Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Spider-Man Clone Saga: Crossfire Part 2
57 Plays1 year ago
We finish out the Crossfire story arc with Spider-Man maybe learning a lesson and Judas Traveller being weird.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Setup
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Comically Pedantic, where we take a detailed look at the complicated concepts, characters, and history of comic book culture. I'm your host, Derek L. Chase, and joining me on this episode, as always, is the wonderful Corinne Levy. I'm Corinne, it's me, hi. I am so ready to fly through this fucking story. We've procrastinated long enough. Yes, it was, well, okay, so to be fair,
Unfinished Stories and Weekend Recaps
00:00:40
Speaker
This story is one where I, okay, I'm actually, I'm gonna come clean on something. I didn't fully, I thought I read the whole thing when I went through it because there is a clear stopping point. And then it kept going.
00:01:01
Speaker
So that's like, that was partially my fault, but also it's just, it's just a strange set up and a strange, and I'll explain more after we get into this. Cause we are of course going to talk about Spider-Man, but I have to ask you what's your brain spot? Oh, what's your brain spot? Oh shit. I want you to answer first because mine is, I'm going to talk for a minute. Okay.
00:01:30
Speaker
Cool. Well, as a favor to you, I will go first. I had a nice weekend because it was the first weekend I've had off in full in a while. So that was nice. I went to a cool record store day.
00:01:48
Speaker
festival thing, so I bought a bunch of albums, which is very fun. I got a Strokes album, I got the Arctic Monkeys, the most basic one that everybody knows, the one with the squigglies, because I've loved that album for a long time. And I'm like, cool, I'm going to live my 2010s, 2015s,
00:02:13
Speaker
Tumblr goral life and get this album because I deserve it. And then we got some funky ones. I have now the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on vinyl and I'm really excited about it because I can live my disco dreams. Shout out to all of the Dazzler fans who love a disco ball.
00:02:39
Speaker
Man, I wish that was my bright spot last week. It would have been perfect. But that was a really great weekend. I got to just hang out with my best friend, my bubs.
Weekly Highlights and Media Discussions
00:02:52
Speaker
And yeah, it was good. And then Sunday, I did nothing. I cleaned my apartment, which was nice. And then
00:03:00
Speaker
I read a lot and I'm like, cool. It's like I got to recharge for 48 hours. It was nice because I've got a lot of shit to do this week. So I got to recharge. In short, that's my bright spot. What about you?
00:03:18
Speaker
Okay. So mine is going to be like a sort of multi-layered thing. Cause there was a lot of stuff that happened that is I'm going to, I'm going to make a bubble of things. Cause I know it's, it's the, the question is really what's your bright spot? But I have so many little things that it just makes me very, very excited for this week. Cool.
00:03:41
Speaker
So the first thing, my boss is back from her vacation. So I don't have to do the thing that I was doing for her and I am so happy about it because that was very stressful. Yay. I'm going to say I bought two books last week. I started reading one and the cool thing about it is I was
00:04:06
Speaker
uh, part of the way through it. And I was getting very annoyed with the main character and I thought, man, I don't understand how this book was so, uh, so widely accepted as being brilliant because I think it's kind of like it's fine. I think it's kind of silly. I don't know why this is such a good thing. Then I got about a hundred pages into it.
00:04:31
Speaker
and shit changes. And like they recontextualized a lot of stuff that happened in the last hundred pages. And I was like, oh, okay. All of that shit that annoyed me before, like it still was annoying, but now there's like an added layer to it that I really enjoy. It's like a classic mystery trope. Yeah. Where like they pull back the curtain a little bit and you see like why people did certain things because they have particular motives. That's a fun,
00:04:58
Speaker
I like a story written in that kind of way sometimes, I guess. And this was another one where, I mean, it is a mystery too, but on top of the way that that is done for this is more about the main character. So when I'm reading it, I'm thinking,
00:05:17
Speaker
damn, this writer just really wanted to talk about certain things because the character keeps bringing stuff up. And it's like references to stuff. So like in my mind, I'm thinking like, I get it, like you're trying to say something, but really what it's amounting to is like, hey, I'm referencing a thing. Hey, I'm referencing another thing.
00:05:38
Speaker
And it gets really annoying and it doesn't really, like, I started to not like the main character. Right. But then they reveal something has happened to her and this is sort of, and so like she, she's like an unreliable narrator in certain aspects. And it's like, Oh, this is way more interesting than I thought it was. Oh, it's like the, there's a book, like it's called Sometimes I Lie. Yeah.
00:06:05
Speaker
It's a really good book. It's a thriller mystery kind of thing. You it's very interesting. I will tell you more about it later because I will get too into it. And then this will be like half an hour of us just talking about books that are not Spider-Man. But like if anybody needs a good like thriller novel, sometimes I lie. I think the author's name is Alice Feeney. It's very good.
00:06:33
Speaker
It keeps you on your tippy toes and that's pretty cool. The other thing I'm going to skip past because there were like some shows that came out that I was very excited about and kept me moving through the week that I was.
News Highlights and Cultural Commentary
00:06:45
Speaker
Oh, okay. Well, what were some of the shows just like what were the titles? Well, Star Trek Picard, uh, which my Lord, I hated the first season of that show. So I didn't even watch the second season, but I thought I'd give the third one a try.
00:06:59
Speaker
and I fucking loved it. Every episode I was into it, it was fun. They had a Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers reunion, which came out last week. Now is that a full on show or is that like a TV special? It was a TV, it was one hour. So it was pitched, it was pitched as like eight episodes and...
00:07:20
Speaker
It ended up just being like a one hour special. So it's very rushed, but there's like an interesting story to it too. I mean, and it is just as goofy as the show is. So there's like more mature themes to it.
00:07:34
Speaker
but it is still done in the same corny style as like the 90s Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. So I had a lot of fun with all the cheesiness with it. So it's like what they wanted to do with the Power Rangers movie that we watched, but they did it right. Yeah, I mean, I still think there are ways that they could have made this better, but like... Right.
00:07:57
Speaker
The, the tone and like the campiness and the cheesy, like everything about it. I would have expected. Right. It was way more fun. I like, there's a part at the beginning where like they all morph and there's like explosions behind them and the theme song is playing. And I was like, this is goofy and I'm fucking here for it. I'm down. I love it. And that came out on my mother's birthday. So there's another little bright spot. Oh wow. Happy birthday, Mrs. Derek's mom.
00:08:27
Speaker
And then the last thing, and this is sort of building up to like, I read this today and I was like, damn, I had a good week without even thinking about it. Like I had a good week. And I don't know how much you've seen about this or if you even cared about it, but.
00:08:45
Speaker
Tucker Carlson got fired from Fox News, and I'm so happy because that Nazi can go fuck himself. And on top of that, it came out that Ali Alexander and Nick Fuentes were kicked off of Alex Jones' Band.video. So it's just like, it's fun to see these Nazis get their comeuppance. I'm very here for it.
Avenue Q and Musical Interludes
00:09:11
Speaker
It was a good time. I read that and like,
00:09:13
Speaker
just filled with Schadenfreude. Did you ever watch Avenue Q? Yeah, actually an ex of mine. There's a whole song. Yes. I loved that song. Schadenfreude. An ex of mine. Their cousin was in the off-Broadway, the touring Avenue Q. Oh, cool.
00:09:35
Speaker
Uh, so I went to go see it. Uh, I forget the name of the character. He's the one who's married to the Asian woman. Oh, oh, Gary. No, Gary, Gary Coleman's not, that's not Gary. Uh, Brian, I think it's Brian. It's something like that. Yeah. So, uh, my, my ex's cousin played, uh, played that character when they were like touring off Broadway. It was a good show. Oh, that's cool.
00:10:04
Speaker
Yeah, that show definitely hasn't aged the best. No. It's still fun. But I really like the Scheidenfreude song. I have a friend who lives in North Carolina and he calls, instead of saying Scheidenfreude, he says Scoothenfreude.
00:10:27
Speaker
I like that. It's like this stupid video we showed us of like somebody doing like very bizarre like readings of other language, other languages words and shited further than was scoot the fruity and I love that. So I'm adding that chef was that it?
00:10:52
Speaker
The Swedish chef? Yeah. I love the Muppets. I love beaker anyway, Spiderman. We are far away from the actual topic that we're here to talk about. Oh, no, wait. We can bring... Okay, hold on. I can do this. I can do this. Okay. You mentioned the Swedish chef. Well, I am basically a chef. I love the Swedish chef.
00:11:18
Speaker
Um, but my actual favorite Muppet is Beaker. Now, Beaker is the lab assistant to Dr. Bunsen, who's a little green man and like all sciency and shit. Science. We have
Spider-Man Connections and the Clone Saga
00:11:32
Speaker
Dr. Trainor and we have...
00:11:36
Speaker
We have the Jackal, all with unreasonably large laboratories that Professor Bunsen, whatever his name is, would probably love to use. But unfortunately, he can't use them because they're not in the market anymore because these deranged people from Spider-Man, also now a Disney property because of Marvel,
00:11:57
Speaker
Or at least the MCU. Um, so the Muppets are related to Spider-Man, and now we can talk about the clone saga. Wonderfully, uh... Thank you. Wonderfully done. Holy shit. I will always force a segue to get us through the clone saga. Because, my goodness, we need to get through it. Okay. Yes. So, for the last... So, we are still on your storyline.
00:12:26
Speaker
Yes, for the last 40 or so issues of Spider-Man comics, Peter's life has been getting progressively worse. His long thought dead clone resurfaced. Mary Jane finds out she's pregnant. But the baby might have problems due to his altered genes. A third clone resurfaced and kidnapped Mary Jane. Peter was arrested for murder.
00:12:43
Speaker
The Jackal, or at least a clone, resurfaced and is trying to screw with Peter's life. A definite clone of the Jackal resurfaced and was married to a clone of Gwen Stacy who had just resurfaced, but wasn't the other clone of Gwen Stacy that had previously died a mysterious, incredibly powerful man named Judas Traveler decides to screw with his life in strange and mysterious ways. A mysterious, incredibly powerful man named Cain kills off several of his villains and watches Spider-Man from the Shadows.
00:13:10
Speaker
while being very strange and mysterious, and a mysterious, incredibly powerful man keeps strangely and mysteriously watching Kane while he watches Peter and Ben. Oh, and last issue saw the return of another Green Goblin. So this brings us all the way up to Amazing Spider-Man 402, which starts like the actual Crossfire storyline, even though the previous issue is
00:13:36
Speaker
I will talk about the breakdown of this fucking story at the end, but this is technically crossfire part one. Okay.
00:13:45
Speaker
So Amazing Spider-Man, volume one, number 402, Crossfire part one was written by JMD Matias, penciled by Mark Bagley, inked by Larry Malstead, Joseph Rubenstein and Al Milgram and colored by Bob Sharon and lettered by Bill Oakley. This is mostly the same crew that's been on the book with a few helping hands. So my assumption is this is one of those stories that was getting pushed up against a deadline and they had to bring people in to help get it pushed out on time.
00:14:13
Speaker
because of the amount of people that are on the project. Yeah, usually if you see a lot of anchors or a lot of letterers or both, it tends to be something like that where they're just like, fuck, we really have to get this thing out. I think we talked about that on one of my episodes because I had like five anchors. Yeah, that's the thing that... I had to take a break between giving the credits. I was like, dying.
00:14:38
Speaker
That's an unfortunate thing that Marvel tends to do. I mean, not just Marvel. I mean, it's a thing that comic book industries do. And like, it's fine for the most part, but I think a lot of people would be like, take your time. It's okay. I'd rather a better product. Breathe, it's okay. So Peter, still dressed as the Scarlet Spider.
00:15:00
Speaker
visits Detective Jacob Raven to talk about how Peter Parker is innocent of the murder charges. And this is where Peter learns for the first time that Raven's face has been scarred in the exact same way as his former partner, Dr. Octopus and the Grim Hunter. Wait, hold on. Okay, so you're saying Peter is meeting with Detective Raven.
00:15:24
Speaker
Right, but in the Scarlet Spider costume. Oh, okay. Hi, I'm Peter Parker. I know I'm in prison, but I'm also here. Well, because I just wanted to make sure that it was not inmate Ben Riley pretending to be Peter. Okay, so I didn't hear you say Scarlet Spider. No, this is Peter pretending to be the Scarlet Spider. Wait, okay, so it's still weird that he's wearing that costume. He has the noir mask.
00:15:53
Speaker
There is an answer a little later. Okay, I'll wait for that answer, then. That's fine. It's underwhelmed. Because we were debating that... We were debating the laundry cycle of Spider-Man last, like, a week or two ago. Yes. And, like, it never got resolved. Okay. So, quote-unquote, fake Scarlet Spider is talking with Raven about Peter.
00:16:20
Speaker
Right. And he learns that Detective Raven is now scarred in the same way. So they, through talking, come to realize that Kane has to be the person responsible for everything. So we at least have some sort of movement in the plot there. Like Peter has realized Kane's the bad guy. Because we had seen them kind of get closer to the Kane suspect kind of position with, I think her name was Stunner.
00:16:50
Speaker
right yeah and raise when we're working together okay
00:16:55
Speaker
So, feeling an immense amount of guilt, Raven vows that he will do everything he can to see Peter Parker released from prison. This is enough to convince Peter, so he takes off into the night while his inner thoughts remind everyone that Ben Riley had switched places with Peter so he could be with his wife. This is one of those things, you know, just catching the reader up on some of the stuff you might have missed in previous issues. Yeah, which we kind of accidentally just did, because I confused myself. Good for us.
00:17:23
Speaker
So as he swings through the city, he is watched by Judas Traveler and Scryer. Scryer? I always forget how to pronounce this stupid thing. I think we've always been calling him Scryer. I'm pretty sure it is Scryer. That would be pretty weird. So Scryer questions how Traveler can admire Spider-Man so much when he plans on breaking Peter Parker to beyond the point of saving. Like that's a phrase that he uses.
00:17:52
Speaker
And Judas Traveler essentially scoffs at this and reminds Scryer that he's just his servant before stating that he does all of this for the greater good. So we get a little bit of some sort of a backstory here, where apparently Traveler is working for the greater good and Scryer, even though he's like crazy powerful, is supposedly working for Judas Traveler.
Moral Dilemmas and Judas Traveler's Trials
00:18:16
Speaker
So we've established some hierarchy. Well, we have seen
00:18:20
Speaker
Scryer take some sort of orders from Judas Traveler before. Right. To me, I guess, I look at this and I'm like, I would still get the impression that they're working together unless Scryer is working under Traveler. Oh, I always took it as under just because...
00:18:44
Speaker
I always just took it as under, but it was like you have the manager and then you have the supervisor, almost kind of like a king in the hand of the king. Right, yeah, yeah. Because they're both tough. They're both powerful, but one just has more actual say than the other. So I figured that's kind of what it was. And I think that kind of gets mixed because they've just known each other for so long. That was a thing that was mentioned before.
00:19:14
Speaker
Okay, so then this is probably a dumb question. So when you say the greater good, I'm assuming you just mean he's trying to do the best for the majority of people. The greater good is not some weird organization. Right, no. Because knowing the way that this is gone, it could be.
00:19:36
Speaker
Well, it kind of reminds me of like in the Buffy and Angel sort of universe, they refer to the powers that be as like an actual sort of organization of like higher beings, like gods. They are the powers that be. This would be not that. This is like they're trying to do something that is- He knows more than other people and he's trying to chaotically. Okay, I get it. Cool, cool.
00:20:05
Speaker
So back at the Parker residence, Mary Jane and Peter have a mild argument because he left without telling her and he had explicitly promised not to do that thing. And Peter apologizes, but points out that Ben has sacrificed everything so that the two of them can be together and he should be doing everything he can to get him out of prison, which, I mean, yes, but also like he started that argument with Ben has sacrificed everything so that the two of them can be together.
00:20:34
Speaker
And then he immediately left Mary Jane to go do a bunch of other shit. Yeah. Like he's, she knows the whole point that this guy went. And now, like Spidey's only like, I shoved this man in prison. I've done nothing else for this. So silly.
00:20:56
Speaker
Mary Jane points out that she has sacrificed so much of her life while Peter keeps hiding behind his mask. She was alone while he was pretending Peter Parker didn't exist, she was attacked by both Kane and P3PO, and she's dealing with her pregnancy largely alone since he keeps leaving.
00:21:13
Speaker
Which, fuck yeah, like holy shit. She has, she's dealt with, I mean like listen, I don't like to compare people's suffering, because that's just not a thing that you should do. But fuck she's been through with so much. I know. Like be there for your partner. Like, because I mean like. It should be pointed out that like while he was going through all of that, she was trying to be there for him.
00:21:42
Speaker
Well, that's what I'm saying is like she's putting in, you know, she's putting in her part and he is just, he does okay sometimes, but like he's taken more than he's given time. They need couples therapy. Oh my Lord, yes. I support couples therapy for everyone. I just love therapy.
00:22:12
Speaker
So while Peter acknowledges all of these faults, he also believes something else is wrong and Mary Jane shows him the test results that Dr. Trainor ran on their baby. As she explains, she stops herself just short of blaming Peter's biology and then she apologizes. As Peter tells her that he understands, the room fills with mist and Mary Jane passes out and then Judas Traveler appears before them.
00:22:41
Speaker
So like, I get her stopping before like blaming his biology. Cause it's not really like, but also it is kind of a thing where it's like, I think she made the right choice. Cause it's like, I don't know. I think if you took like the superhero part out of it and like you just focused on like, if it were genetics and like, if it was somebody who maybe had like, you know, like some sort of.
00:23:13
Speaker
preach and like I don't know what the word is like some genetic marker that would yeah like if if you love that person and you know you guys are building a family like
00:23:26
Speaker
I don't know, to throw myself in the mix, I got some funky things going on. But I know that if I ever start having a family and my future child maybe has some similar funky things as I do, I know that my partner would not
00:23:50
Speaker
be like, oh, this is your fault. Like your chromosomes are so shit. Like. Yeah, no, I think it was a. That's wrong and that's not fair. You should love your family for like, you know, for what they, for who they are. I think it was a smart thing for her to stop. I think so too. I think it does make sense for her mind to go there
00:24:19
Speaker
like when she's upset. Oh, yeah, because like they're having a fight. And like sometimes you say like you just some people say some crazy things because they're the emotions are like way up here. And so I do appreciate her way up here. So but she stopped herself. And I think that's very healthy. It's like I like that. I like that. I also I guess I also appreciate that Peter immediately recognized that for what it was and was like I understand.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's good. Yeah. We're getting Peter back to where he needs to be. So they have some good bones. They got some good bones. They just need a couple sessions to work the kinks out and then they should be fine. Right.
00:25:06
Speaker
Like we spent all that time talking about that, but like Judas Traveler has shown up. Yeah, Judas Traveler shows up. This poor woman can't get a break. So Traveler claims that he hasn't come for a fight, but he's just here to observe what happens next. And Peter being a comic book character in a superhero comic book decides that this can't be correct and he starts a fight anyway. Also like you've just knocked out his wife.
00:25:36
Speaker
Honestly, I would fight into it. It's like a magical fairy dust thing, like go to sleep. Yeah, but like she's pregnant. We don't know what that's like. That's true. Yeah. So. Fuck this man. To stop the fight. I am really aggressive today. No, it's fine. I try not to curse like too much on this show, but like here I am. I care for me.
00:26:02
Speaker
I started this episode with saying, fuck those Nazis. That's true. But also that was not, I don't like Nazis and they're not nice. So I'll give you a pass on that one. You can say what you want and I say what I want. So it's fine.
00:26:26
Speaker
So to stop the fight, Judas holds out a globe that he claims contains the soul of Aunt May. I thought you were going to say the soul of Aunt Man. I misheard that for a second. So sorry. I was like, Aunt Man's in this now? It's a snow globe, and Aunt Man is inside of it. He's just a little ant. Is that the sense of daddy's do? So according to Traveler, this globe can restore Aunt May to life and good health.
00:26:56
Speaker
but it would kill as many as 100 people to do so, or it could kill just one. They don't know the specifics, but at least one other person would die. So it could be one to 100 people would die if he decides to bring Aunt May back. That literally makes no sense.
00:27:15
Speaker
That's the dumbest trade. Because if you give someone that and you're like, okay, you can either kill 100 people or you can kill one person. For the sake of damage control, you're probably just going to pick one person. So I'm assuming all of it's at random. It's 100 random people and it's one random person. Or is it one person with intention?
00:27:39
Speaker
and then a hundred random. So it is, he could choose to bring, this is what is a little confusing. He could bring Aunt May back to life, right? But it kills a hundred people. It would kill somewhere between one and a hundred people. He doesn't know. It could kill one, it could kill a cane or it could kill a hundred people in New York. He doesn't know. Or it could kill 50 people.
00:28:08
Speaker
Or it could kill 50 people, yeah. It could kill just the cast of Glee. It's just like a random thing, we don't know. Listen, I didn't like Glee, but I don't think I would be like, kill them, Jesus Christ. Honestly, I don't know why that is the first thing that came to my mind. I don't know, my goodness. Gosh, this show hasn't been on in so long.
00:28:37
Speaker
Oh, what a time. So, I mean, that's the choice that's given to spider-man. And okay. That's like an interesting choice, I guess. Uh, I think the answer is pretty clear. I think that's a clear no. Yeah. And I mean, thankfully spider-man does too. Like he smashes the globe and asserts that he refuses to believe any of this as it must all be some form of illusion.
00:29:07
Speaker
And just then, Traveler decides to take him to the future because showing Peter something else fantastical is somehow supposed to show his powers aren't just illusions or something like that. Yeah, Peter knows that Judas has made a second Peter as a sleepy illusion so that he could break out of prison. Right. You can't trust anything this guy is doing, so I don't really know. No, you can't.
00:29:35
Speaker
Point us. All right. So he takes him to the far future of Manhattan and Peter sees it in ruins. And when I say far future, I mean, it's like a week in the future. And Traveler warns him. Oh, that is not the far future. That is the near future, sir. Right. So Traveler warns him that it's all Peter's fault and that's how this issue ends.
00:30:04
Speaker
which brings us now all the way up to Spider-Man, volume one, number 59, which is another annoying fucking title thing. So this whole story is called Crossfire. Last issue, even though it was part two of Crossfire, is called Crossfire part one. And this one, though it is not named Crossfire part two, is titled The Future is Now.
00:30:34
Speaker
For some stupid reason, they cannot get anywhere on the same page about what story they're telling. This is one of those reasons why I was afraid to get into comics. Especially when these were coming out, or even shortly after they came out, I cannot imagine trying to find where to start
00:31:01
Speaker
Where to go next? Just give me the same title with a subtitle if you really want, and then number blank. Like, that's all. Anyway, I'm done complaining now. So we have The Future is Now written by Howard Mackey, penciled by Tom Lyle, inked by Sam De La Rosa, colored by Kevin Tinsley, and Salvador Mancha, and lettered by Richard Starkings in ComiCraft.
00:31:30
Speaker
We start this particular issue with Peter and Judas Traveler still in the future and witnessing the ruins of New York. Spider-Man leaps out and swings away, horrified by the sights of the death all around him. Which, I mean, look, that makes a lot of sense. He finds his home, the Parker residence, among the ruins and starts to search for Mary Jane.
00:31:54
Speaker
But Judas Traveler brings them back to the present day where he warns Spider-Man that he can stop all of this from happening. Hard cut over to Detective Raven, who's arriving. Oh, okay. That hard of a cut, got it. All the way over, he's now arriving at the police station where everyone is stopping to stare at his disfigured face. I guess this is the first time he's been back to the police station since
00:32:21
Speaker
He's been injured by Cain. Yeah, I think so because there was one moment in a previous storyline. It's like when before him and Stunner meet up where like he's kind of just like hiding in the background. Yeah, okay. With his like scarred face like he hasn't really been like out talking to people too much.
00:32:48
Speaker
Well, he makes his way to Connor Trevane, who's one of the other officers that's working on Peter's case. And Detective Raven tells him that they've arrested the wrong man, despite the fact that all of the evidence points directly to Peter. And he tells them that he needs his help to clear an innocent man's name.
00:33:07
Speaker
Hardcut again, back to the Peter Parker residence. Spider-Man is still refusing to believe anything Traveler has told him, but he's warned that the events are already in motion and this will cause the destruction of Manhattan. So Traveler gives him an ultimatum.
00:33:27
Speaker
take his wife and leave, which would sacrifice everyone who had been causing such grief in his life recently. So basically be dooming Cain and Ben Riley and the detectives all to death. But he would be able to take Mary Jane away or he could stay and stop the disaster, which I feel like is
00:33:51
Speaker
one a shitty ultimatum for like a shitty ultimatum, but he's probably going to stick around and like save all the other people because at the rate he's going, him genuinely doing something for his wife is there's not many points in that field. Well, yeah, but for the, for the greater public is something he does frequently.
00:34:13
Speaker
I do think that that is the more heroic thing to do. But I feel like there's... Oh, of course it is. Maybe you could call someone, like call Felicia and get Mary Jane out of the city, you know, while you're trying to figure this out. But it's also, this is the second ultimatum that Judas Traveler has given him in like, I don't know, an hour? Two minutes. Yeah. And he's literally slapped the first one out of his hands. Right. He's like, screw your globe.
00:34:43
Speaker
So Spider-Man finally calms down and starts to listen, and he asks, what is going to happen to cause all of this destruction? And Judas explains that he sent his lackeys to destroy a geothermal heating station, which sort of undercuts his entire insistence that Peter is to blame for everything, since like- Yeah, so just tell them not to do that. You, ee!
00:35:09
Speaker
He's claiming that what he's doing is for a much greater purpose. This is the most intense gaslighting I've ever witnessed in a comic book. He's like, oh, I sent them to do it, but it's your fault. So Judas then decides to tempt Peter more by saying that he will keep Mary Jane and their babies safe
00:35:31
Speaker
even if Spider-Man fails. So he's undercutting his own ultimatum that he's given to Peter. This man's throwing too many deals out there that don't make a lot of sense. No, this is so stupid. But before Peter can agree, he says that he has to talk to his wife first. And Judas lets them, which is like, okay, yeah, you should be communicating with your wife.
00:35:57
Speaker
Well, he says he's going to, but is he? He said that when he switched spots in prison, he's going to go save and hang out with his wife and protect and be with her, but then he hasn't been with her.
00:36:18
Speaker
Peter leaves to go find Mary Jane to talk to her real quick. And when he's gone, Scryer warns Traveler that he's pushing his powers too far, meaning Judas Traveler is pushing his powers too far. And Judas lashes out, warning him that despite their centuries long friendship, they are not equals. So now we at least have more evidence to like, they are insanely old. If they've been friends for,
00:36:46
Speaker
have mentioned that they are like past decades long friends. I wanna start keeping track of like the evidence they give to like any sort of backstory to Judas. They have mentioned, I wanna say maybe a century or two. Sorry, I burped. A century or two. Thought I was gonna burp again, sorry. They have mentioned that
00:37:16
Speaker
They've mentioned that they have been like perhaps a century year old of pals in one of the things that I had previously read. Right. So they've mentioned it twice now. I don't know how prevalent that is to the storyline, but. I mean, it's.
00:37:38
Speaker
But the conversation was a little different with what I had read because it was like, oh, we've known each other for so long, but you don't know me that well. It was like a really weird conversation. And now this is like, we've been friends for so long, but we're not equals. And I'm like, whoa. Yeah, they don't seem very friendly. That's not a friend thing to say.
00:38:01
Speaker
So Peter finally reaches Mary Jane and he apologizes for anything his blood may have done to their baby before kissing her and telling her that he loves her and immediately rushing out the window. So, I mean, he does speak to his wife, I guess. On a technicality. And then leaves.
Powers and Relationships in Spider-Man Lore
00:38:18
Speaker
This guy sucks. He makes his way to the geothermal heating station and finds the lackeys he needs to take out. They all have names. I don't care.
00:38:28
Speaker
the fight doesn't matter they show up he like beats up a couple of people but he notices that chakra is there and she's using her astral form and meditating so he decides well she's the one i gotta knock out uh
00:38:45
Speaker
And he does. And this somehow causes a time vortex to open over the city. And one of the, one of the, like the crew that's there claims that once this collapses, it would cause even more damage than the original plan. So this is where I, this is where I think Judas Traveler is getting this as Spider-Man's fault. Yeah.
00:39:09
Speaker
But I don't know- He started it. Well, yeah, one, he started it. Two- And Spider-Man's ending it. I don't really get where this time vortex came from, what's going on, why it's there, or how anyone knows that once this time vortex collapses, it's a bigger deal than like this station blowing up. How the fuck does anyone know any of this stuff? Well, and it's also like, so,
00:39:38
Speaker
chakra has used her powers to basically transport peter from one place to another on the astral plane so in my head i was like oh okay like
00:39:53
Speaker
they can astral project or something. Like it's all that kind of plane. So does this person function or like use multiple planes? Like, is that a thing that we now have to figure out? Like what's considered like the fifth and sixth dimension? Like honestly, who the fuck knows? I don't know. They have only had this character pop up like once
00:40:23
Speaker
maybe a collective like runtime of a minute and a half, not including this time. So why is this person now so important? I'm just like, I don't like it. I think it's lame. I think it's whatever.
00:40:41
Speaker
back wherever Judas Traveler and Scryer are. Judas watches from across the town, so he's not like right next to it, and he sees this thing form, this time vortex, and he is struck with pain.
00:40:59
Speaker
just upon like seeing it there. And Scryer points out that this is exactly what he was trying to warn him about just moments before. Yeah. Spider-Man then arrives and demands answers. So he's just left everyone at that station and then decides to swing back. Just like he's left his wife. Right. He jumps basically right on top of Traveler
00:41:27
Speaker
He asks what the fuck is going on and Traveler says he doesn't know and Scryer is just refusing to help. He explains that the vortex will consume Traveler. So like the Scryer explains that the vortex will consume Traveler and it will erase him from existence. So Spider-Man- Oh is it because he's like Judas time Traveler?
00:41:53
Speaker
Oh, shit. Oh, I hope. I hope we get more info on this coming up.
Narrative Critique and Plot Analysis
00:42:01
Speaker
Once we get to the end of Traveler's travels in the Spider-Man comics, I will give you his backstory because I do know it. Okay. Cause I know nothing about this man. And like as cool as it would be if it was like time traveler,
00:42:21
Speaker
He has too many other like weirdly convenient powers that it's like
00:42:27
Speaker
I feel like I would be overwhelmed by the answer. Like I won't be overwhelmed with the opportunities this man has, but I can't be any more underwhelmed than I am about like Kane. So he's right. Right. Well, okay. I'm going to keep my mouth shut because there are certain things that I know about the future of comics. Yeah. Let me regret my comic opinions.
00:42:53
Speaker
No, no, no, no. I'm enjoying this. Because I've changed opinions on this like clothes saga, I think like three different times. And that's okay, I don't mind. The book changes every five seconds.
00:43:11
Speaker
So Spider-Man refuses to let any of this happen. He grabs onto Traveler by the arm and pulls him free from the portal's pull, because it's trying to pull him in. And this apparently causes the time portal to close completely harmlessly. Everything's fine.
00:43:36
Speaker
So we have this massive buildup of like it's gonna blow as soon as it collapses It's gonna take New York City out and then if it takes Judas traveler in it will erase him from existence and really all it takes is him gone now I don't think so and then it's just gone. It is the most anticlimactic thing this feels like
00:43:57
Speaker
when you have a tummy ache and you think you're going to throw up and you're like, Oh no, I'm going to throw up. And then you just like burp a little bit and you're like, Oh, that is common. And then just keep burping and like, it's not, it's not common.
00:44:14
Speaker
And you're just so like, God, I just want this experience to be over. So, uh, traveler who is now confused by why spider-man would help him, which is like for someone who is trying to test like the goodness of this man, like you give, you really don't understand him. Uh, he passes out from, from pain, like he's still in pain.
00:44:38
Speaker
and from like everything that happened and he just passes out. Scryer warns Spider-Man that Judas won't stop until he understands him. And Spider-Man just says that it doesn't matter. His foes always try to come back to get revenge and they should just wait in line. And that's how it ends the issue. Which is a great, like, I like that line. That's kind of like a nice badass moment. Yeah, and it's so painfully true. Yes.
00:45:03
Speaker
Now, that is the end of what I would consider- Of what we consider crossfire. And now there's this weird little- If you look at the crossfire storyline, if you look it up, this is not the end. There is another issue. So it starts with that Green Goblin issue, right? With the clones.
00:45:31
Speaker
And then you have this weird Judas Traveler two-parter. And then now we have this other story. And the weird Green Goblin story, it has nothing to do with the Judas Traveler story.
00:45:49
Speaker
And then this story is kind of a sequel to that Green Goblin story. So really, these are just two different story arcs that they've decided to shove together. This is fucking infuriating to try to read this way. Because you basically ignore everything that I just told you about.
Green Goblin and Character Development
00:46:10
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:46:12
Speaker
And we move on to Spectacular Spider-Man volume one, number 225, which was written by Tom DeFalco, penciled by Sal Buscema, inked by Bill Sinkiewicz, colored by John Kalis and lettered by Clem Robbins, Bill Oakley, Susan Crespi, and Jonathan Babcock. And if you know anything about how comics work, that sounds like this was fucking rushed. There was another one in this that was rushed. Oh yeah, I think they just were trying. The previous one, or like the one before, the one we talked about. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:46:41
Speaker
I think they were trying to rush stuff out. And I will tell you, you and I have had our issues with the Sal Buscema-Bilsenkiewicz team. It's hard to say. Oh my God, I hated this one. It kind of works for some of the earlier ones. And it works for some of the earlier scenes in this one. It works for some stories. I am not someone that is like, oh, that's not art. Art is anything.
00:47:11
Speaker
that it's intended to be. That's fine. And there's just certain art that fits certain stories better in my eyes. And this, don't do it for me at the moment. Perhaps a different story. I don't know. Sinkevich is really good with like horror and like mystery, like thriller stuff. That's what I was thinking.
00:47:33
Speaker
And so, or something along those lines. And in general, Sinkevich is just a brilliant artist. So is Salabushema. It's the weird juxtap... The two of them together, I fucking hate. It's two good things.
00:47:52
Speaker
Yeah. So rather than have a play by play for this issue, like I normally do, I thought it would make more sense to give just like a really brief overview of the whole story, since most of it doesn't really matter. It doesn't advance the plot forward in any major way, except for like one thing. Um, but there are some interesting things in here.
00:48:18
Speaker
that I think are worth knowing about, worth learning about. Let's spark those lips. So the story details the new Green Goblin being mistakenly identified as a killer who has been murdering homeless people across New York City. And that's actually the scene that I was talking about that kind of works with Selby Shema and Bilson Kevich is a homeless person being murdered.
00:48:39
Speaker
It's like, that's why it works. It's a horror story. Uh, Peter confirms that all of his spare Spider-Man costumes have been destroyed and that's why he is still dressing like the Scarlet Spider. Oh, yes. The laundry dilemma. Right. So his wife, uh, later in the issue or just slightly later in the issue has created a proper Spider-Man costume for him and he is now able to change
00:49:06
Speaker
into the classic Spider-Man costume. We're back to the basics. Speaking of his wife, Mary Jane goes to visit Ben Riley in prison, which I really like. That's really nice. She goes to talk about the baby and to confide in a friend that she might want to have an abortion.
00:49:31
Speaker
Which is another thing that I really like, having this be a conversation. Yeah. And it's one that like, she knows a lot is going on with Peter. She doesn't want to put pressure on Peter. So before she brings it to him, she wants to run it by someone she considers a friend and
00:49:55
Speaker
someone who is kind of like her husband. Well and I think just like that's a nice moment between the two of them because at first they wanted like well she wanted nothing to do with them. Yeah and I think he was just really uncomfortable with the idea of being around her. Well he didn't want to be around her for a long time because he was like this
00:50:17
Speaker
this is not my person's straight boundary up until the point where I was like, I have to meet her because her husband's in jail and I have to help like the two of them. And so like, it's really nice to see two people that were just kind of like whatever to each other become like good people to confide in with each other.
00:50:46
Speaker
I genuinely really liked the idea of her going to visit him. Yeah. And like, cause I just, I know that like Ben Riley is like Peter Parker's clone, but I feel like because of the way he's like developed, I just think of him as an individual now. Like I didn't even think of the like, Oh yeah, he would be kind of like Peter.
00:51:08
Speaker
But sometimes I'm just like, their opinions, I feel like would be totally different. But like, so in my head, I'm like, I wonder if she's just like, has Peter said anything to you about the baby? Like, do you, what do you think he's going to say? Now I genuinely, I think that one way that their opinions may differ and I don't know for sure. I'm just going based off of this issue. One way their opinions may differ is Ben's reaction to her saying that she wants to have an abortion.
00:51:37
Speaker
Was he like, was he supportive or was he like, I don't know if that's a good idea. He states that he is personally against abortion. Okay. But he also recognizes that the choice is hers. So like. I think that's like a good neutral. Yes. I think that's a good answer. Yeah. I think that's fair.
00:52:04
Speaker
It was an interesting read. The most neutral he could be, I think. Yes. It reminds me a lot. There was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book that came out many years ago and Buffy in that comic book finds out she's pregnant and she goes to one of her close friends and asks him to come with her because she has decided that she is going to have an abortion.
00:52:29
Speaker
And it is a really interesting, very good read that is kind of undercut by the fact that you find out due to magical hijinks and like sci-fi hijinks, she's not actually pregnant and no abortion ever has to take place. So it was like, oh, this is an interesting story we're telling. Nevermind. Yeah, I getcha.
00:52:48
Speaker
So a costumed criminal named Firefist is, which fucking Firefist, is eventually revealed to be the murderer. And the Green Goblin, of course, is revealed to be a good guy all along. We kind of knew that because we saw that in one of the earlier issues. Right. Firefist believes America is being overrun by the weak and he must do what he can to make his country great again.
00:53:16
Speaker
no political leanings in these comic books whatsoever. But that's the bad guy. And I would argue that stance is a bad stance. This was, by the way, for anyone who is interested in sort of where Marvel was at the time, this was around the time that the X-Men comic books were dealing with
00:53:42
Speaker
a person running for president who wanted to demonize mutants in order to get elected and specifically was stated as a conservative. So anyway, back at the bugle, Joe Robertson argues with Jamison that they have to report on Parker being in prison, which is like an ongoing argument that they've been having.
00:54:06
Speaker
But Joe brings up that they haven't earned their awards for journalism if they don't do this, which is fucking right, Joe. I agree. You are journalists. You have to report the news. The fight between Spider-Man, the Goblin and Firefist is all watched by the Jackal.
00:54:25
Speaker
I mean, essentially, Jackal just wants to know who Green Goblin is because he's like, I don't know who this is and it's going to muck up my plans. Uh, but eventually he just decides he doesn't care. And then he goes back to his lab and he finds P3PO has joined him. And that's how we ended the issue. So.
00:54:46
Speaker
Ultimately, nothing really matters in this except for that last part. For P3PO being back, Ben Riley and Mary Jane are confirmed friends now, and maybe the reporter. Yeah, so we still don't have any, no
00:55:10
Speaker
No use for Felicia. She shows up and then is fucking gone for the rest of the storyline. Yeah. There's no Felicia. They've just made the Jackal thing really confusing now. Um, cause now I'll, I don't even have the words for it. It's too many
00:55:33
Speaker
is too many multiple things. And I was so happy for P3PO to be gone. And I know that they had him go away in an ambiguous way that I was like, I guess he might come back, but it's like, I didn't want him to.
Revelations and Final Reflections
00:55:49
Speaker
It's whatever, it's fine. I'll probably have to read about it next. It's okay.
00:55:56
Speaker
This brings us to the end of the Crossfire storyline. And I will say, I guess I'll just- It took us like a month to get to this point.
00:56:08
Speaker
I don't know, actually here, I'll do the what's good, what worked first and then I'll give you some other thoughts after. So what's good and what worked in this is while Mary Jane is really not given much of anything to do or anything of substance to do,
00:56:29
Speaker
i consistently agree with her and i think that she's a really solid character i consistently agree with her and like i care about that character i just want her to have something to do yeah like a lot of the other characters i don't really
00:56:53
Speaker
Like, I like Ben Riley. I do care about Ben Riley. And then immediately under that is Mary Jane. Like Peter Parker's, yeah, he's fine. But then like everybody else, I guess is kind of like a bad guy or like a reporter that sometimes shows up and makes like very bold decisions to like get the story. And it's like, that's a silly thing. Why are you doing?
00:57:23
Speaker
Man, I feel like we're just doing endless cartwheels. Yes.
00:57:33
Speaker
We're going to get through it. We will. I'm fine. We're going to be fine. I'm not going to give up on this. Do not think that I have given up on the Clone Saga. I'm going to power through it. I'm going to be able to say that I finished it. Is that an accomplishment that I'll be super proud of?
00:57:54
Speaker
nerd me says yes uh the other part of me is like i'm now a certified milk examiner i think that's pretty cool and at least it's given me a certificate i don't know what the frick's this this is gonna give me because i'm too much knowledge about spiderman but um i'm having a great time still i just
00:58:18
Speaker
I enjoy having you here because I have never made it through the Clone Saga. I would never want to read it unless you told me to read it. And then I'd be like, yeah, I get to hang out with Derek. I'll read it. This is a fun adventure, I think, because I also
00:58:36
Speaker
You can't do this alone though. To anybody who is thinking of like, if we have somehow influenced the five people that listen, like, oh here I think I might read it.
00:58:51
Speaker
Pick a good friend to read this with. Someone who you know is gonna be around for a while and then buckle up and be ready to suffer together. Because you can't do it alone. It's just gonna be really, really sad if you do it alone. And who's gonna be there to support you when Aunt May goes through shit? You know? Because you need a pal in that one.
00:59:20
Speaker
This is very similar to the conversation you and I had about the Power Rangers movie. Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to tell the story. This is apparently I've taken over the ending of this episode. So we were invited on a podcast called superhero cinephiles. We were invited to do a thing.
00:59:42
Speaker
Now, when we get emails, I don't see them because this is your podcast that I... Well, it is our podcast. It is our podcast, but you had it and then you were like, here, share this. And I said, okay. So I don't see all the emails. Derek is really great at communicating. This is not like a problem.
01:00:09
Speaker
You were talking with the friend. You both decided, like, yeah, Power Rangers. And then I learned that we were going to watch Power Rangers. And I said, oh, the TV show? And you went, no, no.
01:00:29
Speaker
Remember when? Remember 2017? Yes. When the guy from Stranger Things was the Red Ranger and I said, no, I didn't know that was the thing. And then I had to watch it. And I have all my opinions on that episode, which is out now. I had a great time in the end because I got to talk about it with my friends.
01:00:50
Speaker
whether I wanted to watch it was a bit questionable. Um, but I made, I made my, I made my boyfriend watch it with me and we finished that movie and we both decided we could not have watched that alone. We would not have chosen to watch it alone and that's okay. Um, but that is the long winded story of
01:01:16
Speaker
Power Rangers 2017 is the equivalent to Clone Saga in that enjoy it with friends, suffer through it with friends, and you'll have a good time in the end. And that's all that matters. Correct. And you can find more information. The only other thing I was going to add to like the what's good on this is like, it's not even a what's good was
01:01:42
Speaker
Spider-Man making tough choices, but like all of them are dumb in this story They're not actual tough choices. I like the idea of trying to set that up But like the execution kind of sucked. I do like how he slapped the ball out of that was nice. That was funny
01:02:00
Speaker
I guess I will throw in, I like this Green Goblin. I don't know why I like this Green Goblin. I cannot get, I just like him. And I always have, I have this soft spot for him. He's cool. Actually, no, I take it back. I do know where it comes from. It is from, he was in the, they called it the MC2. It was like the sequel series to the Marvel universe.
01:02:27
Speaker
don't look it up because a lot of it has to do with the clone saga. But he, he shows up in that and I like him in that. So that's where my love for him comes. Now, what didn't work in this comic book? Uh, everything, everything about these issues
01:02:50
Speaker
or fucking dumb. Scryer and Judas are dumb. The plot of this whole thing is dumb. The way it's resolved is dumb. The bad idea for a story and almost all of that falling on Judas Traveler and him being a villain for Spider-Man, all of that. So the thing that I didn't like about it.
01:03:12
Speaker
is that this felt the most like just a pure circle of a plot and where you started. Like everything essentially, I feel like nothing mattered. The through line, the only thing that got us to the end was- The only like real change that I can think of is P3PO's back. And Spider-Man's got a costume. And he has a costume. But if you started
01:03:39
Speaker
just there, if you just had him in his, I would not have fucking questioned it. All of the questioning of the laundry day stuff comes from this. I know. It is insane. We recorded this on separate, on different days. I think it collectively took three days. Yeah. It has taken three days. So on day one is the day that we really questioned the laundry.
01:04:20
Speaker
Glenn Greenberg really didn't have anything to add about this other than the fact that he fucking hates Judas Traveler too. And yes, very valid. Now I will say, now that we've gotten through this and we've introduced the Green Goblin character, do you want to know who he is? Because I don't have to give you a shitload of information, I can just tell you and I can explain where some of this mystery comes from and why it's dumb that it was introduced the way that it was. Is it Willem Dafoe?
01:04:32
Speaker
I didn't know that it would take me three weeks to find the answer to the laundry, but here we are.
01:04:49
Speaker
God, I wish. So the Green Goblin. Is it an Osborne? No. That's the thing. Is it a reporter? Is it the same person who was like in the shadows going through the reporter's office?
01:05:05
Speaker
Yes, it is who was looking for his uncle. Yes. So that is Phil Urich. He is Ben Urich's nephew. Oh. He is first introduced in the issue where he debuts as the Green Goblin and they make no connection between the two, nor do they even name him. No, they didn't.
01:05:28
Speaker
It is just a guy looking for his uncle, then later in the issue, a green goblin appears. Then, like three issues later, the green goblin shows back up and is like a good guy. That's it. You have to pick up green goblin number one, which was being put out around this time, to get the rest of the story. So who were the green goblins before this Uric one?
01:05:56
Speaker
So at this time in just like one or two before Norman Osborne and Harry Osborne. So those were the two. There might've been a person hired to, uh, to just like masquerade as the guy, but like was the, you would never be like, Oh, that was the green goblin. It was like someone who was paid to do this for like a day or, you know, the thing that confuses me. Yeah.
01:06:21
Speaker
Like, okay. So Norman Osborn had his whole like origin story. Like he was the first that makes like sense. Yeah. And then his son being the next one makes sense. Cause it's kind of like the, the Craven Hunter and the Grim Hunter. Like that I get that that is a reasonable jump from one to another having some other guy. Yes.
01:06:47
Speaker
not only take the title, but also be like, it's a good guy now. That's not gonna go well. Inherently isn't gonna go well. You can't have some title that society already sees as a super villain and be like, I'm a good guy. Yeah, it's definitely not well thought out on Phil's part. No, Phil, think a little Phil.
01:07:18
Speaker
The.
01:07:20
Speaker
In universe, well, no, actually, I take that back. Out of universe, in our universe, the explanation for like another goblin kind of makes sense if you have been following sort of like the tropes of Spider-Man at the time, just because you have other characters that pop up with like goblin gear because they have stumbled upon one of the green goblins like hideouts. And that's ultimately revealed to be
01:07:49
Speaker
How Phil became a green goblin he just kind of found a green goblin hideout ends up with all this goblin gear and So like that makes sense to a reader if you were like following the series Like through through years, you know what I mean? Cuz then that's kind of how you ended up with a hobgoblin. That's how you and and
01:08:12
Speaker
All of that makes sense to us with the context of a few years of Spider-Man stories being told. In-universe still makes no sense. It is just a dude who is showing up as someone who is known to be a murderer. And if you are the general public, you don't know that Norman Osborn died. You don't know that Harry Osborn died. You just know that there is this green villain that keeps popping up year after year.
01:08:42
Speaker
Yeah. And it's also, why is this the, you know what, this, this will have to be one of our like mini episode question things where it's like, why is this only happening with the green goblin and not with other like bad guys or good guys that just have like an exceptional amount of labs hidden all across the
01:09:06
Speaker
Why are there not several jackals popping up just because someone stumbled onto it? Someone stumbled onto his- Oh, I guess there are multiple jackals because he cloned himself a bunch of times. But why are there not like multiple- That makes sense. But why are there not like multiple, I don't know. Now I don't know. This is why it's gotta be one of those mini- There are some people that fall into this
01:09:33
Speaker
category there. We will soon be introduced to one of them. Okay. But yeah, in general, that's just not like how things go. And I think it makes sense. I am a big fan of legacy characters. I love the idea of like Spider-Man retiring miles taking over.
01:09:52
Speaker
That still makes sense to me, though, because he was inspired by a public figure that already was good to be another good superhero, and then something happened to him that allowed him to... So that makes sense. The goblin stuff doesn't make sense to me. If you have a villain, it doesn't quite work. It doesn't work as well.
01:10:20
Speaker
Man, I'm a really big fan of how you killed all of those people. Let's go walk some people across the street. That's it for Crossfire. We finally made it through like Jesus Christ. That was a goodness.
01:10:35
Speaker
disaster. Um, so, uh, this was great though. I had a great time. No, no, I had fun too, but damn, that was like such a trudge. I don't know. Uh, uh, I don't know why this affected me so much. Maybe just because it was so, so disconnected.
01:10:55
Speaker
And it also, it depends on the headspace you're in when you're reading. Like, I mean, even when you read like a novel, like I'm reading, I'm reading a great book. It's very good. It's called The Rune Lords. It is like a nineties fantasy novel. My friend recommended to me, my friend is very good with books. And I'm like, yes, I will read it.
01:11:18
Speaker
So I started it and like, I read like 80 pages in the first day I picked it up and I was like, wow, amazing. Like I'm killing it. Like that's good for me.
01:11:31
Speaker
for perspective. I know some people are like, I read 200 and I'm like, you're insane. I need to like process. Today's someone was like, you've been reading this book for a week and you're only like a little over halfway through it. And I was like, do you realize how much I do when I'm like, like it is, that is my, my enjoyment. This is me sitting down to read.
01:11:56
Speaker
to take my time to comprehend the words. Like I'm not out here trying to read as many books as possible and not remember a single part of the story. My work day is like 11 hours long.
01:12:09
Speaker
I get, and when you get home, I had no brain cells when I came home. I cleaned up and then I sat down and I physically could not get back up. And I knew I had to do laundry. It took me like an hour to stand up and go do laundry. Granted, my laundry is in a different building.
01:12:29
Speaker
So like it takes some effort, but like, Oh, it was a time. Um, so I get it. So like to read, but any, okay, hold on. I'm sidetracking myself. My brain's on fire. I'm getting brain cells back and it's euphoric, but like I read like a, to me, a ton. And then like I hit one point.
01:12:52
Speaker
And I just, it's been a couple weeks of just working a lot and I'm tired all the time. So I'll read half a page and then I knock out. Yeah, I'm very similar. Yeah, I was on the couch.
01:13:10
Speaker
Laying down, reading this book, I opened my eyes. 30 minutes had passed and there was like drool on the pillow. And I was like, oh my God, I like died on this couch. And I'm just trying to get through like chapter 20. It was a time. But I'm back on the kick now. It's still a good book. I promise I'm reading it, friend. I love it. I'm just slow. It's fine.
01:13:33
Speaker
Anyway, this has been great. We'll do this next week. Yes. You can find more information at comicallypedantic.com. You can also follow us on Instagram by searching at pedanticast. New episodes come out most Sundays on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and at comicallypedantic.com. If you have any comments or questions, you can send them in text or audio recordings to comicallypedantic at gmail.com.
01:14:00
Speaker
Please indicate if you'd like your name or question right on the air. So I have two things to tell you not to forget. One, we are on Superhero Center Files on their Power Rangers episode. Please go give them a listen. It is really fun. I had a lot of fun. We had a great time. Yeah. And don't forget, we also still own fuckcomicskate.com if you'd like to send a donation to the Games and Online Harassment Hotline. We will be back soon with another deep dive into the world of comics, but until then, you can find more exciting adventures at your local comic shop.
01:14:45
Speaker
I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to this. Yeah, you really are. It's never been like, hey, let's talk about a thing I really like. It's like, hey, let's talk about this thing that drives me crazy. Except for the Doctor Hurt one, that one. The Doctor Hurt one, definitely.
01:15:05
Speaker
Sonic the Hedgehog starred and Dazzler both started that way, but it was like let's talk about the dumb shit around it, too. Yeah This is entirely off the subject. That's fine. This is just for me My little trainee