cm-podcast-195-the-walking-dead-season-9-mid-season-premier/

We both are very anxious about Season 10.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 202

ComicsJim

CM Podcast 201 – New Comic Review

We haven’t done a new comic review in a while and some great comics have come out recently so we wanted to go over 4 that we think you should be reading.

The review rundown is like this:

Review #1 – by Jon

The Wonder Twins #1 and #2

Written by Mark Russell

Art by Stephen Byrne

Published by DC under the Wonder Comics Imprint.

Review # 2 – By Jim

Dial H for Hero #1

Written by Sam Humphries

Art by Joe Quinones

Published by DC under the Wonder Comics Imprint

Review # 3 – By Jon

The Dreaming #1 – 4

Written by Simon Spurrier

Art by Bilquis Evely

Published by DC under the Vertigo Imprint

Review # 4 – by Jim

Little Bird #1

Written by Darcy Van Poelgeest

Art by Ian Beltram

Published by Image Comics

We highly recommend that you purchase all 4 of these titles. Listen to the podcast for details as to why they are worth adding to your pull list.

Your comics pal,

Jim

Comics Misremembered Podcast 201