superman

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 496 – “FCF: Boxers & Saints”

Art from Boxers & Saints (2013) by Gene Luen Yang & Lark Pien

Gobbledygeek episode 496, “FCF: Boxers & Saints,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a blindspot from one of their favorite writers. Gene Luen Yang, author of Gobbledyfaves like American Born Chinese and Avatar: The Last Airbender, tells the brutal story of the Boxer Rebellion in Boxers & Saints. The graphic novel duology delves into complex subjects like faith, spirituality, nationalism, and fascism; we cover ‘em all, hopefully in something resembling depth. Plus, Arlo returns to the city of Metropolis for more Superman comics, including mega-event The Death and Return of Superman and Grant Morrison & Mark Waid’s JLA run. 

NEXT: we find our inner Greenwich Village folksters with a Geek Challenge featuring Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:30  –  Intro / Arlo’s Adventures of Superman
  • 00:36:45  –  Boxers & Saints
  • 02:20:14  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkle, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
  • “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” by Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 493 – “RRR”

Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. in RRR (2022), directed by S.S. Rajamouli

Gobbledygeek episode 493, “RRR,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Time to rise, roar, and revolt as Paul and Arlo engage in some extreme piggybacking with S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR. This alt-history epic is the rare Indian film to make a splash in the Western world, and our boys approach it as only two ignorant white guys can: with almost no knowledge of Indian culture or film! Nevertheless, they are in love with the movie, which reimagines Indian revolutionary figures Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju as superheroes who can outrun tigers, shoot a British bastard from a mile away, and stop motorcycles with their bare hands. The boys praise stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, admire Rajamouli’s craft, and weep in awe at the insane shit happening in every single scene. Plus, there’s a trailer for The Flash and Arlo has finally gone back to reading old Superman comics.

NEXT: TBD.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:44  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:18:04  –  Main Topic
  • 02:03:24  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Dosti” by Amit Trivedi, RRR (Original Soundtrack) (2022)
  • “Naacho Naacho” by Vishal Mishra & Rahul Sipligunj, RRR (Original Soundtrack) (2022)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 492 – “FCF: We Only Find Them When They’re Dead”

We Only Find Them When They’re Dead – Art by Simone Di Meo & Mariasara Miotti

Gobbledygeek episode 492, “FCF: We Only Find Them When They’re Dead,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Got a hankerin’ for god meat? Well, pull out your giant lightsaber knife and feast on a new Four-Color Flashback! For the first FCF of 2023, Paul and Arlo set out at warp speed to seek enlightenment with Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo’s We Only Find Them When They’re Dead. The BOOM! Studios series, whose 15-issue run wrapped in December, is set hundreds of years from now, when the primary industry is extracting proteins, enzymes, and minerals from the corpses of massive deities. Evocative title and crazy premise aside, the book is chock full of theosophical enigmas that our boys try to solve. Beyond the elusive quest for concrete answers, though, this comic certainly makes them feel a whole lot. Dig in. Plus, some bellyaching about the new slate of DC movies.

NEXT: a discussion of S.S. Rajamouli’s action epic RRR, which presumably concerns reading, writing, and arithmetic.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:30  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:21:25  –  We Only Find Them When They’re Dead
  • 01:58:36  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica, Ride the Lightning (1984)
  • “Mystery Jack” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 469 – “FCF: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr”

Art from The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (2021) by Filipe Andrade & Inês Amaro

Gobbledygeek episode 469, “FCF: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

What happens when a child is born who will invent immortality? According to Ram V and Filipe Andrade’s The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, Death is fired from her job, is cast into a mortal body, and attempts to find and murder this child. Oh, she also dies a lot. On this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul & Arlo discuss the book’s unique approach to Indian mythology, Andrade’s beautifully distorted figures, V’s ability to be self-serious without being pretentious, and more. Plus, Paul gets into Severance, the boys aren’t feeling This Is Us‘ final season, and Arlo reads more Superman.

NEXT: it’s an MCU catch-up session. The boys will discuss the trifecta of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:34  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:27:39  –  The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
  • 01:32:20  –  Selecting the next FCF
  • 01:36:03  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight” by Cutting Crew, Broadcast (1986)
  • “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, Agents of Fortune (1976)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 467 – “Whatever Happened to the Geeks of Tomorrow?”

Art from Superman #176 (1965) by Curt Swan, George Klein & Mort Weisinger. Dialogue by Leo Dorfman.

Gobbledygeek episode 467, “Whatever Happened to the Geeks of Tomorrow?,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For Paul and Arlo, existential crises and comic books often go hand-in-hand. Such is the case for this week’s freestyle, wherein Paul’s rumination on the erosion of his teenage self-confidence leads into a discussion of superhero mags. Paul tells Goblin punks to fuck off as he rocks out to Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason’s Spider-Punk, goes undercover with Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande’s recently wrapped run on Black Widow, and cloaks himself in Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio’s Moon Knight. Meanwhile, Arlo rides on horseback through more goofy Silver Age Superman.

NEXT: we will continue to spiral.

MUSIC

  • “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” by The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (1966)
  • “Running Water” by Daniel Johnston, Hi, How Are You (1983)
  • “A Horse with No Name” by America, America (1971)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 466 – “Our Flag Means Death”

Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby in Our Flag Means Death (2022), created by David Jenkins

Gobbledygeek episode 466, “Our Flag Means Death,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! Paul and Arlo set sail for a discussion of David Jenkins’ pirate rom-com Our Flag Means Death. The new HBO Max series, a very loose telling of the history between Stede “The Gentleman Pirate” Bonnet and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, begins as a silly romp very much in the vein of executive producer/star Taika Waititi’s other work. And then…well, it becomes something very much more, depicting a number of queer romances in positive, affirming fashion. The boys discuss this shouldn’t-be-shocking-in-2022 level of representation, the chemistry between Rhys Darby and Waititi, how closely (or not) the show follows the historical record, the series’ moral of not accepting that the way things are is the way they have to be, and more. Plus, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, Arlo is reading old Superman comics!

NEXT: reply hazy, try again.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:47  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:18:30  –  Our Flag Means Death
  • 01:36:26  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed, Transformer (1972)
  • “Miles from Nowhere” by Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 399 – “Disclaimer: Not a Criminal Act”

Jennifer Garner in Gary Winick’s ’13 Going on 30′ (2004). Her face upon realizing she has boobs has become humanity’s face upon awakening each morning.

Gobbledygeek episode 399, “Disclaimer: Not a Criminal Act,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

FIRST THING’S FIRST: Paul obliquely confesses a past sin during this episode, it’s kind of a super tense moment, but Arlo has cleared off-mic that it was not a criminal act! So…do with that what you will! Elsewhere, the world is fucking ending, so you might as well watch The End of the Fucking World. Paul and Arlo muse on the collapse of civilization, discuss proper social distancing etiquette, and recommend things to watch and read as society dissolves. Some of those recommendations: The Hunt, now available on VOD since movie theaters have shuttered; comfy junk food movies like Yes Man and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; Netflix’s I Am Not Okay with This; Hawkeye: Freefall by Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt; Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s uproarious Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen; and, of course, perennial classic Good Burger.

Next: Ten years. 400 episodes. It’s all led to this. It’s a shame we’re all dying.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 02:08:53

  • 00:00:46  –  Random thoughts on the end of the world
  • 00:59:30  –  Paul interrupts the flow to obliquely confess a past sin
  • 01:13:00  –  What to watch / read as we slowly go mad and die alone
  • 02:02:26  –  Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Doom Days” by Bastille, Doom Days (2019)
  • “Make Art Not Friends” by Sturgill Simpson, SOUND & FURY (2019)
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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 375 – “300ccs of Thorazine”

Gobbledygeek episode 375, “300ccs of Thorazine,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

How does one go from lamenting the untimely demise of Tom King’s Batman to discussing the power structures that dictate what one finds culturally acceptable in any given generation? There’s only one way to find out: by listening to this week’s Gobbledygeek! Paul and Arlo blather about superheroic drama, including Superman: The Animated Series; opinions that have evolved with time, whether they’re on The Downward Spiral or She-Ra: Princess of Power; and why the hell Pete Venkman was carrying 300ccs of Thorazine.

Next: Johny Ho joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese in the latest Four-Color Flashback.

(Show notes for “300ccs of Thorazine.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 353, “Kingdom Come”

What if Superman was one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger baling hay, trying to till his own farm? That’s part of the appeal of Alex Ross and Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come, the subject of our latest superheroic Four-Color Flashback–Ross’ painted artwork brings DC’s pantheon to vivid life. Of course, Superman isn’t one of us. He makes this clear when, after a decade in exile, he descends upon Metropolis to mete out cold hard justice to a new, irresponsible generation of heroes and villains. Kingdom Come was intended as a statement on the Xtreme anti-heroes of the ‘90s, and as its human protagonist Norman McKay witnesses the fantastic devastation around him, the book explores issues of faith and fascism. Paul and Arlo discuss how Ross and Waid’s tale holds up more than 20 years later, how it reconciles the heroes’ godlike power with fragile human will, why it may be Ross’ best work, and its nigh definitive portrait of DC’s Trinity. Plus, Arlo finishes his Disney marathon while catching Pokémon, and we tease a future discussion of Spider-Man PS4.

Next: we switch religions from DC to Marvel as our pal Chance Mazzia joins us to talk Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil: Born Again.

(Show notes for Kingdom Come.)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 350, “DC: The New Frontier (feat. Eric Sipple)”

Art from ‘DC: The New Frontier’ by Darwyn Cooke.

Gobbledygeek episode 350, “DC: The New Frontier (feat. Eric Sipple),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

For this month’s superheroic Four-Color Flashback installment, Paul and Arlo set out for lands unknown with the late, great Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier. Cooke’s ambitious 2004 limited series bridges the gap between comics’ Golden Age and Silver Age, paying nostalgic tribute to the fictional heroes of that time while using the era’s form and style to comment on the day’s social and political ills. They’re joined on their voyage by The Avatar Returns co-host and The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple. The gang discusses Cooke’s artwork, striking and cinematic in ways few others comics have achieved; how Cooke wisely keeps Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman in the background to focus on new heroes like Green Lantern and the Flash; how the story of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, compares to that of African-American freedom fighter John Henry; the pretty good animated adaptation; and more. Plus, Eric has some personal news; SDCC happened, including a slew of trailers for the likes of Shazam, Aquaman, and more; and Nathan Fillion gets his Nathan Drake on in the Uncharted fan film.

Next: the end is out there. Wesley “Wezzo” Mead joins Paul and Arlo to talk The X-Files one last time, as the gang discusses the big screen continuation I Want to Believe and both revival seasons.

(Show notes for “DC: The New Frontier.”)