Author: Michael Bailey

THE AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES OF THE FORTRESS – 07/01/2010


THE AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES OF THE FORTRESS OF BAILEYTUDE

And I’m back.

Well, I never really went anywhere. Sure it’s been quiet here at the Fortress and basically it has served as a second home for From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast but I’ve been around mainly in the podcasting arena. Four shows a week takes a toll on the old free time so posting on a daily basis has been the biggest casualty of all of the editing and recording I’ve been doing. Sure it’s been fun but I kind of feel bad that I have this blog that I do, in a roundabout way, pay for that is just kind of sitting there.

The biggest problem I’ve had outside of the whole non-existent free time thing is finding content for the blog. Just about any scratch I have comic book wise can be itched on Views From The Longbox or From Crisis to Crisis or Back to the Bins or Tales of the Justice Society of America. Every time I thought, “Hey, that would make a great post!” the next thought is, “It would be easier to just talk about that on (insert podcast name here.)” So basically it comes down to laziness and that bugged me. So I started thinking about it and just couldn’t find a focus for the blog. I wanted to start kicking out content but the muse just wasn’t there. Then something happened that I was 100% sure would never happen.

I dropped the Superman titles.

Continue reading “THE AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES OF THE FORTRESS – 07/01/2010”

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 56: MAY 1990

Episode 56: May 1990

Welcome to the fifty-sixth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

You would think that after a month like April 1990 that the Superman creators would want to take it easy and relax a bit. Well you would be WRONG! While the month starts quiet May 1990 builds and builds and ends in sixteen different types of awesome and this makes Mike and Jeff very happy. First up in Superman #43, which features the final fate of Jimmy Olsen’s mother and the introduction of a “Kryptonite Man”. Then in Adventures of Superman #466 four space explorers are hit with cosmic rays which changes them forever in most fantastic ways and boy does it end badly. Oh, and a major character is introduced in this issue so keep an ear out for that. Then there’s Action Comics #653 where Amanda McCoy FINALLY confronts Clark Kent complete with a certain piece of jewelry that might pose a problem for the Man of Steel. Finally there’s Superboy: The Comic Book #4, which is pretty awful all things considered. So you get all of this in addition to Elsewhere in the DCU, Elsewhere Elsewhere and YOUR e-mails.

In the episode we read an e-mail from listener Matt Linkous.  Matt was nice enough to send along two scans from a gift book that contained a two page origin of Superman.  We thought they were pretty keen so here they are.

Thanks for pointing these images our way, Matt.

Next week: A certain Caped Crusader comes to town as Intergang makes its move!

Next week: The fate of Jimmy’s mother! Four fantastic astronauts are caught in the world’s strangest accident! Amanda McCoy confronts Clark Kent! Come back same super time, same super website.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link. All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 55: APRIL 1990

Episode 55: April 1990

Welcome to the fifty-fifth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN concludes this week and Mike and Jeff are fifteen different types of excited to talk about it. In Superman #42 the Man of Steel becomes the Man From Krypton as Kal-El/Draaga Round 2 begins and you get to hear Jeff and Mike sing a classic theme song! The fight continues in Adventures of Superman #465 with the world watching as Kal-El prepares to grant Draaga’s Death Rite! It all concludes in Action Comics #652 as Kal-El takes Jonathan and Martha Kent to the Fortress of Solitude and battles the entity ultimately responsible for his recent behavior. Finally the boys take a look at Superboy: The Comic Book #3 as a famed comedian kidnaps a famed historical figure. The only problem; Lana Lang is kidnapped as well! Plus there is the usual Elsewhere in the DCU and Elsewhere in the Real World features plus e-mails!

And remember…YOU!

Next week: The fate of Jimmy’s mother! Four fantastic astronauts are caught in the world’s strangest accident! Amanda McCoy confronts Clark Kent! Come back same super time, same super website.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link. All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 54: MARCH 1990

Episode 54: March 1990

Welcome to the fifty-fourth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

From Crisis to Crisis is back for another week and was almost defeated this week by one of its deadliest enemies; Mother Nature. See, where Mike lives it is the time of year where storms pop up on a nearly hourly basis and he lost power for awhile there but the weather broke and he was able to upload the episode.

Anyhow this week Jeff and Mike bring you the first three parts of DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN and what a wild week it is. In Superman #41 Lobo comes on to the scene and accepts a challenge from some shark creatures to kill the Man of Steel before Draaga can get to him. Lobo and Superman throw down in the Fortress of Solitude in Adventures of Superman #464. DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN continues in Action Comics #651 where Maxima (the real Maxima) finally gets to Earth to land herself a Kryptonian mate. After that the boys discuss the second issue of Superboy: The Comic Book where Clark Kent meets his future boss for the first time. Finally Mike and Jeff go through what else was going on in DC Comics that month and in the world as well.

Next week: DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN CONCLUDES!

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link. All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 53: FEBRUARY 1990

Episode 53: February 1990

Welcome to the fifty-third episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

This is a big one, folks! Two and a half hours of From Crisis to Crisis goodness! Why two and a half hours? We have no idea but it sure was fun to record. This time out the boys talk about the Superman books that came out with the February 1990 cover date. In Superman #40 the Man of Steel fights the Four Armed Terror. In Adventures of Superman #463 we get the race of the century as Superman races Wally West, the Flash. Action Comics #650 comes up next and not only is it a great story but Mike comes clean about his criminal past. Finally Mike and Jeff bring in Superboy: The Comic Book with issue #1, based on the syndicated series that was airing at the time. They don’t cover the book as in depth as the others but they wanted to talk about it just the same. So you get all of this and the usual Elsewhere in the DCU and Elsewhere in the Real World segments plus an e-mail.

Next week: DAY OF THE KRYPTON MAN BEGINS!

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 52: JANUARY 1990

Episode 52: January 1990

Welcome to the fifty-second episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

This week we begin the fourth year of the Post Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman with the comics that came out with the January 1990 cover date. In Superman #39 Jimmy finds himself trapped in a world without color and comes face to face with someone who could be his father. Also Clark Kent makes a decision that rocks the staff of the Daily Planet. In Adventures of Superman #462 we are treated to a Christmas tale where the secret of Alice the office worker is revealed. Finally in Action Comics #649 we get the finale to the Brainiac Trilogy where Clark settles into some familiar new digs and Brainiac gets his groove back…sort of. In addition to all of that we have elsewhere in the DCU, which includes what amounts to a glorified cameo in Doom Patrol #29. Jeffrey wraps it all up with the Elsewhere in the Real World segment.

Next week: A four armed terror, the return of a certain imp from the fifth dimension and an over sized anniversary issue of Action Comics.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 51: E-MAILS

Episode 51: E-MAILS!

Welcome to the fifty-first episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

Sorry about the lateness of this episode, folks. Mike’s life got REALLY crazy there last week and editing this episode took a lot more time than he thought it would.

Anyhoo, this week Jeff and Mike put down the comics and “pick up” the e-mails sent in by you the listener and do a whole lot of reading. The topics are many and varied from JMS on Superman to the future of the comic book to the April Fools episode to mistakes made by Mike about a random character from Superman #12. More than anything the boys wanted to take an episode to finally read some of the flat out awesome mail that they get because they have been so remiss about this lately. Things return to normal next week. For now sit back, relax and hear the thoughts of your fellow listeners.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 50: DECEMBER 1989

Episode 50: December 1989

Welcome to the FIFTIETH episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

This week the show hits the big 5-0 and the boys can hardly believe it. Nearly a year ago Jeff and Mike sat down to record the first episode of this series and in that time they have interviewed two creators and covered not only Man of Steel but three years worth of Superman comics. The boys have had a ball and the end is nowhere in sight yet.

This is a pretty meaty episode too. First off they cover Superman #38 where Superman has to deal with a Roland Emmerich style disaster and a “Mr. Complainy Pants” Dr. Hamilton. Then in Adventures of Superman #461 a certain something of solitude returns. Action Comics #648 has the second part of The Brainiac Trilogy. Finally, at least in terms of Superman appearing in other comics, we have Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2, Justice League Europe #10 and Wonder Woman numbers 37 through 39. Then there’s the usual Elsewhere in the DCU and the Elsehwhere in the Real World segments.

Mike and Jeff would like to thank their listeners for downloading the show every week and taking the time to listen to their somewhat coherent ramblings. They appreciate it and here’s to over 200 more episodes.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 49: NOVEMBER 1989


Episode 49: November 1989

Welcome to the forty-ninth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

This is the week of tangents as Michael and Jeffrey look at the Superman books with a November 1989 cover date. First up is Superman #38, which sees Superman taking Jimmy Olsen to the Cadmus Project and generally acting like a whiny brat. After discussing how thick headed Superman can act sometimes and a tangent about the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which sort of ties into what the boys are talking about.

No really. It does. They promise.

Then the boys dig into Adventures of Superman #460, where we learn the full origin of the Eradicator and Jeff and Mike talk about Coke 2 and what color Birch Beer should be. This is followed by the first part of The Brainiac Trilogy in Action Comics #647. Not only does this issue feature Superman fighting robots but it also sees the return of a classic Superman villain. Michael also struggles with the pronunciation of the word “automated” and “Coluan”, which should be worth a cheap laugh or two. Add in the usual Elsewhere in the DCU and the rest of the world and you have a pretty standard yet entertaining episode of the show.

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.

FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS EPISODE 48: OCTOBER 1989

Episode 48: October 1989

Welcome to the forty-eighth episode of From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast! This podcast has a simple premise; examine just about every Superman comic published between Man of Steel #1 in 1986 to Adventures of Superman #649 in 2006 in an informative and hopefully entertaining format.

Part index. Part commentary. Part history lesson. All podcast.

The boys get ready to rumble this week as they look at the books that came out with an October 1989 cover date. Seriously, there is a lot of debate going on this week. Jeff and Mike spend nearly forty minutes on Superman #36 alone, but it was a really cool issue with the Prankster so it was worth it. In Adventures of Superman #459 they discuss the creation of a very familiar arctic getaway and in Action Comics #646 they struggle to say anything positive. Plus Elsewhere in the DCU and the rest of the world!

You can subscribe to the show in two ways. First there is the RSS Feed and there is also the iTunes link .

If you want to comment on the show or contact the hosts you can always private message Mike and Jeff, at the Superman Homepage, leave comments here or at the Homepage or here or email them by clicking this link.  All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome. The guys will try to incorporate e-mails into the episodes once the show gets rolling.

Seriously, let us know what you think.