Month: December 2018

IT ALL COMES BACK TO SUPERMAN EPISODE 10 – TRACING SUPERMAN’S HISTORY OVER 80 YEARS

Episode 10: Tracing Superman’s History Over 80 Years

In the final installment of my four part wrap up to Superman’s 80th birthday I present the audio from yet another panel from the 2018 Dragon Con.  Tracing Superman’s History Over 80 Years was a solo panel that was part of the Comics and Pop Art track and, as the name of the panel suggests, this panel had 80 years of Superman in 60 minutes.  I go over the creation of the character and then, decade by decade, talk about the highlights of the character in the comic books and the various live action, radio, and animated adaptations that have been produced.  From the forties to the present I try to give a sense of how Superman evolved and changed over eight decades.  This was a lot of fun to put together and I was surprised that I was able to get everything done in an hour.

Special thanks to Tony Barletta, the programming director for the Comics and Pop Art track, for giving me the opportunity to do this panel.

You can find a PDF of the PowerPoint I created for this panel by clicking on this link.

Below are some of the photos my wife took during the panel.

Next Time: I don’t have an episode planned at the moment but while this show may not be monthly show anymore I’ll put something out from time to time so keep your feed open.

 

IT ALL COMES BACK TO SUPERMAN EPISODE 9 – LOIS & CLARK SUPER-ROMANTIC 25TH ANNIVERSARY

Episode 9: Lois and Clark Super-Romantic 25th Anniversary

In the third part in what has become a wrap-up to my celebration of Superman’s 80th Anniversary I am presenting another panel that I recorded at the 2018 Dragon Con.  Lois and Clark Super-Romantic 25th Anniversary was an hour long presentation about …you guessed it again…the fact that Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman celebrated the 25th anniversary of the show premiering back on September 12th.  Joining me on this journey through capes, ties, and romance is Michael Falkner (of Creative Criticality and Who’s The Doctor: Talking Outside the Box) and Michael French (of Retroblasting and Who’s The Doctor: Talking Outside the Box), so I guess we could have also called this panel Three Michaels Talk About Lois and Clark.  Over the course of an hour we cover the behind the scenes history of Lois and Clark, Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane, Dean Cain as Clark Kent and Superman, the rest of the cast, the villains, the suit, the ties as well as favorite and least favorite episodes.  The audience was a big part of this panel as well and I loved that we got so much participation, especially during the later part of the presentation.

If you want to follow along with the presentation you can download a PDF of the PowerPoint I created for the panel by clicking on this link.

During the panel we joked about a certain image from the promotional material for Lois and Clark being the most downloaded image on the Internet back around 1993/1994.  Here is that image.

Next Time: A final Superman related panel from the 2018 Dragon Con.

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR FINALE

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Finale

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the seventh and final day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

For this final installment of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular I am once again joined by Alan and Em Middleton to talk about the Green Lanterns story that closed out the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special.  This story takes place during The Feast of the Epiphany (or Twelfth Night, as it is also known) and deals with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, two of the Green Lanterns in Sector 2814, leaving the Three Kings celebration at the home of Jessica’s family to deal with an alien incursion.  The aliens (there are three of them) bring a test and if the Lanterns pass the test they will given a great gift.  Simon and Jessica accept and face the challenges given to them.  Alan, Em and I talk about who these Green Lanterns are, the continuity of the Feast of the Three Kings, and more.

As this is the final installment of this series there is no next time to discuss, so I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone that helped to make this Spectacular possible by telling you where you can find them if you weren’t familiar with their shows.  I am assuming that you already are familiar with them but just in case you weren’t aware of  the amazing shows these people host here they are.

Also a big thank you to Shag for buying me the copy of World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special when the local Walmart didn’t get it until a week after Shag and I recorded his segments.

I hope everyone enjoyed these episodes.  They were a lot of fun to put together and no matter what you celebrate I hope your holiday season is filled with warmth and/0r family and/or love and/or whatever else makes you happy.

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 6

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 6

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the sixth day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

This time out I am sticking with Xum Yukinori to discuss the Harley Quinn story from this 100 Page Giant.  Harley has discovered that she has a gray hair, which leads her on a quest to find Father Time so she can prevent him from dying, which will birth the new year and thus stop the aging process.  Things get wacky and, not to spoil things, this might actually be the best story in the book.  Xum and I also discuss Harley in general, specifically how she is perceived both in terms of her relationship with The Joker and on her own.

Next Time: The final story!  I circle back to The Middletons and we discuss the Green Lanterns story from this special!

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 5

The Fortress of Baileytude of Podcasting 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 5

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the fifth day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

This time out I head on over to the office of Xum Yukinori to discuss the Batwoman story from this 100 Page Giant.  Things are a little fuzzy for me right when I got there and I’m not quite sure what happened but eventually Xum invited me into his office and we got to work.  We switch gears from all of the Christmas talk and discuss a story set during one of the nights of Hanukkah.  Kate Kane is approached by a hooded man at a diner, which leads her having to become Batwoman to take down a supposed legitimate corporation, which is secretly running an illegal gun operation.  Xum and I also discuss Batwoman as a character and reveal our thoughts on how she was portrayed in the recent CW crossover.

Next Time: I stick around Xum’s office and we chat about the Harley Quinn story set on New Year’s Eve!

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 4

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 4

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the fourth day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

During this installment I play a song that is Christmas related but not actually from a Christmas album before heading over to The Fire and Water Podcast Network cafeteria and meet up with Alan and Em Middleton.  We talk about the Batman story from the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special 100 Page Giant and because that has to do with the introduction of the latest version of Ace the Bat Hound we end up talking about dogs in general and the differences between dogs and cats.  We also discuss how service animals can help people and why they are a bi-partisan idea.

There is also the mention of an omelette bar, which makes me want another omelette right now.

Next Time: A Batwoman story with Professor Xum Yukinori!

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 3

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 3

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the third day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

This time out I head back to Shag’s office in The Fire and Water Bunker to talk about another story from the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special 100 Page Giant from DC Comics.  On the way I go through some of the songs on my 2018 Christmas playlist because originally this was supposed to be one special so the fact that the conversation with Shag is really short doesn’t work anymore because putting out a 25 minute special would throw off the rhythm of a seven part series holiday music is always fun to go through. Then, I finally arrive at Shag’s office and we talk about the Supergirl story from this anthology.  We also discuss the version of Supergirl that appears in this tale (including how inappropriately she was presented when she was introduced in 2004) and how this particular Kara was treated before Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle turned her around.

Next Time: I head off to grab something to eat and maybe run into a podcasting duo that is not actually part of The Fire and Water Podcast Network.  Also…Batman.

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 2

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 2

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the second day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza(my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

During this installment I hang out with Chris Franklin for about an hour to talk about a classic Superman Christmas story, Metropolis Mailbag.  Superman has a tradition; once a year, around the holidays, he visits the main branch of the Metropolis Post Office to sort through the mail that gets sent to him.  This time he brings Lois and she helps him not only go through the mail but choose which letters might require his attention.  Chris and I also chat about this era of Superman in general, why it was so important and what the sequel to this story was like.  Before all of that, though, I get a bit lost in the Fire and Water Bunker hallways, so you get to hear what that was like too.

Next Time: Alfred has a Christmas present for Batman.  Let’s see if he notices.  With two surprise special guests.

FOB PODCASTING NETWORK 2018 HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR PART 1

The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular Part 1

Happy Holidays, one and all, and welcome to the first day of The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network 2018 Holiday Spectacular!  DC Comics recently published a 100 page comic titled World’s Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special through their distribution deal with Wal-Mart.  I liked the cut of the comic’s jib and thought it might be fun to get together with a few friends to discuss the seven stories inside.  The Irredeemable Shag, one of the co-founders of The Fire and Water Podcast Network, invited me to their giant new headquarters, called The Bunker, and so Eliza (my assistant from Views From The Longbox) and I hopped into the car and headed north.

No, Andy, it wasn’t to ski.

During the first part of this seven part extravaganza I meet up with the previously mentioned Irredeemable Shag and after he saves me from a sticky predicament (you’ll have to listen to see what that’s about) and shows me around the facility we head to his office to discuss the first story in this 100 page Giant.  Actually, we talk about the Wal-Mart 100 Page comics in general and then talk about the first story in this book.  This one is a Flash tale where Barry Allen has to deal with a prison riot on Christmas Eve.  Who is behind such a dastardly act and which unlikely ally shows up to help out The Flash?  Listen and find out!

Next Time: A certified classic Superman Christmas story with special guest Chris Franklin!

IT ALL COMES BACK TO SUPERMAN EPISODE 8 – SUPERMAN THE MOVIE: 40 YEARS OF THE FASTEST TYPIST EVER SEEN

Episode 8: Superman The Movie – 40 Years of the Fastest Typist Ever Seen

In the second part of what has become the wrap up to my celebration of Superman’s 80th birthday I am presenting the audio from a panel I was on at Dragon Con 2018.  Superman The Movie: 40 Years of the Fastest Typist Ever Seen was an hour long conversation about the 40th anniversary of…you guessed it…Superman The Movie.  Joining me on this journey through time and space was Michael French (of Retroblasting fame) author James Palmer, Father Bryan Small and James Hudgens.  Over the course of the hour we discuss how the film was developed, the cast, the crew, the spiritual/religious elements to the film, the impact the movie had and the legacy of the film.  It was a fun panel to be on and it was an honor to share the stage four fellow Superman The Movie fans.

During the wrap up section of this episode I told the audience to come back here to check a few things out.  First up is a link to Caped Wonder, a site run by the always awesome Jim Bowers.  Jim is a tireless defender and promoter of the Christopher Reeve Superman films and the site is a joy to visit.  Jim recently teamed up with Jay Towers to start The Caped Wonder Superman Podcast through iHeart Radio, so be sure to check that out as well.  Years ago Jim posted a bunch of trailers for Superman The Movie and I played the audio from two of those videos during the presentation.  So, credit to Jim is given because credit is due.

Next, here is a link to a PDF version of the PowerPoint presentation I put together for this panel.  It is mainly visual but I thought you might like to see what the audience was seeing during as we were talking.

Finally, two good friends of mine recently wrapped up a podcast looking at Superman: The Movie in five minute chunks.  Head on over to The Fire and Water Podcast Network and listen to Superman Movie Minute.  The show is hosted by Rob Kelly and Chris Franklin and it’s a serious deep dive into this film that I was lucky enough to guest on for an episode or two.  They not only talk about the film but the merchandise and even got to interview Richard Donner at one point.  It’s an amazing show and I would say that even if they hadn’t invited me to be on two of the installments.

Finally, thanks, as always, to Joe Crowe and Gary Mitchel for continuing to put me on panels like this one.  It makes con so much fun and I appreciate their faith in me.

Next Time: Another Dragon Con 2018 panel!  This one is about the 25th anniversary of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman!