Origins with Alison Richards on Her Comic Reading

Hi, this is Kevin Conroy and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You've just jumped

inside the pull bag. Join TFG1 Mike and the rest

of the Comet crew here at the GCRN as they make

their great escape into comics. From DC, Marvel

and Image to IDW, Bloom Studios and Xenoscope,

we have everything right here. We cover things

like Transformers, He -Man, Super Heroes, TMNT

and Radiant Black. Yeah, we have all that and

so much more. It's all inside the pull bag here

on the Geekcast Radio Network. So, without further

ado, it's time to talk about the comics we're

reading right now, here inside. The Pull Bag.

Hi, this is Lauren Lester, and you're listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to The Pull Bag, only on the GeekCast Radio Network.

This is episode 428. I am, of course, your host,

TF2, and Mike. And today I welcome to the show,

Alice in Sky Richards. Hello, how are you? I'm

great. How are you tonight? Uh... I feel like

I'm on a seesaw and I'm on the wrong end of each

side. Sometimes you go a little too high, sometimes

you go a little too low and you end up in the

sand. As long as you know you're not standing

when someone gets on the other end. That's true.

Bad days like that. This has come close, but

no, not that close. Not that bad. I wonder how

many listeners has just now winced. Probably

all of them. Wait, people listen to my podcasts?

Really? Well, I hope so. I mean, I wouldn't be

on here if they didn't. Oh, please. You know,

you know, we're just talking to ourselves. Yeah,

probably. A lot of people retweet though. There

you go, that's good. So there's at least people

who acknowledge our existence. Yeah, I hope that's

not just me retweeting from the other accounts

that because I was like, ooh, I have separate

podcasts for everything. I need a separate Twitter

account for each one of them. So here's hoping.

Here's hoping. Self promotion, folks, it is a

most powerful and most dangerous tool. Be careful,

you don't end up on the dark side of self -promotion.

Well, honestly, it's the only way you ever actually

get your stuff noticed is by having to do all

the marketing on your own. That's really true.

That's why I haven't sold a lot of my books is

because the only time I market them is when I'm

at con. Yes, and for those that don't know, Allison

is a part of the BAM crew over on the Fortress

of Balletudes, the Superman and Lois tapes with

Michael Bailey also featuring Bethany Kessler

as well. That's how Allison and I became friends

and kind of got together with this whole podcast

thing. If you go over to Tooncast, you can listen

to episodes one through six so far of Marvel

Studios What If as we discuss and a fanboy and

fangirl over each and every single episode. Listen

here, folks. I'm not a zombie person, but even

I enjoyed the Marvel Zombies episode of Marvel

What If. Oh, oh yeah, that was fun, and I will

just... The fact that they all kept like their

level of intelligence and skill was just such

a twist that made that episode as dangerous and

scary as it was. Don't eat me, don't eat me,

don't eat me, don't eat me, don't eat me! Hey,

relax! I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider

-Man. Oh yeah? Well then, what the hell happened

to the neighborhood? Like too many great catastrophes,

this one sprang from a place of love. and home.

Absolutely, because you don't want Marvel zombies

just being like, brains. Which is somehow how

they're portrayed. Somehow. This is one of our

Origins episodes. I ask guests that come on the

show 25 questions of how they got into or out

of comic book reading, because sometimes you

just end up doing other things. So did you grow

up reading comics and at what age do you first

remember reading or noticing them? Oh gosh, I

Knew comics existed for a long for for most of

my life. I Can't really remember Back until like

well Clint I believe 1993 is about where I can

place remembering buying the comic and having

it in my hand. I know I've had comics before

that, but I can't tell you what I bought. The

reason I can tell you 93 is because I remember

holding the very first issue of Tim Drake's solo

Robin run and having that one because I got the

like the foil cover that him jumping through

the circular window and and yeah so I remember

that and then I've had and I know I had them

in high school because I remember also using

an art class a lot of times tracing or free handing

a lot of artwork from the Robin comics. So there

wasn't a parent or a friend or a sibling or anything

like that that said, here, take this comic and

go read it kind of thing. Nope, no, I have always

been sorry for the cat in the background. I have

always been Finding my own reading for the most

part I When I first discovered Robin and all

it was really through the Batman the animated

series mm -hmm, and that's when I started being

like oh, you know, I was really into this guy

named Dick Grayson played Robin and then I am

My mom would let me buy things that I probably

shouldn't have read as early as I did. I mean,

I was reading Ian Fleming when I was like 10.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. From Russia With Love. But

I remember we got a copy of the novelization

of of a batman nightfall or night's quest whichever

whatever the actual full title is it's downstairs

in my library so i can't tell you right now um

but yeah and so you know i was already into hat

what the hell did you just do that's not helping

so yeah so i read that book and i got really

interested in the storyline and so i went to

go find the comics that were coming out because

Well, Dick Grayson is now Nightwing and Tim Drake

is Robin. And I really liked the way that both

of them were written in the story. So I went

and I started getting comics that they were in

and, you know, buying the older comics that I

could find, you know, wherever comic books were

sold. Usually out of Walden books, folks. Yep,

that's what I had at that time. My mom took me

to Walden Books every other week to buy stuff.

Absolutely. So that is the first comic I remember

having my hands on. So basically as a kid, but

you got into comics a little later in life. So

as a teenager... I was going to say, I was...

You were 14? Yeah, 13, 14, somewhere in there.

Yeah. The question is, when you were a kid, which

characters were your favorites? You just specifically

talked about Nightwing and Dick Grayson and Tim

Drake. So I'll rephrase it and say, what were

some of your other characters that you liked

at that time? Okay, so there was this great 80s

cartoon, I believe, called The X -Men. And Oh,

I love Nightcrawler. You mean 90s. 1992. Oh,

92. So, okay. So, you're talking about the Fox

Kids one? Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. I just wanted

to make sure that you were. Yes, yes. Yes. No,

I love Nightcrawler. I hated Scott Summers. I

didn't. I had no care for Scott, Gene, or Logan.

Scott and Jean yelling each other's names. It's

like you're behind the old eight ball gambit,

and I am about to sink it. You're not winning

the game yet, Cher. Could be you need incentive.

How about the winner get a kiss from the loser.

I was into rogue, gambit, and nightcrawler. Nightcrawler,

yeah. I'm like those were my kid. Those were

my guys. Those are the three I cared about Gosh,

what was it before that then? I don't think I

even remember like the oh I know why I probably

don't remember a lot of that time. I you know,

that was probably the time where I was still

rich Because I grew up in a New York, you know

Westchester County you know old money family

who lost their money but no I I was I was more

into just I don't know honestly I remember Girl

Scouts I remember you know doing all that Hanging

out my friends bowling. I was a bowler No, I

don't actually remember a lot of what I watched

outside of probably, you know Voltron and speed

racer Were the two that were the two, you know

cartoons I adamantly loved in the 80s. Mm -hmm

and Oh, and a lot of the HBO cartoons like -

Fraggle Rock and other things, yeah. Yeah, I

was a big Muppet person. Yep. So it was a lot

of Muppets. So many Muppets. So many Muppets.

And shoot. Oh well, like also they had the stories

for every child. They would play the Adventures

of Tin Tin, the cartoon on HBO. There's probably

like other cartoons that are just like... Because

I keep thinking more the 90s, because I can remember

the 90s better than I can the 80s. I don't know

why, but I can. Time for that age -old question.

DC or Marvel? Honestly, it's DC. Because as much

as I have characters that I truly love in Marvel,

the Robins have always been there for me. And

a lot of my memories come back. to something

that has to do with either Tim Drake or Dick

Grayson in my head. I started writing fan fiction

with Tim Drake back on pencil and paper when

there was not this thing called computers existing

yet, or at least not existing in an area where

it was able to be gotten by the common person.

True. But yeah, no, so yeah, it's definitely

DC. If you look at our bookshelves downstairs

with our comics, it is definitely DC. What other

publishers do you enjoy reading? Oh, I like getting,

I mean, obviously, you know, there's still Marvel

DC. I do like some of the stuff that comes out

of Boom. have a couple things from Dark Horse

because, you know, that's where Firefly and all

the Whedon shows are in there. And lately I've

just been doing a lot of stuff with Kickstarter,

you know, looking at some original comic ideas

that have been coming out of the Kickstarter

area and I've been getting some some great stuff

there. I got this one comic called Oz, which

is basically, it's the Wizard of Oz, but in a

war -torn Middle Eastern country. I guess we're

not in Toto anymore, Kansas. Or I guess we're

not in Kansas anymore, Toto. It's been one of

those nights, folks. It really, really has. Oh,

God. That would be interesting, though. Yeah,

it is. They actually just finished their Kickstarter

for their second issue. Awesome. Very cool. Very

cool. All right. This question is going to sound

a little wacky, especially coming from me on

this night, but print or digital, which one,

both either or and why? Oh, God, that's hard,

but it is always going to be print for me. Mainly

because I'm dyslexic. And so, reading on screens

tires my eyes out really quick. No matter what

settings I do for contrast to be able to make

it easier for me to read, for some reason when

I read on a screen, the letters jump around so

much more on a screen than they do when I'm reading.

Yeah, I you know my eyes I have issues with my

eyes as well and the funny thing is is I can

only and They've spoiled me I can only use Comixology's

guided view because it zooms in and it does this

otherworldly. It's basically basically storyboard

viewing but oh, yeah Yeah, there's some of them

are only available digitally. So I have to do

that But usually because I don't do digital I

will just you know, give away digital codes.

You know, if I, if I see somebody, you know,

talking to an author and they've missed like

a couple of issues, I'll look and I'll be like,

Hey, you know, I have those issues. I spelled

the digit code. Do you want the digit code? You

know, and I'll just give it to them. Yeah, that's

cool. That's cool. Who are some of your favorite

writer, comics writers and why? Well, first of

all, I gotta love Chuck Dixon just because, you

know, that's where, you know, Nightwing comes

from. You know, you've got your Titans. Jack

Kirby and Stan Lee, you know, you gotta respect

the great ones who started, you know, making

comics in the first place. the purpose that was

behind the comic books. Matt Fraction, you know,

my Hawkeye love, really comes to those comics

there. I like Geoff Johns, but more for what

he's been doing with the... with the television

series work that he does, especially with Titan.

I think it's Titans and with the other stuff.

Just because of the fact that the one thing that

always feels weird about superhero stuff is like

if you don't involve people who actually know

how comic book worlds work, The movie's not going

to have as much of a success as it would if you

had a producer in there who knows how these stories

are built in the comic book world and how to

translate them to a screen. Right, yeah. Some

of my current favorites, Matthew Rosenberg. I

discovered him with Hawkeye Freefall. And then

I realized that I've read a whole bunch of his

stuff previously. So I love talking to him on

Twitter. Kelly Thompson, who is doing the current

Black Widow run, which everybody should read.

I have this whole stack of comics behind me,

and I can just start pulling them out. I remember

more of the stories than I do who wrote them

a lot of the time. Tom Taylor right now with

his Nightwing on. Him and his group are amazing.

So there's that. And then, gosh, I mean, I've

just really been enjoying a lot of the bat titles

that have been coming out. And the people who

are working on Um, who've been writing Red Hood

recently. Um, I like where they have been taking

Jason Todd post, um, you know, post rebirth because

he, he, he's kept the background from revert

from, from new 52, um, in a lot of his, in his

backstory. But I think this. Like now is where

he's actually really starting to grow. So I've

been liking a lot of what's been going on, especially

in the Urban Legends series. So there's that.

The people who wrote the Poe Dameron comic series

over for Star Wars after The Force Awakens when

they started that comic series, that was a really

good one. There is a lot of talent out there

right now and both DC and Marvel are doing a

very proactive work to try to get new artists

and new diverse voices into their company. To

be showing new stories or retelling new stories

with more With with eyes of people who are actually

more aligned to the characterization Yeah, I

mean, I mean milestone comics is coming has come

back and that I'm so excited to see you know

it's It's a lot But right now, my top three are

Matt, Kelly, and Taylor. Very awesome, very awesome.

I find it ironic, I guess, but I guess maybe

not, that Matt wrote Clint and Kelly wrote Kate.

Yep. And also, Matt wrote the Tales of Suspense

with Clint and Bucky trying to find Scarlet Witch.

And so he, darn him, is responsible for my secret

Winterhawk love. Because, you know, they're good

ideas to be together. Very awesome. Very awesome.

What defines a good story to you? It's how it

comes down to characters because if you create

great characters You can do stories that Don't

have any dialogue or you know or any or any plot

or anything and just still Enjoy it. I mean look

at half of fractions run I mean, oh half of them

are there's like there's the issue with lucky

is the main character and you know You know that

you can't understand anything Clint is saying

except for like words here or there But you can

see how they they work with with lucky and create

an entire story where you know, what's going

on? No, there's you know when clint had his one

his issue after he lost his hearing again in

fractions run and everything is either in sign

language or empty bubbles you know we know the

character and the characters whose makes the

story move along you can have great plots and

great action but if you don't care about those

characters You're not going to care about the

plots or the action. Yeah. So it really comes

down to character design and just making them

able to be connected to, being emotionally open.

Even if it's in thought bubbles and not being

open to other people, they're still emotionally

open to the reader. And that's what's great about

Jason Todd right now is Jason Todd's not usually

emotionally open to anyone else But he is to

the reader Yeah, maybe he if he lived all those

years ago it would be completely different what

if Honestly, I think I as much as I hate knowing

why they killed him and how they killed him.

Yeah. And what they did with him when they first

brought him back. Yeah. I think that New 52 really

that if anybody's story was good within there,

it was Jason's. He really figured out what to

do with him and Made him, you know, the character

everyone really loves now. Hmm. I would also

argue Barbara and Dick as well. Yes. It's just

Dick kept getting the dick around from that didildo.

I'm sorry. I don't want anybody to lose their

job or not have their job anymore, but I'm so

glad that guy is no longer at that company. Anyway,

so this question kind of is on the same lines

as the one I just asked you, but what does a

story have to have to draw you in? So you get

the first issue of something. What does that

have to have in it to keep you coming back for

the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth,

tw - two hundredth? Yeah. Well, the way to get

me to pick it up, honestly, is either to have

one of my characters that I love in it. Mm -hmm.

Because I'll always be willing to give a chance

if I hear that somebody's gonna be in it. If

it's by an author that I trust. Or if my comic

book store dude, either Travis or Larry, recommend

it to me because they know what I like to read.

That said... Travis is kind of, you know, walking

a thin line where he has to rear in my trust

because he made me read shirtless bear hunter.

I don't even want to search for that on a comicsology

right now, folks. No, I mean, I. It is one of

those where you read it and. you wonder if you're

on an acid trip the entire time you're reading

it but say one thing about it though is that

for the for the genre and the style and tone

that they write it in it's actually a good story

um it has a lot of twists and turns there's a

lot of there's a lot of fortuitous nudity that

is all pixelated out and there are times where

you know you're just like oh my god are you we

really going here but at other times there are

just things that turn on a dime and you're like

whoa where did that come from so For as much

as I want to bleach my eyes out sometimes for

having looked at it The story itself was good

I think I would have rather have just read it

as like a novel and not had the actual visualizations

Yeah, but the problem with that is because I'm

a very visual reader when it comes to Actual

books like Probably what I would envision would

be ten times worse than what it actually is probably

Sure was shirtless bear hunter the actual time

shirtless bear fighter Okay, I was gonna say

cuz I'm not coming up with that. I decided to

search for it is It is shirtless bear fighter.

Um That is by Jodie Leigh Hup and Sebastian Gerner.

Cool. Awesome. Oh gosh, there's a sequel to this.

No, no, I'm getting off the Google. Who are some

of your favorite comic artists? Otto Schmidt,

right now, is hands down my favorite. Oh gosh,

where's my copy of, my current copy of um, hold

on. I need to pull out my, I got my pulls from,

from um, what do you call it, from uh, blah blah

blah. The comic book store? Yes. Um, George Geminas

is also one that I really love. And it seems

the current artist for Black Widow, who is Raphael

De La Torre. I like that art style. I don't know.

See, I'm not really... As much as I love anime,

I am not really that... Happy with like the anime

style that they're seeming to move to with the

harsher lines These black and white ones sometimes

I don't like right But Yes, like again, I have

a whole stack of comics behind me Whoever who's

the one who works with Tom Taylor right now on

Nightwing because I actually like that drawing

style that they've got going with um with him

currently now to latest release issue 84 2016

Robbie Rodriguez Robbie Rodriguez and also Bruno

Redondo yeah, yeah because he does some of the

various art covers and those are beautiful yeah

very cool very cool yeah but no i i kind of like

i like i like it when it it either has like the

almost like the the early 90s feel to it Or I

like it where it has these soft the soft edges

to Like the Grayson series which I know a lot

of people who like Dick Grayson are probably

groaning at me right now But the art in that

was beautiful No matter Da Vinci could have done

the art in that book, and I'm sorry, turning

Dick Grayson into a spy because he can no longer

become Nightwing. Let's not go into all that.

There is so much more to it than that explanation.

I know. I understand. I read like the first,

I don't know, three or four or five issues of

it, but again, that was at a time in In Dick

Grayson's character life that I did not agree

with and did not care for because again, I wanted

Amusement Mile. Well, I love that he went to

Chicago and I love that Kyle Higgins was the

one that took him to Chicago. Kyle had this whole

other story where he was going to run Amusement

Mile and basically put the circus in Gotham.

Yep. And then they blew it up. Dan DiDio blew

it up. Because they killed them. Well, you know

what? Dan DiDio just, like, was trying to kill

Nightwing every which way he could. Absolutely.

You can't really blame the other people for this,

because they... Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No, no,

no. I don't blame the... Hell no. I don't blame

the other people. No, I don't blame anybody but

DiDio. He's the only one I blame. No. What I'm

saying is that there was a whole other... I didn't

realize this until much later after the fact

of, you know, getting to Forever Evil 5 and 6

and then reading... what Kyle initially planned.

No, I don't blame anybody other than Danda Dio

for Nightwing's death from New 52. Don't blame

anybody else but him. It's all his fault. Anyway.

Yeah, but the thing is also is that pretty much

Dio had a hand in every single thing that Nightwing

would have done from Amusement Mile blowing up

all the way through mid Rick Grayson. Everything

there the deal would have had a hand in because

nothing would have gotten passed To be written

story wise if he hadn't approved it So they were

doing if all the other writers were doing everything

they could to keep him Still in stories. Yeah

while dealing with the deals somewhat really

I don't understand hatred of Dick Grayson. But

for the Grayson storyline, and I will defend

this dang storyline just as much as I will defend

Rick Grayson for what they were trying to accomplish.

And in this, everybody I ever hear of when they

talk about Grayson is about how out of character

Dick was, but nobody seems to remember that Dick

is not supposed to be himself in this. He is

playing a cover version of himself, which is

why he acts a little bit more dumber and flamboyant,

and he kinda acts up all those qualities that

people think... that he is with them is because

he's playing a part. He is being a spy. He is

trying to make them underestimate him. And nobody

seems to remember that. Because his job is to

be undercover. And that's why, you know, as much

as I don't like the sexualization that they do

of him and that, that... That's problematic.

That's the one problematic thing that I find

in that series that I hate. But at the same time,

what they're trying to do with him in that, I

really feel, you know, for what they were going

to get out of the heads of DC at the time, it's

a good story. But I will be happy to agree to

disagree on that. people because everybody's

entitled to their own opinion. And like I said,

it's been a number of years since that happened

now. And maybe eventually I'll go back to the

Grayson run and read it drama free of what was

going on in the real world as far as whatever

with the company. But I just, I will tell you

the one issue that was worth reading. One issue

worth reading is issue 12 of Grayson. And that's

the one where he gets to come home and tell his

brothers that he's alive. And it is a beautiful

issue that just speaks to his family relationships.

It has nothing to do really with Spiral. There

is a hidden agenda that comes up at the end of

it. But you just see how he has those relationships

at that moment with Jason, with Tim, with Damien,

because at that point, during Grayson, Dick doesn't

know that Damien's alive. It isn't until issue

12 of Grayson that he realizes it. And their

reunion in that issue is beautiful. I actually

have that issue, the... There's four panels where

it talks about like their relationships as Dick

is doing these puzzles. Also Babs is in it too.

And so what I have is I actually have those four

pages framed because it is just such a testament

to how much his family loved him and how much

it hurt for them not to know that he was still

alive. Yeah, absolutely. Yes, if nothing else

that issue you will love that one issue What

is one comic you can read over and over again

single issue or trade well Grayson Grayson number

12 That one I can read over again. I can read

the Tales of Suspense Hawkeye and Winter Soldier

trade over and over and over again. In fact,

I actually do. Oh gosh, what's the other one

I like to read? See, I frame some of my ones

that I love a lot. So, oh, it's a Secret Avengers

annual number three. And this is the one where

Clint, as Ronan, tried to kill Norman Osborn

and he failed and all the women in his life need

to come and rescue him. That must be difficult.

Oh, but the artist on it is like, this is like

done where it feels like it's almost done like

in, not watercolor, but like colored pencils

that are then, you know, Brushed with water almost

it is beautiful artwork. There's this like one

image that I really love in it and and I You'll

learn I also have like a little bit of a torture

cake They basically Norman has stripped clit

buck naked and tied him to a chair. And they

are trying to get him to give up the location

of where all the other secret Avengers are hiding.

He won't. And so they have venom behind him.

And he's got like this one claw hand on Clint's

chest. And he's leaning over Clint's shoulder

and his tongue is down and licking the other

side of Clint's cheek. And he's just looking

at the, he's just looking, Clint's just looking

straight forward like you really think that I'm

going to blink. And I am just like that right

there. And then like the next thing Norman does

is like he threatens Bobby Morse, who's come

back to life at this point. Um, well actually

she returned from the Cree. Um, and then you

just see this close up of his eyes and how they've

just narrowed in pure hatred and anger. That

just, I have that page framed because that is

just so beautiful. Yeah, it sounds like it is.

And, uh, gosh. Yeah, I mean. Fraction, I'll always

reread that whole run. Also, the 10 issues of

West Coast Avengers, those two trades, I can

always reread. It is the origin of Jeff the land

shark, baby Jeff. But yeah, no, those are the

ones that I really will constantly go back to.

Right now, I mean, I'm rereading the very tail

end of the Rick Grayson arc for the Coward of

Owls stuff because of a fanfic I'm writing. And

this is like, it's also, this is the point where

they're actually trying to fix what was done

to him and actually make it have a purpose at

this point. So I do like rereading you know,

that little bit of a journey where Dick is starting

to get his memories back. I don't like a lot

of what happened in Joker War, but that issue

where he gets his memories back, that issue of

Nightwing. Yeah, that was good. That was also,

I can reread over and over again. Oh, oh gosh,

there's one other one. Oh man, which is the one?

There's... Oh, it's the one of where Nightwing,

no, where Dick and Babs get the honeymoon room

after Catwoman leaves Batman at the altar. Oh,

it's during the wedding. Yeah, it's... I forget

which one that is. Batgirl 25. That's right.

I have the whole series of... images from the

hotel room frame because it just purpose it beautifully

encapsulates Dick and Babs. Because it talks

about how, you know, Babs may never be ready

to be in a committed relationship. But she knows

that Dick will always be there when she needs

him. Tragically, this is like a month before

he shot so it's just so heartbreaking to know

that they have this moment where they have finally

figured out what ground they're on with each

other and then he loses his memories damn you

didio yes there's that and then oh there's one

more that just came to my head oh crap crap crap

um oh um batman Issue I think it's 15 it's either

12 or 15. It's the one with the It's right after

Tim Drake had died during detective comics and

Bane was just coming into the city so And the

boys like it's Duke Jason Dick and Damien have

taken Bruce to bat burgers and you just the boys

are acting like brothers I mean Jason and Damien

are like fighting over a toy from a Happy Meal

of course they would be it's a Red Hood toy so

of course they're fighting over it but but no

just just this this like family moment I could

read over and over again because you know for

all the for all the fanfic people who have built

this ideal like you know Wayne family lifestyle

you know those are the moments where like long

-term fans that like me who are very invested

in the back family loves for me. I love seeing

those moments because those are character moments.

Absolutely. This interview is going to take two

and a half hours because I ramble. Yay. Give

me a triple. Now, are there comics you avoid

altogether? So again, you go into your local

comic shop and you're just browsing through and

or it's it's more likely this is for like new

stuff like I just I don't have any interest in

that or that kind of thing. Well, I'm really

not interested in the blood and gore stuff. I

do not like I don't like ones that heavily rely

on guns just because I think a lot of them become

gratuitous. Some comics, they're just like, you

know, gun almost like gun porn in comic form.

Yeah. There are certain characters I avoid. I

don't, I mean, it's not like I have, I avoid

a lot because if it's written by a writer that

I trust, I will grab it. But there's just, there's

a lot of stuff like Alright, so I collect back

titles, but I won't read the Batman Fortnite

ones because I think it's ridiculous. And that's

just to me. It's the same with... What's the

other one that I don't want? Batman TMNT? I actually

have the movie, but I've yet to watch it. It

actually sounds interesting from how I've had

it told to me, but seeing that they had a movie

version of it, I just grabbed the movie version

instead. Read the trades first, I would. Yeah.

I don't read a lot of Green Lantern. That may

be changing now if Roy is going to be a Lantern.

But that's never really held a lot for me. And

as much as I say, I don't read a lot of Blood

and Gore. If it has John Constantine in it, I

will read it. I will read John Constantine stuff,

but I don't actively search out for him. You

know, I'm not a big fan of the Joker. It's to

me like like, okay. I love animated series Joker

love animated series Joker. I love Keith Ledger's

Joker But There's just it feels like there's

that that story people are running out of like

how they want to portray him that every time

they try to do something new, it just, it comes

off either being a lot darker than you're used

to with the Joker. They tend to go more toward

the killing joke Joker, like the whole, um, the,

the death of the family line where he was like

tearing people's fit. Like that Joker, I can't

read at all. except for that one little arc because

it has the boys in it. But no, it just feels

really overdone. He's a very abusive character.

I mean, I love Harley, but... The Harley that

was in there for a while before she started realizing

that her You know her voice and her power You

know he abused the shit out of her and I just

couldn't stand seeing that yeah, you know and

That's why I didn't watch the first Suicide Squad

movie and I can't watch the Joaquin Phoenix movie

because I am so done with it at this point. I'm

kind of glad that in Titans you don't actually

see him hardly at all. You know, I'm sure he's

there somewhere in the background, but you don't

actually know season three shows you where Joker

is no boy Okay. Yeah season three of Titan spoilers

has Joker in it for like all of ten seconds.

Um but but no, it's just I Would rather get more

focus on some of the other villains then and

build up some of those other villains then they

do Right now with you know always going back

to him scarecrow two -faced penguin You know,

it's like and mr. Freeze though. Mr. Freeze has

been going back and forth between a good guy

and a bad guy. So Yeah But you know there there

are a lot of freaking good characters. I mean

freaking calendar man was this huge dangerous

character in long Halloween I mean, there are

other really good characters that they could

be utilizing that are minor characters that deserve

a chance to be written up and made into a, you

know, a better villain. The sad thing is, though,

because all the major ones you mentioned, they're

the ones that fit like Joker and Harley and all

that. And I mean, technically, Harley is and

she isn't a villain. I think they've turned her

into enough of a She's part of the Bat family

now, but she's still, she's still working on

her redemption. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, the

sad thing is, is that, you know, Keaton and Nicholson

fill seats and you got to get those butts in

those seats. Yeah. And Cesar Romero, you know,

and all that, you know, but I mean, I just wish

they could go back a bit to the campy. in a way,

you know? Yeah. I mean, poor Heath, just the

toll it took on him. Yeah. You know, and I worry

about Joaquin. Not Joaquin, um, about Jared Leto.

Yeah, Jared Leto, yeah. Because I don't want

Jared going down that same path. No. You know,

I don't really pay attention to him much as an

actor, but I worry for him because of the role

and what it can give you. if it's a very serious

and angry role. Yeah. I think the thing with

him, though, is I don't think that they're going

to I could be wrong, but I don't. Even though

I know there's going to be a sequel to The Joker

or Joker or whatever it's called, I don't think

it's I don't know. It depends on what his contract

is and all that. But I mean, they better. freaking

follow up on whatever they weren't planning to

end with, with the Justice League movie I had

to watch because of BAM, you know? Because I

am like, first of all, fuck you, Joker. I'm sorry.

No, it's okay. We're explicit. It's fine. Um,

but you know, um, or, or as spoilers in, in Titan

season three, as Jason Todd goes, fuck the Joker.

Um, You know, it's uh, I Want to see that world

I want to see more of that world. Yeah and if

it's the same world as Either I don't know if

it's gonna be the same world as death metal but

if it's the same world either is that or as the

last What is it? The the last night on earth

Storyline, it'll be interesting Just as long

as it doesn't go into the the dark night returns

because that one The sequel to that one with

Robin just kind of got really freaky. Yeah, I'm

I'm actually surprised so since we were talking

about Leto and this is completely separate folks,

but I was looking on Wikipedia because Wikipedia

sometimes has personal life things and Whatever

else and and all that and before he was the Joker

I Knew him as the lead singer of 30 seconds to

Mars Yep, and I'm like have they ever put out

an album past 2005 and they have they've put

out three It's been a good number of years between

each of them though 2009 to 2013 and then 2013

to 2018 mm -hmm, so yeah Let's see here. What

number are we even on at this point? I don't

even know anymore. How large or small is your

physical comic book collection? Oh shoot. Okay,

so we converted our master bedroom to a library.

Okay. The DC collection currently? Mm -hmm. Um,

not counting the individual single titles that

we've like single issues, but just the trades

is one shelf along the entire long wall from

end to end. Wow. Um, Marvel has maybe, um, a

half shelf. And then we have a half shelf of

indies. Very cool, very cool. Yeah, we had some

trades. And then the pandemic happened and we

had to stay indoors a lot. And I was in grad

school so I didn't have a lot to do and Bethany

was working from home. Right. And we weren't

spending a lot of money outside of the house.

Mm -hmm. So we needed to keep our comic book

store alive. Right. And we did our darn best

to keep that comic store afloat because they're

still open to this day. There you go. But yeah,

I also, I like to go, we have a really big used

bookstore here called McKays. That's like 10

,000 feet of used books, movies, and such. 10

,000 square feet. And it's two floors. So yeah,

I mean, I would get stuff from there. We would

get stuff from our comic book store. You know,

there's another used book place around, a couple

other used book places around that we'd go. I

also... I frequent the app Makari, M -E -R -C

-A -R -I, when I'm trying to find hard -to -find

stuff, because it's usually people selling from

their personal collections. And they usually

don't know how much it's actually worth, so I

can deal. I do it a lot for Funkos as well. And

hilariously enough, I'm doing it now for Converse

shoes because I want to have all the colors.

My god. I have no problem wearing new shoes because

I usually tear out the insoles in Converse's

and put in better insoles because I have no arch.

So yeah. But no, no. We has a lot. We has a lot.

And then we have probably about three... About

three short boxes of single issues. Maybe more.

It's hard to actually buy short boxes right now.

I would imagine so. I mean, I just found a few

today. Like my comic book guy, he doesn't have

any. His distributor can't get any. But I went

down to one of the used places and they happen

to have like five. So I bought two of them. Okay,

so everybody is safe. You and Bethany are safe.

All the pets are safe. The apartment's on fire.

What is one comic book you could never live without

ever and you would run back in to save? Tales

of Suspense, Hawkeye, and Winter Soldier. You'd

betray Nightwing and Red Robin? Really? They

are coming out with new versions of trades of

all of them, so I know I could get them. That

fucker was hard to find! Sorry to interrupt,

boys, but I got a quick question before I take

you all down. Where is the Black Widow? Though

I probably would also grab the Red Robin single

issues that I have, because those are worth something.

But no, if I could only grab one, it would be

that, because that is the one that I enjoy reading

a lot. Again, Matt, you bastard getting me addicted

to Winterhawk. But no, um because I mean I can

always refine fraction fraction Fractions everywhere,

especially with Hawkeyes the series coming out

fractions everywhere Batman stuff I can find

real easy. I mean they don't go out of print

a lot of the time but that And like you said,

they're always reprinting them because they want

new people to find them. So right and and they

are they are big names. The Hawkeye stuff is

harder to find. Because Hawkeye isn't a big name.

You know, he, you know, he's people, people underestimate

him. And I've most people I hear when I talk

about the MCU Hawkeye is like their least favorite

or they hate him. Especially in the game, they

hate him. And I'm like, Wait, why, wait a minute,

why do they hate him after Endgame? Because...

She died and he didn't. Oh my god. Oh, I know,

and I've had to set them straight about why they

chose her and what it means thematically and

story and character, you know, but they're just

like, no, but we still hate him. And I'm like...

That makes no damn sense. You look at his arc

in the MCU... He has a wife and a child. She

has... His wife and child. I would not be surprised,

but anyway. That's a whole other what -if universe.

I am down for that what -if universe. That's

a what -if universe. What if Hawkeye died? What

would really happen to his wife and child? Honestly,

I wouldn't be surprised if season two if they

decide to play with that because they already

know what they were going to do because they

filmed both endings. That's right. That's the

thing about multiple endings, folks. You never

know which one's actually going to happen. But

no, they talk about how it should have been him

because she was the better character and this

and that. I just go to them. I'm like, do you

not understand the entire arc that Clint and

Natasha went through through all of these movies?

They're like, no. I'm like, okay. Very beginning.

We know that the reason Natasha is there and

not dead in the very beginning of the MCU is

because Clint made a choice. Clint chose her

over following orders. That is what makes them

best friends. You see how much they care for

each other, how much they love each other, how

close they are. They are basically brother and

sister. Yeah. Just like Budapest all over again.

You and I remember Budapest very differently.

And so which is why that fight at the end is

so emotionally charged because they're trying

to save each other. They're not fighting. They're

trying to save each other. Yeah. And when Natasha

makes her choice, what she's not only doing is

she is giving Clint back that gift that he gave

her, which is that whole line of the, I don't

judge people at their worst moments because you

did it. And she always, and then you remember

in Avengers that she talks about how she has

red in her ledger. Clint is the red in the ledger

she would never be able to wipe out except by

doing this. And that act Wipes out the last of

her red in her ledger. Mm -hmm So and now I have

goosebumps just thinking about But no that and

that is why I love it. I'm glad the costume designer

who Was who spoke up and said don't you dare

take this from Natasha to the producers? You

know, and I'm really glad they made that choice.

Yeah, it kind of sucks and Natasha's not there

but That doesn't mean that we can't have an elseworlds

world or a what -if world because apparently

she's coming in as a badass motorcycle shield

wielding girl Somewhere in the midseason trailer.

Yeah, you know, it's not like she's it's not

like she her story can be done. There is this

wonderful thing called, you know, cloning. And

especially in Marvel, they have the human -synthesized

things that you can't tell that you're a clone

or a robot, you know? Ben Reilly, Peter Parker,

Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, or have you met? Oh

no, Hawkeye Freefall. They actually go and actually

activate Hawkeye's life model decoy. Oh wow.

That's what it is. They go and Haw - Clint goes

and finds his life model decoy and activates

it. It is the most funniest shit but that isn't

because Matt was - Matt is just a genius and

I love him. Yeah, so. What is the most money

you spent on a comic or a comic item? Hmm. Well,

I mean, I spent some pretty pennies for some

of these pops. Right, yeah. I mean, I managed

on Makkari, I managed to finally get the WandaVision

twins. Oh, cool. And I also found the quote -unquote

P .H .O. Maximoff Funkos one from WandaVision

as well. Those are like the two hardest freaking

fun codes to find But no, I think them I mean

and some of these statues behind me are like

hundred two hundred dollar statues But When it

comes to straight -out like comic comic It would

be the four issues of the Justice the Justice

League Avengers crossover because those were

20 bucks each Hmm very cool. Yeah, was there

ever a moment when you were done with comics?

Yes There was because there's a there is a time

period a good gap of period where I didn't buy

any comics so Um, Pietro Maximoff is also one

of my favorite characters. And so I... I really

loved him back. It was X -Men Evolution that

really got me into him and then I just read backwards

for all his stuff. Right. And so... House of

M. I loved the House of M story. I loved the

twist that it was, um, spoilers, the twist that

it was, um, that it was Pietro's words to Wanda

that created House of M and not Wanda's idea.

Um, but Son of M. Son of M. turned my boy into

a tin -hat wearing asshole who forced his own

daughter to become an inhuman. And it was so

out of character for him. But they are still

repairing his character to this day! Yep. Like

it's only a few years ago that they actually

had Luna Come back to talk to her father for

the first time and you know forgive Forgive him

for what he did because You know he He finally

took responsibility for what he did. He's been

trying to say that it was like at one point It

was the Cherogen poisoning or one point. It was

like a Cree No, it was a scroll, because that's

always the thing. It's always a scroll. But,

you know, he finally took ownership of what he

did. And his daughter Faye gave him because he

did it live on public television during a press

conference. Oh, boy. And yeah, it's... I have

never been that angry at a comic book story.

until then. Because I was personally insulted

for what they did to my favorite character. Yeah,

I can imagine so. I mean, that's a little harsh.

It was character assassination. Yeah, pretty

much. What are you reading right now and what

do you think our listeners should check out?

Okay, so the ones that are sitting right now

on my desk is Future State Gotham. Which is an

ongoing series that still continues in that future

state world that they did last year. But it is

future state is actually the bat family. So it

is this is where Jason Todd is a peacekeeper

and Batman They thought he was dead, but he's

come back and now he's being arrested. And basically

Nightwing is the leader of the Bat family. And

Tim, Tim died and came back with Lazarus juice.

So, so yeah. So yeah, so this, this one I'm really

into. Because I like where it's going. And I

know that part of what the current storyline

with Scarecrow in the main continuity is to avoid

this world from happening. But at the same time,

some of the stuff that's coming up in this world

is very fascinating. Batman Urban Legends, because

they just did this great arc with They just did

a great finish out a great arc with Batman and

Red Hood where they finally started to understand

each other As what Red Hood does There was also

a great bringing grifter back into the comics

and That was again Matt. So, you know hate him

love him Gosh, I'm just gonna have to link him

to this podcast and be like, yeah This is where

all my love and hate ranting about you is that.

But like the issue I just grabbed from this week

has Terry McGinnis in it. And so I haven't seen

a Batman Beyond in a while. So I kind of like

seeing that here. And then they just they it's

basically it's an Elseworlds almost in a way.

It's like an Elseworlds book. I mean, obviously

Nightwing. Also the Teen Titans Academy, I've

been reading. It's the old one taking in all

these new heroes, these new kids that they've

been finding and giving them Place to train like

they had created for themselves. Mm -hmm and

Donna's in charge very cool. Very cool. So yeah,

so there's that and The flash because Wally is

Kurt the current flash and they're they're fixing

Wally's they're fixing Wally's past finally and

Bringing him back to being who he was supposed

to be because I'm pretty sure did I know had

a hit out for Wally to know I'm sure because

you know Barry is king of everything because

Barry's on TV and don't get me wrong. I like

Barry on TV, but I've never cared for Barry in

the comics. Yeah So there's that black widow

by Kelly Thompson I'm reading that one. The first

six issues actually had Clint and Winter Soldier

in it, which pulled me in. And then I just fell

in love with Kelly's style. So I'm following

Kelly now. Infinite Frontier is the storyline

in which Roy Harper has been brought back to

life. And he's an integral part of what's going

on. in that world, which is going to be connecting

into the current continuum now, because Roy Harper

is about to enter into the Teen Titan Academy.

Robin's new solo series with Damian's actually

been pretty good. He's starting to grow up. I

mean, Red Hood currently, right now, is not anything

on his own. He's going to be the leader, though,

of Task Force Z. It's one of those. He's going

to be the leader of a whole bunch of reanimated

zombie villains. It's going to be weird. Brains.

Bane is one of them. Oh god, a Bane zombie. Oh

god. That Jason who loved Alfred more than anything

is going to be around. Oh boy. Yeah, like I say,

there's a lot of stuff that's going to be coming

out of that one. I also read the adventure Batman

the adventure continues season two comics because

it's again it's in the And I mean we collect

almost all the bat titles, but I'm looking forward

to the Kate Bishop series that's starting in

November And well isn't in anything right now.

So I'm not getting a lot of Marvel. The only

Marvel I'm getting is Black Widow. Yeah. You

know, and then I have Kate on my poll list. Yep.

I think Clint may not be in anything currently

is because obviously he's got the TV show coming

up. Yeah, but he hasn't been in anything for

like a year or two. I mean, I can't remember

the last time if I, no, Freefall. Freefall is

the last comic I saw. Freefall is, yeah. And

they had this ending in Freefall that spoke to

having more shit written. And the only reason

that I think that it ended there and it didn't

go into a full series is because of COVID. Because

they only got the first three issues printed

and distributed before Diamond closed down. Yeah.

And so, I mean, I eventually got the last, the

four, five and six, but I bought those digitally

because it was the only way I was gonna get them.

But yeah, no, that's pretty much what I do. There's

nothing interesting with, because I'm not sure

I like the whole redoing of the X -Men yet. It

hasn't really kind of... caught my eye and the

lettering and the Languages that they're doing

while it's kind of cool It for for my brain.

It doesn't work. Mm -hmm So I kind of not been

reading any X titles right now Okay Heroes heroines

anti heroes and heroines or villains. What archetypes

are your go -to reads for characters? Um anti

heroes And mainly, that's also what I write,

too. For my fiction, my main character, 9 out

of 10, is going to be a morally ambiguous male

character. Which, if you look at Clint and you

look at Jason Todd, hi, I have a type. Also Quicksilver.

I mean, honestly, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake

are flukes. They're the only nice boys I really

like. They really are the only nice boys I like.

That's funny. Though Dick Grayson has his moments.

Let's be honest here. Yeah, he has his, you know,

almost, you know, almost, I mean, he has become

Batman, but almost, he almost trudges to the

edges of becoming Bruce Wayne. Yeah, he does,

and that's a flaw he needs to stop. He wouldn't

be able to put, like, again, going to Kyle's

run in New 52. Those last issues. Fuck. Issue

29. Issue 28 and 29, that whole two -part story

with Jenny being kidnapped, the little girl Jenny

being kidnapped in Chicago, and he has to go

save her. In issue 29, Kyle has him do this whole

internal monologue thing about recapping his

entire, is it 29 or 28? I forget. It's one of

them. Basically where it ends with the credits

and it ends with him swinging, opening his sweatshirt

and revealing that obviously he's Nightwing and

the title of the book is Safety Net. I'm like,

oh, you bastards. I love you, but Jesus. Yeah,

and then there's the future state cap off issue

too for that Which is in Grayson actually no

sorry nevermind that one's in Grayson, but but

yeah Do you have a my parents got rid of my comics

story no Okay I only asked that I asked that

in the comics I spent the toys I you know I'll

ask a version of it when we do the cartoon version

of this because my dad at six years old said,

you're too old to play with toys and sold them

all. Oh, wow. Anyway, it wasn't like they were

worth anything. Back when my mom was realizing

my hobbies and how much I was spending to buy

things that she remembered my brother having

and that she had ended up throwing out when he

got older. She's like, I should have saved this

shit. I'm like, yeah, you should have. What is

one item from a comic book you'd love to have

upscaled and for the real world. So the basic,

the basest example I can give you is a batarang

or Green Lanterns ring or something like that.

So it can't, it can't be a person. All right.

No, no, no, no. Comic item. item hmm oh that's

hard and as i turn to look back at my my batman

shrub my well my robin's shrine behind me um

It's kind of hard because there's a part of me

that wants to say, um, Jason's all soul swords,

but you have to earn those. And it kind of like,

you know, you have to like rip into your body

to pull them out. So I'm not sure about that.

Um, Clint's bow and arrow. Um, but I don't have,

I actually, I don't have the, the, I won't have

the ability to use it. It's just. Because he

has a 250 pound draw power. But it's this beautiful

hand carved thing that he gave Kate back in the

Secret Avengers of just after Captain America

died comics. And then she gives back him back

to him halfway through the fraction run. But

no, I think I have to go with mockingbirds Baton

Because that thing Okay, so this this little

this little baton that she had that well, they're

two batons They're like a scream is fixed pretty

much. Mm -hmm, but she can connect them together

and The will shoot out from either end to make

a bow staff but it can shoot out almost 10 feet

on either end. So she has used it as a, she's

used it as a javelin. She has used it as, you

know, like a pole for pole jumping, you know,

and it retracts and comes in and, you know, you

can get it back into the Escrima state, you know,

and it's metal. So it sings and it doesn't break

easily. Yeah, no, I think I want mockingbird

that for mockingbird It basically does everything

pretty much I Mean, I wouldn't be surprised if

you can uncap it and it would pour wine out of

one side No, can it make ice cream out of the

other Spin it around enough Now, I know you have

written fan fiction in the past and you do still

currently, but if you were given the keys to

the kingdom at DC or any company, what type of

comic storyline would you want to create and

what characters would you want to create it with?

Oh my God. While it's kind of hard to do it's

for me What I would really love is I would love

over if I was in marble I would love to create

a storyline with Bucky Nat Clint and Bobby Basically

being like strike like a strike team Delta, you

know and the four of them you know, going on

spy adventures. I would really love that. In

DC? In DC, honestly, what I would love to do

is I would just love to have Dick, Wally, Roy,

and Donna just spending time, you know, with

each other. Not like the young Teen Titans, but

as they are as adults. Right, yeah. You know?

Because there used to be a thing where Nightwing,

where Dick and Wally would go on a road trip

every year. Like, this is part of their canon

back in the 80s. Because I actually have the

issue, which was like Flash Plus, or was Nightwing

plus Flash or something. where it talks about

how they go on a road trip every year together

because they're best friends and I would love

to see something of that you know and obviously

they'd have to have a car seat for Leon because

Leon needs to be you know with Roy and just you

know them you know going on a quote -unquote

family vacation and then you know shit goes down

I would really just love that that does sound

like a lot of fun What is the one piece of advice

you would give the comics fandom in general?

To be open minded to some stories that you don't

like um mainly because They some things are started

for long -term results Where you may not like

how it begins? But if you hold on Through it

or even if you just come back you know, once

you hear, once you see where it's going, and

then go get the trades to reread the See the

Path, because there are, and this advice honestly

is coming from the Rick Grayson storyline more

than anything, because people stopped reading

Nightwing. because of Rick Grayson, because they

felt he was out of character. Well, duh, he's

technically a 12 year old in an adult body who

doesn't remember the last 14, 15 years. So of

course he's out of character. Right. And I'm

pretty sure that they didn't figure out what

they were going to do with him until they started

plotting Joker War. I'm pretty sure they didn't

figure out what they were going to, how they

were going to bring him back. Um, but if you

look at the long game with Rick Grayson, and

you look at what the writers who, you know, Rick

Grayson is honestly was the writers saving Dick

Grayson again. Because otherwise he'd be dead

right now if they hadn't. Made Rick Grayson.

So, you know, you got to give a little bit to

Rick Grayson for that alone I never like I knew

of cuz I I do when I don't care about spoilers

So it doesn't really matter to me cuz I will

Stephanie Brown cares about you. Okay Ah, sure

she does. I don't mean the spoiler, I mean spoilers.

I know. So she would have to be cloned multiple

times. Anyway. I'm going to enjoy that, actually,

because then she... Never mind. That's a whole

other line of thinking. Yes. Oh, I never really...

Okay. I've read headlines about the Rick Grayson

arc. I never really, like, I have no ill will.

I thought it was a little weird, but I have no

real ill will towards that because I'd never

really paid that. The last thing I know, and

I know that they've gone on past this, obviously,

as we already said in this episode, the Dio killed

Grayson and then he put him in spiral or whatever.

Like that's. That's where my hatred of it comes

in. And I know some people may dislike the Rick

Grayson thing. I'm not even, I don't even think

I have a single DC book in my most recent reads

right now. I just, I need to get caught up. I

need to wait for the omnibuses on Comixology

or whatever. So like, even though I keep up and

I read the - the headlines and read the story,

read the articles about, Oh, there could be spoilers

from like, I don't care. Like the whole Batman

beyond issue thing with, with urban legends,

number seven, or when, yay, this is so awesome.

The guy who plays batwing got to write an issue

with batwing with herb. I think it was urban

legends, number five, uh, cameras Johnson. I'm

probably mispronouncing his name, but but basically

cam johnson got to be a comic writer because

he was writing is the character he plays on tv

which is really freaking cool so yeah yeah um

but no so coming back to that it's um you know

people well a first of all he's out of character

to these people and you know fine that's the

point of it right now but A lot of the Rick Grayson

stuff is a character story. There is some action

going on because it ties into certain things,

but until Court of Owls, there's not a lot of

action. It's a lot more of it being Rick's journey

to rediscover himself. It is a delightful character

study. because you are going into a character

who is currently in the mentality of a 12 -year

-old who's being made into an adult. Yeah, it's

kind of like... Well, there's still more. Who

has had these expectations thrown at him in a

traumatic way, which is why he leaves Gotham,

you know, and then... as he's trying to figure

out who he is. And for the readers, if you really

read it, it is a way to see what Dick Grayson

would have been like if Bruce hadn't adopted,

well, hadn't taken a man's award. You see how,

you know, how he's suddenly back in that, you

know, circus style mindset where he is, you know,

he doesn't want to put down roots. He doesn't,

he, you know, he's, he's basically bouncing off

of couches or sleeping in people's houses that

he knows that they're away because they mentioned

they're away on social media. You know, it's,

it's, it is a great study at seeing, you know,

that and then you see the pieces of Dick Grayson

we know leading through in this person and you

realize like what those core aspects of who Dick

is through it you know because he doesn't want

to take back on the Nightwing costume but he

still wants to help his city Yeah. He still loves

with his heart on his sleeve. You know, I think

the girlfriend he gets, Bea, was perfect for

him. But of course, because it isn't Cory and

it isn't Babs, nobody's gonna like her. But for

what he needed in a relationship and someone

to ground him, she was perfect. Right, yeah.

You know, and then bringing it all back with

the Court of Owls bullshit and, you know, looking

back all the way into New 52 and what we know

about what they've been wanting him to be and

that they made that it went this far into having

the court being the ones responsible for his

amnesia and everything that's been going with

him since. Yeah, you know It is a fascinating

story when you go back and look at it. Yeah,

it is and People in the moment couldn't see that

because they're going from issue to issue And

they're not liking it because it's not the degree

soon that they know again. I would say people

need to be Open and willing to explore different

Stories like this, because it's a long game.

And it is amazing when you look back at how they

went through the entire piece when you hit that

ending. Yeah. It's like I always say, folks,

as awesome as it is, and we always want to support

the comic shops, wait for the trade, especially

in a story like what Rick Grayson went through.

because that way you get the whole story all

at once. Yeah, if you can't do the old fashioned

watching a television episode from week to week

and you need to like, you know, binge watch it,

you know, trade paperbacks are your binge readings

of comics. Yep, absolutely. All right, I think

we're going to take a quick ad break. We're going

to come back and close the show out after this.

Oh wow, that was 25 questions already? Wow. That's

always the last question is, what is the one

piece of advice you would give the comics fandom

is always the last question. Wow. Okay. Cool.

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Toycast. All right, folks, anything you want

to promote, Allison, before we get the heck out

of here? Um, hmm. All right. Well, if you live

in the local Nashville area or, you know, within

driving distance, my local comic book store is

Comic City 2 in Madison, Tennessee. They also

do, um, shipped to ship to home. But they have

a very limited supply of back stock, but they

have amazing game selection and they're very

big into Warhammer as well. So if you were looking

for options for some ship -to -home comic book

dealers, especially for new issues, they are

ones that you can reach out to. They're both

on Facebook and Twitter. And then... Obviously,

you know, come listen to us over at the Superman

and Lois tapes, where we every week we recap

Superman and Lois episodes. And then when Superman

and Lois are not on the air, we do crazy random

things like, you know, watching all of Superman's

Snyderverse stuff and this long hiatus, I think

we are going to be doing a bunch of smallville

stuff for the fall. You know, there's all that.

I will be starting a nude podcast, not a nude

podcast, a new podcast. I am leaving that in,

folks. Well, you won't know if I'm nude or not

because it's just an audio show, but its tentative

title is So You Wanna Be a Hawkeye, where we're

going to look back at... Hawkeye's comic life

and how it may tie into the Hawkeye Disney Plus

series and then doing episode recaps once the

series starts to come out and then after the

series is out we'll see what we may do then depending

on how much people like it. I may go back to

the comic stuff. So there's that and please read

anything that Kelly Thompson and Matt Rosenberg

put out in any comic form because they are amazing

and are very, you know, not a lot of people,

their names aren't up there with the big names

but they just do amazing character work and Kelly

currently just won an Eisner Award for one of

her for the Black Widow series. And so yay, Kelly.

And she's going to have a web comic that's going

to be within one of the Marvel virtual comic

places called It's Jeff, which is all about Jeff

the land shark, which I am frothing at the bit

for. And yeah, I mean, if you want to read it.

either of my self -published books. They are

before my MFA, so their grammar is horrible.

But you can look them up on Amazon as Alice in

Sky Richards. And I have two books, one's called

A Fine Line Herrick's Tale, which if you have

ever played D &D, you will love the story because

it's written in the way of a D &D campaign. And

then The other one is called The Lost Child of

Hermes, which is a YA Greek mythology story that

is a passion project from my long love of Hercules,

the Legendary Hero series. And yeah, I also do

write fan fiction on AO3. I'm as Alice in Sky

there. Yeah, I think, uh, that is about all I

can do without saying, you know, you know, offering

to sell my left kidney. Um, so yeah. I'm making

up for some lost time. You can also catch Alison

over on Tooncast when we talk about the one in

GoToon series as well. So there's that. That

plays too. Yes. For half a second, I was like,

is she really going to forget her own podcast,

The Superman and Lois Show, like really seriously?

All right. No, I just forgot what if that's okay.

Hey look, we're in a different universe Thank

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Join us next time when we will be discussing

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This is a pod, parts one and two, I believe.

For now, I am TF2 and Mike with... Allison Richards!

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