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Episode 689 - Jurgies Into Mystery #9: Odin No More
1.2k Plays5 months ago
Time for more Jurgies, and this time, a lot of gods are dying.
Covering Thor Annual 2001 and Thor (1998) #37-40.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Clitus, I'm bored. What plaything can you offer me today? He's about to walk into Ajax, to bring back his body.
00:00:20
Speaker
You're made of ecstasy!
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the Internet's Most Explosive Comic Book and Pop Culture Podcast, and we are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me, as always, is Matt Wilson. Matt, I always ask you how you're doing. Yeah. And I don't think that's good content anymore. Oh, no. Okay. How I'm doing, throw it out the window. No, well I mean, into how we're doing.
00:00:54
Speaker
No, I understand what you're saying, yes. Yeah. Because i mean because look, you don't ask me. you you I ask you, and then you ask me after. But I think we need something else. I i think we need another another bit to start the show. This show needs more bits. Yeah. Matt, we don't have enough. That's true. What what do you what do you got in the chamber? What are you thinking?
Inspirations and New Segment Ideas
00:01:21
Speaker
I don't know, I've been I've been listening to um the insert credit show, ah which has Tim Rogers on it, a a creator that we're both fans of. And ah they very clearly do something every week, they have like a different bit every week, that clearly the other people on the show are not told about.
00:01:45
Speaker
Okay. And so it like, one of them was like, my name is, is Chris Sims. And in, ah in Zion, in the matrix, I'm Chris Sims. And in Zion, I'm keyboard.
00:02:04
Speaker
All right, I like that. it You ponder for next week, what you would like to do, and maybe we'll get some, some listener suggestions. of of what we could do in the future, ah instead of asking how we're doing. um If you haven't noticed- My name is Chris Simms. Yes. ah With me, as always, is Matt
Quirky Conversations
00:02:27
Speaker
Wilson. Matt, the weirdest sentence I've said ah to another human being lately is, it's bullshit that this game won't let me play as a cat girl.
00:02:40
Speaker
What's the weirdest sentence you've said to a human being lately? i Boy, boy oh boy, I don't even know.
00:02:54
Speaker
i hear i trying to It is a trap to try to get me to think of things that I have said. Because famously, you can ask my friends ah like Ben Gully, if I remember anything I ever say, and the answer is always no. I just I just don't I just don't remember ah Things I have said I do want to point out of the two of us. You are the one who has experience as an improviser Yes, but improv Yes, and yes improv you make up on the spot. Like I also forget everything I do in improv as I'm doing it ah That's true
00:03:43
Speaker
i i there was a I had an improv class last week that um the building where we held it, the power was out and also there was water on the ground everywhere. um And we had to think of like a way to have class with the power out. And we ended up, the rain stopped soon and we ended up having class outside. And I said, we could we could practice by these rusty nails. So maybe that's the weirdest
Patreon Appreciation and Support
00:04:13
Speaker
thing I've said to another human being lately. um Folks, this is an edit free episode of War Rocket Ajax, if you haven't already noticed. Can you tell? It is Sunday late afternoon slash early evening, ah because we had to reschedule recording this week. And we're going to be talking about some jerkies. We're going to do, perhaps,
00:04:38
Speaker
an unusual assortment of juries this time. We're going back to the Thor 2001 annual, which was not, which is actually earlier than the rest of the issues we were reading. This came out around like March or April of 2001, but we're going to talk about that issue. And then we're going to talk about issues 37 through 40 of the mighty Thor parentheses, 1998. But these issues are all from 2001. I can't wait to talk about penis and a sack. Get ready for those characters and us talking about them. ah But Chris, before we talk about some jerkies, we do have some business to take care of, starting with thanking our newest supporters on Patreon. That's right, Matt. These are all the people who are very important to me.
00:05:34
Speaker
and they have gone all the way down to 682 Gimmick Street. You know what's there? 689 Gimmick Street. 689, sorry, 689 Gimmick Street. Well, you go past 682 Gimmick Street, you go to 689 Gimmick Street. That's right. Well, so ah two at 688 was the t-shirt printer, right? Right. At 689, is one of those stores that sells t-shirts and other nerdy stuff, but they donate the proceeds to food banks.
00:06:11
Speaker
All right. It's one of those, one of those stores. Okay. Sure, yeah. All right. I thought it was just gonna be one of those places where they sell t-shirts and it's like, it's one of those places that you see in every vacation destination where the place has no political identity ideology because they're selling everything. Yes. Yes. Those are those are all over the place at the beach. For sure. Yeah. It's a like wonder that those places stay in business because it seems like they at this point,
00:06:58
Speaker
they would turn off all their customers with some of their products. Yeah. But you know, I've got to, I've got to have my, my shirtless Carl Rove, uh, in the Scarface pose. shirt. Really, really taking it back. Really taking it back. They've had it for a while, man. Yeah. Yeah. And then they've also, but they've also got like in the exact same pose, Jimmy Carter. Right. Right. And they've had those shirts since they were relevant yeah in in stock. Anyway, no, this is the, this is one of those nerd stores that donate stuff to a food bank. So it's good. That is good. That is good. yeah But folks,
00:07:47
Speaker
yeah Don't go buy a shirt with Henry Clay on it. Take that money.
Personal Updates and Suit Advice
00:07:56
Speaker
and good See, you made it a thing that I would want people to give money to, Matt, and that's a problem for this transition out of this bit. of Fair, yeah. ah don't Don't, folks, go to patreon dot.com slash War Rocket Ajax. That's patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N, dot com slash War Rocket Ajax. That's the name of our show. To kick in as little as a dollar a month to help me and Matt keep doing this show, keep reading the Jurgys, keep reading the comics, keep getting raw when we need to get raw, and perhaps now, more importantly than ever,
00:08:35
Speaker
Pay those gimmicks, thank you for sending them out, I'll call bills.
00:08:40
Speaker
ah Yes, here are our newest Patreon supporters, Chris. ah Gregory Stephon, I believe, is how it's pronounced. It might be Stefan. Thank you Gregory. Thank you Gregory. And Max R. Thank you Max. If you would like to be like Gregory and Max, and help us out here on the show, ah you can do what Chris said. Head over to patreon dot.com slash warrockinajacks and kick in as little as $1 a month to make sure that we do this show every week, that we do every story ever monthly, that we do Comics Ketchup monthly. I hope you enjoyed the Dick Tracy Comics Ketchup. We enjoyed recording that episode. ah Movie Fighters and Snack Situation. The new snack situation for July is also up in which ah Marlene and I try snacks from Charleston, South Carolina. You know we try some Benno wafers, baby.
00:09:33
Speaker
Do you try some grits? No, that there were no grits available at the the Charleston City market. ah But we bought some we had some praline pecans and some different cookies. And that was that was that episode of snack situation. You should go list to it if you have it. also ah
00:09:58
Speaker
All of those shows I just mentioned are made possible by your support on Patreon, and as a patron, you get every single one of those shows so completely ad-free on a special ah feed that is just for you on Patreon. So that sounds pretty cool, right? Also, if you're at the level that gets bonus audio, You also get bonus audio on that special feed for you. um That could include stuff I cut out of the show, outtakes that I post, stuff that we record, especially for ah the Patreon. i Marlene and I still want to do some snack situation Q and&A as Patreon bonus content, so keep on the lookout for that, because I think we will be doing that relatively soon.
00:10:44
Speaker
ah There's also writing over there on the Patreon that's exclusive. ah You can't get it anywhere else about Patreon. ah Video game reviews that Chris has done. A couple of things that I have done. ah Most recently, a spreadsheet called Spreadsheet Survivors, where Chris is breaking down every survivors like game that he has ever played or will ever play ah in in a big old spreadsheet. So ah you can only get access to that through our Patreon. So go check that out if you can donate at that level. There's also line stepping privileges for our segments, which currently include Every Story Ever and Thursday Night Raw.
00:11:26
Speaker
and there's physical rewards, I think I have finally worked out the t-shirt order for this year. ah For whatever reason, the t-shirt printer that I usually go through just never answered my email, so I have found another t-shirt printer um run by a listener who's going to help us out and sell us some shirts. so ah Those should be heading people's way in the month of August. ah So ah stay tuned for that if you're at the t-shirt level. ah And if you are at the t-shirt level, thank you very, very much.
00:12:07
Speaker
If you are unable to help us monetarily, which we understand not everybody is capable of doing that right now. Um, you can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five star review on the podcasting app that you use wherever that may be, or you can just spread the word about the show. Give us some good word of mouth. Tell your friends and loved ones about a podcast that you like, and maybe they'll donate to our Patreon. Uh, that would be a big help for us as well. All right, Chris, with that, it's time for checks and for some checks and recs. What do you say? Let's do it.
00:12:44
Speaker
Chris, what would you like to check in with this week? Matt, we we have a ah policy here on the show where we try to keep things lighthearted when we can. We do, yes. Lighthearted and entertaining. ah But You know, we also like to tell people what we're up to and what's going on in our lives. ah So I'm just going to be honest with the people. ah For the past four years, I've had a ah really great job working with some really great people on a really great project that I'm really excited about, still really excited about it. ah But unfortunately, my contract is coming up and I am
00:13:30
Speaker
soon to be not working oh there anymore ah for at least a little while. ah That I don't really want to get into because it goes into the contract law and such. But ah it's ah a job that I really liked and a job that I was really good at, I think. And ah it's really bumming me out that ah A, I'm not gonna have it anymore, and B, like I don't have anything immediately lined up for after. ah This isn't entirely unexpected. ah I knew that the ah the contract would be coming up. I thought it was gonna go a little bit longer than it is, ah but I also did not expect
00:14:24
Speaker
the complete end of the job, if that makes sense. ah So if anybody out there has a ah writing work or or consulting or editing work ah that they think might be in my wheelhouse, feel free to let me know. Or patreon dot.com slash War Rocket Ajax would be a great way to help me pay those gimmicks. ah They do keep sending in the mail. Yes, two important points worth noting. One, if you have information about any job opportunities you think Chris might be good for, and you know what Chris is good at, ah send them our way to patreon dot.com slash where rocket a jack. Yeah, yeah.
00:15:15
Speaker
i I mean, the good, I guess, news is that ah this is a job that has kept me very busy. ah So I do plan on taking at least a little bit of a ah a break, just because you know i I generally have a lot of stress and I've been working very, very hard at at this job. ah So I'm gonna take a little bit of forced vacation. ah But then I will have maybe a little time to ah go in and do some of the writing that I've been meaning to do for the Patreon.
00:15:50
Speaker
ah ah We have not done a an episode of Apocryphal's in a few months due to various circumstances, including being so busy. So Apocryphal's is gonna come back. oh And that should be fun. Uh, cause I miss talking to Benito. Uh, and I, I, I honestly weirdly misread the Bible. Uh, but yeah, uh, it is, this is one of several pieces of kind of like bummer news that has hit me lately. Um, and this is all happening just in time for my birthday. So it's going great. So what you're saying is the people.
00:16:36
Speaker
the people need to lift you up for your birthday. They need to give you the power, and and I think they will. I foresee the people ah really coming through for you here, Chris. ah ah Do you mean like when like when the those the other Sailor Scouts put their hands on Sailor Moon's shoulder, and like or or when like the people lend Goku their energy so he can make that Spirit Bomb? Exactly like those things, yes. Folks, I need you to lend me your energy, but more specifically, I need you to give me money. Energy, in this case, is money. Energy, in this case, is money. Spirit bomb energy, that's cash, baby. And, and Boo, Majin Boo, that's my mortgage. Mortgage Boo. That's who we're worried about. Mortgage Boo.
00:17:34
Speaker
ah Matt, what have you been up to this past week? Well, Chris, ah I have had some things going on, ah and and I will have some things coming up. that are gonna require me to have a suit. um ah Fans of the show, listeners of the show who have been listening for quite some time, will recall ah many years ago, ah my story of um having to get ah some suit pants altered, ah because ah the only suit I had ah didn't fit anymore, and
00:18:12
Speaker
ah for For sad reasons, I needed a suit. And there was like a story associated with having to get those that suit altered. Well, nothing I have fits anymore now. like Between my body changing size in good ways, because I work out all the time now, and also in bad ways, because I can't stop drinking sundrop, um i I don't have a suit that fits anymore. so What I'm looking for is recommendations from listeners for where to buy stylish and comfortable men's suits that are also not mega expensive.
00:19:01
Speaker
because I have some hosting gigs specifically coming up later in the year where I think I will have need for a suit. I don't think I can talk about what this show is going to be, but I've kind of been asked to host a show like a game show kind of thing, which is my life dream. When I was three years old, I wanted to be a game show host. ah And this might realize that um I will talk more about that show when I can. um But but I'm thinking I will probably need a suit for that. And I think there's other things coming up, weddings and things like that, um where I will probably need a suit to wear. So listeners, if you know of somewhere
00:19:46
Speaker
Where I can buy a nice yet affordable suit, ah please let me know. I have looked around on Indochino, not a sponsor, but could be. and I like the suits there, but they are maybe just barely outside of the price range. ah that I would prefer. Like maybe if they had like a really big sale or something, I would buy a suit there. um But I'm curious if listeners know of any place um that sells suits online ah that are both affordable and nice.
Gaming Distractions: Assassin's Creed Odyssey
00:20:27
Speaker
um So let me know because I actually went suit shopping earlier today
00:20:34
Speaker
at the outlet mall, not far from my house, and I became aware of what my size is, my jacket size is, which is good, um but I didn't find anything that I particularly liked, so any information that listeners can pass along ah would be welcome, and I would be thankful for it. Yeah, I would also like to know that as well. I have a hot tip for you. It's ah a little place called Giorgio Armani. Actually, I was looking at some Armani exchange suits earlier today when I went shopping that were shockingly affordable, but I could not find anything in my size, which was which was the problem from top to bottom, ah finding finding stuff that would fit me. It feels a lot easier to shop online
00:21:28
Speaker
for entire suits where I can get the jacket and the pants that fit correctly. ah Anyway, ah time for some recommendations. What do you have to recommend, Chris? Matt, ah in the past little bit, ah I've had, you know, I had COVID. I got this job news. Yeah. oh i My car window was smashed again. ah I had to get a new battery for my car. I got stung by wasps yesterday. Multiple wasps? Actually, actually you're right. It was just one wasp. Okay. Because I don't want what happened to me to happen to you. ah Another thing listeners will remember is that time I got stung by like
00:22:22
Speaker
30 wasps that one time. That happened to me. I had never been stung by like a bee or a wasp or anything until I was like 34, 33, 34. And then they were under the wooden stairs up to my apartment. They had built a nest. And I got like, hammered 12. Yeah. like Yeah, i I caught an underground nest in my yard. and they attacked. So at least it was just one, but even one, just one is not fun either. So I feel- No, it's not. So, you know, I've been down a little bit, as you know, because you talk to me every day. Also, I've been playing this online quiz that makes me feel like a dullard and a fool. You do well at it. You do well at it. I don't. You should not feel that way.
00:23:13
Speaker
I don't do well at it, Matt. You do. You and Benito do very well at it. I do not. But Benito and I are freaks. You do but very well. i'm I'm smart, Matt. You are. i That's what I'm trying to tell you. it Anyway, um so i have been I've been feeling a little bit down and sometimes I just need to have something that is will occupy my time and help me just kind of zone out a little bit.
00:23:48
Speaker
sure and and not get caught up in my own head and stress. um Taking walks with ah with the puppy dog is good for that. oh you know Walking on the treadmill is also pretty good for that. But I'll tell you what else I have been doing, and that's ah playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, oh um which is a game that has too much to do.
00:24:15
Speaker
ah It is I picked it up on the on the big sale the seamstummer sale, ah which is good Hey, that's another good thing about fun employment is I'm gonna hit this backlog a Little bit. I'll be making all kinds of spreadsheets. You don't even know video gamecation Yeah Yeah, um mean can I go pro in vampire survivors? i have not going yeah you have to Look into it. Yeah. Yeah um So I picked up Assassin's Creed Odyssey ah and Valhalla. They were both ah very cheap for the big deluxe editions. This game fully has too much to do. it's it's there's It's too big. There's too many things to do. There's too many places to go.
00:25:03
Speaker
oh it's i mean it's I'm playing it and it is like a staggering achievement. in terms of like just how much there is but it's also like if I was in any other mood it would be overwhelmingly too much to get through but I'm in the mood to just kind of like wander around uh and and upgrade my ship and get all these weird random weapon drops and
00:25:40
Speaker
to see if there's an in-game way to buy different skins for my horse that I would otherwise have to spend human money on. So like i I got pretty burned out on Assassin's Creed games. I don't even remember what the last one I played was. I never played ah Unity, Syndicate, or Odyssey, or Origins. I am playing Odyssey now. Yeah, i I feel like those are none of the ones I played.
00:26:12
Speaker
ah um i don't Again, I don't remember what the last one I played was. The last one I really liked was four. The one that had the ship battles in it. ah Yeah, three and four both had the... yeah four Four was Black Flag, so that one had the ah definitely had the ships. Yeah. um Because i think I felt like Assassin's Creed with some of the games after that became a lot about busy work. Yep. Yeah. A lot of busy work in these games. Is Odyssey a good place to get back into it? Absolutely not. Okay. No, it's, it's because it is like, there's, there's too much. It's got a lot of the busy work. It's got a lot of the crafting. It's got a lot of, I mean, there there's, there's a boat in it.
00:27:04
Speaker
you know you have ah You have a little tri-rim that you ah sail around in and fight pirates and such. And it's all fun and it's all well done. And actually, um i as you know, Matt, one of my particular areas of historical interest is like you know ancient Greece ah and ancient Rome. yeah And I really like ah the character of Cassandra, who I'm playing as. Uh, she's, you know, she's a very fun character to play and everything's beautiful. It is the most busy work I've ever seen in a video game and so unnecessary. Uh, again, staggering achievement too much. Perfect for the mood I'm in right now.
00:27:59
Speaker
I have heard that Valhalla actually dials that back a little bit. And I know that AC played Valhalla and enjoyed it. oh But I, you know, these two kind of go together in my head. So I wanted to so play this one first. And it turns out to have been, you know you know, prior to this, I was playing Shadows of Mordor, which is also a ah run around and there are an infinite number of of things to stab games. um Yeah. ah I know that all basically all of the the Assassin's Creed games are on PS+. So ah I... Yeah, the maybe I'll just try Valhalla.
00:28:52
Speaker
Yeah, i I mean, again, it's a good game to play. I was complaining to you that like um they clearly took ah ah some of that some of that Dark Souls inspiration that everybody likes. Yeah. I don't know why they like it so much. They're good games. these game These games don't need to have your attacks on the shoulder buttons. They don't need to have your attacks on the shoulder buttons. You don't need to dodge roll all the damn time. Fair enough. It's a fun game. Dark Souls controls only work for a certain type of game. i They do not have to be part of every other kind
Entertainment Reviews and Recommendations
00:29:31
Speaker
of game. I fully agree with that.
00:29:35
Speaker
Yeah. you know what and You know, I don't like those kinds of games that they're good controls for. ah I know you don't, yes. Yeah. ah But no, it's ah it is... I cannot express enough that I am enjoying it, and I would recommend it to someone who wants ah a kind of endless amount of tasks to perform in a very beautiful version of, ah of you know, fifth century BCE e Greece. oh But if your problem is the busy work, no, Matt, I cannot recommend it to you. Okay, that's good to know. That's very good to know. It does, it does really make me want to watch Mamma Mia again.
00:30:23
Speaker
Greece looks beautiful.
00:30:27
Speaker
if you're out If you're out there in Greece, your country looks beautiful. Congratulations. Matt, what is your recommendation? um My recommendation is a movie that I ended up dropping some money on a rental for, um but I think it should be. Okay, John D. Rockefeller. I know. ah It should be available to stream somewhere for free fairly soon. I think it's on AMC Plus, actually. and probably thus also on shutter. um But ah two things I want to say about it before I get too deep into it because this movie got some bad press before it came out and for good reason. um The movie is called Late Night with the Devil and the concept of the movie is this talk show host in the 70s who is like going head to head with Carson every night
00:31:24
Speaker
on late night TV um is struggling for ratings. And so on a Halloween episode of his show, he um essentially stages an exorcism or like is is talking about that there's going to be an exorcism on his show. And a lot of the show, it's the the movie, a big chunk of the movie is just the broadcast episode. ah And I think that part is really well done. I think it's like clever and it builds really well um to a pretty astonishing ending.
00:32:04
Speaker
The two things I'll address up top is one, yes, the movie does have like four AI images in it and it absolutely should not. They were stupid to put those in there. ah the only like You could have hired an artist to make those images. It's just the like, you know, like on Carson or Conan, they would have the like, we'll be right back cards before and after the commercial breaks. So they have those in here, and for whatever reason, they decided to make those pieces of art in AI. And you should have just hired an artist to do that. like That's a weird choice. Don't mistake. Don't mistake. um I know it's a low budget movie, but paying an artist a few hundred dollars to
00:32:55
Speaker
Make some will be right back images seems very easy and like what they should have done. um The other thing is there's a frame story to the movie um where it talks about. the episode before the episode starts and then there's a little bit of after and it's kind of like set up is almost like this is a documentary about the episode and I think they should have dumped to that. I don't think it adds anything to the movie and um they should just have provided some needed context for the story in a different way um because it makes it
00:33:38
Speaker
I don't know it it makes the presentation just a little bit weird and it makes what is presented as. Like there's the episode of the show and then we see what happens between the commercial breaks all in black and white and it raises the question of well who was filming that. isn You know, it's it's the old found footage problem of like, who's filming this and editing it together and everything. um So I think a couple of presentational things about the movie could have been better. But all in all, it is a compelling movie with a great kind of buildup and payoff. um So.
00:34:22
Speaker
ah If you have shutter or AMC plus or somewhere to watch it, I think it's worth a watch. Uh, but i let me be very clear. Uh, those AI images are incredibly stupid. Sounds like it. With that, Chris, it's time to talk about some comics. What do you say? I think we should. The winner of the textures choice award for this week is the immortal Thor annual number one in which
00:34:54
Speaker
the champion of the universe appears. In the words of Lil Nas X, this one is for the champion.
00:35:07
Speaker
The champion is back and he is, his matches are getting boring. The promoter is telling him, Hey, we got to bring some excitement back to the arena. And the champion's like, well, there's one way to do that. I got to get the Power Stone back. um This is by Al Ewing with art by David Baldaion. And ah where the Power Stone is, is inside the character that was once known as the Prince of Power, who is now going by the name Power Stone, which makes him very easy for the champion to find. Which is pretty funny.
00:35:53
Speaker
Which is pretty funny. ah
00:35:57
Speaker
All the stuff with Prince of Power, aka Power Stone, aka ah by the end of the issue, he becomes Apex. All the stuff with the Prince of Power is very funny yes in this issue. This stuff about how he like put on a shirt in front of Dark Knight Lightning.
00:36:22
Speaker
ah It's very, very good. ah First of all, you know what this reminded me of? in it's it's It's a weird comparison to make. So at one point, ah Thor, ah the Power Stone can put the power of the Power Stone into anything he touches. Yes. ah The Power Stone, of course, being the ah Infinity Gem. That's right, I said gem. It's a gem. They're gems, not stones.
00:36:56
Speaker
ah And Matt, as you know, the Power Stone is where Dynamax lives, off which you would know if you read ah the Sleepwalker miniseries that Chad and I wrote. It sure is. Where a a dude who looks like Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Ric Flair ah lives inside the Power Stone ah having endless battles. ah he puts the power of the Power Stone into Mjolnir, which makes it way stronger. And so when Thor summons it to himself, he immediately breaks his own wrist. Yes. Yes. Which is very funny. It's great. It's that panel or those two panels back to back are both funny and horrifying ah simultaneously. Yeah. ah And
00:37:49
Speaker
That reminded me of that, you remember that Garth Ennis Glenfabery Thor Vikings book that was just a mega gross bummer? Yeah, I do. I do remember it. Because Garth Ennis wrote it and Glenfabery drew it? Yeah. Um, there's a bit in there where Thor also breaks his wrist. And weirdly enough in the Thor comics, we're gonna talk about in this show Thor breaks his arm. That's true. So I've been like, I have seen Like, I think that constitutes every time Thor has ever broken his wrist or arm. Except for when- At any time that he broke every bone in his own body, yeah. That's right. Broke every bone in his own body, fighting the Midgard serpent. Yeah. Yes. Which ruled. And it just reminded me, like, that's a weird thing to see multiple times and be able to compare, but I do think this is my favorite of those moments other than him breaking every bone in his own body.
00:38:46
Speaker
It's very fun, and I also like the resolution of this story a lot, which is, it's so simple, but it makes so much sense, which is, if the Prince of Power slash Power Stone slash Apex can put the power of the power gem into anything, he can also take the power out of anything. and And that leads to a very fun resolution ah to the book. I thought this issue was a hoot, at just a total hoot. I have a question for you, Matt. Yep. Is the champion over? He's over in his in his territory,
00:39:35
Speaker
in the Casino Cosmico.
Comic Book Reviews
00:39:37
Speaker
Well, because it kind of seems like he's not. In Marvel Comics, by the end of this issue, he's not over. Yeah, it kind of seems like the champion's not over, which is weird. If anything, Apex, the man now known as Apex, is is over. He got over the champion. If I was on this issue, and I'm not, I would have Thor like, you know, kind of like grab him from behind and be like, hey, brother, the business is a work.
00:40:13
Speaker
like Just just just pretend to not beat these guys in 30 seconds. You'll be fine. Yeah. Yeah a little a little showmanship Yeah, we'll solve your problem champion of the universe ah The next topic we're gonna talk about is a GI Joe number 308 which is moving ever closer to the absolute Cobra versus Cobra showdown that is coming in Springfield. ah At one point, the Joes, ah like a Joe strike team led by Scarlett is led to believe that Sir Pentor Khan is sending is just sending bombs to Springfield, is just going to bomb the town, right?
00:41:09
Speaker
they're like totally convinced that that's what's going to happen. Like stealth bombers are coming over the town. They're like, they're going to bomb this place to kingdom come. But instead of bombs, it's, it's mutated cobra troopers that are falling on cyborg zombies. Yes. Yeah. I don't know ah how far this got on on other social media platforms, but we did get a little bit of bad news about Larry. ah Larry Hama, not about like larry Larry hasn't done anything to my knowledge, but just the like, he's not having a ah great time. You know, he's, he's getting he's in the years. He's, he's got glaucoma. Yeah. Well, at some point make him lose his vision. Yes. It's, ah it's ah hard for him to draw, which, you know,
00:42:05
Speaker
I always think of Larry as a writer, but you know he he drew the breakdowns for GI Joe 21. He did a lot of inking back in the day. um And I am glad that Larry has been beloved for what he has done with GI i Joe and and absolutely gotten the respect of being someone who has done at least one of the greatest comics of all time. Uh, but I love that Larry's still out there doing it and still out there making this incredibly entertaining comic. Um, it's, I, I wish, it seems like he has to do it and that's a bummer, but you know, like I, I'm glad he's here. I hope that he's having fun writing it. Uh,
00:43:04
Speaker
Because Larry is great and deserves everything that comics can give him. He's given a lot to comics. Yeah. And these GI Joe books are still fun. They're still extremely fun. The whole notion of like everybody on Cobra Island got mutated. And the Joes, like there's some Joes who have been kidnapped and are being held on Cobra Island. And they're talking about how like the The monster mutation from the the bomb that turned them all into zombies hasn't actually changed them that much. ah that is That is very fun. um These issues are are a delight to read. And Larry, larry despite having some health issues, um has not lost a step in terms of like being able to tell these kinds of stories.
00:43:59
Speaker
No, he's he's still as as great as he's ever been, and I'm glad that that we're reading it and having so much fun with it. Yeah. One last book. I skimmed this issue, but I have not read it all the way through, um is ah World's Finest Number 29, which is still continuing the ah ah fifth dimension story, right? we We're still hanging with Mixus Pitlick and Batmite. Yeah, ah when a guy from the sixth dimension ah shows up to just wreckhouse in the third dimension. A guy who like, I want to know what the visual inspiration for him is because he looks like if Mojo was also comic book guy. That is kind of what he looks like, yeah. Which, like Mojo is already kind of comic book guy. True.
00:44:51
Speaker
but But I really want to know if that was Dan Morris' ah inspiration for this. oh But there is a this is, I believe, the first and only time that we've ever seen Batmite without his mask. And I just feel like you can tell when you read a book that Mark Wade's been wanting to do something for a while.
00:45:19
Speaker
and it's very funny to like get to see him do that.
00:45:25
Speaker
ah I do also really like the idea of Batman going, that might look, I know I'm grumpy, I know we used to have fun, but that's because things are like really dangerous now, and it's like you're gonna get hurt if you keep messing with me, so you gotta stop.
00:45:49
Speaker
Yeah, which is very funny This is the this is like the ultimate resolution of the story and from what I can tell Things are resolved by a giant Batman 66 sound effects. Oh Yeah, yeah, man. That's great What that's when bat might uh, uh Self-destruct basically in that big kapow Amazing. It's good. i It's very, very good. World's finest has been, like, it's kind of been consistently fantastic for two and a half years now, so. Yeah, just put Mark Wade in charge of the DC Universe. No shit, man. No shit. It's kind of what you've been wanting to do since Kingdom Come. So just do it. Agreed.
00:46:47
Speaker
He's doing ah the the next big crossover, so at least there's that. Alright Chris, those are our comics reviews. Time for jerkies! Let's jerk it.
00:47:08
Speaker
Thor 2001 Annual or as the comic Or, as the cover of the comic puts it, Marvel Comics' annual 2001 The Mighty Thor has an absolutely bananas cover by Steve Leidl. Yeah, you say bananas. I would just say bat. The proportions of Thor's biceps to his forearms
00:47:40
Speaker
like Look, I know superhero comics are a a realm of ah you know exaggerated anatomy, but this is unbelievable. this it's The thing is, it's not even like exaggerated in a way where I'm looking at it and and getting what he's going for. This is one where I wanna sit Steve Lidle down and be like, hey man, what are we doing here? what What are we trying to do? Yeah, what are you going for with this? Like, we've all working we've all given Rob the hard time for that Captain America cover, which, fair, it's ridiculous. But this is in the ballpark.
00:48:35
Speaker
I would say this is worse. Certainly in the ballpark. I i don't i don't know, man. This cover is bananas. The lightning looks really cool, but yeah like it's especially considering that ah this issue is drawn by Tom Grumit. Yeah, the interiors the interiors are great. Talk about who didn't know that Incas existed when he started drawing comics. So his pencils are the tightest you've ever seen.
00:49:09
Speaker
yeah Like, interior is great. And like, what were you doing? Yeah. Yeah. Alright, let's get into this. This title cover should be on TV and art.
00:49:25
Speaker
Alright, let's get into it. Page one of the annual, um some gods are killed. And we don't quite know what's going on yet. But some gods on a planet, like their whole pantheon, has been destroyed. Then we cut to Jake Olsen in the midst of a shootout?
00:49:50
Speaker
Matt, it's gang violence. It's gang wars. they They're talking about there being a sniper. Even though this is gang wars. What this is? This is fully the opening of Predator 2.
00:50:08
Speaker
So Jake and Christine, who I think in this issue has not yet been revealed to be the Enchantress. No. um she is And she's definitely putting up an act because there's a part where she, ah like Hercules, Hercules and Ben are a bill show up ah so that Thor can do some Jake Olsen stuff. yeah And ah Hercules lifts a car off a guy. And ah Christine, who is the Enchantress, goes, you can lift a car?
00:50:45
Speaker
And it's like, first of all, it's like, yeah, second of all, he's a fucking Avenger, dude. Yeah. Like, you should know that. Yeah, I think maybe Christine doth protest too much in this issue. Yeah, Jake is being threatened by some dude who like points a gun to his head. Again, like a gangster and all of these gang members are black and it's It is yet another example in this Jurgen's run of like not so great racial representation.
00:51:24
Speaker
i don't but So many of the Black characters in this comic have been gang members, yeah aside from like Demetrius and Christine. they're not even like the fun gang members like we had in the Grunwald comics whose names were like Moosejaw. Yeah. and And who were also multi-ethnic. Yeah. Yeah. In that very 80s media sort of way. Like I think this is not in an excusatory way. It's very much of its time in a way that you kind of don't forget about when mostly you think about Thor beating up Thanos. Yeah. ah So anyway, they save the people because the
00:52:02
Speaker
her Hercules and Beta Ray Bill show up. ah Christine gives Jake a kiss. And both ah Beta Ray Bill and Hercules are like, ooh, Thor likes being a human because he has a hot girlfriend now. Which is funny because that's the Enchantress. Yeah. Uh, anyway, uh, Hercules is like, Hey, we gotta go to Olympus cause there's some shit going down. So Jake turns into Thor and they go to Olympus and we are reminded that Zeus is incredibly pissed off at Hercules still, but they have to set that aside for right now because the there's, there are signals of, of horrible things coming, namely that the silent one has arrived.
00:53:00
Speaker
Yeah, this is another thing that ah but Danny Jay pulls from way back. Yeah. ah In this case, from ah Thor number 184, which would have been, I think, in the 70s. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. So yeah, the Silent One is here, and he portends Doom. Yeah, 1971, according to ah the Marvel database. That is a Stanley John Basima joint, ah Thor 184. The Silent One portends ah bad things for God's coming. Doom and destruction for God's. But he doesn't talk. He's the Silent One. So he's not going to explain what is actually happening. He does show them a vision of
00:53:54
Speaker
ah this horrible stuff to come, to Olympus being fully destroyed. um But ah it's not clear what that means, so he then shows them another vision of the origin story of Disak, who ah is told that his gods are evil. Don't don't give don't give them don't Don't give them the the courtesy of calling him Disac. Disac. You want it to be Disac? Yeah. Disac's people has this god who looks like a big robot ah named Cronut. It's Cronut, but I want to call him Cronut. Yeah. No, there's a lot of people's names in this.
00:54:53
Speaker
that we'll need to talk to discuss. Yeah. Anyway, essentially, the gods of his planet kill everybody in his village, including his family, which lead him to ah like he puts all of his family's souls in a gym that give him powers that turn him into desak destroyer of gods who is such a Kirby ass looking design this I want to talk to you about this because this feels like another example of
00:55:33
Speaker
Jurgen's approach to Thor which I I I assume Would have been why he was brought on like I i wonder how explicit this was That they wanted Thor to do Superman stuff Because makes sense the dark gods are very much like fourth-world stuff Jake Olsen You know giving giving Thor a secret in any and having him have to to juggle that it's all like very Superman ish and then
00:56:04
Speaker
Dasak, Dasak looks like a, like he specifically looks like a super powers dark side toy. Absolutely. Yeah. Did a bunch of CrossFit. Yeah. And I want to call him Dasak because I, it feels like his name is a, just barely not Dasad. Yeah, yeah absolutely. Yeah. It's interesting. Also, this is Gore the God Butcher.
00:56:34
Speaker
like 15 years before Gore the God Butcher. Fully Gore the God Butcher. Same origin in everything. Yeah, wild. Like, I'm not saying Jason Aaron took this from this. It seems just like parallel thought 15 years later. But it is amazing how much this is Gore the God Butcher. It's astounding. Truly astounding. Because he's like, it's Like this dude's deal is he's going to go around and kill gods. Anybody, which got which he does like the next several pages of this issue or just him going and attacking pan pantheons of gods. And when he goes and does this Thor and bitter bill and Hercules, like discover where he is and go like intercept him and like start to fight him. And you know, he fights back. So there's a big, like, you know,
00:57:31
Speaker
Giant pink energy cylinders are coming down on this planet ah ah Thor summons a bunch of lightning ah to to try to distract desak and Just as he's about to like land the killing blow actually he does he kills all these gods desak does um but ah Thor is able to ah like, prove to him his worth, and so then Desac just leaves. Yeah, because the gods that that he wants to go kill suck real bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All these all these gods that he hates actually do suck. These team rocket-ass gods who are like, hmm, two hours of prayer isn't enough.
00:58:20
Speaker
ah Yeah, the the one one is named Pinsu. Penis. Penis. And what's the other one? What's the other one's name? Tay. Tay. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. P-E-N-N-S-U. Pinsu. Fully looks like, like, penis in comics, like in literary. Yeah, it does. Yeah. But yeah, like, these gods, they're like, tell it like people are shouting and and and begging for rain to come and these gods are like hmm let them ask more maybe we should give them a flood yeah um they suck real bad like yeah they're disac is not wrong exactly no no and i like like it's it's
00:59:14
Speaker
Like, Thor should be like, hey man. but Like, these guys, yes, these guys are assholes. But to but yeah, Hercules is my boy. Don't come after Hercules. So, so yeah, Disac just says like, basically Thor tells him like, hey, I'm not like these other gods. I don't ask for prayers. I just help people when I can. um I'm not like other gods. I'm not like other gods and Disac says okay, that's good enough for me for now But if you fuck up, I'm coming after you And Thor just lets him go sort I mean he just leaves he leaves yeah and Thor Can't get him. I kind of like Disac look out here looking like ah Masters of the Universe Darkseid
01:00:09
Speaker
he That is so much what he looks like, yeah. He's like he's got very toyetic armor and weapons and stuff, yeah. but I was about to say Total Justice Darkseid, but like Total Justice Darkseid did exist, I believe, so. Yeah, yeah. It is it is a very Masters of the Universe looking outfit that he's got. Yeah. I like it. Tom Gromit, man. Tom Gromit draws the hell out of it. Yeah. He draws the hell out of it. He draws the hell out of it. But like, this guy never comes back, I don't think. He's replaced by Gore the God Butcher. And like, Thor's just like, oh, he's not a, he's not a ah threat to Olympus anymore. And apparently that's true. Well, the weirdest thing is that like to go fight him, Thor's like, Milner, take me to the sack.
01:01:01
Speaker
And then they do, and then Disac gets away, and then Thor is like, yeah, that's that then. And it's like, well, why don't, if the owner could take you to him that one time, can you just do that again and be like, hey, we were in the middle of discussing something. Oh. My guy. I just said he does not come back. I'm rolling. I was, no, i matt I know he's going to come back for the raiding. He comes back pretty quickly. In the raining. Yeah. In the rain, in the raining. Yes. So, uh, we've seen what it is is the funniest shit I've ever seen. Yes. Uh, but it's, it, he comes back in Thor number 41, which is what we're going to be reading on the next set of Jurgys. So, uh, stay tuned for that. All right. Thor number 37 has a cover. I had to go look this up because I could have sworn this was like a guest artist cover.
01:02:02
Speaker
but on the Marvel database, it is credited to Jim Starlin. Okay. Who is the artist for the interiors on the book too? It looks like a, it looks like a, you can, you can kind of see Jim Starlin's signature on it, on the left there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks like a Jim Starlin cover. Okay. I really thought it must've been somebody else, but no, it seems to be Jim Starlin. Did you think it was someone in particular? It has a sort of like Kyle Hotsey sort of look to it. um But i guess I guess it's just Jim Starlin. We get a couple of covers ah in this little section of issues. We get some of the worst, but we also get some really like cool and interesting ones. Yeah, yeah. There's a couple of guest artist covers coming up that are normal well real good.
01:03:00
Speaker
ah So, Thor 37 starts back in Norway where their sailors are, and they're they're they're they're chanting burn, and they're talking about his arrival is coming, and how the flame of invitation is lit. That's right, everybody. Thor's going to have to fight John Byrne. Then ah we cut to Heimdall, who was talking about how he knows everything that happens ah in Midgard So that he could tell when something is coming toward Asgard and I swore as I started reading this I was like have I read this before It is very similar so familiar Yeah, ah it is very similar to another introductory scene that we have gotten I kind of I I
01:03:54
Speaker
Respect that Jurgens is very clearly writing this as you know Any issue could be somebody's first gotta to make sure everybody knows who heimdall is sure because there's something like both Practical and also very old school about that in a way that I like it feels like old comics um But it's but also I I wish he was doing it just a little bit better Yeah, this this this made me think I was reading an issue and i'd um I know I'd already read I Yeah. Right here. And then we, we get Odin ah talking to one of his healers, Syrah, about how Jake Olson is covered in burns. And maybe that's bad. John. but Yes. And, but, ah but Odin is like, nothing I can do about it. Sorry. Then they are approached by the watcher who lets them know that
01:04:49
Speaker
ah Tereen, whose consciousness is inside the destroyer, is maybe going to kill Thor.
01:05:01
Speaker
And this leads, okay, first it leads Odin to be like Tereen, you're talking about Tereen, the designate who will save everyone and take us to the next level of evolution, which is repeatedly something that is said about Tereen in these issues. Yeah, when's that supposed to happen? I don't know. I guess, I guess we'll get there. Because Toreen is like, Toreen hasn't been around long enough for me to know if Toreen like ages or, yeah or anything like that. Like, I'm kind of waiting for, ah for us to get to that beautiful world where Toreen, the designate,
01:05:45
Speaker
will help us achieve our potential with her limitless power. Elevate man to the next step on the evolutionary scale, is what they say. Try the Sailor Moon. Kinda, yeah. Yeah, I dig it. ah So, the Watcher without saying it, because the Watcher's like, I can't interfere, sorry, I can't interfere. Watcher does like a lot of, yeah, I'm just here to see something. Yeah, it's he's like, I'm here, which tells you something important is going on, but I can't do anything about it. And the watcher but the Watcher lets Odin know that he knows about the Raining, which is coming up. And we see an image of Thor with a bloody axe and skulls all over his costume now so we know he's bad. We see yeah it's we see Games Workshop's Thor.
01:06:39
Speaker
I love it, his dumb little demon belt buckle, and his spiky feathers on his helmet, and his just pictures of skulls on his kneecaps. On his boots, yeah. And his big bloody axe. And it's like, ah um look, I know the raining is coming. Watcher, are you saying that you want Thor to die to prevent the raining? And Watcher's like, maybe? I was like, I'm not saying anything. I'm just, you know, I'm not interfering. um'm just talking I'm just I'm just here. I'm just here. Listen, i what the watcher says, listen, I'm an independent because I'm an independent thinker. That's right. And I'm just asking questions. so ah I'm not an expert. Do do your own research, Odin. So Thor is trying to fight off the destroyer without actually destroying the destroyer because he knows Tereen is in there. So he gets like thrown into a building.
01:07:39
Speaker
And ah there's there's a great there's a great bit of bystander dialogue where a guy says, run, that freak wants to kill us all in reference to the Destroyer. It's a little rude. Yeah. ah Loki and Carnilla are also watching this as they have Tereen's actual body there with them. And ah they're talking about like, Oh, we're really gonna beat Thor this time, we really got him. ah The Destroyer smashes a car onto Thor, and that's when Odin is like, okay, I guess I gotta step in. um Even though Thor smashes that car away, and ah continues to fight the Destroyer. But then the dis Destroyer takes Mjolnir away from him, and now the Destroyer has Mjolnir.
01:08:37
Speaker
ah So Sif is helpless to stop Toreen inside the Destroyer. ah Thor gets zapped. um and And more or less goes down. Thor he four gets his ass beat in those. Yes, he gets his ass beat by the Destroyer. Also, worth worth discussing ah is ah Dr. Keith Kincaid,
01:09:09
Speaker
husband of Dr. Jane Foster is just like up and walking around. Cause we saw him like get possessed by some mysterious force a few issues ago. And Jane Foster's like, Keith, you're okay. You're walking around. And he's like, Oh yeah, I'm great. But then Marnot who's still hanging around is like, you're not a mortal.
01:09:35
Speaker
there's something possessing you. So, Keith Kincaid just kills Marnot. Yeah. Which is ah one of Odin's ravens. Yes. Not any we'd ever heard of. It's Heskimar, so it's it's it's not Hugin or Moogan. Yes. Or Moonin. But you'd think that would be a thing that Odin would know about when it happened, but here we are. Yeah. Heskimar's one of the lesser ravens, I guess. Yeah. One of his favorite. Yeah. ah so Thor continues to get his ass beat. He gets slammed into the ground. Sif is also ah beaten pretty bad. He gets hit with his own hammer. Thor does. The disrespect. Yeah. He used his own move against him. ah And we end that part of the story with the Destroyer about to open its face mask onto Thor.
01:10:33
Speaker
ah And then we get one last page where we see what these fishermen in in Norway have been summoning obviously It's searcher. It's sort of baby. Yeah, I decided I would say that like Jimmy Hart and the dude who is wearing the metal The like head fisherman who's wearing the metal we saw a few issues ago looks like ah ah Oh Fuck what's his name? I always want to call him Firefox, but that's not his name. Starfox? Starfox. Starfox. He looks like flaming Starfox. Yeah. He's got he's got the the the Wolverine-ish pointy hair. Got the pointy hair, yeah. He gets turned into a fire demon. Okay. Thor number 38.
01:11:23
Speaker
This cover rocks. This cover should be a Blacklight poster. ah Barry Windsor-Smith. This is one of two Barry Windsor-Smith covers in these issues. It's so fucking good.
01:11:40
Speaker
like it's Just go look at it, ah listener. It's like this fractal pattern coming out of Mjolnir as Thor is just kind of in the foreground. It rules, it rules so hard.
01:11:57
Speaker
It's a very cool ah ah rainbow. Yeah. Thor's like, beautiful rides. Beautiful cover. ah Inside, ah we have a Seward Emanon art. ah Sort of an early style for Stuart Eminen, although the art is very good. Yeah, no, it's it's it's very good. like this is how like I feel like Stuart Eminen is very good at being a an artistic chameleon when he wants to be, yeah but this is kind of what I would consider to be your default Stuart Eminen. There's a great splash page of Odin on his throne that is not detracted from or
01:12:45
Speaker
ruined in any way, but is made a little, made a little weird by the presence of the watcher who just has a really wide head. Got a real big baby head, yeah. Got a real big baby head next to a very pensive Odin. ah the The opening page before that was a couple returning home to their small fishing village in Norway. ah as they notice that Surtur is there. It's weird that these people are like, there must have been an earthquake or a hurricane and not, we live in the Marvel universe. It was probably the red skull. Yeah. One of the things that happens every once in a while here. ah So Odin is continuing to watch Thor get his ass beat by the destroyer. And it really seemed like the destroyer was going to like unleash
01:13:45
Speaker
what's underneath its mask on Thor, Last Issue. But instead what happens is it just like turns around and starts attacking other people. ah hu That classic, you know, ah we're going to nope out of our cliffhanger from Last Issue kind of thing. Yeah. And it's, it's tempting to be like, oh, well maybe, you know, we, we get, uh, Toreen in like, thought bubbles from Turin inhabiting the Destroyer being like, no, I can't stop. Which is very funny because ah it'll be like the Destroyer punching Thor in the face while thinking, oh, no. Yeah, yeah. And so you'd be like, oh, well, is that because Turin is like ah fighting to control it? But the thing she's saying is, I literally can't stop it from doing whatever it wants.
01:14:40
Speaker
Yeah. Which that would have been like a really easy out for that. And I mean, I guess it would have, I guess it would have lessened the tension, but not as much as just having the, uh, the destroyer be like, not on. Hey fuck, um'm fuck Jerry. I know Thor is still alive, but Jerry. Yeah. Hate that guy. I'm going to smash his car. Yeah. Uh, so Thor not having Mjolnir turns back into Jake Olson. He's like, ah, maybe I could do something as Jake Olson. um But we also see the Enchantress watching all this happening from a window And she's like I gotta to do something too um Odin once again says he's got to do something Loki and Carnilla are still watching this and they're like, oh what if Odin gets involved? That's gonna be wild and Loki's like it'll be too late It's a good Loki voice, jeff thank you
01:15:40
Speaker
ah So what Marvel character do you think you would be best at voicing? Like if if if if they came a colon for some voice acting Hmm, what do you think what you who would do you think you would be good at? I mean, I Want to be I want to be Peter Parker Okay in our in our dramatization of of ah ah
01:16:13
Speaker
Fastlane. I was Peter Parker and Spider-Man. I feel like that's the role I would want, but it's probably not the role I would get. I don't know what it would be. Do you know what you would voice? But like do you think you'd be a good Spider-Man or just a good Peter Parker? I think I could do both. I think I could do both. What voice would you think you could do? Well, I was going to say Ben Grimm, but he's not Southern. No. And I think like I would want to really like want to really lean into it a little bit. Sure. So I don't know who I could be. Maybe we'll we'll come up with good answers by the end of this. A watcher. I could be the watcher. You could be the watcher, actually. I mean, you know the the the original boss dog, Jeffrey Wright, is the watcher. Oh, that's right. Yeah. But but I think I could do it. OK, so. I would be like, I don't know, man.
01:17:11
Speaker
um also so I'm here to see something. Odin is trying to go to Midgard, but he is stopped by a Yuta Fjösk sent to delay him ah by Loki. Well, I bet that's going to be a really fun fight to see. Probably. um So Enchantress taps Destroyer on the on the shoulder in like ah astral form. to try to influence ah the Destroyer and also find out what is causing the Destroyer to do all this. And she discovers that it's Loki and Carnilla who are behind it. Meanwhile, Jake Olsen is trying to drive a car into the Destroyer. It does ah to no effect. He tries to run the Destroyer, and then he goes, if this doesn't work, nothing will. And it's like, i like it are you telling me that hitting someone with a Corolla
01:18:11
Speaker
He's better than hitting them with Mjolnir? And also, it doesn't work. ah it It does not work at all. um But Enchantress goes to Carnilla and Loki's hideout, sneaks in in her astral form, and steals Thor Girl's hammer. Meanwhile, a Destroyer has taken a car door and thrown it at Jake Olsen. He just fucks it right into him. It's pretty harsh. Like that one time Brock Lesnar hit somebody at the crowd in the crowd at Raw? Yeah. With a car door? Uh-huh. Fuck that guy. Yeah, man. Born to watch, too. ah So then Enchantress shows up with Thor Girl's Hammer and she's like, hey, here's Thor Girl's Hammer. ah Turn into Thor and go beat the Destroyer. So Jake takes up
01:19:10
Speaker
Thor girl's hammer and it doesn't work. It doesn't change him into Thor, but just then Odin having destroyed the Yuta Fiosk, which we know didn't see any of. We did not see it. We just see he's got a destroyed tentacle from that monster. ah Odin shows up, it just turns him into Thor and says like, okay, you're Thor now. um so Thor with Thor girls hammer gets up and goes at destroyer and is like Let the madness in Toreen. I don't want to hurt you, but I have to stop this. I Any takes the real Mjolnir back and there's just like a big crackly energy fight in the middle of the street ah that weekends a destroyer enough for Odin to
01:20:06
Speaker
ah take it by the shoulders and return Tereen to her body. And Tereen is like, Tereen comes back to life inside Loki and Carnilla's little hideout. And she's like, Oh, you two are gonna get it. You two are sure gonna get it. Yeah, and we don't see that either. No. ah Then Thor and Odin have a conversation where Odin's like, Okay, you've proven to me that you can be a god again. Also, there are bystanders who are like, who's the guy with the big white beard? Looks kind of like Santa Claus, ready for war. And it's like, you people have seen Odin before. I feel like in a world where Thor was real and was running around, people would do a little bit of reading, you know? Yeah, you'd think. But basically Odin's like, oh, you've proven your character to me so you can be a god again.
01:21:06
Speaker
and And then the watcher is like, well, I guess the raining is going to happen after all. Guess Thor's going to get them skulls on his kneecaps after all. Yeah. And then finally, we get another tease page for Surtur at the end. um Here's the thing about this issue. Thor turns into Jake Olsen in front of us everybody. Yeah, but but people are all running around and shit's getting weird. Yeah, I guess the idea is that everybody's paying attention to the destroyer, but when it is pretty convenient. There's like a whole thing where it's like, it's like, yeah, this is the rawest shit that's ever happened, but no one's gonna know about it because no cameras within a mile are are left unshattered. Yeah.
01:22:01
Speaker
Just seems like somebody would have noticed Jake, or Thor turning back into Jake, you know? Yeah. Right there in the middle of the street. ah Nonetheless, uh, Thor number 39, another beautiful Barry Winsor Smith cover. Thor is so pretty on this cover. That's true. Uh, it's Thor in front of a field of stars. His cape is like the entire like top part of the the image. So the Thor logo and everything is like on his cape. um It's beautiful. This is the most Steve Leidl drawing are supposed to be the same guy. Yeah. Barry Winsor Smith, pretty good. This is the most kissable we've ever seen Thor, I think. Pre Hemsworth. Yeah, very kissable. Very kissable. This issue is called ignition.
01:22:55
Speaker
uh danger gets him once again steward eminence uh we start with jane foster checking out checking out jake and uh and she's like oh all your burns are gone but now you have a broken arm oh and he's also talking about how his jaw is broken his jaw is fractured so he's gonna talk weird for a while yeah and it's gonna be like actually kind of Difficult to comprehend and not like fun to read. Yes, because it the Jergens is just taking out multiple letters from the words he's saying And it's like okay, okay, I get what you're doing but I can't understand I don't know what he's saying Yeah, yeah very much so ah So Jane is Saying like I don't know how to know
01:23:49
Speaker
how your injuries and Thor's injuries are gonna like line up with each other. So how about you turn into Thor and let me see what's going on with Thor. So Jake turns into Thor and his arm is still broken and his jaw is still broken because he got all those injuries as Thor fighting the destroyer.
01:24:13
Speaker
ah Outside of the hospital room where this is happening,
01:24:19
Speaker
Jake's mom is there along with ah Christine and his boss who is complaining about how Jake never shows up to work. Yeah, he was complaining about how Jake is like not actually good at his job. And this is, I think, the first of multiple times in this run of issues where someone's like, Jake's such a good paramedic that he could be a doctor. Yes, that is. I want to be like, you know, paramedics aren't just like bad doctors, right? Like being an EMT is like a different thing. Like, it's not like if you're a you're bad at being a doctor, you have to go be a paramedic.
01:25:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. it's It's so weird. It's so weird. Very weird. Also, Hannah and Amanda are out here and Amanda fully looks like an adult. Yeah. Like ah Stuart Eminem is great. There, but so many artists saw this run. Just cannot draw kids. Correct. Or teenagers. Amanda looks like she's 28.
01:25:34
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, they talk about how Jake is actually great and he's good enough to be a doctor. and And the boss is just annoyed. And then also Christine and Dr. Kincaid have a conversation where it's like they both know that they're not who they say they are. Also um Jake's cousin, teenage cousin Tereen shows up. Uh-huh. And Jake's mother is also there.
01:26:05
Speaker
Yes, and so Amanda's like, oh, don't you know ah Jake's cousin, Toreen? There she is. And Jake's mom is like, who?
01:26:16
Speaker
Who is that? Yeah, that's that's, Jake doesn't have a cousin. All of our family was, ah was ah never came back from Infinity War. ah Dr. Keith Kincaid opens the door to see what's going on in the exam room with Jane and Thor. And luckily, Thor turns back into Jake right at the exact perfect moment. He doesn't. He doesn't turn back. Toreen casts an illusion with her unlimited power. That's right. Yes. Yes. And Dr. Kim Kim anything. She's she's very powerful.
01:26:59
Speaker
ah But yeah, Keith Kincaid is like, I thought for sure I sensed something. Nah. And then ah Thor and Jane Foster ah go to Asgard.
01:27:16
Speaker
Cause it's like every once in a while they just go to Asgard. Well they gotta see, like look, if if if Thor's jaw is gonna be all fucked up, we gotta to go get some some wizards and shit to deal with those. Which I think is very smart of Jane. Yes. Yes. Uh, meanwhile searcher is, uh, destroying a bunch of ships in Norway. He's just, he's just kept causing all kinds of chaos.
01:27:42
Speaker
Uh, and the dude with the metal looks different now. Well, I mean, he got turned into a a guy, like like a fire demon. Yeah. Oh, but he doesn't look like a fire demon now. He looks like a guy. He just looks like a different guy. Yeah. Anyway, ah so they go to Asgard, Jane and Thor, and they're like, hey, somebody please fix Thor's jaw, because it's fucked up, and he needs to be healed. So Odin summons his healers ah to to come help. Cyra, and who's the other guy? ah It's a Neff something. Neffathisk, Neffathisk. Neffathisk, yeah.
01:28:24
Speaker
um And Odin is like, okay, the only way to heal Thor's jaw and his arm is ah basically to give him the elixirs of renewal, which is kind of like a little Odin sleep of its own. It's an Odin sleep that you take in a hot tub? Yes, but it takes a few hours. Like you have to do it for a few hours. Days, they say. Do they say days? Yeah. um so It takes some time to fully heal somebody. Yeah, they're like they're like, look, Thor would heal naturally, but we know we need this ah sooner rather than later. ah So we're just gonna put him in the hot tub. And yeah we're gonna put him in the crock pot. That's basically what they do. Yeah, low and slow.
01:29:17
Speaker
And also, because Jake Olsen has been getting a lot of a hard time for not going to work, Odin creates a separate Jake Olsen. Even though he's almost good enough to be a doctor and not just some dumbass paramedic who sucks. Yes. So here's what Thor says about this Jake Olsen that he creates. He says, he's crazy quite real in every sense he is the true Jake Olsen.
01:29:46
Speaker
So what is heavily implied is that this Jake Olsen is the guy who died in like issue one of this series, right? that Well, no, I didn't, I didn't get that. Like i I thought maybe, but yeah, I mean, it's confusing given the nature of Thor and Jake Olsen. Yeah, for sure. Because the Jake Olsen, who is here now with his, in Stuart Eminen's drawings, he's got like a fucking... ah ah Partridge family haircut. He's he's not quite Ultimate Spider-Man. It's a very 70s David Cassidy kind of haircut. um He's got Thor's memories.
01:30:41
Speaker
kind of, or at least memories of everything that's been going on. Because the first thing that happens when he gets back and walks out of the exam room is come up with an excuse about Toreen, where he says, she's Cousin Eddie's girl, mom. You haven't seen her since she was a baby.
01:31:01
Speaker
And his mom seems to not know who Cousin Eddie is either. Yeah, man. Hey, Thor, don't gaslight your mom.
01:31:12
Speaker
It's weird. ah So next, uh, Thor goes in the Crock-Pot. Thor gets bare ass naked in front of his dad. He sure does. And, and he gets in the Crock-Pot to, uh, heal his injuries. And the very moment they seal this thing off, they seal up his healing hot tub. They, see that Surtur is fucking up Norway. So the Warriors 3 and Baldur all like ship out to go to try stop to stop Surtur. Odin is like, I can't help because I used up all my power for for the healing, ah the healing elixirs. So I'm unable to help. But they go and get, he he he goes and gets Hercules and Beta Ray Bill
01:32:10
Speaker
and curse. And curse rightfully is like, hey, what the fuck am I doing here? Yeah, I don't fight for Asgard. What the fuck am I doing here?
01:32:25
Speaker
As you'll recall, I was hanging out with with ah ah with Thanos a few issues ago. Yeah, like, ah like, yeah, come on, guys. It's, this is like when, uh, in that one, uh, Royal Rumble, where they were both faces. So CN Punk and Ray Mysterio high fived or whatever. Yeah. And it's like, do you remember this guy like taking your daughter and making her sing a creepy happy birthday song in the ring like two years ago, dude? No, nobody in WWE represent anything from more than a year ago. Uh, Thor number 40, uh, has a Tom Rainey cover.
01:33:07
Speaker
where Thor is fighting Surtur, and it's pretty good. It's a pretty good cover. Not quite as good as this Barry Windsor Smiths, but a big step up. A big step up from from some others we've seen recently.
01:33:24
Speaker
ah Stuart Ebenin still doing the art here. We start with a big splash page of Beta Ray Bill and Hercules. ah fighting off these, like, fire creatures that Surtur has summoned. But this is obviously a very hard battle. Like, it is not going well for our our heroes here, um as Surtur is sicking ah his his people on whatever city this is in Norway. I think it's all slow.
01:33:59
Speaker
Okay, um the first three pages, it's splash page, double splash, splash page of just fighting. and It's a really good looking ah double splash too. Yeah, yeah. so I think all three of those pages are good. ah The double splash has that great like Kirby thing with like the guy right in the foreground. Like freaking out. Yeah. yeah And Surtur is like slicing through a building with a giant sword. um It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool, yep. And Curse is still going like, why the fuck am I here?
01:34:40
Speaker
ah But ah this issue is called By Fire Born.
Thor Storyline Discussion
01:34:46
Speaker
And everybody here agrees we need Thor. But Thor is in the crock pot. So what are we gonna do? Matt, I was almost about to correct you because I was sure that the title of this issue was By Fire Burn. Yeah. Because nothing is born in this issue, but someone does burn in this issue. But I am looking at it and you are correct. That is By Fire Born. It is By Fire Born.
01:35:12
Speaker
ah So yeah, Odin is like, I would love to get Thor out of here, but he's got to heal. If I get him out, it's gonna be like, ah turning off your computer during an update. He'll be in even worse shape than he was when he went in. ah Then we see Jane Foster um getting out of the shower at home in her big terrycloth robe. And her husband, Dr. Keith Kincaid, is already not here. He's gone. What is he up to?
01:35:51
Speaker
Then we see Jake and Christine. They're talking about this rough shift they just had. ah They hear over the radio. A guy walks by with a boombox.
01:36:03
Speaker
Oh, also Jake and Christine have a conversation about how like they must have known each other in a past life. Yeah, Thor's like, hey, Christine, can you stop making out with me at work? Well, this is Jake. This is like this is ah this is where it feels like this is a separate Jake, right? it's It's so strange. but yeah I think it's just Thor Jake. This is not the Jake who I guess was dealing drugs. I guess not. I don't know. This is Thor Jake. Nonetheless, a guy walks by with a boombox and there's a radio news report about Surtur attacking Norway. And Jake's like, I gotta go. Even though he has no idea what he's going to do because he can't change into Thor. And then we see Keith Kincaid is like spying on them.
01:36:52
Speaker
like hiding behind a wall spying on them.
01:36:58
Speaker
ah Jake rushes into Hannah's apartment where Tereen and Amanda are playing Dreamcast. Pretty good. They're playing, what is it? Tomb Hunter. Tomb Hunter. Yeah, Tomb Hunter was the one on the Dreamcast. Because what that the c system they are playing is 1000% a Dreamcast. Yeah, that is no that is a Sega Dreamcast, yes. Yes. ah But Jake, like a fucking adult, comes in and turns off the TV while they're playing. He says, I want to watch the news. God damn it, Jake. And Tereen should be like, this is the news. Yes.
01:37:44
Speaker
ah But yeah, he turns on the news and their search are destroying everything and Jake's like Tereen you gotta to come with me. We gotta go ah we'll We'll go meet with Uncle Fandral Yeah, sorry. I'm just realized that because we have a family in Oslo. Yeah ah so Tereen transforms into Thor girl in a pretty cool like Sailor Moon style transformation and ah and And she's ready to ready to go to Oslo, but first they make a stop in Asgard Where Tereen is like oh, I? Know what I'll do. I'll just heal for Because I could do everything So that's what she does yeah, but that wasn't like the first thought Yeah, it's like oh, okay. We'll put the word in this crock-pot and
01:38:39
Speaker
when Toreen could have just healed him from the get-go.
01:38:45
Speaker
Anyway, the battle is getting dire. Odin has shown up with tooth nasher and tooth grinder on his big chariot ah to help out. Also, um Dr. Keith Kincaid has seen Christine reveal herself as Enchantress.
01:39:08
Speaker
So he reveals who he is, and Enchantress is like, thou art dead.
01:39:16
Speaker
Who could he be? Who could he be? And I guess we'll just have to find out next time as we journey into mystery. That's right. ah Who's famously dead?
01:39:33
Speaker
ah The battle continues ah Thor shows up and it's like spraying ice everywhere um But then oh here they are our intrepid heroes Thor and Thor girl And they are they're bringing down the lightning they are bringing down the rain onto Surtur and Surtur's like you don't have the time to beat me ah But Odin sees an opening and just rides his chariot with tooth nasher and tooth grinder right at Surtur. And ah with their combined powers, Thor, Thorgirl, and Odin take down Surtur. And looks you completely destroy Oslo in the process? Oh yeah, Oslo seems like it gets fucked up. ah But I do like Odin just fully
01:40:33
Speaker
fucking shooting himself through Surtur's forehead? Yes, that is rad. All the Battle with Surtur stuff, all the art of the Battle with Surtur stuff in here is is pretty fucking good. ah But yeah, the buildings are like sideways in this explosion yeah in which Surtur is destroyed. And also, oh no, Odin is no more. The future is now. He is Noden. He is Noden. Uh, there's just a, there's a splash page of his empty chariot and then just off to the side behind some smoke, a skeleton. Kind of unclear if, uh, tooth gnasher and tooth grinder also die, which I would be very upset about. Yeah, I guess we'll just find out because that is the last page of Thor number 40.
01:41:32
Speaker
Odin is gone, which means Thor is in charge. Is this the start of the raining? Oh man, not it could be.
Engagement and Social Justice Message
01:41:47
Speaker
Uh, we will just have to wait and see, uh, for, uh, Thor number 41, when we start back with the Jurgys, uh, that is it for this set of Jurgys. Uh, if you want to get in touch with us or, uh, send us an every story, ever list or otherwise, uh, hit us up. Maybe you want to be a sponsor of the show. Uh, you can email us at our email address, which is war rocket podcast at gmail dot.com. Uh, you can also find us on blue sky. We're there at war rocket Ajax dot B sky dot social. Uh, we are on tumblr at war rocket podcast dot tumblr dot.com and you can join our discord.
01:42:29
Speaker
ah to get in touch with us. If you ask us for an invitation to our Discord, politely, on one of those other places I just mentioned, ah we will send you an invitation and you can join. ah that That beautiful and lively hub of discussion and information about ah War Rocket Ajax and among War Rocket Ajax fans. It's a cool place to be, so ah so go check out that but Discord. Ask us for an invite and and go have fun there. Warrockethx.com is our website. It has all the episodes we've ever done of the show. Warrocketwiki.com is the fan-run repository of all the information you could ever need about this program, War Rocket HX. 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. Chris, where can people find you?
01:43:24
Speaker
Everybody can find me by going to THE-ISB dot.com. That is my website. Guess I should update it now. all That's where you can find links to all my stuff. Or get in touch. My email address is on there as well. It's a great place to find me as, man. On Patreon? Patreon.com slash more orca dojax. Yeah, boy. Yeah, boy.
01:43:52
Speaker
We'll be back next week with another episode. Thanks for listening, everybody.
01:43:59
Speaker
Yeah. Until next time, folks, do not forget Black Lives Matter. Trans rights are human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. And cops aren't your friends. But we love you. We love you. Yes!