Transcript
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Speaker: Titus, I'm bored. What plaything can you offer me today?
Speaker: got one rocket Ajax to bring back his body. Terminator X is here!
Speaker: Hello everybody and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the internet's most explosive comic book and pop culture podcast. We are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me as always is Matt Wilson. Matt, happy pride.
Speaker: Happy pride. Happy pride to all. Happy pride to, well, I would say specifically to like the queer community. but To all who celebrate. To all who celebrate, yes. yeah Matt, i had an experience the other day. I met a neighbor.
Speaker: of mine, someone who lives a little bit down the street, like two houses is over, okay had ah had a great conversation with him. I knew it was going to be a great conversation because this person was wearing a Rumiko Takahashi shirt.
Speaker: And I want to stress that when I say that, I don't mean an Inuyasha shirt or a Ranma 1.5 shirt. I mean a shirt for manga creator... Rumiko Takahashi.
Speaker: Was her photo on it? Yes. Great. And I knew, i was like, yeah, were we can be friends.
Speaker: So my question for you, Matt, is what shirt could you see that you would immediately want to be friends with that person?
Speaker: Well, i'll along those same lines, if I saw someone wearing a shirt depicting Kentaro Mura.
Speaker: Yeah, I feel like, see, most of the things we like, I think this is an interesting question, because most of the things we like, if you know if I see someone in a Batman shirt, or like any professional wrestling shirt, you don't know that breaks bad so easy.
Speaker: If it's a wwe WWE shirt, I'm probably not going to even bother. If it's an AEW shirt, there's a chance. If it's some kind of Japanese wrestling shirt, maybe.
Speaker: But yeah, there's there's a chance that any of those could break bad. You're right. You're absolutely right. Is this the shirt? That is the shirt, yes. Chris has sent me a picture of the shirt. It is excellent.
Speaker: It's literally a photo of Rimuko Takahashi. It looks like a shirt from 1988.
Speaker: Yeah, it's awesome. I love it. It's really good. Yeah. Wrestling shirts could break bad. Same for comics. Anything in comics, if someone's wearing the shirt, you don't know.
Speaker: But if it's if it's a shirt of a comics creator, like i think we would both say if we saw someone someone wearing a shirt with a photo of Stan Sakai, that person could probably be our friend.
Speaker: That person can probably hang, yeah. yeah What's great about the Kitaro Mura shirt idea is that there are like maybe like four pictures of that guy. that's That's true.
Speaker: yeah Do you have a secondary answer than Rubiko Takahashi? I don't know. because i feel like it Again, I feel like a lot of the stuff that we like is... i mean we are you know We are pop culture fans. We are fans of a yeah popular culture.
Speaker: If someone's wearing an Austin 316 shirt, or Or something. i don't know if that person's cool. No. And I'm trying to think of like something. If they were wearing that one shirt that said, I would rather be listening to the hit single, Run Away With Me, from the critically acclaimed 2015 album, Emotion, by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, featuring the iconic saxophone solo. If they were in the shirt that shirt, i would know. I would be like, hell yes.
Speaker: That's a good one. By the same token, ah like an Austin 316 shirt, you don't know. But if it was a shirt depicting Steve Austin's two solid-ass cats...
Speaker: Poncho and Macho? Uh-huh. Then we could talk. AC has the ah the shirt where Steve Austin's arms are snakes. Yeah, that's good one. And it says 100% whoop-ass. That one's a good one, yeah. That's a good one.
Speaker: Speaking of wrestling-adjacent things, it is Hickamania 7 on this week's show. we did have We did have to move this to a smaller podcast.
Speaker: We had to move it to a smaller arena. Also, much like Hulk Hogan had to come back to main event, WrestleMania 7, this set of FF issues also has a return that was underwhelming. um The return of Black Bolt, which we will be talking about.
Speaker: I'm glad that's where you went with it, because I was i was a little bit worried. that you're good at like That there was going to be some comparison drawn between Steve Epting and Hulk Hogan. And Steve doesn't deserve that.
Speaker: No, Steve doesn't. I'm glad that it was Black Bolt that you went with. It was Black Bolt. Also, there is political infighting, much like the entire story of WrestleMania 7. The WrestleMania that was all about the Gulf War after the Gulf War had already ended.
Speaker: But before we get to that, Chris, before we get into these issues of Jonathan Hinkman's FF run, we have some business to take care of here at the start of the show. The first piece of business is thanking our supporters over on Patreon.
Speaker: That's right, Matt. Now, these are the people who want to help the show out. They want us to keep doing War Rocket Ajax every every week. They want us to keep doing Comics Catch-Up every month. They want us to keep ah doing bonus content like Westeros runs on Dunkin'.
Speaker: the the podcast about Night of the Seven Kingdoms that Kel McDonald and I do exclusively for for the Patreon, ah they want to go and see what's down at 771 Gimmick Street.
Speaker: They want to drive past all the old internet cafes and see what's ah what's there. They maybe even want to join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society. And you know how they can do that? Well, let me tell you, you don't need no kettlebells.
Speaker: You don't need no alpha brain. You don't need no Bluetooth. That's right. All you need to do is go to patreon.com slash warrocketajax. Kick in as little as a dollar a month and help us make the show.
Speaker: And most importantly, pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills. I've been unemployed for six months. Please do that, everybody. Our newest Patreon supporters. First on the new list of Patreon supporters is Tom Foss.
Speaker: but Thank you, Tom Foss. Long time listener. Long time And Tom is also going to be giving us the location on Gimmick Street at 771 Gimmick Street.
Speaker: what What do you got for us, Tom? Tom's location at 771 Gimmick Street is the The McGraw Professional Wrestling Academy, where headmaster Bonesaw is ready to train up the next generation in the king of sports, along an all-star team of educators. His husband teaches costume design and textile arts.
Speaker: i'm I'm glad that Bonesaw McGraw's husband made it in their happy pride. Oh, wait. We've already done that one. We've already done that one? We've already done that one. Tom sent in a second one.
Speaker: Oh, okay. Okay. I think Tom must have... dropped off as a patron briefly and, and then come back. Okay. Um, so I will do Tom's submission. i will get to some other second,
Speaker: gimmick street submissions later so cross out bonsai mcgrom academy because we already thought that was back at 747 yeah uh gimmick street uh the new 771 gimmick street location is how we're updating the gps we're updating the maps yeah that's right that's right howie dewitt's new jack swing revival dance club nice nice i' also weirdly enough named for a uh a pro wrestler that's right ah Thank you, Tom, for for that.
Speaker: Here are our other newest Patreon supporters. ah Robert Headley. Thank you, Robert. Andrew Heisel. Thank you, Andrew. Matt Fiction. That's your name.
Speaker: And Fiction. Yes, and you're Matt Real. Thank you, Matt. Henry Nelson. Thank you, Henry. And Abe Sapient.
Speaker: Thank you, Abe Sapient. Now, I think some of these people have have previously been Patreon supporters who have upped their pledge to be at the $20 level. But there there must be something weird going on with Patreon where like it's hard to up your pledge. So I think these people are coming in as new supporters. But I'm getting the email saying that they're new supporters, so I'm reading their names on the show just in case. yeah And and hey hey, maybe they had to drop off. Maybe they're coming back. yeahre You're always welcome to to drop off if you need to and come back when you can. It's tough out there. Believe us, we know.
Speaker: That's right. so ah So thank you for everyone who's returning. Thank you for everyone who's increasing the ah Patreon support to get that t-shirt. It's such a good one this year. Yes. Speaking of speaking of the t-shirts, I have currently...
Speaker: I think 26 t-shirt sizes that people have sent me. um i Oh, 27 t-shirt sizes that people have sent me. So I think that means I need about 10 more.
Speaker: So if you are at the t-shirt level and you haven't sent me your t-shirt size, please do that. If you're a patron at any level, you get every episode of every show that we do completely ad-free.
Speaker: You also support all the shows we do here at Clytus Media. And you get those ad-free shows um at every level of the Patreon. At the $5 level is the bonus content level.
Speaker: That's where you get Westeros Runs on Dunkin', the show where Chris and Kel McDonald watch A Night of the Seven Kingdoms and talk about every episode. We and we are halfway through at this point. We've done the first three episodes. Yeah.
Speaker: Each episode includes fan theories, which are extremely fun to listen to. ah That is exclusive to Patreon ah at the bonus content level. There's also outtakes that I cut out of episodes and post on Patreon. Some just went up moments before we started recording this episode.
Speaker: there's Was that us talking about Nicktoons? No, Nicktoons went out in every story ever. End of the cut, okay. Well, i do I didn't edit every story ever. Good. but No, this that was us talking about tarot cards.
Speaker: That was us talking tarot cards. And pitching a possible ah Patreon side series. That's right. ah And there's also bonus content we've recorded, especially for Patreon. There's bonus content of writing that Chris and I have done that's only on the Patreon. So all of that stuff is there, and you should go check that out. Now, there is some bonus content that will be coming if we reach 500 paid patrons on Patreon that will be for all levels of the Patreon. That is Talent Show, the show where Chris has vowed to read the entire 77-issue run of Jim Ballant on Catwoman and tell me about it.
Speaker: We are currently at 462 paid patrons on Patreon. I think that's pretty much where we were last week, but given that we switched months in the meantime, that's good, because there's always some attrition at the end of the month. And when did they wake up, wake up, wake up?
Speaker: That's right. ah So 38 more paid patrons at any level, $1 and above, will get us to ah talent show. We have 646 total patrons, which means we have roughly 180-some free patrons.
Speaker: ah free patrons who don't get anything. So you could pay just a dollar a month and help us get to talent show and get ad-free episodes of all our shows as well as talent show.
Speaker: At the $10 level, there's line-stepping privileges for our segments, which currently include Every Story Ever and One to Ten of Swords. at The $15 level, you can join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society and name a location on Gimmick Street. Sometimes two locations. i think we're I'm accepting the second location if you want to send that in and you're still at the Gimmick Street Preservation Society level. And then the $20 level, you get a t-shirt.
Speaker: ah We have the design for the 2026 t-shirt. Please send me your size if you're at that level. and you will get the 2026 t-shirt, which is beaut.
Speaker: So good. If you're unable to help us monetarily, which we understand, like Chris said, times are tough out there. You can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five-star review on the podcasting app that you use. I would highly encourage doing that.
Speaker: Reviews really do help. And also, spread the word about the show. Tell your friends and family. Tell people you know to listen to the show or Rocket Ajax. And to go rate it and to join our Patreon so you can hear Talent Show.
Speaker: Chris, with that. feel my current ideal number of patrons is 499. Because you don't want to read the Jim Bell? The closer we get, the more I'm like, perhaps I spoke too soon.
Speaker: It's lot of Chuck Tixen comics, Matt. It sure is. Chris, with that, it's time for some Checks and Recs. What do you say? Let's do it.
Speaker: Chris, what would you like to check in with this week? Matt, as you know, and as our listeners may know, because I've i've mentioned on the show before, I took over the scripting of ah David Wynn's comic Steel Tango, the mech crime comic in South London.
Speaker: ah where people got robots that have pro wrestling fights, ah which is very, very fun. I took over halfway through the second issue. I think I took over on page 13 of 24.
Speaker: And this week, I wrote ah the script for number three, which was ah based ah on a little bit of a slightly looser ah plot.
Speaker: that ah David and I had discussed and talked about, and and I got some some details on. ah But I did the the whole script, page one to page 24, and I think it's really good.
Speaker: And I'm really proud of it. I'm really excited to see David draw it. David really really liked it. He's really excited about some of the stuff that I came up with based on his plot. And...
Speaker: I just, it's really fun. I really enjoyed it. I like writing comics. I like writing. Who'd have thought?
Speaker: And I feel like I'm really good at it. Who'd have thought? I have been doing it for a long time. Yeah. ah So I do want to let everyone know, if you're not already following David Wynn on Patreon, you can ah sign up to that Patreon for free and get those comics.
Speaker: And you can even get PDFs of one and two so you can read them all and see if you can pinpoint the exact moment where where I took over. ah You'll definitely be able to tell that I ah wrote the third issue because a um a cop shows up.
Speaker: And I give him the the full us doing a British accent voice. He is ah in the kitchen, so to speak.
Speaker: I mean, there isn't anybody else in there anymore. Ain't anybody else in there. if if anybody else is in there, they got kicked out. Yeah. yeah ah But yeah, it's very exciting. ah Definitely check that out. I'm really ah looking forward. And between ah number two and number three, while I was doing script number three, David just dropped like an entire new comic ah in yeah his series Boomslang.
Speaker: So there's a lot going on there. David's ah an absolute joy to work with. ah And ah as as Brett the Hitman Hart would say, a jam-up guy.
Speaker: ah So ah go check that out. I think ah Steel Tango 3 should be starting within the next couple weeks. ah You're going to be getting, like I think it's three pages a week of it until we get to the 24 pages of number three. And again, I had a really good time writing it.
Speaker: I would love to write more comic scripts, maybe for money. If you have money and you want me to write you a comic script.
Speaker: Just a thought. Matt, what have you been up to? Chris, it's my birthday. It's your birthday! In fact, my birthday is going to be the exact day that this episode goes up.
Speaker: Okay, so so to beef to be fair, when I said happy Pride at the start of the show and not happy birthday, it is Pride for both of us, for me and you.
Speaker: as we record, it's not your birthday yet. that's That is true. ah That is absolutely true. And also, but my birthday is during Pride Month, and that is great. I'm i'm happy – to share it and also ah step aside if I need to. I think you get to celebrate your birthday. It is my birthday. I have some some fun stuff planned for the weekend. a nice dinner.
Speaker: a ah Some bowling, which I've made clear is is a sport I dearly love and have been doing for a long time.
Speaker: ah I'm going to see our mutual friend Ben Gully. Love that guy. I am going to just hang out with friends and and try to have a good weekend. so Now, on my actual birthday, i I have not taken the day off from work. I'm just going to work, and then I'm going to go to ah my sketch writing class, which I'm taking, and and just try to have a chill day on the actual day. but Nice.
Speaker: Now, I did ask you recently. I said, hey, Matt, What do you want for your birthday? hu You did not give me a good answer.
Speaker: I thought I gave a great answer. i get i i gave a true answer. Okay, well you okay how about this? you gave You gave me a good ah good answer. You didn't give me a helpful answer. i didn't give you a thing to buy.
Speaker: You didn't give me a gift I could give you. When you said, what do you want for your birthday? I said, rest, peace, contentment. And those are the things I want.
Speaker: You do see how that doesn't help me. I do know how that doesn't help you, but i have a hard time thinking of things that I want, but concepts and feelings that I want, I think about all the time.
Speaker: I think this is this is evidence that I'm turning 43 because all I want is a break. Lord have mercy. Matt, I can't give you that.
Speaker: I know. I know. I could get you a hat. Yeah, a hat would be great. i would yeah like ah Like a minor league baseball hat. Yeah. Okay. thanks Thanks for the help, bud. Yeah, i did i I do what I can. i do what I can.
Speaker: ever like friend I love you very much. Thanks, buddy. I love you, too. Chris, it's time for some recommendations. What do you have to recommend? Matt, I would like to recommend a video game that ah people have actually been... ah Back when it came out, they requested that we talk about it.
Speaker: Oh, yes. ah This is a video game that I haven't played yet, but i'm i when it goes on sale, I'm i'm going to grab it. ah Well, it it was on sale. So I did grab it, and I think it was on sale because ah some DLC came out.
Speaker: And that game is Marvel Cosmic Invasion. And it's wild. like Gameplay-wise, it's fairly straightforward. It is made by Dotimu. It's like a beat-em-up, right?
Speaker: Yeah, it's ah it's a side-scrolling beat-em-up made by ah Tribute Games and Dotimu, who also made the ah Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredders Revenge game, which is also a really fun game that that we have both played and talked about on the show.
Speaker: yeah That has Miyamoto Usagi in it. So, great game. as is any game that has Miyamoto Usagi. This game is a little bit different in terms of gameplay, just because all of the characters have more of a unique fighting style than the Ninja Turtles, which makes it pretty interesting to play.
Speaker: Now, here's the part that's weird. First of all, it is It's styled along the lines of the X-Men arcade game or the Avengers beat-em-up or ah something like that.
Speaker: But it's also like very clearly influenced by like visually by Marvel vs. Capcom, like particularly in the way Wolverine and Spider-Man stand. it's like if you're if you're a real head,
Speaker: You'll be like, I know that. I know that pose. I know that stance. That Spider-Man wants to take me for a ride. Uh-huh. Absolutely. butter atda The other weird thing is that it's an adaptation of Annihilation.
Speaker: But as though Annihilation happened in 1991. a Sort of. Because here's who's on this roster. Here's who's on this character roster. First of all, some characters you'd expect. Captain America.
Speaker: Iron Man, Black Panther is in there. Storm is in there. Wolverine is in there. It's Wolverine, brown costume. ah But you can unlock some yellow and blue if you're really dedicated. Also, you can unlock his Uncanny X-Force costume, which is kind of wild.
Speaker: The black and gray? Black and gray with the the red eyes. yeah yeah We got Venom and Spider-Man. They're in there. The DLC characters, ah Cyclops, in ah his Jim Lee costume with a jacket, Matt. The the brown the like brown leather jacket? Brown jacket with the X on the shoulder.
Speaker: Yeah. ah we We got Bashful Benjamin J. Groom, the ever-loving blue-eyed thing. He was also in the DLC. Silver Surfer. She-Hulk.
Speaker: Rocket Raccoon. Phoenix. Jean Grey Phoenix.
Speaker: Beta Ray Bill. Cosmic Ghost Rider, who I remind you is Frank Castle from the future from an alternate dimension. That's right.
Speaker: Who becomes Ghost Rider and a Herald of Galactus. And Phyla Vell. Oh, and and also Nova, but Nova in his with his Derek Robertson long hair from 91. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: ah That's a bananas roster of characters.
Speaker: It feels very like Avengers Forever, where it's a bunch of characters from different time periods who have been brought together. Yeah.
Speaker: now Now, do not under any circumstances get it twisted. It is a roster that I am into. It is... look We've talked about this with Swamp Thing. It's for heads only.
Speaker: it is it's It's for the real sickos, of which we are. I just think there's nothing funnier than the fact that this game has Beta Ray Bill, but not Thor.
Speaker: Yeah. It has She-Hulk, but not Hulk. It has Rocket Raccoon, but none of the other Guardians of the Galaxy.
Speaker: I mean, you'd have to suspect that those characters are going to arrive... in in DLCs. But also, like I kind of love that because it kind of has the feel of like a Marvel Comics event where like some of the characters just aren't there yeah for whatever reason. Or like it's happening at a particular time period where like Thor is doing something else or is dead for a little while or whatever, and so he's he's just not there.
Speaker: i I also think it's like very funny that this this game is kind of like... It's a retro-style beat-em-up, so it's like...
Speaker: but so So some of the characters are designed to be characters as they were in the early 90s. But it's adapting a story that is also from 20 years ago.
Speaker: yeah Annihilation came out in 2006. Yeah. yeah Very fun. Very funny. It's a hoot. I just checked on the Switch store, and it's still $30 there. But as soon as it goes on sale there, I'll get it. Because it's a game I feel like I definitely want to play on the Switch.
Speaker: ah so So we'll see. We'll see. why It's a little cheaper. Much like ah Shredder's Revenge, I think this is one ah that that if the next time one of us comes to visit the other...
Speaker: We're going to be spending some time. Because there are there's cameos I don't want to tell you about that I need you to see.
Speaker: okay But a very, very fun game. It's fully voiced. There's ah like... I mean, I guess you would still call them cutscenes, but they're like you know like Marvel vs. Capcom cutscenes. They're like still images with ah text. And I'm pretty sure those are drawn by Todd Nock.
Speaker: It's either Todd Nock or someone who draws very much like Todd Nock. oh But, you know, that's that's great. seeing Well, first of all, seeing Phy LaVelle in a game. Seeing Phy LaVelle in anything is great.
Speaker: But especially a video game where she has a cool sword and fights people. Like, that's the other It's not Phy LaVelle from 1991. It's from
Speaker: and So like Phyla Bell with like her like skull on her chest and all of that stuff? No, but she does have her Quasar sword. Okay, yeah, gotcha. Her Starbrand sword, her New Universe sword.
Speaker: Yeah. Comics wild, Matt. I like them. ah What would you like to recommend to everybody? Chris, my recommendation is a film. I actually went to the movies last weekend.
Speaker: A rare event. Matt Wilson at the movies? Unbelievable, right? I went to the movies, and what I saw was one of the two horror movies that is beating Star Wars at the box office.
Speaker: ah And it was the one that's been ah out for a little bit longer, Obsession. And I'm recommending it to a lot of our listeners, but Chris, I am not recommending it to you.
Speaker: Hmm. i see I see. I did see a trailer for it. It is a movie that, number one, and a big part of the reason I'm not recommending it to you, um is that it is a bummer. I'm i'm going to tell you straight up, like by the end, you like feel kind of bad for everybody. Yeah, I think I would have an easier time with the horror than seeing something that it made me sad.
Speaker: take pills for that. Yeah. ah like The ending is a bummer, but... like is kind of what the movie... like It's kind of the only way it could have ended and worked, but um but it is kind of a bummer at the end.
Speaker: I will say this, though. It is a movie to see entirely for the ah the performance of the lead actress. like there There has been Oscar buzz for for this... like mid low to mid-budget horror movie, or low budget, not even for a million dollars, low budget horror movie um about like you know ah a relationship with
Speaker: a a young adult romantic relationship. Uh, but the, the lead actress, whose name is Indy Navarette, who I've never seen in anything else, but apparently was a character on the Lois and Clark TV show.
Speaker: Superman and Lois, not. Oh yeah. Not Lois and Clark. Superman and Lois. Lois and had Dean Cain and Terry Hatch. Yes. That show was on before she was born. Um, she was a character in, um, Superman and Lois.
Speaker: Uh, She delivers a performance that is like instantly star-making. Just like unbelievably good.
Speaker: she She is forced to, not forced to, but asked to do a lot of on-a-dime emotional shifts. Because without giving too much away about the movie, she has essentially...
Speaker: She's essentially under a spell through a lot of the movie. And ah as such, is behaving oddly throughout.
Speaker: And in the hands of a lesser actress, that... request could have come off as really like forced, as really corny, as um overacting, as like a lot of bad things. But she makes it look effortless. And she is so good.
Speaker: I think the us the like the awards buzz for her for this movie is like... very, very much deserved. She is unbelievably great in that movie.
Speaker: Also, you know how Chris, I used to say that um I won't do Letterboxd because it's it's ah it's free work? Well, I've kind of changed my mind about that a little bit.
Speaker: ah Okay. but but But I'm not actually doing like full reviews on Letterboxd. Sort of like you, I'm just – my reviews on Letterboxd are just jokes.
Speaker: Here's the thing about Letterboxd being free work, Matt. like you You use other social media. I mean, yes. ah But they're specifically talking about movies I have watched is like my job.
Speaker: I mean, yeah. But I did review Obsession on Letterboxd, and my review was just, would make an excellent double feature with Friendship 2025.
Speaker: Now, that's a movie I liked. Because they are strangely similar isnt in what they are about. Now, I will say, ah when you said ah that this movie was beating Star Wars at the box office, it did take me like a minute.
Speaker: I was like, is there a Star Wars movie out? There is. and then I remembered, and like the reason I don't know about it is because don't trust that little fucker. I don't like him. ah Greg. Right. you you have You have made clear that you believe ah Greg is is MAGA.
Speaker: And he did a appear... 1000%. He did appear in a w WWE show, um seemingly confirming it. so Yeah.
Speaker: I don't like Greg. Don't trust him. Anyway, Obsession is very good. And if you haven't seen it, ah you should watch it at least when it comes out on streaming. It is very, very much worth a watch.
Speaker: Chris, those are our Checks and Wrecks, which means it's time to talk about some comics. Let's do it.
Speaker: The comic that I'm going to bestow with the texture choice for this week is Harley and Ivy number six, which is I think not planned, it wasn't planned to have been, but is ah the final issue of the series.
Speaker: i think you can tell in the book that Erica is quickly wrapping it up. But with that in mind, it is still very good.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, if only there was one way we could find out. I know. If only. we if only like it does There is like a little thing in the back that ah is, you know... that there Instead of saying the end, it says, like, we'll be back. Which which isn't quite never the end. Which always means you ain't gonna see this for a while.
Speaker: yeah But yeah, like I do hope we get more of of this series in particular. The reason it's the texture's choice is because... I texted you and Benito, who you two do a podcast with ah Erica Henderson.
Speaker: That's right. ah That's all about horror movies. It used to be about Chucky. Then it was about The Purge. Now it's about Saw. Yeah, it was it was only temporarily about The Purge until we realized The Purge was too too much of a reminder of the world. little too real. little too real for for The Purge.
Speaker: And what I said was... Erica's so good. I hate it.
Speaker: Like... It sucks, man. it sucks to know someone who's that good at comics.
Speaker: Like... don't know. Look, it doesn't suck. It's great. Erica's great. And this comic's great. But that you know there is that there is that very jealous part of me that's like, if oh if I was that good at anything...
Speaker: yeah Yeah, there's there is a particular panel in this issue, which is Mahogel looking down at a at a cooking pot. saying, Lord, forgive me, I've got to go back to the old me.
Speaker: It's so good. It's so good. Yeah. And honestly, even, you know, you know i I have also oh written a comic that ah unexpectedly had to cram everything into half an issue.
Speaker: Yeah. And even with that, like, this this whole series is an absolute hoot. And I think if you're going to have any two characters...
Speaker: have this series, have a moment where they're like, yeah, then that was over, and then we were all then we were together, and it was great. It should be these two characters who have been kind of bickering through the narration for six issues.
Speaker: Yeah, i would when we had Erica on the show, when this book started, I asked her, who are they talking to like Somebody's clearly asking them questions, like they're telling this story to someone, who are they talking to? And Erica...
Speaker: I think Kay faved me and said, oh I don't know. Clearly, according to the by by what happens in this issue, she had somebody in mind, and it is somebody you would do would have never guessed, and it's a great like reveal.
Speaker: it's ah It's a fantastic gag. I would almost believe that that that was a, I'll figure it out when I get there. Could be. Could be. But whatever process it was, the reveal of who they're talking to is, it it was, it it got a ha out of me.
Speaker: um It's very good. Yeah. Yeah. Erica's good, man. Erica's good at making comic books. She sure is. I'm glad to know her. Yes.
Speaker: That's Erica Henderson that we're talking about, by the way. The writer and artist of this book. Yes. um And also, ends with a tongue kiss. Straight up.
Speaker: sorry Sorry if I'm spoiling that for you. Happy Pride. Next up, Chris, we're going to talk about Batman number 10. The book where ah by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez, as this run has been entirely. This is the issue where police commissioner Vandal Savage thinks he has Batman, like thinks he's put Batman down, thinks he's like, he's, he's raided all kinds of different, you know, Batman outposts.
Speaker: The Bat family has had to go to ground Barbara's in jail. Barbara's in jail. And he thinks... Yes. and So Vandal Savage thinks he's got it all taken care of.
Speaker: He walks by the break room and Jim Gordon's in there and they kind of give each other a look. And Vandal Savage goes, brave man. But as we know, Batman always has a plan.
Speaker: There's a... There's a panel in this where Barbara Gordon gives like sends a video message to the Batman family and is like, hey, everybody, just so you know, me getting captured, that's part of the plan.
Speaker: yeah ah And she says, yeah, Batman always wins. Which... Which, two things about that. One, I love that she's like, yeah, man have you read these things?
Speaker: But Batman wins. Like, you know. but Come on, guys. Two, what's amazing is that's not my favorite line in the book.
Speaker: Yeah. ah Which, my favorite line in the book is when ah Batman's trying to figure out who this guy at the center of this ah web of crime is, and he goes, I think the man we're dealing with is a capitalist.
Speaker: Get his ass, Bruce. Get his ass, Bruce. There's also a ah bit in this issue where Bruce Wayne is at Wayne Industries, and they're like...
Speaker: we've got an We've got a responsibility to our shareholders to make as much money as possible, and we've got to sell our stuff for military applications. And Bruce just likes throws this guy's tablet against the wall.
Speaker: Like, no, we're not going to do that. It rocks. If you were an investor, you would fucking hate Bruce Wayne. Probably, yeah. yeah ah But it rocks. That that bit rocks.
Speaker: ah And then, ah at the very end of the issue, Batman reveals his new Bat-Signal, which is just an absolutely stunning two-page spread.
Speaker: Yeah, Jorge Jimenez. It's good. He good. Or actually, I guess it's just a splash page. It's not a two-page spread. But either way, it's it's beautiful.
Speaker: Just beautiful. Yeah, man. Good stuff. but Good stuff. This Fraction run on Batman is like everything I want it to be from from Batman by Matt Fraction.
Speaker: Yeah. it I think it's his best run since Hawkeye. that's That's bold. i I think it is. okay I'm not saying you're wrong. Yeah. ah All right. Finally, we're going to talk about Fantastic Four number 12, which I have not read. So Chris, tell me all about it.
Speaker: This is a one-shot story. um when i When I emailed Ryan North about oh the Invincible Woman ah story arc and whose decision it was to have Galactus in the same position as Yamcha, one of the things he mentioned was that the the next ah bunch of issues coming up are all going to be one-issue stories. Yeah.
Speaker: that he was looking forward to those being really fun little bites of comics. And ah the plot of this one is that Johnny and Reed go back to the Roman Empire to fight aliens who are messing with time stream.
Speaker: And really the relevant the the relevant thing is ah that at one point, Reed asks Johnny how often he thinks about the Roman Empire. And Johnny says, have normal amount, you?
Speaker: And Reed goes, Sam, Now, I think for the two of them, those mean two different things. you You would be surprised, because you find out that Johnny knows how to say flame on in Latin.
Speaker: And he says that is what the normal amount of thinking about the Roman Empire is. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if we've actually talked about this. I think about the Roman Empire a lot.
Speaker: But I have a eight temporarily on hiatus ah Bible podcast that Correct. With a with a scholar ah who speaks Greek and Latin, who you also know.
Speaker: me Who I'm sure thinks about the Roman Empire quite a bit. Sure. So I think I think about the Roman Empire an above average amount. But not like that.
Speaker: but I mean, not like not like imagining myself in command of a legion, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I mean. that like Not in the red flag kind of way. No, no, no. Yeah. How often do you think about the Roman Empire, Matt?
Speaker: I don't know. Every once in a while. I think about the Roman Empire in relation to where we are right now with some regularity. You think about how we're like three weeks away from there being a horse in the Senate.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Same. Same.
Speaker: I think about who would be our Nero. I think we i think we i think
Speaker: Alright, that's it for our comic segment. Chris, now it's time to talk about some Fantastic Four comics from like 15 years ago. Let's do it.
Speaker: It's time for Hick Mania. American Man. He's American Man. FF number six has a cover by Paul Mounts in which Black Bolt is coming right at us.
Speaker: he's He's like jumping toward us with energy coming off of his little tuning fork. As if to say, hey, everybody, don't worry about this one.
Speaker: Black Bolt's in it. Yeah. I'm going to try to get through this issue as quickly as possible. This is by Jonathan Hickman with art by Greg Tocchini. I think it's Tocchini, probably. think Tocchini, yeah.
Speaker: ah who um is on the next two issues. And here's what you need to know about the events of this issue. um This is happening in the aftermath of War of Kings, a Marvel event that a lot of people don't remember anymore, ah for probably good reason.
Speaker: It was was fine. It was fine. But it was an event in which the Kree teamed up with the Inhumans to go to war with the Shi'ar.
Speaker: And the Kree and the Inhumans won, but in the process, Black Bolt seemingly died. yeah The Shi'ar, who at the time were being led by the Third Summer's brother.
Speaker: That's right. Who's Vulcan, right? That's Vulcan. Vulcan, yeah. yeah ah So... This issue brings Black Bolt back.
Speaker: It also flashes back to like 300,000 years ago. Where doess the Kree are planning their Terrigenesis plans. These are the the the use of the Terrigen mists that created the Inhumans.
Speaker: And While they're planning this and like uploading data into the Supreme Intelligence about it, the Supreme Intelligence comes to learn from a priest that somebody created by this Terra Genesis process is going to be the destruction of the Supreme Intelligence. And as that's happening, we see...
Speaker: like a symbol that is essentially the tuning fork fork from Black Bolt's head. So it is definitely Black Bolt who is going to be the downfall of the Kree Supreme Intelligence.
Speaker: I kind of can't, like i I legitimately can't tell if I like this or not, where the the priest is like, you have constructed a divergent path and it is the symbol of your end.
Speaker: And the divergent path is the tuning fork that Black Bolt and his dog have. Yeah, but it it, it, it, it ain't Lockjaw that he's talking about. Well, well, we don't know.
Speaker: I mean, I don't know, but I, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure. Uh, I think a lot doesn't, an integral part. I mean, I, I don't disagree, but I, clearly this is setting up Black Bolt to be, um, a threat to,
Speaker: ah Kree, Supreme Intelligence, the Inhumans.
Speaker: the least interested i've ever been in this book the cree the shiar the supreme intelligence the humans This, I feel like, is definitive proof that that shit ain't ever getting over.
Speaker: Because, like, this is good. And, you know, Greg Ticchini does a great job drawing it. Yeah, the the art is the art is very good, yeah. if If we didn't like Jonathan Hickman, we wouldn't be doing this.
Speaker: But it's still, like, legitimately reading this and being like... Why is why are we getting any of this? And where are the characters whose book this is?
Speaker: I mean, this is this is just getting Black Bolt back to where Hickman wants him to be post-War of Kings. Gotta get him to his five wives. You gotta get him to his five wives, because...
Speaker: we're doing the four cities, the war of the four cities, and the Inhumans are a big part of that, and so we've got to have Black Bolt back. that i that's That's what six and seven are.
Speaker: And, you know, but it's this is supposed to be a book about the Future Foundation, and they're not in these two issues at all. yeah So FF number seven has Black Bolt fighting Ronan, the accuser, on the cover. Is it an Annie Hubert cover?
Speaker: No, this is also Paul Meltz. Oh. But ah it looks good. Andy Lanning was the inker. That's who signed it. Oh, it is signed by Andy. ah But yeah. ah So this is also by Jonathan Hickman and Greg Ticchini.
Speaker: Black Bolt, who... instead of dying, just got sent to like the far reaches of space. um We see him like fighting like a spice octopus thing for a while. Then Lockjaw finds him... or For like a panel, until he says, Release me.
Speaker: It's for a couple pages. It's for a couple pages. Yeah, but then he says that and turns it into turns it into goo. Yeah. I do like that. I do like the the little the way that that is littered with the balloon with the tiniest letters.
Speaker: Yeah. ah And then Lockjaw finds Sim, takes him back to holla Hello! Hello! The homeworld of the Kree. Black Bolt returns. The Kree are all told, okay, your king's back. Black Bolt is here.
Speaker: And the Kree are like, okay, but we're we're not doing as good as we should be because you've been gone. And so Black Bolt has to be like, well, but I'm i'm awake.
Speaker: And he says that like in his full voice and creates a big crater around where he's sitting. Yeah, because this dude is talking shit to Black Bolt. He's like, hey, man.
Speaker: Hey, why aren't you like you can run away? You can run away from from ruling your space empire. And then when he creates that crater, you see that that dude that dude has a that dude's open now.
Speaker: He sure is. he's He's closed and is now open. Yeah. ah Then Black Bolt and the Inhumans return to the moon, ah to ah their home on the moon, and and reunite with the Universal Inhumans. And now Black Bolt is back, reunited with his five wives.
Speaker: and And so all of the five wives of all of the different groups of Universal Inhumans are like, we're here for you, ah Black Bolt. And also Medusa is very cool with it.
Speaker: yeah Now, the one lady who is Queen Aladikoake, who I don't know, is is she a she a Badoon? Because we've got the... Oh, what's Yondu? The Alpha Centurions. We've got the Alpha Centurions, we've got the Chimelians, who are the horse people.
Speaker: We've got ah the Dire Wraiths, I think, is ah is Avo. And then this one, I think she's a Badoon. Aladiko Eke, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: She says, if you are able, we will have sons. That is a backhanded compliment. A little bit, but it does make you wonder, is Black Bolt supposed to fuck that horse? I mean, she's one of his wives, so yes.
Speaker: Like, I know she's not a horse horse. Like, I know she's a chimelian. She's a horse person, yeah. She's a she's a horse. She's got a full horse head. She's got a full horse head and neck and hooves.
Speaker: Yeah. Like, is Blackwell supposed to fuck that horse? I guess so. Somebody ask Jonathan Hickman if Blackwell supposed to fuck that horse. The interesting thing about what Eladiko Eki says, that if you are able, we will have sons thing.
Speaker: She's not like, if I am able. She's like, if you are able. Yeah, man. it
Speaker: I mean, to to be fair, I don't believe Black Bolt has a kid. Black Bolt Medusa, do they have kids? Is there a junior Boltagon out there?
Speaker: Junior Gar Boltagon. He has one son who is Ahura, who is listed on the Marvel Wiki as son slash second cousin once removed.
Speaker: Ah, man. The humans are weird. what It's a royal family, man. It's a royal family. Yeah. All right. That is it for FF number six and seven. Now we get to the characters we want to read about in FF number eight.
Speaker: We are back to ah the the council of villains who have been recruited to take down the the bad reads And we get all of them on the cover, which is another Daniel Akuna cover. He's back.
Speaker: I like that the two AIM guys are there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's the two AIM guys. There's the Mad Thinker and one of his androids.
Speaker: There's the High Evolutionary. There's Diablo. There's ah the Wizard and Doctor Doom in his cool white robe and hood. Yeah. I think that's such a good look.
Speaker: Tell you who else is back in this issue. Tell me. Steve Epting. he's Steve Epting is back. Also, this cover has two instances of the trihexagonal symbol for the Future Foundation.
Speaker: ah But yes. sir Oh. You know what? What? misread... The cover artist on the last two issues, because that's the color artist Paul Mounts.
Speaker: So let me find out who the cover artist actually is on those two. ah Because i don't want to. It's Mark Bagley. mark It's Mark Bagley on six.
Speaker: Yeah. Mark Bagley on six. Mark Bagley on seven. It's also Mark Bagley on seven? Yeah. Okay. I should have known, because it does look like Mark Bagley art.
Speaker: ah Paul Mounts is doing colors. ah Okay. Sorry for that misread. um okay We were really just trying to blow through those Inhumans issues as fast as we could.
Speaker: Now, 8 also kicks off with the Inhumans again, who have shown up at the forever city of the High Evolutionary to...
Speaker: Seize it. it's It's where we left off at the end of issue five, with the Inhumans showing up at the High Evolutionary's Forever City. Where the three bad reeds are, and chaos ensues when they show up, ah flying around on Atalon.
Speaker: Then we cut to siex Storm talking to Nathaniel Richards, and And she's like, look, Reed might be happier here and might think you know everything because you're from the future.
Speaker: But i i I don't believe everything you say. I gotta say, this is a hot suit. I mean, shes she's very commanding here. Yeah. she's She's sitting in an office chair like Sharon Stone.
Speaker: Being real stern. yeah so Don't show those people who are really into Marvel Rivals. Don't show them this. They'll they'll they'll lose it. I mean, she doesn't have like a dump truck here, but which is what everybody in Marvel Rivals likes. But she is like very commanding. was like, I just gotta do a quick Google image search.
Speaker: by one complaint my My one complaint about Epting is that it is hard for me to look at his drawings of Sue and not see Sharon Carter from his cap run.
Speaker: Yeah, there is there is a similarity there. There's a real facial similarity between the two, yeah. ah But, you know, so it goes. So it goes.
Speaker: Boy, Matt, you weren't kidding. Buddy? That's not in the game, though. like that's That's just in like key art. It's, I mean, look, the game, it like many video games, you see your character from behind all the time.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm just saying that's what people who like that game are into.
Speaker: it Look, it seems to be. seen Everybody in that game got a dump truck. people People like the that game.
Speaker: People love that game. I have not played it, but people are people are into it. i I'm not a fan of those like arena fighter shooter kind of games. It's like an Overwatch, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's it's just not for me.
Speaker: It's not for me. But um i I'm glad people like it. I'm very glad people like it. Susan – like, Reed shows up, and there's ah there's a moment where Nathaniel is like, have you told Susan everything?
Speaker: And Reed's like, I told her everything. and And so Nathaniel's like, how is any of that my fault? And Sue's like, fine, but also why is Dr. Doom here?
Speaker: And Nathaniel's like, sacrifices have to be made so we can get the future in the place it needs to be. and And we have to prepare for war. And so they're all getting ready to go to the high evolutionary city. And Sue's ready to go. But then Reed is like, no, no, no. You just had a concussion.
Speaker: So stay please stay home. And she's like, okay. Then there's a ah fun exchange where Reed walks out into the hall and Spider-Man's out there. Spider-Man goes, how'd it go?
Speaker: And he goes, what's your least favorite thing to do? And he says, dentist. And Reed goes, then root canal. And um I think it's very funny that Spider-Man's least favorite thing to do is go to the dentist.
Speaker: And exactly correct. I mean, you would think that the Spider-Man's least favorite thing to do would be trying to catch his girlfriend. After she's thrown off the George Huntington Bridge.
Speaker: Burying his uncle, yeah. But no, it's going to the dentist. It's going to the dentist. Yeah. Yeah. Spider-Man got all the the villains who are teaming up with them temporarily to wear FF costumes. So they're all wearing white costumes, which is very fun. They've all white costumes, which is pretty good.
Speaker: Yeah. And then they all go to the Forever City, and ah they get involved in the big fight ah there. The High Evolutionary tells his evolved-up mole people to take him to his machine.
Speaker: But then Black Bolt comes rolling in and just starts yelling. And Reed's like, I thought Black Bolt was dead. But no, here he is, yelling.
Speaker: Meanwhile... ah Valeria has been grounded to her room, and she's trying to like sabotage the system that's keeping her in her room. And it's not working, and she's getting extra groundedness time.
Speaker: And then Bentley solders through the wall, or like yeah like you know blasts through the wall ah with a blowtorch and gets her out.
Speaker: Meanwhile, back at the Forever City, the Inhumans are kind of just like taking over. ah But there is a point where one of the alternate reads ends up face-to-face with Doom, and he explains to Doom about how he's like captured every Doom from every universe, and Dooms always go down.
Speaker: Also, the mad thinker in Diablo turn on Doom and light him on fire. yeah And that is where the issue ends. Which, look, gotta respect the moxie.
Speaker: Of Diablo and the Mad Thinker. Yeah. Thinking even together they could handle this. ah I do also like that when ah Medusa shows up and and teleports Reed away, Steve Efding draws a real thick lockjaw.
Speaker: Yeah, his lockjaw big. He's just thought he' sort like a ah big old blob boy. Yeah. I love him. um There's also like a thing where Medusa's like...
Speaker: what's What's the deal with these other reads? ah But we'll get to more of that in a minute. FF number nine has Nathaniel Richards, Doctor Doom, and Reed Richards on the cover.
Speaker: um There's like lightning going through Doctor Doom's hand. It's another Daniel Acuna cover, so it looks great. But for some reason, Doctor Doom is back in green. i don't i think he's in white and that's just the light from the light shadow shadow okay because it's more of a blue than a green i guess uh but it it's not super representative of dr doom in this issue anyway because he's he he gets unhooded in this um once again jonathan hickman steve epting but new anchor rick magyar
Speaker: Joins this issue. um This issue starts with Dr. Doom getting up and he's saying, like you think you can beat me with fire? I've been on fire so many times. He might as well point at Diablo and the Mad Thinker and shake his head. Yeah.
Speaker: And go, you. look There is a great line where he says, the world be damned. Doom endures. that's Now that's the... that's I talked earlier about how like Doom was a little bit like low-key for Dr. Doom. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: This is this is my dude right here. yeah that's That's how Doctor Doom talks. um But he like zaps Mad Thinker and Diablo away.
Speaker: ah and And they're done. Reed gets teleported to Adalon and Nathaniel too. And Medusa's like, how do you like Adalon, Nathaniel Richards?
Speaker: And Nathaniel's like, oh, I've seen it a thousand years from now when it's a lot bigger. And all Medusa says to that is fascinating. Yeah, which I feel like is her of saying, okay, asshole. Yeah.
Speaker: Then Black Bolt shows up there's a discussion of him having five wives, and Spider-Man's like, what the fuck? That seems a little bit out of character to me. being Being judgmental about Black Bolt having five wives? Well, Spider-Man making a joke about, like, I mean, who in their right mind has five wives? It's like, Peter, you would love to have five wives.
Speaker: You've had so many girlfriends at the same time, dude. Like, you would, you... Peter, you would thrive under polyamory. Trust me. I'm surprised, given the time period that this came out, that there wasn't like a joke about big love.
Speaker: um and I don't know, man. Hickman was from for is from South Carolina. I don't think we got HBO back in 2011. not. did get h hbo yeah back in back in two thousand and eleven yeah maybe not Reed tells the Inhumans about these alternate Reeds and how they got to be ah dealt with.
Speaker: And the Inhumans are just like, we'll take care of it all. Just go home. like black bolt Black Bolt's got to deal with it. And Reed's like, well, what if I disagree? And the the five wives are standing in a line and they're like, Black Bolt isn't asking for permission. so that's they've They've put their foot down.
Speaker: what Quite literally, because Gorgon shows up and beats up all of these super-evolved guys. And then ah fucking Karnak shows up.
Speaker: yeah And then Maxima shows up in a a fucking Gundam.
Speaker: ah Then ah Valeria and Bentley are hanging out in the but Baxter building, and there's this bit where Bentley is trying to get Valeria to choose between like two lunch bags.
Speaker: And... ah Valeria like sees his tell of licking his lips, so she picks the good bag, which has a Pop-Tart in it. And then the other one has an apple, which Bentley hates.
Speaker: And we learned we see that they're sitting in the room with the bridge in it. And Bentley is like, this room is very dangerous, or it could be very safe, because I'm evil. you know it's kind of Unless i missed it it's kind of weird. There's no mention at all that Medusa and the wizard used to be on a team together.
Speaker: You know what? That's true. Cause, cause they were all up in the frightful floor. Yeah. I mean, I guess you don't have to mention everything you did in your past. Every time it shows up. I mean, Matt, you know, you and I don't open every show by talking about how we both worked for cracked magazine.
Speaker: That's true. That's true. It's, you know, it's ancient history, I guess, by this point. Yeah. Um, But also, I feel like this is new characterization for Bentley.
Speaker: like He hasn't really talked about being a bad guy much until now. Yeah, well, Bentley is not talking about like, yeah, I want to build my supervillain lair to look like this. Yeah. ah Anyway, yeah, the Inhumans just start like wrecking house outside ah the high evolutionary city. And Capturor...
Speaker: Two of the evil reeds. Two of the alternate reeds. Yeah, Karnat gets him. Yeah, this is this is where Maximus shows up and is just like using a full, I don't know, mech.
Speaker: Yeah, man. Maximus in his fucking Gundam. Yeah. So yeah, they capture two of the reeds the Inhumans do. But not all three.
Speaker: Because one of the Reeds, the one that hook looks like he has like the Starfleet logo on his chest, it's like not quite the Starfleet logo, but it's close. He captures Dr. Doom. He puts one of those shot collars around Dr. Doom's neck and just escapes with him.
Speaker: And 616 Reeds is like, we gotta go get that other Reeds. And the Inhumans are like, no, no, no, we'll deal with it. We'll deal with it in time. You gotta go. you You have to leave right now. Go through this door that is our friend, Eldrak. This is the second best Inhuman.
Speaker: Eldrak the door. Eldrak the door. Yeah. Best Inhuman, obviously, is that thick old dog. And we get a great panel where, like... ah Black Bolt and Medusa are talking to Reed, and in the foreground, um Spider-Man's given Lockjaw all the scritchies.
Speaker: That's good stuff. Very cute. And then they came to their friend, Eldrak, the door. Yes. And they explain that when you go through this door, you're going to go to where you need to be. Eldrak will take you where you need to be.
Speaker: And so Nathaniel Reed and Spider-Man all walk through. And that is the end of that issue.
Speaker: FF number 10 has what looks like a Steve Epting painted cover.
Speaker: it's It's beautiful. um But it has ah the thing, Spider-Man and Sue Storm fighting...
Speaker: Kree alongside the Universal Inhumans. Did you catch that peel of thunder just now? I did hear some thunder, yes. Ominous. Maybe we better wrap this up quick.
Speaker: Very cool cover. I like this cover a whole lot. It's my favorite of the ones so far in this batch. yeah This is a Steve Epting painted cover, and it's... yeah Well, it's got it's it's got ah that horse lady on it.
Speaker: Sure does. um Or a horse lady. I don't know if it's... Well, she's got the tuning fork. Okay, I guess it's her then, yeah. um Although I guess all of the like Universal Inhumans have tuning forks, not just the queens.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know. But um there are two of the... yeah The Yondu people on the cover. So I don't know. Three? Three. There are three of them, yeah. Interestingly enough, but ah Steve Epting is not doing the art this issue. It's Barry Kitson.
Speaker: um Which is still, you know, it still looks pretty good. So we find out where all three of the people who went through Eldrak, the door, where they end up.
Speaker: First, Reed Richards, who just goes home. It just sends him to the Baxter building. So that's the first page. Reed goes to the Baxter building. Then we get a scene on the Kree dreadnought Fist of Hala.
Speaker: Hala. Hala. Where um there is some stuff with oh Ronan the Accuser and Crystal. Another thing that happened in War of Kings is that Crystal became betrothed to Ronan.
Speaker: And so there's a whole conversation between the two of them about whether Crystal's going to go back to the Inhumans or whether she's going to stay here with Ronan, who she has vowed to ah like marry and be with. and Or maybe they are married at this point. I don't really know for sure. Yeah, Crystal and Ronan the Accuser are married, which is not a thing that I remembered.
Speaker: Yeah. happened Until this. And essentially, Crystal is like, I'm staying with you. And then there's a shot of the Kree fleet on the way to Earth, ah because they're going to come conquer Earth. That's their plan.
Speaker: So Reed finds Sue in her greenhouse, And he's like, well, I went through a door that tilt that was supposed to send me where I need to be, and I'm here. So this is where I need to be with you.
Speaker: And Sue's like, okay, can you hand me my clippers? And he does, and she like does so a little bit of gardening on some of her roses. And Rita's like... ah
Speaker: what do you think I've been doing? like I've been trying to help. I've been trying to do the right thing. And Sue's like, you've been trying to do it all by yourself.
Speaker: Or you've been recruiting like our enemies. Why don't we talk to our friends? Yeah, man. like I understand that there is one guy in the in the world who has a lot of experience trying to kill Reed Richards.
Speaker: But we do also know Captain in America. Yeah. And like, call Ben, get him back here, and then also, like, let's call some other friends too.
Speaker: And so, that's setting up ah you know some guest appearances a little bit later. And also, Sue is like, and hey, what happened to Victor? And Reed doesn't know.
Speaker: Reed doesn't know what happened to Victor. But, um... we are soon we We soon cut to ah one of the the the one free evil Reed and Doom in Latveria.
Speaker: and and And the evil Reed is like... i' um He essentially tells Doom, like I'm going to get you to do what I need you to do, and then I'm going to lobotomize you like I did every other Doom.
Speaker: And so... I actually really like the speech that he gives him in the last issue where he's like, yeah look, one of these ah I am going to lobotomize you, but you're going to do everything I say because you think that's going to buy you time.
Speaker: Right. Even though I'm telling you this right now. and Yeah, even though I know it won't. Even though I know I win. i You think that by doing everything I say, you're going to figure out a plan, but you won't.
Speaker: Yeah, but you're still going to do it. So they go to Latveria for reasons I'm not really sure of. like ah I suppose to like officially depose Doom from power. assume he wants like some technology that Doom has.
Speaker: Maybe so. And also, there's the whole thing about Kristoff being in charge right now. So maybe he wants to kill Kristoff or something? Not sure. But nonetheless, before they can really do anything, Nathaniel Richards shows up.
Speaker: And this Reed is like, oh my fucking god, Nathaniel Richards, you you fuckers abandoned all of us to go have a ah battle royale.
Speaker: You abandoned your children to go do a Jet Li's The One. Yeah. ah I do not have time for you. And ah Nathaniel's like, oh, no, no, no. the The battle of the Nathaniels is over because I won.
Speaker: And this Reed is like, oh, and the Reed from this world, you're his dad. And Nathaniel's like, yeah. And this Reed is like, I i really started to hate this Reed from this world.
Speaker: It's a wild thing to tell this Reed, by the way, I did kill your dad, who is also me. Yeah, yeah. I killed the me that is your dad. Yeah.
Speaker: um But this Reed assumes, because Nathaniel came through Eldrak to be here, assumes that Nathaniel is here for Doom. To do something to help Doom. And Reed is like... You're at all Doom?
Speaker: You're at all Doom? Is that why you're here? Yeah. And he's like, but I'm not going to let you help Doom. And Nathaniel's like, you fucking idiot. I'm here to help you. In our telling of this, a lot of of characters calling each other fucking idiots. I mean, he does call him an idiot, but he doesn't say fuck it.
Speaker: So then we cut to Avengers Mansion, where Ben is hanging out. He's he's eating one of Jarvis's famous burgers, um which does not look like a hamburger in the art. like i don't know I don't know what Barry Kitson was thinking with this thing.
Speaker: That looks like a ham sandwich on a bun. Yeah, with like lettuce. With like lettuce, yeah. and i mean what is Is that a cherry tomato in there? I mean, it would I'd eat it.
Speaker: it also Jarvis has also made like a little drink with a big ah paper umbrella on it, which is ah delightful. yeah um For Spider-Man. Well, for for Ben Grimm, but also it is revealed that Spider-Man is here. ah and i mean I think so it's partially also the coloring that makes it not look like a hamburger. Yeah.
Speaker: But ah this is where so the Eldrack has sent Spider-Man to come here to convince Ben Grimm to come back and rejoin the Future Foundation.
Speaker: yeah Instead of like hiding around Avengers Mansion and moping, ah which is what he's been doing.
Speaker: And Ben agrees to that, so he's going to come back. Then we cut to Adalon, which the Kree are about to attack.
Speaker: And Crystal seems on board with this, ah despite this being her family that they're attacking.
Speaker: ah Spider-Man returns with Ben. Ben's back on the team. And also... Ben brought with him Captain America, Hawkeye, and Iron Man.
Speaker: who were Very kids were drown good Ben Grimm. He does. Yeah. There's that last page that has Cap, Hawkeye, and Iron Man. his Ben's the thing's mouth is a little weird looking.
Speaker: ah But in general, yeah. He draws a real good thing. Some Avengers are here now to help. Now... In number 11, we get my favorite panel of the entire run so far.
Speaker: But let's let's hop into it. Number 11, cover by Steve Epting. Another painted cover. Ronan the Accuser. With more Kree and Universal Inhumans around as well. It almost looks like it connects to the last cover, even though I don't think it does.
Speaker: I think it might. Oh, maybe. Maybe. it good It's a...
Speaker: like Yeah, I think it does. okay i i' I'm looking at it on Marvel Unlimited, so I don't know. but yeah um it's It's the same kind of background, at least. yeah Pretty.
Speaker: Okay, great. you I love a connecting cover. Yeah, that's good shit. um This is once again by Jonathan Hickman and Barry Kitson.
Speaker: It finishes by ah five different artists. so this one This one must have had some art delays. yeah we got and We got finishes by Barry Kitts and Scott Hanna, Scott Koblish, and Lee Steen and Pennington, whose first names I do not know.
Speaker: yeah ah this This one must say must have been real tight to get done. ah Starts with ah Franklin, who we haven't seen Franklin in a minute.
Speaker: ah At the Baxter building, ah looking out ah talking about all the scary stuff that's going on. And also, Leach is there, and there's just a ah bit about how ah Franklin is telling Leach not to say over when he's done on the walkie-talkie, but all he can think of to say is over.
Speaker: The The best part of the gag is that they are talking on walkie-talkies while they are right next to each other. Yes. it's yeah they're They are right there. Which is like a reveal as the page goes on. It's very funny.
Speaker: They are overlooking Dragon Man and Alex Power and some of the molllos the intelligent moloids working on ah like a ah big engine um that's going to help with the the coming ah the battles.
Speaker: yeah Reed walks by and then does a double take, ah which involves only his head and neck coming back to look at what's going on in the room. And he's like, hey, Valeria, what fuck you doing?
Speaker: And Valeria's like, oh, yeah, you know, we're we're doing something. And he's like, Valeria? Valeria? I am Reed Richards. There's also a bit where Bentley is like, I'm going to need to see some identification.
Speaker: Reed is like, this is my house. Which funny. And Bentley goes, I gotta make sure you're not one of those jerk Reeds. And Reed's response to that is, watch your language, young man. Which makes me think that Bentley was originally scripted to say something else. Yeah, I like to say dick Reeds.
Speaker: Yeah. um Because I don't think you would... I can't imagine getting a watch your language for jerk. I don't know. so Some people are real strict about that. I don't think Reed Richards is one of them.
Speaker: yeah But I... I would not have been surprised if, when I was a child, somebody tried to to get a watcher language for saying jerk.
Speaker: Yeah. Do you know what that means? you know what that means? That's what they would have said. mean, it does, it originates from jerk off, I i guess. Yeah, it's like how nobody thinks about how when you say something sucks, you're saying like it sucks dick.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But anyway, yeah, Reed and Valeria have this conversation where Valeria's kind of like, i'm just going to I'm just trying to make sure things go the way they should.
Speaker: And Reed's like, actually, we're getting some help. I've called in our friends. And Valeria goes, which ones? And he says, all of them. ah Then, back on Adalon, we see that Diablo and the Mad Thinker have been captured as Inhumans and Kree are battling like in inside Adalon.
Speaker: Yeah. all Which is pretty it's pretty funny, because the Mad Thinker is going off on this monologue about how you must expect the unexpected, and then Diablo is just like, Thinker, shut the fuck up. Yeah.
Speaker: ronan We see Ronan find the two captured bad Reeds, and he's like, oh shit, now I have two Reed Richards.
Speaker: like There's only one man in the universe that possesses the innate talent the Kree Empire needs, and I've got two of them. ah So now he has these two Reeds. ah Yeah, and this actually leads to something that I really like in a little bit.
Speaker: We cut from there to the Negative Zone cult, where the anti-priest is talking to a bunch of Annihilus eggs. He's just talking to a bunch of eggs. Talking to some eggs. Yeah. You know, it it helps him grow.
Speaker: Well, one does hatch as he talks to them. so Yeah, man. so so So who's foolish now? Yeah, that's right. he's He's talking to the eggs, and then he's talking we see him talking to Annihilus himself.
Speaker: And he's like, we're almost ready. We've sacrificed the Hive's Queen to launch a thousand new drones who are going to help us go take over um this world's ah negative zone portal.
Speaker: And we'll we'll soon have control of it once again.
Speaker: Then we see Reed, our Reed, 616 Reed, giving a speech about how he has fucked up and he is sorry. he He trusted a bunch of himself himself from other universes. He trusted some of his own villains, but he didn't trust his own friends, which is what he should have done. And then we see that he's talking to a bunch of Avengers, including Red Hulk.
Speaker: Uh-huh. Which is surprising. Yeah, man. Like, what's Red Hulk doing here? Look, okay, look, what's Red Hulk doing there?
Speaker: That's a great question. But you know who else is there? Well, ah Black Panther. it's Kitty Pryde. Black Panther's there. Kitty Pryde's there. Beast is there. Daredevil's there, which is the weirdest one for me.
Speaker: Daredevil, is this when, is it was this part of when when Daredevil was in charge of of the New York Underworld? I think so. Shadow... Shadowland?
Speaker: Shadowland. I just think Daredevil just showed up. Okay. oh Fucking Novar is there. Marvel Boy. Marvel Boy is there. He's in the house in his bag costume.
Speaker: Giant Man Gravity. Spider Woman. oh yeah Yeah, motherfucker. Gravity! My
Speaker: Spider-Woman, Firestar, Spider-Man Thing, Sue. who Who's on the far left over there? ah Is that Marvel Boy? That's Marvel Boy. ah yeah And Iceman. Why is Bob? Yeah, Iceman. She-Hulk.
Speaker: um Pre-Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. I think she may have still been binary at this point. i think she was Warbird again. Warbird, yeah. Wolverine. Actually, i think she was Ms. Marvel again.
Speaker: Oh, okay. um Wolverine, Red Hulk. and the other Another Spider-Woman. Two. Spider-Woman. Yeah. Tigra, Namor. Hilarious that Namor is here.
Speaker: After he just got wrecked by the Atlanteans. Doctor Strange. Who is that next to Doctor Strange? Mockingbird. That's Mockingbird, yes. Oh, because she's next to Hawkeye. That makes sense.
Speaker: um Iron Man, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Yeah, man. Motherfucking gravity. Gravity. Reed Richards says, you are the very best this world has to offer. And that's right. He says that to motherfucking gravity, baby. and I just think it's... Red Hulk is front and center here, and it's so weird that he's there.
Speaker: At the time, he was an Avenger, I think. Okay. Yeah, he was and he was on the Avengers. But your boy, Greg Willis, gravity... It is then a very funny conversation between She-Hulk and Sue happens, where they're like whispering about how they're glad that Ben is back.
Speaker: It's like, oh, congratulations on on getting Ben Grimm off of his butt and bringing him here. but um its seems like But it would be nice if he would like do some stuff around the house, like do the dishes. And there's just a panel of Ben going, I did the dishes last night.
Speaker: i also I also made a note of that panel because it's very funny. It's really funny. And then he's just like sitting there pouting for a minute.
Speaker: And then Sue says, I'm glad you're home, and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. And then we miss most of Reed's speech, Reed and Captain America's speech, about how they're going to go to Atalon and try to fix things.
Speaker: Well, I mean, all all we need to know, i mean, and might as well have brought Squirrel Girl if you're bringing gravity. You know? It's like you bring gravity, it's over.
Speaker: It's over. It's predetermined. So then we get In words John Cena, you hear those horns, you're finished. We get a sequence where in the Forever City, Ronan the Accuser is talking to the two captured Reed's Richard.
Speaker: And his his hammer opens up and And reveals like a ball of goo. And then he transforms these two Reed Richards into, in a very painful process, it seems, into a new supreme intelligence.
Speaker: Yes, because this ties into a thing that we kind of skipped over happening in the other issues, like the Black Bolt-focused issues, which is that 300,000 years ago, the Supreme Intelligence died, but they had a seed that ah he gave to an accuser that was then passed down through the accusers to Ronan.
Speaker: yeah And so now Ronan has turned these two Reed Richardses into the new Supreme Intelligence who has for like four eyes, which is the Supreme Intelligence who shows up in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. By the way, it's this one.
Speaker: Now, here's the thing. The Supreme Intelligence has been around before this? Uh-huh. like the The implication of this is that that old Supreme Intelligence died hundreds of thousands of years ago. Right.
Speaker: And this is the new Supreme Intelligence... But then who was the supreme intelligence we've been seeing in Marvel Comics for however many years before this? There have been multiple supreme intelligences. Because if you remember, one of the supreme intelligences was killed during Operation Galactic Storm.
Speaker: That's right. there was There was one in Avengers Forever that was prominent. Yeah. There have been a lot of Kree supreme intelligences. Well, think the most recent supreme intelligence died previously.
Speaker: In War of Kings, I believe, somewhere around there. But this is the seed of Supreme or the Supreme Intelligence from 300,000 years ago. So they always they always have a Supreme Intelligence. They can always make one. But I don't think that we've seen how they've made one until now.
Speaker: And it's by mashing up two Reed Richardses, which I do actually really like. Because... To make the supreme intelligence, you've got to have two of the smartest men in the universe.
Speaker: Well, I think other supreme intelligences were made up of other things. Well, yes. They weren't made of Reed Richards. Yeah, but like – and must have been made in some other process because this is the seed that we saw 300,000 years ago.
Speaker: um I guess I better read up on like – the supreme to other versions of the Supreme Intelligence. because i you don't I found this rather confusing. No, it is, but I don't think you have to. Okay. So anyway, the Supreme Intelligence is born, and then it says, I live, and Ronan says, yes, Supreme War, you live.
Speaker: Yeah. So this Supreme Intelligence has like the minds of up like a million people from 300,000 years ago at the start of the Kree Empire.
Speaker: but also two interdimensional read references. Right. And his first question is, after i live, and how long have I been dormant, ah his next question after that is, where are my armies?
Speaker: So, shit is maybe about to pop off. The Avengers and the FF are all like gathered on the top of the Baxter building, getting ready to leave on their various vehicles, and then they look up and they see a vast invading Kree force.
Speaker: And that is the end of this batch of FF issues. Now, Chris, chris you said that your favorite like panel in the whole thing so far is in this issue? What what was that?
Speaker: The one where Reed Richards says gravity is the best that Earth has to offer. Oh, okay, great. My boy, dog, my road dog, Greg Willis, gravity? Yeah.
Speaker: ah Yeah, good shit. ah So yeah, we end with an invading Kree force. um As you might suspect, Fantastic Four, now that Ben Grimm is back...
Speaker: returns in the next batch of issues, I believe, based on the reading order list that I have, the next volume is ah Fantastic Four number 600 through 604, so that's what we're going to do. oh I think maybe we should just do Fantastic Four 600.
Speaker: Well, I don't think those... It's 104 pages. it's It does say all new content, so maybe, yeah, we should just do Fantastic Four 600. there It does alternate.
Speaker: The reading order does alternate between Fantastic Four and FF, but I think we're just going to go by trade paperback order. Okay. So the trade paperbacks alternately collect Fantastic Four and FF, and I think that's how we should do it.
Speaker: The first instance... During Hickmania, where we're going to have to be like, okay, these books came out. but You got to read these books in publication order, which means alternating between two or more series.
Speaker: Yes, but I think just for sanity's sake, we're going to read them in trade paperback order. um So the next maybe next we'll just do Fantastic Four 600. Yeah.
Speaker: And then after that, we'll do 601 to 604, and then we'll come back to FF for 12 through 16. Also, there's a very good reason why Fantastic Four comes back right now, because in real-world time, we're in 2011, so it is the 50th anniversary yeah of Fantastic Four.
Speaker: Or no, it I guess we're at 2012 by this point, so... We're a year past the 50th anniversary, but um they are coming back for Fantastic Four 600. Well, FF600 is the 50th anniversary special, so the Fantastic Four 50th anniversary observed. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: Thanks for listening, everybody. If you want to email us, get in touch with us, ah converse with us about Jonathan Hickman comics, you can do it at our email address, which is warrocketpodcast at gmail.com.
Speaker: You can also hit us up on Tumblr, warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com. We're on Blue Sky. warrocketajax.com is where we are on Blue Sky, or is our handle there.
Speaker: um You can also join our Discord. If you want to be a member of our Discord, You have to ask for an invitation, but if you ask us nicely for an invitation, we will get you one, and you can join over there and be part of that community, which is a very nice community of WarRocket Ajax fans.
Speaker: Our website is WarRocketAjax.com. It has every every episode of the show that we've ever done. WarRocketWiki.com is the fan-run repository of all the information you could want or need to know about this show, WarRocketAjax.com.
Speaker: If you would like 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 presences. Chris, where can people find you? ah Everybody can find me by going to the-isb.com. There are links there to things that I do, things that I've written, things that you can read right there on that website.
Speaker: There's links where you can give me $20. That would be cool of you. That would be very cool, yeah. Or where you can hire me to write things for you. But I'll tell you this, if you get in touch with me, you better put some fucking respect on Gravity's name.
Speaker: ah Like Reed Richards did.
Speaker: That does it for Hickmania 7. i'm I'm excited to read this 104-page issue. Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's a blowout. I feel like i feel like it had to be, they were probably like, oh, let's do 100-page thing, and Hickman was like, like when James Cameron wrote Aliens with the dollar sign, Hickman was like 104 pages.
Speaker: I don't know that that's what happened, but I believe that's what happened. Yeah. ah will i I wonder if ah if there wasn't a conversation where it was like, okay, Jonathan, who do you want us to get to write backups for you? Or or like, who yeah, who would you like to write some backups? And he was just like, I'll do them all.
Speaker: He was like, Daddy got a mortgage. ah That page rate goes to Jonathan, baby. That's right. Okay. Thanks for listening, everybody. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next time. Until then, do not forget that Black Lives Matter.
Speaker: Trans rights or human rights? As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Cops aren't your friends. Fuck ice. Free Palestine. We love you. Happy Pride. We love you. Yeah!
