Origins with Bash on Comic Reading Habits

This is writer Kyle Higgins and you've jumped

inside the pull bag only on the GeekCast Radio

Network. The things I do for Gotham. You've just

jumped inside the pull bag. Join TFG1 Mike and

the rest of the comic 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. Here kid, I think you lost this.

I could have handled him. Coulda, woulda, didn't.

You sound just like Batman. I'm nothing like

him. Yeah, right. The mask, the attitude, the

long underwear. Drop it! I'd love to know what

happened between you two. Things change. No,

kidding. You guys used to be the greatest. Batman

and Robin, the dynamic duo. Maybe you should

ask him. I did. And you'll never guess what he

said. Things change. Welcome to The Pull Bag,

only on the GeekCast Radio Network. This is episode

4, 29 .5. I am your host, TFQ and Mike, and joining

me from the Radiant Black Podcast is the other

half. It's Bash. Hello, sir. Hi. Wow. I mean,

you just turned on like that. That's amazing.

I've been doing this for 13 years. I think I've

found my flow. Oh, no. That's amazing. So yes,

Bash is the other half to the Radiant Black podcast.

If everybody goes back and listens to episode

420, I interviewed Matt for the Pull Bag Origins

episodes. We have 25 questions all about comics,

how you get into them, how you get out of them,

what you like to read, what you don't like to

read, all that good stuff. Question one. Did

you grow up reading comics and at what age do

you first remember reading or noticing comics?

This is like one of my favorite stories to tell

and I've hardly ever told that because like nobody

ever asked me this question. I haven't been to

conventions in a while and stuff like that. But

really early I was I was like five years old

and I remember and it's weird because there's

a picture of me as a baby, like literally, I

don't know, on one of those like baby chair things

and I'm pointing out my dad's box, short box,

and it literally says comic on the short box.

So I think that's like one of my favorite pictures

ever. But when I was five years old, I was playing

in my dad's office and he's like sitting there.

He does like stamps and all that cool stuff.

So I was just playing like with toys. And I remember

like I think I bumped into one of his boxes and

through the short box hole, I saw Superman symbol

and I was like, what? and I remember asking my

dad like what's that and then he like opened

the box and showed me but the Superman symbol

was from Adventures of Superman I think 500 or

501 and it's the one that comes like pre -wrapped

in that like white bag do you know what I'm talking

about the white bag yeah so that's the book I

saw I saw that book it was wrapped and I saw

the symbol through the short box hole and I was

like that what's that so he opens the box and

he shows me all these comics and that's like

that's ever since that day I've just been super

hooked like Like it's been really bad. I've been

addicted to them and stuff. And he had those

photo journals, those photo journals with all

the covers that I would just sit there all day

reading them. Wow. Very cool. Very cool. So as

a kid, which characters were your favorites?

So they didn't sell comic books in Kuwait because

that's where I grew up. They did, but like it's

a long story. Like basically they sold them at

bookstores and they were all newsstand copies

and they were very like they only got like the

top top top titles like it was either like batman

or superman and it was always stamped i hated

that like it was stamped with like ink and they

did it either on the cover or the first page

inside so to me like i'm super ocd i like they

don't have to be super near mint but like i don't

like people putting stickers or stamps on my

comics i still bought them like as a kid whenever

i could afford them but it was much harder like

the only title you'd ever find would be like

batman or detective or superman or action comics

But yeah, I did. I did. I did try to get them

and my favorites were all based on what like

looked cool to me. So when I was reading those,

I guess, really looking through those photo cover

books from Marvel, obviously it was like Spider

-Man and Silver Surfer. Those two really stuck

out to me. I don't know why. And I always liked

the covers of the old Fantastic Four books. So

I would sometimes get that. And then from DC,

it was Batman at first and Superman. But then

later I just. Like once I started watching the

animated series because that was right around

when I was like young I started liking all DC

like straight up everything. Oh, yeah. Yeah,

yeah between DC between Warner Brothers doing

Batman, you know the entire DCA you and Marvel

doing X -Men and spider -man and even Iron Man

to a lesser extent that kind of like Watching

those cartoons is what got me into Reading comics

eventually Yeah, and as far as the sticker I

can't like if you're gonna do like a rap thing

like if you if you're gonna have a sticker like

say for example you have And I'm just making

this up as I go folks, so you'll just have to

go with me on this Let's just say somehow some

way somewhere in the world. There's a great writer

and a great artist that's gonna make a comic

version of the Radiant Black podcast and you

have a retail incentive that has like this super

radiant sticker on it, you know, limited edition,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, one in 500, whatever

it is. You want that sticker to not be on the

actual book you want it to be on the film? That's

wrapped like if you're gonna wrap the comic you

that's where the sticker goes on the film Don't

ever put stickers on comics folks. What's wrong

with those? Like the DCA use like my favorite

thing ever like seriously I'm just overall like

ever like I think I have like two on my desk

right now I have the Batman animated series back

girl action figure and I have Harley Quinn and

Batgirl bendable action figures like from the

Batman and Robin adventures Yeah, I love I love

the DCA you actually still watch all those things

regularly I Fully. Yes. I love hard advice. Yes.

I love what's the other one? Um His so like all

the All the ones that everyone puts out, like

all the ones like CBR and all those websites

put on their top 10 lists. I love all those,

you know, mainstays. But for me, the top two

episodes are always going to be old wounds and

over the edge. Over the edge, over the edge is

definitely one of them for me. That one is like

extremely underrated. I feel like everyone, they

automatically go to. I forgot the name, but it's

the one where they get around the poker table,

talk about their stories about when they killed

Batman or fought him or something. Almost got

him. Almost got me. That one's like everyone's

default, I feel like. So I guess they're the

way. But as a story, I don't know if this counts.

But what's a mad love? Mad love is that one is

like. I have the book here. I have it in so many

different editions. I have the comic. Mad Love

is iconic. I just, my mom asked me for my graduation

from undergrad. She was like, what do you want

as a gift? And I just told her Batman Adventures

12 and she got me Batman Adventures 12 for my

grad gift. So yeah, it was great. Yeah. So that's

like, that gives you an idea. I love Harley Quinn.

So yeah. All right. So I think we can kind of

tell the answer to the next question, folks.

It's gotta ask that age -old question, DC or

Marvel, you gotta pick one. I honestly can't,

but if I had to, I don't know. I really don't

know. I don't ever pick one because for me it's

all about characters. DC has Batman, Nightwing,

Batgirl, Marvel has Spider -Man, Iron Man, and

a few others that I like. So I like stuff from

each one, but if... You know, if you do the desert

island thing and say you can only pick one, I

don't know if I could pick one. I'd probably

end up going with somebody else instead of either

one of those. Yeah, I don't know. That one's

really tough, because I really do like both.

Maybe overall, I'd say there's a little bit more

characters from DC I like. But I do like my collection

is pretty split between the two. I do have a

lot of both. And like my Spider -Man run is almost

as complete as my Batman run. So, like, I don't

know. I really don't know. I don't know. I can't.

What other publishers do you enjoy reading? Recently,

I really like obviously Image. I feel like a

lot of what I've been buying recently is Image

and Boon. I feel like there are a lot of titles

that people aren't talking about enough. Let's

talk about one like Boon Studios, like Seven

Secrets, for example. I feel like that title

is so good and nobody's really talking about

that title. I don't know why. Really don't know

why it's one of the best indies out there. It's

the art is amazing. The writing is amazing stories.

Awesome. It's ongoing Nobody's really talking

about that. So I'm surprised about that and then

like from image There's just a lot like you could

literally just toss a rock and you'll hit you

know, whatever superhero title That's good or

something else. That's good. And they're coming

out with a bunch of new things that are good

They keep on getting more good creative talent.

They just like knock terror is one that I think

is awesome. That's been That's not under the

radar. Everyone knows about that, but it's been

amazing. Geiger has been pretty cool. Obviously,

Radiant Black. It's been amazing. Those two in

particular, I've been really enjoying. Awesome.

This question, I always have to explain this

because I wrote it weird and I wrote it weird

for a reason. Print or digital, which one both

either or and why? I'd say both because I Don't

like digital has a lot of appeals, especially

like me right now I'm having issues with literally

like space. I have so many books, but Yeah, I

think both are really really awesome. I've used

both several times. I have Marvel Unlimited right

now It's awesome. Like I would highly recommend

it to a lot of people. So yeah both for sure

I'm I went solely digital a number of years ago

because of my eyesight and the listeners already

know this because I say this in every single

origins episode and I love Comixology's guided

view. The problem is Comixology is now an Amazon

company and now they are fully folding into am

like I recently was I was gonna go get myself

an e -gift card from Comixology because that's

how I like to do it I like to have just a credit

balance on there on their website So that way

I know the money's already gone from my bank.

I don't have to worry about it Well, I just did

this as of this recording September 30th, 2021.

Our e -gift card program is going away. Blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah. You can still use your

balance, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but we're

no longer selling them. Blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah. If you still have a balance by the time

in the fall that we let it go completely, it'll

transfer your Amazon credit or whatever. And

I'm like, oh God. Anyway. That's lame. Yeah,

but the reason for me with print and digital

is because my eyesight, and I just love, I'm

so addicted to that guided view that Comixology

has and luckily that's not going anywhere. I

just have to figure out where on the Amazon website

the Comixology stuff is. I know they said it

was in Kindle, but I don't see it yet. Anyway,

who are some of your favorite comics writers

and why? Not too hard like easy James Tynan a

lot of the stuff he's been writing recently Just

really captivating. I think he just knows how

to Like I think he knows how to capture like

audiences. He has like really good creative You

know ideas like Department of Truth. I'm really

enjoying that book. I think it's it's I know

it's pretty out there for some people I know

some people told me like the art artwork really

put them off and stuff. I complete opposite i

actually really like their work like the story

is incredible everything he's writing seems to

be successful but i don't think that's wrong

i just enjoy pretty much everything he's writing

the one thing like i didn't really love was his

batman run i thought it was okay like nothing

special kind of too many new characters at one

point it's just like overwhelming but uh another

one would be uh robert kirkman it just I just

enjoy a lot of his stuff. I don't enjoy like

every single thing he's written. Like he's not

like right. Yeah. But but like I do enjoy a lot

of what he's written right now. Specifically,

I'd really recommend Firepower. I think that's

one of my favorite comic books to read. It's

like one of the ones I'm always extremely excited

to, you know, getting on new comic book. They

probably top my list. And I think we've talked

about it several times on the podcast. Yeah.

and another one is like obviously invincible

it's like one of like my favorite comic that

i've read overall like from start to finish and

then um yeah he's got all the like smaller titles

that are like silly but overall like i've just

enjoyed a wealth of what he's written and oblivion

song is another one that's about to end actually

that is amazing i think is extremely under the

radar i know Recently with the like Jake John

Hall announcement everything some people like

they they turn their attention towards it But

like actually reading the comic from start to

finish and because it's like two or three issues

left Such a good story and I would highly recommend

it for fans of sci -fi Yeah, Matt mentioned oblivion

song and once he usually once people mention

stuff on On the show have sometimes it's actually

during the show I will immediately go find it

on Comixology and just add it to my wish list

to be able to buy later Of course at some point

later this fall Comixology's website will no

longer be a thing. So again, that's whatever

What defines a good story to you for me the most

important thing is having interesting characters

like it's like there's no point of even writing

a story your characters are just lame as hell

like you know what i mean like it's not going

to be engaging what's the point like if they

look like shit you know what i mean or they look

derivative or they are derivative then it's going

to be boring but if you put a lot of thought

into your characters and it's not just like like

i feel like a lot of recent spins on marvel are

just like re you know we're just taking a character

and just like take you know coloring them a certain

way whatever and then reintroducing them which

is fine but if you put some actual effort behind

it i think a good example is wonder girl recently

agar floor from dc is a cool pretty cool character

recently it's really done well with brazilian

audiences and just north american audiences in

general as well not just south american but uh

yeah so i think that's a good example like put

some thought into the characters you make don't

just like Like DC also is guilty of just shitting

out a lot of characters. Like recently, every

week there's a new character in some of the titles,

which I don't think is necessary. But yeah, if

you want to have a good story, invest in your

characters. I think a lot of the times when you

have like a Flight of the Week character, it

just becomes... People just tune out of the title,

you know what I mean? And I think that's radiant

black. One thing they've done so much is captivate

their readers with the glitch guy, for example,

and everyone's so interested in that character

and what they can do and who they are. So that's

a good example. Yeah. Yeah. For half of a second

before, before issue four up till issue three

and right before the ending of issue four. I

was like, man, this Nathan guy is, and I know

Nathan technically isn't, he is and he isn't

based on Kyle's personality kind of thing, I

don't think, but it's one of those things where

I just feel like he was there to pass on the,

because he never, as you guys have said on the

Radiant Black podcast, as myself and my other

co -hosts, Edward and Kendra Hale, have said,

Oh here here inside the pullback when we've reviewed

Randy at black Nathan just felt like he was there

like he had no like I don't know it wasn't like

he wasn't necessary but it was like what you're

saying it wasn't like extremely impressionable

like that yeah yeah it's like okay so you have

this new thing let's learn about I feel like

the only people that could really relate to him

and I noticed this was like a thing with people

I noticed this on social media. I noticed this

on not just Discord, but I bring up Discord now.

By the way, welcome, because I saw you joined.

Yes, I joined. I got to write a welcome message.

Yeah, the discord, I've seen some people say

this, I've seen some people say this on YouTube

and Twitter and all this other social media,

but in general, like I'm not what my point is,

I'm not bringing this from one area. I've seen

multiple places, but there are a few people saying

this, but not a majority. They're saying I really

like Nathan because I could relate to him as

a writer. And I think, yeah, you guys can relate

to him because you're a writer. Yeah. And I think

that's part of the Higgins channeling like his

own creative frustration into Nathan, like into

that, like those two. But like. I don't think

if you're not a writer or if you've never tried

to write something in your life for real, I don't

think you could really relate to Nathan much

beyond like if you're maybe a middle class kid

who's failed and like had to live with his parents

again or some shit. But you know what I mean?

So it's like, yeah, I agree. Like Nathan, Nathan

was weird. He had I feel like at first he had

some Peter Parker elements. But the more we got

to know him, the more he was like a bit wimpy.

And we talked about how like on the reading back

podcast as well in early episodes we talked about

me and matt and we had like we had no idea we

never suspected like nathan was gonna you know

spoiler alert that was gonna die yeah but uh

we talked about how marshall felt so much more

comfortable doing superhero stuff in general

than nathan did like at the beginning in terms

of like like he would be like okay nathan why

don't you do this like he kept showing nathan

the steps so it felt like he kind of knew much

more about how to deal with this kind of stuff

than nathan did and i thought that was very like

strange for a character who's like going to be

a supporting character, you know, at that point

of time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, my co -host and I

have we've kind of taken a break from it because

they've got some stuff going on. But anyway,

in the real life. But anyway, it's just one of

those things when we were when we were going

through those first five issues, I was like,

holy crap, Marshall is basically Randall and

Nathan is Dante and he can't adjust to his state.

Seriously. You look at Marshall and you look

at Nathan. Marshall is Randall and Nathan is

Dante because, like we've already said and like

we've already said in the review, like you guys

have already said on your show, Marshall asked

him, or Nathan asked him, okay, Hotshot, what

would you do with the powers? He's like, I know

exactly what I would do. Marshall is that more

confident, sometimes cocky, not all the time

character, whereas Nathan is that kind of just

wants to be in the background. He wants to create

something. He wants to jump out of his shell.

That's sad. Marshall is awesome. He reminds me

of a mix between Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner.

He's not as much of an asshole as Guy Gardner,

but he has that element to him. You know what

I mean? That cockiness and arrogance. So he's

just like that. I really like Marshall. He's

much more interesting than Nathan and I'm glad

that he's the main character to be completely

honest. What does a story have to have to draw

you in? So you read the first issue of insert

title here, whatever it is. What does that first

issue have to have for you to come back to read

the second issue and onwards? Okay. I'll tell

you. I don't know what it has to have, but I'll

tell you what I can't have. It can't have bad

artwork. Look, like I know that's subjective,

but like some artwork for me, like the last issue

of Nightwing, for example, and no offense to

the To the artists like this is I'm not here.

I don't like to put people that way. I just couldn't

get into the issue because I did not enjoy the

art. And I don't I can't remember the artist's

name, so I'm not even going to bring it up, because

I don't like to do that. But I just did like

it was it was a different I like Bruno Redondo,

who's the normal artist on Nightwing is like

incredible, incredible. So to have someone in

come do like a filler issue for like an event

time or whatever, that's fine by me. But I felt

like it really disrupted the flow of the story.

And it like it was that multiple times when I'm

reading the story that I couldn't like I tuned

out of it and I was like, what the fuck is this?

Because I'm sorry. Are we allowed to swear here?

Yeah. Good. OK. But it's like, what is this?

Because I can't like I can't get. into this you

know and I told my other friends and like did

you enjoy this issue and they were like the writing

was good but the art was like not very good it

was like very noticeable and I'm like for me

that's the thing like if I'm gonna read a new

comic it's okay you don't have to be the best

artist I read a lot of comics where like the

art isn't amazing And but like, as long as it's

like this, like it's OK, you know what I mean?

It's like as long as that horrible like injustice

is an example where every every comic or even

the recent recent Amazing Spider -Man run, every

issue has like two or three artists every few

pages. It's like different artists. I find that

jarring, even if they're good, because it just

it doesn't like flow consistently. Do you know

what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It the art has

to have a flow. And the art. Between the pencils

and the lines and the inks and the actual colors

it has to have a flow For me, I am all about

streamlined stuff. Like I am all about modern

like you look at I'm just gonna say for example

anything on HGTV that they show a home that it's

all stream like like black countertops or whatever

you want to say but as long as it's all that's

what I'm all about is the streamlining of stuff

because It makes it easier for me to handle whatever

is going on. Yeah, totally. All right. Let's

see. Next is who are some of your favorite comics

artists? Oh, I'd say like on the top of my head,

obviously, like Marcel Acosta, Radium Black.

I've just really enjoyed his work on that. Dan

Mora. I think I at first I just bought Once in

Future purely for the artwork and then I started

I enjoyed obviously and I started branching out

to his other work and I'm buying basically most

of the stuff he does. I just really enjoy his

art. Sorry, Ryan Otley. Ryan Otley is incredible.

Genuinely incredible. I need to meet him one

day because I need to pay him to do a commission

for me. That's my dream. He's so good. It's insane.

my biggest regret with invincible is that i read

it too late like a year ago or something if i

had read it like 10 years ago oh man it was so

much cheaper back then to get these guys like

signatures and commissions and stuff now they're

so bright because everyone knows what they are

now after the animated series but yeah ryan otley's

uh incredible obviously you know i mean i'm not

gonna go the obvious ones like jim lee everyone

everyone likes jim lee right like who doesn't

like jim lee trying to give the The newer guys

some love but I really enjoy like scotty young

On strange academy and then like the me you love

in the dark recently Just I find his artwork

very like captivating in the right context. So

yeah, those guys have been awesome Very cool.

Very cool. Do you have a favorite non superhero

title? Let's think I do I'm just trying to think

which one it is Yeah, there's so many issues.

Would Something is Killin' the Children count?

Something is what? Something is Killin' the Children?

I think so, yeah. I don't think that's a superhero.

It doesn't sound like a superhero book. Yeah,

I'd say it's between that or Department of Truth.

And ironically, they're both tied in titles,

so yeah. Very cool, very cool. So, what is your

favorite run of a series? The best example I

can give you is that Batman's been around for

100 years or so, or 80 years, or however the

hell long he's been around. And there have been

so many stories and runs within the Batman from

all the things that DC has done with him. So

what would be your overall favorite run from

a specific series that you read? Off the top

of my head like the easy the easy answer But

I'll give I'll give one from like DC Marvel just

to be more fair But I'll say this is like this

one is actually my answer It's like invincible

from start to finish because like it the whole

thing was written by Kirkman and then I think

the first like 12 to 16 issues were Yeah, Cory

Walker doing the artwork and then they switched

to Ryan Otley for like the whole for pretty much

most of the series until Cory Walker came back

to do some fillings So it was like two artists

and one writer for the entire series and that

for me that was like the best comic I've read

from start to finish But if we're talking about

like from DC or Marvel From DC, I think Underrated

and one that I enjoyed because it's easy to acquire

like in terms of not It's not super expensive,

especially if you know someone who has them or

something, or stores. But the run of Detective

Comics by... What's his name? Oh, what is his

name? I forgot. Yeah, I'm sorry. The run of Detective

Comics by... Yeah by Marshall Rogers and Terry

Austin And then sorry Steve Engelhardt Marshall

Rogers and Terry Austin that that run of detective

comics It's like eight to ten issues or something.

I think that's like I know the typical everyone

has like their super famous Batman stories But

I think though you got those guys told some of

the most classic Best like amazing Batman stories

ever with some of the best artwork and so much

everything is just like a whole symphony of awesomeness

In those like eight to ten issues. So yeah that

I think is one of the most underrated runs and

you know old -timers really know about it because

they they were like, you know at the age when

they read it, but yeah, my dad told me about

us and my LCS owner told me about it and then

I started reading them and gotta say if you haven't

read that run check it out Cool. Very cool. What

is one comic you can read over and over again

single issue or trade? Okay That one's not too

hard, actually. So I have two. One for Marvel,

one for DC. For Marvel, it's Amazing Spider -Man

300. So that'd be like the first full appearance

of Venom. I love that comic book from start to

finish. I have almost like every single page

like memorized in terms of what happens and not

the words or anything. But I just think that's

one of the most like I grew up. I got one. I

got the book, I think, from a reprint from a

toy or something. So I read it so much growing

up. It was my favorite, one of my favorite, probably

my favorite Marvel comic growing up reading it.

So that book, Amazing Spider -Man 300 First Venom,

I loved that one from Marvel. And then for DC,

it's the, it's the, it's the, the Batman animated

series comic book, Mad Love. That one's like,

yeah, that was my favorite. Cause I also, it's

the same case. I grew up, I got a reprint. It

was like, it was just the perfect storm. Like

when I was young, they were selling the toys

with the comics and all that crap. So my dad

got me one. I read it so many times and I saw

the episode and fell in love with it and now

I can't stop with Harley Quinn. Wow. Very cool.

So not that we want to be negative, but we do

have to ask some negative questions. Are there

any comics you avoid altogether? Like you go

into your shop and you're like, eh, for example,

Barbie, that's just not for me. Yeah in recent

in recent memory and it's weird because it's

it's actually one of my favorite superheroes

But in recent memory it was spider -man and Superman

because I thought the runs with bendis were terrible

And then I thought the run with spider -man expense

it was terrible, but those are more like contextual

but in terms of overall like someone I'll just

never read is like daredevil like it's just the

heroes just never been interesting to me and

it's not even like That his runs are bad. I actually

think like we're actually being objective like

our subjective or sorry objective. Yeah, we're

being objective like the best runs Uh ever in

marvel are all daredevil runs like the best most

consistent Superhero in marvel in terms of writing

and artists like has always been daredevil. He

was always had the best runs overall So like

it's it's not the hero I just have no interest

in the character and the only time you'll ever

see me buy daredevil Is for other characters

in the book like echo or something else. I have

no interest in that character whatsoever. I even

like someone Handed me a set of the Zdarsky run

recently, which is actually very hard to find

and pricey online Give it to me and I just I

couldn't get into it. I just don't care about

the character Yeah, yeah, I mean if you don't

care about a character, why would you read the

character that you know? Yeah Are there any comics

in the past or currently that you wish you had

not read them? Oh Yeah, I mean Batman reptilian

that like recent comic book with Garth Ennis

and Liam Sharp. So there's nothing like Horribly

wrong with artwork or anything. I know some people

don't enjoy that particular like noir style kind

of similar to Arkham Asylum like that classic

Batman story I don't mind that kind of stuff,

but I find the writing to be somewhat like a

perversion of Batman and I get it it's like and

Alt Universe and I know a lot of people like

Garth Ennis but I feel like often he tries just

to be extremely edgy for the sake of being edgy

and like that's how I felt that story read it

just like Batman letting people die for no reason

stuff like that like you know just doing super

messed up things to people and I'm just like

this isn't this is just like super I don't know

what this is I just didn't enjoy it yeah I wish

I didn't read it here yeah absolutely Okay, so

I hear you on your show talk about I need this

cover I need this cover I need this cover How

large or small is your physical comic book collection

because you have an addiction to all the variant

covers, sir I do I actually have a variant problem.

I really do about And it's weird because I'm

not a fan of variants like like if they took

I like I like second prints I'll admit that like

I like late prints of books. I really like that,

but those are very like they're not They don't

happen all the time. I know recently Marvel and

DC been milking a little bit, but like if we're

being, you know, honest about it, those second

print, third print, so they only happen when

either... comic book stores are doing bad with

trying to calculate how much demand is there

and so like with radiant black that's pretty

much what's happening like part of it is because

a lot of the issues are doing well but some of

it is because they're like initial orders are

not enough so people you know bought all the

stores all the copies and my friends have been

telling me this they're like oh i go either too

late in the afternoon like i didn't go during

lunch and like they're sold out of radiant black

on wednesday or like I you know, I couldn't go

on Wednesday went Thursday morning and they were

sold out or like, you know Or like the cover

I want they didn't have it. So it's like yeah,

so I don't like so if Marvel DC removed variants

like if it was just Cover a and then and then

yeah, there's second prince difference. I wouldn't

mind that I'm not like oh, no, like, you know,

but like I do I can't lie I do enjoy some of

the variants are amazing. Oh, yeah So this is

why I love I think it's comic vine calm Or something

like I think that's what it is. It'll be in the

show notes folks This website I found then I'm

like, oh they have like literally everything

like every series I read every whatever I've

read or like anytime I need a comic cover for

art for the for the when we do actually like

when we do Our radio black reviews or when we

do whatever we talk about like oh, I'll go here

first to see what they have And most of the time,

they have all the variant covers. Sometimes there

are ones missing, and I'm like, ooh, that cover's

cool. That cover's cool. Oh, man, my hard drive's

going to fill up really fast. So for me, it's

like, well, I would love to be able to actually

afford to buy all the variants in the world.

Sometimes variant prices just number one are

out of my budget and number two, I think it's

ridiculous. So some of them the pricing on some

of them so I don't know you may you probably

remember this when superior spider -man was first

doing its run when slot was still on the book

and he was doing the the auto as Spider -man

thing issue number two had a variant cover of

him and Mary Jane or something or other and it

was a variant cover in there and my comics office

like yeah, we don't have that one in and if we

did it would be 25 bucks and I'm like Really?

Really? Yeah. 25 bucks for just a Spidey and

MJ cover? Yeah, the modern, the modern, like

I'm lucky because like I have a decent job right

now, but also because I actually sell comic books.

So I sell some books that I have either duplicates

of or whatever. Pre -order books, I think will

be in demand and I do pretty good with that in

general. So but yeah, I mean, I mean I that helps

me for example if I Pre -ordered a copy of a

book that I knew would be hot Or thought would

be hot and it did become hot I could sell that

basically recoup the cost of most of what I spent

that week The store yeah also my store is like

really good where they like take a lot of like

you have If I have older comic books or on these

or graphic novels or stuff that I just don't

want to keep anymore I want to trade them in

for store credit. They they're really good about

them. They give really good store credit So I'll

just do that to get some of my newer pickups.

So but yeah, I do agree with the variance like

I most of the variants I get are are Just regular

price variance, like cover price, same. Sometimes

DC does this dirty thing where, fucking DC, where

they like add one dollar, one dollar U .S. I'm

in Canada, so it's even more, but in America,

they add a dollar for like the variance gift,

their card stock, which, fuck that, but like,

I understand. And the card stock is honestly

way better in terms of like durability, but like,

fuck that, you know, but. I don't like that,

but the other companies don't necessarily do

that. And we've praised Radiant Black and Kyle

Higgins, and again, praise credit to Kyle Higgins

and the team. They've given us several Radiant

Black issues so far that are oversized, that

are not like more than $4. They did not charge

us for those extra pages. But Marvel gives you

a number one, and it's always five US, because

there's two extra pages at the end. And I think

that's bullshit. Like you literally just squeezing

those two pages in there at the end just to charge

us an extra dollar I get such bullshit like I

hate that but yeah So I'm very happy with the

fact that image most of the time does not do

that and radiant black certainly does not do

that I know I know they're charging a bit of

a premium for the Blacklight comic. It's like

999 or something. That's that's a little different

because that to me is a special edition I'm saying

that's what I know that like it's supposed to

what is it issue 10 right yeah it's a 10 yeah

it's like a anniversary thing and it's like there

he said at least from the solicits that's what

it looks like it looks like they're going into

existence which i'm assuming is like a black

hole or something so it makes sense to want to

print the book in a special like black light

kind of way to like make it super like unique

reading experience so i understand they're saying

they won't reprint it if they won't reprint it

i think that's going to be It's gonna be pretty

sweet. Yeah, it's gonna be pretty sweet. It's

gonna be pretty rare So if anyone wants it anyone

reading radiant black right now anyone not reading

radiant black right now First of all go read

radiant black second of all get your order in

for issue 10 of that of that series because that

Like I just I've I'm not gonna lie like I remember

we've been expressing because to compare yourself.

Have you read invincible? No, I have not yet.

I have not had the time or the energy to do so

yet. That's fine. I just wanted to know in terms

of bringing things up. No, not yet. Invincible,

in my opinion, is one of the greatest superhero

comics ever. It's so good. Once you read it,

I hope you'll experience the greatness. You look

at the Solicit initially for Radiant Black No.

1, and it did compare itself. to Power Rangers

and Invincible. And I understand the Power Rangers

part because Kyle wrote Power Rangers. But to

compare yourself to Invincible is a very like,

like I understand maybe Kyle didn't say that

himself. Maybe Kirkman really did just compare

it himself and Kyle just went with it. But you

still went with it, which means you think it

has some credence. And like, for me, the initial

six issues, they weren't very like Invincible.

They were like very, I don't know how to explain

it. They did, to me, they very much showed elements

of Power Rangers. Like I did see Power Rangers

vibes, but I didn't yet see the invincible vibes

much. I saw like the camaraderie and like the

comedy and like the, you know, the very PG -18

ratedness of it. But I didn't really see the

scale, the cosmic scope, which is what I really

wanted from the series. Because you're going

to give me a hero that looks like he's wearing

a fucking black hole. Like I want to see a fucking

black hole. Do you know what I mean? I used to

like major in physics before I switched fields.

I used to be obsessed with that shit. Like I

love physics. I love space. I love everything

like that. So I was really sold on Radiant Black

literally the moment I saw the cover. I didn't

even need to read the solicit. Once I saw the

cover, I knew I was going to buy Radiant Black.

It just looked to me interesting. But then I

read the solicitor. I was like, oh my fucking

god, you're comparing it to Power Rangers and

invincible. Hell yeah. That's the two awesome

things. You know what I mean? But once I read

issue seven and eight, I felt so much more confident

in the scope of the series and where they're

going. I'm like, OK, now I see it. Now I see

you're building towards something here. This

is all world building. We're clearly going to

go. Bad shit crazy after issue number 10. I think

I think that's what's gonna happen post issue

number 10 It's gonna get really crazy like this

series is gonna get like really space and stuff

like that. So Let's hope that's the case Yeah,

absolutely So this question is usually it's Basically

everybody is safe every human every pet every

everything But your house, apartment, whatever,

where you live, burns down. What is one comic

you could never live without ever? What's one

comic you'd run in to save? All right. So I'm

assuming this is right now and in my in right

now, like limited to what I have now and whatnot,

what I may have later. So who knows? But right

now, I'd say Detective Comics 359, first appearance

of Batgirl, like Batgirl is like very important

character to me. Like it's just. I love the character.

Amazing character. It means a lot to me. Her

story is amazing. I love the different cycles

in her life, how she became Oracle, then she

became Batgirl again. I love how her original

insert into the DC universe isn't from her being

a unique character. It's from the character coming

from the TV show, the 66 TV show, and it was

so popular they put her in the comic. I just

like everything about that book. I think it's

a cool cover. It means a lot to me. I think it's

like... I got it, you know, I got it recently

not too long ago. I just love it and Batman's

like the main thing I collect So yeah, I'd say

it's that book I have to correct myself when

I was talking about superior spider -man it was

number number four and it wasn't a Spidey and

Mary Jane cover for the variant it was the I

Don't know. It's weird. It's the main cover is

like spider -man versus some vigilante I don't

remember the story, but the variant cover is

basically a white cover Oh, yeah, I know the

cover it's the green cover. Yeah goggles and

stuff. Yeah. Yeah I didn't I didn't like the

main cover I like the variant cover the variant

cover is white background and Spidey with his

webs and he's he's in his swinging pose They

wanted $25 for that. I'm like, that's not really

it's a 150 cover. That's why it's Yeah, so $25

actually not a bad price for 150, but maybe not

yeah that's that's the thing that i like i don't

love about marvel uh sorry not marvel modern

comics from marvel and dc is that If you're trying

like I don't mind the odd incentive like it was

like if it's worth incentive fucking do it. But

like when you do it for every issue, it makes

it hard for me as a collector to actually collect

all of them. And it makes it hard for me as a

collector to read, like to actually distribute

more of my income. That's like, you know, disposable

to read other titles from you when you just keep

gouging me for these stupid fucking covers. So

like it's like if you're a smart company right

now, DC Marvel, instead of like releasing at

125 150 for every issue like just don't do it

do it for issues that you know a cover deserves

it or it's an anniversary issue or there's a

new character whatever do it for that but like

Don't do it for every issue so that we can buy

more of your titles. You know what I mean? Like,

fuck those. I don't mind Radiant Black doing

it every issue because it's a one twenty five

and Radiant Black comes out once a month. So

most comic book stores only sell them at twenty

to twenty to thirty dollars, which isn't bad

for one twenty five, especially since like. Oh

wow. Yeah. That is crazy. What was the most money

you spent on a comic or a comic item? So a comic

book or a comic item. Comic item could be something

you got at like SDCC or something like that.

Like you found Green Lantern's Lantern or something.

Yeah, I bought Silver Surfer number one at 6

.5 for $500. Wow. Wow, that's a lot and I'm sure

that it's definitely obviously worth it. Oh Yeah,

it's worth that book is worth so much more now.

So I don't like yeah. Oh boy dang Yeah, I remember

like I had invincible like recently I had Avengers

number eight which Is the first experience of

king which i did not pay much i did not pay much

for it's actually criminal I really didn't pay

much for it I played like a little bit more than

a hundred dollars for a very good condition like

pretty mid -grade But you know very old comic

book to have avengers number eight for example

very early on the series everything It's not

easy to find that book, but I know recently with

king Like with the when he showed up and uh,

have you seen loki? No, yeah, I gotta catch up

with it Okay, well, I'm sorry if I spoke that

but you know, it's all right. It's an appearance

and Loki and After that happened, you know that

that went crazy like the book went insane It

was selling for thousands of dollars like three

thousand dollars or something like that And I

remember trading it for an invincible number

one, which does not sell Yeah, which does not

sell for nearly that much It sells for a round

like maybe half that much but not nearly that

much so I I like you know a lot of people like

oh do you regret that I I don't cuz like I love

invincible and I would never have been able to

afford invincible number one. You know what I

mean? So yeah, so yeah, I don't regret or anything.

But yeah that happened so Wow Dang Was there

ever a moment when you were done with comics

all together? yeah for years actually when I

I took a break from University and then went

back home for a few years and I Still bought

them, but I didn't really like read them and

I didn't really collect them. I just like kind

of i just bought them for for some other time

to read like i was just i wasn't really into

i wasn't like like there would be months passing

by with me not reading comics it was just weird

but i still bought them just because i didn't

want to like have to find them later on and you

know like oh i found like 100 304 but not 105

and then 106 but not 100 i hate when that happens

so i was just like i'll avoid that issue because

i'll just buy what i really like to read but

yeah there was like a couple of years where i

just wasn't really reading them i wasn't involved

i don't know why really but uh i got back into

it recently like a few years ago and i've been

super into it so what are you reading right now

and what do you recommend for our listeners oh

shit there's a lot oh okay All right, so from

DC, let's see, let's see it from DC have a list

from DC. I recommend Nightwing. It's amazing.

It's one of the best like in my opinion. I've

read I've read all the Nightwing issues. I own

I like keep in mind I did not collect these as

they came out. I had to go look for these. They

weren't available to me because I didn't come

to North America until 2014. A lot of the books

from before then, I had to actually look for

them in back issue bins when I traveled and visited

Europe or North America if I ever did visit family

or went to university or whatever. I couldn't

find these in stores back home ever. These were

only during the academic part of my lifetime.

Nightwing I own most of the run like from the

1996 volume two from number one to like 153 I

own most of it and I've read almost all of them

because the the DC app and That's like I night

wing is like I know you love my wings like one

of my favorite heroes like yeah, it's like top

three Like all time top two I would say and I

have a lot of his like Grails as you would have

like multiple copies of his first appearance

The Nightwing, not Dick Grayson. Nobody can afford

that shit. The first one is Dick Grayson. That's

an unaffordable comic. The new Nightwing run

by Tom Taylor is, in my opinion, one of the best

Nightwing runs I've read so far. It's just so

engaging. It's awesome. There's a lot of elements

that I've always been like, okay, why aren't

you... For example, Babs, Batgirl, why isn't

she... Main part of any of the fucking bat family

runs. It doesn't make sense. She's a very prominent

character in the DC universe She's very very

important. Why isn't she like if you're not gonna

give her her own title? That's okay, but why

isn't she in one of the books? You know what

I mean? So they've made her a very main character

in Nightwing and I like that because Nightwing

and Dick Grayson's a couple I've always enjoyed.

And I know people are like, oh, Starfire, whatever.

I'm not like one of those people who has to be

either or. I've also enjoyed the Starfire relationship.

I think I just think Dick Grayson has been one

lucky guy. Like, fuck, let's be real. Yeah. So

yeah, I like those relationships, both of them.

I like one of those stands that complaints one

way or the other. I just think the relationship

with with Batgirls iconic, because if you really

read the comics like her first appearance, the

second appearance, the third appearance, their

first team up, he's always been into her. And

I know it's kind of weird because he's a little

bit younger than her, but he's not been that

much younger. It's just that. When that girl

first came out, she looked older than she actually

was. Just I don't know why. I don't know why

the writers did that and artists. But she was

she was they were both around like a three year

gap or something. So it wasn't weird. But people

make it seem like it's really weird. So it's

like I just want people to know it's not weird.

OK, it's just like he just had a crush on her.

They grew up and he still had a crush on her.

It's not weird. It's totally OK. You know what

I mean? She never like took advantage of that.

People make it seem weird. It's just I don't

know. I find that weird about comic books. Don't

know what the actual age difference is and I

would actually have to look it up to see if there

are actually I assumed DC Wiki or whatever Wikipedia

thing I could look up and it would say oh Backer

Barbara Gordon was born this year Dick Grayson

was born in that year the way I look at it and

the way I apply it to all the comics that they've

ever been in Is I look at it in the animated

series way? They grew up together They, you know,

obviously she found out a little late on the

whole, or no, he found out a little bit late

that she was Batgirl kind of thing, whatever.

They went away to college. Obviously they went

to separate colleges, but they were at college

at the same damn time. So even if he was a year

older than her or if she was a year older than

he was, the age difference, like 20 years apart

is a big deal. Like a 70 -year -old man going

after a 25 -year -old girl, that's an age difference

that should just be a legal kind of thing in

my personal opinion. But it's one of those things

where two or three years is not that big of a

deal. It really, really isn't. You know they're

just they work really well together as a superhero

couple as a couple everything from the animated

series he's always had feelings for her at some

point that was mutual but they never acted on

it like it was always because he just becomes

a little bit emo in the animated series but uh

yeah like Most iterations of modern, like Nightwing,

Batman, whatever, he's always been tied to her

in some way. So it's like, I don't understand

why he's not part of the Runmore. And then thank

God they made her part of the Runmore. And I

love that. So I highly recommend Nightwing. I

recommend Swamp Thing from Ron V and Mike Perkins.

Yeah, Mike Perkins. Yeah, amazing series. It

gets a little off track with some... Suicide

Squad tie -ins, but if you're a fan of Swamp

Thing, it's a brand new Swamp Thing. It's like

a new Swamp Thing, a new avatar. So I thought

that was cool. That's an Indian Swamp Thing,

like some Southeast Asia Indians. I know what

you meant. I don't want to misinterpret me. People

jump to conclusions out there. So I thought that

was really cool, like Ravi basing a character

off himself and everything, and it's just cool.

Like I said, I'm interested in new, compelling

characters, and when you have a cool story to

tell, I'm always all about it. The artwork is

fantastic. Swamp Thing, in my opinion, is just

one of the coolest superheroes out there. He's

like Daredevil, he has the best... So the most

consistent best runs ever. Obviously the Alan

Moore is like one of the best comics ever. But

yes, one thing is just I think underrated in

general. I don't think enough people talk about

how great Swamp Thing is and how great his stories

are. And I think this is an example of that.

And then. Another one I would recommend is Robin

from DC. I like Josh Williamson. I've really

been enjoying Gleb Melnikov's artwork and I really

like the direction they're taking with Damian

Wayne. It's basically Mortal Kombat. Like he's

basically in a death tournament and he's just

trying to kill all these other people. I love

that. I highly recommend it to people who like

Damian Wayne. It's very Damian, you know. So,

yeah, I would recommend those. Maybe for Marvel,

because I didn't recommend anything Marvel. Moon

Knight, he's written actually by a local writer

who lives here, who always pops into our local

comic shop and signs random people's books. Seriously,

even when they're not there, he'll sign books

that are in people's pull boxes, just for the

fuck of it. Yeah, just because people love it.

So, you know, I love that. He's a really great

guy. I've talked to him several times. I've really

been enjoying Moon Knight. I've been enjoying

everything else he's written, like Black Cat.

I know he's going to be writing some... stuff

coming up in 2022 so yeah and Captain Marvel

I know I don't bring up Captain Marvel much because

there's some weird hatred like going around with

Captain Marvel people really seem to like enjoy

like shitting on Captain Marvel which I don't

like I don't know I like Captain Marvel as a

superhero I not from the movies I've liked it's

more long before that I thought the movies were

okay and I'm really enjoying Kelly Thompson's

Captain Marvel This is the Carol Danvers Captain

Marvel, right? This is not okay. I just want

to make sure yeah, and honestly I've seen so

at some point down the line I don't know if it'll

be done on this show or if it'll be done on a

crossover between this and a couple other podcasts

I already have but it's one of those things where

I've always wanted to go watch the MCU in Timeline

order Timeline order means you start with First

Avenger, you go to Captain Marvel, you then go

to this, you then go to that, you go by the year

that it happened, not the year it was released.

And when I watched Captain Marvel, I thought

she was fine. I liked her, I liked her character,

I liked her kind of a little bit of a spunk that

she has and whatever. I never had a problem with

her. and seeing her in the current Disney Plus

Marvel What If series is really cool. I'm digging

that. So I don't understand why. Yeah, you should

check it out. You should check it out if you

can. It's it's awesome. Yeah, I don't get it.

It's really weird when you see like the love

for Scarlet Witch, but the like the hatred for

Captain Marvel and they're like. At first, they

were like, oh, she's so overpowered. And I'm

just like, but but like, why? Like, why? Why

is like Captain Marvel overpowered, but not like

Scarlet Witch and like Captain Marvel? Is he

like cosmic superhero? Like, that's always been

the case. She has to be a little bit OP, like.

If we're going to talk about other cosmic superheroes

like Silver Surfer is like mega OP, like he's

mega overpowered. Yeah, he is. He could destroy

pretty much like the only person that could really

fight him from the Avengers would be like Thor.

Everybody else would get shit on like without

without even like really him doing much. So it's

like it's like like so I don't know. People are

weird about things like that. But like I hate

to I hate to say it, guys, but cosmic Marvel,

cosmic DC, the heroes different ballpark, their

whole different kind of level of motherfucking

OP. They're like disgustingly OP, all of them.

They can all do extremely overpowered things.

And it's just like that's the that's why Marvel

and DC haven't been showcasing so many of these

cosmic superheroes, because the budget it would

take to show you people smashing moons on each

other is insane. That's why they've done it only

once in Infinity War. Like the HBO Lantern series

is something I'm really looking forward to, because

I love Green Lantern. I think Green Lantern,

I think that. the movie did a lot of brand damage

to the green lantern even though i don't think

it's as bad as people say i obviously don't think

it's good i don't think it's good okay but i

don't think it's bad i don't think it's bad i

don't really don't think it's that bad there's

there's a lot of good elements in it it just

somewhere along the way some messes happen but

it's really not that bad and i think people just

like are unfair towards it you know what i mean

i wish that and i'm not blaming him i blame the

director, the producers, the writers. I don't

blame Ryan Reynolds and I've never really been

a super fan of Ryan Reynolds, but I wish that

he was able to approach Green Lantern, Hal Jordan,

the way he approached Deadpool. Like, if we ever

get to a point where somebody else has to be

Deadpool, nobody else is going to top Ryan Reynolds

as Deadpool. It's just it's just not gonna happen

that it even though it's a Marvel character even

though it's whatever Yeah, he honestly is Deadpool.

It's like Robert Downey as I yeah. Yeah, I mean,

okay So just to give you a heads up not to spoil

you but Mick Wingert Has been voicing Iron Man

and some of the Marvel animation stuff for the

longest time now And everybody was going up in

arms, oh my god, they replaced him in Marvel

What If. No, they didn't replace him. They may

have asked our DJ to do Marvel What If, but he

has already stated publicly that he is done with

the character and he is moving on, and that's

fine. Mick Wingert is a great, great voice actor

who has been voicing Tony Stark Iron Man in a

lot of the animation for the longest time, so

it makes sense. And honestly, once you watch

the series and once you see the few like, I think

it's episode five. Yeah, it's episode five where

we get an animated version of the snap. And I

am Iron Man. You know, and I am I the way McWingert

voices it. I swear to God, he he could be in

our DJ clone. There is a difference, and to those

of us who know the difference, you'll be able

to tell. But in general, he sounds so much like

RDJ when he's doing those major, major lines

that it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of

the cartoon. All right, 21. Heroes, heroines,

anti -heroes and heroines, or villains, what

archetypes are your go -to reads? I'd say honestly

like if I'm being like honest I read it all but

generally I'd go more towards heroes just because

I feel like unless and like I read villains don't

get me wrong like I'll give you an example one

villain I collect most of his Series is deathstroke.

I read a lot of that stroke. I really enjoyed

Christopher priest. That's what was amazing.

But the issue with that is that I find That no

writer ever has like christopher priest told

like mostly a 50 issue run But beyond that like

who can really do that, right? Like most people

don't have a story to tell for these kinds of

characters. They'll do like six issues They're

12 for a villain. So I I find that Unless I don't

know I just find that a lot of times they're

either doing a refresh for the ip or just like

trying to like There's a movie coming out with

this character. Let's get them back into people's

like heads So I don't usually go for those series

unless there's a reason to buy those but With

the heroes, you know, there's some kind of story

they're telling. Like you said earlier, there's

the runs of different creative teams. For me,

that's much more engaging. But for villains,

I feel like, like I said, there's probably like

six issue mini series, 10 issue, and then it's

like they're done. And then you'll see them again,

maybe in a few years. You know what I mean? Yeah,

block it out and power on through. Do you have

a my parents got rid of my comics story? So this

comes from another one of my experiences when

I was six years old My when I was six years old

My dad told me I was too old to play with toys

and he sold all of the Masters of the universe

toys I had it is a house at the time So that's

where do you have a my parents got rid of my

comics story question comes from? Yeah, I mean

my mom used to make us like cleaned out our shit

like a few years every few years Just get rid

of toys and stuff I had a lot of like amazing

toys like some of them weren't so value I had

like almost the entire Batman animated series

run back in the day Yeah, and like like like

most of the like that was unintentional to I

just like I just acquired them I guess like,

you know, it's like But like I love those they

were very sentimental to me and they weren't

like in mint condition or any they were played

with and fucked up but like I loved them like

they were like very sentimental to me and my

parents got rid of that but the thing that hurt

the most was and these were my favorite toys

these were like a huge like catalyst for my love

of comics as well like I loved comics already

at this point but this made me love them even

more was they had those like showbiz toys I think

where they had those spider -man action figures

with comic books right behind them and they had

like their packs of four right they had like

venom and then they had the spidey in the black

costume and then they had like another two and

then the spidey in the black costume one came

with amazing spider -man 252 like a reprint of

it so those were my favorite toys i had like

the whole line i had like the four of them that

came together and they they all like went together

and shit Those were the most painful to lose

because those still sell well like it's even

used and stuff They still sell well So I really

was upset about that because I find that I don't

know why I don't know if this is like a bias

like an implicit bias in my head from like nostalgia

or something, but action figures today they look

Cooler, but they're not as well made. I don't

know why like I just find that they don't play

you don't play like those Marvel showbiz Spider

-man action figures are the best spider -man

action figures I've ever played with just ever

like they deposing the the design the overall

durability the bend the bend ability of them

that like the movement everything they could

do was just perfect and since then I haven't

really found figures in the modern day and today

like last five years that are as good there's

McFarland figures that definitely look prettier

but they're not as capable, I would say. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. And it's funny you say that.

This format, this Origins format, I have a whole

other, and it's actually longer, it's 42 questions

all about toy collecting from my other show,

Toycast. So yeah, I have all kinds of things

going on with fellow creator interview things.

Alright, what is one comic item, what is one

item from a comic book that you would love to

have in the real world? Again, best example would

be a Batarang or the Green Lantern Ring or something

like that. It could be like absolutely anything.

As long as it can come out of a comic book, sure.

I'm torn between like the Symbiote Spider -Man

costume. Like the actual symbiote itself. And

then Silver Surfer's board. Like I'm torn between

those two because those two would be awesome.

Just like imagine some dude like surfing through

space. That would be just incredible. So yeah,

I don't know. It'd be one of those two for sure.

That would be crazy. Organic webbing for days.

Organic webbing for days. Like that's the best.

Yeah, the only problem with that is, though,

if you have the symbiote Spidey suit, you're

eventually going to get caught by some venom.

Yeah, that's true. That'd be hard to sleep at

night. Yeah, very hard to sleep at night. If

you could create any comic storyline, what would

you want to create and what characters would

you want to create it with? Basically, Marvel,

DC, Image, anybody gives you the keys to the

kingdom and says, okay, Bash, you can do anything

you want, obviously within reason of, you know,

like you're not going to make Batman kill Superman

or that kind of stuff. But what kind of story

would you want to create if you had the keys

to the kingdom? Oh, I have I already have like

an idea for one for DC I've always had this really

cool idea for a character who who like is an

outcast in apocalypse basically similar to mr.

Miracle in the sense that they're like they were

basically trapped on apocalypse like as some

sort of like slave or I haven't like figured

out the complete technicals of it but they find

these like really primordial like weapons somewhere

in the heart of the apocalypse by accident and

then they become like really overpowered and

they kind of fight their way out of apocalypse

and basically become a cosmic hero in DC. That's

always like some sort of comic idea I had, I

wanted to write. So I would mess with characters

like Batman, Mr. Miracle, like Orion, you know,

the new gods. I would mess with all that kind

of stuff because I think those aren't utilized

enough in DC. I really don't. Why are we talking

so much about Eternals and Marvel when DC's had

the Eternals before Marvel? like straight up

so I think those characters they have an awesome

story to tell and then I would also do some sort

of like invincible spinoff like because like

I think invincible one of the reasons I love

it so much and I feel like a lot of people share

the sentiment is that the universe of invincible

feels like a fleshed out universe in its own

like way it feels like it's Marvel or DC but

it's its own thing that's that's why I think

it's burning because there's so many cool characters

invincible that are just like like they're just

They're just cool characters. They're not just

invincible. There really is a lot. And I think

that's rare. You don't see that. a lot like you

have radiant black right now we have radiant

pink yellow but those are all very like there's

just radiance but like once we see other characters

like glitch is an amazing other character but

invincible is like that but it has like tens

20s you know like double digit characters and

the double digits amounts of characters that

are awesome there's a whole guidebook that's

like multiple pages talking about different characters

so yeah yeah absolutely All right, last question.

What is the one piece of advice you would give

the comics fandom? Okay, so if you really just

want this, this is like a multifaceted piece

of advice, so it's multiple answer. If you really

just want to read comics, go with digital because

it'll save you a lot of space, time and money.

Trust me like like I know it's hard for me to

say that because I personally do think there's

a whole different element to reading it Physically

it really like when I'm reading radiant black

I've read it digitally and I've read it physically

and physically for me it pops like the artwork

pops really does so I Said that to my other friends

and they've done the same thing and they've appreciated

more in the collected editions So I would recommend

if there's something you really love the artwork

you want to support the creative team get the

collected edition You know, but like don't Like

weekly comic book collecting is very expensive.

It really is. And it's like if you can't afford

it, go for the cheaper alternatives. Go online

and pre -order like the collected edition when

they come out. That will save you a lot of money.

And then another thing is wait. If you're trying

to buy comics to read, wait for sales of comics

that are mass printed because it's much cheaper

for you. A lot of stores that are big often order

a lot of Spider -man or Batman or those huge

titles that everybody reads So if you want to

buy those and you don't want to pay four dollars

five dollar cover price You can do that You could

just wait a month or two and they'll go on sale

because most stores will have Overstock and they'll

bundle them up my store does that where they

bundle up like storylines and they sell them

for so cheap Like they'll bundle up five to ten

comic comics a storyline sell for like 10 to

15 Canadian It was like, okay, you know, that's

way cheaper than paying for each issue So yeah,

if you're someone who's just reading, you're

not necessarily a collector. You don't want every

cover. You don't want to have the entire run.

There are much cheaper alternatives out there

that may benefit you in the long run and may

enable you to expand your reading list because

you save money. So consider those alternatives

if you haven't already. And trust me, it's more

it's much you're much better off. Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. All right, folks, we're going to

take a quick break. Come back to close the show

after this. What was that Universal greeting

again? Never mind, I remember. Ba -weep, Grana.

Weep, Ninibong. Hey guys, it's Rodimus Primal

and be sure to check out my YouTube channel.

Join me as I have Transformers discussions, retrospectives,

toy reviews, and more. You can also follow me

on Twitter at Rodimus Primal as well as Facebook

and Instagram at Rodimus Primal Show. Transform

and roll out and be sure to check out my content.

Till all are one. Hey, it's Wes from Popping

Off Toys. Wanted to let you know about PoppingOffToys

.com. We can be your number one source for Funko

collectible figures to add to your ever growing

collection. If you're in Nashville, Tennessee,

we actually have a retail store that you can

come by. 5916 charlotte pike and for the rest

of us popping off toys .com is always open and

you can check us out on facebook twitter instagram

and even tiktok and the name is just simply popping

off toys thank you so much and always Keep it

poppin'. Because the world needs another movie

podcast. The Geekcast Radio Network presents

for your listening pleasure, The Cinemakey. Hosted

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your insurance company will cover that. No, they

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every episode of all of the Masters of the Universe

cartoons except for two. Join Optimus Solo and

TFJU and Mike as they tell tales of Eternia,

discover the myths of Etheria, become masters

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we all have the power. Since 2009, we have been

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saucy toon talk, and now we get the origins of

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Discover a world of vintage and modern toys that's

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Triple Takeover Toycast. Alright folks, we are

back here inside the pool bag. Do you have anything

you would like to promote, sir? Uh, yeah, first

of all, obviously, check out Mike. This podcast

because he's obviously been doing a fantastic

job here. I've heard some episodes and most I've

heard obviously you're writing black episodes

I've really enjoyed them and I was a little bit

disappointed when you guys had to take a break,

but I'm sure you'll be back Yeah, we'll be better

than ever but I've also listened to the episode

with Matt I always enjoy, you know any reason

to shit on Matt so All jokes aside. There's a

really really good episode. I really enjoyed

it. So yeah And yeah, so that's how I knew about

your site impairment and everything, because

I heard about it there. So yeah, I'm actually

glad that you brought up the whole Comixology

thing, because a lot of people have been asking

me about it recently, and I've been referring

to them too, and I had no idea about the whole

Amazon thing. Yeah, they are Yeah, I mean they

have an FAQ about and I've been promoting comics

ology on this on this podcast since I fully went

digital in like late 2013 mid 2014 whenever it

was Whenever it was that we did the welcome back

Frank episode I actually went to my comic shop

and I actually bought the omnibus of welcome

back Frank That's 12 issues. That's like a 50

pound book because each issue is like a hundred

pages or whatever it is and I'm sitting there

reading it and it's not because of the content

of the book, but it's because of the weight of

the actual book. I sat there and I fell asleep

reading it. The book fell out of my hand on the

floor. And I'm like, what the hell? Oh, oh crap.

I fell asleep reading a comic book. This is not

like the very next day. I signed up for Comixology

and I'm like, digital only. Yeah, I know that

feeling. But yeah, I know. Yeah, check out the

Radiant Black podcast, obviously. And you can

find me at the Comix Sheik on Twitter. I just

mostly honestly talk about already just talk

about comic books and. talk to creators and stuff.

I think I recently tweeted at Kelly Thompson

and asked her if the It's Jeff comic book, the

Jeff Alliance short comic book series was going

to get a physical print because that comic is

amazing. But yeah, no, she didn't really. She

was like, she doesn't know. But yeah, come check

us out. Check out the Radiant Black podcast.

We just talk about Radiant Black, sometimes other

comics, too. And soon, hopefully, we hope to

have Mike on there. Carl Higgins on there. We're

actually we know we're going to be. In October,

we talked to the Invincible podcast and we know

we're gonna be doing a collaboration with them.

So I'm really excited for that. So if you guys

are fans of that podcast, check that out and

yeah. Very cool, very cool. All right, folks,

thank you for joining us here inside the pullback.

If you'd like to get in contact with us or leave

feedback for the show, there are several ways

to do so. Visit the website, geocastradio .com

where you can listen to and comment on all of

our content from the last 13 years. Send us email

to feedback at geekcastradio .com. Here all the

ways you can listen to us nowadays. Apple, Google

Podcasts, leave us reviews please. Spotify and

any other podcasting client you choose to use.

Follow us on Twitter at geekcastradio is for

the network. At the pull bag is for the show.

I am at TF2 and Mike, what is your Twitter again?

At the Comic Chic. And it's at Radiant Black

Pod for their podcast as well. Become a fan on

Facebook. Go to Facebook .com slash GeekCast

Radio Network. You can also check out the pullback

over there as well. And I'll say it, even though

I don't have a shot of rum around me, go check

out the Radiant Black Discord. So there's that

every time you say it for every time they say

it folks. You got to take a drink Yeah, we actually

we actually brought that up on the the reset

episode and we're so good about it I think we

only brought it up one time or maybe two times

one or two times. So only two shots tonight guys

only two shots Yeah, there was I forget which

episode it was but it was like every other word

out of your mouth was about the discord and I'm

like Oh my god, it's a good thing it's not a

drinking game because I'd be in the hospital

right now. It's true, it's true. Join us next

time when we will be discussing, I have no idea,

it just says October stuff here, folks. I do

know that the very next episode to end off September

is another Origins episode that I recorded with

the other... Uh BAM crew member over at the superman

and lois tapes. It's uh, bethany alison and michael.

We got bethany's we got alison's origins in episode

428 We're gonna get bethany's in 430 After that,

I don't know what's going on because I know alison

has some sort of hawkeye plan for us because

she wants to do a hawkeye podcast and I was like

I can do all the work. You just bring the material

hawkeye kate bishop or hawkeye So what she wanted

to do initially was she said, I want to do a

Hawkeye podcast because the new series is coming

to Disney Plus. Oh, I would listen to that. I

love it. And I'm like, and I'm like in her tweet,

she was like, I have no idea how to do a podcast,

but I would love to do one based on this. And

I'm like, oh, by the way, I've been running a

podcast network for the last 13 years. All of

you have to do is. show up and talk, whatever

you want to do. I can do all the backend stuff,

the editing, the publishing, the whatever. So

yeah, we're going to be doing that. We will probably

most likely be re -reviewing Matt Fraction's

Hawkeye run. Oh, yeah. No, I want to hit me up

once you do that. I want to listen to that. I

recently read that entire run. I loved it. Loved

it. Well, I'm famous for not really getting it

back in the day because I was I I bought the

trades the physical trades back in the day at

least the first two volumes and I believe it's

episode 26 of the pull bag where a buddy of mine

and I Reviewed it and I just had I just did not

understand it. I just did not get it. So I'm

hoping 13 years later this time around I will

understand the awesomeness of the Fraction Hawkeye

run. For now, I am TF2 and Mike with... Bash

from Radiant Black Podcast. As always, make your

great escape into comics and stay radiant, everybody.

Hey, this is writer Kyle Higgins and I hope you

enjoyed this episode of The Pull Bag. Remember

to always make your great escape into comics.

You've just heard the latest episode of The Pull

Bag, the GCRN's first comic review and discussion

podcast. There are several ways to get in touch

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