Podcast 174 Review: What did you think?

[BD]

The first show of April is up. What did you think?
The opening song is here.


Topics include:
* Itune reviews both pros and cons.
* Discussion on the Amazing Spider-Man movie and how it will not have the Lizard in a lab coat.
*Reviews of the first two episodes of the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.
*The Daily Bugle is allegedly a news network in the new movie, the gang discusses the pro's and cons.
*Marvel is launching an ongoing 99 cent Nova book. Is this the future of comics?

[Aziz]

I'm with Don about the movie
At least someone mentioned the response Bear would get if he was annoying in the theater

Wait, Norman = Hobgoblin?
Hip Aunt May rocks
I don't agree with Beatle about wanting Flash to be locked in a locker ending every episode, not looking forward to a joke being overused

[SpiderVenom]

Good Podcast gang.

I'm with Brad I don't love the New Ultimate Spider Man cartoon but I also don't hate it. I'll continue watching and see if it gets any better. And if it doesn't there's always Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and that show is all kinds of awesome

As far as the Amazing Spider-Man movie goes, I will try to attend the midnight premiere. I'm still more excited for Avengers and Dark Knight Rises but I'm willing to give ASM a chance. I am a little upset about the lab coat, I don't wanna see a completely nude Lizard, but what are you gonna do.

Keep up the good work guys.

[DarkKnightJared]

I really loved those ASM clips--really cool.

Ultimate Spider-Man...I liken it to Batman: Brave & The Bold--not exactly my preferred take on it, but it still works and keeps to the core of the character. Some of the bits actually were pretty funny.

With the Nova book and the price--if I remember right, if you buy the Avengers Vs. X-Men book, you get it for free, but you can get it individually for 99 cents. I don't know if it's going to continue post-AVX.

Another thing you don't mention is that as a digital comic it's done completely different from what they've been doing in the past. Instead of just having the comic page, it works with the tablet/computer screen, and dialogue balloons and text appears in different ways. If you want a good example of it, Mark Waid actually did a proof-of-concept digital comic called Luther (right click and save as to get the best effect), and you can see some "pages" of the actual Nova story here. You can also read this explanation of the concept in digital comic form by one of the guys helping Waid with his digital projects.

I don't get what you guys mean by the "real Nova." Hasn't there already been several Novas?

[CrazyChris]

I understood what George meant by "not the real Nova." He's not the Nova that people know about and who has a following. So not only is Marvel using a B-list hero for this experiment, but they aren't even filling the role with an established character. Personally, I like the Richard Rider Nova based on his appearance in the Annihilation series, and if this were him I would say "what the heck" and try this out for a buck. But this is Sam Alexander, the Nova from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and I dislike that character very much. So I can confirm that the choice of what Nova to use has cost Marvel at least one sale.

[DarkKnightJared]

I understood what George meant by "not the real Nova." He's not the Nova that people know about and who has a following. So not only is Marvel using a B-list hero for this experiment, but they aren't even filling the role with an established character. Personally, I like the Richard Rider Nova based on his appearance in the Annihilation series, and if this were him I would say "what the heck" and try this out for a buck. But this is Sam Alexander, the Nova from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and I dislike that character very much. So I can confirm that the choice of what Nova to use has cost Marvel at least one sale.

But weren't there multiple human Novas in the past? I thought I read somewhere that the one from the beginning died, that the Nova in Annihilation was a new character. Besides, we don't know anything about the Sam in the comic. Even in the Infinite comic the only real personal detail we get is that he's a fan of dubstep.

[CrazyChris]

The Nova in Annihilation was Richard Rider, who was introduced in Nova #1 in 1976. I'm sure there were other human Novas because it is a corps similar to the Green Lanterns, but RIchard Rider is probably the best known.

But the issue here isn't whether there is anything wrong with creating a new Nova. No one has suggested there is something wrong with that, at least not that I've heard. The issue is whether this character is a wise one to use to launch a new digital comics initiative.

You're right that we know little about the comics version of Sam Alexander. I only know about him through his obnoxious presence in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. But it's not my fault that the cartoon is the first exposure anyone has gotten to this character; it's Marvel's fault. This is how they chose to promote the character and they have to live with me having a bad first impression of him.

[Enigma_2099]

ON the subject of Cadbury Creme Eggs...

[Extreme Spider]

A little nitpick it's iTunes not Itunes. I don't know why it just does. Like you issue with people writing Spider-Man like Spiderman.

[DarkKnightJared]

The Nova in Annihilation was Richard Rider, who was introduced in Nova #1 in 1976. I'm sure there were other human Novas because it is a corps similar to the Green Lanterns, but RIchard Rider is probably the best known.

But the issue here isn't whether there is anything wrong with creating a new Nova. No one has suggested there is something wrong with that, at least not that I've heard. The issue is whether this character is a wise one to use to launch a new digital comics initiative.

You're right that we know little about the comics version of Sam Alexander. I only know about him through his obnoxious presence in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. But it's not my fault that the cartoon is the first exposure anyone has gotten to this character; it's Marvel's fault. This is how they chose to promote the character and they have to live with me having a bad first impression of him.

Fair enough--and to be perfectly honest, I'm less interested in the character and the story here and more in the format of how they're doing it, since it's unique from what they've been doing previously. It's different, unique, and I want to support the experimentation of the craft.

[Wombat 909]

Laughing my ass off at yo guys talking about George and Zach being in the same screening of The Amazing Spider-Man. Especially JR's callback to "Man, he smacked a bitch". Also the possibilities of Zach being killed on the show. We'd be losing panel members like Game of Thrones loses main characters.