jim starlin

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 372 – “Avengers: Endgame – It’s Been a Long, Long Time (feat. Eric Sipple)”

Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Karen Gillan, Rocket Raccoon, Paul Rudd, and Scarlett Johansson in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

Gobbledygeek episode 372, “Avengers: Endgame – It’s Been a Long, Long Time (feat. Eric Sipple),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

All good things must come to an end. And while the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not one of those things–there’s another one of these bad boys coming out in a few months–Avengers: Endgame does represent the culmination of this first wave/cycle/saga of the MCU. Paul and Arlo are joined by their The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple to discuss just how in the hell directors Anthony and Joe Russo, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and many many other talented filmmakers pulled off this marvelous feat. Because somehow, some way, Endgame is just about the most satisfying conclusion you could hope for.

Next: enter the void.

(Show notes for “Avengers: Endgame – It’s Been a Long, Long Time.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 340, “Batman: A Death in the Family (feat. Kenn Edwards)”

Gobbledygeek episode 340, “Batman: A Death in the Family (feat. Kenn Edwards),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

For the (belated) inaugural installment of Four-Color Flashback 2018, wherein Paul and Arlo will be discussing a different classic superhero story each month, they’ve recruited their old pal Kenn Edwards to help them discuss Batman: A Death in the Family by writer Jim Starlin and artist Jim Aparo. Kenn knows a thing or two about the Caped Crusader, having been part of the Batman Immortal fan film project. However, he’s never read this particular story, in which the Joker savagely beats Robin to death. That puts him on equal footing with our hosts: it’s one of Arlo’s blind spots and Paul hasn’t read it since it was published in 1988. They’re all a little shocked by how anachronistic its goofy plotting and dialogue seem given its release in a post-Dark Knight Returns landscape. Superhero comics were starting to mature, and this one feels like it may have gotten left behind. The gang discusses the impact of Robin’s death; whether Bruce’s hypocrisy is a bug or a feature; the ludicrous political implications of the Joker’s scheme; and why the follow-up story A Lonely Place of Dying is much better. Plus, Arlo is still watching Disney cartoons.

Next: be vewwy, vewwy quiet. The boys and their pal Nate Curtiss are hunting Krasinskis for a discussion of A Quiet Place.

(Show notes for “Batman: A Death in the Family.”)