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Episode 756 - Hickmania IV: Birth of the Future Foundation
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Time for more Hickmania on this week's show as we read through Fantastic Four #579-582! Reed is sick of his Science Club, so he starts a new one! Also, his dad shows up from the future in the past.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
This show is recorded using Zencaster.
Introduction and Podcast Setup
00:00:02
Speaker
If you are a podcaster or you want to be a podcaster and you want to be able to record remotely, you can do so using Zencaster. They also have hosting options and you can let them know that we sent you. Follow the link in our show notes or in the episode description and sign up for an account on Zencaster now to start recording your own podcast.
00:00:28
Speaker
Titus, I'm bored. What plaything can you offer me today?
00:00:38
Speaker
got one rocket Ajax to bring back his body. Terminate exit!
War Rocket Ajax and Wrestling Metaphors
00:00:53
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the internet's most explosive comic book and pop culture podcast. We are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me, as always, is Matt Wilson.
00:01:05
Speaker
Matt! Yes, sir. If I were to compare our podcasting friend group, the the the people who we do podcasts with who would appear in the ah Match 3 puzzle game that i am I briefly got fixated on, sent Eric Henderson a text, and then did not follow up on it at all for three weeks. ah If I were to to compare our podcasting group of friends...
00:01:35
Speaker
To a professional wrestling staple. I would say the easy one for me, classic Four Horsemen.
00:01:44
Speaker
Erica, who you do friends to the end with. Right. Is Flair. yeah but Best in the world, obviously. Successful one.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, limousine riding, jet flying. Limousine riding, jet flying. The credentials are unlimited. Benito's Tully. All right. And you and me are Arn and Oli. You're Oli, I'm Arn.
00:02:12
Speaker
So I'm the old one. No, I mean, like... like i mean we're we're the We're the fucking brainbusters, man. We're the Minnesota Redding crew. like that's Yes. I mean, you're we would have to be. Because I feel like Oli is also a behind-the-scenes creative.
00:02:30
Speaker
And I feel like you do a lot of work behind the scenes on the shows. Oli was a booker. That is true. yeah And I'm Arne because I'm also, if you go on YouTube, a gay icon.
00:02:44
Speaker
ah Real bear energy. Real bear energy for me. Yeah. so So I have to pick a different stable that we would be like. Yes, I did text you earlier today and say, Matt, I need you to consider, need you to think of professional wrestling stables that are not the Four Horsemen, because I knew that was going to be my answer answer. So Matt, if you had to map you, me, Erica, and Benito...
00:03:12
Speaker
Erica and Benito, your co-hosts on Friends the End. Benito, my co-host on Apocryphal's. Who would you put in there? Raven's Flock.
00:03:24
Speaker
Interesting. Okay, interesting. The WCW version of Raven's Flock. i think We're talking about weto Kidman, Reese, Scotty Riggs. ah Saturn.
00:03:36
Speaker
Saturn. So who's who's who? I think you're Raven. Right, because I am very concerned. What about me? What what about me And I also want to be included, but i don't I'm very lazy and don't actually want to do anything.
00:03:52
Speaker
But we're we're all also tied to you in some way or another. like You're the you're the the glue that holds us together. That's that's feeling very kind of you.
00:04:04
Speaker
ah And you will eventually revolt and turn on me, as I've always suspected. It was Raven's nest in TNA, I guess. It was the nest in ECW.
00:04:18
Speaker
Was it? Okay. And in TNA. And WCW, for some reason, insisted that he call it the flock. I remember reading an interview with about that on WCWWrestling.com. I think Benito is Saturn because he's I think he's the enforcer.
00:04:35
Speaker
okay I'm going to say um Erica is Kidman because she's the breakout star. Okay, interesting. Interesting. and i' so This implies that in like in like five, like like in ten years, there's going to be a bunch of people who are way better than Erica Henderson at doing Erica Henderson stuff.
00:04:58
Speaker
Well, isn't that the the truth of any creative endeavor? It is the nature of the beast. But I i mean, I would say that Eric is a generational talent. Well, I would say Kidman was a generational talent in his prime. this's true That's true.
Patreon Support Discussion
00:05:13
Speaker
Maybe Canyon. Maybe Eric is Canyon. But I think Kidman is the better comparison. Canyon wasn't in the flock. At the very end, he was. He joined. No.
00:05:26
Speaker
i thought I thought he was – okay, so that was post-Mortis pre-Jersey Triad? That's correct, yes. Okay, okay. And then, i as I said, I think I'm Stevie Richards. Damn.
00:05:39
Speaker
I hate to say it, but that does fit. ah
00:05:46
Speaker
Because I'm kind of like the second banana, but also – A little bit of the brains of the operation. that's ah There you go. There you go.
00:05:56
Speaker
and I will say this. When I met Stevie Richards at at King of Trios, ah tv he was looking great. I said, wow, you look amazing. And he said, P90X, brother. Stevie Richards has has is one of those wrestlers who has gotten a second life as a YouTuber.
00:06:10
Speaker
18 years, Brett. Him and Maven are like the big wrestler YouTubers now. And I hate that I get suckered into watching a Stevie Richards YouTube video every now and again, but I do.
00:06:26
Speaker
i i I don't want to watch it, because I don't really agree with him about a lot of stuff, but he knows specific things that he's talking about. i i'm I'm happy for Maven, because I know Maven had a complicated relationship with his history for a very long time.
00:06:45
Speaker
That's very true. And he's he's a YouTube superstar now. so yeah What do I mean by that?
00:06:53
Speaker
All right. We've got a great show for everybody this week. It's Hickmania. It's Hickmania 4. The oblique and incomprehensible wrestling references will continue until morale improves.
00:07:05
Speaker
That's right. it's We're at the um what will be billed as the Trump Plaza, but will actually be the Atlantic City Civic Center. ah Did you know that, Chris? That it wasn't actually at Trump Plaza? I did not know that. Yeah. They called it Trump Plaza, but it was actually the Atlantic City Convention Hall. I mean, that's ah that's wild.
00:07:30
Speaker
Yes. That was four and five. that There would be something that wasn't quite what they said it was. those two Those two guys? Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:43
Speaker
um And I believe this will be the one with the tournament for the for the title. Ultimately run won by Randy Savage, who still got upstaged by Hulk Hogan.
00:07:55
Speaker
Oh, word. Word. um Okay, Hickmania 4 is coming. We're going to review some issues of the Jonathan Hickman run on Fantastic Four. um But that's a little bit later in the show. Chris, before we do that, we do have some business to take care of here at the top of the show, starting with our thanking our newest supporters over on Patreon.
00:08:15
Speaker
That's right, Matt. No, these are the people who, they want to support the show. They want to chip in a little bit. They know that I'm currently unemployed. They know that that you're dealing with a spouse with a broken ankle.
00:08:28
Speaker
you medical bills Medical bills to come. Thrice broken? Thrice broken, yes. Thrice broken ankle? they They want to help out, but they don't need to go down 756 Gimmick Street. They don't need no kettlebells, Matt.
00:08:44
Speaker
They just need to go to patreon.com slash warrocketajax and kick in as little as a dollar a month to help us keep doing this show and help us pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills.
00:08:56
Speaker
That's right, Chris. And i have no new names to read on the show well this week. But I will say this. We had several ah patreon patrons ah raise their monthly donation to the show. So ah thank you to all of them for doing that. That's very kind of you.
00:09:20
Speaker
And we do appreciate that. Also, we do have a new member of the Gimmick Street Preservation Society. ah I would love that. Now, Matt, the Gimmick Street Preservation Society, that's for people who are at the $15 level.
00:09:37
Speaker
They can contribute to the ongoing preservation and construction of Gimmick Street, the street where we record this show.
00:09:50
Speaker
yes I forget if our recording studio is actually on Gimmick Street. Our houses are. who our Our childhood homes are.
00:10:02
Speaker
And many of our favorite wrestlers' homes are on Gimmick Street. And also Kevin Nash. but But I don't know about our recording studio. I'll have to check the the record on warrocketwiki.com. We're kind of like in one of those old-timey mayoral election trucks with the big bullhorn on it.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah, with the big bullhorn on top. We're in the car that the big boss man used to crash the big show's fake daddy's funeral. in what is unquestionably the high point of professional wrestling. He dragged his coffin behind the car.
00:10:42
Speaker
With the big speaker on top. That's how we that's how we do this shit. The newest member of the Gimmick Street Preservation Society is the Balloon Animal, who has chosen this for 756 Gimmick Street.
00:10:56
Speaker
For my address, I'd like to suggest my old neighborhood pizzeria, Ferrara's Pizza. It was one of my favorite childhood spots, and it closed 15-ish years ago, right around when War Rocket Ajax started, which might seem like a coincidence, but nope.
00:11:10
Speaker
Turns out they just moved locations to Gimmick Street. This pizzeria serves all types of pizza to fit the wide-ranging tastes of all the residents of Gimmick Street. They also sell sweet frozen treats of all kinds, Italian ices, ices, waters, ah waters, ice, you name it.
00:11:27
Speaker
so that sounds That sounds great. And I do want to say, less than a year ago... Matt, fewer than 50 episodes ago, ah we did say that we recorded at 316 Gimmick Street, which is also where the Hellyak Instruction Company is.
00:11:42
Speaker
Okay, perfect. That is what is at 756 Gimmick Street. It is Ferrara's Pizza, which is very appropriate for an episode where we're talking so much about wrestling ah because of Ed Ferrara.
00:11:58
Speaker
One of the great writers. Because I would always get pizza and maco and watch a pay-per-view. I mean, I still do that. i That's a tradition. well Get pizza and watch pay-per-view. um A PLE.
00:12:11
Speaker
A PLE, that's right. um Ed Ferrara, um writing partner of Vince Russo, also famously did a... horrifically insensitive gimmick where he was Oklahoma, a was it a parody of Jim Ross, oh ah who like he would like but act like he had Bell's Palsy.
00:12:34
Speaker
it was It was really bad. it was bad. It was It was bad. And I say this as someone who ah has Bell's Palsy and was...
00:12:47
Speaker
like took a lot of strength in knowing that Jim Ross like was able to carry on with his work ah ah like after suffering multiple bouts of Bill's palsy.
00:13:02
Speaker
would think that was a rough one if he hadn't. like like if if that was not that If I did not have a personal connection. But you know.
00:13:14
Speaker
God, fuck Ed Ferrara, man. not no he as As far as I know, Ferrara's Pizza has no connection to Ed Ferrara. No. Ferrara's Pizza actually sounds great, and I would love to go there. Yes. All right.
00:13:26
Speaker
Here's what – if you want to be a Patreon supporter of the show, here's what you get at various levels of our Patreon. If you just do $1 a month, you get ad-free episodes of everything that we do, every single show.
00:13:38
Speaker
This show, Comics Catch Up, Every Story Ever, Movie Fighters and Snack Situation, whenever we get them back to doing that again.
Checks and Recs Segment
00:13:46
Speaker
ah All of that stuff you get completely ad-free on our Patreon in a special feed just for you.
00:13:52
Speaker
At the $5 level, you get bonus content, which is all kinds of stuff specifically available. for Patreon, stuff that is just for patrons, that is audio that we record specifically for Patreon, that's outtakes from the show that we put up on Patreon, that's writing that Chris and I have done, it is all there on Patreon.
00:14:16
Speaker
At the $10 level, you get line-stepping privileges for our segments, which currently include 1 to 10 of Swords and Every Story Ever. At the $15 level, you join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society, like we just discussed, and get to name what is at and address on Gimmick Street.
00:14:32
Speaker
And at the $20 level, you get all of that stuff I just mentioned, plus our annual t-shirt. Pretty soon, we're going to be figuring out what our 2026 t-shirt is And get that together and get it out to folks probably by early summer.
00:14:50
Speaker
If you're unable to help us monetarily, which we understand that happens, you can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five-star review on the podcasting app that you use, whatever that may be. Or you can just spread the word about the show. Tell your friends a family. Tell folks you know to listen to this podcast that you like, War Rocket Ajax, and then get them to join our Patreon.
00:15:12
Speaker
Wouldn't that be A delight.
00:15:16
Speaker
Chris, with that, now that we have thanked our Patreon supporters, it's time for some Checks and Recs. What do you say? Let's do it.
00:15:27
Speaker
Chris, what would you like to check in with this week? Matt, it was too quiet. was too quiet in the house. I could see that. I could see how, you know, but you say, i want to wait a while to get a new dog, and then It's too quiet.
00:15:44
Speaker
that it's It's just, it's simply too quiet. but So we got a new dog. We got a new dog. He's an adorable little guy. He's an adorable little guy. He's a little man. He's a little fancy man.
00:15:56
Speaker
We are still very much mourning Biscuit, talking to Biscuit all the time. They're talking about Biscuit all the time. um Fully, like, constantly misgendering this dog.
00:16:11
Speaker
by mistake, because I'm so used to referring to my dog ah with a the old she-her pronouns. ah But ah AC saw this dog that she felt a strong connection to, and we went last week and i picked him up.
00:16:26
Speaker
ah His name's Kofgup. In my continuing, ongoing quest to name a dog after everything that you can get with a Waffle House All-Star Breakfast.
00:16:43
Speaker
oh And he is ah he's he's a fancy little man. Now, here's my question. yes is Is it always just going to be like the full name Coffee Cup? Or do you have like a shortened nickname version of the name?
00:17:02
Speaker
I mean, we don't have any shortened nickname versions of that name in particular. But Like all dogs, Coffee Cup now has many nicknames already, including Little Big Man, a Big Little Man, ah Little Guy.
00:17:20
Speaker
i think calling him Little Big Man is hilarious, personally. that That is good. I like Little Big Man, yeah. ah Coffee Pup, Coffee Cup Pup. Coffee Pup, is that's excellent.
00:17:31
Speaker
Yeah. He has been um essentially attached to me since we brought him home. I am clearly the favorite. And I love him.
00:17:42
Speaker
And he is a little bit bigger than than Biscuit was ah by the tune of about 15 pounds um and does consider himself a lap dog.
00:17:53
Speaker
my My only... ah wouldn't even say complaint or problem, but like the only thing that i would have changed about Biscuit is that she wasn't very cuddly until we got in bed. This dog cuddly as hell.
00:18:08
Speaker
This dog, 65 pounds... And wants to cuddle all the time. And I'm like, hell yeah, dog. I don't have a job right now. My job? Cuddling this dog.
00:18:20
Speaker
So, I'm very excited.
00:18:24
Speaker
So, please welcome Coffee Cup to the family. i will try to remember to drop into Discord and provide some pictures. And I do also, again, want to say thank you to everyone who shared ah kind memories of Biscuit last week.
00:18:40
Speaker
Matt. What have you been up to this past week? Well, Chris, remember on the show last week when I was like, I recommend House of Leaves. It's not as weird as I thought it would be.
00:18:52
Speaker
Well, buddy, did I have people come to tell me about all the stuff in there that is that that I didn't talk about? Uh-huh.
00:19:05
Speaker
And look... First of all, I want to say how much i appreciate people for coming to me and saying, like, there are other layers to this book that maybe you might have missed or or that weren't readily apparent to you or whatever.
00:19:23
Speaker
Some of it I knew about. let me Let me make clear. I knew that there were, like, acrostics and stuff in the book. There's acrostics? Yeah. There's there's like you know hidden acrostic messages and stuff like that.
00:19:38
Speaker
Hot damn. I love an acrostic. I love a hidden acrostic, Matt. Sure. i also was told ah that there are...
00:19:50
Speaker
things in the appendices that show that both Zampano and Johnny Truant, the two narrators of the book are both incredibly unreliable. And that will give you more insight into what the content of the book, like when they're lying to you essentially, which, which is interesting.
00:20:12
Speaker
um But one, I do not want to reread the Johnny Truant parks, parts of the book. okay parts of the book. And, uh, and like he i I mean, he's kind of unlikable on purpose.
00:20:26
Speaker
Uh, and so, you know, I, did I, I don't have a great need to revisit that. Um, like to me, the most compelling and good parts of the book were the, just the stuff about the, that Navidson house and how,
00:20:47
Speaker
uncanny and impossible it was. yes But I do appreciate like people coming to me and saying, like here's some other layers of the book that you know make it less just like straightforward. And then I had a particular listener, Whale, on the Discord, who like messaged me like specifically um some fan theories about what's actually going on in the book and stuff about like who Johnny Truant might really be or who Zampano might really be and that sort of thing.
00:21:22
Speaker
And um that is all very interesting to me, but that is also not in the text. These are theories, right? And this is what I assumed, is that like a lot of the kind of – really deep meaning people find in it is ah theoretical and not like even apparent subtext.
00:21:48
Speaker
You know what I mean? So I just want to express to people that I appreciate what you ah have told me about what else is in there, what what else what what might be like bubbling under the surface of House of Leaves. But also, I'm done.
00:22:05
Speaker
I've read it, and I'm done.
Community Engagement and Insights
00:22:07
Speaker
yes this is This is the core difference between the two of us, Matt. Because I cannot imagine being anything but furious.
00:22:19
Speaker
if someone were to be like, um there's probably some parts of this you didn't get. oh They're not telling me that I didn't get it. They're just saying, like these are things that people have read into it that might be interesting to you.
00:22:31
Speaker
so And it is interesting. like I find it interesting. I don't know if I buy it. or if like It's certainly not in the text of the book. um It's stuff you have to kind of like reach a little bit to to read into the text.
00:22:50
Speaker
ah But it is interesting. It's not like it's stuff stuff that i was I was an idiot for not seeing. But you know you know what I mean. Yeah. I mean, I think that's also the the core difference between the two of us is that I would simply assume that's what people thought of me.
00:23:07
Speaker
Whereas you have maybe um a more healthy relationship with the concept of being corrected. I didn't read it as being corrected. um Perhaps You know what I mean!
00:23:24
Speaker
Anyway, i just I just wanted to say um ah thank you to people who reached out to me to like clue me into some of this some of these fan theories. because they Again, they are interesting. um like and it there was some Some of it was stuff I noticed, but just was like...
00:23:45
Speaker
you know there There are things in the book that kind of feel like typos or um misspellings, intentional or unintentional, or or or you know things like that. Things that slip into books sometimes.
00:23:59
Speaker
And like if you're really looking for something, you could say that those things were intentional and a clue, some kind of clue.
00:24:12
Speaker
I mean, yeah, man, there's a lot of typos in that book. Like, there's entire pages where they, like, accidentally printed it wrong. so That's true. They printed it sideways. now um Get it together, random house.
00:24:27
Speaker
They printed the make your own company in blue for some reason. it's why is it blue wait They marked out all everything about a minotaur. Ah, shit about the Minotaur's good, though. When the fucking Minotaur shows up and shit starts being red? oh We're going have a lot of fun on all on on our inevitable House of Leaves spinoff podcast.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah. Which is going to be um in installments of five and a half minutes. Correct. And some of that will be just dead air.
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, i i just wanted to say thanks to people who reached out to me about that and and got in touch. Because i it was fun to read about these these theories.
00:25:16
Speaker
and And, you know, add a little more depth to my experience of having read House of Leaves. All right. Got to add got her some depth like that like that big hole into the house.
Recommendations: Games and TV Shows
00:25:27
Speaker
That's right. ah Chris, it's time for some recommendations. What do you have to recommend? I know that you and Benito are book guys now. And i can i like you're judging me pretty much constantly.
00:25:41
Speaker
Benito's always been a book you had a dumb bit of book guy. Yeah, that's true. But I'm still playing video games. And I love that for you. i love i Yeah, yeah. i can I can tell you do by the amount of ah not responding you do when I text you about video games.
00:25:59
Speaker
The two of you. ah But I would like to recommend a game that's a great game if you just need something to to while away some time. Like, say maybe you're unemployed and you're bonding with a new dog and the dog likes to nap on the sofa.
00:26:13
Speaker
So you you need something that'll take up some time. Let me tell you about Ball Pit, which might be Ball X Pit, which might be Ball Times Pit, or Ball Cross Pit.
00:26:29
Speaker
Ball By Pit? Ball By Pit, or Ball Extra Power Pit, Ball Xavier Pit. Could be any. The letter X is in there, but I don't know if it's a Hunter Hunter situation or not. Matt, let me ask you a question. Do you like Vampire Survivors?
00:26:46
Speaker
ah Yes, i got I had a lot of fun playing Vampire Survivors. Do you think Vampire Survivors would be ah fun if it was Breakout? Maybe.
00:27:00
Speaker
do you like base building? Not usually. do you think you'd like base building a little more if it was Breakout? That sounds more fun than a lot of building. also kind of Tetris?
00:27:13
Speaker
Okay, now you're talking about language. But Also, the Tetris part was also Breakout. Okay. What I'm saying is there's a lot of Breakout in this game. This is a a Vampire Survivors-esque roguelike, except for it is Breakout.
00:27:28
Speaker
ah And kind of kind of like Pachinko ah Breakout. There's a lot of balls involved. man And it's really fun. And has one of the... I'm going to spoil this.
00:27:43
Speaker
So, apologies to you, Matt. Everyone else can... There's a like skip ahead 30 seconds button for a reason. um Each of the characters that you get has like a different ability. right like There's one character, like, oh, the the gravity pulls the balls to the back of the screen. and Or, ah oh, this shoots balls from the sides of the screen instead of from your character at the bottom.
00:28:06
Speaker
there's There's one character that you get fairly fairly early on. i think it was like the third or fourth character that I got. that ah his deal was like, oh, he makes all the upgrade choices automatically.
00:28:18
Speaker
And I was like, right, because there's, you know, that's that's usually a pretty standard thing. Later on, you get a character who just plays the game automatically. And ah that, I laughed so hard.
00:28:32
Speaker
It got me, dude. Because he does, you just put him in there and he just goes, I found that to be utterly delightful. Because I feel like the ultimate goal of a vampire survivors is you try to get the game to play itself.
00:28:47
Speaker
And this one, it's just like, yeah, it just does it. Definitely worth checking out. It's like $10 right now on sale, and highly worth it. I put a few solid days into it ah well while bonding with Coffee Cup, and ah it is ah it it was a good time indeed.
00:29:08
Speaker
So check out Ball Pit, the game where what if stuff was breakout? The game with balls. Yeah! the only The only fantasy roguelike with RPG elements.
00:29:23
Speaker
With balls. that's By the way, folks, that's a reference to the trailer for Phantasm III. We're not we're're not just being weird for no reason here. Go watch the trailer for Phantasm III. That shit is so fucking good. It's very funny.
00:29:39
Speaker
Besides the trailer for Phantasm III, what would you like to recommend? Well, Chris, what I would like to recommend is a program... A streaming program that you can watch right now on the Walt Disney Entertainment Company edition streaming service.
00:30:01
Speaker
The Elias Walter Walt Disney edition streaming network. That's right. ah It is show that i I would suspect that a few people listening to this have already watched, but if you haven't, um I think it's definitely worth watching. It's Wonder Man.
00:30:24
Speaker
It's the show about Wonder Man that has an entire episode about the Great Lakes Avengers joke character, Doorman.
00:30:36
Speaker
Okay, this is challenging for me.
00:30:40
Speaker
Because i have not watched this show, and you know why I haven't watched this show. Because I fucking hate Wonder Man. okay it's it's Okay, it's about Wonder Man. It's about Simon Williams.
00:30:55
Speaker
But like it ain't about the guy that Vision's brain patterns were based on. but Okay? Uh-huh. This is about an actor...
00:31:08
Speaker
who secretly has superpowers, who can't reveal that he has those superpowers because there's a rule in Hollywood, because of the Great Lakes Avengers character, Doorman, that nobody with superpowers can act in movies. can be like part of like SAG.
00:31:30
Speaker
which the The episode about Doorman explains that, which is really good. I mean, you really selling on it by continually reminding me that there was an episode about the Great Lakes Avengers character Doorman.
00:31:41
Speaker
Yes. man who can be a door. The man who can be a door. And he like he has those exact powers. He has those powers exactly. And the version in the TV show starts as a doorman at a club.
00:31:56
Speaker
um and and But like later, he he has um the mask and everything. like Doorman's mask with the like diamond-shaped eyes and everything.
00:32:08
Speaker
That's a great Dan Slott, Paul Grist, Doorman story. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, okay. Here's the thing about Wonder Man. I have friends, like, improviser friends, who know nothing about comics, who loved the Wonder Man show.
00:32:28
Speaker
And their reason for, like, why they loved it was, one, it's it's a good show about acting and, like, acting as a craft and ah and a job and so on and so forth.
00:32:42
Speaker
And it's a very good show about male friendship, and like Male relationships and how to actually like talk to each other and express your feelings to each other and that like element of ah relationships that are often not depicted in anything.
00:33:05
Speaker
My reason for liking it is because there's an episode about the Great Lakes Avengers character, Doorman. I mean, really, Matt, if people want a show that's a good depiction of like positive male friendship and also talks about Doorman from the Great Lakes Avengers all the time, they War Rocket Ajax exists.
00:33:26
Speaker
That's true. you could You could just listen to War Rocket Ajax. And War Rocket Ajax could be on Netflix, because Netflix has podcasts now. What? Yeah. get Get at us. That doesn't make any sense. Netflix has podcasts now.
00:33:40
Speaker
They got like my favorite murder and shit. What? Yeah. Alright. Yeah. Okay. They have that. Anyway. We could be on Netflix.
00:33:53
Speaker
Yeah, man. Get at us. Get at us, Netflix. We can Netflix. I'll be on Netflix all day all day long, man. No shit. um'll Get at us. Anyway...
00:34:04
Speaker
ah Wonder Man – okay. So like the lead character of Wonder Man is Simon Williams. But he saw a movie when he was a kid called Wonder Man about a character who is Wonder Man, but it is but is entirely different from comics Wonder Man, that inspired like that inspired him to want this role But also the Simon Williams of the show in the first episode, um gets a bit part on American horror story and is so annoying and has so many questions and wants so many revisions to the script because of how deep he is in his character who has like three lines that he gets fired.
00:34:46
Speaker
Okay. ah That's a Yahya Abdul-Mateen the third, who was also a Dr. Manhattan on the Watchmen TV show. Um,
00:34:58
Speaker
He's ah ah so good. like The show is both like very dramatic and poignant and a good like depiction of male friendship and very funny.
00:35:09
Speaker
ah So it's it's my favorite Marvel TV show. I think it's my favorite Marvel TV show, period. like There have been other ones that have been pretty good. like Ms. Marvel was pretty good. Mm-hmm.
00:35:24
Speaker
This is the best one, like and it's pretty much in a walk. Is there anybody else they could put on a TV show that would be surprising? Now that we've had Doorman from the Great Lakes Avengers?
00:35:39
Speaker
That's a great question. i do not know. I really don't know. Fucking gravity. I mean, look, they could make a TV show about the Gibbon, and they could call me.
00:35:52
Speaker
they They could call you. Because, buddy, I got a pitch for the Gibbon.
00:35:59
Speaker
And how many people can say that? Anyway, that's my that's my recommendation. Wonder Man on Disney+. plus
Comic Reviews and Discussions
00:36:09
Speaker
Chris, those are our checks and recs.
00:36:10
Speaker
It's time to talk about some comics. What do you say? Let's do it.
00:36:16
Speaker
The Texas Choice winner for this week, Chris, I believe is DCKO number four. Yes, because we got ah we got a text from Benito that just said, DCKO has the juice.
00:36:29
Speaker
And do you know what? He ain't wrong. it's This is the the issue that features the Earth-1 DC superheroes taking on their absolute counterparts.
00:36:43
Speaker
And um it rocks, man. like it's It's pretty good. It's pretty good. I read this and and the last issue at the same time, and look, you you know i like this I like this comic where everybody's fighting.
00:36:58
Speaker
And you know I like Scott Snyder. I'm i'm in the tank for that, dude. Always.
00:37:05
Speaker
People's choices of tag team partners in that last issue were wrong. Like, fucking, like, Aquaman's a dumbass.
00:37:17
Speaker
Aquaman picked Hawkman. You can pick anybody from the DC universe. And he picked Hawkman. Yeah, I don't know. The the best ah choice, I think, was Lex Luthor's, who went with Supergirl. Yeah, yeah!
00:37:35
Speaker
That was the best choice. Superman's choice was kind of bad. like I liked what what happened in in the issue with it, but like Superman can pick anybody in the east Universe and he picks a child?
00:37:48
Speaker
If he wanted to pick anyone, specifically anyone who had been in DC KO, fucking pick Batman. Well, i there's an argument to be made...
00:38:00
Speaker
That Batman was not available? I know. Based on what happens in number four. ah that's That is true, and I'm sure that was the the point.
00:38:11
Speaker
But, like, Superman didn't know that. The only person who made, like, here's who made the smart choice. Wonder Woman, who picked Big Barda. Yeah. And Joker, who picked Emperor Joker from Emperor Joker.
00:38:30
Speaker
Oh, that's right. Well, no, it was it was Mixes Pitlick, right? Yeah, but he he he he picked Mixes Pitlick so that he could be Emperor Joker for Emperor Joker. yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. Implying that the Joker remembers the events of Emperor Joker, which is very funny.
00:38:51
Speaker
This is good. I like seeing all these... ah all these all of our ah favorite superheroes fight all the absolute superheroes. I do like how everybody mentions how big Absolute Batman is.
00:39:04
Speaker
Yes. so And I also like the regular Batman fucking... Regular Batman sunning Absolute Batman in one page. It's great.
00:39:15
Speaker
Well, it's... Okay, so, like, I think the thing that will bring... that brings people into DCKO is, like, the promise of the fights, right? Like... the tag team stuff from last issue, the the main DC universe versus absolute versions from this issue, which it's repeatedly said in here that the absolute versions are like made entirely of like Omega energy ah because like they've been that like imbued by dark side with like badness. And that's why they fight the main DC heroes until they're released from dark sides influence.
00:39:57
Speaker
um But like, I feel like, like, yeah, the promise of those fights is what brings in readers. But like the actual draw is like, for lack of a better way of putting it, good, surprising booking. Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:15
Speaker
like There are several things in this issue specifically that are like, you're going get a big pop from the audience. like Like Batman essentially coming out from under the ring, right? like Yes.
00:40:32
Speaker
Like saying, like oh, i it I made it look like I went out in the first round, but really I found a way to come back. Yeah, I had a secret plan the whole time.
00:40:43
Speaker
Yeah, which of course, of course he did. Or or like the way he takes out the Joker, or the way he takes out Absolute Batman, or like the big so shock surprise ending with Lex Luthor.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah Where like he he pulls some heel shit and wins the whole thing. Right? like like And then like all the like kind of building to the end, ah building to the big showdown ah with Darkseid in that sort of epilogue part.
00:41:15
Speaker
Like, you come for the card, like, the card brings you in, but then the good booking, like, actually makes you hang around. um And that that's why DCKO has the juice.
00:41:30
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Look, I'm not arguing that it has the juice. It's got the juice. Except for the part with Annabelle from Annabelle. Okay, but Scott Snyder didn't have anything to do with that. that That's true. That's true. um Scott Snyder and Javi Fernandez are the the team on this, and and boy boy, are they doing it.
00:41:52
Speaker
Boy, are they doing it. Also, the whole thing with the Batman and the Dice. thing with Batman and the Dice is very funny to me. Love that shit, man. Love that shit. Yeah, look, i I cannot stress enough that my favorite thing about Batman is that he cheats.
00:42:13
Speaker
Because, yeah, man, he ain't that big. He ain't that strong. But he can cheat. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:24
Speaker
All right. Next up, ah we're going to talk about Supergirl number 10.
00:42:29
Speaker
this is This is written by Sophie Campbell with art by ah Joe Canonez. ah It looks absolutely beautiful. God, it looks amazing.
00:42:41
Speaker
It looks so good. I love Nella Narr, who is the villain of this issue, who is Kryptonian ghost matchmaker.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yes. who Who wants a everyone do wants to match people up the way that she was matched by Metricomp, the marriage computer that chose your perfect mate on Krypton, which I don't know for sure, but I do believe is existing Silver Age continuity.
00:43:12
Speaker
I believe you're right, yeah. I'm almost positive. ah But I love her design and her... but that She has like the her Kryptonian symbol on her chest is like a heart.
00:43:27
Speaker
like Like a heart emoji, basically. ah It's extremely good, dude. i'm I'm only now realizing that this was a Valentine's Day issue. Yeah.
00:43:37
Speaker
like like a ah Sophie Campbell keeps doing holiday-themed issues of Supergirl. Yeah, I love it. I love it. i mean that we got a The issue title is by Bloody Valentine, so obviously. yeah but Man, that's funny. Can't wait to see what she's up to on St. Patrick's Day.
00:43:57
Speaker
yeah This is all about Kara going on a date with the the hot tattoo guy. who's been in the book like for a while now.
00:44:07
Speaker
ah Great stuff. Great stuff. Extremely good. I love... ah ah These last two issues were drawn by Quinones, and ah are they're both beautiful-looking.
00:44:23
Speaker
yeah And i I really like the way that all the characters are interacting and being used... oh the The fake a Linda Danvers made of ectoplasm in this issue is very good.
00:44:38
Speaker
ah Just the the the facial expressions. it's It's great. i I do one issue without her, and I i do miss Liz Alar.
00:44:52
Speaker
Yeah, she's not in this one at all. um But it's it's it's great nonetheless. there's There's a lot of good stuff going on here. And it ends with with the with Superboy. Hell yeah. so we're getting go to he's He's going to be a big part of the next one.
00:45:09
Speaker
Love it. Love it. One last book we're going to discuss is Venom, 254. This is Ewing and... this is by al ewing and ah The art in this like whole run of Venom has been fantastic, ah I feel like. It is by Carlos Gomez.
00:45:32
Speaker
um And
00:45:36
Speaker
I think we've been getting it for a few issues now, but this one in in particular has this depiction of Mary Jane just kind of floating around inside Venom. Like, it'll show Venom, and then it'll have a panel of MJ just like kind of like...
00:45:54
Speaker
Just kind of like being in the middle of Venom.
00:45:58
Speaker
And there's one bit, so like a lot of this issue is just like a fight between Venom and Madam Mask in like a big AIM armored suit. And there's one bit where ah Madam Mask like punches Venom right in the breadbasket.
00:46:16
Speaker
And Venom's like, MJ, MJ, that's where your head is. Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Yeah. so uh, she's fine by the way. Uh, it's, she did, she did not get a con concussion, but, uh, that's, that's, that's a relief.
00:46:31
Speaker
There's a lot of like visualizing of like where MJ is spatially within venom, but like cracks me up every time it does it.
00:46:43
Speaker
And like, you would really need somebody as good as Carlos Gomez to like make that work. Um, I also regret to say that um Carlos Gomez, from the get-go, but in this issue in particular, um makes Madam a Mask hot.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah. Like, Madam Mask is always, like, a little bit hot, but, like, man, uh... Carlos Gomez really makes that happen.
00:47:13
Speaker
The issue, like, you know, the the fight between Venom and Madame Mask kind of just, like, ends in stalemate, and and we set up some stuff to come. ah And Chris, let me tell you, um based on the the final page, it's gonna be carnage.
00:47:30
Speaker
Oh, fuck yeah. ah So ah even ah even as ah the Venom hater that I am, ah i I can't help but really enjoy this this run of Venom as it has been going.
00:47:46
Speaker
um it's It's a fun, fun time.
00:47:50
Speaker
All right, Chris, those are our comics reviews, which means it's time to talk about some comics from a while ago. From, in fact, about 16 years ago.
00:48:04
Speaker
It's time for Hick Mania. It's time, He's American He's American made. He's American made.
00:48:17
Speaker
Fantastic Four, number 579.
00:48:22
Speaker
is by Jonathan Hickman with art by Neil Edwards. I think Neil Edwards is doing the art on all four of these issues that we're talking about this time.
00:48:32
Speaker
And um I'm just going to get it out of the way here. Not my favorite. Yeah. I liked the Dale Eaglesham art that started the run.
00:48:44
Speaker
I think we're going to have pretty good art after this set of issues. ah But the Neil Edwards art, it's like...
00:48:56
Speaker
it's it's It's sort of like Brian Hitch art. Yeah. Yeah. light
00:49:05
Speaker
And it's just not for me. It's not my thing. I think it's fine. It's not...
00:49:13
Speaker
It's tough. Because it's not what I would traditionally want from Fantastic Four. But I think it fits with a lot of what's going on in these issues.
00:49:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the the previous run with Mark Miller writing also had Brian Hitch art, ah at least for part of it.
00:49:37
Speaker
so So maybe that's the idea, is to kind of keep up with that or or look sort of like that. I liked the Dale Eaglesham art a lot more. Alright, that's fair.
00:49:49
Speaker
yeah I will say, Reed's slimmed down a lot since Dale Eaglesham was drawing him. That's true. Dale Eaglesham loved jacked Reed Richards. Dale Eaglesham wanted a thick Reed. Speaking of Reed, the cover by Alan Davis um is... that Honestly, that's what they should be getting to draw this. I know.
00:50:11
Speaker
I know that... but I know why he's not, but they should be getting Alan Davis. try yeah Alan Davis did the, at least like the first little bit of the, um, heroes return fantastic four in 1998. Uh, but yeah, just doing covers here. Uh, but this cover is great. It's, it's Reed, um, like holding a galaxy in one hand and then like,
00:50:40
Speaker
DNA double helix in the other hand. ah it's It's very like... Here's what Reed Richards is about. Man of science.
00:50:51
Speaker
hes He's a s science-y man. He's a science-y man. And you know what? He's also a dick. to this issue To his peers. In this issue especially, because this this issue starts with a conference called Singularity.
00:51:10
Speaker
which takes place in Colorado, which Reed Richards started. hey He is the founder of this conference. And he comes out and he says...
00:51:24
Speaker
Hey, She-Hulk, you had a good presentation. All of the rest of you had terrible presentations that sucked. Yeah, She-Hulk, you're great. ah so Former Fantastic Four member She-Hulk, you're great. All the rest of you, ah you fucking suck.
00:51:41
Speaker
And you're all cowards. And I'm sick of you and I hate you. Yeah, the thing he says to them is, you fear tomorrow. You're trying to protect...
00:51:53
Speaker
What you have right now, and you're you're pessimistic for the future, and you're not thinking about how to grow. And so I quit. And he just like quits this conference that he started on the spot.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah. And to be fair to Reed, all of these people's presentations do sound like they suck. Yeah. Like what one is about like how we need to get the global population down to 1 billion.
00:52:21
Speaker
Yeah. I mean that, that does suck. Yes. yeah I can't imagine how you would think that would be a good presentation to give i don't want one of these conferences like that.
00:52:32
Speaker
Yeah. The boy, oh boy. Um, but yeah, he tells them just straight up, uh, I resigned. I quit right here. Uh, i I'm going to go do something else. And then he tells them, I won't go back in the cave for anyone.
00:52:48
Speaker
And there's a page where he's saying that, where it's like a close-up on his face in the bottom panel. That art is pretty good. There's art above that of like people reacting.
00:53:01
Speaker
Not so good.
00:53:05
Speaker
It's... it's the Swings and roundabouts, Matt. Yeah. No kidding. ah So, what does Reed do instead? He goes and gets that clone of the Mad Thinker that we met a few issues ago.
00:53:20
Speaker
Alex. Uh... Oh, is that who it is? Oh, not the Mad Thinker. It's ah it's the wizard. it's bad the wizard yeah it's yeah it's the It's the clone of the wizard. ah I don't know. Why did I think Mad Thinker?
00:53:32
Speaker
Wizard. um He goes and gets Alex, and he's like you know recruiting him for some new thing, and Alex is not sure if he should be part of this. That's that's alex Power.
00:53:45
Speaker
Oh, is that who that is? That's Alex Power. He talks about Bentley later, but that's Alex Power that he goes against. Okay. um But it's, okay, Alex Power is the one who's like, I don't know if I should be here. Yes.
00:53:58
Speaker
And um this is, I'm going to have to chalk this up to the art, because Bentley and Alex Power look exactly alike. One is just older and one is younger. And also look like exactly like Franklin.
00:54:13
Speaker
and yes Yeah. um So anyway, he's Alex is saying, i you know aren't there people smarter than me?
00:54:24
Speaker
And Rita's like, no, you're exactly where you need to be. ah And then we get a little bit of Sue in Old Atlantis talking about how she's going to help them.
00:54:36
Speaker
ah And if if I'm helping you, you should help us. And it's a little vague. um And then ah we get some stuff with ah some of the moloids who ah are our doing a lot of calculating and figuring figuring things out.
00:54:56
Speaker
these these are These are the smart Moloids now? Yeah. Yeah, the Moloids who were who were um made smart by the the city underground. By the high evolutionary city underground.
00:55:09
Speaker
And they're like realizing that these four cities all popping up at the same time can't possibly be a coincidence. Then we get some stuff about New World, which is happening throughout these issues.
00:55:25
Speaker
Which is the most like Jonathan Hickman-y type of storytelling you could possibly imagine. like This is shit that he was definitely honing for Powers of Ten.
00:55:38
Speaker
However many years later he would write that. Yeah, man, look. Old Jonathan Hickman. That guy? That guy fucking loves it when he can have time go faster in a different place and show you what time is like.
00:55:53
Speaker
And just check in every 100 years or so. it's It's amazing how much this stuff reminded me of the storytelling of Powers of Ten. which That was, what, 2019?
00:56:06
Speaker
ah Yes. So about nine years after this, he was doing Powers of Ten. um But like we're getting stuff where ah Dr. Ted Castle is building a new version of Alyssa ah There's stuff where there's an Ultron collective that's trying to take over New World.
00:56:28
Speaker
Alyssa has this giant superhuman brain, and ah banner jr hulk jr is getting older and becoming the maestro um so like it's all just like these little snippets of things that are happening on new world um there's a whole bit where franklin is showing off his karate moves to johnny and ben johnny is wearing a game of death outfit um and uh
00:57:00
Speaker
the The big thing here is just like, this is establishing, i in a lot of ways, I think the difference between Franklin and Valeria, he who, while while Franklin is doing these like you know karate moves for his uncles, Valeria is trying to like fix Dragon Man and make him smarter.
00:57:24
Speaker
yeah And ah there's a like a point in the fight where, cause like Franklin is, is doing all this stuff. And then, Artie and what's the other one's name?
00:57:40
Speaker
Leech already and Leech like show up and they start fighting. And in the process of that, they like project, uh, some, uh, like schematics that show how to make, uh, dragon man much smarter. Cause they can like take a thing apart.
00:58:00
Speaker
Yeah, because Artie has that power to, like, project images. Yeah. And it turns out he can project, like, individual pieces of a thing. The component parts of a thing. Yeah. Right. So so ah Valeria gets, like, a little schematic of ah Dragon Man. And then she's like, oh, okay, that's how fix him.
00:58:20
Speaker
Yeah. And so she succeeds in making Dragon Man much, much smarter. Yeah. Then reve goes and sees the wizard, and he's like, hey, that clone of you ah that that we took we you know you made and and came to us a while back, ah i'm I'm going to make him great.
00:58:45
Speaker
And i'm going to I'm going to prove it to you. Yeah, because you suck, Bentley. And so I'm going to take this clone ah who doesn't suck, and raise him right.
00:58:57
Speaker
Yeah. Which kind america which is, that's that's brutal. That's like when ah when Andre 3000 says, I'm going to slice you, wife you, marry you, divorce you.
00:59:09
Speaker
Correct. Yes. Anyway, it all culminates with Reed starting the Future Foundation. and all of these characters that have been here up to this point are part of it So like Dragon Man is part of it Alex power is Bentley is here.
00:59:29
Speaker
Valeria is part of it. already in Leech, the Moloids, they're all part of the future foundation. and he's like, we're going to work together to solve problems.
00:59:42
Speaker
Yeah. Next issue. Yeah. is it We get Arcade, baby! Yeah, that's right. This is ah Fantastic Four number 580 with another Alan Davis cover.
00:59:56
Speaker
Fully action cover of Franklin and Johnny being attacked by toys ah with Arcade on a screen laughing.
01:00:08
Speaker
Which is sort of what happens in this issue, but not really. I mean, it's not not what happens in the issue. um i didn't mention the pull quote on the last issue. this The pull quote on this one is, I promise I've given up games of murder.
01:00:21
Speaker
Which is something arcade sales. And is a lie.
01:00:28
Speaker
Anyway. Matt? Yeah. I am. I'm spoiling it. ah So anyway, this issue starts with Franklin having gotten gotten an invitation to most possibly the awesome toy event ever. The most impossibly awesome toy event ever ah hosted by the Impossible Band.
01:00:46
Speaker
ah now Now, Matt, before we we move on to the contents the issue, ah i just before we move off the cover, um were you excited by by the fact that the cover has two Annabelles?
01:01:00
Speaker
That's true. there's There's a double Annabelle ah situation happening right there in the foreground. But these are already more active than Annabelle from the movies.
01:01:11
Speaker
That's true. that's Because they're they're theyre they're holding knives and running. So, Arcade has a toy store called Arcades. Yes. And he has made a licensing deal with the Impossible Man.
01:01:24
Speaker
Correct. Reed promised to take ah Franklin... But unfortunately, ah can't do that because the ah the Future Foundation kids have said that they have figured out what their first project is going to be.
01:01:41
Speaker
And like I feel like we know from like moment one when Reed's like, okay, so you guys are going to do something as your first project, a thing that I've been trying to do for 10 years and haven't been able to do.
01:01:56
Speaker
And it's like, oh well, it's obvious that they are going to cure Ben. Right, yeah. They are going to cure Ben of being the thing. Yeah. um But that is kept as a reveal for later. But I do i do like that we cut to Reed going, I'm not sure if I should be insulted or extremely proud of him.
01:02:14
Speaker
And of course, he is extremely proud. Fair. yeah i mean, that's absolutely fair. um And he's like, I thought you would try to solve like a bigger problem, like a more world-spanning or universal problem.
01:02:27
Speaker
um but And Dragon Man's like, well, we've got to have some laser-like focus here at the here at the start. Yeah. And I do really like that, because I feel like it's very easy when you have... like I feel like this is the...
01:02:42
Speaker
level of calculation that you get from Jonathan Hickman, right? Where it's very easy to have, here's our bunch of super strong monster children, or so super smart monster children.
01:02:58
Speaker
And especially with Valeria, who, because she's so smart and because she was delivered by Dr. Doom and has a connection to Dr. Doom, you're always going kind of think Valeria is evil.
01:03:10
Speaker
Sure. There's always going to be a party that's like, hmm. Is Valeria evil, though? She uses slurs. her her ah She was named by Dr. Doom.
01:03:20
Speaker
Yes, she was named for Dr. a Doom's mother. She was delivered by... She was named for his girlfriend. The one he killed and took her skin to make his skin outfit?
01:03:33
Speaker
No, that's that's not... No, he's named Valeria for his mom. his His mom's not named Valeria. it's his His mom is ah Cynthia. Oh, well.
01:03:44
Speaker
the ah Valeria is his childhood girlfriend. who But he took all her skin off? Yeah, okay. but In the Unthinkable story, ah he made a suit out of her skin. Yeah, i had those reversed.
01:04:00
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, you're always going to be like, oh is is Valeria like a little Doctor Doom? oh yeah And so having them do something as their first big project, where they all get together and do something that is, like, purely compassionate, and it's not, like, in the abstract, I think doing something that would benefit the entire world is, like, you know, yeah if we're getting into, you know, Kantian ethics, Kantian ethics, then, like, yeah, you want to do the most good for the most people. But, like,
01:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, we're going fix Ben. We're going to fix Uncle Ben that everybody likes. We're going to do the thing that you can't do. Yeah. It's like, you know, we we're going to do something – just something nice for someone we know is I think, very humanizing for them. And so I think that's the – like, I think that is the – that's the cold calculus of Jonathan Hickman building character. Well, is and – like Since we're on this, let's just continue on it.
01:05:07
Speaker
The explanation or the way that they come up with to solve it, or the specifically the way Hickman comes up with to solve it, is really smart. Because the the thing that Valeria explains is that every time Reed has tried to cure Ben of being the thing, he's looked for a permanent cure. Right.
01:05:31
Speaker
But you can't permanently cure it because the cosmic rays changed all four of them permanently. like yeah like They are irreparably totally changed. The difference between Ben and the other three is that the other three have an off switch.
01:05:52
Speaker
Yeah. Johnny can flame on and he can also flame off. Reed can just look like Reed and not be stretchy. And Sue can be visible. Right. And so their way to solve this for Ben is to give him the opportunity not to never be the thing again, but to turn it on and off.
01:06:13
Speaker
The only thing is they can only figure out enough for him to turn it off for a week. so the end of the issue is they hand him – a a vial of stuff to drink that will allow him to turn off being the thing for a week.
01:06:33
Speaker
I like this. One week a year. Yeah, about a yeah a week a year. And they say, like, hey, we don't know when it's going to happen. Like, there are specifically, like, an element of randomness to it, which, A, sets up a a problem where, like, obviously it's going to happen at the worst possible moment. But it's also...
01:06:55
Speaker
another brilliant Jonathan Hickman thing where it's like, this can be in continuity forever. And if if the person writing Fantastic Four after me doesn't want to do it, then, oh, it's just not happening right now.
01:07:11
Speaker
Right. it's or Or it's the same year and it hasn't happened yet. but But if someone does want to use it, then they'll they'll have to... but That's Jonathan Hickman forever, baby!
01:07:24
Speaker
It's really smart. The calculation. i love it. well But also just like the whole like conceit of like it's not a permanent cure. It's just turning it on and off.
01:07:38
Speaker
Man, that's good. like like i I wasn't i loving these issues, i have to say. like I didn't love the previous issue because it kind of felt like...
01:07:51
Speaker
a lot of disparate parts of narrative that weren't really adding up to a story. yeah you You know, it was just like ingredients rather than the meal.
01:08:02
Speaker
yeah This issue is much better at combining the ingredients. Yeah. I i think we're getting to the stuff I like about Jonathan Hickman is when you can...
01:08:16
Speaker
When you start to see the gears before you zoom out and see the watch. Yeah. Yeah, that's very correct. that's That's very much, like, i feel like the last issue was all gears.
01:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, we've had a lot of Gears. yeah this one's This one's a little more watch than Gears, because ah we cut to arcades in ah like Times Square, and Johnny sees the supervillain, Arcade, who I love, and they have a very good exchange, which is Johnny going, Arcade, you'd better have a good explanation for being here. And Arcade going, well, oh boy, the building does have my name on the front of it.
01:08:57
Speaker
Big letters. Yeah.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yes. um And also, like right before that, we get Franklin saying how he feels left out. Yeah. um because Because Valeria's in the Future Foundation. his his dad is heading it up. like A bunch of the other kids are part of it.
01:09:17
Speaker
and he's But he wants to go to his toy thing. He wants to go do this. like He's more of a regular kid. And so Johnny says, yeah... yeah i get I get it.
01:09:32
Speaker
Your dad wants they' spending more time with Valeria because they're more similar. But like, she's easier, but we're complicated. We're troublemakers and we're just as good.
01:09:46
Speaker
Like your dad loves you too. um It's just easier for him to be with Valeria because he's, they're more alike. And I really like that. Like, I like that creating the distinction between Franklin and Valeria.
01:10:00
Speaker
That's happening here. And also just like. Like Johnny. Being the one who really relates to Franklin. Yeah. Because Sue's also a genius. Yeah.
01:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, right. but So it turns out that Arcade has made a licensing deal with the Impossible Man and made a line of Impossible Man toys. that That are made of parts of him.
01:10:24
Speaker
Yeah, that he has infused his impossibleness, which if you if you're not familiar with the Impossible Man, he's Marvel's Mr. Mixes Bitlick. Yeah. ah He's from the Planet Pop-Up, ah and he's a weirdo who can alter reality at oh his whim.
01:10:44
Speaker
So each of these action figures and pillows and hole cans, which is pretty funny, each of the toys has a little bit of like weird reality-altering essence in it.
01:10:58
Speaker
And we get the close-up of Arcade saying, I promise, I've given up games of murder. I'm done with death traps. And then a few pages later, we get a flashback to that, and he's saying, I promise, I've given up games of murder.
01:11:11
Speaker
I'm done with death traps. And then there's a little whisper balloon goes, okay, maybe a tiny little death trap. And so when Impossible Man cuts the ribbon on the toy store...
01:11:25
Speaker
It it like makes like a like a big hanging... What is that? It's an anvil, Matt. It's an anvil? Makes a big hanging anvil fall on Impossible Man.
01:11:38
Speaker
um and then I will say, that is a ah that is a damning indictment of ah Neil Edwards' art that you did not know that was an anvil falling.
01:11:49
Speaker
I think it's partially because it's covered by a sound effect that makes it hard to tell what it is. um like i kind of The art in this part really frustrated me. Well, there's also a panel of excited children that yeah I mean, even some of the best artists are not good at drawing children.
01:12:09
Speaker
There's a panel of excited arcade where it looks like his head is inflating. inflating
01:12:20
Speaker
like i do there's some There's some stuff in here that ain't good. It's weird. So all of the toys that have impossible man powers are attacking everyone and they're going to murder everyone because Arcade is still a bad guy. But here's the thing.
01:12:33
Speaker
What Arcade didn't count on, and I love that this happens in a very interestingly logical way because Leech gets knocked out. yeah So Leech's powers aren't working, which means Franklin's powers are working.
01:12:52
Speaker
but So ah Franklin, as you know, can also alter reality at his whim. And so he brings a giant stuffed dinosaur to life, and it eats our kids. Right, and then Johnny burns up all the Mr. Impossible toys.
01:13:07
Speaker
And um mr Impossible acts sad about that. Yeah, Impossible Man. Impossible Man acts sad about all of them being burned up. He does the Crisis on Infinite Earths number eight post, which is very funny. He acts like he's sad about that for a second, and then is like, acting.
01:13:28
Speaker
and and yeah. our Arcade went legit for like six pages. Yeah. Which I love. i love Arcade. Yeah. Going legit for six pages is entirely in character for him.
01:13:42
Speaker
He put so much energy, money, and time into building and making this store, and it's it's just gone now. Yeah, man. He's arcade. That's what he does. Yep.
01:13:57
Speaker
And then we get another like couple of pages of ah New Earth stuff. Where like the cloned Alyssa Moy forgives Ted.
01:14:11
Speaker
ah There's more of the Ultrons, the Planet Ultron stuff. And indeed, Hulk Jr. has become the maestro. Yeah, that we're a thousand years into the future of New Earth.
01:14:23
Speaker
Yeah. So then ja ah Ben gets the cure, and that is our issue. Yep, and then we are on to Fantastic Four number 581.
01:14:35
Speaker
ah which has an Alan Davis cover of ah College Age Reed and Doom with College Age Ben looking at a figure in a futuristic suit.
01:14:51
Speaker
Who could it be? is a weird issue. This is a weird issue, man. like i I do not really get how this fits into...
01:15:04
Speaker
The origin of Doctor Doom in particular. It's very weird, because it's like, this is the one where i like, I mean, you know me, I'm a continuity guy. yeah And this is the issue for me where I'm like, hang on, you're telling me this kind of shit was happening to Reed before?
01:15:21
Speaker
Fantastic Four number one? And it was happening to Doom? So, like, Doom, Doom helped Reed save his dad,
01:15:33
Speaker
then had an accident where his machine that was supposed to save his mom's soul from hell exploded and put a scar on his face.
01:15:44
Speaker
And he decided he really, really hated Reed Richards. yeah So State University, years ago, ah Reed and ah young Victor are in an ethics class.
01:15:57
Speaker
And And you can guess how that goes for each of them. I do like how, you know, we get a nice little reminder that Reed was always a little goody-two-shoes and Victor was always real piece shit.
01:16:10
Speaker
Well, yeah yes, Victor is doing that thing in a philosophy class where he's, like, arguing against the traditional ideas of right and wrong. Yeah.
01:16:26
Speaker
Which, you know, you can kind of get away with in a philosophy class, but ah sort of just proves that he's a piece of shit. This is also an interesting take on Victor. Like, Victor is being presented as this, like, aristocratic figure, which I guess he sort of would have presented himself as in college, but, like, is not actually his true character history.
01:16:54
Speaker
Yeah. you know? Yeah, because that's the thing about Dr. Doom. He's fucking liar. yeah yeah. I mean, Doom is from a Romani band ah that had to move from place to place because of an evil Baron attacking them all the time. um And, I mean, his dad was a doctor, I guess, ah who got killed for not saving the Baron's ah daughter or wife.
01:17:23
Speaker
I think it might have been his wife. um Anyway, um the presentation of himself as an aristocrat is is like you know all for show. ah But i I think that's interesting. like i That's an interesting take on on young Victor. i do like that Victor, who is 19 or 20 years old, has shown up for this class in a three-piece suit.
01:17:47
Speaker
Absolutely, yeah. ah And... and looking, you know, 45, um, in the art. It's, it's, it's a great reminder for, guys like you and me who love Dr. Doom to be like, Oh yeah, actually this guy fucking sucks. Um, also and we should know that this all comes after some intro stuff where we return to future Franklin, who we saw a few issues ago.
01:18:16
Speaker
um When he broke into the Baxter building and told franklin young Franklin to remember who he was and sort of unlocked his powers again. Remember.
01:18:28
Speaker
Remember. um But he returns to the future where um he is with Valeria and also Nathaniel Richards.
01:18:39
Speaker
And they're working on some time-spanning plans that are not not really revealed yet. They have this philosophy class.
01:18:51
Speaker
Reed leaves the class. He meets Ben in the hallway. And Reed's like, ah, Victor. God. What a piece of trash.
01:19:02
Speaker
um They go back to Reed's dorm room. And there is Nathaniel from the future. ah They're in the room. Dressed like a fucking Eternal.
01:19:15
Speaker
Pretty much. Dressed like a celestial, I guess. He's in he's in like a weird Galactus costume. he's he's Yes, it is it is a Galactus-y design, for sure. It's even the color scheme, the blue and purple.
01:19:31
Speaker
um But Nathaniel says, ah yeah, I'm from the future. Sorry I haven't seen you in a while, but i this whole thing happened where I don't age anymore. Yeah.
01:19:43
Speaker
Because ah i got teleported to a time and a place where it was all a bunch of me's.
01:19:54
Speaker
ah It's just like every me from every reality ah got got sent to this one spot. And Immortus didn't like that. So he made us all kill each other.
01:20:06
Speaker
Yeah, and like... Ben is also just rolling with this, which I feel like if anyone in this book is going to be like, hang on, what?
01:20:20
Speaker
It should be ever-loving blue-eyed thing. It should bashful Benjamin Grimm. Because Reed's just like, uh-huh. Yeah. But, like, Ben should at least say something.
01:20:34
Speaker
um Like, yeah hey, man, What? Nathaniel explains that all the other Nathaniel Richardses essentially killed each other in this great hunt.
01:20:47
Speaker
It's called the great hunt of all of the Nathaniel Richardses being pitted pitted against each other. And so there are basically just two left now. There's basically just him and another Nathaniel. Y'all have seen Jet Li's The One.
01:21:01
Speaker
That's exactly, yes. It is exactly the plot of Jet Li's The One. which is Because each – like, they each get each other's powers when they kill – like, when one Nathaniel Richards kills another, he also takes his powers.
01:21:16
Speaker
Which is itself the – which is itself the story of Highlander. um I guess, but in Highlander, they're not all the same guy. They're not all the same guy, that's true. um So – Because if there were, there would only have been one.
01:21:31
Speaker
Correct. Yeah. So Reed hears all this, and he's like, hu okay, we're going to need some help. And so they go and find Victor, and they say, okay, can you help us out?
01:21:45
Speaker
And Victor's like, yeah, man, you got it. Victor's like, hell yeah, man, I got robot suits and but all kinds of weird shit. But you got to say please to me multiple times.
01:21:59
Speaker
Yeah. um And so, yeah, Victor puts Ben in a robot suit, and then he puts on like sort of like a proto-Doom outfit.
01:22:15
Speaker
Which is like a green outfit with a cape, and he wears a metal mask. A metal mask with like a little helmet and little chin strap. Yeah. they all go off to try to fight this last Nathaniel. Meanwhile, future Valeria comes and sees Sue at the Baxter building.
01:22:34
Speaker
And ah Sue is initially like, what are you doing in my house? And ah Val reveals who she is. And so they start talking.
01:22:48
Speaker
um So they... and From the past, Reed, Doom, Ben, and Nathaniel go to the future. They find this other Nathaniel, and ah he's like super powerful and and looks older than our Nathaniel.
01:23:08
Speaker
And we get a continued at the end of the issue.
01:23:14
Speaker
Fantastic Four number 582 is another Alan Davis cover. Another Alan Davis cover that's kind of what's happening. Not really what's happening in the book. Not really what's happening.
01:23:28
Speaker
this is all This is present day Reed, The Thing, Doctor Doom, and an old Nathaniel. I have a question for you, Matt. Yeah. When did Alan Davis forget how to draw Doctor Doom?
01:23:42
Speaker
He does have a big mouth. He's got a big weird mouth. Go look at this cover. Go look at the cover the Fantastic Four 582.
01:23:50
Speaker
Where it looks like Victor Von Doom put marshmallows in his cheeks. it It looks like he's shouting. um Like he can open the metal mouth of his mask. it He looks like fucking Strong Mad. Alan, buddy, I love you.
01:24:11
Speaker
What are you doing? It's on model except for the mouth. Except for the mouth. I mean, like, Ben and Reed and Nathaniel look great. Well, Nathaniel, I don't understand why Nathaniel looks old.
01:24:24
Speaker
Because the whole point of this is that he's he doesn't age. Yeah, well, I mean, you know. Yeah, you know. You know.
01:24:36
Speaker
So this issue opens with a look back at the evil Nathaniel killing a bunch of the other Nathaniels.
01:24:48
Speaker
like this is This is Nathaniel Prime. This is the one who, like except for our Nathaniel, would be the winner of the great hunt.
01:25:01
Speaker
And so he pulls out this like baton. It looks like a cricket bat.
01:25:08
Speaker
And he says, okay, you and me, to the death. yeah And we see him getting this... earlier in the issue, from one of, like, everything that he's gonna use later, we see him getting from another Nathaniel Richards that he killed. And so he gets this weird club from ah Nathaniel Richards who's like Thor.
01:25:30
Speaker
Yes. he's He's definitely got, like... a Thor-ish look to him. ah Long blonde hair and a cape and all of that. ah So he's like, okay, you and me to the death. But ah Ben jumps in front of him. He tries to stop him. He gets knocked down. Nathaniel, like, our Nathaniel, like, blasts some stuff at him. He dodges that.
01:25:55
Speaker
um And then he ah brings out his helpers, the anachronauts,
01:26:06
Speaker
Are these characters we're supposed to recognize? No. Are these new? No, I think these are new characters. Okay. I think these are just some dude some dudes that he has. And i kind of love them. Because they're called the Anachronauts.
01:26:21
Speaker
And it's like a robot a robot Roman centurion. Correct. A dinosaur man in a space suit. Right. A cyborg chimpanzee. A cyborg monkey. Yeah.
01:26:33
Speaker
Yeah. Some guy. And then, like, a little pirate. But he's, like, one of those, like, versions of a guy from the future, from, like, the 50s, when they would be like, oh, this is what people are going to be like in the future. Their heads are going to be really big, and they're going to have psychic powers. Yeah, he kind of looks like the leader as a pirate.
01:26:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So so he's like ah like a little person with a big head. But he's a pirate with swords in an eyecon right and This is where I'm like, oh okay, Jonathan, this is dumb.
Fantastic Four Analysis
01:27:09
Speaker
And then the other guy, the guy that you said was just a guy, he's like a bar he's just like a barbarian. he's He's like a D&D barbarian. Yeah, I can't really figure out what that dude's deal is meant to be. He's like a caveman.
01:27:23
Speaker
i guess. But I guess he's got like ah like a kirby like a kirby club. yeah um These guys are jobbers. They are taken down like so quickly. Oh yeah, these these guys are fully the fucking spirit squad, man. ah They give bad Nathaniel um enough leeway and time to get good Nathaniel down and like be about to kill him.
01:27:52
Speaker
But then Doctor Doom... um Who is not Dr. Doom yet. He's Victor Von Doom. um he he He's Prima Doom? Well, Dr. Doom doesn't actually have a doctorate. He got expelled from college, but ah he named himself Dr. Doom anyway.
01:28:11
Speaker
um I know that, Matt, but it was a funny joke. It was a funny joke. Because he's an undergrad at the time? I'm letting of letting the listeners know. In case you didn't know, listener, that Dr. Doom doesn't really have a doctorate. here here's i love I'm telling you now.
01:28:29
Speaker
um Anyway. What do you think his doctorate would be in? I think he probably presumes his doctorate is in all subjects. Yeah, Probably.
01:28:41
Speaker
i mean Considering that he invented time travel, and yeah time travel particles are called Von Doom radiation yeah in the Marvel Universe, it's probably physics.
01:28:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, ah the joke answer is usually like, you know... villainy or evil or whatever. well what kind of What kind of fool would would make a joke about someone having a degree in being evil or villainy?
01:29:07
Speaker
That's right. its what what What a tired joke. just um That's a great joke. um But like,
01:29:18
Speaker
if you ask Doom, yeah i my guess would be something like, yeah, physics or like... Maybe even more specifically,
01:29:30
Speaker
ah metaphysics? he does go to He does go to hell. And heaven. Yeah.
01:29:43
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah. Something like that. something like that But ah again, i would guess that he would say like not just physics, but philosophy, history, mathematics, ah business, but see politics, like an mba political science, ah like every ah literature, every imaginable subject, I would say he would claim to have a doctorate in.
01:30:12
Speaker
Anyway, he attacks ah Nathaniel, the bad Nathaniel, and and stops him from killing the good Nathaniel for just a second, um giving the good Nathaniel a bit of the upper hand ah to like get the bad Nathaniel down.
01:30:33
Speaker
And bad Nathaniel's like, you'll never kill me. You won't kill anybody. And Good Nathaniel's like, actually, you're right, I'm not going to kill you. So, um Doom does.
01:30:45
Speaker
Doom takes that like Thor club thing and just smashes Bad Nathaniel's head. He hits him in the head so hard that every other part of his body is off the ground.
01:30:59
Speaker
Which is pretty fucking hard. Yeah. um And Doom says, but I want you to remember, Richards. Remember what happened here. Remember who saved you. Remember who set you free. Remember Doom. and Yeah, and this is where i'm like, well, hang on. Weren't they friends?
01:31:15
Speaker
at At the very least, they were like friendly rivals in college, right? like they I don't think I would be like, Matt, I want you to remember that I was the one who saved you. Yeah.
01:31:26
Speaker
um I mean, i you know, it's true to Doom's character, but like this does kind of make him Doom before Doom. Yeah. like The origin story very much makes it clear that Doom wasn't really who he was until the accident changed him.
01:31:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And this seems to presuppose that he was already doomed ah before the accident. So, I don't know. I don't know how much I love that, if I'm being real. like It's kind of putting the cart before the horse a little bit.
01:32:05
Speaker
um But anyway, they go back to State University. Nathaniel has to say goodbye. And Reed's like, will I see you again? Nathaniel's like, maybe.
01:32:22
Speaker
Maybe, man. This stuff's crazy. Honestly, this stuff's wild in here. What he actually says is, i hope so, Reed. There's always hope. Which is not quite what you want to hear from your dad.
01:32:36
Speaker
Like, just say yes. Nathaniel comes back to... The future. And... ah Franklin. Grown-up Franklin is there.
01:32:50
Speaker
And Franklin just makes a hole in the ground. And he's like... Hey, sorry, Grandad. I'm going to make you fall in this hole in the ground. Yeah, man.
01:33:02
Speaker
I... i'm I'm cut off the part of your brain that controls your powers. And... ah we we don't do want you to do the thing you were going to do. We're going to do the thing we're going to do.
01:33:15
Speaker
Yeah. But he's not like... He's not... Like, it turns out that this is so that Nathaniel can survive.
01:33:27
Speaker
yeah Because they think that Nathaniel's definitely going to die. if he stay if he doesn't fall down this hole. There's ah there's a little bit of Looney Tunes in this. oh Yes, that is true.
01:33:41
Speaker
And also, like I don't know, it's it's a bit of a complicated explanation. nathaniel is or sorry Franklin is saying that the problem with Reed Richards, like every other Reed Richards in every other reality,
01:34:01
Speaker
Is that they don't have a dad. Because every other Nathaniel Richards got killed. In the reality where they all got brought to.
01:34:14
Speaker
And Franklin says, don't you understand? Every boy deserves a father. And that's when he kicks his grandfather down a hole.
01:34:24
Speaker
And like, it's what it's definitely one of those things where it's like...
01:34:29
Speaker
it's a perceived heel turn that will later be explained to have been for a good reason. Yeah. But, but here it's like, what, what are you doing? Franklin, what are you doing to your grandfather?
01:34:43
Speaker
um Meanwhile, um in the Baxter building, Valeria is also explaining all this to Sue, who is like, this is crazy. What are you talking about?
01:34:57
Speaker
Like, You don't know what you're doing. You're messing with time. ah don't Don't do what you're doing. And Valeria's just like, no, Mom, you've got to be strong.
01:35:08
Speaker
You've got to be strong. Hold it together. she As she's saying that, she's as she's saying, like can you be strong? like The page goes white, and Valeria disappears. She comes back to terminal space-time in the future,
01:35:24
Speaker
And they're talking about whether this plan they have is going to work. ah And Valeria's like, you're my you're my hero. You've always been my favorite hero.
01:35:39
Speaker
And Franklin says, mine's still the Human Torch. And then they jump into some... as-yet-unexplained vortex. Crisis on Infinite Earths void.
01:35:53
Speaker
Pretty much, yeah. Yeah. and That's it. That's the end of this set of Hickmania issues. Yeah. So Valeria does say, like, hey, there's gonna be, like, pretty soon there's gonna be a time when you're gonna want to give up.
01:36:09
Speaker
And then the next issue thing's like, hey, somebody's gonna die in four issues. Yeah, I mean, this issue ends with a tease of... um somebody's going to die. The next story is called Three.
01:36:21
Speaker
yeah So, I wonder who that could be. Who could it be? i I'll have some more things to say about those issues, but I do remember this being one of the first times that people were like,
01:36:36
Speaker
that that That Marvel Comics was like, and this is going to be permanent forever. And everyone was like, you heard that, folks.
01:36:47
Speaker
They said it was going to be permanent. Hey, wait a minute. Yeah. Do we have to take them at their word? Yeah. They couldn't possibly be kayfabing us.
01:36:58
Speaker
Kayfabe, brother.
01:37:02
Speaker
and and and And one of the Fantastic Four will be banned forever. They'll have to leave town. That's right.
01:37:12
Speaker
that If they lose this match in the Great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, they will retire. Wink. People need to...
01:37:24
Speaker
it's people people need to
01:37:28
Speaker
People need to learn about kayfabe. I mean, look, man. AJ Styles might be retired. I'll believe it when I see it. That motherfucker put his gloves back on.
01:37:43
Speaker
I didn't even watch the show. like I'm not going watch any Saudi Arabia show. But I heard all about how he took his gloves off like he was going to put them in the ring to show that he was retiring, and then he put them back on.
01:37:56
Speaker
Let me know when he wears the salmon jacket. I got a lot left in the tight. of the greatest moments in wrestling history. of the greatest moments in professional wrestling history. And four of the issues of Fantastic Four.
01:38:12
Speaker
Some good stuff, some weird stuff, some stuff that doesn't quite make sense. i feel like like I feel like the biggest problem with this run so far is that we're a we're a chunk into it, and it feels like it's yet to kind of find its footing.
01:38:31
Speaker
Well, I do so think that in this set of issues in particular, it is starting to gel a little better. And um it helps that the next set of issues is drawn by Steve Epting.
01:38:47
Speaker
Yeah. So the art is going to jump up. So he's all on his own. ah That's who I'm talking about. A couple of South Carolina boys on the book. Yeah, man.
01:38:59
Speaker
Starting next set of issues. But um like i I do think that story-wise, it's starting to congeal. There's a couple of little things that are still a little frustrating.
01:39:12
Speaker
like Like the Doom stuff in these past two issues. don't.
01:39:19
Speaker
it's It's shoehorning something into an origin story that's already like so tight that I don't think that really works very well.
01:39:31
Speaker
yeah it It raises too many questions about, like well, if Doom was like this already, you know um but ah I do think like as far as the stuff with like the Future Foundation and Franklin and
01:39:49
Speaker
finding this cure for Ben and all of that, like it is like you said, i'm starting I'm starting to see the watch and not just the gears.
01:40:01
Speaker
Yeah. the The thing that I will say is the strongest point here is that each issue is still introducing like new shit. and it's like like Yeah, all kinds of new ideas.
01:40:12
Speaker
yeah Each issue of this is putting a new piece on the board. So there is forward momentum. I just feel like, when are we going to get to the fireworks factory?
01:40:24
Speaker
And I do think it's coming. um I mean, obviously it's coming. i mean, yeah. Oh, yeah. eight of it Matt, it eventually shows up big time. Yeah. It's just, um I mean, i this is, to to get ahead of ourselves a little bit, this is sort of how Hickman's Avengers run starts, too.
01:40:44
Speaker
Where it's just like, a lot of pieces getting put on the board in the early going that then, you know, really pick up.
01:40:55
Speaker
But like,
01:40:58
Speaker
it's it's it can be hard to pick up on the narrative when all you're kind of getting in the early going is foundation, foundational.
01:41:11
Speaker
Future foundational, that is. That's right. So we will see what happens when one of the members of the Fantastic Four dies forever for reals. Right. Starting next issue um in three, part one.
01:41:27
Speaker
And then, let's see. Yeah, so Fantastic Four, volume four, is the next set of issues, which is a good chunk. I believe we'll be doing six next time.
01:41:41
Speaker
583 to 588.
01:41:44
Speaker
And then we start FF. I think that might be the fireworks factory. When we get to FF? Yeah. um All right, we'll see. We will see. um because Because it goes from being Fantastic Four to Future Foundation for a little while.
01:42:00
Speaker
um Well, we we will get there shortly.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:42:05
Speaker
And that's going to do it for this episode, everybody. Thanks for joining us for Hickmania 4.
01:42:12
Speaker
If you would like to get in touch with us, the easiest way to do that is to email us at our email address, which is warrocketpodcast at gmail.com. You can also get in touch with us on Tumblr. We're there at warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com.
01:42:29
Speaker
You can get in touch with us on Blue Sky. You can contact us there. We're just there as warrocketajax.com. So find us on Blue Sky and follow us there. You can also contact us on our Discord. You have to be invited to be a member of our Discord, but if you ask us nicely for an invitation on any of those places I just mentioned or on our Patreon, we'll give you a Discord invitation and you can join there. um We're on Discord for now, at least. um I don't know what's going to happen. with but They're doing some kind of mandatory age verification thing. So, I don't know. Maybe we'll go somewhere else. don't know, Yeah.
01:43:09
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. But for now, we're on Discord. And if you want to be part of that, um get in touch. And we'll give you an invitation.
01:43:21
Speaker
Our website is warrocketajax.com. It has every episode of the show that we've ever done. warrocketwiki.com is the fan run repository of everything you could want to know about this show, War Rocket Ajax. It has every address on Gimmick Street.
01:43:36
Speaker
And absolutely... invaluable resource. It honestly makes me laugh every time I look at it. Which is a weird thing to say because most of it was us.
01:43:50
Speaker
But it does. Look, we forget our own jokes all the time. True. Very true.
01:44:00
Speaker
If you want to find me and my stuff, go to mattdwilson.net to find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social media accounts. Chris, where can people find you? Everybody can find me by going to the-isb.com.
01:44:15
Speaker
That is my website, and there's a link there where you can contact me with any job offers you may have for a very good writer and expert in many things.
01:44:27
Speaker
True. You should hire Chris. I am giving him my full endorsement right here. um Consider this. You don't have to call me. ah this is I'm serving as ah the
01:44:45
Speaker
endorser right here, right now. Hire Chris. A blanket reference from Matt Wilson. I'm Chris's reference, and I'm telling you now, A+, plus thumbs up, hire him.
01:44:59
Speaker
You heard the man, folks.
01:45:02
Speaker
ah We'll be back next week with another episode. Could be Raiding Swords.
01:45:09
Speaker
Probably will be Raiding Swords. think we might have a friend. twelve we ah guest ah Perhaps we'll have a guest next week. We'll see what happens. Yeah. But folks, that's going to do it Be here for that. Be here with us next time.
01:45:23
Speaker
Until then. Please do not forget that Black Lives Matter. Trans rights are human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Cops aren't your friends.
01:45:34
Speaker
Abolish ICE. Free Palestine. We love you. We love you.