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Every Story Ever: October 2024
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Happy Halloween! It's time once again to take your Every Spooky Ever lists and rank them on our giant list of comics from best to worst! Boo!
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00:00:00
Speaker
This show is recorded using Zencaster. If you are a podcaster, or you want to be a podcaster, and you want to be able to record remotely, you can do so using Zencaster. They also have hosting options. And you can let them know that we sent you. Follow the link in our show notes, or in the episode description, and sign up for an account on Zencaster now to start recording your own podcast.
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Speaker
ila
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Speaker
we're doing is we're taking placing those stories on the list from best to worst comic book stories of all time.
00:01:01
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the War Rocket Ajax Every Story Ever special for October 2024. It's time, once again, for every spooky ever. We will be taking those lists on the show this time around. My name is Matt Wilson. Chris Simms is here to rank comic books with me. I am. There he is, the dulcet tones. There he is.
00:01:30
Speaker
What so we do on the show, you know what we do on the show, we rank comic book stories on our giant list from best to worst. And you may have noticed that there wasn't a September episode of every story ever. I think pretty much everyone listening to this knows why, but who am I to make assumptions? I shouldn't assume. A hurricane called Hurricane Helene
00:02:01
Speaker
came through town, through the town where I live. And in addition to doing considerable damage to homes and businesses, um did not do damage to my home or business, but did ah knock out my electrical power for approximately two weeks and left with my home without running water for ah maybe three and a half weeks.
00:02:32
Speaker
The running water that is here now is still um cloudy and full of chemicals and cannot be ingested. So that meant I didn't live at home for a while and thus couldn't record the show. So if you were writing a certainly worded letter or left us a bad review somewhere because we didn't do an episode, bet you feel bad now. That would be pretty rude would be pretty if you did that.
00:03:00
Speaker
i mean maybe i i Maybe people didn't know about the hurricane. I left a message on ah Patreon about it, about the hurricane putting the show on a temporary hiatus. And I alternately got the messages, wow, I didn't even know this happened. Thank you for letting me know. And I think everybody knows this by now.
00:03:27
Speaker
So, ah those are the two kinds of listeners. Why would you send the second one? Beats me. i I will name no names, but that was a message that that we received. i look Hey, if that was you that sent that, you got you got up up that pledge. yeah time Time to up that pledge a little bit. ah Time to up that pledge a little bit. Now, Matt, I will say, as far as I know, this is not true.
00:03:58
Speaker
It's not true. It's, it's honestly, it's, uh, it's, it's slanderous this thing and that I've been hearing, but I have been hearing it and I would like you to address it. Okay. Time. I got to address the allegations. Yeah. Um, I heard that, uh, this whole hurricane thing, uh-huh. Uh, first of all, heard not real. Wow. Just an excuse.
00:04:28
Speaker
that for you to get out of our promised morbid time. Someone on Tumblr observed that we must have made some kind of wish on a monkey's paw to not have to watch Morbius. It certainly seems like it. At minimum, it does seem like a deity, a force.
00:04:58
Speaker
some thing out there in the universe has simply determined that we will not.
00:05:11
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that That it just won't happen. Now that's, see that to me is interesting. Cause if I can quote, if I can quote a comic book to you, didn't take you for a quitter son.
00:05:29
Speaker
We're going to do it. We're going to do Morbius on movie fighters. The question is, do we save it for next year? Next Halloween? Or do we? Do we literally do it tomorrow? Do we do it? Do we do a special November movie fighters where we do Morbius? Yeah.
00:05:54
Speaker
i Here's the thing, Matt. I don't want to watch Morbius. It's bad. I've seen it. It's bad. i've I've not. I don't want to watch it. I also don't want it hanging over my head. Yeah, that's fair. That's very fair. I don't want to spend another year having to ah having having Morbius.
00:06:24
Speaker
have having Michael Morvius looking over my shoulder. That's totally fair. I think you know with that in mind, we just knock it out. We get it done. We we we cut out the offending thing and get it done.
00:06:49
Speaker
and so we We will let you know listeners soon what the the Morbius plan is. But Chris, enough talking about a different show than this one. We have every Spooky Ever list to get to. That's right, these are lists specifically sent by listeners of spooky comic book stories that we rank in October here during spooky season.
00:07:17
Speaker
So we're going to get to that in a little bit, Chris. But before we get to that, how about you let everyone know about the current state of the Every Story Ever list? All right, Matt. ah I'm looking at it right now. In my spreadsheet, we're operating on two different lists. you You have the raw list. I have the spreadsheet with the expanded data. Yes, I have what is what is called the master list.
00:07:47
Speaker
with 1,568 comics currently listed upon it. That is correct. 1,568 at the top. Spider-Man, if this be my destiny, and the final chapter. At the bottom, Identity Crisis. That comic sucks. Gonna die mad about it. Bad. 1,568. I believe five, or what is that? 789 would be our midpoint. Thereabouts, yeah.
00:08:15
Speaker
somewhere around there, I think. So if we if we want to see what is dead center of the list right now would be the region. ah Amazing Spider-Man, New Ways to Die. that's That's a good comic, but that is a middle of the list comic. It is very much middle of the list, a good comic that Would not be anybody's first recommendation, I don't think.
00:08:53
Speaker
ah Ultimate Spider-Man Venom? Is it 789? Similarly. Good comic. Astro City Tarnished Angel? Is it 790? Which does seem low. I think that's like my least favorite Astro City, but still Astro City. We're grading that on an Astro City curve, yeah. Yeah.
00:09:14
Speaker
and then ah Daredevil volume 4 1 through 5 and 13 to 18 Which is the Matt Murdock in San Francisco stuff by Wade and Somme Also good Also good Chris are you ready to get to our first list? ah Yeah, let's do it. All right, here we go our first list We actually have a couple left over every spooky ever lists from last year
00:09:46
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So we're going to cover those before we get into this year's lists. Our first one is from ah The Boss Dog, Patrick O'Duffy.
00:09:58
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And these stories are about Batman fighting vampires. All right. First is Batman versus the Vampire from Detective Comics numbers 31 through 32 by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff.
00:10:15
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Maybe the rawest Golden Age Batman story ever. ah that I would mark that down as the first good Batman story. ah It's what, the fourth Batman story? Yes.
00:10:36
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ah that is Because that one look that one's got that one's got oh Batman flying around in auto gyro. okay That's got, obviously, vampires. That's got Batman shooting a vampire with a gun, which is, I think, I don't love it, but I do think if you're gonna shoot anybody with a gun, we could all agree, vampire. It's fine. Batman made an exception for Darkseid. It also makes sense that he would make an exception for vampires. Golden Age Batman made a lot of exceptions for a lot of people. He sure did.
00:11:16
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ah but that and like Absolutely badass cover on Detective Comics number 31. Yeah, man. Yeah, man.
00:11:29
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Great. ah Again, it's pretty it's it's it's very of its time. because it, like again, Batman flies around on auto gyro. It is essentially, like we are still very much in the era of Batman is just the shadow at this point. but He's gonna just be the shadow for another six months after this. But yeah, like that cover, is first of all, that cover is homaged several times throughout the years. That that is one of that is maybe the most
00:12:05
Speaker
other than Detective 27 and Detective 38. That's probably like the most famous of Batman cover of the Golden Age. Yeah. Detective 27, first appearance, Detective 38, first appearance of Robin, with him jumping through the hoop, the sensational character find. Batman appears in this story. This is maybe my favorite touch. I don't think the Batcave was a thing yet.
00:12:34
Speaker
So you just see Bruce Wayne sitting in bed with his cape and cowl hanging up on a bedpost? Like he just came home, hung him up, went to sleep. That's how Golden Age Batman rolls. Yeah, it's like, he doesn't care. he yeah Those are his clothes. He puts them by his bed. Yeah, man. you know it did He does what any bachelor in his 20s does when he gets home.
00:13:02
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This story also has the Mad Monk in it, right? Yes. The Mad Monk is the vampire of the title. Okay. Right. Yeah. Okay. Who is but like, i I love him because he's got that. First of all, he is a full ass vampire. He also wears a costume that is like a, it's such a bad guy suit.
00:13:28
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It is a red robe and hood with like a tiny little point on it. And then he's got like a skull. I think it's a skull and swords on the forehead. Like a pirate ship logo. Yeah, it might be crossbones, but if it's crossbones, it's crossbones. Sheldon Moldoff needs to go back and and look that up yeah a little bit more.
00:13:55
Speaker
I've seen pirate flags that have swords instead of crossbones, so maybe- It would be wild if he had the whole Blackbeard flag. It would be. It really would. On his forehead. You know what the Bad Monk's costume looks like? it's It looks like retroactively somebody put together the armor from Bram Stoker's Dracula, the movie. Uh-huh.
00:14:26
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and Cobra Commander's outfit. Cobra Commander, yeah. i'm I'm glad you also went into Cobra Commander territory because yeah I was worried it was only me. No, no, no. I see it. It's there. Yeah, man. Look, it's pretty good stuff. It's pretty good stuff. I like it. All right, give me a neighborhood. He he does shoot a vampire with a gun. You're right about that.
00:14:53
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But it is yeah ah noted it is noted in the story that only a silver bullet can kill a vampire, and so, like, what other options does he have? Other than wood steak, I guess. Which, yeah silver bullet, I always thought was a wolf werewolf thing and not a vampire thing, but it's fine. It's Golden Age comics, man. It's fine. What's wild about this is that Batman, in Matt Wagner's retelling of this,
00:15:22
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Yeah, he melts Batman and Batman and Mad Monk, which kicks ass. He melts like the Wayne family silverware and uses that for the silver. In this, he fully goes to the Mad Monk's castle. And then while he's there,
00:15:47
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He picks up a silver statue and then just gets a candle and holds it over a little mold for bullets.
00:15:57
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but which that's how That's not how you make a bullet. a bullet does like like It's not a crossbow. The bullet has the thing that explodes and provides the propulsion. and so you know But hey, he's Batman.
00:16:18
Speaker
He's Batman. He's Batman. I guess it could be like a musket that he's firing. Matt, it is a it is an automatic handgun. It is a Colt Model 1911. That old Wayne is using here. ah it's i I like that this Batman is prepared enough that he carries around like a mold for casting bullets out of metal, but not enough to bring a silver bullet with him.
00:16:49
Speaker
That is... Yeah, ah Batman now would just have a silver bullet on his person, ready to go. Or he would melt down the Wayne family silverware. Or that, yeah. Although, in Batman and the Mad Monk, he is still, like, early days Batman, but yeah. ah Okay, give me a number for for Batman versus the Vampire. Now, I...
00:17:19
Speaker
I thought we had Batman and the Mad Monk on the list. Do we not? i I'm not seeing it on my spreadsheet. I think we just have Batman versus the Monster Man.
00:17:36
Speaker
ah Yeah, we have Batman and the Monster Man at 154. That's also a pretty fucking good it's retelling of the Golden Age story. Mad Monk or Monster Man, which one is better? I like Mad Monk. I think Mad Monk is maybe better. They're better of the two, yeah. I will say in Mad Monk, both of these stories involve ah Batman fighting dogs. That's true. Wolves, but you know, dogs. um And in the Golden Age version, he just throws like a little smoke bomb at him and it knocks him out. Right.
00:18:10
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ah
00:18:13
Speaker
And in the, in the Mad Wagoner version, a wolf jumps at Batman and he grabs out of the air and slams its ass against the wall. Which it is, I am anti-dog violence, generally.
00:18:34
Speaker
However, that does kick ass that Batman did that to a wolf. Batman is fighting dogs all the time. Batman, like, I've made note of this, but particularly back in my comics vlogging days, Batman will fight an animal faster than, like, people are always like, oh, he just beats up muggers. Batman hasn't really beat up muggers for a long time. Batman will fight animals at the drop of a hat. Well, it's, you know,
00:19:04
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Batman villains seem to love to send animals after him. They can't get enough of it. Yeah, man. Anyway, i because I think maybe they're like, that's fucked up. Like it's a fucked up thing to do. Sure. So that's what we should do. Maybe he won't. Maybe he won't.
00:19:29
Speaker
oh Yeah, Batman's a good guy. Batman's a good guy. He's not gonna fight a dog, right? Yeah. Yeah, he will. Nah, man. Batman gonna fight that dog? that's That's hubris to think that Batman will not fight a dog. You think Batman ain't gonna fight that dog? Buddy? Batman got that dog in him.
00:19:51
Speaker
he does He does have that dog in him, not not like Guts has that dog in him. No, Guts has that dog in him in only a way that Guts does. Guts has ah that dog in him in a both literal and metaphorical sense.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yes, in every conceivable way Guts has that dog in him. ah Okay, but for real this time, a number for Batman vs. the Vampire.
00:20:20
Speaker
It's, I mean, it's not as good as the modern version, I don't think. Yeah. But that would be very high. Yeah. Even like, even grading on a, on a curve, I think like a golden age comics curve is not that good. it it It is the first good golden age Batman story. Yeah. Our, our, the first Batman story is currently at number 1066.
00:20:49
Speaker
on the list. This can definitely go well above that. The Treaty of Ghent number. That's right. William the Conqueror, this is for you. I don't think it's as good as Revenge of the Sinister 6. I do think it's probably better than Punisherborne, which we have at 900.
00:21:17
Speaker
okay
00:21:20
Speaker
Is it better than Tomb of Dracula numbers 22 through 24, which we have at 866? At 866? What happens in those issues of Tomb of Dracula? I can't remember. ah is Is there nothing in the notes? ah Those did not get noted. ah but Is that when that when he fights Doctor Strange? That is when he fights Doctor Strange, yes. That's pretty good. Or, hmm, maybe not. Is it when he fights Doctor Strange?
00:21:51
Speaker
Let's see, ah it's got Gorno, Lord of the Living Lightning on the cover of 22.
00:21:59
Speaker
ah ah Coincidentally, Tomb of Dracula number 23 has a cover quite reminiscent of ah Detective of Comics number 30. Absolutely does. This just looks like it's maybe like three pretty good issues with Tomb of Dracula. Oh, is blade it's It's a Blade story with Sheila Whittier in it.
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I'd say, I don't know. I think, I think, I think this is probably, oh, maybe a little bit better, but I don't think it's as good as that issue of hero for hire where, uh, Luke Cage goes to live period to hassle Dr. Doom. Okay. So this is, this is the new number eight 66 detective comics numbers 31 through 32.
00:22:53
Speaker
Batman versus Dracula. Or Batman versus the vampire, not Dracula. Batman versus Dracula, buddy, that's a different thing. That is a different thing, yeah. Next on Patrick's list is from Detective Comics number 455. Hang on, hang on, Matt. I'm having some trouble entering the the the numbers here. Oh.
00:23:20
Speaker
Numbers 31 through 32? This is concerning. yeah don't I don't want this thing to throw off my whole my whole numerical system in this spreadsheet. You've put so much work into it.
00:23:35
Speaker
it's go I've put a lot of work into this spreadsheet. I was not being sarcastic. My curse returns. My sincerity is disturbed is ah mistaken for sarcasm.
00:23:49
Speaker
i get i got I'm sorry Matt, I gotta close out the spreadsheet. I'm not losing these numbers. What is going on? What what is happening in this this Google Sheet? The formula that I use to number the entries on the list with is not copying right. Is it haunted?
00:24:13
Speaker
it matt It could be haunted. Is the list haunted? maybe Maybe this is the true Every Spooky Ever. Oh, man. This took a turn.
00:24:27
Speaker
Wowie wow. we Okay, ah closing it did fix it. so Okay, great. So at the new number 866 was Detective Comics numbers 31 through 32, Batman versus the Vampire. Yeah, and you said that was a Gardner Fox Sheldon Moldoff joint.
00:24:42
Speaker
Moldoff is not credited, but of course he's not credited matt almost certainly Sheldon Moldoff, yeah.
00:24:53
Speaker
All right, next on the list here is Heart of a Vampire from Detective Comics number 455 by Elliot S. Magin, Bernie Wrightson, and Mike Grell.
00:25:11
Speaker
in which Batman and Alfred stumble across a vampire's lair. I mean, that sounds pretty good. That is why that is some bronze age. I do like the way that you said that. what ah what Give me do that issue number again. I need to refresh myself here. 455. Of tech? Of tech, yes.
00:25:38
Speaker
Wild cover. 55. Dude is- That cover is wild. Dude is jumping out of a coffin like it's spring-loaded. Yeah, man. At Batman.
00:25:56
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's a suspense shocker. Heart of a vampire. And Alfred is just like, out. on the on the ground, Batman is holding a classic lantern. And you know what? First page, very similar. Very simple. First page, Batman is impaling that guy. With a big stake of wood, yeah. Elliot S. Megan, man. One of the great stuff. Elliot S. Megan is... Elliot S. Megan is much like Alan Moore.
00:26:35
Speaker
ah is perhaps a a writer who has written the the most good story, the best story, that that also ruined comics.
00:26:55
Speaker
ah Because unfortunately must there be a Superman ruined Superman? That's true, yeah. Do you want to know this vampire's name?
00:27:06
Speaker
Uh, I would love to know this vampire's name, Matt. Dr. Gustav de Cobra. Now that, that is, that's a Cobra Commander ass name. Dr. Gustav de Cobra, the vampire, who, when Batman pierces him with a giant stake of wood that is also a giant cross, he's like, yeah, that would have killed me if he got me in the heart, but you didn't get my heart.
00:27:37
Speaker
Which is wild. Yeah. Because like, like it's Batman. He knows where your heart is. Okay, but do you do the twist? Did the vampire remove his heart like in Tales from the Crypt, Bordello of Blood? You have 100% nailed it. He put his heart in the clock.
00:28:04
Speaker
Right, right. This, this story, this story feels like Elliot S. Megan might have written it in in like an hour. ah Oh, okay. So Dr. Dacobra was a heart surgeon.
00:28:33
Speaker
So he knows all the mechanics of the human heart. Right. And can transplant hearts from one place to another. Batman explains all of this. Uh-huh. So that's how he has removed his own heart and put it into a grandfather clock. Okay, and it should be noted though that he is a shoot vampire.
00:28:58
Speaker
Yes, he is a shoot vampire who looks like Frank Langella, who played Dracula. Yes. ah But that's... You probably heard, oh, he's a brilliant heart surgeon, and that's how he was able to put his heart into a clock.
00:29:15
Speaker
um because Because everything else about that makes sense. But you might be like, well, wait, how did he take his own heart out? Easy, he's a vampire. easy. Yeah, he's so he was able to do that to himself. Yep. I guess with with with a mirror problem. No, that wouldn't work. Would it? Uh, I don't know. I don't know what that scene in the Martian. Not in the Martian recently. You ever seen that with Matt Damon? Yeah, with Matt Damon.
00:29:47
Speaker
I have only seen clips of the Martian. I've never watched them movie buddy. It's good. he He grows potatoes on Mars. That's what happens. He does grow potatoes on Mars. Yeah Anyway Batman realizes that his heart is in the clock Because it's a it's like a reverse telltale heart Where Batman could hear the heart in the clock because it's so loud
00:30:15
Speaker
So he shoots the clock with a wooden arrow and then that kills him. I mean, I do that does. That raises a lot of questions that the story does not. Them solve. That's true. Which is that. Was was this thing that loud? Apparently. Apparently is very loud.
00:30:43
Speaker
that's I mean, that's weird. like Why was his heart that loud? Because he's dead. Do vampires have beating hearts? I mean, that... eat No.
00:31:00
Speaker
Right? Man. I've read a lot of stories about a lot of weird vampire stuff. But then why would it matter if you put a stake through their heart, if their heart was not a functioning organ?
00:31:11
Speaker
i mean because well I mean, if you really want to get down to a mat, it's all symbology, because the the magic here is not operating on logic, it's operating on ah symbolism. The reason vampires don't show up in mirrors is that mirrors are backed in silver, traditionally. the steak is like wood A wooden stake is not a thing that can just kill a vampire, you're nailing them to the ground.
00:31:41
Speaker
to keep them from rising from the dead. So that becomes like the way that you deal with them. ah You may recall that in ah the famous oh work Dracula by Bram Stoker, yeah ah that it is not a stake through the heart that kills Dracula, it's a fucking cowboy with a knife. Correct, yes. But but the the mythology has evolved into a stake through the heart kill kills a vampire. Yes, which I find personally annoying.
00:32:14
Speaker
Like, nothing bugs me more. Well, I mean, there's a lot of things that bug me as listeners of the show are aware. But very few things in this specific arena bug me more than like, when someone talks about like, ultraviolet light affecting vampires. Because no, it's not it's not UV light. It's sunlight. The sun. Yeah.
00:32:39
Speaker
Because the sun is symbolic of day and vampires are creatures of the night. Correct. yeah whenever Whenever I see like that that bit in in Blade, when they've got the little UV lights or whatever, or when it comes up, like Garth Ennis, a dude who loves to write stories about vampires but ah has nothing but disdain for vampire lore.
00:33:07
Speaker
ah like Whenever they're like, oh, UV lights, it turns me into Sully.
00:33:17
Speaker
Sully, wait, oh, wait, Sully, who are we talking about? ah Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot. Oh, okay, that's who I thought. I thought you meant Sully Sullenberger, the pilot, i the pirate. Now, that's a story.
00:33:35
Speaker
Why does it turn you into Sully the pilot? Matt, I'm glad you asked. Because whenever I see that, I go, can we be serious now?
00:33:55
Speaker
ah Pretty good. Pretty good. Thanks. So back to this story. is just by being how did he get his fucking heart out if he could you like you can't really see what you're doing. That's any rat not gonna show up in a mirror. He's just that good. I guess he'd have to be he doesn't need to be able to see he can just do surgery on himself.
00:34:25
Speaker
Comics have a long history. of doctors being so good at being doctors that they can perform surgery on themselves? Yeah. Like, for instance, hush. Heart of hush. who well No, heart of hush, that was surgery on Catwoman. I know, but... I'll give it that, but it's still dumb. Look, they there's hush, and now there's shush, and all I'm saying is shard of shush. Please continue.
00:34:57
Speaker
I'll, I'll tell you this. Um, it's not gonna be, it's not gonna be. Shush itself is shoot brilliant. Well, a, a, a, she hushed named Shush. Shush is not gonna, I don't know if she's going to be in hush too. Shush was introduced by Josh Williamson but in a comic I've never read so I don't know I don't know if I don't know that would explain it that would explain why that's like because that is a that's take the rest of the day off brilliant it is definitely take the rest of the day off yeah yeah so I I don't know if I I don't know if shush is gonna be in hush to
00:35:53
Speaker
Uh, and I don't know if that Josh Williamson story is, is good, but the, the, she hush name, that's fucking great. It's, it's pretty good. Yeah. We're going to read every issue of hush too, aren't we? Um, no, I don't want to. Yeah, we are. We're going to do it. No, cause that's whether we want to or not, we're going to do it.
00:36:22
Speaker
I mean, I'm probably gonna do it. We're gonna do it. I was about to say like that's not the kind of like bad comic that i enjoy reading i won unfortunately it's the kind we the kind of bad comic that I I read to keep up with what is going on with my favorite character. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Hummer. Look, man.
00:36:51
Speaker
this is This is the world we've created for ourselves. Why did we do this? We're doing shit like reading the Hush 2 and watching Morbius? We we could stop. but the Having lived through a hurricane has totally changed to change my perspective on a lot of things. We could stop. Okay. you you Wait, wait. You wouldn't miss it, Matt? You wouldn't miss it even a little bit? No, I would. I would. I would. This story is... entirely Batman and Alfred fighting a vampire in their vampire lair, which is just Wayne Manor. Yeah, it's just some rich dude's house. It's so indistinguishable from Wayne Manor. Which is weird, because it's it's like they're using the same set. Yeah. Which is not usually a concern in comics. Like a bottle episode.
00:37:49
Speaker
that takes that supposedly takes place in a different place. It's like when you're watching Star Trek and it's like, dang, it's another galaxy class ship. Oh yeah. Their bridge is just like ours, but with some scorch marks on it. See, they didn't have that problem in The Next Generation because they could use sets from the movies, which they did all the time. Oh yeah, totally. ah Okay, I think this is worse than The Golden Age story. I don't know. It's... Like, I mean, yes, you're right. It's not ah that good. It does... It kicks a specific kind of ass. It's, I mean, it's fun, but it's, you know...
00:38:37
Speaker
It's in the quads. The Golden Age story is better. Yeah, this is in the quads. i Actually, actually, ah in the quads right now, the first quadruple digit comic is number 1000, which is ah the issue of Sandman with Element Girl, which I am notably a hater of. And I would put this above that. Okay, right above that is Batman Judge Dredd.
00:39:04
Speaker
which i've I'm also kind of on the record as a hater of. It just doesn't work. Okay. I don't think this is as good as Judge Dredd the Santa Affair. Then I think it's going to narrowly escape the Quads. The Quads. It'll be the new number 999. It's the w WWE Network, baby.
00:39:30
Speaker
It's over the top. ah It's Detective Comics number 455. What did that mean? it mean It meant it was an over-the-top streaming service. What does that mean? It's a streaming service.
00:39:46
Speaker
They said so much stuff. Yeah. They tried out so many things about that, but like when the WWE Network launched. but like They ended up on $9.99, which was a great selling point. But do you remember like for a while,
00:40:04
Speaker
like I mean, it was so obvious they had so many ah taglines that were um written by a septuagenarian Republican with brain worms. Committed many crimes, yes. Yes, who's done so many crimes. um But like, one of them was like, do you remember Michael Cole saying it's like Netflix, but better? Not true. Well,
00:40:33
Speaker
I don't know if that's that's true. In many ways, it's not true, Matt, but in other ways, Netflix did not have Starrcade 85. That's fair, yeah yeah. Part of a vampire is the new number 999 on the list. by but the Oh, Mike Grell drew this. That's why it's so weird looking. it It's why the vampire looks like actor Frank Langella.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's in I wish my girl would have put Batman Alfred and the vampire in those bizarre sexy costumes that he always likes to draw.
00:41:14
Speaker
Alright, finally on Patrick's list is Night of Blood from the Brave and the Bold number 195 by Mike Barr and Jim Apparo, where Batman teams up with Andrew Bennett to fight a vampire crime lord. I
00:41:34
Speaker
I need to look. I'm almost certain this is on the list. Okay. Why don't why don't you take a look and see? No, it's not it's not showing up.
00:41:47
Speaker
I thought for sure that we had covered this comic. But there is a shocking dearth of Brave and the Bold issues on this list. This is one of the last issues of the original run of Brave and the Bold.
00:42:06
Speaker
ah But yes, this is the the Batman team up with I, Vampire. of Old Andy Bennett. Yeah.
00:42:16
Speaker
what What is your numbers again? It's 195. Yeah, so we're we're half a year away from the end of this comic. Very close to the end of the original Brave and the Bold. and I was down for everything about this comic.
00:42:34
Speaker
ah Bob Haney, or Mike W. Barr, Jim Oparro, both, you you know all of Mike W. Barr. Sure. ah to Mike W. Barr occasionally sends me an email. We talk, he's he's great. ah i am ah I am a noted Mike W. Barr guy. Jim Oparro, obviously the GOAT, ah best Batman artist of all time in in my ah not so humble opinion.
00:43:03
Speaker
oh I was down with everything until you said Andrew Bennett, I vampire. ah the Cause I'll tell you this buddy. I'll tell you this. I vampires never getting over.
00:43:24
Speaker
And, and the thing is he should because he's a vampire who's sad about being a vampire. Right. And he, he cries about it. And when he cries, it's blood. Like Michael Morbius. I mean, he's he's very similar to Michael Morbius. Yes. Yeah. Who is also hate to say it. Never getting over. Never getting over. Yeah. Uh, but the thing is like, either,
00:44:01
Speaker
He's the most sexless character in every story I've written, or every story I've read, ah with Andrew Bennett, I, Vampire. It's like, that's gotta be the missing ingredient, because otherwise he's like a like he's a full Anne Rice character, like runnin' around in his Regency-era clothes, cryin' blood about bein' a vampire, bein' sad.
00:44:33
Speaker
So, I don't know, man. He sucks. Can I offer you some evidence for why this story might actually rule? ah Yes. Batman, in disguise, on a reconnaissance mission, goes to Club Dracula, a nightclub called Club Dracula.
00:45:03
Speaker
Where a guy in a Dracula costume tries to convince him that he's a real vampire. And Batman is like, this guy's not a real vampire. And like, knocks his fake teeth out. I mean, that's... That's not... Is that Batman? That's Andrew Bennett who does that. Oh, it is Andrew Bennett. Andrew Bennett's the one... Well, but Batman is also in disguise there.
00:45:33
Speaker
Yeah. But in a different disguise. Yeah, it's Andrew Bennett who knocks the the fake vampire's teeth out. That's right. I don't know if I've read this because I'm looking at it now. And I've read most of Raven the Bold, but most of the Raven the Bold that I've read is Bob Haney. Yeah. And if I opened this comic and I was like,
00:45:56
Speaker
oo It's a non-Bob Haney issue, and it's got iVampire in it. I can safely skip this bad boy, yeah even though I like both creators. It looks like a fun issue if I'm... if i'm i like I haven't read it super closely, but it looks like a fun issue. On on first glance.
00:46:18
Speaker
I'm gonna have to dequeue it, shockingly. Yeah, okay. On account of us not having actually read it. There is- Maybe it kicks ass and I'll be back here being like, I can't believe it. Andrew Bennett got over. I don't know that he's gonna get over, but he might be in one fun issue. yeah Maybe. There is a backup from the boss dog.
00:46:41
Speaker
Okay. Which is Superman and Batman versus vampires and werewolves number one through six by Kevin Van Hook and Tom Mandrake. That's from 2008. I have not read that. I have also not read that. Shockingly. It seems like exactly the kind of thing we would, we would love. But you know what, I'm looking at the cover now.
00:47:11
Speaker
And that cover to the first issue is highly unappealing. Oh yeah, that no, that doesn't look good. Bad logo, bad blood effects, weird art on the cover. I mean, it's Tom Mandrake art, so it it is what it is. Tom Mandrake, not, I would say,
00:47:41
Speaker
I would say Tom Mandrake, not the pick for drawing Superman. Yeah. I mean, they got man drak Tom Mandrake to draw werewolves, is what they got. but ah yeah i'm I'm looking through it now. I cannot say that it is yeah we missed a whole lot. Who lettered this? The lettering is also... rough stuff. Steve wants? Steve wants is good usually. Steve wants. The second issue is already a tentacled creature from beyond.
00:48:19
Speaker
Superman and Batman versus vampires and werewolves and a tentacled creature from beyond. This is either
00:48:28
Speaker
the dumbest comic ever printed and it's great. Or it's the dumbest comic ever printed and it sucks. Yeah, it can't be. It has to be one or the other. It can't be anything in between. Yeah. All right. Uh, boss dog. Thank you for that list. Put that one on the catch up list for next year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Here's a list from Rocket Whistle of every spooky Evers. These are,
00:48:58
Speaker
uh every spooky ever usagi ojimbo stories uh with jay oh yeah um i mean they're all great i'll tell you this they're all fucking fantastic first up is usagi ojimbo volume one number 10 blade of the gods uh that's that's the first appearance of jason that is the first appearance of jay yes um Yeah, it fucking kicks ass, dude.
00:49:33
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know, man. It's honestly hard to rank Usagi Ujimbo. You know what I did when we had no power, no internet, no water, nothing in our home ah for days and days?
00:49:57
Speaker
I read two gigantic fucking volumes of Usagi Ojimbo. Yeah, man. And while I was doing that, I felt all right. You know, I'm not, I'm not gonna say that Usagi Ojimbo is better than running water. Cause I don't know if that's necessarily true. Yeah. Here is what I will tell you. It's as good.
00:50:28
Speaker
It's as good as running water. Yeah. If you don't have running water, but you do have Usagi Ojimbo, you can at least be like, well, let me sit down and, uh, and read some of this for a little bit. Make that a blurb on the next volume of Usagi Ojimbo. As good as running water. it's get aja It's true. Yeah. It's, it's highly true. Hey, this first J story, um, whips ass. Yeah, no, it's,
00:50:54
Speaker
It's wild to read this and be like, this is 1988, and this comic would continue being essentially this good for the next almost 40 years. Yeah. If you don't know who Jay is in Usagi-O-Jimbo, he's basically Usagi-O-Jimbo's judge death.
00:51:24
Speaker
Kind of, yeah. Yeah. ah he's a He's a slasher movie character. Yeah. ah the The joke is that his name is Jay, so he's Jason. Like Jason, yeah. Like Jason. Yeah, you get it. And he's a real weird looking freako.
00:51:46
Speaker
He's got big ol' sharp teeth, yeah. He's got big ol' sharp teeth, and he has this black spear ah that he was chosen by the gods to kill people with. Like, to to murder the wicked. ah And his standards of wickedness do include Miyamoto Osagi. So you know their whack. Because he's a good guy. Right. it's I think it's just because Usagi is a Ronin. That's kind of it, yeah. yeah um What's great about this, like this, we talk about legacy on the Every Story Ever list sometimes. This is the first appearance of Jay. It's the 10th issue of Usagi Ajimbo. It's really early on, it's 88.
00:52:37
Speaker
ah
00:52:40
Speaker
Usagi, it's like, Stansakai doesn't know that that he's going to be doing this comic for the next 40 years? He's like, I got this sweet job lettering grew.
00:52:55
Speaker
ah So this is clearly kind of a done in one, like great little single issue. What if what if my rabbit samurai in the in feudal Japan fought a horror movie slasher?
00:53:06
Speaker
ah ah Jay comes back and that is the source of like some of the best Usagiya Jimbo stories. Yeah. To the point of Jay is not around anymore. But whatever Jay was is still around. And that owns. Yes. So this story, yeah, this story is a pretty simple story where Usagi and Jay. Well first, Jay kills a bunch of people to show how, you know, dangerous he is. And then Usagi and Jay meet in like a a little shelter. And Jay is like, I kill evil, I destroy evil.
00:54:02
Speaker
ah And then they go in outside and fight in a thunderstorm. And first Usagi, like Usagi's by a tree and Lightning strikes the the tree and gets Usagi and like knocks him down. And Jay holds his like big you know black spear up into the air and then he gets struck by Lightning and seems to be dead.
00:54:31
Speaker
and That's the end of the story. and It whips ass. No, it's it's fucking incredible. yeah Also, Sakai does ah Jay's dialogue in... like I think the reason you went with Judge Death as your point of comparison is because of the word balloons. It is similar. he He speaks in mixed case and the word balloons are kind of like jagged.
00:54:58
Speaker
ah Yeah, they're all they're creepy word balloons. Yeah, and It is the kind of thing that like if you are not as good at lettering as stansakai You should not attempt to have a character talk like this because it is the most legible creepy writing It's just like a reminder of how good at like this, this single issue which is a perfect example of how incredible at the craft of comics Dan Sakai is. Yeah, the panel where the tree gets struck by lightning. And is it so it's done in like this Frank Miller ass, like super high contrast. um You know, nothing outlined.
00:55:48
Speaker
everything is either solid black or solid white. That panel is incredible. What's great about Jay's word balloons is that it's not the the text itself that's creepy. Like I guess it being mixed case makes it like a little creepy. It being mixed case sets it off. Yeah. It's the word balloon itself that looks creepy though. Yeah. And that's brilliant. Uh, like,
00:56:19
Speaker
The letter, the lettering itself is just different. And then the word balloon is what looks creepy. It's great. It's good stuff. Uh, where are we putting this? I mean, it's good. Like here's the thing. It's really fucking good. It's probably not grass cutter too good. Right. I mean,
00:56:50
Speaker
Probably not, but it is like, it is kind of a single issue masterpiece. Travels with Jotaro is number 211. Travels with Jotaro is pretty good. The Dragon Bello Conspiracy is 226. It's like, it's not as good as any of the Asage Jumbo stuff we have in the top 100, for sure. Yeah. I mean, it might be better than Grass Cutter 2.
00:57:21
Speaker
Damn. It might be. Damn. It's good, dude. The Inn at Moonshadow Hill is 183.
00:57:31
Speaker
What happens in the Inn at Moonshadow Hill? Because I bet that one's also good as hell. I don't remember. I don't remember off the top of my head. ah Let's see.
00:57:44
Speaker
ah
00:57:49
Speaker
is Oh, it's the one with all the monsters. Oh, yeah, that one's really good. The, uh, Obakemono. Yeah, that one's really good. Oh, and yeah. I mean, here's the problem. You could put virtually every issue of Usagi Ojimbo between the In-N-Mood Shadow Hill and Grass Cutter 2, and you would be mostly accurate. Yeah. They're all of such.
00:58:20
Speaker
Seemingly equal quality. Yeah, I do think this one is like It's not We have doula ketanogy at Number 48. It's not that good. It's not that good But it's not that much worse than that, right?
00:58:41
Speaker
I think it's, I think it's maybe goes between the two we have at 183 and 184. All right. Cause it's like, it's really good. And like Jay is really good. All right. Yes. I get Jimbo. Uh, blade of the gods goes at the new number one 84.
00:59:06
Speaker
And I'll put in parentheses volume one, number 10.
00:59:11
Speaker
Uh, that's the first but not O of J. Yeah. Next on Rocket's List is Usagiogembr, Volume 8, Numbers 28 through 31, Circles. Yeah, that shit is good. Yeah. That shit's real good. That's, uh, that's two J. Two J, right. Yeah. I don't know if they, I don't know if they, uh, did they, did they put second appearances in The Wizard? I don't think so.
00:59:41
Speaker
They might have. Comics in the 90s were wild. That's true. um Yeah, man. ah Look, um like it kind of makes me mad. I don't want people to stop sending in issues of Asagi Ujimbo, because I like talking about them and I like thinking about them. But it kind of makes me mad when you send them in, because like I don't fucking know they're good. It's hard to it's hard to judge them against to other comics if we're being totally honest. Yeah. Like, it is a comic that's never been bad and it occasionally is god-level comics. Transcendent. It is yeah fucking transcendent sometimes. And Circles fucking has it all, dude. Circles has
01:00:35
Speaker
It has Katsuichi, it's got Mariko, it's got Jay, it's got Jotaro, Jay kidnapping Jotaro. Yes, and and a big part, like the reason it's called Circles is because Usagi meets Katsuichi Sensei after having not seen him for a long time.
01:01:04
Speaker
And so they come back, you know, they come back together for a little while. Uh, it's got like huge fucking battle scenes. Yeah. Which I mean, that's the shit you really want from, from some Usagi.
01:01:21
Speaker
Yeah, man. It's like, it's got great covers. The cover to number 30 is, I mean, it's Stancicai doing fucking Throne of Blood with a Rabbit, you know? The the shit where Usagi finally meets up with Jay again, where he's got Jotaro kidnapped. And Usagi goes, Jay, you survived the lightning. And Jay just goes, no, I died. But my work was unfinished, was so I came back. Uh, rad.
01:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's it's it's good as hell. I love it when Usagi rolls up his sleeves, man. He knows some shit is about to go down, but Usagi is rolling up his sleeves. Yeah, man, he really like ties them back. oh Yeah, i it's hard to rank it against other comics.
01:02:14
Speaker
Like, it's so frustrating. He throws Jay off the side of a cliff.
01:02:24
Speaker
Damn, damn. Yeah, man. ah And that is, he stabs Jay with his own spear and then throws him off a cliff. That is not the last we will see of Jay. No, no. Jay's got a long time to go before Jay is actually not in the book anymore.
01:02:42
Speaker
it's
01:02:45
Speaker
It's... Man, like now, does Musagi know at this point that Jutaro's his son? i don't think so i think the reader definitely know yeah like i don't i don't think soai kept that as a secret from the reader for like at all ah but like their interactions like again It's got everything. oh It's kind of like if you're gonna read one Usagi Ojimbo. He learns that Jutaro is his son in this story. Oh, does that happen in this? Okay. Yes. And Mariko tells him straight up, like, but you're not his dad. Kenichi is. Yeah. Well, there's a part where, uh, where Usagi spits some blood out and fight.
01:03:35
Speaker
ah Like we've been doing this for 10 years, Matt. Yeah. Every story ever has been going, it's it. We should have figured out when the 10 year anniversary was. Cause I believe it was 2014 when we started it. It would have been early in the year because we started it around the start of 2014, I think. Yeah. Cause in, I think we did, I know we did panel president in 2016.
01:04:09
Speaker
Yeah. So I think we did every story ever in starting in 2014. And it must have been at the beginning of the year. Yeah. Because it was just our after interview segment for that year. We've got a lot of experience doing this. And I still, we have a lot of experience ranking comics on this exact list. And we also have a combined you know, 40 years of reviewing comic books. I still don't know how to talk about Usagi Ojimbo in relation to other comics. Because it's just better. It's just fucking good. I don't know whether I don't know what else to say about it. It's just fucking good. Yeah, like
01:05:06
Speaker
I mean, is circles better than the Claremont Miller Wolverine? Fuck, probably!
01:05:16
Speaker
Like, yeah? Maybe? I guess? Alright, we just gotta pull the number out here. I mean, I'm looking at other stuff on this list.
01:05:33
Speaker
circles Circles has everything you want out of a story, comic or non. It's true. It's got... It's like... It's got action, romance, drama, pathos. The the thing about Usagi Ojimbo, like Circles is a... What, a four issue story? Yeah. Yeah, four issue story. It does so much more in those four issues than like a lot of 12 issue events.
01:06:03
Speaker
even so start to do. Yeah. That is that is correct. Yeah. Oh, man. Do you know what you know what the first story after that is? What's that? Kitsune. Oh, God. Yeah.
01:06:23
Speaker
Incredible. Yeah. ah Like, but banger after banger after banger. Here's where I'm at with Circles. At number 100 on this list, we have the Dark Phoenix Saga. Is Circles better than the Dark Phoenix Saga? Arguably. Yeah, kind of, right? Yeah, Yeah. Alright, is it the new number 100? I mean,
01:06:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That puts it below welcome back Frank, which does have like probably my favorite non Sakai instance of an animal getting punched. That's true. Yeah, it's great. Finally on Rocket's list is Usagi Ojimbo volume two, number 10, nature of the viper.
01:07:28
Speaker
Oh man, that sounds good. I bet it's good. I can't recall which one that is off the top of my head, but it sounds like it's got Jay in it, and it sounds like it's pretty good. Yeah, let's see. Nature of the Viper.
01:07:43
Speaker
Oh, that was a that's a backup story. Yeah, I thought we had the, I thought I saw that we had ah ah number 10 of the Dark Horse run on here already. Let's see.
01:08:04
Speaker
Oh, oh, yeah. the Oh, fuck. This story rules. Shit. Okay. I just read this in like sitting down and reading a bunch of Usagi Ojimbo stories. is Is this the Dark Horse Run? Yes. Okay. This is a story that Usagi isn't even in. Okay.
01:08:26
Speaker
the Jay is like injured by the side of a river.
01:08:35
Speaker
like on a riverbank and this guy who's like, this guy who's like, you know, paddling his boat down the river sees Jay on the riverbank and like picks him up and puts him in his boat. And it's like, I better get you home and help you. Cause it's going to get cold soon. And you're gonna, you're gonna starve to, you're going to freeze to death. So he takes Jay back to his, to his house.
01:09:05
Speaker
And Jay wakes up, and he goes, where am I? And the guy's like, oh, I was worried about you. You've been here for a week. ah And Jay's like, there's a Ronin I must find, a mission I must complete. And the guy's like, well, ah here, have some soup. Let let me help you. And e Jay's like, I am called Jay. I reflect one whose soul has been touched by the gods.
01:09:37
Speaker
And Jay tells him a story about a serpent who was almost frozen on a mountain path and ah how someone nursed that serpent back to life. And then the serpent turned on him, driving its deadly poison deep into his body. Why? Asked the peasant in disbelief. I saved you, gave you the best I had. Is this how you show your gratitude?
01:10:04
Speaker
Why does it surprise you, replied the Viper? It is my nature. You knew what I am when you rescued me." And then it just shows the guy who saved Jay looking terrified and going, yeah ah! As it like pans back from the house. oh Yeah, that kicks ass. It's great. It's great. It's not as good as Circles. And it's arguably not as good as, I think it's probably not as good as the first appearance of Jay.
01:10:34
Speaker
but it fucking rules. I'll tell you what's good. Here's what's wild. These stories that we're talking about yeah aren't even like, like these aren't even the good J stories. Cause I feel like the J stories don't get like really good until, oh, what's her name? Is it Keiko? The little girl shows up.
01:11:01
Speaker
and And Jay's got his little sidekick with him, who's the only innocent person in the world. hu That shit fucking rules. That's how good this book is.
01:11:17
Speaker
got I'm looking at now that nine panel of Jay telling the telling the story, that's incredible. It's chilling. though like It's chilling. I also like that the guy the the guy like the peasant who pulls him out of the river is like, is a teddy bear. Oh, like he is a full muppet character. He's incredibly likable because the first thing you see him do is like he's like singing a song as he paddles his boat along the river. And it's like a cute little song.
01:11:50
Speaker
ah Yeah, man, it's it's great. I think I would put this maybe like below the other, all the other Usagi Ojimbo stories we have on the list, but not much below. All right, let's see. The lowest-ranked one we have is Kappa, which is at 632. It's still pretty good. Still pretty good. I can't believe a town called Hell is at 631. That's wild. Man, it's hard. It's hard.
01:12:24
Speaker
oh This is better than Fantastic Four number one, which is at 676. Okay, so that's that's the floor? That's the floor. If it's better than that, it's probably better than the than the hate monger and the dreaded Diablo, too. Yeah, it's probably i'll put I'll put it below Iron Man World's Most Wanted and make this the new number 674.
01:12:51
Speaker
a shockingly low ranking for Stansakai. The fans are going to be incensed. They're going to be so mad. It's a great story, but Usagi's not in it. And it is kind of the, ah what is it? The turtle and the scorpion or whatever that story is. Turtle wouldn't have that problem. That's true. It would just... Turtle, you put a turtle in that story, that turtle will be like, yeah, I'll take you across the, I'll take you across the thing, no problem.
01:13:18
Speaker
Now, Scorpion would be like, well, we're halfway across, but I can't do shit. Got a big shell. This guy got a shell. I think so. Maybe you thought it was a turtle because this is actually not the Dark Horse run. It's the Mirage run. Mm. Yes, it is. though Yes, these are the Mirage issues. That's right. I love that Usagi Yojimbo is still associated with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Like, he's in the game. Like, like the new game. He's in the new game. Shredder's Revenge game.
01:13:48
Speaker
The first story in the big omnibus that I was reading during hurricane time is the the start of the mirage run where the turtles are in are in it. The turtles are part of the story.
01:14:07
Speaker
ah So, yeah. Okay. That's our list from Rocket. Thank you, Rocket, for sending that in. Greg Packnett has sent us two lists to choose from.
01:14:19
Speaker
One is serious vampires and one is silly vampires. Silly vampires. That's that's not even a choice. Okay. First up on the silly vampires list is ex-terminators. Ex-terminators, volume two, numbers one through five. Ex-terminators? Ex-terminators. Like with the letter X. The letter X, yeah.
01:14:43
Speaker
ah i I've never read this. Like the the the Marvel book? This is the 2022 volume of Exterminators. Oh, this this is ah this is with Jubilee. Yeah, it's a Leah Williams book. I have not read it, but ah the first page is a parental descriptionist advised logo on the splash in the style of the ah the a House of Ex
01:15:18
Speaker
oh Hickman ah graphs. yeah That's pretty funny. Yeah, this is a catch up contender. Definitely catch up contender here. Yeah, you know it's it's got it's got my girl in it. Vampire heavy. Jubilee no longer a vampire, but not a vampire, but was a vampire. It was a vampire and and lots of vampires in this ah story, it seems. So absolute catch up contender there.
01:15:50
Speaker
ah Next up is Little Boxes from Wonder Twins number two. Ooh, is this the Mark what Russell Wonder Twins? It would have to be because I think that's the only Wonder Twins book. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. ah That was a silly question of me to ask. Yeah.
01:16:12
Speaker
ah
01:16:15
Speaker
I read this issue. It's pretty fun. But I do believe that like, I do believe we would have to rank this series as a whole. I, I, this is part of a, Wonder Twins on the whole is a, is a full story. Okay. sim Hey, I'm sorry. I know I picked this list. So in the future, please submit the Mark Russell Wonder Twins book as one, as one complete story, which I would agree it it is.
01:16:49
Speaker
Uh, finally is all in a sea of wonders, a story from Star Trek Lower Decks numbers one through three. Oh, that's the one where the holodeck creates Dracula. Yes. Yes. Because they, the the same thing happens when the holodeck created Moriarty, but, uh, they say, what if there was another fictional character that could, so what if there was another public domain character that could beat, uh, uh, Data?
01:17:20
Speaker
This is ah this a Ryan North story. It's a Ryan North story, and it's an extremely Ryan North story, and it's also like, if ever there was a a comic Ryan North was like made to write, it is Star Trek Lower Decks. I watched the first two two episodes of the ah the new season tonight before we started recording. Lower Decks is so fucking good. It's fantastic, yeah. It's so fucking good, man.
01:17:49
Speaker
ah But yeah, like they oh they they make a a sentient Dracula in the style of ah Moriarty from Next Generation. oh Which, you'd think there would be more discussion of how the Enterprise is capable of creating sentient life.
01:18:10
Speaker
you know yeah You think youd think they would they would do a little bit more talking about that? But I guess they were busy. They they went through a lot. It's true. Uh, and then like, much like Moriarty, Dracula is like, actually look pretty chill, uh, because they can just make, uh, blood for him. He's replicate blood. Right. Uh, what's fun. well I love that it happens as a result of a Dixon Hill holiday program.
01:18:49
Speaker
Which is Picard's noir a detective that he goes and portrays on the holodeck. Who he seems very unfamiliar with in the first episodes that like have the Dixon Hill stuff in them.
01:19:09
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. He talks about having read the book, like the Dixon Hill books, but like, yeah. Well, I guess the first two seasons of Star Trek the Next Generation are very poorly written. That's true. So. But yeah, eventually, like, it is a beat for beat parody of the two Moriarty episodes, but with Dracula.
01:19:38
Speaker
And is very fun. And also has, um, uh, Barkley's big brain chair that he makes. Right. Right. That he uses to control the enterprise for that one episode. Yeah. Yes. yeah Here's how you build one. That's what he says in that episode. It's one of those things that like, you know, like his intonation really stuck in my memory. Yeah. Uh, no, man, it's good. It's, it's a really good, it's, it is,
01:20:06
Speaker
It feels exactly like an episode of Lower Decks.
01:20:13
Speaker
It feels exactly like an episode of Lower Decks. It is the most, it's a comics tie-in that I think does the best job I've maybe ever seen of feeling exactly like the other media. The Simpsons comics don't do that. like The G.I. Joe comics and Transformers comics are obviously very different from what they were nominally tie-ins to, although I guess both of those do predate the yeah animated the the cartoons.
01:20:43
Speaker
yeah Like, it's this and Batman Adventures that are essentially just like watching the thing. Yeah. I don't know, it's good. And it's got Dracula in it. It's good. Give me a number.
01:21:06
Speaker
69. Oh, I don't think it's that high. No, I don't think it's that high either. ah But that's what I should start doing is i so I'll start looking at like 420. That'll be where I start and say like, okay, is it better than Southern Bastards volume one? It actually probably is. But it's not as good as that issue of the Psyche jumbo where Psyche learns how to make noodles.
01:21:31
Speaker
No, it's not that good. That shit's good. I'll put it right under that though. The new number 417? Yeah. ah So Star Trek Lower Decks numbers one through three.
01:21:47
Speaker
Story subtitled all in a sea of wonders.
01:21:57
Speaker
Thank you for that list. I know we but we mentioned Ryan North, but ah Chris Finolio did the art and is also a reason that it is exactly like watching the show. Yeah, I mean, it just it absolutely nails the art style of the show. Like, unbelievably so.
01:22:21
Speaker
Yeah, wow. All right, our next list is from ah Sean Bell. Let's see.
01:22:41
Speaker
I don't know, I don't know is i don't know if this isn't every spooky ever actually. ah This is just a regular every story list. This thing is not knowing that. That's true.
01:22:54
Speaker
It is not, uh, it is not an every spooky ever list. So let's move on to this actual every spooky ever list from Sam Rutzik. This is an all Dracula list. People love Dracula. Comics love Dracula. Don't, don't love him enough. I would say first all of thems to an extent that is profitable for me specifically, but First is Ms. Marvel, number 14, in which Dracula makes a cameo. Uh, have not read it. Would love to catch up on it. Yeah, I don't know that I ever read the original run of Ms. Marvel. The original, like, 1977 Ms. Marvel. Uh... I've read... I read the first little bit.
01:23:52
Speaker
Uh, cause I think, cause when it came out in us as an essential, I bought the essential. Yeah. Uh, but. Chris Claremont. I'm curious to know like what kind of cameo Dracula had. What number is this? Number 14. Did you remember Chris Claremont writing these? Cause he did. Oh yeah. Yeah, he totally did. Uh, buddy, you can tell.
01:24:19
Speaker
Uh, He said, unnoted fan of Chris Claremont. So in this issue, Carol is walking around through the streets of Boston, ah being followed by a bat. And she's like, I sense something. Something's following me. I need some open space. So she goes out into like a square.
01:24:50
Speaker
She tries to talk to a cop and then transforms into... Well, she thinks she's being followed. She turns around and she's like, hey, you want you want to get nuts? Oh, right. And then she turns out that it's just a cop. Right. ah But then it was really Dracula. It was really Dracula, yeah. So she turns into Ms. Marvel and she's like, all right, I gotta go do some shit. And then Dracula is like looking at her and like,
01:25:19
Speaker
And that's it. That's all the Dracula. Which is very much a like, hey, by the way, Marvel publishes Tomb of Dracula now. Tomb of Dracula on sale now. Tomb of Dracula's on sale now. And it's fucked up because it makes you want a story where Carol Danvers just whips the shit out of Dracula because that is what would happen. Yeah, that would be great. Okay, so we can't rank that one. We haven't read that issue.
01:25:49
Speaker
Uh, next on Sam's list is Thor 1966. So the original volume of Thor numbers, three 32 to three 33, three 32 to three 33. That's, that's gotta be right close to the the assignments and run. It's, it seems like it would be right there. Yeah. Uh, let's see three 32. This is, uh,
01:26:17
Speaker
Oh, Alan Zelenitz is all right in this one. This is the boy. Matt, are you ready for a murderer's row of talent? Alan Zelenitz. Wow. Accredited as Scripter. Uh-huh. Dandy Don Perlin. Yep. Penciler. And that's right. Vivacious Vinnie Colletta. On inking. On inks.
01:26:48
Speaker
And that's, uh, it's the, again, I have not read these cause I don't know that anyone read these. Uh, edited by, edited by Mark Grunewald. Yeah, of course. The, I mean, these get, these do look good. I mean, Mark Bright draws the second one. It's Mark Bright Inc by Vince Coletta. So, okay. Dracula in at least the first issue looks so deeply off model.
01:27:20
Speaker
He's just a dude with a goatee. Yeah. Man, I wonder if maybe there were more details that made him identifying as Dracula. Yeah. That didn't that didn't make it to the the final version of this. Hey man, fuck Vince Colletto.
01:27:38
Speaker
Fuck Vince Colletto. I'll say it. Yeah, 337 is when the Simonson run starts. So whatever is happening in like 330 to 336, no one is reading. Uh, I will say the second issue looks a lot better than the first, the Mark, Mark, Mark bright pencils. Yeah. Mark, right. Better than Don Perlin, Mark bright, better than most artists who have ever drawn a comic book. Uh, so the, I think the big thing in this story is that Dracula exerts control over SIF.
01:28:14
Speaker
Man, I feel like I'm really, uh, really kind of shitting on Alan Zelenetz.
01:28:19
Speaker
but But... I don't know that I've ever heard anyone discuss the comic books of Alan Zelenetz. It's very few, very few people have, that I can recall. So, like, maybe that's... I don't know. I don't know, man. Well, this is... I would read these, though. This is Thor versus Dracula. it It is what it has promised. The story is about how Dracula wants to fuck Sif.
01:28:44
Speaker
Dracula wanted to fuck in Marvel Comics. That's true.
01:28:54
Speaker
Dracula and ah Sif go to like an opera. they go to They go see Wagner's Tenhauser at the Chicago Opera House.
01:29:09
Speaker
And Thor interrupts it, like he runs through the audience and it's like, Dracula, Prince of Darkness, Thor of Asgard has come for his goddess. Is that your is that your your Thor voice? I mean, i'm just I'm just saying what he said.
01:29:32
Speaker
Can you do it again, though? Because I did very much enjoy that voice. Uh, Dracula, Prince of Darkness, Thor of Asgard has come for his goddess! I love this because you're being Thor, but you are sounding more like a like ah random like bystander NPC in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Sure. Which is not a complaint, Matt. Part of it is that in that panel he looks like Space Ghost, so I'm reading it a little bit like Space Ghost. Little George Lowe in there. Yeah, yeah. ah We can't write these either. Yeah, I would like to read it though.
01:30:11
Speaker
Nobody read these comics? Yeah. Be honest with us. Get in touch. Be honest. Have you read these comics, listener? ah Finally on Sam's list is Tomb of Dracula number 28. Now that I have read. Let's see. Tomb of Dracula number 28.
01:30:38
Speaker
This one is...
01:30:43
Speaker
It's a blade story, I think. I think we might already have it, then.
01:30:51
Speaker
Let's see. Let us research whether it is already on the list. Let's see. Tomb of Dracula number 10 is his name is Blade. We have 22 to 24, which are a blade story.
01:31:07
Speaker
We have 50, we have 10. Yeah, no, we do not have this one. Okay, it maybe this isn't a Blade story. What it says on the cover is, five came to kill a vampire that Dracula may die forever. I mean, that's Blade on the cover. Yeah. Yeah. But it's, ah it's Blade and a team of other, other vampire hunters. Yeah, it's the, it's the guys that this book was about.
01:31:35
Speaker
before they figured out it should probably just be about Dracula. Oh, okay. It's Taj Natal, Blade, Frank Drake, and Rachel Van Helsing and Quincy Harker. yeah Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing being the kind of, uh, the initial main characters of the book. Yeah. Uh, and yeah, they like, they're they're like happy about it too. They think they got him.
01:32:06
Speaker
They really do. They think they had him. But you know what? They didn't. Two of Dracula will run for another 50 issues after those.
01:32:18
Speaker
ah It's pretty good. It's a good Dracula fight. The Gene Cohen art in this whips ass. No, it's awesome.
01:32:34
Speaker
and What happens in this is like they figure out a way to break Dracula's control on the his minions. And so in a very like true to the novel ah thing,
01:32:50
Speaker
like Dracula is beat up from the fight, and then all of his minions just like leave. And he's like, hey, come back.
01:33:02
Speaker
You can't leave me, I'm Dracula, I'm your master. And they're like, fuck off, Dracula.
01:33:08
Speaker
Which is like, pretty good. Like, it's a, like, it is a, it's a very, it's a very well done humanizing of Dracula. Yeah. Right? Like, you don't, like, you don't want Dracula to be too humanized. Cause he's fucking Dracula.
01:33:30
Speaker
And the fun thing about him is him just being a real piece of shit. Like, that's the thing that all the issues of Tomb of Dracula that you and I really like. Dracula's a real piece of shit in them. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Like, when he fights Doctor Strange, he's an asshole. When he fights Silver Surfer, he's an asshole. But you do want him to like. Like, that's what makes that's the best part of the novel to me is when you find out Dracula is like. Starting really down.
01:34:01
Speaker
in that book because everybody's fucking like he has to come to England because everybody in Transylvania knows he's fucking Dracula.
01:34:12
Speaker
oh Yeah, that's just good. I like it. The art kicks ass. The story is Marv Wolfman was so much better writing this than he honestly ever was again. Yeah. I know there are people out there who have been lied to, misled, duped into believing Teen Titans was good. This is, this is, Marvel has been his best. Uh, so what's great about this is drag, they, they have this plan to beat Dracula and they think they have him. And then he just like manipulates them all into turning on each other.
01:35:00
Speaker
it's It's pretty great. It's pretty good. Yeah. Pretty good stuff. Yeah.
01:35:11
Speaker
I would say, I mean, you know, of the Tomb of Dracula stuff we've got on here, it's wild to see Blade as like just a guy in these, you know? Yeah. Like a member of a team.
01:35:27
Speaker
This issue is probably not as good as the first appearance of Blade. Which is, his name is Blade. Uh, but... That one we have at 539 and then we have, uh, the next blade story in 22 to 24 at 871, which is a pretty big spread. Pretty big spread. Yeah. And I think this is better than that one. Okay. I think it's probably a little like, like it's closer to his name is blade. I think not as good as the captain America story where captain America fights vampire. Right. That's that's for sure. Uh, that's captain America to 54 at 591.
01:36:09
Speaker
It's not as good as Usagi Ojimbo Kappa. That's a good one. That is a good one. Usagi meets Kappa. He meets a little guy. Which is weird because like there aren't any... I feel there are other turtle people in Usagi Ojimbo who aren't Kappas. They're just dudes. Right? I think you're right. And then there are also the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
01:36:36
Speaker
Yeah, but the T-shirt and Ninja Turtles, they're from another dimension. That's true. Yeah. They're not from a world of, and well, they are from a world of anthropomorphic animals, but they're not from a world that is primarily anthropomorphic animals. I don't think this is as good as Aikwood cartilage head. Okay. is a ave Is it better worse than Transformers Lost Light? Lost Light's good, dude. Okay.
01:37:05
Speaker
I would say we can't put this above that gun show comic. Okay. Probably like one of the most important pieces of art of the 21st century. It's fair. Uh, but you know what? I would put it above Lids of the Dark Knight Prey, but that freak.
01:37:24
Speaker
That nasty boy. You go strange. That nasty freak. You go strange. Okay. That so nasty sex pervert. You go strange. Tomb of Dracula number 28 is the new number 641.
01:37:42
Speaker
I don't know if we have time to finish this list. Yeah, we do. we We got time to finish this list from Daniel Sylvester. We got about half an hour left. First on Daniel's list is Dragon Ball chapters 97 to 108, the Fortune Teller Baba saga, where Goku fights the Universal Monsters and the ghost of his grandpa. Yeah, man. I mean, it's it's pretty good. No, Matt, you haven't read this. I haven't read this, no. Okay. So Fortune Teller Baba,
01:38:18
Speaker
is pretty much that's what she sounds like. but the she you You got it. She's a little witch who rides around. First of all, she rides a crystal ball. One of my favorite things in manga is when there are like things that are kind of indelible images that we have in like American pop culture, right?
01:38:44
Speaker
um that they that they They're just, for lack of a better word, they just do them a little wrong when they show up. Like, they get it wrong in the same way that, like, we get shit from other cultures wrong all the time in American pop culture. So I love that Fortune Teller Baba is a witch in, like, a pointy witch hat who does ride around on a crystal ball. Because that's not right.
01:39:13
Speaker
That's, um that's not correct. oh But she, she's gonna do she's gonna do Goku a favor. So ah she, she has to make him fight a bunch of ah monsters and Goku whips the shit out of them. So it's ah it's literally just like Frankenstein. Yeah, the Dracula man. Dracula. Yeah. Yeah.
01:39:44
Speaker
He fights, fights a bunch of fucking monsters in there. Yeah. Uh, and then like the last guy he fights is a like wearing a mask and it's like, uh, um, I guess it' took it's a katsune mask. Uh, and it turns out that that's, uh, grandpa Gohan who, uh, she has brought back, uh, so that he can check in on Goku and see how he's doing.
01:40:13
Speaker
So how does that ultimately play into him being a Saiyan? What do you mean? He's got a grandpa. Oh, ah grand grandpa Gohan found his pocket. He found the oh rocket pod. Gotcha. yeah Okay. oh And then, of course, he names Gohan after grandpa.
01:40:43
Speaker
ah yeah I mean, Goku does have a father ah that that we were actually just discussing with some friends, Goku's parents. Do you know the number of things that I used to know in school that I don't know anymore? Because of what you know about Dragon Ball? It's just like, I could not, there are things I could not have possibly retained. And yet,
01:41:13
Speaker
Who were Goku's parents? Well, Bardock and Jean. Yeah, yeah. I know all about Bardock and Jean, yeah. Yeah. They were they were they were like low ranked as low lower class Saiyans. They were not considered very strong. Right. Although Bardock was under ranked and presumably so was Jean. But Jean didn't even get to like go out and conquer planets for Frieza. She had like a job.
01:41:42
Speaker
Anyway, yeah. Goku crash lands on Earth and is found by just this dude go Gohan, who is a martial artist, who is an old friend of ah of Master Roshi's. Okay. oh Yeah. oh He does... um he is ah Gohan will go on to become the attendant of a goddess, but that is a different story. So yeah.
01:42:12
Speaker
ah Goku wants to ah get his his like fortune. ah It's gonna cost 10 million zenny. So the only other way to deal with it is you gotta fight a bunch of monsters. So he fights a vampire, an invisible man, a mummy, a devil, and then Grandpa Gohan.
01:42:37
Speaker
ah And the reason that he wants this is to get the last Dragon Ball because ah there is a guy that was killed that Goku was like. That guy, Bora, who is a very stereotypical Native American character, that's the downside of ah other cultures getting stuff wrong. like That one is kind of a bummer. I mean, like I know that America Pop Culture gets that one wrong a lot too. Not not trying to not trying to play like we don't. yeah ah but he's got a kid and Goku's really sad that he died. So they're gonna get the Dragon Ball and bring him back. Uh, and yeah, like Goku just whips the shit out of a vampire and an invisible man and a mummy and the devil. Uh, he doesn't fight a Frankenstein cause there's already a Frankenstein elsewhere in the story oh who is Android eight. Right. Okay. Who is just a straight up Frankenstein.
01:43:41
Speaker
Okay. Uh, Daniel also noted that there's some not so great Bulma stuff in the story. Yeah, there is. But you can, you can essentially say that about all of Dragon Ball. The original Dragon Ball. All of the original Dragon Ball. Yeah. All right. I have i haven't read this, so this is all you as far as ranking. Look, it's not top tier Dragon Ball. It's fun. It's not, it's not like,
01:44:11
Speaker
It's not the Tournament of Power, you know? yeah It's not the 23rd Martial Arts, the Tenkaichi Budokai. It's not that. It's it's not Goku punching a goddamn hole through Demon King Piccolo. Sure. It's okay. It's fine. I would say this one, we're looking at... You know, my eyes hit, and I actually think this is very appropriate, Paul Grist's Mudman at number 851.
01:44:42
Speaker
a Another comic by a master of the craft? That's fine. That's okay. Like, obviously, it it has some good stuff in it. It's done by a master of the craft. But it's, you know, ain't as good as a bunch of other stuff that same guy did. Right.
01:45:06
Speaker
Uh, I've maybe put it a little lower than that. It's definitely not going to go below the Supernaturals, the Brian Polito, uh, Marvel comic about the satana and werewolf by night. Okay.
01:45:25
Speaker
Hmm. No matter, are you okay with me putting this above slingers? I know you love the slingers. I do love slingers, but if that is what you decide, that's what you decide. Then I'll put it right above them. And hey, Matt, can you real quick name the slingers for me? Dusk. Prodigy. That's one. Two. Ricochet. Three. And Hornet. you You did it? You nailed it. Yeah.
01:45:56
Speaker
You ask me today, the Slingers, you get it. I don't think I could have gotten all four. I remember when Spider-Man had all four of those identities, so umll I'll never forget. It's when he then found four other people to be those people.
01:46:19
Speaker
but
01:46:22
Speaker
that's That's... God, that's weird, man. Dragon Ball 97 to 108, fighting monsters. That's what I'm going to put in parentheses. Next on Daniel's list is ah one with ah an interesting monster. Roxxon presents Thor number one by Al Ewing and Greg Land, in which the monster is capitalism.
01:46:51
Speaker
That comic's so fucking good. Yes. Here's my question. Is it part of a bigger story?
01:47:02
Speaker
Yes. And no, like, yes? I mean, I guess ah it does stand alone, I suppose. Yeah. But it's like, the like,
01:47:17
Speaker
The context for it is all the surrounding stuff. Yeah, and, you know, we we ranked Immortal Four as one big story. Yeah. It is entirely possible and probable that, or I'm sorry, Immortal Hulk. We ranked Immortal Hulk as one big story. It is entirely possible and probable that Immortal Four will also be one big story. Which will include this. Which will include this, yes.
01:47:49
Speaker
So my it's it's tough, though. My inclination is to say we should should wait and see if Immortal Thor, which would include Roxanne Presents Thor, is is one story we rank altogether. Now, Matt, I will tell you this. I agree with you. However, just to just to head off this argument in case it comes back,
01:48:19
Speaker
Uh, we did rank Doomforce on its own. And I kind of feel like Doomforce is the, like, that is the closest thing we have to Roxxon Presents Thor. They're, they're very much the same type of thing. Yeah. But I think you're right.
01:48:50
Speaker
i do just I just want to bring that up in case it it changed the way you thought. I would be willing at some point to revisit this as one story to rank on its own, but with Immortal Thor not finished, I hesitate to say that we should rank this and not Immortal Thor, which would include this all as one thing.
01:49:21
Speaker
Okay, I agree with you. I think it's something that we could revisit in the future. Okay. i will I will say, there are very... I don't know that there's ever been another comic where the choice of artist is also part of the story. It is the most brilliant hiring of Greg Land as the artist on a comic that I've ever seen. it's Yeah, it's it's ridiculous.
01:49:50
Speaker
ah Finally on Daniel's list is Dragon Ball Super, chapters 14 to 26, the Goku Black saga. Boy! Boy, Matt, you don't know about Goku Black. That is the story where Vegeta tells Goku to go wild till he dies. Yes. That's the story where there is a Deus Ex Machina ending that is not Goku getting a new power.
01:50:19
Speaker
but that like is such a like blatant Deus Ex Machina that they're like, we can't fucking beat this guy. yeah We're fucked. Now, you don't know about Goku Black despite the fact that you purchased a Goku Black figure for me for my birthday. I know about Goku Black that much. Yes.
01:50:43
Speaker
yeah Uh, Goku Black, who has, uh, the ultimate form, uh, Super Saiyan Rose.
01:50:52
Speaker
Right. Cause his hair turns pink. His hair turns pink. Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to know about Goku Black? Tell me about Goku Black. He's an evil God, right? So, so trunks. Okay. You know how there's 14 universes? Uh-huh. Right. You've read the Tournament of Power.
01:51:11
Speaker
Yeah, universe seven universe six, you know that yeah, so there's 14 universes but when trunks comes back in time and kills Frieza and they fight oh the ah The androids and sell and they take out a cell They that is also a Not only are there parallel universes, there's also parallel timelines that operate under Marvel Comics rules. Okay. So when Trunks comes back in time, he creates a split timeline. So he goes home. He goes back home to like a future where Goku died and, and the, you know, the androids were all around and he just like goes and fucks up. So, uh,
01:52:05
Speaker
But that timeline also has all the gods. So there's a second Universe 7 Supreme Kai, who and in a second Universe 7 God of Destruction, and and that Universe 7's God of Destruction ends up taking over Goku's body because it's the strongest body.
01:52:32
Speaker
So Goku's... Goku Black is Goku's body with a mad god's brain. So it's not Goku's brain? It's not Goku's brain, which is basically non-existent anyway. Right. So Zamasu, who is ah the ah Supreme Kai's apprentice,
01:53:02
Speaker
ah becomes Goku Black, then he teams up with Zamasu, who is the mad god of Universe 7 main timeline, and then they wind up fusing. And so, when Vegeta says, go wild till you die, it's because they're fighting an army of dudes and a guy who's two gods.
01:53:35
Speaker
It owns Like it's It's fucking like it sounds wild because it is a comics and be Dragon Ball but the The everything about it fucking kicks ass like Just the fact that, the only thing bad about it is that um in the style of things, they keep referring to Goku Black as just black, which is a little weird. ah hu But ah yeah, Goku Black, when he goes Super Saiyan and his hair turns pink and he's like, yeah, we'll call this Super Saiyan Rose, that shit owns. oh It's good, man. Like that's when I was like,
01:54:26
Speaker
Oh, Dragon Ball Super is going to be the closest we have to like, Marvel Comics in manga. And it's gonna just fucking whip. Because it is like,
01:54:43
Speaker
yeah I mean, it's it's like the days of future past of right of Dragon Ball. It's iy test good as fuck. I was going to say, Trunks is like, we've always like joked about how Trunks is cable, but he is absolutely cable. Yes.
01:55:03
Speaker
ah Yeah. Oh, and that's also when ah like, the, uh, I believe that's the first time that, uh, Vegeta goes Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. Uh-huh. AKA Super Saiyan Blue. Right. But yeah, man. Yeah, man, Goku Black is great. He, he like also kills so many people. Like he, it's, it's bad. Like important characters.
01:55:34
Speaker
Yeah, like he killed like he essentially like his whole deal is like ah It's it's kind of close to like movie Thanos except for his whole thing is like if You know if if it's actually you know what it is it's judge death another judge judge death yeah it's it's the crime is life the sentence is death like in order to uh to have peace and order in the universe you can't have anyone alive so he's just like going around killing literally everyone there's so many characters who have this philosophy in dragon ball super yeah man nylus we're destroying universes for killing people to prune them away
01:56:27
Speaker
Yeah, man. You gotta watch out for him. yeah Folks, don't trust nihilists. That's what I'm saying. Don't. Don't do it. They don't believe in anything. That's true. I guess Thanos in the comics is is the ultimate nihilist, or was at one time.
01:56:46
Speaker
ah And they used to call him that. like That used to be like he Thanos the Ultimate Nihilist. It was, but if you're in love with somebody and you're trying to impress them, and that's your motivation, is that nihilism?
01:57:04
Speaker
but I mean, it if the thing you're in love with is both a person but also the concept of death... I'm just saying.
01:57:17
Speaker
No, like, i I know you're right, but it does it does make it a little more complicated when the concept is a person, and it's not like the personification of the concept, it's that the concept is also a person. Right, yeah. And she's never really that into him to begin with, but nonetheless. Yeah. Thanos is an incel. Now, the ultimate incel. That I can buy. The ultimate Thanos. The Mad Titan. The ultimate incel.
01:57:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of got, got him. Got him. Got him. Nailed him. Uh, no, this, this story kicks ass. Uh, it rules. Dragon ball super is so good. Like that's, that's the thing that I cannot stress enough. What I have read of it, I really liked. I i did really like the, the, the tournament.
01:58:15
Speaker
I wish it didn't rely a lot on, like, as much as it does on Dragon Ball Continuity, even though I love the parts that are, like, specifically addressing and informed by oh Dragon Ball Continuity, because I want to just tell people, like, no, just read Dragon Ball Super, it's fucking incredible. But it's so much better if you have all the other stuff to to know about. Yeah, like, the whole thing about him being Super Saiyan Rose,
01:58:45
Speaker
Like, I don't know what the original Japanese is for that, but like, it's something else, right? No, it's Super Saiyan Rosa. Like, like the wine? Yeah. Okay. Cause I was going to say like, I feel like clever stuff like that is what you get when the people doing the translation of manga Like, it's not somebody who's just doing translation as a job. It's a fan who, like, really wants to make it good, you know? Well, that's my my whole thing with, like, wondering how much storytelling ah Toyotaro is doing, because so much of it does seem like... Like, yeah, this is a fan. Like, this is yeah someone who loves Dragon Ball in a way that is different than the way the creator of it would love it.
01:59:42
Speaker
Right. Right. It's interesting to think about. Much to think about. All right, let's rank this. oh It's good. It's real good. I would say it's... I mean, I like it better than One Piece of Romance Dawn, which we have at 485, which I do like a lot.
02:00:15
Speaker
I think it's probably not as good a judge as Judge Dredd Day of Chaos, which I think is a weirdly, especially tonally similar story. oh But probably... um'm going to say ah I'm say right above Ninjak Volume 3.
02:00:41
Speaker
Okay, what number does that make it? That is number 484. That puts it right below clause, the Witch of Winter. Okay, that's a good showing. Dragon Ball Super Black Goku Saga. Goku Black. Goku Black Saga.
02:01:00
Speaker
ah Which is chapters 14 to 26.
02:01:09
Speaker
so good ass comics dude chunky chunky chunky comics it's nice it's a nice little chunk it's ah it's it's a chump it's nice little chunk load of comics yeah uh we do have a backup from Daniel if we want to do that before we wrap up Okay. It's Frankenstein and the Ghouls and Vampires from Frankenstein number one by Dick Brieffer.
02:01:44
Speaker
I'm trying to remember if I've actually sat down and read the Dick Brieffer Frankenstein. i know i' i I know I've read some of it and I know I bought it that at one point. Yeah. But it I don't, I might not have actually read it.
02:02:04
Speaker
Now, which which Frankenstein is that? Is that... It's the one who looks real weird? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what he looks like. That's not Dell Frankenstein, though, right? No. I don't i don't know who published it. Huh. I know that Frankenstein by look, but i i I've never read those comics. That's another really good catch-up candidate. That's a really good catch-up candidate, yeah.
02:02:34
Speaker
Because I know those comics are like very famous and well-regarded, um but I have never read any of it. ah Yeah, who published those? Prize Comics was the title of the book.
02:03:01
Speaker
ah Yeah, that's from way back to Golden Age.
02:03:09
Speaker
Yeah, I've, I've, I've often heard it spoken of in the same breath as like, uh, plastic man and, and the, the kind of ahead of their time books like that. Yeah. Okay. That might have to be our October 2025 catch up. These date braver Frankenstein. Hell yeah. Cause that feels important.
02:03:33
Speaker
uh, to have on this list and to have read. Okay. That is it for this, uh, every story ever special. If you, every spooky ever special, if you would like to send us a list, you can do it at our email address, which is war rocket podcast at Gmail dot.com.
02:03:51
Speaker
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02:04:26
Speaker
You can join our Discord and be part of that community. ah Just ask us for an invitation to the Discord and we will provide you one if you ask us nicely. We're on Blue Sky at warrocketajax.bsky.social. We're on Tumblr at warrocketpodcast.tumblr dot.com. Our website is warrocketajax.com. It has every episode of the show.
02:04:45
Speaker
And War Rocket Wiki is the fan-run repository of all the information you could need about War Rocket HX. If you want to find me and my stuff, go to MattDWilson.net to find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social medias. Chris Wicked P will find you. Everybody can find me by going to the-isb dot.com. That is my website, and it has links to all the stuff that I do. Bye, everybody. Thanks for listening to Every Spooky Ever.
02:05:11
Speaker
yeah
02:05:16
Speaker
Vote for Kamala Harris. Vote for Kamala Harris please. Bye.