Podcast 155: Oct 2011 What did you think?

[BD]

The opening song is here.

[Agent Michigan]

I have been checking every few hours this weekend and it's finally here! Yay!

I'll post what I think later.

[Sarcasmic]

On Kevin's reading of Avengers Academy:

[BD]

It's a great book!

[iron_patriot]

I can think of Massacre and Mr Negative that are not "cackling jackasses" in the whole Big Time era.

[davelawr]

Things always have happened in ancillary titles which have an impact upon the storylines in the main book - and in my opinion so they should, otherwise the storylines in the ancillary titles are either alternative universe or unimportant - but in the past there was always a reference telling us to go check those titles out and that I think is rare these days*. I suspect the assumption is that readers are tapped into the internet and always checking this stuff out, which is an assumption I don't like. If, to use an outdated example, I was watching a Law & Order show and something happened in one of the spin-offs that impacted upon the plot of that episode, I would expect to be told about it in the episode and not to have to go away and do my own research. I know that was the point expressed in the show (and online interviews are another beast entirely and should be discounted) but there was an underlying current of things-should-not-happen-in-ancillary-titles.


*I'm not reading ASM - see my other posts, fact fans

[FSUSpiderFan]

J.R. was on fire with funny cracks this episode. "At my age I always start soft..."

[stevejrogers]

Just to piggyback on the recommendation on recent Batgirl to Oracle episodes, Stella has joined The Batman Universe Comic Cast full time after making a couple of very memorable guest shots in the September episodes. So you should be checking that out as well.

Kind of like a sports team trade now that I think of it.

And Brad, I know you are a Marvel Zombie, but yeah Starfire is a pretty big, and HAWT (well as hot as an illustration can be) deal in DC and comic book circles =;)

[iron_patriot]

Brad's reaction to bronies was fascinating. I'm always interested what people not as active in the general message boards think of things like the popularity of My Little Pony. Personally, don't care about it at all, but as long as people don't try to shove it down my throat,I'll let them go. The people being turned on by ponies is both disturbing and nothing new to me.

[FSUSpiderFan]

Why is My Little Pony popular?

[iron_patriot]

Why is My Little Pony popular?

No freaking clue,but one of the boards I frequent has an MLP general discussion thread with 37,506 posts. That's not counting the threads not titled "MLP General Discussion". WTF?

[Spekkio]

Why is My Little Pony popular?

I'm the goofball who asked about "bronies," so I'll take this one.... (And BTW, it's pronounced "bro-nies." Not "brownies.")
First of all, you may be interested in reading or viewing Know Your Meme's summary of the "brony" phenomenon.

Second, I strongly recommend Rocketboom's take on bronies. (Quick summary: it's interesting how the creators of the show actually appreciate their unconventional fans. Assignment: Compare and contrast that to Marvel editorial's treatment of Marvel fans.)

But - and I can only speak for myself here - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is popular because it is genuine, genuinely funny (sometimes laugh-out-loud funny), well-animated, well-written, and not ridiculously didactic or sickeningly sweet. The primary characters are all rounded - i.e. they have flaws. (Ex: Twilight Sparkle is a little misanthropic (mishippotic?) and neurotic; Rarity is a drama queen; Fluttershy seems to suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder. Etc, etc.)

So I hope you'll give it a chance...these are among the funniest episodes.



...and this makes me laugh for some odd reason.


Last one, I promise...apparently "Guile's Theme Goes With Everything" is a meme, too.

[Spekkio]

So with the bronies out of the way, I'm going to waste my breath again...can we please (pleasepleaseplease) leave politics out of the podcast? I know nobody cares what I have to say. I know the whole "the podcast is free, so STFU" line. But I'm asking anyway. I'm a huge politics geek, so it's not that I hate politics. People need to read and engage in the political processes in their states/provinces/nations. (I firmly believe that voting is not just a right, but a responsibility. If anyone can understand that, it's Spidey fans. Voting is not something you should skip just because you don't feel like it.)

But this podcast is about comic books, things related to comics, and entertainment in general. When I listen to it, it's in large part because I need a break from reading political books (I read A LOT of policy books) or blogs or listening to NPR podcasts or whatever. When I listen to the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast, I want to leave the "real world" behind for awhile. I want to think about alternate universes that make more sense than this one does. And I want to laugh a lot.

So please...I don't care which side of the aisle you're on. Just leave that stuff out. If people ask political questions on the message board, just skip them. Please?

[DarkKnightJared]

On the "you have to read the ancilarry titles to get this story" thing in relation to Jackal--I don't think this is a good example of that. I thought the whole "Jackal cloned Spider-Man and discovered it was Peter" thing seemed to be pretty elementary when you think about the character's past history. The Spider-King thing is a little more confusing if you just read ASM, though.

"Am I taking these characters too seriously?" You might very well be--especially Jonah. I think you kinda have to treat Jonah like a cartoon character, because if you play him straight, with all his history, he suddenly becomes one of the most vile and evil men you can imagine.

I don't know anything about this My Little Pony show, except that it seems to be perfectly made for mash-ups, the filthier the better:



Out of the ones Brad mentioned, I LOVED Batman, Action, Batgirl, and JL.

Wolverine was portrayed as a little guy in the past, but I think he's grown to more normal height since Hugh Jackman played him in the movies.

Good episode.

[BertoneBeatle]

After we recorded the episode I paid a visit to my brother the brony. I showed him the message board question and asked him to sum it up for me. He responded by showing me some Youtube videos and articles. He said the show appeals to him because "it's like a 90's Disney movie as a tv series". That's not what I got from watching the two episodes I did, but I enjoyed myself...but can't see myself being a brony.

To answer the "who is your favorite pony" question I couldn't answer before.....does Spike count?