Batman White Knight: Von Freeze

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the comics we're reading right now, here inside

the pull bag. This is how I'll always remember

you. Surrounded by winter, forever young, forever

beautiful. Rest well, my love. The monster who

took you from me will soon learn that revenge

is a dish best served cold. Hello and welcome

to The Pull Bag. This is episode 409 .5. This

is kicking off, uh, what is it kicking off? It's

kicking off, um, that? Crystal what? Curse of

the White Knight, man. Yes, there's that it is

kicking off Batman and Beast Wars month because

we have Three Batman things in this month and

one Beast Wars comic to talk about in this month

of May of 2021 Joining me as you heard is Edward

Hale. Hello, sir. Thank you, bro I'm doing I'm

still here and joining us always is his cohort

Kendra Hale. Hello Hello and yes, we are Von

freezing our nuts off at this point Because yes

Batman white knight curse of the white knight,

I I don't even know I So this is a one -shot

and what I read at the end of this book in the

letter that Sean Murphy put was that it was originally

supposed to be a part of the original eight issues

of White Knight. And now it's supposed to fit

somewhere between issues six and seven of Curse

of the White Knight. I don't even know. I don't

care. I asked him, I said, look, White Knight

and then Von Fries and then Curse. And he said,

yes, essentially. So that's why we're doing Von

Fries in between what we did a couple of years

ago, which was White Knight and Curse of the

White Knight, which will be two episodes later

in this month. It makes me so mad and it's not

him. It has nothing to do with Sean. It has nothing

to do with DC and how they do their stuff. I

had originally bought this one shot thinking

that, oh, it's, you know, its own thing. It's

still part of the White Knight universe, but

it's not going to be contained in anything else.

I then purchased the trade for Curse. And it

is at the end of the trade for curse and he said

to me because I'd missed him on Instagram. I

wanted to make sure I got this stuff, right?

He goes, yeah, it was kind of printed out of

water. I'm like, oh, okay. Thank you so much.

It was actually, I believe it's supposed to take

place in between like two specific panels. That's

where the story is supposed to insert itself

in, but yeah. Mean, it's still a great story

in its own right It's one that you can take outside

of it and you don't necessarily have had to have

read You know curse or or white night in order

to understand it But I like that it fits in there

too as it's like missing puzzle piece Easter

egg type behind the scenes Yeah Absolutely. I

mean especially considering the fact that we

have you know our own Murphy verse at this point

where it's separate from New 52 rebirth of future

state or whatever the hell they're calling their

universe these days That's a really great way

to put it it really is like the be -all -end

-all mm -hmm else world Saga because else world.

I'm okay with it. Yeah Yeah, absolutely doing

stories, and I'll keep snatched them up like

the greedy little fanboy. I am exactly it's just

one of those things where This is a batman i

enjoy reading whether it's focused on batman

as the hero or the villain or joker the hero

or the villain or whatever you know cuz the whole

thing. And now you know we get essentially a

mr freeze origin but it really isn't a mr freeze

origin. Is it isn't kind of thing it's more of

his you know how he grew up than anything else.

So as we know. Script and story done by Sean

Murphy the art in this one is done by Klaus Jansen

Colors and cover colors are done by Matt Hollingsworth

the letter was and world design Main cover by

Sean Murphy with Matt Hollingsworth and the variant

cover was done by Klaus Jansen with Matt Hollingsworth.

I Really dug this. I thought this was great.

I thought this was fun as much fun as you can

have in a Nazi story, but still, I mean, it's

it's interesting. It gives a lot of depth to

a character that fans have given a lot of depth

to with backstory wise. I mean, it picks a time

time frame and then puts in there and makes it

beautiful. And it's actually a great story all

in all. So we start out with a freeze gun SS

officer. Because we don't know there's no Panels

on here. There's no there's no bubbles. There's

no nothing. It's just Some Nazi officer with

a freeze gun. Okay, then I'm glad that wasn't

Victor That would not that would not be I can

understand taking a bank robber and making him

You know have a heart of ice and that would be

great which was done in the 90s but This would

be a little too far. Yeah. They're pushing people's

buttons in a hurry. Yeah. I love the colors.

I love the backgrounds. The fact that we open

up and not know it, like this is young Victor

Freeze or Fry's or however you say his actual

whatever. Let's just go with Freeze. I mean,

it works. It's fine. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And, you know. He's you know Being told that

he needs to promise to protect this this young

baby and we don't know who the guy is we don't

know who the SS officer is or anything like that

and Then we cut back to Wayne Manor. I love the

color change between the past and what's going

on in Germany Versus how the story is being told

in the present What we assume those you feel

the dirt of? The the past you know I'm saying

it's a time period you feel the the muck and

the Meyer and the I Don't know just general disdain

with the colors. Yeah, they really do set a nice

tone. I mean Matt Matt does a beautiful job of

setting that up because it helps you to switch

what you're supposed to be feeling and it's not

necessarily a drawing change, but It's like a

gentle transition between the past and the present.

Yeah Absolutely, and I did not get at all Who

the woman is supposed to be in the beginning

of this like they're like Seriously, if you guys

could have watched me as I was reading this and

when I got to where the end is and what we'll

talk about at the end because this is a Spoiler

filled review folks if you hadn't noticed because

that's how we roll around here inside the pull

bag But literally no clue who this woman is that's

coming into Victor's lab here. And I'm like,

okay, her family and, and the past and everything

else and Hmm. Interesting. And then, oh yes,

by the way, Thomas and Martha are alive at this

point. Yes. Yeah. At this point. Yes. And I've

said this for years. Now this podcast is going

on eight years now. All as we ever see of Thomas

and Martha is Crime Alley. Yeah. Yeah, most of

the time. That's all we ever see. There's been

a little bit more, but it hasn't ever been a

really like widespread focus. And then it's to

move a story along or to set the pace of a story.

Or add a subplot. Or add a whole nother Earth

or something kind of thing. Or Flashpoint. Exactly.

Yeah. I mean, the animated universe sets it up

a little bit better because in that and in that

and also in Gotham by Gaslight, you get to see

them for who they were to Gotham versus what

actually happened and them being defined by their

death. You get to see them in play as charity

works and doing things to try and help benefit

Gotham. Right. It's very few and far between

that you actually get killer backstory like what

we're about to get. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What did

you guys think of the this whole oh we have to

save her and and Cryo tech is the only way to

do it and my first thought really quickly before

I let you guys go my first thought was wait a

minute this story is Not going the way I thought

it was going to go Especially and and I don't

necessarily blame the creators, but that main

cover It's Mr. Freeze with his, you know, I don't

want to say Mysterio fishbowl head, but it's

him in his tradition. And I'm like, okay, this

is going to be some sort of story about Mr. Freeze

and how he either became Mr. Freeze or what?

Like I had no idea going in that this story was

going to be what it was. And then we go to this

essential hospital scene in cryo tech and having

to put Martha under cryo tech to save her. Wow.

Yeah, I I I enjoyed the The deepening of everything

that was going on. I mean it could have just

been a very two -dimensional let's get to point

a to point B kind of story, but He actually took

time out to like try and develop things a little

bit better than your average writer would for

just one issue Mm -hmm. I personally thought

Awesome. Kendra. I like it because like I said

with Gotham by Gaslight and other stories like

that you got to see who Martha and Thomas Wayne

actually were and with this it also adds to that

canon because we're getting to see that you know

they have these relationships with with the other

people that are within Gotham which absolutely

make sense and you're getting to see these not

only the friendships blossom like you get to

with Thomas and Victor but you also get to see

that you know These were relationships and bonds

that were there. And I like that he's setting

that up because it makes more sense than for

it to be just random people that collide into

each other all the time. When you have those

ties there, it makes the story that much more

enjoyable because then you have this pathway

to follow. And that's one of the reasons that

I like this one so much is because we're in three

separate timeframes and it just gives you this

beautiful story. And like Ed said, Sean Murphy

for one issue. Went to this length, which is

just a kudos to him as a writer. It's an absolute

credit to his talent Yeah in between Klaus's

art and his lot like the the panel where You're

going to be fine both of you the crease just

the line crease of Thomas's hair in the middle

of his forehead like I mean that just If that

doesn't show concern or worry or whatever you

want to do it However, you want to say, you know

the showing the emotion on his face is like Holy

crap How How on earth did they feel and I know

you know you you sit down you create something

whether it's art whether it's comics whether

it's whatever you don't know how it's gonna affect

people I'm fairly certain in Almost thirteen

years have been podcasting i'm pretty sure nobody's

cried any of my podcast that i've done but it's

one of those things where if i point out something

or if i say i like something or if i said i didn't

like something either people agree or disagree

or whatever they still have an attachment to

whatever i'm releasing whatever i'm putting out

same thing with comics writers artists whatever

you see something on a page that affects you

so profoundly to the point of. Holy crap, I see

what that guy was going through at that moment

with his wife, you know, having the breathing

mask on her and everything else and it's like,

you know, her last words to him, Thomas, I love

you. And what I love is how they put him in shadow,

but they emphasize what he says, I love you too.

Yeah, that's all in bold and in in in caps and

whatever but she kind of has the spotlight here

not saying he's fading away or anything, but

he's I Love you, too. Okay, we're gonna save

you Now I need to go have a good cry or something.

I don't know what you know, I no clue You know

what I mean, but just showing that emotion Well,

I mean, and that's kind of the mark of a good,

like any good, good story or tale where a writer

is able to bring you in and an artist is able

to deliver that. I mean, it's a marriage between

the two talents. It's made in heaven. And if

it haunts you, then that's that's the pinnacle

that I think anyone can ask of a book is, you

know, this stayed with me even after I read it.

The next moment we're about to touch on is actually

the one that got me where you have Thomas. after

everything is said and done. And he's like, you

know, the I love you and it'll be OK. Everything's

going to be fine. And Thomas is like, you know,

for all this time, I've been waiting for this

baby and it's been real for me. And he's like,

at this point in time, at this singular moment

where it's a choice between my wife and my child,

the child isn't even real to me. I can't see

it. And I'd rather save the person in front of

me that I can see that singular emotion and that

maybe two or three panels worth of dialogue stood

out to me. Like that, like with yours, where

it was haunting you with the way they had the

tone set up in the shadows. The fact that they

were willing to touch on something that is so

emotionally raw and hardcore. Beautiful. Yeah,

absolutely. So we get to Victor's, I guess, his

lounge area of his lab or something. Right office

somewhat. I don't know I say lounge because there's

couch and there's a refrigerator. There's a whole

kitchenette there Yeah Of course his apartment

would be above his lab right dedicated scientist

there you go And We then get into the story,

you know cuz Victor is talking about, we don't

speak anymore, it was just too difficult. He

was talking about his father, because Thomas

asked him about his dad, and then we go into

the backstory, and we go into what happened to

Jacob, and Jacob Smithstein, who is Baron Von

Frieze's best friend, and then we get taken back

in. Germany and once again the color shift. I

absolutely love it. I think it's great yeah,

the the way that they The way that Hollingsworth

puts the the backgrounds and then puts I You

know von Fries Baron and and Jacob Almost like

green tones and then later you in that next panel

you see red tones in the background but like

the color shifts and what I noticed now and I

didn't notice when I first read through it is

One of the one of the instruments kind of looks

like a blue version of what would eventually

become mr. Freeze's, you know cryo thing for

his head I'm like, yeah Your heads on a platter

Yeah And we go through Nazi Germany, which yikes.

This is going to be a hard topic to address in

a book and write a story around it. I don't know

how difficult this it would be for writing. There's

only been two others that I can think of off

the top of my head from personally reading that

I can even think of that are like this. over

in Marvel's world, the story they did with Magneto,

where it was a singular issue set as well, where

you were seeing him in Nazi Germany in the camps.

And then more recently, from a graphic novel

standpoint, there was the one, I'm gonna butcher

the name of it, but it's Free Height, which is

basically free, given German. And that one was

about the White Rose Society. So I mean, I can't

think that this would be something that without

due diligence, without doing a little bit of

heavy research, that you would be able to do

this without, you know, breaking a few eggshells.

It can't be easy to write about. No, it can't

be. I think the story of the two characters of

the Baron and Jacob. and where Victor, the Baron's

son, fits in. I think that might have been okay

to write, but just figuring out how to incorporate

it into events that happened and make it, you

know, make it its own story within the, you know,

you can't sit here and say, oh, this is 1945.

And as much as we wish it would have never happened,

but, you know, Hitler didn't have, you know,

if you're going to write a story without Hitler

in it, it would be, I don't know. It's history

and there's nothing really that we can do about

it The only way you could really do anything

about it is if you you know grab the DeLorean

from 1985, but At least in this one for from

my personal perspective I mean, I think that

Murphy did a lot of justice and he was really

respectful with it I mean you have not only these

two best friends that have started a company

together who have ambition and their dedication

is to show that by working together that they

can they can show that Germany should embrace

their diversity instead of trying to single people

out and to see Baron von Fries, you know, hide

Jacob and his family and try to keep them safe.

I mean, that's one side of this man. So you're

actually able to see the duality that's created.

I mean, his the way he is with his son versus

the way he is with Jacob he's very cold logic

not what Jacob is where he's more familial bond

and blood is thicker than water and you know

very so it's nice to see that play out because

at that point it becomes a little confusing like

is barren really a bad guy or is he just trying

to do through his logic what he thinks is gonna

happen to make everybody survive yeah yeah And

I do have to say though as he's hiding them out

It gave me shades of high school back in the

90s reading Anne Frank. Yeah Because that's that's

what they did back then they you know, the Jew

families had had died because hello Hitler was

against all Jews no matter who they were Right,

and I mean not only shades of Anne Frank, but

also Schindler's List. I mean true. Yeah, definite

definite Ten points of that especially where

where they get to the factory, but we'll get

there when we get there. Mm -hmm What else do

we want to say about the about the family life

and how the you know we we see the turn in in

the Baron because he joins the the SS and he

feels that it's his only option to keep them

safe and Jacob's like Yeah Given what was at

that point in time about what these men were

capable of doing when people even German people

would not You know succumb to their will and

show their due due diligence and duty to the

fatherland Yeah, could you imagine being him

in there being like, you know, well my partner

won't like this. Well, who is your partner? Baron

literally has no choice because if he says Jacob

and he's honest Jacob is considered Juden And

his whole family is up at risk. I would never

want to be in those shoes. Ever. No. I couldn't.

I just couldn't imagine it. It's like the unwinnable

game, I guess you could say. I mean, there's

two choices and both of them are going to lead

you down a path you don't want to go down. Right.

And, you know, sadly, Chris Pine is not here

to help us. Right. That's that's just another

credence to the writing in this book is they

actually bring forth one of the men from the

higher echelon of the Nazi regime and the man

was known for Not caring unless you were showing

your absolute 100 % dedication so I mean he really

did not have a choice in the matter and and we

see that that heartbreak from Jacob because Who

would be able to understand that? Yeah So they

eventually escape they go hide out at the factory

out in the woods here and Apparently the factory

would be more horrific than Jacob thought because

hey look all the cold guns are here and They're

experimenting on people and holy crap now Yeah,

it's like a Seen out of like some Indiana Jones

shit or something. Well, and that's what's crazy

is you have this this moment between Baron putting

on the Nazi uniform and Saying to Jacob. Hey,

this is what they're wanting me to do. I want

you guys to move to this factory It's up in the

mountains. So you're safe from Allied bombing

I'd be able to keep a closer eye on you since

they're gonna want me here day and night working

on these experiments And then Jacob finally succumbs

to it because he feels like he has no choice

but to move his family and do what's best for

them. And he walks and these experiments are

being performed on prisoners. Yeah. On his own

people. Like, there's just no way to wrap your

mind around it. Yeah, no, there is absolutely

no way. And it's, again, the color palette in

this. and honestly the color palette in all of

the murphy stuff for this series and for white

knight and i'm assuming curse because i've only

ever glanced at curse at this point because i

haven't read it until obviously we'll get to

it right but just the color palette the blues

of the factory you know bounced off against the

well first of all when you see that that wide

shot when jacob first goes in is all this blue

and then right up at the top is the red and white

and black nazi flag and i'm like yeah i'd rather

just even though it's horrific to look at the

blue i just don't want to look at that flag because

there's people all over this place like oh yikes

the colors here are just amazing as well as the

as the art you know how how that's done and how

interesting each person like there's a like coming

up here we've got the um Hey, what was that?

I think I heard something as the the Nazi Patrol

is going by What's going on here yada yada yada

the next panel is you need help picking it up?

That soldier and then the three other soldiers

that Baron is that are facing us, but Baron is

looking at they each have a different Expression

on their face and the main guy it just has this

like frown like sir you need help here because

You know this again it goes to the art it goes

to the lines it goes to They're not just army

but like not they're not just drawing and coloring

The same they're not stormtroopers. Yeah, they're

not generic replicas. Yeah attention to detail

I've been following Klaus Janssen's work for

decades now. I mean, actually, I think the first

time I ever saw any of his work was when he inked

Dark Knight Returns. So, but I've seen him do

his books. I mean, I've watched him do his art

in the books and everything like that. And man,

the guy has got such an eye for detail. It's

a little freaky at times from such like simple

line work. You know what I mean? I don't say

simple like his art is simple, but I'm saying

like well Yeah, I mean it's you know it's the

lines of the facial expressions It's not saying

it's a simple thing, but it's like something

like that with so few lines which yeah Absolutely

and the scene here where where Jacob says Victor

listen carefully meet us downstairs at the back

door don't let your father see you you're coming

with us and then it pulls out to this giant nighttime

snowy tree and covered with the building and

it's black and blue and all the soldiers and

everything else and oh wow so cool right and

i mean this scene hits its heart for a couple

reasons because jacob really thinks that barren

freeze has turned to the other side like he he

no longer has faith this person who is his best

friend and Wants to save Victor from his dad.

Yeah, so he's like, you know He's he's given

ever he's obviously given everything a thorough

thought through and he's like, you know What

you're coming with us because coming with us

is gonna be the safer option for you. Yep And

Jacob also has his new baby daughter with him

as well so there's that and Oh boy, where that

goes, we'll get to that folks, but yikes. Wow.

I was floor. I'll just say it now. I was like,

I literally stopped in my trial. Like I couldn't

read it anymore. I'm like, wait a minute. You

sneaky bastard, Sean Murphy in a good way, but

damn. Yeah, I got to give it up to Sean Murphy

in this because he weaves together such a great

story that You know, you can't wait to get to

the next page. Absolutely. Absolutely. So they're

trying to escape. They get stopped. You know,

where were you hiding? This, that and the other

thing. And Baron finally comes in. Oh, thank

you, gentlemen. Thank you so much. You know,

and he tries to deflect. He tries to do the good

thing. He tries to get the other soldiers to

basically leave. And he basically says, you know,

they better be unharmed or I'll report you to

your commander and and All of that and that allows

them to escape which is a good thing Until Jacob

decides to do something stupid Victor doesn't

win like this this part of the book got me like

I was so I was conflicted as hell yeah is on

one hand I'm like holy crap like I'm scared and

I'm anxious because here it is they've tried

to escape you think they're gonna be okay and

no and then here comes Victor or Baron Baron

Von Breeze and he's trying he's trying his hardest

to be like hey you know these are these are some

of my escaped you know people that I've been

doing experiments on and he thinks that he has

all of this power And you just want to stand

behind him and be like, yes, look at you standing

up and doing the right thing. This is what it

was all for. And then I got angry because these

other soldiers are like, no, screw you. Take

him down. And Jacob goes for the gun. Oh, and

that essentially gets him killed. Oh man, I'm

glad it was only one bang though, because there's

a thing here later where it was like, bang, bang,

bang. But we see Jacob's death, and before we

see him fully gone. Victor, take the baby. No

matter what happens, promise you'll look after

her. And again, this is the point where it's

like, damn it Murphy, the baby is Nora. Yeah,

yeah Again you don't see I don't see cuz I don't

I don't read a lot like I'm not current on DC.

I haven't read I can actively say I Don't think

if I have it's been a long time. I don't think

I've read the Dark Knight returns I know I've

not read the Dark Knight strikes again. I'm pretty

sure no one would say I should but What'd you

say? No, you shouldn't. Don't read Strikes Again

and don't read Master Race either. Oh, Lord.

But it's one of those things where for me as

a comic book movie, whatever geek, the only thing

cartoon geek, the only thing I know about Nora

is that she was Victor's wife and due to McGregor

syndrome, she had to be put under the cryogenics.

That's really all I know. And just seeing a story

tell It in a way where victor is younger this

is his childhood essentially come to find out.

I don't know how i mean i know nor is a baby

in the past here i don't know what their age

difference actually is in this universe but.

Like seriously like a suicide soon as he revealed

the baby's name i literally i had to get up and

just walk away from the book for half a second

because. You jerk, Murphy. I love you, but you're

a jerk for making me feel this thing. And obviously

Victor's like, I promise. And yeah, that's so

bad. Good, but bad. Sorry, folks. It's emotional,

damn it. It is. It is. I mean, I'll stand up

and say that it is. I mean, OK, so for me, Freeze

is actually one of my favorite characters throughout

Cannon, whether it's Taz where, you know... Not

New 52. Not New 52. But whether it's Taz where

you got to see them meet in college and fall

in love. And of course, there was the disease

and he had to put her into the cryogenics lab

in order to save her life while he's trying to

get a cure. Whether it's the Harley Quinn animated

series where it's the same thing, only spoiler

alert, you know, they find the cure, but it ends

up killing Freeze. I mean, even the newer, the

newer book where it was Victor and Nora, and

you get to see them as kids growing up and meeting

each other and falling in love and still the

disease is there. I mean, regardless of where

the canon is for Victor, him and Nora have always

been a constant, but I have to say that I really

do appreciate what Murphy's done in this one

with Freeze and Nora. Well, he did it in a different

way, a way that you're not expecting because

everybody's expecting, you know, this is his

love of his life. Right. This is his sister.

I mean, she may not have, they may not share

the same blood, but by why, you know, making

that promise to watch out for, he's been there

with her her entire life. Correct. So he is literally

been her big brother for the entirety of their

lives. And I love that. Think that was such a

great little just a smidgen twist, but it was

so perfectly done that it was was awesome. It

was like round of applause Exactly. It's one

of those things where you don't You don't need

any ice to meet you puns anywhere in I think

that would have taken away like again. We don't

see The dinosaurs the ice age You're giving Arnold

Schwarzenegger Even in that it's always been

apparent that freeze and Nora's love has been

at the central of his villainy and that is one

of the great things about his characters is because

he is the Like the exception and and the rule

when it comes to all it would have taken is one

choice And he would have gone down a different

path He wouldn't have been a villain He would

have been a hero and you get to see that play

out beautifully in this one. Yeah absolutely,

I agree and as we go along here after Jacob is

left because hello, he's dead sadly Yeah You

know, he's like, you know, they're like come

with me and do exactly as I say and At least

he was good enough to be like, are you okay?

Yeah, all this shit. We've given this guy as

a dad Yeah, are you okay? Yeah, and then straight

into cold logic mode. This is what we need to

do so Victor has not Victor Baron has the has

the freeze gun and Because the models that they

use for Baron and for adult Victor are So similar

cuz hello father and son Right, but like when

he first starts using the freeze gun that very

first panel where it shows the freezer. It's

a very small Cause I'm looking at it in comics

logic out of you, but it's that very small panel

of when he first uses it. I'm like, wait a minute.

Is that. Is that our Victor or is that his dad?

But it is his dad. I know that, but it's one

of those things where this whole scene where

he freezes all the soldiers. Wow. This is where

the bang, bang, bang happens. It's when Vic,

it's when Von Fries is, uh, is where a Baron

Von Fries is, uh, is, is killing the soldiers.

And I never knew bangs could look that cool Well,

not only that but like there's one and I want

to because it's it's only alluded to it's never

Specifically stated that this is what's happening

because you don't really get to see it But there's

one soldier that he actually takes the time to

crack him out of the ice Yep, and then shoot

him And I want to think that that's the one that

killed Jacob and I was pretty sure yeah Was holding

the gun to Baron's head saying, you know, either

you let us take him down the mountain or I'm

a shooter here But I think that that is who that

is that's my theory yeah You know and we get

the reunion of the family here and they're like,

why should we trust you and von Fries has nothing

to say When they ask him that and Victor just

steps in don't worry. We're getting out of Germany.

I promise Right I love that scene. Yeah, I really

do. I'm just sitting here staring at it because

we've opened our art book while we're going along

with you and I love it because when she asks

and that what is he expected to say? He has no

words. Yes every choice that he's made has been

right. Yeah, right every choice that he's made

he thought was right, but in their eyes it was

Absolutely 100 % the wrong way to go and made

him a traitor and I love that that we now that

we come out of this because they drive off and

I assume they get to safety or wherever they're

going. And, you know, Victor freezes like, and

you know, the rest, Thomas, Jesus Christ, I had

no idea. Part of the arrangement was that I would

ask too many questions. And then he turns and

it again, it kills me. Have you ever heard this

story, miss? I'm sorry. I never caught your name.

It's adult Nora. Holy shit. Yeah, it's kind of

one of those moments you're like, holy shit,

all right I'm glad that they that the creative

team did that this way and we still have more

to go with this But it's one of those things

where at that point of seeing adult Nora that

she survived and that Victor survived and they

are where they are Whatever Sean and the team

do with them next Whether it's in curse or not

or whether it's in whatever happens after curse

because I've heard that there's gonna be a Yeah,

I've heard that there's gonna be a third Thing

I it's a rumor. I think I don't know and I didn't

ask Sean to ride Heaven forbid I would you say

I'd buy it. Well, yeah Oh, yeah, I'd buy it for

more than a dollar, too We have Nora saying,

you know, it was actually my family who insisted

I come to see you Victor after you wrote to them

about this lab Victor we're ready for you. She's

dilated. Thank you And we go back downstairs

before that Thomas hands Victor The watch here

and I'm like he's like I was gonna give this

to my son one day But I think you should hold

on to it for a while Because well, you know Okay,

yes, thank you Thomas And Yeah, I mean everything

kind of turns out to be okay, I mean Martha's

alive thankfully Mark Zuckerberg didn't kill

her. I'm sorry Jesse Eisenberg. Oh wait wrong

story It's the safe word Was not I mean even

though the title is Batman White knight von frieze

I actually was not after starting reading this

story. I was not ever expecting Batman to ever

show up in this honestly Really wasn't I was

surprised at this ending anything else you guys

want to say about this one anything else We need

to bring up it makes Batman cry. Yeah, yeah And

then they know That whoa, yeah shit they know

In this universe. Mr. Freeze knows who Batman

is Yeah, so does Nora cuz Norris Given the events

of white night. Yeah Everybody knows oh True.

I mean, yeah, it's been a couple years since

I read white night. So and The Batmobile why

did it have to be the tumbler in this? Why Sean

why why did you tell that like not that I dislike

see but like I? Mean TAS 89 hell even Batman

and Robin's Batmobile Anyway, I know real -world

gritty. Whatever and then Harley in the Batmobile.

Oh boy Yo, you know that's gonna cause some problems.

Not really now actually a really good subplot

that carries through all Right, yes. Send him

to the new Harley Quinn series. Mini series,

excuse me. Yeah. I ship it. Yeah, this was fun.

This was really fun. Sean Murphy strikes again,

man. I mean, but that's the thing. Like, of anybody

who I've seen in one issue be able to give depth

to every character that they've brought to the

platform, he's done it. Like, in one singular

issue, he was able to give every single character

in this issue depth. More than we've known. Even

the soldiers. Even the soldiers that we'll never

see again. Yeah, that's just a testament of a

bit of a writer and creator that he is. Yeah.

Between him and Klaus. I mean, and that and one

of the things we talked about at the beginning

of this, where you get whether it's the fully

hardcover where you get all of the issues or

you just get the singular issue. Either way,

that love note from Sean Murphy about just how

excited he was to work with Klaus. I love that.

I love seeing creators who, no matter how much

acclaim they've gotten, no matter how far they've

made it into the industry, are still excited.

To people who help them get there and to work

with their idols. I mean that shows just how

much passion that he has. Yeah Sean Murphy's

a giant nerd as it is. I mean you can see that

everything that he writes fair I mean so to get

to work with one of the people that inspire him.

Yeah, I'd be geeking out the whole time, too

Absolutely, right? Let me up tomorrow's it and

I need you to ink a project for me I'll do it

for $10. The whole book? Yeah, sure. Whatever.

Sadly, with the state of my life, I would say,

could you pay me $10 a letter? Mmm epic letters.

No, but this like you said this one was fun and

this was actually one we were looking forward

to discuss because I got to do the review for

this and this alone for Dark Knight news because

Steve J ray one of my colleagues got to do all

of the the actual issues for white knight and

curse of the the white knight and Thankfully,

I was able to fight him a little bit and get

Harley Quinn because it fell into my wheelhouse

but I he knows freeze is one of my absolute favorites

and When I get to see somebody do him absolute

justice and pay this character Just the greatest

amount of respect. Yeah, this is it like this

is not one that should be slept on no, no, yes

If you've read any of the white knight stuff

you have to pick this up. That's all there is

to it Absolutely, if you haven't pick it up anyways

and read it so you can go read the white knight

stuff Yeah, I I'm gonna have to go back and read

white night again because I I'm gonna have to

do that before we do or at least the last few

whatever because honestly, I have not kept up

with it and and It's just one of those things

where Just dive in a curse if you have to be

a nice recap That's good, I actually the night

that we got the hardcover of the curse of the

white night I sat there for like two and a half

hours and crushed the whole thing in one sitting.

Because he was mad. Because when we got Curse

of the White Knight was the first week that I

had signed on to do the White Knight Presents

Harley Quinn. And it was the first issue of it.

And I finished reading it and he was like, I

want to read it now. And I was like, well, you

can't until you read this. And he was like...

Dammit! So he crushed it so he could read Harley.

I did. And I'll tell you this right now, crushing

it in one setting like that, that was probably

the greatest read that I've had in months. It

was amazing. Is Harley supposed to be only six?

How long is Harley supposed to be? Six or seven

issues. Okay. I want to say it's either six or

eight. Because I just finished doing the review

for five, okay Yeah, I don't want us to jump

ahead on this but I'm just trying to look on

comics ology to see issue six Release date is

March 23rd. So that's well shit. That's two months

ago now It's a problem with pre recording stuff

folks Yes, we're going back in time without you

we lose yeah, yeah, that's very true Yeah, so

I can't wait until Harley is actually collected

with however many she ends up getting So that

cuz I just I love reading it in in trade more

than singles and how we're gonna mix phenomenon

You don't like having commercials Oh yeah. When

I have it all, you don't want to wait a week.

Or in this case a month. Oh no. Man, let me tell

you, you know what? This whole having to wait

for single issues like Radiant Black or Transformers

Beast Wars, it's like, ugh. I have to wait a

whole month for another comic? Like, really?

Seriously? Come on. Just, and I understand it.

22 pages is like 10 minutes of reading. That's

if you stop to admire the pages for a minute

or two. Yes, I was telling Karen I said, you

know Like I read this like I don't know an hour

before we sat down to do this recording and I'm

like, oh It's just a one -shot. So it's only

50 something pages versus What I did a couple

months ago for issue episode 400 of the show

word movie comic concierge Jen Dan Clark and

I did the comic book history of comics and that's

two hundred twenty pages right i read that within

six hours which is fine i can do that but i still

need time to process and everything else and

that i mean that book is awesome if anyone hasn't

read that yet comic book history of comics it's

by idw it's done by fred van lente or lint l

-e -n -t -e and um oh ryan dunlavy Uh, it's really,

really interesting. And obviously go check out

episode 400 of this podcast. So coming up next

for us. Yes, exactly. Right. I think I know how

to do that by now. Coming up next will be, uh,

Episode 4 10 of the show which will be curse

of the white knight part 1 Now the reason why

I'm doing part 1 and part 2 is even though I

want the story all in one go I don't think we

can I know it will be here for batwing level

2 3 4 hours if we do eight issues in episode

as much as I love doing that with you guys and

with anyone that I podcast with my old age and

my legs and my Just my back won't won't take

another two -hour recording session for Batman.

Sorry about your luck Batman So part one and

part two for curse of the white knight These

will be issues one to four will be part one issues

five to eight will be part two so we'll split

it up that way and In between those because episode

410 will be part one episode 412 will be part

two in between those We've got two episodes one

for Beast Wars number four which comes out this

month here in May 2021 And then, as I said earlier,

the comic concierge, Dan Clark, my buddy who's

been doing stuff with me, he did the I Hate Fairyland

stuff with me here inside this podcast. We're

gonna do something called... 411. I'm down, I've

got the comics 411, so I'm gonna have him put

together this whole list and diagram of how we

think people should get into comics. There's

no right or wrong way to get into comics, but...

Like, what's the best? Like, do you approach

a shop? Do you do digital? Do you do this? Like,

whatever's the best for you, we're gonna try

to put all that information together. Yeah, so

everything I just said just now, ignore. Episode

410 is not going to be broken up into two parts.

It'll be one long three -hour tour of Batman

Curse of the White Knight. Now, back to the show.

And Dan is someone I know who actually goes to

like he just told me the other day Or at this

point a couple months ago, but we're recording

this early folks. Sorry about your luck God,

I've got a lot of editing to do on this episode

and it's my own damn fault He just told me recently

that he goes to the library and picks up like

10 or 12 comics Oh boy, I wonder what the return

rates are on those because like, you know, usually

libraries only allow books, you know, a week,

two weeks, whatever. Granted in this whole pandemic

we're living in, Karen had two books from our

local library, which is essentially shut down

at this point. But because of the pandemic and

because of the library shutting everyday business

down, they're like, oh, late fees are waived.

Return them when you can. Yeah, those books for

about a year now Well, yes, yes she did read

them and And yeah, it's one of those things where

you know We just we just returned them recently

kind of thing and all's I can think of is You

guys had books from the library for over a year.

Also I can think of is that one episode of long

-order criminal intent where rip -torn is is

the father in there and the and the sisters are

like You kept a video for a year. This is again

long -order criminal intent, you know 2001 to

2011 where video stores and late fees were still

a thing You get the video for a year. Charlene.

You can't keep a video for a year You know how

much that's gonna cost. Oh Lord anyway Batman

white knight von frieze one shot All about Victor

Freeze and his family, along with his father,

his mother, and Jacob and his family and everything

else. Zero to five. What are you going to give

it to Ed? Five. Kendra? Five. Five's all around,

folks. Like, there's nothing in here that is

not enjoyable. From the colors to the lines to

the art to the writing. I almost cried twice.

Technically four times because I almost did it

when I read it and I almost did it on the show

So technically dudes making me cry four times

in one day That's not a vendetta I don't know

exactly there you go and it's you know, it's

a good thing I mean, you know what when an emotional

moment impacts you it's supposed to in pay, you

know that Revelation of who the baby was. It's

like oh, oh, oh boy. Damn you Where can the people

find you online and Twitter and that it's a third

Instagram on Sith rules or thesis rules and on

YouTube as well for my random Call of Duty videos

It says it was that Awesome. What about you Kendra?

When it comes to podcasting I can be found on

Spotify under the DC Comics news podcast as well

as mad love a Harley Quinn tale Also, I can be

found doing news opinion pieces and reviews those

can be seen whether it's for Dark Knight news

DC Comics news Fantastic universes or earth 9

on my Twitter, which is devour for all words.

Oh Man, I can't make my oogling joke anymore.

You suck anyway I am at TF2 with Mike. Make your

great Escape into Comics. We will catch you next

week here inside the Pull Bag. You can rate and

leave a review for the show on iTunes. Be sure

to leave us feedback. Become a fan of us on Facebook.

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email. Feedback at geekcastradio .com. Follow

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Radio. So until next time, make your great escape

into comics and unleash the geek in you. I can

only beg your forgiveness and pray you hear me

somehow. Some place, some place where a warm

hand waits for mine.