Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Comics Catch-Up 076: Extreme Super Christmas Special
0 Plays2 seconds ago
It's Christmas time, so we're going back to 1994 to read the Christmas special from Rob Liefeld's Image imprint! Troll has got to find the 12 gifts from "The 12 Days of Christmas" -- that sounds fun, right?
We make our show on Zencastr, and you can too! Follow this link to sign up now!
Join the WRA Patreon to help us keep doing the show and get rewards!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Zencastr
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.
Introducing 'Comics Catch-Up'
00:00:28
Speaker
Oh, my God, it's comic. I think it's a fossil. Whoa. This is Comics Catch-Up. Hey, twerk. You better not be mine.
00:00:39
Speaker
Come on. Come on.
Meet the Hosts and Show Concept
00:00:51
Speaker
where we read comics suggested by you, the listeners of War Rocket Apex, that we have missed. Ho, ho, ho! Well, who is that?
00:01:04
Speaker
I haven't seen you in quite some time. Let's catch up. This is Comics Catch-Up, the show where I, Matt Wilson, and Chris Sims, who is here with me.
00:01:18
Speaker
Yes, I am. Ho, ho, hello. We read the comics that we have never read before and talk about them and then rank them on the Every Story Ever list, our big list of every comic ever made.
Choosing a Comic: '1994 Extreme Super Christmas Special'
00:01:33
Speaker
And this time on the show, we decided, one we were going to like... not Not read too much. just Just take it easy and read something holiday-related.
Extreme Comics and Rob Liefeld
00:01:48
Speaker
So what we chose was the 1994 Extreme Super Christmas Special.
Comic's Plot and Creators
00:01:57
Speaker
ah That's right, Extreme Comics, the comic company of Rob Liefeld.
00:02:02
Speaker
put out a Christmas special, even though it's it's just Image on the cover. um it was It was Extreme Studio at the time. Yes, yes, yes. that's but That was before it became its own like publishing company for a while. Yeah, they did later do their own publishing, like us with specifically, like I know, Supreme.
00:02:23
Speaker
couple issues came out from from Extreme Comics rather than in through Image. And The Fighting American. The one I really remember is The Fighting American. They got like the rights to Simon and Kirby's Fighting American and published that for a while.
Character Introduction: Troll
00:02:42
Speaker
I believe that was after Liefeld's Captain America run, and he wanted to keep doing those kind of stories. Yeah, because it does have an analog for the the Ricky Barnes Bucky.
00:02:56
Speaker
and The Bucky from, yeah, yeah, yeah. sure. I that by then. I guess that was awesome comics. by then i guess
00:03:06
Speaker
I feel like there was an Extreme Comics publishing imprint. There was. but there There definitely was. there were Rob cycled through a lot of stuff. yeah He really did. By 97, it was awesome. I believe... It was awesome. Matt, you are correct.
00:03:24
Speaker
I think it became Extreme Comics, like its own publishing company, and maybe like 95, but this was when it was still part of Image. um rob Rob had his breakup with Image sometime sometime after this, but this is from 1994.
Plot Inconsistencies and Challenges
00:03:43
Speaker
Surprisingly, Rob, from what I could tell, had nothing to do with the creative part of this comic. ah he's He's listed as creator on the credits page.
00:03:55
Speaker
<unk> It's a real real characters created by Rob Liefeld situation, I believe. But Keith Giffen is credited with plots layouts for this.
00:04:06
Speaker
Todd Nock is credited for breakdowns. And then, okay, like Rob Liefeld is credited as one of six artists who were listed as finishers.
00:04:20
Speaker
Makes sense. Makes sense. feel like... So Keith Griffin did layouts, Todd Knock did breakdowns, and then six artists did finish finishes. I feel like the the like generation that was really into like Young Justice, the comic when they were kids, yeah the Peter David, Todd Knock Young Justice, I feel like they don't realize that Todd Knock was a Rob guy.
00:04:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Because he was ah like he was a Rob guy. like that like He got started with Extreme Studios doing like a what Vogue, I think.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i I don't know most of the names of the finishers here, um but I recognize Rob Liefeld and Jeff Matsuda.
00:05:09
Speaker
je Jazzy Jeff Matsuda
Breakdown of '12 Days of Christmas' Plot Twist
00:05:12
Speaker
of the Batman fame. The others are Marlo Alkeza, Larry Stucker, with one R. You're telling me don't know Stephen Platt?
00:05:26
Speaker
Okay, Stephen Platt and Chap Yep. Matt, you you know Splatt. What else has Stephen Platt done? Stephen Platt, like, he did a bunch of stuff, but he signed his name S.P.L.A.T.T. and put it in like a Splatt.
00:05:45
Speaker
Oh, i guess i do I guess I do remember that. Yeah, man. He did Fighting American, I believe. Did he do Fighting American? Okay.
00:05:57
Speaker
Okay. It just didn't ring a bell immediately, but Chap Yep also sounds familiar. but I feel like I've run into that that name somewhere.
00:06:08
Speaker
ah Gloria Vasquez is credited as Colorzist.
00:06:14
Speaker
That's just misspelled on the on the credits page. Well, you know, if you think about it, like a colorist, they might only use one color, but they want you to know that Gloria Vasquez used all of them.
00:06:26
Speaker
That's true. um Color separations by extreme colors in color. Kurt Hathaway, letterer. Eric Stevenson, editor. ah Kurt Hathaway, associate editor.
00:06:39
Speaker
Tom Ryder Editorial Assistance, and Rob Liefeld Creator. That is so many people listed on a creator's page for – a credits page for a comic that sucks.
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah, i guess I guess we're really just going into it now. um Like, here's here's the thing. I will say this. We've had a rough go of it.
00:07:04
Speaker
with the late and i honestly great Keith Giffen. Yeah. Because we have tried specifically tolinic kaak to read stuff that the Giffen was involved in, a guy that we both have enjoyed so much of his work.
00:07:24
Speaker
The problem being that Keith Giffen did so much work in his comics career that there's also a lot of bad stuff, and that is what we have happened to pick.
00:07:35
Speaker
But i ah I'm a fan of of Giffen and of of Todd Nock. Todd Nock drew a great ah Sleepwalker comic couple years ago. He did. I remember that. i yeah i but that Listener, I was one of the writers of it. that's the That's the bit there. But ah I loved working with Todd because I enjoyed
Critique of Humor and Execution
00:07:54
Speaker
his work so much as a fan. so Well, okay. So last year we did the Ambush Bug holiday special. Uh-huh.
00:08:04
Speaker
Which you did not like. But I thought it was fun. thought it was fun. yeah um and That was a Keith Giffen joint. And then I chose this book not even realizing that Keith Giffen wrote it. I just thought it would be funny for us to talk about this.
00:08:21
Speaker
um Because it is like the most 1994 Christmas special you could possibly imagine. Yeah. And...
00:08:33
Speaker
and
00:08:36
Speaker
I mean, I'm someone who would probably tend to enjoy the most 1994 Christmas special you could imagine. don't think this is it. This is a very specific kind of thing. I think in a manner of speaking it is. From a certain point of view.
00:08:57
Speaker
That's right. So, okay. So we get an opening page... set in in a tiny island off the coast of Greece where um a guy is is shearing a sheep and okay, in panel one, the sheep is being sheared.
00:09:18
Speaker
In panel two, the sheep has all of its wool back.
00:09:23
Speaker
I mean, to be fair, Matt, if we're good to if we're going to do this and be very fair, ah it is a magic sheep. But it's it in panel three, it doesn't have any wool anymore.
00:09:34
Speaker
but And it's plot important that she has been sheared of all of her wool. Yes. But yeah we're going from panel one to panel two with no ah consistency involving the sheep being sheared. So that's that's where we're at here.
00:09:55
Speaker
it's Buddy, it's challenging. It's very challenging. So the sheep's being sheared, and then there's like an explosion. And ah after after she's told to frolic with her brothers and sisters, um and somebody says, bah, frolic, my shave behind. ah We're going to learn what happened there in just a second.
00:10:21
Speaker
Then we get a caption that says, several hours later on the other side of the world. And... It's a Troll, who you may know as the ah famous Rob Liefeld ripoff of of Wolverine. Damn, no pulling punches from Matt Wilson. i mean, is that not what he is? Yeah.
00:10:45
Speaker
I mean, yeah. From Youngblood. He was in Youngblood. Yeah. like But he's he's just Wolverine, man. like I mean, well, he in design, he sort of it like he's smaller than Wolverine, which I think is the joke, is that he's Wolverine, but he's even shorter.
00:11:05
Speaker
Right. ah And he's got like like goggles he always wears. Yeah, but it his you you recognize that hair shape. um Yeah, there's no mistaking it.
00:11:17
Speaker
I don't know what Troll's deal is. Like, i've I've read a not – I mean, I've read a significant amount of Rob Liefeld comics in my time. And I have read a not insignificant amount of Youngblood.
00:11:30
Speaker
I don't know what Troll's deal is. So a lot of this was was coming off as new to me. and i'll I'll read his fictional character biography from Wikipedia if you want.
00:11:44
Speaker
Separated out from the real from the real biography of Troll. Right, yeah, yeah. Separated for separate it out from his publication history. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Um, Troll was born a member of his race of the same name.
00:11:58
Speaker
Though he appears to, with gray hair, and the rest of his body hairless, his true appearance, is that what he
Further Plot Analysis and Character Review
00:12:04
Speaker
appears as? I guess so. Uh, Is that also like a Wolverine bit? Because Wolverine's very hairy.
00:12:13
Speaker
yeah I guess so. And so Troll is hairless. I don't like knowing that Troll is hairless. Okay, so this is an important detail. This isn't what Troll actually looks like in true in his true appearance. Okay.
00:12:27
Speaker
In his true appearance, he's a short-haired blue creature. So he looks more like a troll. Okay, well, ah yeah, well, Troll's... I would say that short-haired blue creatures, like traditionally, that's not what a troll looks like, but sure.
00:12:44
Speaker
Look, I don't know. Not much information about his past has been revealed, although he once worked for the United States government during World War I. All right, that's pretty Wolverine-y. yeah prior Prior to that, he came into contact with a mystical book which tells of things to come and allows the user to rewrite their own history.
00:13:01
Speaker
He lost the book in a card game, and when he attempted to reclaim it, he was trapped in ice for hundreds of years. In the 1990s, he came to work for the government-sponsored superhero team Youngblood. Okay.
00:13:13
Speaker
Now, it's interesting that that does not mention that Troll was around in Xenotimes. Yes, yes. Well, he was trapped in ice for hundreds of years.
00:13:25
Speaker
Yeah, but they you'd think it would have mentioned that he was around in Hercules times, Matt.
00:13:32
Speaker
I mean, that that is a key component of this story. It's definitely a component of this story, yes. Yeah. ah So he comes home – I guess he lives in like Los Angeles, is what is heavily implied. This this can't be l L.A., because it's it's cold.
00:13:49
Speaker
I mean, he is wearing a jacket. so It's got to be in New York. Maybe. But anyway, he's coming home ah with a bunch of presents and singing like a funny parody version of Deck the Halls.
00:14:04
Speaker
Classic. ah Classic, classic given. Yeah. When he gets home, he encounters Cersei, who has completely been shaved bald.
00:14:18
Speaker
Because,
00:14:22
Speaker
well, she says she's been sheared. and And Troll is like, ah
00:14:30
Speaker
hey, I remember your name. And I didn't say it wasn't a good look for you. And she mentions a spell. And she's like, I want revenge.
00:14:44
Speaker
Not your comic books. And then there's a gag where he's reading Wizard Magazine looking up prices. It's a sign, Matt. Is that what it is? WizKids gotta have them.
00:14:58
Speaker
i I'm struggling with how WizKids will be a podcast, but... I mean, you know how we do this podcast where we like read stuff and talk about it?
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah, but like we're talking about a narrative. Wizard Magazine is just like articles. said Buddy, you know it's not just articles.
00:15:22
Speaker
Anyway, ah a couple of things to note here. ah This is Cersei from The Odyssey. yeah And also, in the present day, in a a hilarious joke from Keith Giffen,
00:15:44
Speaker
who Keith Giffen, who, when he's funny, he's hilarious. And when he's not funny, it's bad. i mean, i I feel like this is like...
00:15:56
Speaker
The extreme comics sense of humor and method of storytelling rubbing off on Keith Giffen. i don't think I don't think that's the case. I think that is i think you're giving Giffen a pass and and really going after extreme comics.
00:16:14
Speaker
i I will say, i think this is kind of the 1994 movie. like sense of humor of it. Very much so, yeah. But ah the gag is that Cersei in the present day ah is is kind of heavyset.
00:16:29
Speaker
Right. she's she's She's kind of heavyset and bald. And and freshly shorn. And that is the result of her having been a sheep. Right. Yeah, which is interesting, because we get a flashback to ye olde ancient Greece.
00:16:45
Speaker
ah And we see Troll. He's not hairless, by the way. No, he's very hairy. just Very hairy, just like Wolverine. But he's still got those goggles on. um And we see Cersei, and he has sung to her a song he has written that is The Twelve Days of Christmas.
00:17:06
Speaker
Right. this is This is definitely before Christ. Yeah, it's ancient Greek. It's Hercules times. Yeah. But he sings yeah he sings the counting song, oh and ah he has convinced her that ah it's a love song to her that is like, look at all these things that I would bring to you, my true love.
00:17:28
Speaker
And this is a ploy so that he can get her to cast ah a... special magic spell that will turn him into a sheep after which, but he like bounces it back off a mirror. So she turns herself into a sheep for, I don't know, like 5,000 years or whatever, but that's not what Cersei did.
00:17:56
Speaker
Notably. Yes. And also it's established Cersei says in dialogue, the magic only works on men. Yes.
00:18:07
Speaker
But it works on her. But it does work on her.
00:18:15
Speaker
Which... Which is is is tough. It's challenging. just it's It's challenging. this This comic is challenging, if nothing else. Because... Like...
00:18:29
Speaker
like
Cersei's Plan and Chaotic Resolution
00:18:30
Speaker
Reading this, I also caught on to that and was terrified that we were going to have to talk about something that was going to make some kind of 1994-ass independent comics gender joke.
00:18:49
Speaker
But it just never comes up. It's just regular bad. I think it's just a mistake.
00:18:57
Speaker
Like, that's the only thing I can figure. Like... like ah this This book has like three credited editors and nobody nobody caught any of this.
00:19:11
Speaker
I feel like these were editors more in like a like a title sense. ah yeah Not in a not an a like functionary sense. ah the The sheep, Sorcy now turned into a sheep called Troll Bastard.
00:19:29
Speaker
it's That's kind of funny. And he runs away. Now, we back to the present. ri yeah yeah And the deal here is that Cersei, having turned back into a human, ah is going to cast a spell that will turn every man on the planet into a warthog, which is closer to what she did.
Detailed Critique of Artistic and Storytelling Flaws
00:19:56
Speaker
Yes, yes. Also, um also ah we gotta note that Troll farts on panel. Like, as soon as it comes back. Yes. ah I don't know if that's him. Like, was he farting the flashback?
00:20:11
Speaker
Maybe? oh he does say he does say flashbacks give him gas. And then there's a flashback, and then it cuts back, and he's really tooting one. um yeah So, in order to stop the spell, Troll needs to fulfill the promise of the song and get Cersei all the things from the 12 Days of Christmas. yes Now, here is what I will say about this, Matt.
00:20:35
Speaker
hu I feel like that's actually a pretty good premise for a Christmas comic. it's it's there's some There's something here. Yeah, there's something fun here.
00:20:47
Speaker
You gotta go get... All the stuff from the 12 Days of Christmas in in a short amount of time. That... I feel like the setup here with Cersei is weird, and the fact that... I mean, I don't know what Troll's deal is, so that feels really weird.
00:21:08
Speaker
but i the But the basic idea of a 12 Days of Christmas fetch quest... That's pretty fun. Because there's a lot you can do with that. There's a lot of like double meanings you could do with yes with stuff. um That's not going to happen here, though.
00:21:26
Speaker
Well, there's there's some of it. But ah here's what I think is the key problem. And and again, anybody actually serving as editor on this could have could ah could have maybe done a little surgery to make this work.
00:21:43
Speaker
But It's established that Troll wrote the song. But from here on out, as Troll is is gathering the stuff listed in the song, he's he doesn't know what it is.
00:21:58
Speaker
like He doesn't know what a calling bird is. ah and like And it is later pointed out in the story that it's actually collie birds, which I did appreciate. That's a key part of...
00:22:09
Speaker
The resolution is that they're collie birds, not calling birds. But like he's like confused by like the Maids of Milken. Dude, you wrote the song! Now, Matt, I will say, again, in the interest of being a little more fair than I think you're being.
00:22:26
Speaker
you're Because, you know, you're just like, did Tom Lyle draw this? Because you're really going after it. ah Here's what I will say. People have told me jokes that I wrote on my blog, and I've been like, that's hilarious. Where's that from?
00:22:46
Speaker
Oh, I mean, i look, i've I've done the same thing. Yeah. but like People have told you jokes from my blog. And then I'm like, who wrote that? Ha ha ha ha. Yeah. yeah But like, okay, it's one thing to forget a joke that you wrote. It's another thing to forget a concept that you put into a song.
00:23:08
Speaker
I mean, it it's been it's been since Hercules' time, Matt. It's been like 5,000 years. I think we can give them a break. I'm just saying, like, if you forget...
00:23:19
Speaker
Now, the weird thing is, it is he never stops and goes, man, I was i was drunk off that of that Grecian wine back when I wrote that. I don't remember any of this stuff.
00:23:30
Speaker
Like, it's never mentioned. So I feel like, i again, there's potential here to do a thing where where it is acknowledged and becomes a joke. But instead, again, it's just regular bad.
00:23:44
Speaker
It's just regular bad. Yeah. it's it's yeah bla The reason I say this is the most 1994 Christmas comic you could imagine is because like it's all just an excuse to kind of like draw some shit, and nobody thought about the story at all at any point.
00:24:03
Speaker
Correct. like that like It really does feel like... nobody was at the steering wheel on this thing.
Hosts' Disappointment and Missed Potential
00:24:12
Speaker
i don't want to... Again,
00:24:17
Speaker
ah ah assigning thoughts and feelings to creators that we don't know if they had is a dangerous game. But if if Keith Giffen took more than an afternoon to write this, I'll be fucking shocked.
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it really does feel like something that got banged out in a couple hours. And it maybe even some people read bread over it or skimmed it.
00:24:47
Speaker
And they all just said, it's fine.
00:24:50
Speaker
let's Yeah, draw it. Let's go. show moving I mean, it could be that this like it was like October 3rd. And they were like, oh man, we gotta to get this out.
00:25:06
Speaker
um Anyway, so Troll immediately goes and steals five golden rings because that's going to be the easiest thing to get, of course.
00:25:17
Speaker
Then ah he goes to the Bronx Zoo Aviary and steals two turtle doves. And we learn about that by seeing a scene where the cops are talking about how somebody broke in and stole two turtle doves. When I was a kid, I used to call – Koopa Paratroopers in in Super Mario Brothers.
00:25:40
Speaker
i used call them turtle ducks. That's fun. Yeah. Because they got shells like turtles. And then they they fly they have wings like ducks. They wings like ducks, and they're kind of beaky like ducks.
00:25:53
Speaker
Yeah. You get it. I do. he He leaves the zoo, and then he goes back to the zoo, ah realizing that he needs more birds. Yeah. There's a of fucking birds.
00:26:05
Speaker
There's a lot of fucking birds. That's so that's the the thing you gotta know minute one when you're dealing with ah the 12 Days of Christmas. lot of fucking birds, dude.
00:26:16
Speaker
yeah How are you not prepared for the amount of birds that you gotta get? So, he's looking for the four calling birds. He doesn't know what that is. that Which, also, he's like, what the hell's a calling bird? And it's like,
00:26:33
Speaker
It's a bird that makes noise. Like, it's any bird. It's any bird that sings. That sings. like you Like, that's why people think it's calling birds and not collie birds.
00:26:44
Speaker
It's because no one knows what a collie bird is, but everybody knows what a calling bird – everybody knows what a bird call is. Like, troll. Right, yeah. Troll, you can't be that dumb. You can't be that dumb.
00:26:55
Speaker
You know, he wrote the song and it was collie birds, and – And now he doesn't know what a calling bird is. I guess. i mean he got He got me there, dude He gets accosted by like a security guard who is like, why are you breaking into the zoo? And then he shows him his Youngblood ID.
00:27:13
Speaker
And the guy's like, oh, you work for Youngblood. You're important. I've never heard of a calling bird. And so he just takes four birds.
00:27:24
Speaker
um Then for the Eleven Ladies Dancing, he goes and gets ah Eleven of the Rockettes from Radio City Music Hall. Not wordplay, but one of the funnier bits of the book.
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah. And also the source of what is probably the best part of the book. the What these Rockettes are wearing is... Wilder.
00:27:50
Speaker
I mean, the Rockettes wear pretty wild costumes. Yes, but this like seems wild even for that. I would guarantee that rob this is one of the pages Rob finished.
00:28:03
Speaker
it's ah i'm I'm looking up pictures of the Rockettes. It's not far off from from what they usually do wear. ah This looks like it has like dragon designs on it. Yeah, and that's 94.
00:28:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. um But he's he he realizes that he can't fit 11 Rockettes in his car. So um he steals a bus.
00:28:30
Speaker
And ah so he's driving the bus into Canada. ah and he's he's looking for some geese. And the the the six geese are laying.
00:28:43
Speaker
And
Summary of Chaotic Narrative and Humor
00:28:44
Speaker
he runs into a Mountie. The RCMP? Yeah. One of the Rougeaux's. Yeah. Probably. guy's like, I gotta make a call.
00:28:57
Speaker
And
00:29:00
Speaker
he's like, the guy's like talking on the phone like, yeah, there's this there's this guy on a bus and he but he wants geese and I don't know what's going on. And while that's happening, he runs into Canada, steals the geese and leaves. Yeah.
00:29:14
Speaker
Now, here's ah here's a problem with this, Matt. And I am not... ain't no John J. Audubon. I'm not a Brennan Lee Mulligan. I'm not a birds guy. Sure.
00:29:25
Speaker
But I do feel like... I i do live in beautiful L'Etoile du Nord, Minnesota. Correct. So I do have some experience just seeing Canadian geese.
00:29:39
Speaker
And I feel like they kind of notably fly south for the winter. Right, yeah, they come to America. they They're not just in Canada. I mean, surely that doesn't mean that there's no geese in Canada at Christmas time, because ah this book is set ah at ah on Christmas Eve day.
00:29:58
Speaker
So surely
00:30:02
Speaker
it's not that there's no geese in Canada, but surely the majority of geese have gone south for the winter, Yeah.
00:30:11
Speaker
Look, man, I don't know. i like We're thinking about this so much more than the people who made this comic are thinking about this. It's challenging. But it's challenging.
00:30:22
Speaker
The Mountie's uniform is red on page 14. On page 15, it's gray. Yeah, he's he's like a Confederate Mountie.
00:30:34
Speaker
And then theyre in his little booth... at the border is a Smokey Bear poster who is U.S. government character. Yeah, I think Todd Nock may have gotten confused because Smokey the Bear wears a hat similar to what a Mountie wears, but it's a Park Ranger hat.
00:30:56
Speaker
Right. And Todd Nock isn't responsible for the coloring error. No. So, like, I don't know. But anyway, the Mountie admits that he's drunk, and by then... um troll has made off with the, with the birds.
00:31:13
Speaker
And, uh, then he calls, uh, he calls ah graves and he's like, uh, I need your help. This is someone else calling, ah to let them know about troll going on What is apparently a crime spree?
00:31:33
Speaker
Oh yes. Yes. This, I guess this is the cops again. Or something. I don't know. Graves, I think. I believe Graves was like, ah Mr. Graves.
00:31:44
Speaker
Mr. Graves. He was like Youngblood's handler, I think. Okay. Oh, okay. All right. it's But it's just shots of his like the exterior of his apartment. it's It's literally the same drawing of a building six times. It's a rough one, buddy.
00:31:59
Speaker
With some dialogue over it about troll Kidnapping Rockettes. um Then, now Troll has upgraded to a plane. Like a sort of Quinjet-style plane. Yeah, it's like one of Youngblood's planes.
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah. and ah And one of the Rockettes is piloting it. And she's like weigh in ah way like she's into this. She loves this. Yeah, and she's like super smart.
00:32:25
Speaker
And super good at it. The joke of this page is that a woman is capable and smart.
00:32:35
Speaker
Well, it's... the Yes. Man, going going after it, Matt. You're really going after it. It's also that a rocket is yeah super smart and capable, which is also rude.
00:32:52
Speaker
Well, so because she's so smart and like a good pilot and everything, Troll is like, why did you become a rocket? And she's like, because I've got great legs.
00:33:03
Speaker
Which is true. Yeah. um So they go to they go to Bavaria and they get ah the the eight maids of milking. Again, I think they could have found women who milk cows in America. Yeah, man. There's definitely dairies in America.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, okay. Now we have ah the handler guy. And he's like, what is he up to?
00:33:33
Speaker
And the then they realize that he's doing the song. He's getting all the stuff from the song. Yeah. and ah And once again, Keith Giffen seems to be really flummoxed as a writer by the idea of calling birds.
00:33:57
Speaker
Which, again, is just birds that make noise. Yeah. It's just birds that sing. Songbirds. A calling bird is a songbird.
00:34:10
Speaker
A collie bird is a blackbird. Correct. I don't know why people keep going, what's a calling bird? Like, that's like that's not even like the weirdest part of the song.
00:34:26
Speaker
I don't know what to say. I know what to tell you. It's a weird running gag that doesn't make any sense. it's like it It is very similar. So you don't think I'm picking on Keith Giffen.
00:34:39
Speaker
It's very similar to to to how I always made jokes about Sonic the Hedgehog. Whenever I would write about Sonic the Hedgehog, I made a joke where i called him a porcupine.
00:34:55
Speaker
Because i was I thought that a hedgehog and a porcupine were the same thing. ah i I just thought like it's how you know like we call them canaries over here, and in England they call them budgies. I thought it was that thing. I i think those are two different things. so or two I think those are the same thing. I don't know, man.
00:35:16
Speaker
um But then one night I found out ah like I saw a picture of a porcupine and a picture of a hedgehog, and I cried laughing because porcupines are so big. They're so big.
00:35:33
Speaker
It's so funny. so like very I feel like this is a thing where Keith Giffen's like... like Keith Giffen's never thought about what a calling bird is. And so he assumes that like and nobody knows.
00:35:49
Speaker
But it's so weird. It's so weird. Such a weird runner. Especially since the actual word is one that no one knows.
00:36:00
Speaker
So if it was like, what the hell is a collie bird? That makes sense. Yeah, like, I don't know what a collie bird It's a blackbird. Is that all it is? It's all it is. Blackbird. Okay.
00:36:13
Speaker
ah Song's like 500 years old dude. Yeah, I always thought it was calling birds. I i i never even knew it was supposed to be Collie Bird. Well, yeah a lot of people, Matt, matt of the of the three of us, you, me, and Benito,
00:36:30
Speaker
go ahead I am willing to bet you were the one who has thought about the 12 Days of Christmas the least. Probably so. That's probably true. ah so the Speaking of weird gags, Troll goes to France.
00:36:46
Speaker
It just says France. Although there is the Eiffel Tower in the background. So probably like like Euro Disney. Yeah. ah he' He's in like this shop that's full of like cages for chickens.
00:37:03
Speaker
And he says, you got three French hens? I came here from the US of A for these French hens. And then the guy at the counter is like, oh, we get these from a supplier in Connecticut.
00:37:17
Speaker
And he's shocked to hear that. Now, i a French hen, Matt, is not a is not just a French lady chicken.
00:37:29
Speaker
A French hen is a kind of bird. It's a breed of hen, yeah. Yes. Yeah. It'd be like, if if he wanted like a French door... And he just went and got a door from France. It's technically correct.
00:37:43
Speaker
Right. These are just three chickens. um And also, the word Connecticut is misspelled in the lettering. Okay. To be fair, that's a tough one.
00:37:55
Speaker
Again, there's no editor on this. on this um But the there's also a thing where like the the smart Rockette pilot is like, I could have told you that.
00:38:08
Speaker
And I'm like... Told him what? i mean, obviously she knows where where French aviaries get their chickens from.
00:38:21
Speaker
That a French hen is a breed, not a hen from France? I guess it's that. no No, because that's not actually what the problem is. ah Then he goes to the Parliament Building in London, which...
00:38:37
Speaker
Looks very distinct.
00:38:42
Speaker
there it's what It's one of, but you know, a few buildings in London that I feel like are very
Final Thoughts on Comic's Shortcomings
00:38:48
Speaker
identifiable. This is just an office building yeah in the art.
00:38:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:38:56
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's ah it's like ah like a three-floor office. It looks honestly looks ah a lot like where i get my taxes done. ah ah so So Troll goes to, it's like, hey, I need 12 lords.
00:39:09
Speaker
ah and and And they gotta be leaping. and
00:39:17
Speaker
And so they they hand them over. There's a whole thing about how much they weigh. like they have to They can't get them on the plane thing, thing so they have to steal um a different plane, like a bomber.
00:39:32
Speaker
Yeah. And then the handler who got called in, who was like surprised about you know him getting all the presents from the 12 Days of Christmas, he's just like, let it play out.
00:39:46
Speaker
He's a good operative. So then he goes and gets oh the pipers who are piping. Yeah. um But they're bagpipers. And they're going to start playing their bagpipes.
00:40:00
Speaker
And so Troll shoots them? He pulls out a gun and fires off A bunch of rounds. Yeah. And it's unclear if, I guess maybe he's just shooting the bagpipes, but then they shan't be Piper's piping, now shall they?
00:40:18
Speaker
Right, and by the end, we he gets all the gifts, so I don't know. ah But then there's a bit where Cersei's watching the news. Well, first, she' she's watching It's a Wonderful Life, but it's one of those jokes about how it's like a dark version of the It's a Wonderful Life. Mm-hmm.
00:40:37
Speaker
Clarence is telling George Bailey to to go ahead and and kill himself. Remember that movie that we watched with the guy in it? ah It's not Michael Sheehan. Who am I thinking of?
00:40:50
Speaker
The one that was a it was a sequel to It's a Wonderful Life, but only the bad universe? Pottersville. It was called Pottersville. yeah Yeah. What weird movie.
00:41:01
Speaker
The dude who played General Zod. Yeah. What's his name? His name is Michael Shannon. Michael Shannon, that's it. But, like, it wasn't even a sequel to It's a Wonderful Life. Like, it kind of had nothing to do with it. Yeah, but it was, like, it it was, like, set in the bad It's a Wonderful Life universe.
00:41:23
Speaker
It seemed like it was, but they never really even brought it up. That's really weird. Really weird. Like, why call it that if you're never even gonna, like,
00:41:34
Speaker
use it. i mean yeah it was i mean, it was also like it didn't make any sense. um Anyway, on the news, it's like, hey, this is sh Troll. He's wanted because he's he's stealing a bunch of stuff and going on a reign of terror.
00:41:52
Speaker
ah His latest atrocity was the abduction of the entire Argyle Highland Watch from their Bonnie Bonnie headquarters. And then Cersei's just like, tick, tick, little man.
00:42:06
Speaker
then he's stealing the swans, a swimming. And now all he needs is the partridge in the pear tree.
00:42:18
Speaker
and And the Rockette has this great idea where she's like, does it have to be a partridge partridge? Oh, right. And so there's a joke after that about how they they kidnapped Danny Bonaduce.
00:42:32
Speaker
Yeah, so like that's like the only... like Like, kind of wordplay-ish joke. Right, it seems like they could have found more loopholes. Yeah. But they didn't. but they didn't Like, pipes are a lot of things. Rings are a lot of things.
00:42:48
Speaker
Right, they could have been plumbers. The Piper's Piping could have been plumbers. Yeah. Matt, if we if we put in a solid 45 minutes, we could come up with some pretty funny...
00:43:02
Speaker
versions of like sight gags. well okay Turtle doves. Turtle doves. turtles Easy. You go get turtles and you put wings on them. and And you put feathers on them, yeah. yeah ah Let's see. like Okay, the gold rings can just be gold rings.
00:43:23
Speaker
good now I think like the gold rings, you go and you get... ah You go to down to the Greensboro Coliseum where they're doing ah two and a half War Games matches.
00:43:36
Speaker
And they got those gold ropes.
00:43:43
Speaker
Okay, yeah, okay. ah Three French hens.
00:43:50
Speaker
I remember I used to do like bits on my blog. I believe for oh for three French hens one year.
00:44:01
Speaker
ah got, oh God, it was, i think it was Mad Wizzle Marie, Lady Blackhawk, and someone else from like a war, like another lady from a war comic. So it was, i mean, it was, you know, not the best joke I've ever written.
00:44:17
Speaker
Yeah. But it was something. You could, you could get like chickens and put berets on them. We could workshop that. Existentialist chickens would be very funny, I think. That would be, yeah. um For calling birds, you could kidnap hunters who have bird calls. Now what's a calling bird? What's a calling bird?
00:44:39
Speaker
um Geese-a-laying.
00:44:44
Speaker
um You could get six copies of King of Fighters 99. See, that's now that's comedy. And it's Geese Howard but it has been beaten and is on the ground.
00:44:59
Speaker
ah Swans is swimming. um it could be that band Swans. And you could throw them in a... Swan with a Z? No, there's a different band called Swans. I'm not talking about ah Billy Corgan's band after Smashing Pumpkins.
00:45:17
Speaker
I'm talking about a different band called Swans.
00:45:22
Speaker
ah Maids of Milking, i feel like you're going to have to have, um if you really want to do the wordplay on that one, ah you might have to have a mature rating on your book. yeah ah ah You know what, Matt? I'm glad you said that. Because now I can act like like you're nasty.
00:45:44
Speaker
You heard here first, folks. Matt Wilson's nasty. Ladies dancing, you um take over the studio of Dancing with the Stars. Sure. Now, obviously, we're not putting a solid 45 minutes into it.
00:45:59
Speaker
No,
Reflecting on Christmas Comic Tradition
00:46:00
Speaker
no. So these are very first draft. I would say we're still better off. ah Lords are leaping. Oh, so going to keep going. Okay. Are are are we done?
00:46:11
Speaker
I mean, Lord's a Leaping, I would go with ah Michael Flatley, the Lord of the Dance. Okay, that's you could do that. Or you could get like um like a bunch of people who are playing Jesus in various ah passion plays. Various holiday productions of Godspell.
00:46:28
Speaker
and And make him make him jump. Or Jesus Christ Superstar, maybe. Yeah. ah Piper's Piping. um We've already said it could be Plumber's.
00:46:41
Speaker
It could be Roddy Piper, who was still with us in... Still an active competitor in 1994. Yeah. ah i don't know how you could get 11 of those, of him.
00:46:56
Speaker
You could get... i'm I'm almost certain he's on WrestleMania 11.
00:47:03
Speaker
Okay. Something like that. ah Is that the one where he wrestles Goldust and he's the O.J. Simpson footage?
00:47:12
Speaker
was that I think that was 12. That might be 12. Because the 12 was the one where they went Hollywood. i think you're right. He is the special guest referee of Bret Hart versus Bob Backlund.
00:47:24
Speaker
Okay. At WrestleMania 11. I think he had technically, quote-unquote, retired then. That was like his first retirement, where he was going to go be an actor. Matt, he he comes back to go to Alcatraz to prepare to fight Hulk Hogan.
00:47:38
Speaker
Oh, I know. Three years after this. I know. i yeah No, I'm saying his quote-unquote first retirement was before that. was before WrestleMania 11. Because he did it earlier than you think.
00:47:51
Speaker
Yeah. And then the 12 drummers drumming, easy. You get like 12 of the most famous drummers of the time.
00:48:03
Speaker
And then you get like your celebrity cameos in the book. So it's like... It's like... ah ah God, why can't I think of any drummers? ah Eddie Van Halen's brother.
00:48:19
Speaker
Alex Van Halen. Is it Alex Van Halen? Yes. um um the duke Tommy Lee. ah Neil Peart.
00:48:32
Speaker
I guess Neil Peart. I mean, if you want to talk about look like guys who are known as drummers. yeah Like a good drummer. Phil Collins. phil Phil Collins. You might have to go to the bridge on Gimmick Street.
00:48:49
Speaker
Right, yeah. um I'm not going to 12 drummers from that end. Ringo? Yeah, you get Ringo. you get ringo
00:49:01
Speaker
he's He's warning you with peace and love that he does not have time. Oh. ah Okay, Dave Grohl was mainly known as a drummer at that point. you get him.
00:49:14
Speaker
Get Dude from Red Hot Chili Peppers who looks like Will Ferrell. Lars Ulrich, obviously. Uh-huh. And I can't think of anybody Man, I gotta say, when I when i said we could we could come up with better options, I did not think you would actually do it.
00:49:33
Speaker
Well,
00:49:37
Speaker
wait give me a challenge. and and I mean, yeah, like silly of me to to assume that you wouldn't yes-and this all the way to the bank. I'm definitely going to yes-and that. that um So, okay, Cersei thinks she's won. She thinks it's midnight, ah and and the presents aren't there yet. She's standing in front of a pear tree while she does this.
00:49:58
Speaker
Bad place to stand if you don't if the pear tree is a strong component of what you're doing. Yeah. Like the lack of a pear tree is a key to your plan. Uh, is that what a pear tree looks like by the way? No. just as she's like gloating, uh, troll arrives in his like bomber jet and lands it in like central park, uh, which is nuts.
00:50:32
Speaker
That's that's but bonkers. um But ah he opens up the back. All of the gifts are in there. And she corrects him that they aren't calling birds. They're collie birds.
00:50:47
Speaker
And he's like, oh, but I did get collie birds. Which you say are blackbirds. In this comic, they're yellow. Well, Matt, who are you going believe?
00:51:01
Speaker
I mean, I believe you. Yeah. but But it's it's presented as a gotcha in this, and they're clearly not blackbirds.
00:51:15
Speaker
That's all I'm saying. I mean... Also, Kali... The color has already been an issue. Yes, yes. Also, Kali... the The correct version of Kali is C-O-L-L-Y.
00:51:29
Speaker
Yes. um It is spelled in this repeatedly as with one L. Yes. I thought you were drawing a distinction. Because if you're looking for Kali birds, maybe you could get like a like a good but good dog.
00:51:43
Speaker
and and pla c o oh Like C-O-L-L-I-E? Yeah. um So Cersei turns back into a sheep. And calls him a bastard again.
00:51:55
Speaker
So that that joke's so nice, we had to do it twice. Yeah. um And then Troll just goes to prison. Well, yeah, because he has done quite a bit of illegal activity. He's done a lot of crimes, yeah.
00:52:08
Speaker
ah But she does say he does thank the the Rockette that he got to know ah for for helping him with the whole collie birds thing. Mm-hmm.
00:52:20
Speaker
And... No, she she is visiting him in prison. She is still wearing her full Rockette dance outfit. but But it's a totally different color scheme. Yeah, but just so you'll know who she is.
00:52:35
Speaker
The way this is colored is fucking nuts. it's it's it's her It's the same outfit, but instead of being white and red, it's like lavender and gold.
00:52:48
Speaker
And then her arms are colored like they're exposed, like she's not like it's a sleeveless ah top, right? Then she stands up, and her legs are also colored as if they're not covered. Like she's wearing essentially like a one-piece swimsuit. Mm-hmm.
00:53:12
Speaker
But then there's like fire on her legs, so either those are tattoos, or that was supposed to be part of her costume. i mean, she could be wearing nude-colored heights. She could be wearing stockings, I guess. yeah But like I think this is supposed to be the same outfit, but it's just colored wrong and differently. Yeah, no, it's a completely different color.
00:53:34
Speaker
like Even the parts that are... are colored in are a completely different color. They are they are fuchsia. Now, they were silver before, a drastically different color from fuchsia.
00:53:46
Speaker
Yeah. ah And and like the way it was colored before is that her arms were exposed. like They were sleeveless. But she was wearing like full leggings. um that is That is not what's happening here. ah Anyway, ah she she tells him Merry Christmas. And he's like, I'm going to be in prison for a while. Because Danny Bonaduce is pressing charges for kidnapping.
00:54:10
Speaker
And then he's like, i did what I had to do.
00:54:16
Speaker
and then A lot of people made Danny Bonaduce jokes in the 90s, and they were like never funny.
00:54:25
Speaker
I mean, I guess if you were alive during the time of the Partridge family, maybe they were funnier. I mean, he's just not like <unk>s not like a funny guy to reference.
00:54:38
Speaker
It's a funny name to say. Bonaduce is funny enough. Like, so it's it's it's a funny word. Bonaduce.
00:54:52
Speaker
I mean, I guess. I mean, Space Ghost made that clear. well The one time he was on Space Ghost. Matt, you can't you can't really believe Space Ghost about everything.
00:55:04
Speaker
and i I mean, I've kind of built my life around it. so I know. I know. It's too late for you to stop now. That one time he was on Space Ghost, he was like a combative guest. That was kind of funny.
00:55:15
Speaker
Yeah, like... i feel like even in 94, people were just like, oh, like Danny Bonaduce, the former child star who's like an asshole. yeah Maybe that's why... Maybe that's maybe they're getting him. I think that was part of it, yeah. It's that like he grew up to be kind of an asshole, and so people were like going after him. He grew up be kind of an asshole, but also it's like...
00:55:38
Speaker
Kind of hard to blame him. Well, I mean, you know, he was one of those one of those child stars who had a terrible life after yeah fame.
00:55:49
Speaker
ah See, now we're thinking about this, and that's not fun. That's true. That's true. um But like nobody went after ah ah fucking, what's his name? ah David Cassidy like that.
00:56:03
Speaker
Not like that, no. No, not like that.
00:56:08
Speaker
Or any of the other kids from that show who nobody remembers.
00:56:14
Speaker
ah Matt, this comic sucks, and I'm a little bit mad that you picked it. I'm sorry. like Because you... Peek behind the curtain here.
00:56:26
Speaker
ah You were like, hey, why don't we do ah either the Extreme Christmas Special, or we could do like ah Ant-Man's Big Christmas. And I was like, oh, I've read Ant-Man's Big Christmas, but it's been like 20 years. Ant-Man's Big Christmas, I remember being kind of like goofy and...
00:56:45
Speaker
ah Maybe in retrospect problematic because it's like a turn of the century Marvel book, but it is written by Bob Gale, the writer of Back to the Future. Correct. yeah oh so And I remember like you know reading it multiple times in at multiple Christmases. And I was like, yeah, mean it's you know it's been 20 years, so we could read that one. and you were like, no, let's do the one neither of us have read. And then I read it immediately, which I almost never do.
00:57:11
Speaker
That's true. you immediately like Within like less than an hour, you were like, this comic sucks. Yeah. ah yeah and and like i'm not look I'm not going to say you ruined Christmas, Matt. okay But I will say, it doesn't quite feel like Christmas and this didn't help.
00:57:31
Speaker
Well, here's what I say. I feel like we kind of read a bad mini Mediocre to bad Christmas comic every year.
00:57:43
Speaker
That's very untrue. We read that really good Judge Dredd comic. We did read that really good a couple of good Judge Dredd stories one year. um But last year we definitely read a not great Christmas comic, and this this year we did two. What did we read last year?
00:58:00
Speaker
ah Last year was when we did Ambush Bug. Oh, yeah. Rough time. So I'm just saying, I think it's part of a tradition ah that, um and look, we did we had we had fun. We ultimately had fun talking about a bad comic. so Did we?
00:58:19
Speaker
I think so. Did you not have mine coming up with- Matt, you kind of went off on a bit where you were like re-scripting the whole thing. Yeah, that's fun. Okay. For me, that's fun.
00:58:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:58:33
Speaker
Wait, he misspelled Connecticut? That's fun. Anyway.
00:58:40
Speaker
we we got a Off mic, we gotta talk about fun. Because now I'm a little worried about you as your friend. ah Alright, it's time to rank the extreme Christmas special. 1994.
00:58:59
Speaker
Sure. sure um it's It's pretty bad. ah It's bad. Yeah, man, it's bad.
00:59:09
Speaker
I don't think it's like bottom, bottom of the list bad. don't think it's bottom of the list but I do think it's not just bad, it's also disappointing. Because I feel like Keith Giffen, Todd Nock Christmas special from 1994...
00:59:26
Speaker
You know, we we've said a million times we can only rank the comic that we have, right? Not the comic that we wish it was. true We can't rank the version of Batman R.I.P. drawn by Chris Burnham or Frank Whiteley, because that doesn't exist.
00:59:43
Speaker
So maybe I'm committing a sin here. but Well, it it is weird to read a comic that where it really feels like nobody is trying. Yeah. Yeah. like I feel like a Todd Nock, Keith Giffen Christmas special from 1994 with the characters from Extreme Studios has the potential to be kind of a like fun hidden gem.
01:00:07
Speaker
like At least like goofy in a in an interesting way. And this is not. Yeah, I mean, when when I picked this, I sort of had that feeling of like, maybe this is like secretly, if not good, a fun read.
01:00:27
Speaker
And like, in a sense, it was a fun read, but not in the way that I wanted it to be What sense? In what sense was it fun, Matt? Well... Finding all the so all the like ways that they didn't care.
01:00:44
Speaker
so you you had to make a little game for yourself. Yeah, it's fun to make a little game for yourself sometimes. I mean, that's true. It is fun to make a little of game for yourself sometimes.
01:00:55
Speaker
ah All right. But ah I would say it's not the sign of a good comic. No, no. If you have to make a little game for yourself. I'm looking in like the 1570s. That's low.
01:01:11
Speaker
That's low. I'm looking for the part of the list where it's not like harmful, yeah but it's also not good. So that's right where we have Battle Pope and Punisher Invades the Noms.
01:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's right around 1570. Yeah, man, I mean, I think you nailed it. like it's see It's exactly as bad as those two comics. I think so, too, yeah. I don't think it's as good as Battle Pope.
01:01:35
Speaker
I don't think it's as wrong-headed as Punisher Invades the Nom. Okay, so it's the new 1570. We nailed it. Perfect. Yeah, you crushed it. You did it. Extreme Super Christmas Special.
01:01:49
Speaker
Or is it Christmas Super Special, I what it is. think the Extreme Christmas Super Special. nope No, Extreme Super Christmas Special. Wow, jeepers. they didn't even They didn't even figure that out.
01:02:00
Speaker
It definitely but it should have been Extreme Christmas Super Special, but it is Extreme Super Christmas Special. On the cover, Troll doesn't know what Eight Maids of Milking are.
01:02:13
Speaker
That's not tough to figure out. I guess he's just saying, Eight Maids of Milking? So he could just be you know could just be surprised by the concept.
01:02:27
Speaker
Also, somebody on the cover, somebody's saying yo to him, and I don't think we ever figure out who that is. there a wraparound cover to this? I don't think so.
01:02:38
Speaker
If there is, i don't have it. Yeah.
01:02:44
Speaker
I don't know. Whatever. Challenging. Challenging.
01:02:51
Speaker
Well, look, okay. Here's what I'll say. Listeners, between now
Show Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement
01:02:58
Speaker
and next Christmas, so you have a full year, between now and next December, recommend for us a good Christmas comic to read.
01:03:09
Speaker
what One that maybe we haven't but because I've read a lot of Christmas comics. Yeah, I mean, that's part of it, right? is like yeah It's got to be a a comic we haven't read. so like It is one of my like particular favorite things.
01:03:21
Speaker
Yeah. It's Christmas comics. ah So, you know, I feel like that might be why we're getting stuck with some bad ones is because, you know, we've read a lot of the good ones. See, Matt, i feel i feel like it I feel like I am also a problem right now.
01:03:41
Speaker
Because I feel like i ah I'm just in a sour mood. So I'm not i'm not really you know cracking all the jokes here
01:03:55
Speaker
Let's see. Bah humbug. this this This is a real bah humbug is what it is. Would you want to read the supersized ALF holiday special? Matt, you know the answer to that.
01:04:08
Speaker
ah if if you If you want to read a ah good Christmas comic, well there's an ALF one from the ALF comic.
01:04:21
Speaker
You know better. Howard the Duck Holiday Special? From when? 1997. Probably not. Written by Larry Hama. air where Look, Larry, one of the greats, one of the greatest of all time, one of the best ever do it.
01:04:40
Speaker
I would say not known for the comedy chops.
01:04:47
Speaker
No disrespect at all. Okay, look, listeners, this make our make our Christmas special in 2026 and tell us a good Christmas comic to read for for next year next year's catch-up. that's That's your assignment between now and December 2026, you have time.
01:05:18
Speaker
You sure do have time. Look, I enjoyed reading this bad comic. but you've You've gotten such a kick out of reading bad comics of late.
01:05:27
Speaker
matt This one was the one that you were like, no. that's it's not It's not bad in a fun way. I think it was. I think i enjoyed reading it.
01:05:40
Speaker
ah Look, I'm happy for you.
01:05:45
Speaker
ah That you were able to wrest some enjoyment out of this, buddy, I'm i'm happy for you. I asked you, you came back and you said, this comic sucks.
01:05:55
Speaker
And I said, does it suck in a way that we should read something else? And you said, we'll have fun talking about it. That was optimism. I mean, the thing is, Matt, like what was I going to say? like No, I want to read something else.
01:06:10
Speaker
I'd already read it. I've already done the hard part.
01:06:17
Speaker
Alright. Well, we'll be back in January with something else to catch up on. ah We'll pick a good comic for that.
01:06:27
Speaker
Hopefully. I mean, this is all stuff we haven't read, so we we really don't know whether it's going to be good or bad. But... I think we can have an educated guest, generally. I hope so. But we'll be back in January with with something else. In the meantime, if you want to email us a suggestion for a comic to catch up on or about anything else, you can do it at our email address, which is warrocketpodcast at gmail.com. You can also get in touch with us on Tumblr, warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com, or on bluesky, warrockethx.com is our handle there.
01:07:02
Speaker
You can also... Get in touch with us on our Discord. If you ask us for an invitation to our Discord on any of the places I just mentioned, we will get you one if you're nice about it, and you can join that community. You can also join our Patreon, which we would highly encourage. Go to patreon.com slash warrocketajax to join there, and that's another place where you can message us.
01:07:21
Speaker
Our website is warrocketajax.com. It has every episode of the show that we've ever done. WarrocketWiki.com has all the information you could want to need about this show, War Rocket Ajax. If you want to find me and my stuff,
01:07:33
Speaker
Go to mattdwilson.net to find links to everything. Chris, where can people find you? Everybody can find my stuff at the-isp.com. That is my website, and it has links to things I have written and things I have done.
01:07:45
Speaker
And you can go there right now.
01:07:50
Speaker
Bye, everybody. Merry Christmas. Bye, everybody. Merry Christmas. Don't read this comic. Good catching up. Good catching up.