Silk, Spider-Gwen, Descender, The Dying and the Dead, and Batman Arkham Knight Reviews

Hey, it's your friendly neighborhood Spider -Man

here, and I'm swinging by the Geekcast Radio

Network. Hi, this is Kevin Conroy, and you're

listening to the Geekcast Radio Network. Welcome

to The Pull Bag. Join us as we dig out our latest

comics and discuss them with a rotating panel

of the GCRN crew. So sit back and enjoy this

week's Pull Bag. Hello ladies and gentlemen and

welcome to the pull bag. This is episode 100.

Yes, that's right Only two podcasts in the GCR

in history have ever made it to the 100th episode

mark It's this and tune cast classic. I am TFG1

Mike I've been doing the pull bag for three years

folks And I just want to say thank you so much

to everyone who has listened who has commented

who has given us an iTunes review Thank you to

all my co -hosts, Steve Megatron, Michael Powers,

Art Danner, Joe Reed, Lady Rek, Beatles Diva,

Jeremy Fine, JT from Saskatoon, all the people

that I've gotten Origins episodes for, Michael

Bailey, Ryan Drozd from Star Joe's, Chuck from

Star Joe's, thank you to everybody, if I left

someone out I'm so sorry, but this is episode

100 folks. And I wanted to do something a little

special. I wanted to do something that spotlighted

a few new series. So within this episode, you're

going to hear myself, along with JT, Jeremy,

and Steve Megatron. We're going to talk about

four different comics. We're going to talk about

Descenders number one from Image. We're going

to talk about Silk number one from Marvel. We're

going to talk about Spider -Gwen number one from

Marvel and Batman Arkham Knight the print version

which collects the first three digital chapters

from DC Comics Thank you again to everyone. This

has just been an amazing ride for me. I love

doing the pull bag If you'd like to help me out

in any way possible go over to comixology .com

and send me an e -gift card That's the best way

to keep the podcast going. I have a ton of plans

coming up this year for the pull bag. I also

want to let everyone know I'm so sorry that Marvelous

March got delayed and will be airing in April.

Episode 101 will be Transformers Classics Volume

1. Episode 102 and 103 is a giant size where

Jeremy Fine and I do Avengers and X -Men access.

Episode 104 is Superior Iron Man and Episode

105 is Star Wars Number Ones. Thank you again

to everyone so much. Thank you for being so patient

with me Thank you for listening. It's just been

amazing So let's get to the reviews and I will

come back and gush later after that Alright folks,

we are here the pullback episode 100 in this

first part of episode 100 I am joined by Jeremy

fine. Hello, sir. Abba Raba symbol to I will

rob a symbol too to you too, sir. Dying in the

dead. Oh. Horror movies, no thank you. In an

episode 100 of The Pull Bag, this episode was

actually going to be multiple things. but uh...

i decided to go with number ones and we're gonna

highlight several number ones is the first part

of the episode jim and i are going to highlight

two issues from image comics one is from a series

called the sender and the other is the dying

in the dead these are both number one issues

so this is the very for these are two new series

that just started or started just recently maybe

last year this year whatever uh... and that's

kind of the point here in uh... in episode one

hundred is we're gonna look at number ones we

do have uh... marvel number one we do have we

actually have two marvel number ones and a dc

number one to look at as well so we're gonna

kick it off with dying and the dying in the dead

now i read the solicitations for this and at

first i thought it was going to be really cool

and i didn't realize that this was a sixty one

page comic I Don't know I'm used to 32 or 40

or hell even 48 or 54 or whatever but like This

comic just seemed like I don't know if it's cuz

I lost interest in the story because I couldn't

understand What the hell was going on or what

it was, but it just seemed like it went on forever

We know what it is. It's like with any season

one or series premiere of a TV show. They're

trying to condense two half -hour episodes into

a one -hour, like something like The Last Man

on Earth on Fox. They took two half -hour episodes

and made it into one 60 -minute episode. For

something like Dying and the Dead, I guess they

decided to take two issues and make it into one

comic. And I don't think that's a bad idea. Because

the problem with this comic is that it starts

off with an organization and something that happens

in the past. And it's like maybe about 10 pages

of prologue before we get to the actual story.

So I guess I can understand the problem is, is

that everything is so cryptic, that it's like,

who is the organization, the ring, the geotology,

the mythology. It's all rolled in and it's well

written and it's well drawn I wasn't bored and

I had to go back and do a lot of research For

what the point of this comic is I don't know

if we're gonna continue with this one the problem

with image and we talked about this is that They're

been around since 1992 and I get that and they've

had a lot of issues And they've had a lot of

great comics and a lot of great stories But here's

my problem, and it's a big one. They're kind

of now taking the ideas that other comics don't

want to take. And some of them are being recycled

and some are being regurgitated. And the problem

is this feels like something out of The Matrix

meets Batman 66. Because, you know, with the

with the bishop and the, like I said, the Egyptology.

And I guess we should start from the beginning

about what this whole thing is about. Well, before

we do that, I just want to let everybody know

the creative team on this is Jonathan Hickman

on writing, Ryan Bodenheim is the artist, Michael

Garland is on colors, and Russ Wooten is on letters.

Yeah, the overall premise here... You got me.

It starts off in the 60s. It's not always the

case. We're actually in 1969. It's in Greece

where we're going to see a twist where it's the

male who's marrying the rich female. and he's

older but she's younger so it's kind of like

that twist on you know the young female marrying

the older male for the money so but whatever

the case is that we know why he's falling in

love with this woman but the organization comes

out from the water And just as this man and woman

are about to make love, he's shot dead. She has

the key, which you can't see me use, you know,

in quotations because, but if we had a video

chat, the key, and it turns out it's this ring

that has a maze on it, or that's what it looks

like. It actually reminds me of those mazes you

would get at a dollar store with the marble in

it. And you just, that's what the key reminds

you of. But we get to a bigger door with You

know, the key with, you know, Nazi, uh, fanilia

and, um, samurai swords and you get the idea.

And then all of a sudden we get to an aging Colonel

who apparently his wife is dying of cancer and

he's thinking that he can save her. And miraculously,

he kind of can save her. with the help of this

cryptic guy named Bishop or the Bishop but he

has to go to Egypt and as he goes to Egypt of

course he's going to find not only the cure for

his wife's cancer but also to save the world

from this organization that apparently are women

who are clones of other women and possibly bringing

back Hitler and You know, he's gonna use the

Egypt powers for good and to stop evil and in

return his wife will be cured of her cancer and

then of course, I guess what the second issue

would be the second half is going through this

mysterious staircase and Having the this new

organization show how they've lived for centuries

like another I guess it's like an Atlantis type

of you know, this is what I got out of it Even

though they're Egyptian and that's pretty much

it's an underground city and that's pretty much

how it ends That's pretty much it yeah, I I don't

know I I don't know and I Look I do love the

art in this I think all the characters look great

I think all the backgrounds look great that you

know the effects of the violence and all that

stuff looks really cool But just the story, I

just couldn't get past it. It's like a lost Indiana

Jones. Like if Harrison Ford, you know, if Kingdom

of the Crystal Skull wasn't made, it would have

been this. Like if Karen Aron was dying of cancer

and they got rid of the whole crystal skull thing,

this would have been a much better story. Yeah,

it probably would have. I Don't want to say that

I have buyers remorse on this but I kind of do

because it Just I don't know like I said before

another podcast that I want more in depth I don't

want your standard cliche stories. I don't want

you know the same old same old But this was just

you out there for me It's not that so much out

there. I guess the problem is that we're being

introduced to characters that they're hoping

we're gonna like just because you know it's stopping

the nazis and we use egyptology and Potions and

notions and whatnot to stop the Nazis is what

I got out of it And it's an underground city

and it's Indiana Jones and it's and and I keep

and I keep going around and around and around

and around with that but at the end of the day

I have to be invested in giving a damn about

the characters and the throwing these no vinyl

characters and going the ancient ones You know,

I can just go back and read Lovecraft, which

is what I'm doing right now I'll just stick with

you know Understand people trying to be as original

as humanly possible, but I'll even I'm reading

Hellboy. I'm reading HB Lovecraft I know Nicole

Hale she recommended a Lovecraft comic book on

you know The solicitations a month ago. I'm reading

that that's more I'm not gonna take anything

away from what Hickman can do and I'm familiar

with him, but to me other than the panels here

or there I'm just not... I mean, I only paid

a dollar for this one, but I'm just not interested

in this story moving forward. Yeah, I'm not either.

I really wanted to give Image Comics' some of

their new series that come out a good try, and

I think I have, but this one... I... There's

no characters in here that I really care to find

out what happens to them now So this is gonna

be a we can't recommend it folks Well, actually

on a professional level in fairness I will give

it a smile and hint and a wink because I don't

bash anything or praise anything unless I read

it so personally for myself No, but professionally

for anybody out there that's interested with

Hickman and his work and image comics and these

type of stories I will give it a two and a half

on a professional level Yeah, I I don't know.

I just on a personal level. I just can't I I

won't sit here and say hey, you know, you should

really check out the dying in the dead. I just

It's just not my thing now. It's like okay. It's

there if people want to find it great That's

that's that you know and if they get it if they

if they understand it if they want to if they

enjoy it That's all well and good, but for me.

I just I Just can't recommend. It's the next

one that we're gonna be talking about today is

Going to be the descender or actually it's just

called descender this is by Jeff Lemire and It's

illustrated by Dustin Eugene lettered and designed

by Steve wands The cover is done by Dustin Eugene

variant cover by Jeff Lemire Let's see here.

So this one remember the the solicits for this

one and this is kind of like your standard dystopian

earth or world or whatever you want to call it

it seems like these worlds have been ravaged

by war or something or something happened to

them because we open with all of this stuff happening

all the world being bustled in and whatever else

and we meet this guy what's his name crap I Think

his name is Kwan What is his name? Doctor yeah,

dr. Kwan we meet him and we meet the people that

that want to basically talk to him about a project

and and this earth -shattering quote -unquote

earth -shattering event happens and we are then

taken to pretty much a We find out that the planet

is being surrounded by these giant robot ships

and it's one of those things where We don't know

what's going to happen and it this reminds me

so much of Independence Day where they're waiting

for the ship to do something Yeah, it also kind

of reminds me a little bit of Or you know, well,

you know Wally is too family -friendly. Oh, this

is an adult Wally when you think about it because

It's been a while since I've seen the movie.

But as I recall I think Earth was trying to build

robots and the robots took over but then like

one robot stayed behind or something that effect

I mean this This is a kid who is a robot as far

as I got out of it, that alien ships come and

he's kind of, you know, I guess like a Chappie

or a Number Johnny 5. I love the artwork in this,

but it feels like a little bit of AI, if you've

seen that movie, especially the cover. Mean we

have the kid just standing there looking at the

moon. It's kind of like you know with You know

I see dead people. What's his name? Oh? Yeah,

yeah, what? Joel Osment Yeah, yeah, we draw us

might the way it looked like for AI. I love the

alien creatures This one I actually got into

the story a lot more Because who doesn't love

a kid whose destiny is supposed to be shaped

for better things I especially love with one

of the pages because I got the digital version

for this comic as well So there is a giant panel

of a giant robot while ships are trying to come

and attack the planet and I love that and you

kind of have like There's a character that almost

looks like a young console with a shaggy hair

so This feels I don't know why but this feels

more pastel with the artwork Than it does with

anything else I've read so far Yeah, yeah the

yeah the pastel stuff was really cool, I really

liked that I thought that was interesting So

this one I have to say the story is an introduction

Pretty much you have the kid being separated

from the family because of an alien invasion

pretty cut and dry Gigantic robots robots and

flying ships and the kid of course just being

a kid has no idea what's going on It's a short

comic as far as I know from what I've read Yeah,

it feels You know and then of course he wakes

up has no idea what's going on being attacked

by more robots And then we find that he technically

is a robot Yeah, you know cuz We have like, I

guess like a mouse droid sticking his things

in the kid's arms and the kid's fighting back

and we can see like he's some sort of battle

droid. And that was a sick image. Yeah, it was.

I mean, this is something, this would be something

in a pure nightmare juice. If this was the eighties,

I can almost sense this. I mean, the way that

we find that this kid is a robot, how his skin

is cracking and circuits are coming out and him

shooting things out of his hands. Uh, it's definitely

something I would want to put on my screensaver

or my wall. It's some beautiful artwork. Um,

but he mistakes what I'm calling is like the

souped up mouse droid, but he reprograms it.

And of course it's another planet, another moon,

which is fine. You know, it's not the future

so much, which is, which is okay. I have no complaints.

And he's pretty much now. Guess trying to find

his way in the world because there will be planets

that don't want robots because they're afraid

that robots have destroyed their planets so he

is a boy or robot this you know disguise as a

boy hoping not to create attention to himself

and of course he comes across Almost like Darryl

Dixon in a way the way this guy is drawn. I mean

it is image comics after all and we have you

know, we have the blue alien and of course them

trying to decide what the alien invasion is all

about and trying of course find this kid this

kid is kind of like a harry potter -esque trying

to run away or I guess he's kind of like star

ward in a way because a little bit of I guess

of harry potter and star ward the way that the

hair and the face looks yeah and he has a companion

and of course he runs into like a gruffier version

of red skull with that That's what it looks like.

Kind of like this chewed gum, multi -eyed alien

with teeth. And I don't know how to explain the

other alien. It kind of looks like that thing

from Hellboy, the first one. Yeah, it does. And

of course, I guess if Han Solo and Chewbacca

were, you know, not, you know, at the Cantina

all day long and Chewbacca looks like he's white

and shaved and, you know, quadruped. So that's

how it pretty much ends how he runs into these

bandits All in all this is one. I'm gonna subscribe

to this one. Oh, yeah, absolutely I love if you

guys go to if you're on Comixology or where we

get your digital stuff if you go to page 21 page

21 is where Tim 21 kind of finds out what's good.

What's been going on it starts It starts this

whole pan out and panel thing. I love the whole

circular kind of screen thing on page 21 It's

so awesome how they how they've done this absolutely

love that And I was wondering what was gonna

happen as this goes on we see Dr. Kwon again

we see all this stuff and by the time the issue

ends the the people the woman that he's with

makes reference to the Tim 21's and it seems

like a lot of time has passed and Nobody really

knows and whatever else and and it's just so

interesting. It really really is Absolutely love

it descender Number one go check it out from

image comics from Jeff Lemire on writing. It's

Absolutely amazing really love it. I Think if

we continue with the image section that we're

continuing with I don't know how we're gonna

do this But I suggest if we continue with the

sender like wait for the next trade. Oh Yeah,

absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. No

this This whole idea for episode 100 of The Pull

Bag is to give people kind of a preview kind

of thing. Yeah. And I may write out written reviews

for this series on geekcaster .com. But yeah,

no, this isn't something that I'm going to add

immediately into The Pull Bag's rotation right

now. I just kind of wanted to give everyone a

preview. And that's kind of like none of the

titles that we're going to talk about here, whether

it's with me and Jeremy or me and JT or me and

Steve. none of them are going to show up in the

pullback coverage soon because there's so much

crap that we already have to do before this is

just kind of like a check this out this is cooler

hey this isn't for us you know that kind of thing

so all right i think we're going to move on to

myself and jt talking about uh silk number one

from marvel will be back after this new york

city If only everything down there was really

as peaceful as it looks from up here. Alright

folks, we are back here on the pull bag episode

100. It is time to talk about a Marvel title

as I've already said here. We are going to talk

about silk number one from Marvel Comics. Joining

me is JT from Saskatoon. Hello. Hello. How you

doing? All right, this is the 100th episode of

the pullback we've only had two podcasts in the

entire GCR in history that have reached a hundred

episodes that was tuned cast classic in this

Because I'm insane apparently insane in the membrane.

Yeah Please don't sue us not cypress field They

appeared in how high so I mean, you know They

ain't got much else to do. Well, that's only

because Red Man and Method Man promised to pay

them in weed. With the way the movie turned out,

yeah, that's probably what happened. So, JT and

I are here to talk about Marvel Comics' Silk

Number One. Now, Silk is a character that came

out of Spider -Verse. And which spun out of just

a quick history lesson, I won't go on too long,

I promise. Many, well not many years ago, but

about a decade or so ago, J. Michael Straczynski,

the guy who wrote many great episodes of He -Man

and the Masters of the Universe, real Ghostbusters

and created Babylon 5, did about a year or two

run on Amazing Spider -Man where he introduced

some more... Quasi mystical aspects of Peter

Parker's origin that no one had ever really thought

before he basically put it the chicken or the

egg You know was it the radiation and the spider

bite that gave peers powers or was the spider

always going to bite him? and give him these

powers and then he meets this guy Ezekiel who

also has Spider -Man like powers and which is

also where they first introduced Morlin who we

saw more of Morlin and his family the inheritors

in the Spider -Verse event and yeah so and as

we met Silk I think it was on issues four or

five of the current run of Amazing Spider -Man

where You would think that if one guy is gonna

one skinny nerds gonna get bit by a radioactive

spider and get superpowers Maybe somebody else

might I mean law of averages and that's basically

what happened with Cindy is she was also at the

radioactive demonstrate a radiation demonstration

that Peter is at where he got bit And you know,

he throws the spider off. She gets bit and she

gets spider powers now she i don't know before

you go into her history i just want to say i

know that uh... one of people i've seen online

say like one that was firsted this first issue

came out of gold few months ago because issue

two is already out now as of this record here

when you know people for when i first started

seeing people talk about this is like all week

i'd sheepens the whole thing about Peter Parker

being the all it's like You know it makes him

less special because she also got bit and I'm

like no it adds something to it Well, they've

said it. I mean okay, so let me let me just put

it this way say I'm trying to think here. How

can I put this? Say someone's This is not really

morbid and horrible here say someone is on a

shooting spree and Let's just say for argument's

sake these are magic bullets Okay, let's say

one magic bullets bullet hits one person and

gives them this sort of power Let's say another

magic bullet grazes somebody else and only gives

them half a power that and you just said Peter

got bit by the spider. He threw it off and the

spider bit her Okay, so I think of it as cause

and effect I don't think of it as oh my god Peter

Parker's the only one that can be bitten by a

radioactive spider Yeah, and I don't and I don't

think it cheapens or anything away from his or

his origin has been around I mean come on people

now. I mean Peter Parker's origin has been around

since 1962 that's 53 years Well, it's not the

first time in the history of Spider -Man comics

that Peter was bitten by a spider and he's thrown

it off and it landed on somebody. I mean, I love

the original, and don't get me wrong, I love

everything they've done with Miles Morales as

the ultimate Spider -Man, but I read Ultimate

Spider -Man from issue one, and in the first

issue, the genetically altered spider bit him,

he threw it off, it landed on Mary Jane. She

had the good sense to brush it off and stomp

that mother into paste. So it's not like it hasn't

happened before Right, you know, but I mean the

thing is and a lot of people talk in traffic

takes away from Peter blah blah They said that

when Barbara Gordon became bad girl. They said

that when Jennifer Was it Walters became a she

-hulk? anytime there's a They probably said that

in the 1950s when Kara Zor -El landed on earth

and popped out of her rocket You know all ready

to go right before Superman put her in Norfolk

Jr. and more or less abandoned her for a number

of years. With every time a female version of

an already established popular male superheroes

show up Everyone's like it takes away from him

and blah blah blah misogyny and this sucks and

girls have cooties, you know, it's you know,

what Honestly, don't get me wrong. I love the

idea of a female spider -man. I Jessica Drew

was great Anya Karazhan was great I'm blanking

on the 1980s one that's now Madame Webb. Julia

Carpenter, there we go. Yeah, none of these women,

when they became Spider -Men, ever took a - Wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, old elderly Madame Webb, and just

before she actually died, because pretty much

she walked up, shivved Madame Webb, left her

to bleed out, she passed her, you know, connection,

her powers to the great web of life on to Julia.

So now she's the new, which if you thought your

mother could read your mind before, imagine being

the mother of a superhero with that power. So.

The funny thing is, my only exposure to Madame

Webb, obviously, is the voice of Joan Lee, Stan

Lee's wife in Spider -Man the Animated Series.

That was so awesome. only My only exposure to

Julia carpenter was as spider -woman in the Iron

Man cartoon series Yeah, so hence when you brought

her down like oh, yeah, that was spider -woman.

Yeah, there you go You know, but I loved I loved

the Julia carpenter from the Iron Man series,

but good Yeah, so I mean it's any time a guy

Talk smack like that. Like oh it takes away from

this character. It's like that's in the back

of my mind you can boil it down to girls have

cooties because it's a male power fantasy you

know any number of arguments that are honestly

not all that invalid it's it's a good if it's

a cool character i mean you look at how what

happened with barbara gordon i mean she went

on to become like one of the greatest characters

in dc comics before certain things happened that

would make me go into a screaming Fit and I'm

not gonna do that today Wait, I have to know

is it issue 35 to now? We'll talk about that

off -air where people can hear my screams It's

not it's more so that they not invalidated the

whole of oracles existence It's just with the

new 52 how they glossed over everything like

oh, yeah, she was in a wheelchair, but she got

better That was an easy way to explain to new

readers. Let's face it, The Killing Joke came

out in the 80s. Not a lot of children today that

might be reading Bad Girl are going to go read

The Killing Joke. Basically she copied her mind

and now the whole they're doing the whole ghost

in the machine thing That's gonna be the new

Oracle. Maybe who knows? Anyway, we're not talking

about DC. We're talking about Marvel. So So silk

number one it is Has an amazing creative team

on it. It's got It's a Robbie Thompson is writing

Stacey Lee is the artist Ian Herring is the colorist

Vicks Travis Lanham is the letter Dave Johnson

is the cover artist and Stacey Lee and Scottie

Young are doing variant covers I Got in a stock

cover by Dave Johnson, which I think is absolutely

beautiful It's like the colors and everything.

It's not like hard colors. It almost looks kind

of Like they use like chalk, you know, like it's

got that grit to it kind of and I gotta say I

love the the original silk costume is literally

uh for those that don't know her powers are pretty

much spiderman's except she shoots organic web

out of her fingertips and she can also shoot

like that whole webbed hooked barb that can like

pierce skin like she can shoot it that hard that'll

do all that I I love how the original costume

it just basically looked like she just threw

like a whole lot of webbing on her And this one

it says she's tightened up her control of her

Spinnerettes that now it you know looks like

spandex, but I like the overall design You know

nice tight costume in all the right places I'm

not a huge fan of the the main cover the one

where it's her You know in the web in the web.

I like the variant cover I like the one where

she's hanging upside down that one is so much

more cooler to me It's all right. It's You know

I Just I think I just don't know why she has

to look like you know a 40s and 50s train robber

No Yeah, I know what you're talking about, but

no it's not not in this case The alternate covers

just cuz how he does like the baby marvels Alternate

covers it just just the peoed look that silk

has interface is kind of entertaining Yeah, I

do It's funny when I mentioned the The train

robbers alls I can think of is the bank robber

when Rigs got robbed by Murtaugh in maverick.

Yeah I love that scene So we open up silk number

one and opens up with open the monologue finally

and she's facing some weird villain here Dragon

claw yeah, I still I love that thing. My name

is dragon claw seriously Sounds like a Pokemon.

Is Pokemon still a thing? Asking for a friend.

Like, that's the one thing that as much as everyone,

you know, beaks and complains about this being

female Peter, there's absolutely nothing wrong

with that. No, see, but this is different. Like

she is her own kid. She's not she's not a daughter.

She's not a niece. She's not a long lost sister.

She's not, you know, some sort of distant relative.

She's not a clone. Cindy. The last name is McGee,

right? Cindy Moon. Moon, thank you. Cindy Moon

is her own character. She is separate from the...

I mean, just be like, you know, go down the line

and list all of these Spider characters. You

got Peter Parker, you got Miles Morales, you

got Ben Reilly, you got Cindy Moon. They're all

very, very different characters, even though

Ben Reilly is a clone. but, you know, whatever.

I mean, I love her Eclipse. I think her Eclipse

outdo Peter's half the time almost at this point.

And the fact is, like, one thing we should mention

about her origin is, like, after she got her

powers, she couldn't control them. Then Ezekiel

showed up and basically took her to Trainor,

and she ended up locked in, like, this doomsday

bunker. Under the series because she came out

in the original sin issues of amazing spider

-man you find out that she's been locked underground

So all her references are like a decade plus

old Mm -hmm, and you know her family's missing

which is part of her backstory And but yeah,

I still like that. You know, it's like this Pokemon

still a thing. I'm Asking for a friend, you know,

I love and I love I love how she's you know trying

to defeat this guy, and then all of a sudden,

ah, Spider -Sense overload again. Yeah, and this

is all, like, the first issue, like, the last

few issues of Spider -Verse hadn't come out when

this first one came out, but the story takes

place after the events of Spider -Verse, where

a lot of, like, by the end of Spider -Verse...

Stuff had been I'm not going to specifically

say because I know we're going to cover that

in the future Stuff happened that affected all

the remaining spider -men and women so But yeah,

so her powers are screwed up. I gotta love say

I love Stacey Lee's art like it's it's it's vibrant

It's animated. It's got this kind of cartoon

feel to it You know absolutely and so yes her

she blanks on her spider sense overload, dragon

claw cuts her web line. And I love how her inner

monologue here she's like, crap, double crap,

falling bad, inner monologuing hard, and then

need a hand. And I could almost hear not was

it Daniel Christopher Barnes was the 90s Christopher.

Yeah, there he goes. I don't hear his voice in

that line I hear Dan Gilva Zanz like I hear Bumblebee

say that I love Dre. Um, you haven't heard the

last of me and you know, he takes off and I Almost

heard Josh Keaton. Honestly, I know Josh Keaton

was, you know supposed to be spectacular but

I really like because I always watch Always watch

Josh's since spectacular spider -man is no longer

spider -man reads spider -man memes So awesome

But yeah, so, you know need a hand You know,

you haven't heard the last of me You know call

you don't write me down Yeah, and that's the

thing. I love this whole thing is he got away

it happens you okay. I'm Fine, just late for

work. You're right. You're totally fine. Hey,

we should grab dinner or good talk. You know,

Sydney just kind of bamfs out of there. And the

whole idea is in amazing because Otto was dating

Anna Maria. They have to keep up the pretense

of that Peter is dating Anna and she's now quote

unquote pregnant with his child. You know, the

whole - I am so glad I stepped away from that

crap after Superior ended. Oh my god. Okay, okay.

Easy, Mike. Easy, breathe. Just, oh, it hurts

my head more than the Batgirl direction does.

But, uh, the - again, going back to the original

sin issue is amazing. Because they're bitten

by the same spider, because of the whole, you

know, mystical aspect of the whole spider power

thing, whenever they get within, like, ten feet

of each other, it's, uh, mating season. And they

have that where they first meet they're just

kind of like But and then you just hear that

brown chicken brown cow music So it's kind of

funny that she just kind of biffs off like that

and you know She's got to go to work and one

thing we should mention her job is She's as she

is the female peer now. She's a researcher at

the fact channel If you replace the A -C -T of

that word with an O and the X, and you see what

replace Bill O 'Reilly with J Jonah Jameson,

you can see what I'm saying here. It's the Fox

News channel of the Marvel Universe. Yeah, but,

oh, okay, but JJJ is not as bad as Bill O 'Reilly

is. You can't honestly tell me if Bill O 'Reilly

existed in the Marvel Universe, he wouldn't be

doing the exact same damn thing that J Jonah

Jameson's been doing for 50 plus years. No, I'm

just saying Bill O 'Reilly JJJ. We know we all

know his his motives is we all know how he's

gonna be I'm just saying Bill O 'Reilly would

be worse than what JJJ is at this point debate

about but Moving on and just we keep segueing

and I will take so we go to the we go to the

past because we get part of Cindy's origin story

here and She says I retain most everything I

see So she kind of has a photographic memory,

kind of like Batgirl. Yeah, she's got an eidetic

memory, she's trying to date, her mother is being

rather controlling, whereas her father is like,

I like Hector, he's got a wicked wrist shot.

Okay, you think the father would step up a little

bit more, but I think that just kind of proves

how much of a harpy Cindy's mum may be, that

he just says that and then he just shuts the

hell up. Now to me just from what I've seen of

Cindy out of costume in this first Way back on

this first page. I I don't know she doesn't look

Like her parents are looking in the flashback

I don't know is she are they supposed to be and

I'm just asking so I know for informational purposes

I don't say the wrong thing. Are they supposed

to be Chinese? Well, yeah, I don't specifically

Chinese, but you know of Asian descent. Okay,

bear in mind. This is like 13 years. This flashback

is about 13 years ago Right, but what I'm saying

is that you know Cindy to me in and out of costume

outside of this flashback Doesn't look like she's

Asian unless unless my eyes are just playing

tricks on me here Well, I mean, yeah, I mean

the art doesn't suggest. Yeah, but again, I don't

want to seem culturally insensitive. Yeah, I

know. I'm not trying to either. Like Stacey's

Liard is kind of, you know, amorphous. Like it

doesn't specifically look like she's Asian. You

wouldn't know that unless you read, you know,

like Amazing and all that. But I mean, I can

see it. But anyway, you know, so we see Cindy

at work and there's Jonah. You know not Jonah's

no longer the mayor of NYC. He basically got

I think he got the what do you call it? Not subpoena

page. Yeah, I think he got impeached or something

like he was basically of like how badly I Love

how everyone's like, yeah spider -man's a menace.

Yeah Jameson sucks, you know, it's Jonah's just

so life boy the belief blithely oblivious to

how much he sucks like All I can think of is

if JJJ got impeached, man, he should really be

eating some Barack Obama impeachment Ben and

Jerry's ice cream But yeah, you don't even live

in this country. You don't get a say we live

in this world like so Yeah, and it's just the

whole thing with JJ's like he went he had this

massive coronary when brand new days started

back in the day and it literally said he can't

handle any more stress that would cause a heart

attack and he went from that to Becoming mayor

and now he's Bill O 'Reilly and he's still been

howling for years. How is his heart not exploded

by now? But there you go So throughout this whole

scene, Cindy has these two co -workers next to

her, and one of them says, oh, is it her? I think

it was maybe JJ. He's like, am I boring you,

ladies? Are you busy with Twitter? And Cindy's

like, what's Twitter? You can really tell she's

been away for a long time. Yeah, and then JJ

is like, I like you, kid. You got moxie. Yeah,

he's like pitch me a story and he's And I love

how He he she pitches herself like she says silk

and the JJ is like, let's go with that. What's

this? He's she's running rings around spider

-man put it on the front page Yeah, and I love

that like now he now he's gonna be like a silks

supporter as long as silks like, you know Dicking

around with spider -man and all that And you

got her two co -workers, which I don't think

we even got names for him yet No, well the blondes

rafferty from what I could tell and That's about

it. And then they got like the black chicks.

Obviously there she want to ask her out ask her

out She's right there and she's like you want

to ask me out and then we got got the whole jit

Jonah thing and then we get the new producer

lady who's like Jonah's Wrangler and You see

Cindy's like she's still trying to juggle like

it's like when Peter was you know not a Freelancer

for the bugle like she's trying to juggle her

work and the search for a family because her

family's gone missing You know, she's got her

mom or dad and her younger brother. They're just

up and gone away And we get another I love the

second flashback is what I'm saying. Wait, wait,

wait. Before we get to the second flashback,

it says, where is everyone? It's time for our

story pitch meeting. Mr. Jamison just finished

it. What? I'm his boss. Wait a second. Why isn't

JJJ in charge? He's in charge of everything half

the time. So we get back to the flashback. What

do you like about this part of the flashback

here? Just the way her little brother kind of

calls Cindy out on being mean to their parents

and just you see her she's Just the go -between

like I've got two younger brothers, you know,

so it's stuff like this I really get into it's

just Just the dialogue and I can I can feel that

sort of connection that they have You know where

he says, when you're a teenager, you'll see how

weird they are. And then his little brother's

like, do you really hate mom? And just that look

on Cindy's face where she's just kind of like,

no. And just that the last two pounds, you know

what's really weird? White chocolate, so gross.

And I was like, okay, that's one point against

you little sir, because I love white chocolate.

Wow, that sounds so weird. And I like that I

let's yeah, so we get back to the yeah Skip on

she shows up at this party or something or other

Well, I think she's just walking through like

a downtown. Oh, that's that's right You're not

one of those navel -gazing crybaby Millennials.

Are you and then she's she's out in patrol and

she's like my uncalibrated spider damn it silk

sense you know she goes out we meet again pokemon

dude my name is dragon claw you know i was like

okay there Leonidas we get you this is Sparta

and she does like an old like spider -man 67

trick where she you know makes a shield yeah

she's spider she webs up a shield and she does

a little Captain America on it and Well, yeah,

she kind of does. Yeah, spinning. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. And she throws him, knocks him into a trash

container and... Can Dragon Claw Pokemon teleport?

I'm asking for a friend. But I love right before

her inner monologue and out loud, she's like,

please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please

don't be dead. Time doesn't pay. She's just kind

of like, okay... Oh god, I I had so much fun

the first time around when I read this one Because

you know, I wasn't really sure I was trying to

give a few new Marvel titles some some Some look

-throughs and see if it was something I was gonna

be interested in and the funny thing is Steve

Megatron will come in after JT and I finish up

here and we'll talk about Arkham Knight number

one and spider Gwen number one And I gotta say

when I read this and then I read spider Gwen

I'm done with spider Gwen. I'm sticking with

this. This is much more my my style Yeah, I like

I said, I'm given at least personally as far

as reading goes. I'm giving spider Gwen like

a three or four issue Test phase, you know see

what happens, but we go back to Cindy's apartment.

Well, yeah, is that where she I guess the black

chick her name is Lola and Cindy leaves a you

know, thanks for letting me crash you know, she

packs up her stuff and she moves out and If we

go back to our third Our third flashback, which

it turns out the whole all these flashbacks is

the day she went to the science exhibit And you

even see in the last panel there there's Peter,

you know taking a picture or something on the

wall she's met this dude Hector that she's seen

and She's all like just like squee, you know,

she's all happy. Yeah, I think yeah and Hector

gives her a moon necklace that you know an ankle

I mean, okay a bracelet I can see a right, you

know some sort of like special ring that isn't

an engagement ring or something like you know,

like something like that or a necklace an anklet

I just One day you'll grow a hormone and all

will be clear Mike shut up But yeah, so we and

we go back to the present then Cindy's called

Peter You know classic Peter mask halfway up

his face eating of Sandwich on the side of some

building And you see her inner monologue, it's

like we had a thing it was weird and awesome

She's got this whole inner monologue while she's

talking to it, of course Spider -man makes the

Top Gun reference It's like talk to me goose

I just can't hear Maverick coming out of Spidey.

I just can't. No more than you hear Iceman coming

out of, well, Iceman. Think about it, it makes

sense. Yeah, I love the... Hey, she says the

static. How do you deal with all the static?

You mean Spidey sense? I prefer silk sense sounds

like a shampoo. Yeah And I like that and he just

tries to well granted he's had years to You know

perfect his Spidey sensor just deal with everything

he's He tries to give her this analogy that you

know, the city is loud and smelly and yada yada

yada, but it also has the greatest piece He's

just telling her to find balance like just work

at it. She's like do you ever shut up doesn't

sound like me And this is what is so refreshing

to me this isn't Spidey and Mary Jane this isn't

even Spidey and black cat even though that's

the relationship I prefer he be in because I

don't care what anyone says 606 to 611 or amazing

just no pun intended, but Jesus Christ those

just amazing um so so we go back where it's like

you want to come over she's like yes no hangs

up good talk cindy and we can see who i guess

one of her main antagonist is going to be because

we go to uh we find pokemon dude out of the suit

drowning his sorrows in a bar seeing his ass

get kicked all over the news hey look who's on

tv a flying trash can he's like it's ah forget

it and well he's basically working for black

cat who's going like full -on maniacal super

criminal now because and i we have no one to

blame but doctor octopus basically Wait, you

mean she had more interactions with him after

he... It's basically Otto's fault because she

was trying to sex him out because she had no

clue what happened to Peter and he left her webbed

up so good that she's been arrested and well

hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. True

and then she's like I don't know why I was you

know working so hard to like earn stuff when

I could just steal it and Now she's gone like

full -on catwoman like evil catwoman. So You

know, she's Through amazing and like superior

and amazing and here and still she's finagling

her way into becoming Like a crime one of the

premier crime bosses in the Marvel universe Yeah

So we go from there to Cindy has decided to move

back into the bunker because it protects her

like insulates her from everything outside so

her spider her silk sense doesn't see she's going

to do it now. The entire bunker is Daredevil's

sensory deprivation tank for her. Yeah, it just

insulates her from all outside signals basically

it's because until she learns to control everything

you know she just she needs this she's trying

to find her own way and you know go from there

and there's another some pre -recorded messages

from Ezekiel starts playing you know it says

nothing but my pre -recorded messages to keep

me company well that in the library of spider

-man uh fights on videotape that if you see from

the amazing spider -man things and we go uh dragon

claw goes to the shop And well, from the looks

of the setup, I don't think it's going to end

very well. Well, just the look on the repair

the repairman's face is like Miss Kat wants me

to give you the full makeover. I was like, yeah,

the torture table with straps there just lends

itself to such pleasant imagery. And so it's

just I don't think it's going to end well for

Pokemon, dude. No. uh... and we go back to the

bunker with cindy and she's piecing together

all this stuff all this information in the final

pages you know her saying that uh... i'll find

you guys i promise and she's trying to find her

family also it kind of reminds me of how the

flash started Oh, with the wall of weird there?

Yeah. No, the wall of weird is from Smallville.

Come on now. It's a name you can use. It's the

wall of weird, Mike. No, it's not. It is. No,

it's not. Not at all. Weird wall. Nope. Weird

Canadian wall is what it is. That's what makes

it awesome. No. So we end on this. I'm really

digging this series. I mean, I really dug this

issue. I mean, we have good character development

for Silk. We have her interacting with Spider

-Man. We have Black Cat, who apparently is going

to be the villain of this series. As I said,

I have not read beyond this issue at this point,

but I really want to. I really had fun reading

this book. Yeah, and that's the best thing about

this is, like, I hope they have a minimum, say,

two two -year run, I mean, because you never

know. Well, I don't know. I'd have to check the

cancellation list for post divorce. That's what

I was going to say. Did Silk make the cut on

the cancellation list? Because if she didn't,

then yeah, that's going to really suck. No, but

I mean, overall, I love this issue. Definitely

in it for the long haul. Like, you know, Stacey

Lee's art. And Robbie Thompson's writing, it's

a great, I don't mean this exactly, but this

is, in a lot of ways, Ditko and Stan Lee back

in the day. We'll see what happens in the future,

but I really got that they really kind of came

together, the writer and the artist on this.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. So far from what I can

tell, from the... From the from the IGN list

that I have here Silk is not on the cancellation

list. So that is a good thing. Lord have mercy

Yeah You know folks and one of the reasons why

I found this that this issue in this series so

refreshing is because Well, I haven't been reading

spider -man for the past 53 years. Obviously.

I wasn't alive in 1962 but I have been exposed

to Spider -Man since you know early mid 80s to

90s with the animated series and obviously the

stuff of today and the movies and all that stuff

there only I've said this before there's only

so many times I can handle Peter Parker going

up against Doc Ockard and I know that's obviously

that can't happen to the comics I get that right

now but I'm saying like the standard villains

that we've always known Peter versus doc off

Peter versus electro Peter versus flash Thompson

Peter versus this Peter versus that like and

Nothing for me everything I've read from Peter

Parker Nothing seems to change it. They keep

the status quo so much. Well, it's like what

Marvel's done for years is they've never Rebooted

their universe. They just update certain aspects

of origins to keep it, you know with the times

I mean you look at Tony Stark originally. He

was a Vietnam Weapons contractor and then post

years reborn. He just had a manufacturing plant

in Southeast Asia and then the movie in the current

comic and movie origin he's Back when he was

a weapons contract, but this time it's Afghanistan.

So it's they updated stuff like that and that's

It's still kind of timeless. It's just in order

to kind of keep it fresh and to give a point

of reference for people You know with whereas

spider -man it's literally just radiation demonstration

spider bite powers You know, so there's really

not a whole lot that you can update there. I

mean there was the time John Byrne tried to did

chapter one and he had Dr. Octopus leading the

radiation demonstration and thus Spider -Man

and Dr. Octopus's origins were tied together

like that but I think that's pretty much considered

non -canon now so yeah but yeah overall great

issue get this series if you can you won't be

disappointed yep absolutely absolutely love it

alright folks finally up in episode 100 Steve

Megatron and I are gonna tackle Spider -Gwen

number one and Arkham Manor not Arkham Manor

I'm sorry Arkham Knight number one now the Arkham

Knight number one we're gonna tackle actually

covers the first three digital issues so we'll

be back after this I'm Gwen Stacy this is Mary

Jane Watson oh oh it's so nice to finally meet

you Pete talks about you all the time Oh? Gwen

is my lab partner in Dr. Connor's class. Pete's

something of a genius. I'd be completely lost

without him. Which actually reminds me, Pete,

if you've got a picture of my kiss with Spider

-Man, could you bring it to class? I'd really

love it. For my portfolio. All right, folks,

continuing the trend here in the pull bag episode

100, joining me this time is Steve Megatron.

Hello. Hello. How are you good? That's good So

I haven't mentioned this in the previous parts

of the podcast but we have reached 100 and numbered

episodes here inside the pullback only one other

podcast has done that on the GCR in Yes, was

it a special tune show yeah, that's right, so

Steve is here because he gave a try to Spider

-Gwen number one and then after we talk about

that issue we're going to come back and talk

about Batman Arkham Knight number one. So Spider

-Gwen what is your well first of all what is

your knowledge or you know thoughts on Gwen Stacy

in the first place? I know very little about

her other than what I've seen in the animated

series. I'm not, and I've prefaced this before,

I'm more of a DC reader when it comes to comics,

although IDW has quite a big palette of stuff

that I used to read when it was on say Marvel

or DC in the past. So that being said, I'm more

of an IDW fan at this point, but I think that

Marvel does have some pretty solid stuff coming

out now. It just depends on the content, but

I think here as far as when getting this kind

of different different take Is kind of refreshing?

Yeah, I Find it refreshing like you I I don't

know too much about Gwen Stacy other than the

fact that you know she died and spider -man was

sad and you know this and all that and I mean

I know what I've seen in the cartoons and the

movies and that kind of thing and or else but

as far as her being a spider hero I I kind of

like it but what gets me down and I've listened

I mean I know the second issue is at least out

I don't know if the third issues out but what

gets me down about this this first issue is Yes,

it's a refreshing take and it's an interesting

take as you have Gwen Stacy instead of Peter

Parker in the suit and Yet they have to give

her the vulture really hmm hmm Like I want to

see something new and fresh and this is what

I said in the last Review with JT from Saskatoon.

We talked about Marvel's silk Silk is You know

another spider type character And hers is a much

more refreshing story for me because Don't get

me wrong. I love everything in this issue with

Gwen Stacy I love how she interacts with people

around her just the overall plot and where This

issue seems to be pointing us in the direction

of her facing off with a quote -unquote new or

old or different vulture It's like, I've seen

the Vulture before. I don't need to see another

version of the Vulture. I want her to have her

own villain. I don't know. So getting into this,

Spider -Gwen number one. It is written by Jason

Latour. Art is by Robbie Rodriguez. And the cover

is by Ramon Perez. I like it. Like I said, I

enjoyed it, but I don't. I think this is going

to be one that I'm going to continue on reading.

The art is fantastic though. I love how they...

I was going to say I do like the costumes of

Gwen in this. I do like the cover. Some of the

drawing once I get inside I'm not entirely sure.

Yeah, I'm I'm not entirely. I don't think it's

one. I will continue with yeah, I mean Some of

the drawings in here. I do enjoy them the colors

pop really well It just doesn't seem like like

right now for me as I said The whole silk character

is more interesting to me because I know I knew

nothing about that character I still have yet

to read spider verse I'm kind of saving in the

whole spider verse event thing for when we do

spider verse September later this year So but

I still figured you know these are number one.

You know these are new series These are new ongoing

so they start with a number one, and it's supposed

to be you know something we've never seen or

what you know read before and You know, Gwen

says she's been around for a long time, and I

thought this was going to be a new and updated

take on her, and it kind of is on her. It's just

the one issue I can't get past on here is the

villain. I know I should. I know I should just

get the hell over it, but I just can't get past

that they put her up against the vulture. Well,

I mean, they all have to share. It true in this

universe. Anyway, I mean, I mean really who are

who who is she gonna fight? Yeah, that's so I

mean sure in spider -man hasn't plenty enough

large enough Rogues gallery. He's got plenty

to go around so Yeah What I do like about this

series so far is that they've taken Mary Jane

and turned her into the Mary Jane's and it's

a band. I thought that was kind of funny. That

was definitely interesting. But it's this series

is almost it's almost like they wiped out Peter

Parker. Yeah, I had him go away and in place

and then they have Spider Gwen there. And I think

it's funny and one of the And you have to really

be paying attention but in one of the billboards

in the background It says stop the spider woman

this is call one five five five four Peter That's

so wrong on so many levels folks I just I it's

one of those things that caught me So, you know

at one point during the comic we have a police

lieutenant interrogating a prisoner Quite violently

and it turns out to be lieutenant Frank Castle.

That was kind of a shock He ain't punishing nobody

yet No, not yet not until the thud thud thud

thud thud happens And as we go along uh... you

know gwen sees you know sees the meridians and

she's supposed to be i believe she's the former

lead singer or she was the lead singer in it

it's interesting i i like this little take on

it this this series really almost reminds me

of the new direction that the batgirl new fifty

two series is taken where it's supposed to be

bright and fun and This and all that which is

weird since spider Gwyn is coming out of the

spider verse and all that stuff Like I said,

I love the art I love the character designs Robbie

Rodriguez's character designs are great Yeah,

I mean I'm like I said I'm a fan of How they

they kind of did that pull this off in there.

I'm not entirely like I'm not entirely a fan

of the art but it's not anything that would detract

me from reading it mm -hmm the one thing that

I really do love is how she How spider Gwen is

drawn and how her you know when she's in costume

how the costume is I mean if you think about

it the only time she has You know like this the

the traditional spider -man look is on the inside

of her hood or on her on the inside of her sleeves

of her costume, I kind of like that word it distinguishes

her from everybody else Yeah, I get that Very

cool So as we go along here we have her fighting

the vulture Kind of coming to the close of the

issue and Again, I I can't get over the whole

vulture thing You and you're just stuck in your

ways man Don't even start I know just let it

go Yeah, I'd just throw that in there right now.

Jam. Take it. I do love at the end here how Vulture

attacks her and she's falling too far, too fast.

Runs on a shooter. Yeah. Oh, man. I love the

to -be -continued page at the end of the book.

I really do. I'm not sure if I'm gonna continue

with this. I remember when I first read this

issue on Comixology, at the end of it, it says,

oh, rate this book, and I gave it three stars

on Comixology. Like I said, I liked it, but I

didn't, like, I didn't really have as much fun

with it as I thought I was going to. I don't

know. So maybe this will be something that maybe

maybe JT can talk me into this at some point

because I know obviously you're not gonna be

able to No offense to you, but maybe this is

something that you know one of the one of the

other Marvel guys that I do the podcast with

can talk me into because I Don't know. I just

feel like they're you know. Yes. It is a fresh

take on Gwen Stacy, and that's really cool But

other than that There's nothing here in the story

specifically that pops out at me and just screams,

oh my god, this is awesome. You need to read

the next issue. Yeah, there's nothing that screams

that, because it seems just kind of like a Spider

-Man comic, just with Gwen Stacy as the focal

point and less sarcasm to keep the interest.

Yeah. Which it's kind of there. Using spray -paint

cans instead of dialogue So all the spray paint

oh poor Gwen Who knew New York was so colorful

yeah graffiti did I should say You did not just

bring the Lion King into this holy crap Alright

folks, Steve and I are going to take a quick

break. Before we go, Spider Gwyn, number one.

On our GCR and Universal Ratings scale, what

would you give it? Zero to five stars, sir. About

three. Yeah, I'm right there with you. It is

about three stars out of five, so we'll be back

with Batman Arkham Knight, number one. This will

be the print version, which collects the first

three digital chapters. We'll be back after this.

This is Kevin Conroy. And I am the goddamn Batman.

Not on my show. Alright folks, Steve and I are

back and it's one of those things where episode

100 we've talked about four different titles.

We've talked about Descenders or Descender from...

Is it Descender? Ah, I can't think off the top

of my head. Yeah, I know, I should know this,

right? I should know what's in my own 100th episode.

The Image Comics series entitled Descender, I

was right. We talked about that with myself and

Jeremy Fine. We talked about Silk with JT and

I. Steve and I just did Spider -Gwen. And now

Steve and I are going to be doing Batman Arkham

Knight. So we should probably give some backstory

on this one because this comes straight out of

Arkham City. The video game. When did you first

hear about the comic tie -in to the new game?

Pretty much right after it came out. Okay. Are

you in favor of them doing this? I don't mind

it, only for the fact that it does add to the

story. The only thing I do kind of have a problem

with is it's just another kind of way for them

to con you into buying. See that's the thing

with me is you know you're you're one of those

gamer types And you love all the Batman Arkham

games not saying that I don't but I don't you

know I love the story to it I just I don't necessarily

want to have to buy it outside the game Right,

but that's what I'm saying is you enjoy the game

you like playing the game And I'm just not I

haven't been a current gen gamer in a long time

and for me What I like about Arkham Knight the

comic is that it isn't they didn't directly come

out and say okay, this is Going to lead up to

the release of the game and kind of be like a

prequel This is supposed to be a story that kind

of starts right before the game and then continues

as the game goes along and has parallels to the

game story. So I like that. I think it's cool.

I think it's interesting. And this is probably

the first Batman, like actual Batman Bruce Wayne

proper book I've picked up since I dropped Scott

Snyder off a cliff with death, not death, zero

year. just said it before folks I just can't

get into the main Batman title it's just not

no it's just not gonna work folks so Batman Arkham

Knight it is written by Peter J Tomasi on art

we have Bogdanovich, Victor Bogdanovich. We have

Thebert and Rausch. We start off with, you know,

Arkham City is closed, the Joker is dead, and

I think I wrote a review of the very first digital

chapter, which is the first part of this print

version. I think I wrote a review on Geocast

Radio and I kind of gave the first digital chapter

a low score because I thought that... At the

time, the art guy, Victor, was just basically,

he was tracing Capolo. Don't get me wrong, I

love Greg Capolo's work, people. But if you look

at this opening page here, where it's, you know,

Death of a Rival, and it has Batman, that to

me looks just like what New 52, Jim Lee, Greg

Capolo, Batman is supposed to be. And right then

and there, I did not like it. As far as the art

goes, what did you think of the opening first

few panels and pages and stuff? I don't mind

the art at all, like it doesn't faze me. It's

still a lot cleaner than a lot of stuff I remember

from the 80s, so to me it's not bad. It's kind

of a mix between what they did with the Early

90s kind of Batman comics and like the animated

series kind of with some of the simpler Looks,

but some of the grit I Enjoyed the fact that

the Joker was dead And then they show that he

still has one more laugh Batman's fighting the

electrocutioner again Well, this is a different

guy this is the same, you know, I remember When

you first were good, I think I think we were

on a Skype call at the time you were reading

through this this was a few weeks ago before

the record folks and You're like the electrocutioner,

but he's dead He died in Arkham Origins. Yeah

Joker shot him in it. He got impaled So Batman

stole the gloves And then I love how he takes

the, uh, the guy's like, don't science kick ass,

and then he grabs the freeze grenade, shoves

it in his mouth. The one thing you and your boss

have in common is you both talk too much. Which

is true. The electrocutioner's like, oy, I'm

going to kick your ass, Batman. Then he's like,

um, no He just like it was funny because Batman

just lays him out one shot like in the game I

don't know the I haven't read up on Rocksteady's

whole plot line for the game But I like the idea

of the Arkham Knight and I'm really intrigued

by this because this is this seems to me like

it's something completely different It is, and

nobody knows who he is. I like that, that's a

good thing. I'm pretty sure a lot of Batman's

other allies are going to be in this game too.

Right. As far as the comic goes, he looks great.

I mean, the outfit, the mask, the glowing blue

eyes, it really looks awesome. I just hope it

doesn't turn out to be some alternate timeline.

Hey, Bruce, this is your long -lost brother.

You know. I hope not. It's the last thing we

need is another Thomas Wayne Jr. It was good

the first time. It was great the first time around,

but there are no owls in this court, people.

I think the only thing that would make it kind

of funny is if it was hush. Oh Disguise that's

gonna make people all kinds of mad cuz I know

everyone When I was actively paying attention

to Batman eternal whenever he's like, oh, yeah,

the villain turns out to be Hush and then everybody

just threw their arms up and like up. Yeah, I

Mean granted it would be interesting if it was

a new villain. Yeah Dick Grayson, it's Dick Grayson

Don't you dare it's bad enough. They make him

a Nick Fury of the DC universe Yeah, pretty much.

I like how the Joker though when he's Dead on

the table oh The do not open till Christmas with

the flash drive in there that was underneath

his skin Yeah, he pulled like a Jigsaw type thing

Yep, he did But yeah, I mean it that Issues pretty

freaking Yeah, the issue is pretty awesome the

writing from and I'll admit this folks. I have

not read Tomasi's Batman and Robin I've read

a couple issues of it back when Robin supposedly

died, but I have not read it since It just I

came in the middle of it at the time and I just

couldn't it just didn't hook me But starting

here, starting fresh, starting with something

new, I'm really liking Peter J. Tomasi's writing.

The whole thing with Alfred and Bruce's Batman,

it's like, wow, that's awesome. I do like the

several nights after the death of the Joker.

Yeah. With Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Yep. And

Alfred's like, an hour or two of sleep would

not be adverse for a creature of the night. I'll

sleep when I'm dead. And then he calls him, you

know, he says Alfred and Tweedledum's like, why

won't you leave us alone? Why are you calling

us Alfred? Because I can't bring myself to call

a grown man Tweedledum. And he basically rips

his hat off. And then he's got the Arkham Asylum

Batmobile. But it's awesome. I mean, well, the

thing about it is he's He sank that in the river

when he wrapped Bane around it. Okay, alright,

if you're gonna go full -on continuity, yeah,

it's a little out of place, but the way I look

at it is this is a way for them to show off a

Batmobile in the first issue, or the first few

digital chapters. Well, I'm not saying I didn't

like this one, because I really do like that

Batmobile. It's like a cross between the 89 and

the animated series. Oh, it most definitely so

I really enjoy it but At the same time knowing

that it's it was in the Gotham Bay when Batman

wrapped it Bane around the hood of the car And

knowing that he's got a new batmobile. That's

a fortified tank for Arkham Arkham Knight Mm

-hmm. I just want to see the new one now at this

point, but I take it that this one's gonna get

destroyed It gets destroyed in this issue. Which

is kind of sad, because I was really digging

this. Like you said, it's pretty much a combination

between 89 and TAS. After we first see the Batmobile,

we get to Bruce, and he's at this meeting with

all his stockholders. No, not his stockholders.

All the influential people left in the city.

after the corruption has kind of ended a little

bit. And, you know, it's basically, it's kind

of like, it reminds me so much of Gates of Gotham,

which that was Snyder and Higgins on the writing.

And in that they talk about, you know, redefining

the city and, you know, making it its own. And

it does kind of also remind me a little bit of

the beginning for Court of Owls. I'm not saying

that's a bad thing at all, but that's just what

I thought of when I'm reading through these scenes

Once again Alfred and Bruce just Versus like

overall today was the first step towards making

a lasting change to Gotham excellent to hear

I had hoped the sunlight would bring some much

-needed clarity playing from the grave yep on

the flash drive but you never thought you'd see

me again but it isn't just it isn't just in the

Batcave it's everywhere because even cobble plot

sees it yeah it's across all the Gotham yeah

but the kicker here is there was a separate message

just for Batman yeah I'm still not too thrilled

with Cobblepot. I don't know what it is about

Penguin. I just... I can't take him seriously.

I don't know what it is. Oh, he's a pain in the

ass in both games. I'm sure because it seems

like and this is just my you can correct me if

I'm wrong here because like I said I've never

actually played the games I've seen people do

playthroughs of them, but I've never actually

played them it seems like penguin is like He

isn't a secondary. He's not like the Riddler

missions But he he just seems like he's a secondary

thing compared to you know the main course of

the game And yeah, so we got penguin we go back

to Batman and Batman goes oh, so the Joker message

for him was that the Joker has planted bombs

all over Gotham And you can't touch any of them.

You have to find the master one that'll disarm

them all it's a kind of a standard plotline,

but it's good I'm not did I'm not giving it bad

vibes here at all uh... and it brings uh... it

brings bruce back to the old arkham which is

interesting to see it's funny though that the

arkham knight wants to take batman out but in

his way and he's actually trying to get batman

out of the room that he gets locked in with the

bombs Batman is kind of dead as Arkham explodes

and this is where oh that panel the poor Batmobile

oh what that car ever do to Arkham supposedly

Batman is dead because the Arkham Knight comes

up and he sees Batman's shirt but we all know

people it's Batman Then we get to see Scarecrow.

Yep, then we get to see Scarecrow. Who's been

missing since Arkham Asylum. Right. He was hinted

at in Arkham City on his little barge in the

middle of the water. Mm -hmm. But because I found

his little hideout in Arkham City. Oh, did you?

Yeah. Very cool. Yes. So we see that that Bruce

is alive he's you know on the street I I love

how he's he goes up to a payphone and goes to

call Jim Gordon and you get crooks coming up

behind him and he's not even trying he's just

just beating the hell out of these people while

he's still on the phone it was just absolutely

awesome Love though when he gets out of the water

and he just takes that Joker thug down And he

happens to hear the fact that the guy's wife

is locked up in the trunk Mm -hmm. He says your

your plates are from three states away, which

means you probably have luggage in your car I'd

like to borrow some clothes of course anything

after you get your wife out of the trunk. I mean

And then and then he has his bat suit dropped

into him. Yeah, which this is game numerous times

Yeah, this is supposedly a brand new bat suit.

This is a prototype apparently I love it. It's

not It's the same one he used in Arkham Asylum

in the city it it is but this is not a new 52

style This is not a great cat Lee the suit he

had on earlier That was kind of like... No, it

wasn't. I mean, it was kind of... No, it was

based off the Arkham games. This one's another

Arkham game, I can tell by the gauntlets and

the chest and everything. You didn't play it,

you don't know. I'm not arguing. I'm just telling

you from reading comics the first suit looked

more like a cap alone inspired design Versus

what this suit looks like and I really dig the

new suit here. I love those gauntlets those gauntlets

are awesome So we go to Batman and Commissioner

Gordon who are apparently Watching the Joker

be cremated And I love the design on the the

face melt that is awesome So awesome And I love

how they end this because it's the ending is

hmm It seems you have stumbled upon something

called the last will and testament of the Joker

can only imagine what he's got in store for for

Batman now Batman Arkham Knight number one the

printed version absolutely love it I will be

getting the digital prints I'll be getting these

on comics ology I'll be getting the print versions

because I mean I I'm finally interested in a

Batman story again a current day batman story

and i love all the designs in it yeah i had a

little you know a few hiccups in the beginning

with the suit and the design of him but you know

after seeing as he's gone through this first

issue i'm loving this what about you i very enjoyed

it it's it's actually really good um and i i

tend to like it more when they do the filler

between games with the comics than when they

run the comics through the entire story of the

game. Well, I did read an interview with Peter

J. Tomasi, and as I said earlier in the beginning

of this part of the podcast, that this is supposed

to be a parallel to the game, so it is going

to cross over and have some things to do with

the game, but he also said that it's also going

to be somewhat different. I don't know how long

they're gonna, it depends on how successful this

is. I don't know how long this is gonna run.

I mean, look at Injustice. Injustice has gone

year two, year three, supposedly year four. You

know, I mean, Injustice was, you know, so I don't

know how long this one's gonna run, but right

now, I can't wait to read the next one. And like

I said, folks, I... Ever since and this is just

me and my old man ways ever since Batman Beyond

2 .0 ended I Can't do a Batman digital comic

series because they are too Short and they're

twice. It's either week. It's either every week

or Every other Saturday, I don't remember But

thankfully they're putting the kind of collected

print versions where they you know whatever comes

out in comic shops is also on digital as well

so you might be hearing a new review for for

Batman Arkham Knight number two maybe in May

at some point from us not sure yet now that I've

read this I'm like ooh this is pretty friggin

cool any other final words for Arkham Knight

sir? No I just I really want to know who the

hell the knight is Think we all do but I don't

think they're gonna spoil it in the comic I think

you're gonna have to play the game and find out.

Yep, which Comes out at the end of June, which

I'm gonna end up having to buy it for my PC Yeah,

but you know, maybe you won't have to buy it

Maybe somebody will get it to you for a birthday

present seeing as how your birthday is in the

middle of June I'll be at BotCon BotCon for your

birthday great All right, folks. I'm gonna take

one last break and come back and do some thank

yous and give you guys a preview of what's coming

up next on the pull bag. I'll be back after this.

Well, Batsy, it's been a hoot as always. But

I really must run. May the floss be with you.

It's action. It's drama. It's comedy. It's Decian,

the superhero webcomic. Decian's got superhero

antics and sexy girls. Read it now at Decian

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i'm your host ryan and i'm chuck that's right

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Yes, so what you want to do to find us, you can

go to iTunes, you can go to www .starjos .com,

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knowing us is half the battle. I must admit,

it's sadly anti -climactic. There you have it,

folks. 100 episodes. Thank you so, so much. The

pullback will be continuing. We have an ongoing

amount of cool content coming out. We've got

Gem and the Holograms, we've got Transformers,

we've got Turtles, we've got Batman, we've got

a whole bunch of stuff. In May, we will have

Batman Month again. Instead of 13 podcasts like

last year, we're only gonna have four, but it's

gonna be really cool. I'm gonna do a couple of

Bruce Wayne stories, and then I'm gonna do two

other Batman stories, one being Terry McGinnis,

and the other being Dick Grayson. So thank you

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