Shagg Matthews from The Fire and Water Podcast Network on His Origins in Comics

Hey, this is Josh Keaton and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. 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.

My brain's not a nice place to be. Welcome to

the pull bag. This is episode 545. I'm of course

TF2 on Mike and this time around is another origins

episode and ladies and gentlemen, we are on the

road to 600 episodes. We've got 55 to go. I think

something like that. And the thing is folks in

March of 2024 It'll be our 11th anniversary on

March 6th, which means I'm doing something really

dumb. I'm going to do five episodes in one week,

one episode a day. So this is where it starts.

And I have with me the irredeemable Shag Matthews.

Hello, sir. How are you? I'm doing fantastic.

Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely. Absolutely.

And Shag has his own podcast, which I'm sure

we will talk about and all that good stuff. He

is Once Upon a Geek. Yeah, if you give me a platform,

I'm going to promote myself. Make no doubt. Absolutely.

100%. That's what we're all here for, right?

Absolutely. But we are all comic book fans around

here, and Shag is going to answer the 30 questions

all about his comic book history. So, did you

grow up reading comics, and at what age did you

first remember reading or noticing comics? Well,

I'll kind of answer it in stages. Like, you know,

earliest readings, I don't remember a time there

weren't comics around, but they were just like

stacks of funny books, like Harvey... kind of

like Sad Sack and things like that. I'm a little

older than you, I think, because I grew up in

the 70s. So we had stacks of like Richie Rich

and Hot Stuff and all that. Sad Sack was the

one that resonated with me the most. So I remember

reading those. But I mean, it was just for fun.

Like I read them and forgot about them kind of

thing in a pile. And I don't think they were

mine. I think they were just I found them at

my grandma's house or something. I don't know.

Then the first time I really had. comics I considered

my own were gifts from either my family or my

sister. My sister was very kind. It would give

me comic books and there's like an old issue

of Superman for a very Bronze Age stuff. We're

talking with Mitzoplick and another one a Fantastic

Four issue and then the one that really kind

of resonated with me was Justice League of America

171, which was an Earth two crossover and that

was the first time I'd ever heard of this whole

Earth two concept and it kind of like it was

like, oh, this is fascinating parallel worlds

and whatnot, but I didn't stick with it. The

first time I ever really stuck with buying comics

when I was about nine years old I was in the

in the convenience store and it was 1980 so there

you get my age right there and Star Wars for

Marvel Comics issue number 50 was sitting there

on the stands and you know I had seen Empire

Strikes Back six times in the theater because

that's what you do and I knew Han Solo was in

carbonite right and then I look on the cover

and there's Han Solo hanging out with Luke you

know on the cover of Star Wars number 50 in this

beautiful beautiful painted cover by Tom Palmer

I'm like I have to own this so I bought it and

it's a still to this day say that's a great freaking

comic book I mean a Star Wars number 50. You've

never read it folks. Go check it out. It's phenomenal

Anyway, and that got me buying comic books on

a regular basis. I bought for about three years

I bought the Star Wars comic the funny part was

though. I didn't think of myself as a comic collector

I thought of myself as a Star Wars collector

so then I kind of fade is out of that after a

few years then get to age 12 and this is where

it all gets the ball gets rolling you hear about

Kids that like comic books to get bullied right

in school and all this right? Yeah, I was the

opposite. I got bullied into reading comics.

I started sixth grade middle school and I'm at

like the lunch table and all the kids are just

hoing on talking about Ultron and Galactus and

Magneto and I'm like, what are you guys talking

about? And I had no idea what they're, I mean,

I had seen the Spider -Man cartoons and stuff,

right? But I knew all these Marvel characters

and they're like, you're not reading Secret Wars?

I'm like, no. And so like, you know, I went home

and like shamed, I was embarrassed. So imagine

like Charlie Brown like, going home and I went

to the convenience store and there was an issue

with Secret Wars. So I picked it up and I had

been a comic collector ever since. So as a kid,

you just found them on your own. There wasn't

a specific parent or friend or anyone who said,

here kid, read this comic, go away, you bother

me. No, I literally got into it because of Star

Wars and then because of peer pressure. There

you go. Nerd bullies existed back then. Yes,

they did. When you were a kid, which characters

were your favorites? Well, I'm gonna quantify

kid because I'm really old like I'm gonna quantify

kid in different levels here Okay, you're not

that you're not that much older than me Well,

I'm also gonna expand this because it gives me

a platform to talk about all my favorite characters

So when I first started reading comics after

secret wars, you know that I fell in love with

the X -Men I was all in on the X -Men and I stayed

in with them for years all the way into the 90s

and stuff like that But shortly after reading

X -Men, I watched the Super Friends And there

was this brand new character on the super friends

called firestorm so i watch the first episode

with firestorm literally got on my bike and pedaled

up to that same convenience store and there are

a couple issues of firestorm sitting there on

the stand and that began a lifelong love for

me with firestorm i ran a firestorm blog for

about eight years. Know I my claim to fame is

I'm the firestorm guy. Whoo. Look at that Someone

had to be the firestorm fan and then I you know

and I'm quickly became fans of Aquaman So I would

say in my early days of collecting the big fandoms

were firestorm Aquaman a blue devil huge blue

devil fan Love that comics. I feel like I could

get on a number one You're gonna like this. I

was a big fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

only the Mirage Studio stuff. I started when

issue five was on the shelf. Got through issue

10 with that amazing fold -out inside with Shredder

and all that. But then once the cartoon started,

I was one of those people that you hear stories

about. They're like, oh, this isn't my Turtles

anymore. And I stopped collecting. I haven't

read a Turtles comic since issue 10. OK, OK,

stop. Uh -oh, uh -oh. Stop right now. I know

you're going to preach the word of. How much

of a Turtles fan are you? Obviously, you can't

say I was much if I only stuck with it for what

well five issues back or six issues back Then

was probably like two years, but I mean I bought

I bought few good toyed I bought you know all

the reprint stuff that I could up to that point

I had the little I had the role -playing game

I had the miniatures that you could buy for the

role -playing games. I mean I was at that time

I was really into it, you know since then I've

drifted apart from it and I still appreciate

I know it's a huge fan of my son I'd buy him

the toys and everything but it was never my game

again. Mm -hmm All right, well, yes, you're right.

I am going to preach at you, not to you, at you.

IDW, I know all 562 issues you've read and covered,

I know. No, no, no. Well, technically, it's currently

only, it's on the road to 150, and then it's

going to stop. Anyway, the point is, right now,

what you need to do. is go back to whatever comic

store or whatever online thing you need to look

at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle IDW collection

hardcovers. This is the only way I will recommend

this to you if you get them because the IDW collection

hardcovers have everything, everything in story

order. I think there's something like 14 volumes,

but if you start with volume one, Keep going

every every once and all some of them may be

hard to get now, but Start with those. I'm telling

look the way my buddy Joe said to me cuz I was

not a mirage fan I was the opposite. I was the

cartoon kid. I was not the comic kid Joe was

like Here turtles, let's go. I looked at it.

I'm like red bandanas screw this hell No, he's

like he's like no dude wait Pays off and I'm

like, okay, I'll give it a shot. I gave it a

shot ten fucking years later Look where we are

It's 60 plus episodes covering that entire series

You're not the first one to preach. I have my

buddy Kyle Benning told me all about it as well

and yeah Like 40 years since I've read a turtles

comic if I if I bump on this I will let you know

you'll be the first one you and Kyle Benning

I'll let you guys know Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,

IDW Collection, Volume 1. Just start there with

that first hardcover. Dude, I'm telling you,

it's the easiest way to collect it. It's the

easiest way to read it, because it's all in story

order. So if it goes from issue 1 to 5, and then

it might have the mini -sodes or the mini -series

in it. But it's all together. Okay, you know

I'm not arguing with you about the best format

to read it in But you have to think about this

when you're talking to a geek What's the surefire

way to tell it to get them not to do something

is to tell them they must do something exactly

Here I'll throw it like this In the words of

the great Ralphie, I triple dog dare you. Okay.

All right. Well, just hold tight. We'll get to

something later that I know will spark your interest.

You'll be happy with me. I'll put it on my maybe

list. How's that? I'm not denying that's the

way to read it. I'm just saying I don't know

if I want turtles in my life. So I'm going to

continue to use this platform to talk about other

favorite characters of mine. So I'll rattle them

off real quick. Tim Drake, Robin, absolutely

was my Robin. Loved him as Robin. Wally West

as Flash, my Flash. That whole run of Wally West's

book was just amazing and phenomenal. Dr. Fate,

I've always loved Dr. Fate. He's just got a cool

look. He's got a few different good series under

his belt. He's got a lot of bad series under

his belt as well, but I love the character. Daredevil's

another big favorite of mine, and Kyle Rayner,

Green Lantern as well. So that kind of rounds

out my absolute favorites. I got other ones too,

and we'll work those in the conversation about

Ken later. But those are my top favorites. Yeah,

Kyle and John are superior in my mind. Kyle Rayner,

John Stewart. Everybody else, no thank you. I

like Guy Gardner because... Yeah, Guy's all right.

Not because he's a good person or I'd want to

hang out with him, but he is interesting to read

about in stories. Yes, absolutely. Alright, the

age -old question. DC or Marvel? Have room in

my heart for both, but I'm primarily a DC guy.

That's just where I fell in love I don't I don't

turn my nose up at Marvel is that was actually

where I started it was my stories like X -Men

and secret wars really I but I I moved from secret

wars and what I consider sort of graduated to

crisis on infinite Earths is what happened I

made the jump dove in deep on crisis without

knowing who any of these characters were other

than like the super friends So I would sit there

and like make out lists and write out lists of

care like So here is Blue Beetle, he is from

Earth Charlton. What the hell is that? Okay.

And then here's this character. And I would literally

have lists of characters on what Earth they're

from, just trying to figure it all out. And I

guess maybe that was part of the fun for me,

was the fact that I had to figure it out. Nice.

That's awesome. Yeah. For me, and I say this,

I've been saying this for 11 years and every

one of these episodes we do, I don't have loyalty

to either. It's the characters. Like DC. Batman

Beyond has been in my blood for 25 years. It

will never not be a part of me right Terry McGinnis

Blight ink all all that stuff everything else

all of that with Marvel Certain parts of Peter

Parker spider -man, but where I really got into

it was I wanted something different because for

at that time back in 2014 it was what was it

20 years since the animated series oh god it's

30 years november is 30 fuck oh boy i'm old um

you're older but i'm old right but uh yeah so

i didn't really want anything like i was tired

of peter like i love peter he's a great character

but There's only so many times you can go back

and get new number one money by saying a radioactive

spider bit this dude. But then they went and

went superior and put awk. I was like, oh, what's

this? Hell yes. Give me dock awk as Spider -Man.

That's amazing to me. I'm kind of similar in

that way. Like Daredevil's in my blood and has

been now for, oh my god, since 1989, whatever

the math is on that, what, 35 years? He's been

in my blood. And I'll read Daredevil forever.

But other characters, I drop in when it's coming,

like Spider -Man. I've had big runs. I've read

of his. I like to just drop in and read the giant

crossovers, the ones that people usually complain

about. They're like, Spider -Island, this is

stupid. And I'm over there eating popcorn and

drinking soda going, this is fun. It's like a

blockbuster movie. And can I tell you the plot

of it now? No recollection whatsoever. I literally

remember nothing about it, but I had fun reading

it. But other characters that I love with Marvel,

though, I mean, like Spider -Man 2099. Phenomenal

character. Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider. I

love him. The Alpha Flight. Alpha Flight's totally

in my blood. I will always be willing to read

Alpha Flight. Or Avengers. Specifically, I'll

stand up for the Bendis run. A lot of people

won't. I love the Bendis run. There's a lot to

not like about it, but it was fun for me. I really

enjoyed it. Mark Waid's Champions, the Young

Avengers. I mean, there's a lot of great stuff

in Marvel. Even though I say I'm a DC guy, I

still have read a ton of Marvel. I subscribe

to both DC Infinite and Marvel Unlimited. Right.

Yeah, absolutely. What other publishers do you

enjoy reading? Well, it's primarily Marvel and

DC. I don't typically dip into the other stuff.

If you want, I can talk about other publishers,

more recent comic books that I've read. Yeah,

that's fine. All right. Well, this is where you're

going to get all excited. Just recently, in the

last probably two, three months, I read a crap

ton of Radiant Black. There you go. Yeah, I knew

you'd get excited. I read the first four volumes

of the collections, then I read Rogue Son and

Radiant Red and Dead Lucky and Radiant Pink and

Shift, then I read some of the Cowl stuff. That's

a heck of a lot. I didn't expect much out of

it, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. Kyle Higgins,

man, let me tell you, I got a chance to interview

him back when he was still doing Nightwing. Cool.

Yeah, and that dude is awesome. And that's the

other thing for me, and we'll get into this once

we get into some of the other questions, but

I follow characters and I follow creators. Sure.

Whatever they're going to do, like I'm on board.

He did cowl. Holy crap. He did he did radiant

black. He did Power Rangers. He did all this

stuff and it's like, holy crap Yeah, my buddy

Joe and I who does the turtles comics with me.

We we started doing radiant black I think we

got up to volume 3. I think we still need to

do volume 4 and some of the other stuff I have

not got into rogue son yet. I need to get into

that. So It's it's like I only read the first

volume. I guess there's two and I'm reading collections

and I'm doing And so far, the first volume doesn't

really connect with the Radiant Universe. Like,

I'm guessing they obviously must be in the same

parallel universe, but they're not directly connected

like Radiant Red and Dead Lucky. Those are obviously

really connected. Rogue Sun's kind of a whole

other thing. So it's one you don't have to get

to, but I guess it eventually connects. But anyway,

it's been a fun run. And the first time I noticed

Kyle Higgins was, I think it was Deathstroke.

Didn't he do a run on Deathstroke during maybe

Rebirth? Or something maybe I don't remember

where I remember him kind of starting out was

what war I found him was gates of Gotham and

then Nightwing new 52 Nightwing. Okay If only

there was some device he is to tell us yes That's

right. Yes. He absolutely destroyed and and I

read those and that was the first time I noticed

him as a writer and I was like, ooh I really

like this. So yeah, I like that guy. He's good.

So I and that as far as other publishers I mean

it just it's more like I'm following a creator

like Jeff Parker Anything he writes any publisher.

I don't care. I'm there, you know, I'll buy stuff

like that. Absolutely Print or digital which

one both either or and why or why not? I was

obviously we all were print people forever. I've

actually I'm absolutely a digital person now

I would Prefer to never have to touch another

physical comic again gotten that bad. I subscribed

to DC infinite I subscribe and I do like the

the high ultra tier level I subscribe to Marvel

Unlimited. I have bought a bunch of crap on comics

ology I have not brought a single thing on comics

ology since it got all screwy a couple years

ago I still own all the stuff I bought there.

It's gotten better, but it's not a lot. It's

not what it used to be. It's basically like if

you want to read it on a screen, like if you

want to read it on a tablet or a smartphone,

it's very similar to what it used to be. But

the whole process of the fact that you can't

buy stuff on the app, you have to buy it on Amazon's

website on a computer, that's a nightmare. There's

a way around it, by the way, if you have an iPhone.

Well, yeah, no, I don't know. OK, well, either

way, whatever device or at least say this works

on the iPhone rather than using the app to purchase,

you just use a browser and you can buy through

the browser. You can go to Amazon's website on

your face. You don't at least have to go sit

at a computer. But either way, it's not what

it used to be. I still own all the stuff, and

I'll still read the stuff I bought on there.

But then my other thing I fall in love with is

Hoopla. That's where actually I read all the

radiant black stuff was on Hoopla. It was all

out there. And I'm reading Firefly out there

right now. And it's a great, fantastic way. If

you have a public library, folks, and if you

have a library card, and if you don't, shame

on you. More than likely, your library is partnering

with a company called Hoopla. And you can just

check out. Books from the library on your tablet

and read them and tons and tons of comic books.

It's fantastic So you don't actually pay anything

for this? No, it's it's all legal. It's free

through your library. It's I'm assuming the publishers

get I mean the libraries have to pay for books

when they buy them So we're gonna do they have

some sort of digital relationship when they when

someone borrows a digital item I would assume

so yeah, I mean it's not anything shady. It's

completely above. No no no I know I know it isn't

I've heard of hoopla. I just did I have never

looked into it And I am all about being cheap,

so free. It's really good to me. That's right.

But if I like something, I'll buy, like I did

buy the first Radiant Trade Piper, right? I did

buy the first Firefly Trade Piper, right? Because

just from there, I'm like, I buy it as like a

taster, and I'm like, all right, I'm just going

to read it digitally, though. Yep. The last thing

I need in my house is more freaking paper. So

I don't know if this is another one of the questions

or not. As far as paper goes, I have 49 long

boxes. completely full. That's it? You're 49?

The reality is it's more than that. But my wife

said, how many boxes do you have? I said 49.

She said, if you ever get to 50, they all go

to the street. So I will forever say I have 49

boxes. Don't say anything. Don't let your wife

hear this. I have 49 long boxes, folks. Completely

stuffed. 149 long boxes. There we go. Oh, boy.

Who are some of your favorite? Comics writers

and why okay? This may be a little long, but

I don't care Okay, one of my all -time favorite

writers is Jerry Conway Jerry Conway created

so many characters. We all love he created firestorm

We created the Punisher you could a power girl

He created tons and tons of characters that you

may not even realize he created. He's a great

Bronze Age writer put together. He killed Gwen

Stacy I mean he did a bunch of stuff and because

I ran them and because firestorm was one of his

big creations and I ran that website again for

Was it like, I guess, 2009 to 2016. So what's

that? Seven years. I ran that site, you know,

every day for seven years. He was kind enough

to do a bunch of interviews with me. So I've

interviewed Jerry like seven times and incredibly.

He's an incredibly kind man. He's generous with

his time. He's funny. He's interesting. Really

great guy. So Jerry is way high at the top of

my list. I mean, he just he wrote so many Silver

Age or Bronze Age Justice League stories that

are just phenomenal that I absolutely love Jerry

Conway. Then, as far as getting away from more

personal relationship, just stuff that I enjoy

reading, Mark Waid is almost always a great read.

Not 100%, but he bats a really high average of

some really great comic books. I love Mark Waid's

stuff, whether it be The Flash Run is where I

first really took notice of him, or the stuff

he's doing nowadays with World's Finest or Kingdom

Come, and he's done a bunch of great stuff. Peter

David? Another fun writer, I really enjoyed his

run on the Hulk, I enjoy his X -Factor, I enjoy

his Star Trek books actually, which isn't comics,

I realize, but really, just if you want a good

laugh, and he's a fantastic superhero writer

for that, really enjoy it. The guy I'm probably

the biggest fanboy for right now is Jeff Parker.

I will read anything Jeff Parker writes. He did

a phenomenal run on Aquaman. He did a great Agents

of Atlas stuff. He's done a bunch of independent

stuff. He just released a Blighter thing via

Kickstarter that I supported. Really a fantastic

writer and a really nice guy too. He's in Portland

and a lot of his stuff will be themed over there

or whatever. If you're looking for fun superhero

comics that really hit our kind of age demographic,

anything by Jeff Parker is a huge win. Isn't

he the guy that did Bone? That's Jeff Smith.

Jeff Smith, okay. Yep, different guy. Hang on,

I'm gonna turn around and look at my bookcase

here. Agents of Atlas, The Interman, Meteor Man.

Oh guys, he's done a ton of stuff. He's also

done a bunch of mainstream stuff too. Again,

he did a big run in Aquaman that was huge right

after Jeff Johns wrote his. Jeff John, there

you go. There's a great writer. Now, the thing

about Jeff Johns is up till 2005, I would say

everything he wrote was genius. After 2005, it's

just a matter of whether he's using his powers

for good or for evil. At that point, I like a

lot of his writing. Some of it I don't. There

you go. Then, J .M. Demoteus and Keith Giffin

together as a pair. One of the, this is where

I start pimping, one of the things I do is a

podcast called the Justice League International

Bwa Ha Ha podcast. This is where we cover the

JLI, Justice League International books that

were published from 1987 to 1982. It's that jokey

era with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold and Fire

and Ice and all them. And those were written

by Keith Giffin and J .M .D. Mateus and they're

freaking hilarious. They are some of the funniest

comics written. They're very emotional, they

get to you, they pull on the heartstrings all

the way around and every time those two wrote

something together it was a We just lost Keith

Kiffin recently, which is incredibly sad, but

those two everything they wrote was pure gold

Yeah, absolutely Then as far as modern writers

go like Tom Taylor, I don't know if you've been

reading any of his stuff from DC. Holy crap He's

good. So I have a plan and the listeners I'm

sorry. I know I keep saying I have this plan

just your 90 days of Nightwing I've had this

plan. Yeah, I listen to an episode today. That's

like three years old where you were talking about

it It's been three years. Oh wow. Yeah, I've

had this plan for a long time and now I'm finally

getting it into fruition because starting with

Episode 600 will be the announcement episode

601 to 698 or 99 or 90 something like that Whatever

will be 90 nights of Nightwing. The problem I'm

having is listing it in trade I only have episode

601 to like 656, because I'm only looking for

specifically Nightwing trades. I know I can look

for the Teen Titans stuff. I know I can include

Gates of Gotham. We did Gates of Gotham years

ago, so a refresh wouldn't be bad. So are you

going to do a trade a day or a comic a day? Yeah,

trades. Collected editions, yeah. Episode a day,

podcast a day. But it's all collected editions

and that's the problem because well you could

dig into like the batman animated series collected

editions because nightwing's in those That's

true And then there's the the stuff they've done

more recently. I mean more recent last couple

years like batman Continues, I don't know. It

was a digital first. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it

was really good. It was really well done um,

so There's options. But yeah, Nightwing's great

and the Tom Taylor stuff. Holy moly. So I need

to read that. I have not read that yet. I didn't

care. Like I have a buddy named Paul Hicks who

does whoever in the Waiting for Doom network.

And he kept pushing me to read this Tom Taylor

stuff. And I'm like, Paul, I don't care about

new stuff. I don't care. And he taught me to

try in the Nightwing. Holy crap. It is so good.

Tom Taylor is he's kind of like Jeff Johns was

before 2005. Everything the rights is gold right

now. It's just great. So and then Kurt Busick

Chuck Dixon Chris Claremont and ascenti Greg

Rucker. I mean lots of writers Yeah, and here's

a here's a writer that surprised me today Like

I was trying to think of writers that I like

Brian K Vaughn ended up on my list and I didn't

think I liked him like I don't remember ever

seeking him out but then I looked at my my my

bookshelf of trades and I'm like Oh, I sure own

a lot of copies of runaways and I sure own a

lot of trades of why the less man I sure own

a lot of trades of paper girls. I guess I like

Brian cave on I'd never do that There you go.

Very cool, very cool. Is that it? Yeah, I'll

shut up there. I got more, but I'll stop. What

defines a good story to you? What defines a good

story? So I would say in those cases, you have

to make me care about the character, right? Like

I have to know who they are rather than just

being generic superhero number three, you know,

or whatever. I have to care about the characters.

Like when I close the comic book, I have to know

something about them. And an emotional journey

would be nice, but that's not gonna happen every

issue, and that's okay. You know what, radio

and black, I'll use some common ground there.

Like, I finished issue number one, now see, I

can't even remember the character's names, but

I remember Nathan, okay, well wait, is that the

first guy or the second guy? Nathan and Marshall.

Nathan is the one that had to come back from

LA to Chicago, and Marshall is the savvy business

person. You could call it that. He likes to think

so. Yeah, he likes to think so. So Nathan, by

the end of issue one, I knew him. I got him.

I understood that he was a washed out writer

that couldn't get back on that horse. And I knew

who he was. I knew he was in debt. I understood

that guy. And when I got done with that comic,

no offense to the superhero, it's like superpowers.

Awesome. I love it. But your powers are less

important to me. Who you are is more important

to me. And I knew Nathan by the end of issue

number one. And I was hooked. And that is a way

to tell a great story, is make sure you care

about the characters. And that one works. Yeah,

absolutely. What does a story have to have to

draw you in? So you go into the comic shop. You

grab a new number one of whatever it is. It doesn't

matter. Whatever thing you like. What does that

number one issue have to have to make you go

back to get the second issue? I think we just

covered it. You gotta care about the characters.

Again, the powers are cool, and that's a part

of the fun thing with the superheroics, but I

gotta care about who the hero is. Or I should

say the protagonist. They don't have to be a

hero, but I have to care about the protagonist.

Yeah, absolutely. Who are some of your favorite

comics artists? Oh, okay. Big list again. But

I will go through quickly. Like Walt Simonson,

anything that man draws is astonishing, right?

I love so much of his work, whether it be on

DC stuff or Marvel stuff, whatever, the guy's

just a genius. George Perez, astonishing artist.

You know, Crisis is where I cut my teeth in DC,

reading his Justice Leagues as well. I met him

several times, an incredibly nice man. I mean,

what a loss to have lost him. But I mean, just

the gold standard. You know for the eighties

and nineties i think you know i think he set

the tone for what comics were going to be for

the next twenty years um adam hughes um I and

not like i like adam hughes drawing superhero

comics more more than i like him just doing pinups

of hot girls you know like uh pinups of hot girls

are great but i like it when he's drawing a superhero

book he drew the just league international book

for quite a while and it was phenomenal under

his pencil tom tom gromit uh he is a very underrated

artist he drew a lot of stuff for dc in the nineties

I always think of him as kind of like a 1990s

version of John Byrne in that he could draw anybody

and they looked great. And when you saw his style,

you always knew who the artist was. You're like,

oh, that's it. You never mistake Tom Grant for

somebody else. But it looks great. He did, you

know, very famously did a bunch of Superman stuff,

did a bunch of stuff over at DC with Superboy

and Robin as well. You know, over at Marvel,

he did that X -Men book. What was the one where

Chris Claremont came back? But they just told

a almost like a what if story. I'm going to turn

around again. OK. x -men forever i think it's

what was called yeah i got a bunch of trades

that great stuff anyway he's a fantastic artist

underrated mike para beck another fantastic underrated

artist drew a bunch of stuff in the impact line

he drew a fantastic ten issue justice society

america series i he drew a batman adventure stuff

um the animated series comic book he had this

style that was so clean and so simple and cartoony.

without being kitty it was it was like like well

like bruce tim you know draws it's cartoony but

it's not kitty if you understand what i mean

and mike perbeck was incredible he died so young

such as loss he was going to be amazing he was

going to be one of the artists we were talking

about forever Mmm, then Todd knock. I don't know

if you've ever read any of his stuff. I don't

think so Oh, he's so good. He uh, he drew he

wrote he drew all of Young Justice He drew Over

image did wild guard. I don't if you ever read

wild guard He just he's doing star girl stuff

more recently just he'd love to throw in a ton

of detail Everything looks again cartoony, but

it doesn't look simple. It's very complicated

and detailed line. Anyway, just great ours Todd

knock look about David Masicelli the complete

opposite absolutely minimal amount of lines he

did batman year one right the thing he did daredevil

born again yeah uh yeah so just incredible artist

really knows how to to use the minimal amount

of lines and make it so expressive uh john bern

anything in the 70s and 80s looks golden um start

going into the 90s maybe not so much for my taste

Paris Collins is another great artist. He was

kind of a house artist at DC did Blue Beetle

and Blue Devil and did a whole bunch of who's

who's he's phenomenal is nice guy also Mark Bagley

love Mark Bagley either on Spider -Man or Thunderbolts

or any number of books. He's fantastic. Then

I'm gonna rattle off a million other guys real

quick that I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail

But Kevin McGuire amazing Alex Ross unbelievable

changed comic books forever Dale Eagle sham Well

over a recent artist who can just draw everything

awesome Sean McManus is great Joe Cassata doesn't

get enough credit as an artist Brian Bolland

Dave Gibbons John Ameda jr. Pat Broderick Darryl

Banks Jerry Ordway And then some Steve Rude is

phenomenal. And Alex Toth, who's another master

of the old days of minimalist, minimal amount

of lines and just does amazing work. Yeah. Yeah.

You say Joe Cassata, all I can think of is that

bar scene in Daredevil. Well, I mean, hey, the

guy could draw. I mean, he could really, really

draw. Yeah, so. Do you have a favorite non -superhero

title? Yeah, I can recommend a few. Let's see.

You ever heard of Unwritten? I've heard of it.

I don't think I've read it, though. It was a

DC Vertigo book. It was a story about stories

and how telling a story can affect the world,

and it was really trippy and interesting and

made you think, and it was just damn good. Really

really good get that trades is great. It sounds

like issue three of radiant black where he did

writing day I mean, there's kind of sort of but

this is more like the telling of the stories

changes reality kind of stuff, right? Right.

No, no, no, I know but I'm just saying like the

whole writing about writing thing. Okay. All

right. I can see what you mean. Yeah The couple

other recommendations to name as well a scud

the disposable assassin came out in the 90s It's

a hilarious just off -the -wall independent book

about a robot assassin. It's just bonkers Nexus

by Steve Rood, Mike Baron, fantastic sci -fi

comic, just gorgeously illustrated. Lately I've

been reading Serenity and Firefly by first Dark

Horse and then Boom Studios, which is all tied

into the Firefly TV show. And then I would also

recommend Doctor Who. It's not a superhero comic.

Anything with Matt Smith, if you've ever been

a Doctor Who fan. Matt Smith is basically just

a human cartoon anyway. And so he works really

well. His story, I mean, there's a lot of Doctor

Comics out there, but Matt Smith specifically

worked really, really well in comic book form.

Very cool very cool All right, what is your favorite

run or story arc of a comic series? That is an

impossible question to answer Why don't you throw

a couple characters at me and I'll tell you a

good story. Let's try that All right, how about

Bruce Wayne Batman Tim Drake Robin and Terry

McGinnis Batman Beyond No, I mean, not all of

them, but I will say Batman and the family no

man's land. You can't do better than no man's

land. It was this huge arc of a whole year. It

was dense. You could really get into it. I love

no man's land. It was great. Also, if you want

more Batman, you know, year one is phenomenal.

Dark Knight Returns is great. Personally, I like

year three, which is where they introduced Tim

Drake, which is a great one. So there you go.

There's some Batman family stuff for you. Batman

year three. Yeah. Said you're three. I said you're

three About 1989 it was a it led into lonely

place of dying or Tim Drake becomes Robin Okay,

I'm gonna have to I don't think Wow. All right.

Well then usually they pack it usually they pack

his year three and lonely place of nine together

because they were They were kind of thematically

together because it was like Tim gets introduced

in year three kind of sorta almost the only place

that really comes in. Perez did all the covers.

They even released a portfolio of Perez's covers.

It was so nice. It was great. That's awesome.

That was during my Batman phase. Absolutely.

What is one comic you can read over and over

again, single issue or trade? That's a tough

one. Squadron Supreme, the collection Squadron

Supreme by Mark Grunwald from the 80s is such

a phenomenal tale of Squadron Supreme are alternate

versions of the Justice League. And in this story,

they decide to try and fix all the world's problems

and they take control of the world. They're trying

to do it for the right reasons, but they become

controlling. They become, you know, a terrible

controlling government. It's a little bit like

Kingdom Come. I mean, if you compare Squadron

Supreme and Kingdom Come, there's a whole lot

of parallels. So I'd say that or Crystals of

Infinite Earths because I kind of cut my teeth

there or Secret Wars because I cut my teeth there.

Very cool, very cool. Are there comics you avoid

all together? So you go into the comic shop or

you look on Amazon you see this this like you

see Batman Superman Wonder Woman and booster

gold and obviously everybody's gonna avoid booster

gold kids That's the point are there comics that

you will just not read at all I don't tend to

read Deadpool comics I just the over Explosion

of him just left a bad taste of mouth. I mean

the movies are funny I mean they are but I'm

just not a huge fan of that. But for me, it's

less about characters It's more about when I

find out certain creators or publishers are really

and I'm gonna use I'm gonna use the words the

kids use today like gatekeepers or people that

are you know, really putting pushing the toxic

masculinity kind of vibe out there I I don't

I don't roll that way. Sorry, just not my thing

Absolutely. Are there any comics in the past

or currently that you wish you had not read them?

Basically, oh my god, why did I waste my time

on this? So one thing I didn't get to mention

is that I managed a comic book store from 1991

to 1996. Why are you burying the lead, dude?

I managed a comic book store from 1991 to 1996.

So I was there. I was literally there through

the death of Superman working it with the line

out the door around the building. I was there

with the launch of Image. So to answer your question,

I worked in a comic shop from 1901 to 96 i read

a lot of comics i wish i hadn't read cuz there

was some great comics and there was some terrible

comics i was literally there for the boom and

the bust and there are some of the worst comics

ever published for in that area and some of the

really great comics are from that area too. Absolutely

how large or small is your physical comic book

collection. 49 long boxes. We've already addressed

this. 449 long boxes. Got it. All right. What

is the one comic you could never live without

ever? So everybody is safe, the wife, the kids,

the pets, whatever, but the house is on fire.

What is the one comic you're going to run in

and save? Jeez. Can I just say my tablet so I

can read all of them digitally forever? I guess.

Nobody's ever said that before. But sure, why

not? Because again, the physical stuff, if I

could get rid of these 49 null boxes, I would.

I don't want to be burdened with them anymore.

That's what you made it for. That takes time.

I'm busy making podcasts. OK, all right. OK,

so it's all right. You're busy making podcasts,

so am I. If you don't want to do eBay, there's

this new thing called Whatnot. Everybody sells

on Whatnot. It's a live auction thing. They do

the bidding, blah, blah, blah. It's so easy to

sell on there. Yeah, but then I've got to figure

out what it's worth and condition. And I'm like,

I'd rather. Either do podcast or spend time with

my wife and children I don't want to sit there

be like who wants to bet on Robotech number 42

or you know, whatever robotics number three,

you know, yeah mad balls Yeah mad balls. Oh my

god. Yeah, it was a thing. It was What was the

most money you spent on a comic or comic item

comic item could be statue art print exception

Oh, okay Comic I was ready for I probably haven't

spent more than like 30 bucks on a comic because

I'm like I just won't do it I look at I'm like

I can't bring myself to spend a lot of money

on a comic. I just won't do it. Um Comic related

item that gets a little ugly as far as action

figures go I did So I put together a collection

of Justice League International action figures

because I wanted to have that collection and

unfortunately I did it in 2005 So I did it, I

think that was when I did it. Either way, Blue

Beetle had just been killed. And so the Ted Kord

DC Direct, I may have my years wrong people and

I don't need to hear that from you people. Anyway,

the DC Direct Ted Kord figure had gone through

the roof in value because Ted was dead. And so

I paid $50 for a effing Blue Beetle action figure

that I immediately took out of the package. So

I regret doing that, but it's a really nice figure

and it's still on my display case next to my

desk. So, you know, at least it's getting some

life out of it. Then I bought a few statues here

and there. I mean, I prove I bought a ton of

the mini busts like if I were to add up everything

I spend to get I have the whole Alpha flight

mini bus collection. All of those together and

probably a few hundred dollars. But individually,

I didn't spend more than like 50 to 80 dollars

each. And then so that's that kind of range.

I'm not the kind of guy that's going to go spend

hundreds and hundreds of dollars on something.

There you go. Was there ever a moment when you

were completely done with comics? That's it.

Sell it all. Walk away. No, not really. I mean,

the closest would be in the 80s. I had been reading

X -Men. I'd been reading Firestorm and stuff

like that. And I gave it up for an incredibly

short window of time. And I remember I had quit.

Add i would ever do this a buddy's house i mean

i gotta be like this is probably four five years

in the collecting and i had gone cold turkey

and it was really hard i mean it was difficult

i felt like i was going to withdraw and i went

to his house and he was reading fall of the mutants

from the x -men which was like a big deal at

that point there was a great issue where the

x -men all. At least the world thinks they die.

It's really powerful conclusion. And my buddy's

like, you have to read this. At that moment,

I knew I shouldn't do this. I'm like, no, this

is like crack. I need to not do this. And I got

out and they pulled me back in thing. And I literally,

I let him pull me back in. And yeah, so that

was the only time I've ever given up comics completely.

I have given up new comics several times where

I've just said, I'm done reading new comics.

I don't care about what they're publishing today.

But I still read comics. I'll still read all

my old comics. Again, with the DC Infinite app,

there's 27 ,000 DC comics I've never read. So

I don't care if they were published in 1982.

I didn't read it. It's new to me. Absolutely.

What are you reading right now, and what do you

think our listeners should check out? If we're

talking about stuff being currently published,

the Nightwing stuff by Tom Taylor, although I'm

several issues behind, that's the beauty of the

app, I can read what I want, walk away, and come

back later. The Nightwing book is by Tom Taylor's

amazing. I really, really enjoyed the flash run,

not the current one, that's only been out for

a couple months, right before that, the Jeremy

Adams stuff, where they brought Wally back. Those

were great. If you're looking on your app, it's

the 2016 series, about halfway through, where

Jeremy Adams takes over. The Radiant Black stuff,

I'd recommend that to people. It's a lot of fun.

Stargirl The Lost Children was a lot of fun recently.

It was a miniseries which then led into the Jay

Garrick The Flash miniseries going on right now,

which is really fun. Alan Scott Green Lantern

is another miniseries on the shelves right now.

It's really good. Another trade I read, now this

is probably five years old, so I don't know if

this really counts, but I read the first trade

for Department of Truth. that blew my mind. It

really reminded me, and this gave a recommendation

from my buddy Dr. Ange, it reminded me of reading

Peter Milligan's Shade the Changing Man book,

which was phenomenal in the 90s. I mean, it's

like reading that. And I just, after I got done

reading that first Department of Truth trade,

I mean, I probably thought about it for like

four or five days. It just stayed in my brain.

And that says, comics don't do that to me nowadays.

So that was, really resonated. And then there's

millions of old stuff people go read blue devil

go read just like international go read firestorm

There's a million great comics out there. You

should be reading Absolutely my problem and listeners

you people have heard this already a million

times in the last 11 years my problem with old

comics is I'm so used to new comics and all the

colors and all the stuff and all the everything

right in my face and I look at old comics I'm

like there's barely any color in here There's

barely like I don't know. Maybe I'm just jaded

that way, but that's that's a you problem. Yeah.

Yeah, I know I get it I Would say yeah, I'm of

the school where I think nowadays comics are

over colored You know though with the over lens

flaring and the over computer generated transitions

and stuff like that There's a lot to be said

like it's interesting in the just so your national

book again because I do a podcast on that jail

eyeball ha ha podcast um The color is very interesting

they had gradients and stuff that available to

them back then but they purposely chose to do

the comic in flats so everything was in flats

there were no gradients there were no lens flares

and it's interesting it really gives the comic

a different texture and it makes you read it

differently and that wasn't just all back in

the old days they saw it was a conscious decision.

on their part to do that, and it made for a really

interesting reading experience. I would even

say some of the Batman animated series comics

are kind of similar. Most of their stuff doesn't

have a lot of other than maybe grays and shadows,

but most of that's in flats as well, and it makes

for a completely different reading experience.

Absolutely. Heroes, heroines, anti -heroes, and

heroines or villains, what character archetypes

are your go -to reads? True blue heroes. That's

just where I go. Don't know why it's just where

I I don't get into the anti -hero stuff very

often. There's occasional ones where I do villains

I I mean, maybe it's compelling story and I enjoy

for you know the run but in the most part it's

it's heroes Oracle do you have a my parents got

rid of my comic story? Not a bit my parents my

mom's always my dad was out of the picture by

the time I was reading comics I mean still in

my life. So he wasn't in the house And parents

got divorced because you know, it was the 80s.

Yeah, and then Um, but my mom was always super

encouraging. I mean, I remember she when I was

oh gosh, but 85 So what's that 13 years old?

I had gotten a bunch of money for my birthday

She took me to the comic shop and she's like

go crazy and I bought like the DC heroes role

-playing game and I bought some Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles and I'm just you know She was completely

supportive of me and I appreciated that Absolutely.

That is awesome. What is one item from a comic

book you'd love to have in the real world? meaning

like A green lantern ring or something like that.

Yeah. Yeah, essentially. Yes. Yes. Yeah, probably

a green lantern ring because you know Even though

i'm not like the biggest green lantern fan pretty

much wish for family and get anything you want

Uh, so yeah, i'll go with i'll go with that There

you go. All right folks. We are now entering

the comic book fantasy fun land If you could

own any vehicle featured in a comic, which would

it be? Uh blue beetles bug, okay, if you could

live in any comic book world that you wanted,

where would you live? Opal City. That's from

Starman. DC Comics. Okay, thank you. I was gonna

say, wait a second, I've never heard of that.

Okay, then recommendation. There we go. That's

a book you guys should read. James Robinson's

Starman. Holy crap. It takes superhero comics

and turns it on its head. I'm not in a like,

wow, this is wild, but it's just a guy who doesn't

want to be a superhero, but it's a family tradition.

So he's like, all right, I'll do it, but I'm

doing it my way. And he's like, he loves going

in. He like, he collects antiques and junk stuff

and he likes cool vinyl records back before it

was cool. He's a hipster basically, but in a

good way. And it's a great series. It went 80

issues, one writer the whole way through, really

kept his vision and just a hell of a comic. And

it gets deep. It's just really deep. Great stuff.

So yeah, Opal City. Very cool, very cool. Who

would be your top three comic pals to join you

and become a barbershop quartet? Oh my gosh,

I'll go simple. Since I'm a J .L .I. guy, Bluebeetle,

Booster Gold, and Mr. Miracle. There'd be a lot

of laughing. Interesting. I don't think we can

do one song. Oh boy. Remind everyone we're in

the conflict fantasy funland so the fact that

he's married and has kids does not matter at

this moment if you could date any comics character

which one would it be i wanna say barber gordon

is my answer cuz she's awesome and brainy and

smart and sexy but the real answer probably gene

gray and i know she's a hot mess and i don't

care I've always had a crush on Reds. I think

comics played a role in that. I mean, come on.

Firestar to Jean Grey to Barbara Gordon and then

my wife who had red hair when we got married.

So there we go. Yeah, it's funny because I forgot

that Jennifer Hale voices Jean Grey in X -Men

92. Editor Mike here. Jennifer Hale did voice

Jean Grey, but it was not in X -Men 92. It was

Wolverine and the X -Men. Sorry, I got it wrong.

Even still, even though at this moment I think

it's Catherine Dischel or something that did

her in X -Men 92... Love the voices all around.

Now back to the show. I forgot about that because

I haven't really paid attention. I've watched

X -Men 92. We've covered it over on Tooncast

a number of years ago and stuff, but I completely

forgot that Jennifer Hale had voiced her because

my biggest thing is Jennifer Hale, Black Cat

in Spider -Man. Oh, just I'm ready. By the way,

just to be that pedantic nerd, it's not X -Men

92. It's just X -Men, by the way. It's X -Men,

the animated series. I know, but the thing is,

sometimes when you say to somebody who isn't

us, X -Men, the animated series, they're not

going to know 92. And now that they have X -Men

97, it's kind of a thing. I know. I get it. I'm

right there with you. Batman is now Batman 89,

and Superman is now Superman, what, 78? 78. Yeah.

Yep, yep, yep. What is the holy grail of comic

book artifacts? A Batarang, The Matrix of Leadership,

Kryptonite, Green Lantern Ring, etc. The holiest

artifact? Actually, comics number one? It has

to be fictional, huh? Key to Superman's Fortress

of Solitude. There we go. That giant Bronze Age

yellow key. It was like as big as a house. Yeah,

it is We're now exiting the economic fantasy

fun land if you could create any comic storyline

What would you want to create and what characters

would you want to create it with? So basically

DC gives you the keys to the kingdom and tells

you go nuts What would you do? So I and this

came out of one of our podcast episodes years

ago, but like I love the idea of doing 1980s

DC team and whether it's Justice League or some

other team I don't really care but like I am

in the way I did this I thought back to the way

they built Avengers like when they built Avengers

in the 60s they basically said let's take Characters

from all of our different books and throw them

together, you know We grab one from Journey to

Mystery who grab this, you know They grabbed

it from all these different books and combined

them So I like the idea of pulling people from

different books even different teams and pulling

together So I and then I'm a role player by trade

of the superhero role -playing. Mm -hmm So when

you build a super role -playing game, you always

think in archetypes. Like, OK, I need a tank,

a big bruiser. I need an acrobat, someone with

magic, someone who's got energy powers, and tech,

and mental. So I kind of built this based on

all this stuff, archetypes. I would like a pre

-crisis 1980 superhero team, which I think would

be fun. You put Blue Devil on there, because

I'm a sucker. Pre -crisis Supergirl, because

she always deserved to be on a team. Jon Stewart

would be fantastic. There's your kind of energy

construct guy. Supergirl's like your tank. Blue

Devil's your acrobat. You get Firehawk. She's

got the energy powers. You get Zatanna, who's

got the magic. And then you pull people from

other teams. This is where my idea from the Avengers

kind of thing. You pull someone from the Metal

Men. Maybe Mercury, because he's a bit of a jerk.

You know, from the Challengers of the Unknown,

you pull whatever the smart guy is. I can't remember

his name. From the Teen Titans, you get Lilith,

because she's got mental powers. From the JSA,

you get Wildcat, because he's a fighter. And

that's the team I put together. I swear I don't

care how many times people say the name every

time I hear the name Lilith all as I can think

of is Frazier Well Lilith in the comics is a

hot redhead so that's why I go that way What

is the one piece of advice you would give the

comics fandom It would actually be the slogan

of our network over at the firewater podcast

network. We have a slogan it is three simple

words is find your joy because we're all in this

because we love comics and so many people are

bitter and they just and everyone's got stuff

they don't like right we all do but why focus

on it why focus your energy on stuff you don't

like and it just makes you miserable instead

find your joy find something that makes you happy

Just stick with that and that's why I gave up

comics at different points in my life because

I wasn't enjoying them So I just found stuff.

I liked I didn't have to walk away from comics.

I just found comics. I enjoyed reading you know

Let go of the negativity. I'm not saying it's

not there I'm not saying people you everyone

the stuff that I like just hang out hang on to

the joy and focus on that Be positive folks.

Absolutely find your joy We've even got t -shirts

that say it That's right Alright folks, we are

going to go to a quick ad break. You're going

to hear some ads and some other stuff. We're

going to come back to get Shag's all of his promotional

stuff and everything else and close the show

right after this. Hello geeks and geekettes!

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Spotify, Stitcher, and everywhere you find great

podcasts. So, um, can I go now? Let him go. He

did everything you asked. No. Hey, welcome to

the last Comic Shop Podcast! A comic book podcast

that actually talks about comics. Yep, each week

we open the shop up and read and discuss a comic.

Sometimes we pair that up with comic book movies

or TV shows. We're not, lots of times it's just

comic books and sound effects. Oh yes, definitely

lots of sound effects. Imagine a podcast that

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Join me the irredeemable shag for show where

we're just trying to be happy the once upon a

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Where the topics will be ever -changing, our

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Focus on the positive. Find your joy. The Once

Upon a Geek Podcast, part of the Fire and Water

Podcast Network. All right folks we are back

here in the 545th episode of The Pull Bag celebrating

11 years coming up on March 6th of 2024. Mr.

Shag Matthews, thank you for taking the time

to chat with me. Promote yourself. What do you

got going on? Well, you can find me over at the

Firewater Podcast Network. I am producing shows

such as the Justice League International Bwa

Ha Ha podcast, which you may have heard mentioned

just a little bit ago. Again, we're recovering

the JLI era. We've been doing that show for eight

years, and it will wrap this August. Actually,

we will have completed our mission and have covered

all the JLI comics that Keith Giffen and J .M

.D and T .S. were involved with. Then one of

my personal projects I do is called Once Upon

a Geek. It's another podcast where I just. Do

that, find your joy. Every episode, it's a different

topic, but it's something I enjoy. We might talk

about Daredevil, might talk about What If, we

might talk about Doctor Who, we might talk about

Justice League, might be talking about Ted Lasso.

Anything that me and my guest at that time, the

guest is different every episode, that we enjoy,

we're just gonna have fun and talk about it.

Or if you are a fan of the Justice Society, I

have a show over there called JSA Presents. Once

my JLI show ends, I'll be starting up monthly

coverage on JSA Presents, talking all about the

Justice Society, covering a lot of comics from

the 90s and the 2000s for JSA. And then I'm on

a lot of other shows, like the Who's Who podcast,

Once in a Blue Moon, we'll bust out the show

that started it all, the Aquaman and Firestorm

show, Digest, Cast, whenever we make those, a

lot of other stuff. I show out the... FW team

up so a lot of a lot of place all over the firewater

podcast network if you're on social media You

can find me as once upon a geek or once upon

a geek podcast Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so

much. I have a suggestion slash request. Have

you done anything with Batman Beyond yet? It's

upon a geek It's not my bag. It's not that I

dislike it. I know hey, you know This would not

be the moment for you to say I have to do this

Yeah, nothing against Batman Beyond. It's just

I watched it when it came out and I was like,

oh, that's fun It just wasn't again. I think

it's the age difference because Batman Beyond

was I think what what year did this 19 and 25

years ago 99 I was Out of way out of college

getting married for the first time I mean I was

I was an adult when that one started very much

an adult in my career Whereas you know you talk

about stuff from the 80s and 90s and I'm like,

okay That was you know, that gets the nostalgia

juices flowing Well, it was in the late 90s and

they've had a million Batman Beyond comics because

we've covered them all on the spot That is true.

That is true Oh boy. All right. Thank you for

joining us here inside the pullback. If you'd

like to get in contact with us, we'll 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.

Send us email to feedback at geocastradio .com.

You can check us out on any of the podcasting

clients you choose to use. I prefer Spotify,

but that's just me. Follow us on Twix, because

I refuse to call it X. At the cast radio for

the network at the pull bag for the show. I am

at TF2 and Mike Become a fan on Facebook go to

Facebook comm slash geek cast radio network You

also check out the pull bag over there as well

as you have a once upon a geek page over there,

don't you? Yeah, there's a once upon a geek page

on Facebook as well And then there's a fire and

water podcast network page too. I think exactly

right thing All right, join us next time for

something since it doesn't say anything as to

what the heck is happening in the next episode

I have no idea and I'm not looking at the schedule

right now. So it'll be a surprise for everybody

For now I am TF2 and Mike with the Irredeemable

Shag as always make your greatest game to comics

and we will catch you next time You've just heard

the latest episode of The Pullback, the GCRN's

first comic review and discussion podcast. There

are several ways to get in touch with us and

leave feedback for the show. You can visit the

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great escape into comics and unleash the geek

in you.