How Mike “Boothninja” Powers Got Into Comics

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terms conditions restrictions apply Hello and

welcome to the pull bag this is episode 28 and

we just came off of reviewing the bat books number

23 issues This month from DC Comics here in August

and now we have upcoming over the next three

episodes Origins episodes joining me is that

modern gamer Mike booth ninja powers. Hello,

sir. Hello How are you? Good. How are you? Good

You are pretty much a modern gamer hardcore,

right? For the most part. Yes Yeah, because most

of the time when I listen to your off -the -cuff

podcast here on GeekCast Radio Network, go listen

to that, people. You don't care about retro whatsoever,

it seems. Well, you know, it's not that I don't

care about it. It's that I am not fluent enough

to have a conversation. Like, I can have conversations

about certain franchises and stuff like that

from my youth. I mean, I grew up with all that

stuff and I played them. However, I'm not knowledgeable

enough to carry a conversation myself. because

I wasn't as I While I was still in the games

when I was a kid as much as I am now I know more

about the nitty -gritty now than I did when I

was a kid and So yeah, I don't really like to

talk about it if I don't know about it and our

resident retro guy Joe You know, he's he's coming

up with some stuff. So All right, so How did

you get into comics? Was it a family member?

Was it friends? Did you just see something and

be like, oh my god, I must read this? Honestly,

it was... Well, my introduction to comics was

not a comic by itself. It was more the 1990 to

like, I don't know when they stopped producing

on them, but FLIR produced a series of trading

cards. Marvel trading cards and I kids were trading

them back and forth in third grade the X -Men

cards well that was one set they that was like

because I remember that those are like the Fleer

Ultra 94s and I had a complete set of those and

I had a complete set of the 95s But they also

did Marvel Super Heroes, which was every single

character that Marvel made. And kids were trading

those back and forth in school. And I would see

cards getting traded back and forth. And apparently,

at some point, I mentioned them to my parents.

And my dad knew a guy that he worked with that

he actually got a complete set of the Marvel

Series 2 trading cards for me. And then that

Christmas he also from that from that same guy.

He got a complete set of the Marvel series one

trading cards So that my introduction to all

those characters while I knew them My big introduction

to comics was through like the trading cards

and reading the backs of all of them and learning

about the individual characters My first real

comic book experience also came that Christmas

from my parents got me x -men number 25 The fatal

attractions issue where Wolverine gets the adamantium

ripped out of them So that was like my That issue

was kind of my instruction to comic book collecting

I don't I can't even realize I collected comic

books when I was a kid because I didn't what

happened was I became aware of fatal attractions

being a crossover event And I had my parents

drive me To different comic book stores around

around town so I could collect, you know, I can

get Wolverine I think it was like issue 50 or

issue 75 and like Excalibur X -Force uncanny

X -Men so I could have the You know the entire

story of Fatal Attractions. That was my first

Like thing right and then from there I I Collected

like Robin 2 back when it was called Robin 2

and it was Tim Drake. The only reason I knew

that that was like a thing is because I got a

action figure of Robin at the time. And then,

of course, I knew it was a comic book. So again,

I had my parents drive me around to the comic

book shops and I collected like, I don't know,

maybe three issues of that. But it was the cards

and my parents also got me a Marvel encyclopedia.

I was going to bring it in from the garage. but

it's from like it's from like 91 and it has like

it's you know it's like those books you see at

the bookstore now it's like you know the complete

marvel encyclopedia everything you want to know

about all the characters and a couple of years

ago my parents got me the updated version of

that which is still in the trunk of my car wow

but that yeah that was my that was my introduction

in with with comics and with the characters in

general So you were somewhere around 13 14 years

old when this happened. Uh, it was like 90 91

so I might have been like 10 10 or 11. Well,

you're the same age as I am. We're both born

in 80, right? 81 so well, yeah, okay, you're

you're younger Yeah, so somewhere just you know

see for me like And I know, you know, this is

episode 28 of the podcast. People are probably

sick and tired of hearing me say different stuff,

but I try to come up with different stuff that

I didn't say way back in episode three. For me,

it was weird because I remember certain... And

they weren't superhero comics. I know they weren't.

They were either Transformers or whatever...

the Hasbro properties had back then. I specifically

do not remember the Marvel run, whether it's

Marvel US or UK run of Transformers. I just didn't

have it, but I remember having different things

that seemed like comic books to me. And I remember

having this stupid book. This is a stupid adventure

book with Wheely. Oh my god. You know, stuff

like that. But I remember back in the... mid

80s, I think right after Transformers the movie

hit in 86, I remember Transformers trading cards.

I wouldn't give, I would kill to find a complete

set of the Transformers trading cards from G1.

That would be awesome. But yeah, no, I'm right

there with you when it comes to the X -Men cards,

and specifically for me, X -Men, I remember those

specifically. But yeah, all those trading cards,

and it was... Trading cards just to collect and

trade with your friends. It wasn't oh Hey, you

know all these new card games now Digimon and

Pokemon and all I know I know those aren't they

have trading card game versions of those franchises

But you know what? I mean, it's not like it's

not like now where you have to Get a dual disc

and this that and the other thing and fighting

card game. Oh god Well, yeah, that's that's kind

of like when the Marvel when the card collecting

stopped for me was when Marvel introduced that

powers. It was it was their attempt at taking

on magic. Oh, yeah. That's that's when it that's

when it stopped. Like, I don't know. I never

even bought a pack of those. I mean, I know some

friends like started buying those. I know this

is just. you know, whatever, not for me. That's

kind of when it stopped. I wish I still had those

sets. I looked them up on eBay a couple years

ago. They're only $50. It's not like if you still

have them, then you're gonna make a lot of money

off of selling them. Yeah, that's true. Alright,

so when you were in your teens, what comics did

you read? Were you a DC guy? Were you a Marvel

guy? Or did you like pretty much anything that

was put in front of you? Well, see, that's the

thing. When I was a teenager, I didn't read...

Comics I've always but I've always been an x

-men guy The Avengers to me are kind of like

I Mean, I like I like the Avengers when they're

bought when when they're the Avengers. I do not

like Captain America by himself I don't like

cap. I don't like Iron Man when he's by himself

but that said I've always been an x -men guy

and Didn't really read when I was a teen, but

I did have a friend when I was in high school

that he and I We never really got along, but

he was always trying to you know keep the the

make sure the room the road between us was smooth

because we hang we hung out with the same group

of friends and He brought me a couple comics

because he was collecting them. He's like hey

I got you know I bought these because I thought

you might like them. I know you like the characters

and so I mean there was that and the only other

the only other comics i collected at my teens

was like a three issue run of x -men and it was

like the fall of avalon because i was obsessed

with the fatal attractions and the fallout from

that and the fall of avalon i think i think it's

like the first run when x -men came back from

the age of apocalypse universe And so that's

I picked up those three issues and that was pretty

much it I didn't I I didn't really get into the

comic collecting again until I like 2004 so There

was a huge span where I was not collecting comic

So what were you reading then? I do have a leather

bound copy of Frank Miller's Batman Which is

year one and the Dark Knight returns Like oh,

yeah, it's it's a compilation. Yeah It looks

like a Bible like it like I said It's leather

bound and it has like that little cloth bookmark

that it's supposed to have and then the edges

of the pages are like painted silver Wow And

that was like my first again I've always been

aware of that what characters were DC and which

ones were Marvel, but I never actually read the

comics and so like that was my first time reading

a batman comic was the frank miller stuff and

i i've tried reading other dc comics um like

in the past decade uh like some of the jeff lobe

stuff like the long halloween and some of the

other ones i can't really remember but i there's

just something about the writing and it doesn't

really matter what dc book it is there's just

something about the writing that seems very dry

and especially with those low books like when

you get towards the end I always felt like those

graphic novels they just unraveled in the last

three pages like three or four pages and I have

never heard Anyone to my knowledge any of the

circle of friends that I hang out with or I talked

to online I've never heard any single one of

them say a nice thing about Jeff lobe and his

writing. Yeah, I mean I collected a run of Wolverine

on that started in like 2004 it started with

enemy of the state I Clicked at a run of Wolverine

right up until Jeff lobe took over the run over

the writing And I was like you just made me hate

this character Like, I love this character, and

you are making me hate this character. And you're

making me hate you even more. Yeah, that's the

way I am right now with Batgirl. As long as Gail

Simone is writing Batgirl, I am happy as a clam.

Anyone else? There was that whole fiasco and

I brought this up many times on the show before

so I'm sure listeners are tired of me saying

this but There was that whole fiasco when she

got fired and then rehired in the interim When

she was fired there was a writer Ray Fox, and

I've never read its Fawks I've never read any

of his other stuff, but for me It a book has

to have the consistency. It has to have a strict

If you set up a strict continuity of events in

the first 16 issues of your run, and then you

immediately, you know, you know, DC does something

stupid and fires the writer and brings someone

else in, I was so taken aback and just did not

care at all about what was going on in Batgirl

17 and 18. And thankfully they brought Ms. Simone

back and she's still writing it. But yeah, no,

I, I can, I totally agree with you on it as far

as like when writers, Jay, I don't like when

Creative teams change up. I really really don't

for me. I'm I mean I See, I can't really have

a in -depth conversation about like what Marvel

writers I do like I mean I like the the ones

that everyone knows like malar and Bendis I think

they I like their ultimate universe that they

crafted But there's a lot of guys that I think

Carrie and Erin are two that I I kind of like

now and I cannot remember the guys He did he

started writing X Factor after House of M And

he had a really good run on that, but I can't

remember his name and I feel really bad for that

I apologize for the dog barking in the background,

but it's hot in my house Yeah, so what So going

from like 2004 to 2007 or 2008, like basically

five or six years ago, whatever, what have you,

are you still reading the same things now as

you were then? Well, actually because of the

pull bag and wanting to have like, you know,

kind of like how I am with retro gaming on off

the cuff. I didn't want to start having conversations

if I wasn't actually reading anything. So I decided

to start reading comics again, but I'm starting

with some of my favorites and then following

either getting caught up on them or following

their through lines. I mean, when I when I started

collecting in 2004, Danner art got me hooked

on New Avengers, starting with number one. And

then I was reading New X -Men, not not the Claremont

run, but It basically became X -Men Academy.

You say that was such disdain, not the Claremont

stuff. Okay, I had a conversation with a guy

on the Altergeek forum and I, you know, I just

finished reading issues 1 through 100 of an X

-Men comic called Exiles, which is a really good

comic. It's kind of like a what -if style thing

where the team goes from goes to different universes.

And it's kind of like, what if Dr. Doom had Iron

Man's armor? Or what if the Fantastic Four were

evil? It's kind of stuff like that. And it evolves

out of that premise. And Claremont took over

the last 10 issues of Exiles. And keep me keep

in mind. This is a this is a comic that changed

hands over It was a hundred issues long it changed

hands every once in a while the artwork was relatively

inconsistent But Claremont took over the last

ten runs and I have never seen a comic go through

the floor faster than that Like the writing became

so stiff and so rigid and he these were characters

that I had already read about and you know gone

on the ride with for 90 issues and all of a sudden

he's he's using overexposition to explain all

the characters and all of their powers again

and it's like why are you wasting time doing

this and it was so it's kind of like how I look

at a Stephen King novel he explains every little

like this is a piece of rock that is broken down

into this many pieces of rock and it's the it's

that over explanation type thing. Well, okay,

I guess I guess so. But the thing is like Stephen

King novels, they're usually like one. Some of

them are one off novels, right? So you want that

world building thing. Right no no no I'm just

talking about like Claremont is explaining stuff

to the point of oh my god we get it can we move

on yes me when I read a Stephen King novel that's

how I feel like I'll read one page of a Stephen

King novel where he's in one page of the novel

he's describing one thing for that entire page

and I'm thinking can we like move on already

well keep in mind like You know my issue is he's

just he's just re -explaining all the characters

And I understand why certain writers want to

do that, but that's what like in the Marvel books

That's what like the first two pages are for

like when you're open when you open up the cover

And you see like the previously in Exiles and

then you get like a roster and kind of like a

simple explanation what their powers are like

that section of the book was gone after Claremont

took over oh And so it's almost every single

book had like some internal monologue from the

character saying, oh, I got stabbed in the back,

but my powers of healing will make sure that

I'm back at top. I'm like, oh, my God. I know

you can do this one because I know that you're

saber tooth and I know you outside of this 90

issue run, but why are you doing what? Like,

why do I need to see that stuff? And it just

kind of. It really took me out of it and I was

getting I was gonna read I was gonna read Exiles

series 2 and 3 but Claremont stayed on for Exiles

series 2 like I'm not doing it I can't and I

I It's kind of like the way I am with certain

video game franchises. I get what Claremont did

I get that he Opened the world up and stuff like

that like the the Marvel world and helped craft

it and shape it into what it is But I I can't

I can't stand his writing And it just never stopped

like I was like, okay, so maybe maybe issue 90

was where they can bring in new people Yeah,

but no is like the next issue he's doing the

same thing, but it's a but it's what it's a different

one of the characters That's got the opening

monologue It's just like I don't this is just

this is it's like every issue that he wrote you

could that's where you could jump in at Yeah,

that's that's strange, but I that's There was

that I got really one of the one of the characters

when I started collecting in 94 or not before

2004 that became really big and kind of a favorite

of mine was x23 She actually came out of the

x -men evolution cartoon that you do not like

yeah X emo is what that is called people I At

least the first season. You cannot deny the first

season. It's... See, I liked it. I was especially

disappointed when it got cancelled because their

little teaser thing for the next season was Age

of Apocalypse. And I was like, oh, I hate you

so much for cancelling this show. But they introduced

X -23 in that series and then they kind of retconned

her into the comics. And so I was eagerly going

to the comic shop and... um picking up everything

I could that's how I got into x -men academy

because she showed up in there um and then I

collected she actually got she had two mini series

and then like a 20 issue run um of her own comic

and then they put her in like uncanny x -force

And some other things and it was it was nice

to like I just latched onto that character and

I followed her through like all the different

X events and stuff and got caught up to about

Maybe 2010 sometime 2011 And I'm just trying

to do that again now with stuff that I'm reading

See for me I I started at a run where I Started

a new storyline That's how I get into it, and

as I've said before in the last 27 episodes of

this show, it's all Steve Megatron's fault. I

started with Death of the Family. I still have

yet to read Court of Owls, so when you asked

me on Twitter a couple weeks ago about... Oh!

Where should I start? And I'm like, start at

the beginning. It's the best way to do it. But,

um, I do, I've said this on the show many times

before. I do plan on hopefully in the next month

or so getting the court of vowels stuff and going

back and reading that. But that's how I got started.

And I just, I love being that comic book reader

that doesn't have the 50, 60, 70 years of, Oh,

references. Oh, this is how it should have been.

Oh, this is how it, you know, I, specifically

to Batgirl and Nightwing, who are my two favorite

Bat family characters, I love the fresh take,

at least fresh take for me, because Ryan the

Uneven Flow, who's also a host on this show from

time to time, said that they were pretty much

doing the same thing in the old continuity with

Nightwing as what they're doing now, you know,

reestablishing him and whatever else, and I just,

I prefer... the new story i'm gonna go back and

we're gonna have many many character spotlights

here in the pullback with the old stuff but right

now as far as a current comic collector i'm loving

the new stuff i do plan on getting into some

x -men stuff eventually uh... it's just it's

taking it's gonna take time for me because i

have so i have probably anywhere from hundred

to a hundred and thirty six dollars a month worth

of comics that I collect in general without having

to go back and Do x -men and Marvel and all that

stuff. So I am pretty much a DC and IDW guy for

the most part But I mean the stories and again,

you're right. It does it does depend on the writers

But the stories that that some of the stories

that DC is doing is is really really interesting

And for me just like you know, you said you like

the characters, and I'm the same way. You know,

I was skeptical as all hell about jumping into

any Transformers comic, and then I read the Transformers

Prime Beast Hunters, the Rage of the Dinobots

miniseries, and that was awesome, and it was

so nice and refreshing to see the Dinobots actually

get character. Versus me Grimlock want to bash

brains You know, I mean it was so nice seeing

people take care of those characters and actually

make them into something more than what they

were and what I knew them as But I mean it's

just one of those things so outside of X -Men

what else you got going on? What else is in your

your reading list there? Well, I read The Walking

Dead Because that comic is outstanding Only apocalypses

do not exist damn it. Yeah, well neither do giant

robots, so They need to do superheroes for that

matter Don't tell that to kick -ass You know

I I'm really just a Marvel guy I kind of what

I'm trying to I just started reading today Avengers

Academy because like I said I follow x23 and

when I was when I decided, hey, I'm gonna get

into, I'm gonna find out what's, where she is.

Cause the last thing I knew, she was on an assassin

squad with Wolverine and Archangel and Psylocke.

So I was like, okay, well I will go and find

out what happened to her. Well, lo and behold,

I found out that Wolverine was like, um, you're

too young to be doing this stuff. You need to

go have a life. And then apparently she ends

up in Avengers Academy. So I was like, well,

then I guess I'll start reading Avengers Academy

so I can. I know what that's all about and I

don't know. I'm not At least at least the way

that's starting out. It looks like it wants to

be like an x -man academy But it's not anywhere

as good as that was mainly because greg kyle

and chris yost Are another another writing pair

that I really enjoy They're you know, they they

added a lot of what I liked to new x -men or

x -men academy and you know they're not doing

avengers academy so um which is like a younger

for anyone that doesn't doesn't know avengers

academy is like a young group of superheroes

being trained by avengers rejects and it's still

like a school it's kind of like a like a school

setting to it which is fine but i feel like it

worked better with x -men because with x -men

with younger x -men characters because xavier's

was a school to begin with Right. I mean they

still get into like all their their troubles

like a new X -Men they end up taking on striker

and Nimrod and You know some really cool stuff

happens, but I Don't know it's so I'm just kind

of like I'm just taking off from there what I

usually do is I just follow one line and Then

you get like your crossover events Like Messiah

complex or schism or like in the DC universe

like that the death in the family would be that

crossover event Which is why I was like, well,

where should I just read? Do I that's why I was

asking is like do I just read that new 52 Batman

up until that starts and then read every single

issue that pertains to Death in the family and

then just finish it or should I or can I just

read death in the family? You know without having

anything else can do both but it depends on how

you feel about certain of the care like for me

wasn't I like Batman was it until Batgirl and

Nightwing came in on death of the family and

I started reading that and I and you know I started

reading those and I had to go back and get all

of those separate from death of the family but

yes you can read Batman number 13 through number

17 without going to the other tie -ins but you're

I mean if you're if you enjoy those characters,

you're going to want to go to those tie -ins.

The good thing is, I believe, either next month,

either in September or October, DC is releasing

a trade paperback called The Joker, Death in

the Family, which I believe is supposed to be

all the tie -in issues. One trade I believe that's

what it's supposed to be. I would have to look

it up To make sure that my well thought process

is correct, but I would I Would wait I mean I

have all of them. It's not like an issue. It's

just a matter of me finding the order to read

them Like and like I said usually what I do is

I I was reading x -men when Messiah complex started

and so x -men ran into messiah complex and i

wanted the whole story of messiah complex so

i got all the messiah complex issues and then

followed messiah complex out or followed x -men

out of messiah complex so right well i probably

the same i probably do the same thing with that

yeah i think court of owls and death of the family

both have tie -in issues now i do know with the

16 and 17 issues of Batman you want to read all

of the tie -ins first before reading Batman 16

because it leads up to all of the tie -ins lead

up to the Joker capturing all the Bat family

members and then you want to read Batman 16 with

17 you want to read 17 first and then read all

the tie -ins after that Because it's the events

after what happened in Batman 17 Do they do the

nice thing on like the last page when they're

like continued in? I believe so. Yeah, they basically

I don't know if they do The continued in because

I I know at the end of Batman 16 It says continued

in but I think it does with the 16 issues for

those Lead up to Batman 17, which is the finale

of death of the family. I don't know if they

do that in every of the of the other tie -ins

I'm not sure So and pretty much most of I'm looking

at the tie -ins now Most of them are like from

issue 13 to 16 or issue 15 and so it's just gonna

depend on on which ones you want to read right

so but um but no i mean you know marvel i like

their characters but i prefer their characters

in animation than i do comics and it's just because

i haven't read a lot of marvel comics uh you

know i'm currently reading superior spider -man

and that's really what That thing at the end

of Amazing going into Superior, that's what kind

of drew me back into Spider -Man and actually

cared about the character again, because I've

said this before on the show. Amazing Spider

-Man had 700 issues. To me, there's only so many

stories that you can write about Spider -Man

going up against his rogues gallery. And I am

one of those probably few people that actually

enjoyed what they did in 700 to basically...

Turn the spider -man world on its head and put

awk in Spidey's body and in vice versa Spider

-man is another one of those Marvel characters

that I don't like by himself Really? The only

the only spider -man comic I've been able to

read is ultimate spider -man And I only read

that because I was reading the other I read the

entire ultimate line up until the new the new

Spider -Man takes over spoilers, but it's been

a new Spider -Man for a while. I read it up until

then, and then I was like, no, you know what?

The Ultimate Universe should have ended with

Ultimatum, and that's that. I don't think it

should have continued on. I mean, it was just

a mess after they tried to continue it. But I

only write Ultimate Spider -Man because I wanted

the entire picture of the Ultimate Universe.

But I can't I've never read a standalone spider

book by itself mate probably Partially because

of what you said, you know There's a whole bunch

of continuity that goes along with it. Not only

that was like three or four books at the same

time Because there's like there's there was spectacular

spider -man. There's amazing spider -man. There

was spider -man. There's like Scarlet spider

and yeah, there was it was dumb. I don't understand

how one character could have so many books That's

the same thing people say about Batman. Well,

I agree with that too. I mean how can one guy

I mean at that point for me In my head you run

into continuity issues It's like how can he be

doing this in this issue and then like something

completely different in the next one like I don't

know that's one of the reasons why I also really

enjoy the ultimate thing is because it was as

far as I was concerned up until about a week

ago the ultimate universe with its own continuity

like it was not tied tied to like anything else

and I had my mind blown because of exiles and

that reality hopping business that goes on in

there but Yeah, it's just it's one of those things

where Like people are like some some people I've

talked to on the internet like oh I don't want

to read doctor octopus and spider -man's body,

and I'm thinking why not it's the first interesting

thing they've done You know what I mean in a

long time. It's the first you know spider -world

shake -up that they've really done the problem

is they're doing the same thing with superior

as what they did with the old spider books there's

now uh superior carnage which is a five issue

miniseries there's superior spider -man which

is the ongoing there's superior foes of spider

-man there's superior spider -man team up you

know they're doing the same i don't understand

why batman and spider -man have to have so many

damn books for themselves that makes okay that

man i can give detective comics detective comics

was that was dc's main brand how it's their friggin

name detective comics comics you know so i'd

get that but why do you need that way why do

you need uh... that many the band and series

even though i'm joe i'm enjoying reading the

band and series why do you need that many why

do you need Legends of the Dark Knight why do

you need Batman Dark Knight? I mean there's just

there's too much and yeah sure you can limit

yourself Anybody can put limits on themselves.

I mean I've put a cap on after the new turtles

new animated turtle series came out for IDW based

on the Nickelodeon cartoon I was like yeah, I'm

not getting any new titles. I'm just not right

now. I'm currently collecting Batman Batgirl

Nightwing Batman the Batman and series Batman

and it's was originally Batman and Robin by Peter

Tomasi Forge for four or five Transformers titles

the Turtles title Superior Spider -Man and then

you know those are my main things that I get

every month But then they you know DC's doing

oh It's the new 52 anniversary. So we have to

do something special. Let's do villains month

I'm only cherry picking those for characters.

I care to read about the Joker I'm interested

to see what is going on. They did this they have

this one issue coming out the Joker's daughter

Penguin, you know, mr. Freeze. That's really

all I'm interested in. But yeah between, it almost

seems, and I know a lot of Superman fans might

get mad at me for this, but it almost seems that

Batman is now the popular guy. Like Batman is

the number one for DC. I know Superman still

is as well. And I know Superman in himself, he

has multiple titles. But I just don't understand

why you can't have one monthly ongoing And if

you want to do a different take on it have another

monthly ongoing like they've got Superman the

regular ongoing and they've got Superman unchained

which is something new that they started so I

just don't get it. It's just crazy Yeah, I I

mean that's one of the reasons I gravitated towards

the ultimate stuff in like 2004 I mean, yeah,

I said that I grabbed New Avengers and I grabbed

all those other stuff but at that time I also

started reading the ultimate The Ultimate Universe,

which had been running since, I think, 2001,

maybe? I don't know. I remember reading... I

remember before I'd go into work, I'd go and

sit in the Barnes and Noble and read the trade

paperbacks volume after volume after volume.

And that's... I mean, that's like one of those...

I really like The Ultimate Stuff, and I know

that's where, at least in my opinion, that is

where Marvel is drawing a lot of their inspiration

for their movies from. And it's interesting,

being the Marvel guy that I am, and enjoying

the characters as I do, when it comes to the

movies, I know a lot of people get up in arms

over like, it's not continuity, it's not this.

I mean, they do that with Batman, they do that

with Superman, all this other stuff. But for

some reason, I never, as particular as I am for

continuity and characters being the way that

they are, I really do forgive, I get that, there's

Marvel 616, which is your standard continuity.

And then there's the Marvel Ultimate Universe,

and then there's the Marvel Cinematic Universe,

where they're gonna take all the liberties that

they want to make the character work on the screen,

which is fine. And every single movie I'm okay

with, except unless it has Wolverine in the title,

then I get irritated, because that's another

one of my favorite Marvel characters. Yeah, I

had to fast forward through half of AGU number

three because spoilers for what I have yet to

see The Wolverine yet, so Yeah with the with

the movies like everybody was up in arms. Oh

my god Superman doesn't kill Please seriously

my my take on that we've said this on ultra geek,

but my take on that is that That wasn't Superman.

I don't think he was Superman in Man of Steel.

But I do agree with everyone being upset about...

I understand why people are upset that he killed

somebody because I have to agree with some other

people I've seen on the internet that raise the

interesting argument of him killing someone trivializes

every other problem that he could possibly have

because if something gets too bad he can just

kill him because that was one of Superman's things

that's one of Superman's things that he doesn't

kill and it's kind of like well you've already

shown him taking the quote -unquote easy way

out in the first movie so what's preventing him

from taking the easy way out all the time and

I think that is what's going to make Superman

Superman in the movies Which is why I say he

wasn't Superman in the first one, because he

took the easy way out. And I think, you know,

the repercussions of that have yet to be seen,

but I think they'll just make it so that that's

one of the things he adheres to now, is that

he will not kill. Like, he doesn't want to do

that again. Well, you have to set that, well,

because technically Man of Steel is a whole new

universe, that's the setup there. Where you have,

he kills Zod, and that leads to him having all

kinds of, you know, regret and... I wouldn't

say necessarily remorse, but regret and just,

oh my god, these are my powers. If I overuse

them, I'm screwed. Everybody else in this world

is screwed, so I need to keep it in check at

all times. That's kind of like the speech that

Superman in the end of Justice League Unlimited

did with Darkseid. He lives in a world. Huh?

Love it. I love though. I love that. I just love

that entire thing But yeah, it's like, you know

He lives in a world where he feels like he has

to wear kid gloves all the time and it's true

because and I think that's where the Superman

films are gonna go now. He's going to realize

holy crap What did I do? I? Need not to do I

need not to go that far. No matter, you know,

there's always another way The film universe

Yeah, I recently listened to a podcast called

for better or worse. It's Michael Sims and his

wife Shana They remake movies You know, they

they do movie reviews, but then they go on and

how would you remake it now? They recently a

couple weeks ago just did an episode on daredevil

and I was listening to that and don't get me

wrong I know there are problems with 2003's daredevil

But if you look at the theatrical cut of Daredevil,

even though it wraps it up in a nice little bow

at the end, that is a perfect movie for a mainstream

audience that has never read a Daredevil comic

in their life. The origin is simple, basic, and

straightforward. Yes, there are convoluted points

in that movie along the way, but the origin is

basically Matt's dad. Matt saw his dad doing

something that he wasn't supposed to be doing

and ran away and the radioactive because it's

Marvel everything has to be radioactive you know

radioactive toxic waste or whatever it was you

know basically made him blind and it gave him

this you know other worldly senses and heightened

his senses and all that that's a straightforward

origin for that character and I can pretty much

forgive almost everything in the Marvel Universe

unless they're using way too much violence like

in Punisher Warzone. That is still one of the

movies that I just cannot get behind. The other

one just for the sheer fact that it's so stupid

is Electra. Oh my god. I tried watching Electra

the other day because it's on HBO Go and I stopped

watching mainly because I can't see in Jennifer

Turner. Like her as an actress. I loved her an

alias, but I They set it up in daredevil where

she might be alive She might not be alive and

I like that not knowing factor in it from the

end of that film But then because I don't know

a lot about Elektra Like as far as her comic

origins and all that I didn't know the League

of Assassins or whatever the hell they're called

or whatever the hell it is in Marvel's universe

of assassin ninja people, whatever the hell.

Illuminati or whatever the hell. The hand. Okay,

there you go, the hand. That hand does not need

a job You know, it's one of those things where

I just didn't get it and the acting not on her

part But on everyone else in that movie the acting

is so bad. The direction is horrible I don't

know but pretty much even I know you don't like

it as long as Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. I will

enjoy even though I find faults with origins

Even though I find faults with that film. I still

enjoy it because it's Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Well, I don't I don't dislike Hugh as Wolverine.

I don't have an issue with no I know you don't

but I'm just saying like just don't get he's

the one character that has he has such a Heat,

okay. First of all, he's a cheeseball character.

I There's no way around Wolverine being a cheeseball

character. I understand how ridiculous Wolverine

is as a character The stuff that I've seen happen

to him in the comics that I have read are absurd

I mean I have I have the Wolverine handbook that

is like supposed to be like a you know a cliff

most ridiculous things I've ever heard in that

he spent I don't know I think was like three

or six months trapped under an iceberg and He

lit he survived because he was he ate his own

flesh and regenerated it like That is how absurd

that character gets. Not to mention there are

issues that, and I have the issue, where he gets

all of his flesh blown off of him and he is down

to the adamantium skeleton and he regenerates.

Like, he is a completely absurd and over -the

-top character, but given that, he is such a,

like, the stories that they have to tell are

so rich and great. that I feel like the character

Wolverine is now being done a disservice, not

by Jackman, but by Fox, is being done a disservice

by not having him back in the Marvel Studios

portfolio because he was alive during World War

II. He and Captain America rescued Magneto. It's

like you could have like Wolverine origins They

could have shown that if it had been back in

the regular Marvel Cinematic Universe The weapon

X program by itself is like a 90 90 to two -hour

Movie alone and that would have been amazing.

I mean, there's a book out there. It's actually

called weapon X It's not a graphic novel. It's

a straight -up. It's an actual novel no pictures

and It is it is just a description of everything

that he went through in the You know, it's a

novelization of everything that he went through

in the Weapon X program. It's the same characters

that are in the comics, like all the scientists

that are known, like Dr. Cornelius and all that

stuff. All of that is in there, but they talk

about him having flashbacks to Vietnam and him

having flashbacks to World War II and the first

time he ever, like his claws ever popped out

and all this stuff. In fact, the only time that

book gets dumb... when they do the adamantium

bonding process and apparently nobody in all

of this stuff nobody bothered to take x -rays

of his skeleton because all of a sudden he had

razor -sharp claws in his forearms and nobody

knew that he had claws it's kind of like wait

so you spent all this money developing this program

and you didn't x -ray him like that just didn't

that was the only part of the book where it fell

flat but once you get past that I mean, he gets

down to like the nitty gritty of it all, like

even how like he's not encased in antimantium.

He's just like it's because otherwise he would

die. He wouldn't be able to produce blood. So

there's like little like nanotubes that actually

like were placed on his in his bones first. And

then the antimantium was placed around it so

his bones could still breathe. Like that's like.

that stuff was like incredibly cool but the book

or the movie like glosses over all that stuff

and yeah that would probably be boring for like

the average person but you could still tell stories

about you can make a world war two movie with

him i mean he's so rich that you can do this

stuff and it's like when i saw wolverine there

were things at the end of it that i took issue

with because i stuff that they set up in their

own cinematic universe and presidents that are

set up in the comics it's like this makes this

does not what just because something makes sense

doesn't make it good okay i i understood the

end of Wolverine i understood exactly what was

happening it still wasn't good um there were

just other things that could have done to make

it better i know that uh i know that fox would

be giving up a huge amount of money if they gave

up the x -men wolverine and Spider -man if they

gave them back to Marvel Studios, but it seems

to me that they want to compete with Marvel now

creating their own cinematic universe is That's

fine. I mean I've technically I Mean Marvel I

don't know if I Don't want this to be like a

movie discussion because we're it was supposed

to I know it's it's comics. Yeah, I don't know

It's just strange that Fox is... because I've

seen rumors that, oh, after Days of Future Past,

there might be an X -Men Fantastic Four crossover,

and that's how they're going to reboot Fantastic

Four or whatever else. I still say, I've only

really watched the Fantastic Four cartoons all...

I think there's three or four of them. Might

be only two, I don't remember. I've really only

watched those and the movies. I still defend

the two Fantastic Four films simply because of

Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis as Johnny Storm

and Ben Grimm. Love Chris Evans as Human Torch.

No doubt about it. I did not care for either

one of those movies. Mainly because I've seen

the 1990 version of Fantastic Four. I have seen

that live action one that was produced so that

the studio could keep the rights but they never

released it. Special effects aside... much better

movie much better story than what was in the

two that actually made it to made it to theaters

and I just had When I rewatched them both a couple

years ago Especially the first Fantastic Four

movie every single problem in that movie is because

of the Fantastic Four Like they they caused their

own problems, and then they fix their own problems,

and they're called heroes for it. I'm like no

do you people not see what's happening here it's

just it was just it's just weird and i i love

i again fantastic four is another one of those

team ups i don't like i find myself disliking

the 616 continuity of most marvel characters

if there isn't an x in the title i do not like

the 616 version of them i i do however enjoy

ultimate fantastic four and like and and the

ultimates which is the ultimate version of the

avengers um In fact, I don't know if you've seen

the the all Avengers or the ultimate Avengers

on Netflix that cartoon I've seen it. I haven't

actually watched it, but I've seen it listed

on there Well, that is a much better movie than

what was actually released live -action But I

I just I don't know I take I like everything

all the all the interpretations of the characters

in the ultimate world So I'm really excited for

the reboot of Fantastic Four because I hope they

try to skew for a younger team Which is what

ultimate fantastic four was basically the back

the Baxter building becomes a giant think tank

and Everyone in their ranges from like, you know

five years old with like a big brain to you know,

like basically 20 their 20s it's not people that

are like in their 30s and 40s and married and

It's it's more like they're you know you get

to see these people actually inventing things,

but yeah I'm trying to get into reading more

of the newer comics like today. I decided that

I was going to pick up Wolverine and the x -men

That's that comic and I was going to pick up

uncanny x -men as well And start reading that

stuff and Even though I'm just now starting to

read Avengers Academy, that has through lines

to other crossover events like the X -Men versus

the Avengers that happened last year. Yeah, last

year. So like when I come across that stuff in

Avengers Academy, I will read X -Men versus the

Avengers and get that whole picture. But I didn't

want to go and just jump into what's out there

right now. I kind of like to have a little bit

of back history. Think the last thing we'll bring

up is Yeah Batman Beyond you've seen that entire

series plus return of the Joker, right? I I have

seen return of the Joker. I believe I have seen

all of Batman Beyond Okay, and you've also seen

Justice League epilogue, correct? Okay, you need

to read Batman Beyond unlimited and then uh...

you did unlimited is the first title in universe

is the second title uh... unlimited was the first

one with adam beecham uh... and norm i think

his last name is grateful that could be wrong

i'm sorry i'll correct myself later uh... but

kyle higgins writer of nightwing is taking over

the writing for that and he loves that series

and they're basically there to it basically it's

What happened after the events of Return of the

Joker and what happened? You know at at the tail

end of of epilogue and they're creating new stories

from that with those characters in that in that

animated universe And it's it's amazing if you

don't get it in print you can get it digitally

on Comixology for 99 cents a chapter That's not

bad, and it's just Well, they're sitting up and

amazing the the first 18 issues of Adam's run

part of it was the first 13 issues are 10 ,000

clowns which is a new version of the Joker's

and The second part of it was the under cloud

storyline, which is this new villain called under

cloud We're at where Kyle brings it in is a year

after what happened on Joker night We're just

now seeing what has happened in that you know

we're getting Bits and pieces of what's going

on since the events of Joker night, and it's

simply awesome for for under a buck You know

digitally for single chapters. That's not bad

and how the how the print version collects them

is two chapters a piece so Print version of the

book came out earlier in August So Batman Beyond

Universe number one collects chapters one and

two. So it is so cool. So check that out. Well,

if I can get through the new 52 Batman, I will

check that out. Like I said earlier, I have issues

with almost every DC comic I read. So. And I

have already. And again. Sigh roll your eyes.

What have you but I read the first two issues

of Batman and I have not been Happy no it reminded

me a lot of just the They reminded me a lot of

like the long Halloween and like I like the long

Halloween in that in that series of books like

I said I just don't like the way any of them

ended and it's I can't Maybe it's just a character.

Maybe I'm just used to seeing Batman on screen

Yeah, more so more I'm using like Batman either

like animated or like on screen and I don't feel

like I feel like those are my bad and not the

the static image on a comic panel I I don't really

can't quite put my finger on it, but something

about the DC stuff just always rubs me the wrong

way Well, I don't think the Beyond Universe stuff

will rub you the wrong way. I honestly don't

I mean if you love the shows that much and at

least to me What they're doing is, it's like

the animated series is popping off the page again.

At least in my opinion, so. Alright, where, if

people want to interact with you online, where

can they do so? They can find me at BoothNinja81

on Twitter. Alright, we will catch you next time

on the pull bag when we will have another Orange

and Ze - What's an Orange episode? Holy crap.

Another Origins episode. I'm not sure who's gonna

be in the seat next time, but we will see then.

Make your great escape into comics and we will

catch you later. You still try to fight. Can't

you see that it's hopeless? quit as long as he

can still draw a breath. None of my teammates

will. Me? I've got a different problem. I feel

like I live in a world made of cardboard, always

taking constant care not to break something,

to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose

control, even for a moment, or someone could

die. Are you looking for a weekly dose of gaming

news and retro? Then check out Off the Cuff,

available Fridays on Geekcast Radio Network from

the producers of XRG. New name, same ****. You

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