December 12, 2023 • 64 mins
This week, it's a belated Thanksgiving as Kris and Dave discuss the nerdy content they're most thankful for. What made the cut? Plus, Jonathan Hickman goes Ultimate, a Two-Face actor passes away, and new nerd commendations!
Nerd News
Jonathan Hickman's Ultimate Decision
Richard Moll, Two-Face actor, passes away
Byword Big Talk
From Attitude to Gratitude
Nerd Commendations
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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[MUSIC]
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Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Nerd Byword podcast.
We give thanks for nerdy things and not having to sit at a dinner table with most of our extended family.
The Byword starts now.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC]
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Ladies and gentlemen, it's welcome to episode 171 of the Nerd Byword podcast.
And as we enter the holiday season, we are very glad that you decided to tune into our little show during Thanksgiving week.
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Hopefully, we can give you a little distraction from all those relatives that will soon be sharing the dinner table with you that you really don't want to spend any time with.
In this week's episode, Chris and I are going to discuss some of the things that we are particularly thankful for in Nerd Media and Pop culture this year.
But first, as always, it's time for--
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[MUSIC]
Yeah, so I'm not surprised that we're going to have to talk about this, Chris.
Bring it.
>> Okay, so the funny thing is about us recording like a head of schedule is some of our news stories or some of our discussions are obsolete or at least require further context or maybe even an update by the time that they are released.
(01:45):
So by the time you're hearing this, it's going to be a really interesting discussion.
But Dave Jonathan Hickman did the thing.
As previously teased, we have-- I don't even know that this is an apples to apples comparison, a Peter B Parker of sorts.
But TLDR, Peter and MJ are married in this ultimate spider man that he is going to be writing with Art by Marco Chicano.
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It was a big thing that broke social media, the internet, when it was revealed.
They just randomly dropped two little promotional covers, one by Elizabeth Torque, one by longtime spider man artist Ryan Steckman with the solicit that says,
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"Me, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Parker, they're one of pop culture's most iconic couples, and now readers will see them stronger than ever in the ultimate universe.
To celebrate, Peter and MJ's romance will be featured in a series of picture perfect variant covers by Elizabeth Torque that will adjourn the first four issues of ultimate spider man.
(02:53):
Spidey superstar Ryan Steckman also spotlights the whole Parker family on a new promotional piece. He's really, really fascinating, and then Hickman folded up in this press release saying,
"When we decided that we were going to do a book about an older Peter Parker becoming spider man, we really wanted to lean into him,
starting his superhero life from a very different place than what's traditionally expected.
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Peter and MJ being married is one of many decisions we made that underlined this being quite a different kind of spider man story."
So yeah, we have also in Steckman, the Torque cover is a real romantic cover with Peter and MJ.
Peter has the push-up bra for all men, a full grown beard.
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And then on the Steckman cover, we have two as yet, as it's time of recording, yet unnamed children.
So really interesting to see how this develops, and now we've added context at the time of recording, we've both read ultimate universe number one.
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And so that kind of helps color in the lines of what we can expect a little bit about how the maker kept all of these people from becoming heroes,
and now at much later stages in their lives, Peter especially is going to become a hero.
So this is going to be a very different take on the character.
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So I don't even know that the Peter B Parker is a fair comparison if we're looking at the spider verse film franchise version of the character.
So I'm incredibly intrigued to see where this goes, and I'm hyped for the ultimate universe going forward as a whole.
Yeah, so there's a lot to unpack here.
So let's start sort of with the base setup of all of this first.
(04:46):
So I read ultimate invasion, and overall it was "ite."
I guess is what I'm trying to say.
I thought it was a placeholder.
Yeah, it didn't drive--
I sold her. Yeah, it didn't set my world on fire or anything.
And I was okay with it, but I didn't really feel like there was a very clear protagonist in all this.
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There wasn't very clear through line.
I felt, you know, I was kind of-- I don't know.
It was not starting this new ultimate line, I guess, with a big bang or something.
And so I was cautiously optimistic that it would be readable,
but I didn't find, you know, ultimate invasion all that interesting.
(05:29):
Now, that being said, I think that reading ultimate universe number one completely
recontextualized ultimate invasion for me and made it significantly better.
I don't think you can judge ultimate invasion without ultimate universe number one.
I think that issue is basically the fifth part of the mini,
and this is where all the threads come together.
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And you start getting a sense, actually, for what the plan is with this ultimate universe.
And that's when I finally got hooked on this because I really liked the notion,
you know, which was hinted at in ultimate invasion,
that the maker basically jumped around and took away the opportunities
for a lot of these heroes to arise, right?
Like, you know, for example, making sure that the spider doesn't bite Peter Parker
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and then, you know, locking the spider away.
Those sorts of things then lend themselves to a very different vibe for a lot of these characters.
Not just that they become heroes later in their personal timelines,
which is what we're going to see with Peter.
But, you know, there's opportunities here for maybe completely different characters
to get some of these powers, for example, right?
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So I think we're in a very interesting baseline spot with this new ultimate universe
and that it actually has the opportunity to tell very, very different kinds of stories
that, you know, really that's, I think, what they need to do here anyways
because the original ultimate universe was basically sort of a greatest hits compilation, right?
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I mean, that's what it basically was.
It was retelling classic stories in a modern context.
And I don't think you can go to that well again.
So what they're doing instead here is they're creating a situation
where they can tell the kind of stories that you really can't tell in mainline Marvel continuity
for whatever reason.
And I think if they really run with that, we're in for a very interesting ride.
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I love obvious, for obvious reasons that, you know, we have the Parker family as sort
of the baseline of the new, you know, Spider-Man series.
And of course, that broke the internet because people, a lot of fans have been clamoring
for a return of the marriage to Mary Jane and the regular continuity.
So this might be, you know, a bone for that particular, you know, branch of the fandom.
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But I'm also, you know, still cautious because, you know, we're talking about storytelling
here that, you know, thrives on drama and complications and the like.
And the first place that my mind went to is exactly what you said is that this is not a
Peter B. Parker situation.
You know, he is going to get bitten as a, you know, middle-aged man.
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You know, you see, is he going to let Mary Jane in on that secret?
What is this going to do to his family situation?
Are we going to see the kind of story where basically he becomes a superhero
and it basically tears us family apart?
You know, like is that, is that the way that they're going to try to go?
Because to me, one of the things that made, you know, that particular marriage
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as a storytelling element, so special in like runs, for example, by Strazinski.
Um, was, you know, that the secret was out in the open that it was for the most part
of really supportive marriage.
Once you got out of the 90s, you know, chain smoking Mary Jane, always complaining
that Peter Spider-Man, even though she knew when she got married, that's what he did,
you know, um, once you got away from that, it became a very, a very supporting, um, mutually
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supporting situation, I think, and I think it was sort of a great marriage in comics to
sort of hold up as a, as a good relationship, you know, that wasn't, you know, toxic because
of the superhero element thrown in.
So I think I have a little bit of concern that that might be the route that they're taking
there, you know, Peter's life would be perfect if he hadn't been bitten by the spider.
Now we reintroduced a spider bite and now his life's going to go to heck yet again, you know,
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I hope that they don't quite do that.
There obviously needs to be conflict and drama in any good storytelling,
but just like creating this baseline that a lot of people have been clamoring to see in
the comics again and then immediately nuking it, um, would, would be sad, but is in the realm of the
possible because we're talking about comic book storytelling here.
Um, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this ultimate universe is going to give us stories that we
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would not, uh, be able to get in the main line, uh, you know, Marvel continuity and that alone makes me
extremely excited for what they did here.
Yeah, and I'm going to, I'm going to color outside the lines here and, and jam in an extra
nerd commentation. I really enjoyed ultimate universe number one.
Um, and, and I think I enjoyed ultimate invasion, um, a little more than you did.
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Maybe because I kind of binge read a lot of it, I'd, I'd read like the first issue or two and then kind of fell off.
Um, and then I came back and just crossed through the, the remaining issues.
And so I, I, I appreciated like the, the, the meta contextual type of stuff like the, the social
critiques, if you will, of like these elitist controlling, like the global
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political powers. It's, especially, pressient given the state of global politics right now.
So like those elements, I thought were fascinating. Um, and then you leaned right into that and
it's, it's funny because with all the multiversal stuff being like all the rage for so many different
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things nowadays, it's like, how can you kind of stand out and make something unique? And I think
they truly have achieved that with this. I think this is something unique and something that we
haven't really seen before where we almost have like a collector type situation with the maker where
he has like all these totems locked up somewhere. Um, and then we have really unique kind of spins on
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characters. We have a, a, a read Richards that is like a doctor doom, you know, at least in costume.
Um, we have, I, I, I never, I would never would have thought that I would be rooting for a character
with the name Tony Stark, but here we are. Like he, he's a teenage kid. And so it's almost like an
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inverse of like a, a Peter Parker situation where like he's iron lad and he's the young
character with a strong moral compass that has been sabotaged by the global media as this
terrorist and awful person. And so how is he going to rebound from that? You have my guy Thor
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as like this unjust prison, in prison person. Uh, you have Siff on the team. I'm always up for
ladies of being on a main roster. Like I'm, I'm really kind of interested to see where we go from here
on the entire ultimate universe and, and where these, how these stories are going to be vastly different
from, from mainline comics. Yeah, I'm feeling it, man. I really am. Uh, ultimate universe number one
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really sold me on this. I love all the Thor stuff that was going on there. Um, I like this take on iron
man, a sort of this, this, this younger kid, you know, um, I, I think there's definitely something here.
Yeah, doctor, doom read Richards is fascinating too. It was just the whole thing. It, you know, I think
we're calling him doctor doom read Richards, but it almost makes me feel more like, uh, uh,
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you will, you will appreciate this reference. It almost makes me feel more like a man in the iron
mask situation, right? It's where the make, where the maker doesn't want to see the face of, of,
himself and, you know, somebody that he hates, which is, you know, heroic read Richards. I think that's
you know, you get me that, that's my heart. You get me. Yeah. So I, I think there's definitely
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something here. I'm, I'm excited for this man. All right. Now for your news story, Dave, um, very,
very somber news. Yes, sir. Uh, so, uh, Richard Moll, uh, uh, actor, voice actor, past,
weight, age 80 recently. And I think this is definitely newsworthy for a nerd podcast because he,
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um, you know, was, uh, actor for a harvident, uh, two face in the, uh, 90s Batman, the animated series.
And was responsible for some of the absolute best voice acting on there, which is actually saying
something considering what you were dealing with, you know, towering grades like, you know, Kevin
Conroy and Mark Hamill. But, um, I'm particularly thinking of the two face two part or where, you know,
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he had to voice act harvident descent and the madness and the emergence of the two face,
a split personality and all that. And there is some really hard wrenching voice acting going on here.
Um, probably his biggest claim to fame, uh, was on the, uh, sitcom Night Court that ran in the late 80s
and early 90s. He was a series regular on their playing sort of a dim-witted, but good-hearted
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baylif and was very, very funny in the role. Um, and then after that sort of transition into a
lot of voice acting stuff, did some stuff, uh, on, on Justice League Unlimited, did some stuff that
man animated series free gazoid and the like. Um, and so as, as far as the nerd world is concerned,
if you, you know, like myself grew up in that era, so that, that golden age of a
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Warner animation, you definitely have heard Richard Mull's voice. Um, so, you know, we lost another
piece of our, of our childhoods here with a fantastic actor and voice actor, uh, who was responsible
for some very memorable characters. Yeah, and it's, it's deeply saddened. I mean, we lost Arlene Sorkin.
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You know, we lost Kevin Conroy last year. It's, um, it's, it's becoming a really,
um, almost like, um, a wake-up call, like for our generation. Um, and also like a time to sit back
and appreciate the contributions that these artists have made on our lives. You know, we, we've really
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been, been spoiled by the voice actors and I think even, even with the advent of social media
and kind of circling some of these clips of people like Phil Lamar, like Keith David, like Richard
Mull, Arlene Sorkin, like, these are, these are giants in the industry and we still do not give them
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enough credit for, for the work that they do and the impact that they have on our childhoods
and, and our lives at large. So, um, certainly pass our condolences on to, to Richard Mull's family and
just again, like, we really, we really had a good growing up, man.
Yeah, we did. Arty folks, that's this for Nerd news on that sombre note. We're going to move on. After
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a quick break, we are going to be back with, uh, our sort of, uh, things that we are grateful for
this year in the Nerdworld and in popular media. So stick around, round, we'll be right back.
All right folks, there you have it. We are back. It is time for...
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And for this week's big talk, I, uh, I have to say, I kind of went ahead and rolled with, uh, my good
buddy Chris's suggestion here of doing a Thanksgiving themed episode, even though I have very little,
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um, um, connection to Thanksgiving, having grown up in, in Europe and moving over here Thanksgiving,
as always struck me as the most uncomfortable of holidays. Um, but I like the spirit of being
grateful for things. So we each picked three things over the past year that we are particularly
grateful for in popular culture and in Nerd media. And I'm going to throw it to Chris for the first
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thing that he is particularly grateful for this year, Chris. What have you got?
Yeah, my mission with this episode was to turn some of that German attitude into gratitude.
The, the first thing that I'm just incredibly thankful for is the work of, of all you.
Particularly with X-Men Red, but like with, with, you know, his, his other work as well, I think,
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it's really, it's a really hard time to be an X-Men fan right now. We went from
to being at the top of the world with the advent of Krakow and reimagining so many different things
of what superhero comics can be. And now we have made a hard right turn, uh, back into the regression
of persecution of the genocide of slaughter. Um, and uh, it's, it's, it's, it's really tough. Um,
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but in spite of that, X-Men Red remains, in my opinion, the strongest book in the line far in a way,
and is still doing some incredible storytelling in spite of all of the editorial overreach,
what have you, of telling this wonderful story of characters that we love, of telling beautiful
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stories about Magneto, about Storm, about Sunspot, about, um, complicated issues of, of governance,
of world building. And so I truly appreciate his contributions, um, what he's doing with Immortal
Thor, I'm telling you what, it's a great time. I said this on social media, but it's a great time
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to be a Thor fan, um, between ultimate universe and like this very different interpretation of the
character, um, between Immortal Thor, um, you have Jed McKay's Avengers round, which we both have,
have given flowers for rightfully so. So, um, I just really, really appreciate his work, his,
his, his writing. And I'm, even, I think he has a book called Adventures Incorporated. I don't even
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know what that is, but I'm gonna read it. So he has become like one of those writers that I'll just
read whatever they write, no matter the characters. I don't typically go for an Avengers book, um,
but Avengers Incorporated, you know, I'm there, I'm, I'm reading it. Um, and Jed McKay's right there as
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well, uh, with what he's done with Moon Knight, uh, with Black Cat. I'm getting ready to read a doctor
strange book. Um, so I'm, I'm very appreciative of, of, of some of these writers that are really
cooking right now. Now, you and us doing Immortal Thor, right? Correct. Yeah, there is nothing wrong
with that book, my friend. So I will, I will echo your gratitude. Now, a lot of the expense stuff,
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you know, I'm kind of X-Men agnostic, um, but, but, you know, Immortal Hulk, uh, was an absolute
barn burner and Immortal Thor so far has been absolutely fantastic as well. So I feel like I need
to really expand outward and read more all-u-ing because, um, what I have read, uh, from the pen of
viewing himself has been absolutely fantastic. Yeah, ultimates, ultimates too, all that stuff,
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US Avengers, Secret Avengers, all of it is, is immaculate. And, and so I can't, I've nerd commended
it before, but I, I can't, nerd commended enough. But speaking of writers that we adore, Dave, you've
got one for us as well. Yeah, so I can't, I can't help but be extremely grateful, uh, for the recent
resurgence of Mark Wade over at DC. Um, you know, love him or hate him. He's a big, he's a big sort of idea
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kind of guy. Um, and he also has a sort of an enduring love for very specific kind of image, I guess,
of DC, a very specific era of DC. And calling back to that right now in sort of the, this, this new
era that they're kind of going for at DC has been incredibly well executed. Almost everything
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coming from the pen of Mark Wade over at DC is just really hitting it. Worlds finest in particular,
sort of, uh, you know, a good chunk of it has been sort of a flashback book and you're dealing with,
you know, the friendship between Batman and Superman is such a, a refreshing return to a relationship
between those two based on mutual respect rather than animosity, getting away from sort of the Batman
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v Superman image of the characters and back to like a, a sort of classic friendship between the two
has been such a breath of fresh air. Um, and then, you know, spinning out of that, we got a fantastic
take on sort of the first group of, of Teen Titans and seeing, you know, the, the younger incarnation of
Degraissance through sort of a new lens, I think one of my all time favorite comic moments, it's just,
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it's joined like top, my top 10 favorite comic moments, um, even though it's so recent is when he did,
Robin and Supergirl trying to go on a first date together and how, how Degraise and absolutely
bombs the date, you know, it's just so funny awkward throughout and so well written, uh, is, I get a huge
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kick out of that whole issue, you know, and then, you know, Wade has just been doing really interesting
things too with like, um, you know, trying to, to, you know, mix up things a little bit by, by giving
an in-story opportunity for people to tweak like characters powers or take, you know, come from a new
angle at certain characters, you know, Wade has just been a really, really strong presence at DC
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over the last year and I think DC has been exactly what I think it needs to be. DC has always been
to me at least a very, a very bright place based on hope even, you know, in the darkness of a Batman
story. The notion of hope is so crucial to, to DC storytelling and I think that's really shining
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through lately again, you know, with Wade's, Wade's involvement. Um, and so I'm just very, very
pleased that Wade has become such a, um, a vocal voice at DC Comics again. Um, even though I don't
agree with all of his takes, I know he, uh, recently spoke about how he prefers the, you know, the
Kents having passed away, uh, as opposed to them still being around and I think that's just a, a horrible
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take. Um, but, uh, even though I can disagree with, you know, Wade on certain particulars like that,
I really just appreciate how he executes a story in the DC universe and I'm just very, very glad that he's
such a loud voice right now at DC. Yeah, I, you know, my exposure to DC actual comics are, is minimal. Um,
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I don't breed a whole lot. I feel like a lot of it, um, feels like stepping into a country where I don't
speak the native tongue. Um, it can, it can be kind of hard to acclimate to everything going on,
but Mark Wade is one of those people that it's almost like he's a tour guide that, that can translate
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for me. And, uh, so his, his, his work on DC when I have read it like superman berth, right? For example,
is, is very new reader friendly for me. Um, and so world's finest has been one of those things
that's always been on my to read list. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but, um, it's definitely
at the top of my list. All right. So Chris, what is the second thing that you have been grateful for
(24:43):
this past year? Like we never stopped saying wonderful things about it since we started this podcast,
then I don't think we ever will. I think Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is one of the best value subscription
services of any type. Uh, you know, I've talked to the cows come home about how much I love Starfield.
Um, and one of the positive byproducts of the rampant capitalism that is Microsoft currently
(25:12):
is that consumers like myself are able to play these highly sought after games at no additional cost,
uh, day one. And I mean, like you can't, can't argue with that. Um, just the cool thing about it is, is you can,
there's just like, there's no shortage of things to try. And so you can download something, give it a
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shot. And if you don't like it, you just uninstall it and there's no commitment to it. I, I cannot
vent enough about buying a game, instantly hating it. And then you're just out of 60 bucks.
Um, and so, you know, with, with digital sales and stuff like that, that's been one way to kind of
(25:57):
avoid that issue, but even better here is like I can download something at no additional cost. Give it a
try. If I like it, perfect. If I don't like it, just uninstall it. And there's no extended commitment
necessary to it. So I, I will always praise Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as one of those things where,
especially with things like Starfield, things like, um, you know, games that, that, that a lot of people
(26:24):
are rushing to pay full price for it. Like that's not the case with Game Pass. So, um, I'm always
thankful for it. I think there's a lot of things to be grateful for on the Xbox side of things.
Anyways, I think Game Pass definitely leads the way, but I can just tell you, I think, and maybe that
is just me, but as somebody who plays on, you know, consoles from, from, you know, multiple companies,
(26:47):
I mean, I play, you know, Nintendo Switch and I play Xbox and I play PlayStation. I think just the,
the ecosystem of Xbox is probably the most polished, you know, I think it's the most polished online play.
And I know there's probably going to be some, some, you know, PlayStation fanboys that'll disagree.
But I come from this, you know, not with not any dog really in the race just because my console wars
(27:13):
are long over, you know, it was Nintendo and, and, and Sega, you know, that, that's, that's how old I am.
So that's a console war to me. What's going on right now doesn't feel like a console war to me.
So I come, I come from this from a fairly, you know, unbiased perspective. I just like to ecosystem best.
And it also feels to me like out of the box, things just generally work better oftentimes.
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For example, when I attempted to stream my, my PlayStation 4 to my Steam Deck, so I can just, you know,
remote play on it. It does not work very well. It's, it continues to be pretty laggy and I have a
lot of trouble trying to make that work. Flip side then I set that up for my Xbox and it's,
(27:56):
it's pretty much flawless. Like I have, I have zero issues with it at all. So I think just the,
the ecosystem generally at Xbox is just, there's a, there's a solid baseline there that is very
functional for the end user. And I like that a lot. And, and I think Game Pass is a part of that.
It's just, it's, it's very, very good for the consumer. You know, I'm always reminded of the old days of
(28:22):
demo discs. Did you ever get ahold of any of those back in the day, Chris? Yeah, I, you know, I know
they did a bunch for, for PS1, but even before that, you got it, you go out and get like a magazine,
like PC gamer or something and it would have like a, it have like a demo disk attached to it and
you pop that in your PC and you get to play a little bit of a game before you actually have to go buy it.
I mean, I don't want to imagine how many landfills were filled with all those demo discs when I always said,
(28:46):
said and done, but there is something again to be said for a consumer to have a demo. So even if
you don't have something like Game Pass, that's a very least as a, as a publisher. If you really believe
in your game, you should, you should provide a free demo of some kind so people can try the game and
make the decision whether they want to purchase it or not. And so I agree that that's one of the strengths
(29:08):
of Xbox Game Pass. I have tried a lot of games that, and loved a lot of games that I probably would
not, you know, paid to go out and buy until I tried them, you know, and then I was able to play them
and enjoy them and, you know, there are plenty of things where I'd like, you know, if this wasn't on Game Pass,
you know, if I would have had a chance to try it, I would have went out and bought this game. I love
(29:29):
this thing, you know, there's a lot of really cool things on Game Pass. So I, I'll hold hardedly echo
what you're saying. I really, really enjoy Game Pass as well. So your next thing that you're thankful for
is proof positive that we come from very different worlds. All right. So I'm gonna go ahead and start
with something that we have previously discussed and then I'm gonna kind of, you know, tangent off of it,
(29:55):
all right. So I was thinking about you specifically a little while ago and I even texted you this
because you were, you know, you had started this Buffy rewatch and I had not really considered
what that meant watching Buffy on streaming until I remembered that Buffy, the vampire slayer,
(30:20):
had received a quote unquote remaster and I say this in quotes because it's not very good
and they released a show in widescreen with not a whole lot of care being taken in the actual
remastering and there are metric ton of problems with this remaster that completely break the original
(30:48):
intent of the creators of the show, particularly with stuff like color grading and particular, you know,
they went back to the original, ungraded, you know, recordings and then they did not apply the color
grading. So you get a whole lot of problems there. The show was filmed in widescreen but never intended
to actually be seen in widescreen. So you have stuff like shots where there's crew members and
(31:12):
lighting rigs visible in the corners. There's problems with scenes taking place at night but they
were filmed during daytime and then they put like a blue, sort of blueish color filter over to make
it look more dark, right? And a lot of that stuff did not get translated over into the remaster.
(31:34):
So when I was thinking about the impact that Buffy, the vampire slayer had on me the first time I
watched it, a lot of it was that there was nothing on TV at the time that had that kind of atmosphere,
like the atmosphere that show created, especially in the early seasons when they were going for a
very strong horror vibe, you know, all those scenes with the master and his layer and everything, right?
(31:56):
There was nothing like that on TV, nothing had that kind of vibe, nothing.
And now when you look at the remasters, it doesn't have that vibe anymore, you know, like there's
so many mistakes in the remaster that it ruins a lot of really important moments, I think.
(32:19):
I'll give an example, there is a scene at the end of season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
or the whole thing kind of takes place, you know, in the dark as so much does. And then Buffy reaches
a very important decision and, you know, you are not nearly there so I'm not going to spoil what that is,
but as she reaches that decision in that moment of clarity, the sun comes up and the lighting of
(32:44):
the whole scene changes, right? It's pure symbolic, you know, filmmaking. And because of the remaster,
not doing the color grading properly, that entire vibe is lost because the whole scene feels like
it's too bright. So there is never that moment where the lighting kind of changes to symbolize the
(33:06):
internal change in the character. And so that's a long way for me to say that one of the things I'm
extremely grateful for is to continue to continue to exist as a physical media because if I want to see,
you know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer the way I love and remember it without all of these mistakes,
the way it originally broadcast, I have my DVDs down in the basement and lo and behold, I will,
(33:29):
you know, get those out in order to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as opposed to watching them
on streaming because I want something that is akin to the original experience rather than something
that had all of these good things about it sort of filed away in a very sloppy sort of process.
And that just reminds me that there is still something to this day to be said for physical media,
(33:52):
you know, absolutely adore the fact that when we got a new game for the Super Nintendo,
we didn't have to worry about a day one eight gigabyte patch to fix the game because they,
you know, released it unfinished, right? So I still have a deep appreciation for physical media and
that that appreciation was recently re-awakened even more I guess or expanded upon when I rediscovered
(34:20):
vinyl for my music. Like everybody else on planet earth, I use a lot of streaming music these days
because there's a huge element of convenience to that. I have a music subscription specifically
to Apple Music on my iPhone. So wherever I go, I have my music, my playlists, you know,
and I love the convenience, but because of bandwidth and all of that, I would say that qualitatively
(34:48):
streaming music leaves a lot to be desired. And when you take the exact same music and pop it,
you know, on vinyl on a traditional record player, there is a richness and a texture and a detail
in the quality of the music that is completely different. And it's something that I still,
(35:10):
you know, deeply appreciate. I grew up in a household with a lot of vinyl because of, you know,
my dad had a big vinyl collection. And there is a warmth and a richness in the tone of music coming
from a vinyl record that I don't see duplicated in digital music. And so even though a lot of physical
media is on the way out, I am glad that I have here what I have. I have a deep appreciation for
(35:35):
being able to revisit, you know, a show pre-crapy remaster like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm glad
that I can slap on a vinyl record and enjoy that rich sound that you don't get from streaming
music. And I think there is still a place for physical media, even though, you know, digital is by far
more convenient. I think there's still a place for physical media out there.
(35:58):
Yeah, I wish I could follow that path. The convenience is just too much for me.
I just don't have the desire to go that route. I think the convenience just outweighs it for me.
I do have some vinyls. That part I do have, but I don't even think I have something to play DVDs
(36:22):
of Blu-ray's. Also that Buffy watch through for the first time. It's a real start and stop. I
even got through an entire episode and now that I've started up again. Really struggling.
It is of its time, Chris. But yeah, you know, so I understand the convenience part and I'm not
(36:44):
rejecting digital. Like I play games on my steam deck. That's all digital. And I have my digital
music subscription. But I think, like I said, there's something to be said for having physical media
as a supplement to that still, especially on stuff like Buffy where the remasters is such a mess.
Or if we look at the HBO Max, pardon me, the max of it all, where you had all this stuff streaming
(37:08):
and now this has been taking all that stuff off. I think we just have to accept that streaming is
not going to be that all access passed that we thought it would be. Stuff does not stay streaming.
And if you want to see it at some point later, right now, physical is probably still the best,
but as far as just having something, do we even need to talk about Star Wars at this case?
(37:32):
Like all the special edition changes that were made if you want to see Star Wars,
Dohaid originally was released. The only way you can do that is basically from a VHS
copy or a laser disk. A laser disk. So I think that preservation wise, considering digital
(37:52):
enhancements and changes and redoing special effects and all that has become so common.
If you are a purist for something, physical media is just words out.
I don't know. I kind of like the McCleunky of it all.
I still am personally offended by the music change at the end of Return of the Jedi.
(38:15):
I ride for Nubbjab. I just I love the original track. I love that celebration music
and that new one they put on there is just does not vibe with me at all. It just does not vibe with me.
All right, Chris, what is the third thing that you are grateful for?
I think we are truly in the golden age of cover art and variant covers and all of that.
(38:40):
And you know, I'm not a real big purchaser of physical comics, but just the
this niche corner of comic book, the art form that has opened its way for
artists to really just cook and just do their absolute best work and to not be beholden to any kind
(39:07):
of constraints really. So I'm talking about like the sway art, the the Jenny frizzans, the
Lucas Vernex, like everybody like Peach Momoko, like everybody just having complete artistic
liberty to create to their hearts content. And we as fans of the medium are the beneficiaries.
(39:33):
We just see some of the most beautiful things to save for our profile pictures, to save for our
lock screens, our cover photos. I can't think of a better time to be a fan of the comic book medium
when it comes to just pure art. And so I'm incredibly thankful for all of the cover art that's
(39:56):
coming out for books like I'm not even I don't even know that I'm going to read, but just to view
that comic book art on my timeline is just the best. You know, I will say that I wish they would
put a lot more of those variant covers on posters because I would probably put like a couple of
poster frames in my in my home office and then just like randomly change them out when I see one of
(40:19):
those totally sweet variant covers like the most recent she-hulk run for example had some of the
absolutely most stunning covers I have seen in my real life. Our girl Jen Bartel, another one of them.
It's so absolutely stunning art. I would have had like a rotating she-hulk frame just for those
she-hulk covers, like every every month for different poster like yeah the I would say that
(40:45):
I'm glad that for the most part we've gotten away from the 90's gimmicks of like you know,
foil reflective and all that jazz because right now what they're really doing well is a lot of these
variant covers just represent incredible artwork and I think that's just where that is that's where
it's at when you're dealing with comic books is you want to see really incredible artwork right? So
(41:07):
you know no gimmicks straight up this is just really cool art that's the sweet spot for comic book
covers and I think that you're right they're really knocking it out of the park out of the park in
recent in the last few years I really really am enjoying what they're doing with cover art.
All right Dave I have no idea where you're headed with this last one.
I'm glad you didn't google it. Yeah yeah I really don't know what to say other than I'm
(41:31):
this this is maybe a little off the beaten path for for us on this part because most of the time we're
talking about movies and the like but you know I kind of dropped the vinyl thing already so I'm
going to talk about music for a second. So earlier this year a band that I listened to a lot when I
was in college fallout boy released a new CD for the first time a new record for the first time in five
(41:56):
years and it's called so much for Stardust and I think the album kind of represents sort of a synthesis
of a lot of musical styles that I've dabbled with over the years and as kind of
achieved sort of quintessence status as being like the the quintessential fallout boy album and
(42:19):
that it touched a sort of on all areas and on all vibes that they have had over the years.
This is their eighth studio album and I came to fallout boy very early on with their their second
album which was released I believe in 2005 from under the cork tree and it became in a lot of ways
that that was the soundtrack of my of myself more year in college like I had to drive daily for
(42:47):
about an hour to campus because I was saving money not you know living on campus I was still living
at home and so I drove an hour one way I spent two hours in the car every day go in the college classes
and more often than not in myself more year it was it was you know from under the cork tree that was
that was playing in my car over and over and over again just just nonstop and then when they released
(43:13):
a follow-up to that their third album infinity on high that that was the next main stay so at that
point I was just basically when I was driving I was rotating between between those two albums
and so it's you know this is gonna sound weird for such a straight-laced guy as myself to say but it
(43:34):
was basically a a emo pop punk band that essentially connected with me on the deepest level of any band
or musical act that I've probably ever listened to I connected with the lyrics to music it I felt
spoken to by this music and I continued following the band you know on and off after I graduated
(43:59):
but so much for Stardust was like the key to me to unlocking an appreciation for their entirety
of their musical work like every little element of what they've created somehow you know is
represented on this record and I know among follow-up boy fans there's always like the pre-hide as post-hide
(44:21):
as debate you know like you know with what version of the band is better before they took their
big break or after and I don't I don't care for that debate at all you know I just really like their
their continued evolution enough you know listening to so much for Stardust has caused me to
branch out into like seeking out you know initially unreleased demos seeking out you know side projects
(44:49):
seeking out you know some of the absolute weirdest stuff like for example they they did an you know
adaptation of a Disney song from the jungle book for a Disney compilation and even that slaps like
you know it's it's absolutely fascinating to me how I still you know as a guy getting ready to turn
(45:15):
40 and absolutely connected to this this band both lyrically and musically and so I'm so glad
that this new this new album came along so much for Stardust to to reawaken that appreciation
for fallout boy in me as weirdest that sounds yeah that's fascinating I think music is one of those things
(45:41):
that I don't know if we can consider this nerdy but it's one of the greatest driving forces of my
life but it's interesting that I've never really keyed in on one artist or band like I have favorites
but I can't say that I have that level of commitment to something like what you just detailed
I have so many different influences so many different genres that I ascribed to like I grew up
(46:07):
with 90s country because my grandfather was a small time recording artist in Nashville I back and
forth all the time he had a small little show in the area that I grew up in and so that played a
heavy influence on my life and I still listen to some aspects of country you know and you know hip hop
(46:29):
and r&b are really probably the the two strongest genres that I grew up with um
rock and roll was kind of it ebbed and flowed in my life um probably the strongest ones
that I connected to were the ones that were really truly unique I know the killers were probably
(46:51):
the probably the most influential band for me in high school I think hot fuss was one of those
albums were yes yeah I have that one yeah it's a good good album like mr. brightside rightfully
gets like all of the flowers but somebody told me is is my go to like that's the one that like shook me
(47:14):
um I know that this is a polarizing one but the white stripes were huge for me you know I
I didn't really find them per se until college so I found the late I kind of had like a
a renaissance my senior year of high school and early college years and so ikey thump came out
(47:37):
and really shook the table for me and then I punted back and found like some of their older stuff I
remember of course like seven nation army like that one of the most iconic guitar riffs like you can
you can hear it at like a sporting event or a stadium or any kind of event like you can hear it
like one of the the all timers and um you know a lot of people throw shade in meg white for being
(48:04):
very simplistic on drums but when you have that juxtaposed with such a talent like jack white on the
guitar like I I love like that boil down to the basics and I love what he went on to do with
the rancatours and and stuff like that um but I think so i've always been like a general consumer of all
(48:25):
forms and when i say i listen to everything i mean everything um but i think like the most
influential artist for me of the past decade or so has been hosier um when take me to arch came out
it absolutely shook me to my core my sister and recently come out as bisexual i was still learning
(48:50):
um for context it shows a gay couple that is that is persecuted and abused so in the music video
and so like i was kind of grappling with a lot of the things of my very religious upbringing
and being forced to take a long hard look for the beliefs that i had held for a long time
(49:16):
um and then that entire self-titled album was here like from work song um is is really powerful
like there's something just raw and pure about a singer songwriter like that like he is
(49:36):
that um just really connects with me so if i had to pick one artist it's probably hosier
that i follow to that level that i have in vine so um Tyler children's recently um with the
stand that he's taken um is another one that that i really connect with and i really vibe with um but
(49:59):
yeah there's there's nothing better than finding an artist finding an album in particular that you
couldn't listen brew on no skips and so ever um unfortunately the one for me in college
was Kanye West graduation and so i'm i'm very i'm very cut and dry when it comes to separating art
from artists i'm like yeah this was really influential for me it was very different it was very quirky
(50:21):
it was very weird but the things that Kanye has done in recent years i can't i can't support that
anymore so yeah but yeah music is one of those things man it is you know and you're always
looking for connection right like you're looking you're looking for for something that speaks to you
on a visceral level in your music you know and it's just fascinating to me that this band in particular
(50:43):
has managed to to continue to stay so connected to me even though you know the band members have
matured and changed an i've matured and changed but for some reason like their music still continues
to speak to me and and i think that that that's absolutely fascinating um so i'm just i'm very very
grateful for for uh you know so much for stardust i think it's it's the exact it's the exact album
(51:10):
that i needed at exactly the right time i got us this is the best way to put it a couple more that i
want to throw in here while we're on topic is is something like rage against the machine and as
the timer recording tomorello was the only person from rage to show up to their hall of fame induction
and the speech that he gave i strongly encourage you to look it up if you haven't seen it before
(51:31):
um that was a barn burner of a speech yeah really really important um just really impactful and it's
funny because the day before that speech i had introduced my kids we were driving around the car
and i'm like listen to this and we played killing in the name and that's something you know my youngest
or six and seven and that's really something strong but i i really believe in taking a stand for your
(51:57):
beliefs and what you believe to be right and not just you know that old captain america quote of like
when the whole world tells me and you truly believe in something you plant your foot like the tree of
justice and say no you move because this is the right thing to do and the whole world can be telling
you that you're wrong but if you believe in something you take a stand for what you know
(52:19):
to be right and stand for your truth and you stand for justice and that's something incredibly
powerful and the other one that i wanted to to speak on is david rolle like find a better
person like in the world of rock and roll and listening to a guy i saw a podcast interview where he
was talking about the life and legacy of kirk kovane um and he was talking about listening to never
(52:46):
mind and it's been now 30 years and he says you know they recorded those in different parts like he
would record the drums the grittaris would come and record those in the studio and so like they
didn't know what kirk was going to do lyrically speaking and he was talking about just the genius
of of kirk kovane and and what he was able to do and and he talks about how
(53:10):
he gets a different experience listening to something that was 30 years later that was 30 years
in the past and now 30 years later he has a different experience than when he heard it for the first
time then and for someone that involved in that to to share something i i think that's i think
(53:31):
that's something that i hear like a song from my past i think about where i was i'm transported back
to that time and and i think you know with something like fallout boy even even with uh
and i'm a fan of fallout boy but but hearing you share your kind of anecdotes makes me the best
(53:52):
types of music can transport you back quite like that yeah absolutely man all right there you have it
those are the things we're grateful for we'd love to hear what you're grateful for so find us on
social media you can find us at nerd bar word or individually at that nerd day and at that nerd
christian we'd love to hear what you are grateful for this holiday season uh let's take a quick break
(54:14):
and when we come back we're going to come back with something else we're grateful for our nerd
commendations stick around already folks we're back and it is time for the segment where we recommend
new nerdy content to you things that we have found and enjoyed and we think you will enjoy to
(54:38):
it is called
arid christ uh you are definitely on the gaming uh side of things today what have you got for
listeners listen sometimes we have our particulars sometimes we are consistent you're gonna go always
(55:01):
with the quirky stuff you're going to always go with something with horror tinge and when it comes to
assassins greed i'm probably gonna love it and mirage the latest installment is of course no
session to that really interesting it's developed by ube soft boardo which is like a a subsidiary or like a
yeah i guess a subsidiary of ube softs and it was published by ube soft um and they went in a very
(55:26):
different direction so the original plan for this um was to be like a dlc installment of volhalla
but they chose to make it like a standalone title because it features the main protagonist bossum
ibn ishak who is a character in volhalla but now we're punting back to his original origin story
(55:53):
and gameplay wise the fascinating thing about this is it threads a lot of
the newer stuff that was introduced in this for lack of a better term this reboot the soft reboot of
the franchise with origins with odyssey with volhalla but it's also like a return to the basics of
(56:16):
what made you know like assassins creed to or even the original so special and so it's kind of a
back to the basics a lot of fans have said it's focusing much more on stealth much more on
like a single lane storytelling perspective and well there are elements of it that make me sad
(56:40):
i get it so they are not planning any big name dlc like they were with the previous ones
you know with origins with odyssey with volhalla they each had at least two big dlc
expansions and that is not going to be the case here i think um uvasoft and assassins creed franchises
(57:02):
going in very different directions with the the i think the red and the jade of what they're planning
on doing they're almost they they have uvasoft plus that is like its own subscription service which
i'm i'm not a part of but um like just narratively speaking i love i'm such an old history nerd ancient
(57:23):
history so this is set in ninth century bagdag during the islamic golden age uh particularly the anarchy
at samara but what i love about this is it's like taking almost like a a graduate course in a very
specific like time of history um and so like the codex for example you will travel around and you'll see
(57:46):
these little sparkling crystal things and it's something that you have to collect um and the sole
purpose of grabbing those little codex things is to teach you a lesson about islamic history during
this period about the the genie and what that truly means and you know we've westernized it a lot
(58:11):
with with disney and popular culture um but like what the the marketplace would look like and
and and bagged out at that time and it will give you like a menu to pop up and it has like
night-century art that shows you stuff like that and so like the history nerd in me is is absolutely
having you know my appetite wedded here um and then the storyline is really fantastic the order of
(58:37):
the ancients the secretive you know order that is is trying to control things behind the scenes um
and it's just it's it's the best of the the ac franchise is back um and there's there's there's
there's just so much to love about this game um i'm i'm deeply saddened that i'm almost done with it
(59:00):
but i'm still gonna try to explore some more when i'm done with the main storyline
yeah it sounds really interesting man i like the assassin's creed games i think it's interesting that
this one seems to harken back more to the original assassin's creed games and less of the you know
rpg heavy stuff that i've been doing in the last few games um i'm wondering how that's being
received i think there's a really a strong sort of division uh in the assassin's creed franchise
(59:25):
fandom as far as which direction is better i guess or more playable or more enjoyable but i like
both incarnation so i'm definitely game for this one yeah i like both i don't really
have a strong preference one or the other like sometimes it just suits whatever mood you're in i'm
in for the big open world stuff like particularly um vahalo was but then like if you're telling me a
(59:48):
tight and good story like you are with this i'm game for that as well now i i'm here for it i just
all i can tell you i'm i'm gonna try this one out all right speaking of staying true to our
character day what do you have for us this week in nerd commentations it's no secret that i absolutely
adore the golden age characters over at dc the original flash j-charic the original green lantern
(01:00:11):
elan scott and so on and so forth the justice society stuff uh these these are characters that i've
always loved um and uh have followed through various incarnations and you know always hoping that
they do more with them and lo and behold spinning out of the uh current uh jsa book that is going on
(01:00:31):
they're actually having a series of solo minis and i've dipped my foot now into each of them and i
have to say i like them like each one of them i like uh so there are three uh minis series that are
focused on individual jsa members we got elan scott the green lantern by tim sheridan and cn tormi
(01:00:52):
j-charic the flash by jeremy adams with art by diago orlay oh my goodness i am so bad at this
or lord tegui uh and westly dodged the santa man by rob venditti with uh riley rozmo
now the cool thing about each of these books is that they are not um just like resting on the classic
(01:01:15):
incarnations of these characters but they're also trying to do some new stuff with these characters
for example uh the the j-charic mini uh postulates uh that j-charic actually had a daughter that uh
functioned at his side as his sidekick for a little while and then a villain kidnapped her in a race
to memory of her and she's been sort of suspended in time and now that he's an old man suddenly she's
(01:01:39):
back and he has to deal with you know this daughter that he had forgotten about and him being an old man
and now trying to be a dad um and that's a really interesting you know root to take with the character
elan scott green lantern is going back to his origin and is playing a little bit around with some
unknown unseen stuff um and that's been really interesting so i think all three of these minis are
(01:02:04):
really really strong so far i've read the first uh issue of each i think the art is strong the
writing is strong i think the characters are certainly in character while at the same time
revealing new layers to these characters that have been around forever right so i absolutely
adore what DC is doing and shining a new spotlight on these characters um and and kind of bringing them
(01:02:29):
to to modern audiences and and still being able to find new angles for the storytelling with those
characters so i'm i'm a big big fan of these minis so far and if they continue on the way they have
been going i think these are going to be some real classic stories in the annals of these characters
Chris yeah i'm definitely intrigued by this um the art especially is stunning in all three cases i
(01:02:54):
mean i've made my feelings on speedsters quite clear but i think i think i might have to check this one
out the one i'm most intrigued by is the sandman and that whole vibe completely though i think i
think i actually believe it or not if you if you give it a chance i found out of the three probably
Alan Scott Greenland turned the most enjoyable that first issue it hints at so many interesting things
(01:03:18):
it's a great setup issue and it does a really good job because it spends some time with his origin
and who he was before he became the green lantern and all that and i i think you're going to find
something that you're really going to appreciate here already folks well there you have it that's
it for a new episode of the nerd by word podcast thank you so much for listening if you like what
you just heard please be sure to get on your favorite podcasting platform subscribe so you never
(01:03:43):
miss another episode and drop us a rating and review we can you can find us uh we're all uh
any podcasts are available on all major podcasting platforms including our very own spiffy website
nerdbyword.com and i said a hit us up on social media @nurdbyword on all platforms or individually that
nerd david that nerd chris and as always stay well and stay nerdy the nerd by word is written and
(01:04:09):
produced by chris and dav two nerds with a love of all things pop culture the podcast features
music by al yimenez with additional drops composed by joe biammy our show art is by ashary design
find us at nerdbyword.com and wherever podcasts are available
(01:04:34):
[no audio]
[MUSIC]
(00:06):
Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Nerd Byword podcast.
We give thanks for nerdy things and not having to sit at a dinner table with most of our extended family.
The Byword starts now.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC]
(00:33):
Ladies and gentlemen, it's welcome to episode 171 of the Nerd Byword podcast.
And as we enter the holiday season, we are very glad that you decided to tune into our little show during Thanksgiving week.
(00:56):
Hopefully, we can give you a little distraction from all those relatives that will soon be sharing the dinner table with you that you really don't want to spend any time with.
In this week's episode, Chris and I are going to discuss some of the things that we are particularly thankful for in Nerd Media and Pop culture this year.
But first, as always, it's time for--
(01:17):
[MUSIC]
Yeah, so I'm not surprised that we're going to have to talk about this, Chris.
Bring it.
>> Okay, so the funny thing is about us recording like a head of schedule is some of our news stories or some of our discussions are obsolete or at least require further context or maybe even an update by the time that they are released.
(01:45):
So by the time you're hearing this, it's going to be a really interesting discussion.
But Dave Jonathan Hickman did the thing.
As previously teased, we have-- I don't even know that this is an apples to apples comparison, a Peter B Parker of sorts.
But TLDR, Peter and MJ are married in this ultimate spider man that he is going to be writing with Art by Marco Chicano.
(02:11):
It was a big thing that broke social media, the internet, when it was revealed.
They just randomly dropped two little promotional covers, one by Elizabeth Torque, one by longtime spider man artist Ryan Steckman with the solicit that says,
(02:32):
"Me, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Parker, they're one of pop culture's most iconic couples, and now readers will see them stronger than ever in the ultimate universe.
To celebrate, Peter and MJ's romance will be featured in a series of picture perfect variant covers by Elizabeth Torque that will adjourn the first four issues of ultimate spider man.
(02:53):
Spidey superstar Ryan Steckman also spotlights the whole Parker family on a new promotional piece. He's really, really fascinating, and then Hickman folded up in this press release saying,
"When we decided that we were going to do a book about an older Peter Parker becoming spider man, we really wanted to lean into him,
starting his superhero life from a very different place than what's traditionally expected.
(03:16):
Peter and MJ being married is one of many decisions we made that underlined this being quite a different kind of spider man story."
So yeah, we have also in Steckman, the Torque cover is a real romantic cover with Peter and MJ.
Peter has the push-up bra for all men, a full grown beard.
(03:39):
And then on the Steckman cover, we have two as yet, as it's time of recording, yet unnamed children.
So really interesting to see how this develops, and now we've added context at the time of recording, we've both read ultimate universe number one.
(04:01):
And so that kind of helps color in the lines of what we can expect a little bit about how the maker kept all of these people from becoming heroes,
and now at much later stages in their lives, Peter especially is going to become a hero.
So this is going to be a very different take on the character.
(04:22):
So I don't even know that the Peter B Parker is a fair comparison if we're looking at the spider verse film franchise version of the character.
So I'm incredibly intrigued to see where this goes, and I'm hyped for the ultimate universe going forward as a whole.
Yeah, so there's a lot to unpack here.
So let's start sort of with the base setup of all of this first.
(04:46):
So I read ultimate invasion, and overall it was "ite."
I guess is what I'm trying to say.
I thought it was a placeholder.
Yeah, it didn't drive--
I sold her. Yeah, it didn't set my world on fire or anything.
And I was okay with it, but I didn't really feel like there was a very clear protagonist in all this.
(05:07):
There wasn't very clear through line.
I felt, you know, I was kind of-- I don't know.
It was not starting this new ultimate line, I guess, with a big bang or something.
And so I was cautiously optimistic that it would be readable,
but I didn't find, you know, ultimate invasion all that interesting.
(05:29):
Now, that being said, I think that reading ultimate universe number one completely
recontextualized ultimate invasion for me and made it significantly better.
I don't think you can judge ultimate invasion without ultimate universe number one.
I think that issue is basically the fifth part of the mini,
and this is where all the threads come together.
(05:50):
And you start getting a sense, actually, for what the plan is with this ultimate universe.
And that's when I finally got hooked on this because I really liked the notion,
you know, which was hinted at in ultimate invasion,
that the maker basically jumped around and took away the opportunities
for a lot of these heroes to arise, right?
Like, you know, for example, making sure that the spider doesn't bite Peter Parker
(06:13):
and then, you know, locking the spider away.
Those sorts of things then lend themselves to a very different vibe for a lot of these characters.
Not just that they become heroes later in their personal timelines,
which is what we're going to see with Peter.
But, you know, there's opportunities here for maybe completely different characters
to get some of these powers, for example, right?
(06:34):
So I think we're in a very interesting baseline spot with this new ultimate universe
and that it actually has the opportunity to tell very, very different kinds of stories
that, you know, really that's, I think, what they need to do here anyways
because the original ultimate universe was basically sort of a greatest hits compilation, right?
(06:58):
I mean, that's what it basically was.
It was retelling classic stories in a modern context.
And I don't think you can go to that well again.
So what they're doing instead here is they're creating a situation
where they can tell the kind of stories that you really can't tell in mainline Marvel continuity
for whatever reason.
And I think if they really run with that, we're in for a very interesting ride.
(07:21):
I love obvious, for obvious reasons that, you know, we have the Parker family as sort
of the baseline of the new, you know, Spider-Man series.
And of course, that broke the internet because people, a lot of fans have been clamoring
for a return of the marriage to Mary Jane and the regular continuity.
So this might be, you know, a bone for that particular, you know, branch of the fandom.
(07:46):
But I'm also, you know, still cautious because, you know, we're talking about storytelling
here that, you know, thrives on drama and complications and the like.
And the first place that my mind went to is exactly what you said is that this is not a
Peter B. Parker situation.
You know, he is going to get bitten as a, you know, middle-aged man.
(08:08):
You know, you see, is he going to let Mary Jane in on that secret?
What is this going to do to his family situation?
Are we going to see the kind of story where basically he becomes a superhero
and it basically tears us family apart?
You know, like is that, is that the way that they're going to try to go?
Because to me, one of the things that made, you know, that particular marriage
(08:29):
as a storytelling element, so special in like runs, for example, by Strazinski.
Um, was, you know, that the secret was out in the open that it was for the most part
of really supportive marriage.
Once you got out of the 90s, you know, chain smoking Mary Jane, always complaining
that Peter Spider-Man, even though she knew when she got married, that's what he did,
you know, um, once you got away from that, it became a very, a very supporting, um, mutually
(08:55):
supporting situation, I think, and I think it was sort of a great marriage in comics to
sort of hold up as a, as a good relationship, you know, that wasn't, you know, toxic because
of the superhero element thrown in.
So I think I have a little bit of concern that that might be the route that they're taking
there, you know, Peter's life would be perfect if he hadn't been bitten by the spider.
Now we reintroduced a spider bite and now his life's going to go to heck yet again, you know,
(09:19):
I hope that they don't quite do that.
There obviously needs to be conflict and drama in any good storytelling,
but just like creating this baseline that a lot of people have been clamoring to see in
the comics again and then immediately nuking it, um, would, would be sad, but is in the realm of the
possible because we're talking about comic book storytelling here.
Um, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this ultimate universe is going to give us stories that we
(09:43):
would not, uh, be able to get in the main line, uh, you know, Marvel continuity and that alone makes me
extremely excited for what they did here.
Yeah, and I'm going to, I'm going to color outside the lines here and, and jam in an extra
nerd commentation. I really enjoyed ultimate universe number one.
Um, and, and I think I enjoyed ultimate invasion, um, a little more than you did.
(10:07):
Maybe because I kind of binge read a lot of it, I'd, I'd read like the first issue or two and then kind of fell off.
Um, and then I came back and just crossed through the, the remaining issues.
And so I, I, I appreciated like the, the, the meta contextual type of stuff like the, the social
critiques, if you will, of like these elitist controlling, like the global
(10:34):
political powers. It's, especially, pressient given the state of global politics right now.
So like those elements, I thought were fascinating. Um, and then you leaned right into that and
it's, it's funny because with all the multiversal stuff being like all the rage for so many different
(10:55):
things nowadays, it's like, how can you kind of stand out and make something unique? And I think
they truly have achieved that with this. I think this is something unique and something that we
haven't really seen before where we almost have like a collector type situation with the maker where
he has like all these totems locked up somewhere. Um, and then we have really unique kind of spins on
(11:17):
characters. We have a, a, a read Richards that is like a doctor doom, you know, at least in costume.
Um, we have, I, I, I never, I would never would have thought that I would be rooting for a character
with the name Tony Stark, but here we are. Like he, he's a teenage kid. And so it's almost like an
(11:39):
inverse of like a, a Peter Parker situation where like he's iron lad and he's the young
character with a strong moral compass that has been sabotaged by the global media as this
terrorist and awful person. And so how is he going to rebound from that? You have my guy Thor
(12:00):
as like this unjust prison, in prison person. Uh, you have Siff on the team. I'm always up for
ladies of being on a main roster. Like I'm, I'm really kind of interested to see where we go from here
on the entire ultimate universe and, and where these, how these stories are going to be vastly different
from, from mainline comics. Yeah, I'm feeling it, man. I really am. Uh, ultimate universe number one
(12:26):
really sold me on this. I love all the Thor stuff that was going on there. Um, I like this take on iron
man, a sort of this, this, this younger kid, you know, um, I, I think there's definitely something here.
Yeah, doctor, doom read Richards is fascinating too. It was just the whole thing. It, you know, I think
we're calling him doctor doom read Richards, but it almost makes me feel more like, uh, uh,
(12:48):
you will, you will appreciate this reference. It almost makes me feel more like a man in the iron
mask situation, right? It's where the make, where the maker doesn't want to see the face of, of,
himself and, you know, somebody that he hates, which is, you know, heroic read Richards. I think that's
you know, you get me that, that's my heart. You get me. Yeah. So I, I think there's definitely
(13:09):
something here. I'm, I'm excited for this man. All right. Now for your news story, Dave, um, very,
very somber news. Yes, sir. Uh, so, uh, Richard Moll, uh, uh, actor, voice actor, past,
weight, age 80 recently. And I think this is definitely newsworthy for a nerd podcast because he,
(13:29):
um, you know, was, uh, actor for a harvident, uh, two face in the, uh, 90s Batman, the animated series.
And was responsible for some of the absolute best voice acting on there, which is actually saying
something considering what you were dealing with, you know, towering grades like, you know, Kevin
Conroy and Mark Hamill. But, um, I'm particularly thinking of the two face two part or where, you know,
(13:51):
he had to voice act harvident descent and the madness and the emergence of the two face,
a split personality and all that. And there is some really hard wrenching voice acting going on here.
Um, probably his biggest claim to fame, uh, was on the, uh, sitcom Night Court that ran in the late 80s
and early 90s. He was a series regular on their playing sort of a dim-witted, but good-hearted
(14:13):
baylif and was very, very funny in the role. Um, and then after that sort of transition into a
lot of voice acting stuff, did some stuff, uh, on, on Justice League Unlimited, did some stuff that
man animated series free gazoid and the like. Um, and so as, as far as the nerd world is concerned,
if you, you know, like myself grew up in that era, so that, that golden age of a
(14:34):
Warner animation, you definitely have heard Richard Mull's voice. Um, so, you know, we lost another
piece of our, of our childhoods here with a fantastic actor and voice actor, uh, who was responsible
for some very memorable characters. Yeah, and it's, it's deeply saddened. I mean, we lost Arlene Sorkin.
(14:55):
You know, we lost Kevin Conroy last year. It's, um, it's, it's becoming a really,
um, almost like, um, a wake-up call, like for our generation. Um, and also like a time to sit back
and appreciate the contributions that these artists have made on our lives. You know, we, we've really
(15:15):
been, been spoiled by the voice actors and I think even, even with the advent of social media
and kind of circling some of these clips of people like Phil Lamar, like Keith David, like Richard
Mull, Arlene Sorkin, like, these are, these are giants in the industry and we still do not give them
(15:36):
enough credit for, for the work that they do and the impact that they have on our childhoods
and, and our lives at large. So, um, certainly pass our condolences on to, to Richard Mull's family and
just again, like, we really, we really had a good growing up, man.
Yeah, we did. Arty folks, that's this for Nerd news on that sombre note. We're going to move on. After
(15:58):
a quick break, we are going to be back with, uh, our sort of, uh, things that we are grateful for
this year in the Nerdworld and in popular media. So stick around, round, we'll be right back.
All right folks, there you have it. We are back. It is time for...
(16:21):
And for this week's big talk, I, uh, I have to say, I kind of went ahead and rolled with, uh, my good
buddy Chris's suggestion here of doing a Thanksgiving themed episode, even though I have very little,
(16:44):
um, um, connection to Thanksgiving, having grown up in, in Europe and moving over here Thanksgiving,
as always struck me as the most uncomfortable of holidays. Um, but I like the spirit of being
grateful for things. So we each picked three things over the past year that we are particularly
grateful for in popular culture and in Nerd media. And I'm going to throw it to Chris for the first
(17:07):
thing that he is particularly grateful for this year, Chris. What have you got?
Yeah, my mission with this episode was to turn some of that German attitude into gratitude.
The, the first thing that I'm just incredibly thankful for is the work of, of all you.
Particularly with X-Men Red, but like with, with, you know, his, his other work as well, I think,
(17:34):
it's really, it's a really hard time to be an X-Men fan right now. We went from
to being at the top of the world with the advent of Krakow and reimagining so many different things
of what superhero comics can be. And now we have made a hard right turn, uh, back into the regression
of persecution of the genocide of slaughter. Um, and uh, it's, it's, it's, it's really tough. Um,
(18:03):
but in spite of that, X-Men Red remains, in my opinion, the strongest book in the line far in a way,
and is still doing some incredible storytelling in spite of all of the editorial overreach,
what have you, of telling this wonderful story of characters that we love, of telling beautiful
(18:25):
stories about Magneto, about Storm, about Sunspot, about, um, complicated issues of, of governance,
of world building. And so I truly appreciate his contributions, um, what he's doing with Immortal
Thor, I'm telling you what, it's a great time. I said this on social media, but it's a great time
(18:47):
to be a Thor fan, um, between ultimate universe and like this very different interpretation of the
character, um, between Immortal Thor, um, you have Jed McKay's Avengers round, which we both have,
have given flowers for rightfully so. So, um, I just really, really appreciate his work, his,
his, his writing. And I'm, even, I think he has a book called Adventures Incorporated. I don't even
(19:12):
know what that is, but I'm gonna read it. So he has become like one of those writers that I'll just
read whatever they write, no matter the characters. I don't typically go for an Avengers book, um,
but Avengers Incorporated, you know, I'm there, I'm, I'm reading it. Um, and Jed McKay's right there as
(19:33):
well, uh, with what he's done with Moon Knight, uh, with Black Cat. I'm getting ready to read a doctor
strange book. Um, so I'm, I'm very appreciative of, of, of some of these writers that are really
cooking right now. Now, you and us doing Immortal Thor, right? Correct. Yeah, there is nothing wrong
with that book, my friend. So I will, I will echo your gratitude. Now, a lot of the expense stuff,
(19:55):
you know, I'm kind of X-Men agnostic, um, but, but, you know, Immortal Hulk, uh, was an absolute
barn burner and Immortal Thor so far has been absolutely fantastic as well. So I feel like I need
to really expand outward and read more all-u-ing because, um, what I have read, uh, from the pen of
viewing himself has been absolutely fantastic. Yeah, ultimates, ultimates too, all that stuff,
(20:20):
US Avengers, Secret Avengers, all of it is, is immaculate. And, and so I can't, I've nerd commended
it before, but I, I can't, nerd commended enough. But speaking of writers that we adore, Dave, you've
got one for us as well. Yeah, so I can't, I can't help but be extremely grateful, uh, for the recent
resurgence of Mark Wade over at DC. Um, you know, love him or hate him. He's a big, he's a big sort of idea
(20:49):
kind of guy. Um, and he also has a sort of an enduring love for very specific kind of image, I guess,
of DC, a very specific era of DC. And calling back to that right now in sort of the, this, this new
era that they're kind of going for at DC has been incredibly well executed. Almost everything
(21:13):
coming from the pen of Mark Wade over at DC is just really hitting it. Worlds finest in particular,
sort of, uh, you know, a good chunk of it has been sort of a flashback book and you're dealing with,
you know, the friendship between Batman and Superman is such a, a refreshing return to a relationship
between those two based on mutual respect rather than animosity, getting away from sort of the Batman
(21:39):
v Superman image of the characters and back to like a, a sort of classic friendship between the two
has been such a breath of fresh air. Um, and then, you know, spinning out of that, we got a fantastic
take on sort of the first group of, of Teen Titans and seeing, you know, the, the younger incarnation of
Degraissance through sort of a new lens, I think one of my all time favorite comic moments, it's just,
(22:03):
it's joined like top, my top 10 favorite comic moments, um, even though it's so recent is when he did,
Robin and Supergirl trying to go on a first date together and how, how Degraise and absolutely
bombs the date, you know, it's just so funny awkward throughout and so well written, uh, is, I get a huge
(22:25):
kick out of that whole issue, you know, and then, you know, Wade has just been doing really interesting
things too with like, um, you know, trying to, to, you know, mix up things a little bit by, by giving
an in-story opportunity for people to tweak like characters powers or take, you know, come from a new
angle at certain characters, you know, Wade has just been a really, really strong presence at DC
(22:50):
over the last year and I think DC has been exactly what I think it needs to be. DC has always been
to me at least a very, a very bright place based on hope even, you know, in the darkness of a Batman
story. The notion of hope is so crucial to, to DC storytelling and I think that's really shining
(23:11):
through lately again, you know, with Wade's, Wade's involvement. Um, and so I'm just very, very
pleased that Wade has become such a, um, a vocal voice at DC Comics again. Um, even though I don't
agree with all of his takes, I know he, uh, recently spoke about how he prefers the, you know, the
Kents having passed away, uh, as opposed to them still being around and I think that's just a, a horrible
(23:36):
take. Um, but, uh, even though I can disagree with, you know, Wade on certain particulars like that,
I really just appreciate how he executes a story in the DC universe and I'm just very, very glad that he's
such a loud voice right now at DC. Yeah, I, you know, my exposure to DC actual comics are, is minimal. Um,
(23:58):
I don't breed a whole lot. I feel like a lot of it, um, feels like stepping into a country where I don't
speak the native tongue. Um, it can, it can be kind of hard to acclimate to everything going on,
but Mark Wade is one of those people that it's almost like he's a tour guide that, that can translate
(24:19):
for me. And, uh, so his, his, his work on DC when I have read it like superman berth, right? For example,
is, is very new reader friendly for me. Um, and so world's finest has been one of those things
that's always been on my to read list. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but, um, it's definitely
at the top of my list. All right. So Chris, what is the second thing that you have been grateful for
(24:43):
this past year? Like we never stopped saying wonderful things about it since we started this podcast,
then I don't think we ever will. I think Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is one of the best value subscription
services of any type. Uh, you know, I've talked to the cows come home about how much I love Starfield.
Um, and one of the positive byproducts of the rampant capitalism that is Microsoft currently
(25:12):
is that consumers like myself are able to play these highly sought after games at no additional cost,
uh, day one. And I mean, like you can't, can't argue with that. Um, just the cool thing about it is, is you can,
there's just like, there's no shortage of things to try. And so you can download something, give it a
(25:36):
shot. And if you don't like it, you just uninstall it and there's no commitment to it. I, I cannot
vent enough about buying a game, instantly hating it. And then you're just out of 60 bucks.
Um, and so, you know, with, with digital sales and stuff like that, that's been one way to kind of
(25:57):
avoid that issue, but even better here is like I can download something at no additional cost. Give it a
try. If I like it, perfect. If I don't like it, just uninstall it. And there's no extended commitment
necessary to it. So I, I will always praise Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as one of those things where,
especially with things like Starfield, things like, um, you know, games that, that, that a lot of people
(26:24):
are rushing to pay full price for it. Like that's not the case with Game Pass. So, um, I'm always
thankful for it. I think there's a lot of things to be grateful for on the Xbox side of things.
Anyways, I think Game Pass definitely leads the way, but I can just tell you, I think, and maybe that
is just me, but as somebody who plays on, you know, consoles from, from, you know, multiple companies,
(26:47):
I mean, I play, you know, Nintendo Switch and I play Xbox and I play PlayStation. I think just the,
the ecosystem of Xbox is probably the most polished, you know, I think it's the most polished online play.
And I know there's probably going to be some, some, you know, PlayStation fanboys that'll disagree.
But I come from this, you know, not with not any dog really in the race just because my console wars
(27:13):
are long over, you know, it was Nintendo and, and, and Sega, you know, that, that's, that's how old I am.
So that's a console war to me. What's going on right now doesn't feel like a console war to me.
So I come, I come from this from a fairly, you know, unbiased perspective. I just like to ecosystem best.
And it also feels to me like out of the box, things just generally work better oftentimes.
(27:35):
For example, when I attempted to stream my, my PlayStation 4 to my Steam Deck, so I can just, you know,
remote play on it. It does not work very well. It's, it continues to be pretty laggy and I have a
lot of trouble trying to make that work. Flip side then I set that up for my Xbox and it's,
(27:56):
it's pretty much flawless. Like I have, I have zero issues with it at all. So I think just the,
the ecosystem generally at Xbox is just, there's a, there's a solid baseline there that is very
functional for the end user. And I like that a lot. And, and I think Game Pass is a part of that.
It's just, it's, it's very, very good for the consumer. You know, I'm always reminded of the old days of
(28:22):
demo discs. Did you ever get ahold of any of those back in the day, Chris? Yeah, I, you know, I know
they did a bunch for, for PS1, but even before that, you got it, you go out and get like a magazine,
like PC gamer or something and it would have like a, it have like a demo disk attached to it and
you pop that in your PC and you get to play a little bit of a game before you actually have to go buy it.
I mean, I don't want to imagine how many landfills were filled with all those demo discs when I always said,
(28:46):
said and done, but there is something again to be said for a consumer to have a demo. So even if
you don't have something like Game Pass, that's a very least as a, as a publisher. If you really believe
in your game, you should, you should provide a free demo of some kind so people can try the game and
make the decision whether they want to purchase it or not. And so I agree that that's one of the strengths
(29:08):
of Xbox Game Pass. I have tried a lot of games that, and loved a lot of games that I probably would
not, you know, paid to go out and buy until I tried them, you know, and then I was able to play them
and enjoy them and, you know, there are plenty of things where I'd like, you know, if this wasn't on Game Pass,
you know, if I would have had a chance to try it, I would have went out and bought this game. I love
(29:29):
this thing, you know, there's a lot of really cool things on Game Pass. So I, I'll hold hardedly echo
what you're saying. I really, really enjoy Game Pass as well. So your next thing that you're thankful for
is proof positive that we come from very different worlds. All right. So I'm gonna go ahead and start
with something that we have previously discussed and then I'm gonna kind of, you know, tangent off of it,
(29:55):
all right. So I was thinking about you specifically a little while ago and I even texted you this
because you were, you know, you had started this Buffy rewatch and I had not really considered
what that meant watching Buffy on streaming until I remembered that Buffy, the vampire slayer,
(30:20):
had received a quote unquote remaster and I say this in quotes because it's not very good
and they released a show in widescreen with not a whole lot of care being taken in the actual
remastering and there are metric ton of problems with this remaster that completely break the original
(30:48):
intent of the creators of the show, particularly with stuff like color grading and particular, you know,
they went back to the original, ungraded, you know, recordings and then they did not apply the color
grading. So you get a whole lot of problems there. The show was filmed in widescreen but never intended
to actually be seen in widescreen. So you have stuff like shots where there's crew members and
(31:12):
lighting rigs visible in the corners. There's problems with scenes taking place at night but they
were filmed during daytime and then they put like a blue, sort of blueish color filter over to make
it look more dark, right? And a lot of that stuff did not get translated over into the remaster.
(31:34):
So when I was thinking about the impact that Buffy, the vampire slayer had on me the first time I
watched it, a lot of it was that there was nothing on TV at the time that had that kind of atmosphere,
like the atmosphere that show created, especially in the early seasons when they were going for a
very strong horror vibe, you know, all those scenes with the master and his layer and everything, right?
(31:56):
There was nothing like that on TV, nothing had that kind of vibe, nothing.
And now when you look at the remasters, it doesn't have that vibe anymore, you know, like there's
so many mistakes in the remaster that it ruins a lot of really important moments, I think.
(32:19):
I'll give an example, there is a scene at the end of season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
or the whole thing kind of takes place, you know, in the dark as so much does. And then Buffy reaches
a very important decision and, you know, you are not nearly there so I'm not going to spoil what that is,
but as she reaches that decision in that moment of clarity, the sun comes up and the lighting of
(32:44):
the whole scene changes, right? It's pure symbolic, you know, filmmaking. And because of the remaster,
not doing the color grading properly, that entire vibe is lost because the whole scene feels like
it's too bright. So there is never that moment where the lighting kind of changes to symbolize the
(33:06):
internal change in the character. And so that's a long way for me to say that one of the things I'm
extremely grateful for is to continue to continue to exist as a physical media because if I want to see,
you know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer the way I love and remember it without all of these mistakes,
the way it originally broadcast, I have my DVDs down in the basement and lo and behold, I will,
(33:29):
you know, get those out in order to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as opposed to watching them
on streaming because I want something that is akin to the original experience rather than something
that had all of these good things about it sort of filed away in a very sloppy sort of process.
And that just reminds me that there is still something to this day to be said for physical media,
(33:52):
you know, absolutely adore the fact that when we got a new game for the Super Nintendo,
we didn't have to worry about a day one eight gigabyte patch to fix the game because they,
you know, released it unfinished, right? So I still have a deep appreciation for physical media and
that that appreciation was recently re-awakened even more I guess or expanded upon when I rediscovered
(34:20):
vinyl for my music. Like everybody else on planet earth, I use a lot of streaming music these days
because there's a huge element of convenience to that. I have a music subscription specifically
to Apple Music on my iPhone. So wherever I go, I have my music, my playlists, you know,
and I love the convenience, but because of bandwidth and all of that, I would say that qualitatively
(34:48):
streaming music leaves a lot to be desired. And when you take the exact same music and pop it,
you know, on vinyl on a traditional record player, there is a richness and a texture and a detail
in the quality of the music that is completely different. And it's something that I still,
(35:10):
you know, deeply appreciate. I grew up in a household with a lot of vinyl because of, you know,
my dad had a big vinyl collection. And there is a warmth and a richness in the tone of music coming
from a vinyl record that I don't see duplicated in digital music. And so even though a lot of physical
media is on the way out, I am glad that I have here what I have. I have a deep appreciation for
(35:35):
being able to revisit, you know, a show pre-crapy remaster like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm glad
that I can slap on a vinyl record and enjoy that rich sound that you don't get from streaming
music. And I think there is still a place for physical media, even though, you know, digital is by far
more convenient. I think there's still a place for physical media out there.
(35:58):
Yeah, I wish I could follow that path. The convenience is just too much for me.
I just don't have the desire to go that route. I think the convenience just outweighs it for me.
I do have some vinyls. That part I do have, but I don't even think I have something to play DVDs
(36:22):
of Blu-ray's. Also that Buffy watch through for the first time. It's a real start and stop. I
even got through an entire episode and now that I've started up again. Really struggling.
It is of its time, Chris. But yeah, you know, so I understand the convenience part and I'm not
(36:44):
rejecting digital. Like I play games on my steam deck. That's all digital. And I have my digital
music subscription. But I think, like I said, there's something to be said for having physical media
as a supplement to that still, especially on stuff like Buffy where the remasters is such a mess.
Or if we look at the HBO Max, pardon me, the max of it all, where you had all this stuff streaming
(37:08):
and now this has been taking all that stuff off. I think we just have to accept that streaming is
not going to be that all access passed that we thought it would be. Stuff does not stay streaming.
And if you want to see it at some point later, right now, physical is probably still the best,
but as far as just having something, do we even need to talk about Star Wars at this case?
(37:32):
Like all the special edition changes that were made if you want to see Star Wars,
Dohaid originally was released. The only way you can do that is basically from a VHS
copy or a laser disk. A laser disk. So I think that preservation wise, considering digital
(37:52):
enhancements and changes and redoing special effects and all that has become so common.
If you are a purist for something, physical media is just words out.
I don't know. I kind of like the McCleunky of it all.
I still am personally offended by the music change at the end of Return of the Jedi.
(38:15):
I ride for Nubbjab. I just I love the original track. I love that celebration music
and that new one they put on there is just does not vibe with me at all. It just does not vibe with me.
All right, Chris, what is the third thing that you are grateful for?
I think we are truly in the golden age of cover art and variant covers and all of that.
(38:40):
And you know, I'm not a real big purchaser of physical comics, but just the
this niche corner of comic book, the art form that has opened its way for
artists to really just cook and just do their absolute best work and to not be beholden to any kind
(39:07):
of constraints really. So I'm talking about like the sway art, the the Jenny frizzans, the
Lucas Vernex, like everybody like Peach Momoko, like everybody just having complete artistic
liberty to create to their hearts content. And we as fans of the medium are the beneficiaries.
(39:33):
We just see some of the most beautiful things to save for our profile pictures, to save for our
lock screens, our cover photos. I can't think of a better time to be a fan of the comic book medium
when it comes to just pure art. And so I'm incredibly thankful for all of the cover art that's
(39:56):
coming out for books like I'm not even I don't even know that I'm going to read, but just to view
that comic book art on my timeline is just the best. You know, I will say that I wish they would
put a lot more of those variant covers on posters because I would probably put like a couple of
poster frames in my in my home office and then just like randomly change them out when I see one of
(40:19):
those totally sweet variant covers like the most recent she-hulk run for example had some of the
absolutely most stunning covers I have seen in my real life. Our girl Jen Bartel, another one of them.
It's so absolutely stunning art. I would have had like a rotating she-hulk frame just for those
she-hulk covers, like every every month for different poster like yeah the I would say that
(40:45):
I'm glad that for the most part we've gotten away from the 90's gimmicks of like you know,
foil reflective and all that jazz because right now what they're really doing well is a lot of these
variant covers just represent incredible artwork and I think that's just where that is that's where
it's at when you're dealing with comic books is you want to see really incredible artwork right? So
(41:07):
you know no gimmicks straight up this is just really cool art that's the sweet spot for comic book
covers and I think that you're right they're really knocking it out of the park out of the park in
recent in the last few years I really really am enjoying what they're doing with cover art.
All right Dave I have no idea where you're headed with this last one.
I'm glad you didn't google it. Yeah yeah I really don't know what to say other than I'm
(41:31):
this this is maybe a little off the beaten path for for us on this part because most of the time we're
talking about movies and the like but you know I kind of dropped the vinyl thing already so I'm
going to talk about music for a second. So earlier this year a band that I listened to a lot when I
was in college fallout boy released a new CD for the first time a new record for the first time in five
(41:56):
years and it's called so much for Stardust and I think the album kind of represents sort of a synthesis
of a lot of musical styles that I've dabbled with over the years and as kind of
achieved sort of quintessence status as being like the the quintessential fallout boy album and
(42:19):
that it touched a sort of on all areas and on all vibes that they have had over the years.
This is their eighth studio album and I came to fallout boy very early on with their their second
album which was released I believe in 2005 from under the cork tree and it became in a lot of ways
that that was the soundtrack of my of myself more year in college like I had to drive daily for
(42:47):
about an hour to campus because I was saving money not you know living on campus I was still living
at home and so I drove an hour one way I spent two hours in the car every day go in the college classes
and more often than not in myself more year it was it was you know from under the cork tree that was
that was playing in my car over and over and over again just just nonstop and then when they released
(43:13):
a follow-up to that their third album infinity on high that that was the next main stay so at that
point I was just basically when I was driving I was rotating between between those two albums
and so it's you know this is gonna sound weird for such a straight-laced guy as myself to say but it
(43:34):
was basically a a emo pop punk band that essentially connected with me on the deepest level of any band
or musical act that I've probably ever listened to I connected with the lyrics to music it I felt
spoken to by this music and I continued following the band you know on and off after I graduated
(43:59):
but so much for Stardust was like the key to me to unlocking an appreciation for their entirety
of their musical work like every little element of what they've created somehow you know is
represented on this record and I know among follow-up boy fans there's always like the pre-hide as post-hide
(44:21):
as debate you know like you know with what version of the band is better before they took their
big break or after and I don't I don't care for that debate at all you know I just really like their
their continued evolution enough you know listening to so much for Stardust has caused me to
branch out into like seeking out you know initially unreleased demos seeking out you know side projects
(44:49):
seeking out you know some of the absolute weirdest stuff like for example they they did an you know
adaptation of a Disney song from the jungle book for a Disney compilation and even that slaps like
you know it's it's absolutely fascinating to me how I still you know as a guy getting ready to turn
(45:15):
40 and absolutely connected to this this band both lyrically and musically and so I'm so glad
that this new this new album came along so much for Stardust to to reawaken that appreciation
for fallout boy in me as weirdest that sounds yeah that's fascinating I think music is one of those things
(45:41):
that I don't know if we can consider this nerdy but it's one of the greatest driving forces of my
life but it's interesting that I've never really keyed in on one artist or band like I have favorites
but I can't say that I have that level of commitment to something like what you just detailed
I have so many different influences so many different genres that I ascribed to like I grew up
(46:07):
with 90s country because my grandfather was a small time recording artist in Nashville I back and
forth all the time he had a small little show in the area that I grew up in and so that played a
heavy influence on my life and I still listen to some aspects of country you know and you know hip hop
(46:29):
and r&b are really probably the the two strongest genres that I grew up with um
rock and roll was kind of it ebbed and flowed in my life um probably the strongest ones
that I connected to were the ones that were really truly unique I know the killers were probably
(46:51):
the probably the most influential band for me in high school I think hot fuss was one of those
albums were yes yeah I have that one yeah it's a good good album like mr. brightside rightfully
gets like all of the flowers but somebody told me is is my go to like that's the one that like shook me
(47:14):
um I know that this is a polarizing one but the white stripes were huge for me you know I
I didn't really find them per se until college so I found the late I kind of had like a
a renaissance my senior year of high school and early college years and so ikey thump came out
(47:37):
and really shook the table for me and then I punted back and found like some of their older stuff I
remember of course like seven nation army like that one of the most iconic guitar riffs like you can
you can hear it at like a sporting event or a stadium or any kind of event like you can hear it
like one of the the all timers and um you know a lot of people throw shade in meg white for being
(48:04):
very simplistic on drums but when you have that juxtaposed with such a talent like jack white on the
guitar like I I love like that boil down to the basics and I love what he went on to do with
the rancatours and and stuff like that um but I think so i've always been like a general consumer of all
(48:25):
forms and when i say i listen to everything i mean everything um but i think like the most
influential artist for me of the past decade or so has been hosier um when take me to arch came out
it absolutely shook me to my core my sister and recently come out as bisexual i was still learning
(48:50):
um for context it shows a gay couple that is that is persecuted and abused so in the music video
and so like i was kind of grappling with a lot of the things of my very religious upbringing
and being forced to take a long hard look for the beliefs that i had held for a long time
(49:16):
um and then that entire self-titled album was here like from work song um is is really powerful
like there's something just raw and pure about a singer songwriter like that like he is
(49:36):
that um just really connects with me so if i had to pick one artist it's probably hosier
that i follow to that level that i have in vine so um Tyler children's recently um with the
stand that he's taken um is another one that that i really connect with and i really vibe with um but
(49:59):
yeah there's there's nothing better than finding an artist finding an album in particular that you
couldn't listen brew on no skips and so ever um unfortunately the one for me in college
was Kanye West graduation and so i'm i'm very i'm very cut and dry when it comes to separating art
from artists i'm like yeah this was really influential for me it was very different it was very quirky
(50:21):
it was very weird but the things that Kanye has done in recent years i can't i can't support that
anymore so yeah but yeah music is one of those things man it is you know and you're always
looking for connection right like you're looking you're looking for for something that speaks to you
on a visceral level in your music you know and it's just fascinating to me that this band in particular
(50:43):
has managed to to continue to stay so connected to me even though you know the band members have
matured and changed an i've matured and changed but for some reason like their music still continues
to speak to me and and i think that that that's absolutely fascinating um so i'm just i'm very very
grateful for for uh you know so much for stardust i think it's it's the exact it's the exact album
(51:10):
that i needed at exactly the right time i got us this is the best way to put it a couple more that i
want to throw in here while we're on topic is is something like rage against the machine and as
the timer recording tomorello was the only person from rage to show up to their hall of fame induction
and the speech that he gave i strongly encourage you to look it up if you haven't seen it before
(51:31):
um that was a barn burner of a speech yeah really really important um just really impactful and it's
funny because the day before that speech i had introduced my kids we were driving around the car
and i'm like listen to this and we played killing in the name and that's something you know my youngest
or six and seven and that's really something strong but i i really believe in taking a stand for your
(51:57):
beliefs and what you believe to be right and not just you know that old captain america quote of like
when the whole world tells me and you truly believe in something you plant your foot like the tree of
justice and say no you move because this is the right thing to do and the whole world can be telling
you that you're wrong but if you believe in something you take a stand for what you know
(52:19):
to be right and stand for your truth and you stand for justice and that's something incredibly
powerful and the other one that i wanted to to speak on is david rolle like find a better
person like in the world of rock and roll and listening to a guy i saw a podcast interview where he
was talking about the life and legacy of kirk kovane um and he was talking about listening to never
(52:46):
mind and it's been now 30 years and he says you know they recorded those in different parts like he
would record the drums the grittaris would come and record those in the studio and so like they
didn't know what kirk was going to do lyrically speaking and he was talking about just the genius
of of kirk kovane and and what he was able to do and and he talks about how
(53:10):
he gets a different experience listening to something that was 30 years later that was 30 years
in the past and now 30 years later he has a different experience than when he heard it for the first
time then and for someone that involved in that to to share something i i think that's i think
(53:31):
that's something that i hear like a song from my past i think about where i was i'm transported back
to that time and and i think you know with something like fallout boy even even with uh
and i'm a fan of fallout boy but but hearing you share your kind of anecdotes makes me the best
(53:52):
types of music can transport you back quite like that yeah absolutely man all right there you have it
those are the things we're grateful for we'd love to hear what you're grateful for so find us on
social media you can find us at nerd bar word or individually at that nerd day and at that nerd
christian we'd love to hear what you are grateful for this holiday season uh let's take a quick break
(54:14):
and when we come back we're going to come back with something else we're grateful for our nerd
commendations stick around already folks we're back and it is time for the segment where we recommend
new nerdy content to you things that we have found and enjoyed and we think you will enjoy to
(54:38):
it is called
arid christ uh you are definitely on the gaming uh side of things today what have you got for
listeners listen sometimes we have our particulars sometimes we are consistent you're gonna go always
(55:01):
with the quirky stuff you're going to always go with something with horror tinge and when it comes to
assassins greed i'm probably gonna love it and mirage the latest installment is of course no
session to that really interesting it's developed by ube soft boardo which is like a a subsidiary or like a
yeah i guess a subsidiary of ube softs and it was published by ube soft um and they went in a very
(55:26):
different direction so the original plan for this um was to be like a dlc installment of volhalla
but they chose to make it like a standalone title because it features the main protagonist bossum
ibn ishak who is a character in volhalla but now we're punting back to his original origin story
(55:53):
and gameplay wise the fascinating thing about this is it threads a lot of
the newer stuff that was introduced in this for lack of a better term this reboot the soft reboot of
the franchise with origins with odyssey with volhalla but it's also like a return to the basics of
(56:16):
what made you know like assassins creed to or even the original so special and so it's kind of a
back to the basics a lot of fans have said it's focusing much more on stealth much more on
like a single lane storytelling perspective and well there are elements of it that make me sad
(56:40):
i get it so they are not planning any big name dlc like they were with the previous ones
you know with origins with odyssey with volhalla they each had at least two big dlc
expansions and that is not going to be the case here i think um uvasoft and assassins creed franchises
(57:02):
going in very different directions with the the i think the red and the jade of what they're planning
on doing they're almost they they have uvasoft plus that is like its own subscription service which
i'm i'm not a part of but um like just narratively speaking i love i'm such an old history nerd ancient
(57:23):
history so this is set in ninth century bagdag during the islamic golden age uh particularly the anarchy
at samara but what i love about this is it's like taking almost like a a graduate course in a very
specific like time of history um and so like the codex for example you will travel around and you'll see
(57:46):
these little sparkling crystal things and it's something that you have to collect um and the sole
purpose of grabbing those little codex things is to teach you a lesson about islamic history during
this period about the the genie and what that truly means and you know we've westernized it a lot
(58:11):
with with disney and popular culture um but like what the the marketplace would look like and
and and bagged out at that time and it will give you like a menu to pop up and it has like
night-century art that shows you stuff like that and so like the history nerd in me is is absolutely
having you know my appetite wedded here um and then the storyline is really fantastic the order of
(58:37):
the ancients the secretive you know order that is is trying to control things behind the scenes um
and it's just it's it's the best of the the ac franchise is back um and there's there's there's
there's just so much to love about this game um i'm i'm deeply saddened that i'm almost done with it
(59:00):
but i'm still gonna try to explore some more when i'm done with the main storyline
yeah it sounds really interesting man i like the assassin's creed games i think it's interesting that
this one seems to harken back more to the original assassin's creed games and less of the you know
rpg heavy stuff that i've been doing in the last few games um i'm wondering how that's being
received i think there's a really a strong sort of division uh in the assassin's creed franchise
(59:25):
fandom as far as which direction is better i guess or more playable or more enjoyable but i like
both incarnation so i'm definitely game for this one yeah i like both i don't really
have a strong preference one or the other like sometimes it just suits whatever mood you're in i'm
in for the big open world stuff like particularly um vahalo was but then like if you're telling me a
(59:48):
tight and good story like you are with this i'm game for that as well now i i'm here for it i just
all i can tell you i'm i'm gonna try this one out all right speaking of staying true to our
character day what do you have for us this week in nerd commentations it's no secret that i absolutely
adore the golden age characters over at dc the original flash j-charic the original green lantern
(01:00:11):
elan scott and so on and so forth the justice society stuff uh these these are characters that i've
always loved um and uh have followed through various incarnations and you know always hoping that
they do more with them and lo and behold spinning out of the uh current uh jsa book that is going on
(01:00:31):
they're actually having a series of solo minis and i've dipped my foot now into each of them and i
have to say i like them like each one of them i like uh so there are three uh minis series that are
focused on individual jsa members we got elan scott the green lantern by tim sheridan and cn tormi
(01:00:52):
j-charic the flash by jeremy adams with art by diago orlay oh my goodness i am so bad at this
or lord tegui uh and westly dodged the santa man by rob venditti with uh riley rozmo
now the cool thing about each of these books is that they are not um just like resting on the classic
(01:01:15):
incarnations of these characters but they're also trying to do some new stuff with these characters
for example uh the the j-charic mini uh postulates uh that j-charic actually had a daughter that uh
functioned at his side as his sidekick for a little while and then a villain kidnapped her in a race
to memory of her and she's been sort of suspended in time and now that he's an old man suddenly she's
(01:01:39):
back and he has to deal with you know this daughter that he had forgotten about and him being an old man
and now trying to be a dad um and that's a really interesting you know root to take with the character
elan scott green lantern is going back to his origin and is playing a little bit around with some
unknown unseen stuff um and that's been really interesting so i think all three of these minis are
(01:02:04):
really really strong so far i've read the first uh issue of each i think the art is strong the
writing is strong i think the characters are certainly in character while at the same time
revealing new layers to these characters that have been around forever right so i absolutely
adore what DC is doing and shining a new spotlight on these characters um and and kind of bringing them
(01:02:29):
to to modern audiences and and still being able to find new angles for the storytelling with those
characters so i'm i'm a big big fan of these minis so far and if they continue on the way they have
been going i think these are going to be some real classic stories in the annals of these characters
Chris yeah i'm definitely intrigued by this um the art especially is stunning in all three cases i
(01:02:54):
mean i've made my feelings on speedsters quite clear but i think i think i might have to check this one
out the one i'm most intrigued by is the sandman and that whole vibe completely though i think i
think i actually believe it or not if you if you give it a chance i found out of the three probably
Alan Scott Greenland turned the most enjoyable that first issue it hints at so many interesting things
(01:03:18):
it's a great setup issue and it does a really good job because it spends some time with his origin
and who he was before he became the green lantern and all that and i i think you're going to find
something that you're really going to appreciate here already folks well there you have it that's
it for a new episode of the nerd by word podcast thank you so much for listening if you like what
you just heard please be sure to get on your favorite podcasting platform subscribe so you never
(01:03:43):
miss another episode and drop us a rating and review we can you can find us uh we're all uh
any podcasts are available on all major podcasting platforms including our very own spiffy website
nerdbyword.com and i said a hit us up on social media @nurdbyword on all platforms or individually that
nerd david that nerd chris and as always stay well and stay nerdy the nerd by word is written and
(01:04:09):
produced by chris and dav two nerds with a love of all things pop culture the podcast features
music by al yimenez with additional drops composed by joe biammy our show art is by ashary design
find us at nerdbyword.com and wherever podcasts are available
(01:04:34):
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