Month: April 2020

VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX EPISODE 269 – JLMAY 2020: COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS

Episode 269 – JLMAY 2020: Countdown to Infinite Crisis

Welcome to the kick off to JLMay 2020!

In case this is your first experience with JLMay, it is an annual podcasting crossover where a bunch of different networks and shows get together to cover a particular maxi-series, fifth week event, or crossover.  It started in 2016 and over the years we’ve talked about JLA: Year One, Justice (the Alex Ross grown up Super Friends series), The Silver Age (a DC Fifth Week Event), and Blackest Night.  This year we’re covering Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

Not Infinite Crisis.

Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

The event before the event.

Over the course of several hours, I, along with some guests, discuss the Countdown to Infinite Crisis 80 Page Giant that DC released to get the ball rolling.  What happens when a hero that has seen better days, the Blue Beetle, stumbles upon a mystery that could shake the heroes of the DC Universe to their core?  Why is Batman so paranoid and what is Brother I?  What’s going on with magic and why is Captain Marvel fighting the Spectre?  Why are the planets Rann and Thanagar at war?  And what does the espionage agency Checkmate have to do with Blue Beetle’s life being in danger?  Some of those questions are answered and some are merely hinted at over the course of this special, but one this is certain; the final fate of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle will be the shot heard around the universe.

Joining me for this special are some people I’ve been podcasting with for years and a bunch of people that I have listened to but never worked with.  Things start, as they often do on Views From The Longbox with The Irredeemable Shag (of The Fire and Water Podcast ) but they continue with Mike Staley (Silent Knight: The Cassandra Cain Podcast), Jon and Maggie Schaefer-Hames (Married With Comics), Clinton Robison (The Coffee and Comics Podcast), J David Weter (Dave’s Gambit Podcast), and then back to The Irredeemable Shag.  Shag and I break down the era this book was published during and then the rest of the crew and I tackle each chapter leading to Beetle’s last stand.  It’s a fun three hours.

Yes, this is three hours.  If that makes you go, “Wow, when am I going to have time to listen to all of this?”, fear not because the sections break down into smaller, more bite sized chunks of show.  You can listen to the whole thing at once, or listen to a section, live your life, and then come back to it.  The choice, as ever, is yours.

Below are the cover and select pages from the comic discussed in this episode.

The fun of JLMay 2020 is only just beginning!  Be sure to check out the following shows over the course of May to continue the epic coverage of the event before the event.

Also, if you are listening to these shows and digging this podcast crossover, be sure to use #JLMay2020 if you’re sharing these episodes on social media.

Next Time: An episode I’ve had on the editing block for awhile, but haven’t gotten to because…reasons.  Paul Spataro joins me for a Fireside Chat to talk about the Bring on the Bad Guys trade paperback.

IT ALL COMES BACK TO SUPERMAN EPISODE 16 – SUPERMAN AND SHAZAM: LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE!

Episode 16 – Superman & Shazam: Lightning Strikes Twice!

This time out I have something of a prologue to this year’s JLMay, the annual tradition where a bunch of podcasters team up to talk about a particular comic series or event, usually involving the Justice League.  This year the subject is Countdown to Infinite Crisis, and the storyline discussed during the course of this episode may seem like a simple team-up/slugfest between Superman and Captain Marvel, it actually sets up a key component to the Day of Vengeance mini-series.  Because this three part story line (that took place over Action Comics #826, Adventures of Superman #639, and Superman #216) features the artist formerly known as Captain Marvel, I just had to have J David Weter (host of many podcasts over on the Two True Freaks Podcasting Network) back on the show.

And a good time was had by all.  Well, both of us.  And my dog Gracie, who makes a special appearance at the end of the episode.

Lighting Strikes Twice is a fast paced, action packed story that was written by Judd Winick, with art by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund.  The plot is pretty simple; Eclipso wants to take over Superman and Captain Marvel takes exception to this.  Along the way we are treated to epic shots of both Captain Marvel and Superman, lots of punching, some creepy bits with Eclipso, and a major plot point right there at the end.  There is also a bit with how Lois is drawn that leads to a rant that you will hear more than once during the next few episodes.

Be sure to stick around after the end music for the trailer to this year’s JLMay crossover!

Below are the covers and few select pages from the issues discussed during this episode.

It All Comes Back to Superman is available on a variety of formats.  It’s on Apple Podcasts, the Google Play Store, and even Spotify.  If you like accessing the RSS Feed directly, you can do that here.  Feedback for the show can be left below or you can head on over to the It All Comes Back To Superman Facebook Page.  The email address for the show is itallcomesbacktosuperman@gmail.com.

Next Time: The first part of It All Comes Back To Superman’s end of JLMay 2020!

OVERLOOKED DARK KNIGHT SPECIAL – BEST OF THE BEST: DETECTIVE COMICS EDITION

Overlooked Dark Knight Special – Best of the Best: Detective Comics Edition

Welcome to a very special episode of The Overlooked Dark Knight. Normally this a non-index index show where the hosts, Andrew Leyland and Michael Bailey, look at Batman comics that rarely, if ever, get talked about.  In one episode they will talk about Bat books from the late seventies and early eighties.  In another episode they will talk about the animated Adventures titles that DC published in the nineties.  Sometimes they talk about whatever strikes their fancy.

Andy and Mike are celebrating Batman’s 80th Birthday for the next year.  It’s going to be fun.  They are doing this by covering stories outside of their normal mandate.

Not that they have a mandate.  But they do.  It’s complicated.

This episode is the height of fanboy entitlement.  Last year, DC Comics published Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman Deluxe Edition hardcover that was designed to celebrate Detective Comics as a title and Batman as a character.  Andy and Mike were not as impressed with that one as they were with the Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition.  So, the guys each made a list of the Detective Comics stories they thought should have been in such a book, they talked about those lists, and then they designed the book they would have liked to see.  Some of their choices were obvious.  Some not as obvious.

Below is a gallery of covers from the stories Andy and Mike settled on.

And…if you’ve made it this far…here is the complete list and total page count.  Yeah, this kind of ruins the surprise, but frankly, Mike thinks if you’ve bothered to actually write these show notes that you deserve the treat.

Detective Comics #38 – “Robin The Boy Wonder” (12 pages)
Detective Comics #49 – “Clayface Walks Again” (13 pages)
Detective Comics #64 – “The Joker Walks The Last Mile” (13 pages)
Detective Comics #66 – “The Crimes of Two-Face” (13 pages)
Detective Comics #235 – “The First Batman” (10 pages)
Detective Comics #359 – “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl” (16 pages)
Detective Comics #395 – “The Secret of the Waiting Graves” (16 pages)
Detective Comics #439 – “Night of the Stalker” (14 pages)
Detective Comics #481 – “Ticket To Tragedy” (17 pages)
Detective Comics #549 – “Doctor Harvey and Mister Bullock” (16 pages)
Detective Comics #574 – “My Beginning…And My Probable End” (22 pages)
Detective Comics #614 – “Street Demonz” (22 pages)
Detective Comics #648 – “Let The Puzzlement Fit The Crime” (22 pages)
Detective Comics #756 – “Lord of the Ring Part 2” (22 pages)
Detective Comics #831 – “Kind of Like Family” (22 pages)
Detective Comics #858 – “Go Part 1” (20 pages)
Detective Comics #859 – “Go Part 2” (20 pages)
Detective Comics #934 – “Rise of the Batmen Part 1: The Young and The Brave” (20 pages)

Plus 18 pages for one page introductions to each issues and 4 pages for an introduction and an afterword.

Total Page Count Minus Title and Copyright Pages = 332 Pages

Next Time: A special crossover episode with another Batman Podcast!

FCTC EPISODE 232: TRIAL OF SUPERMAN PART 4

Episode 232: Trial of Superman Part 4

Welcome to the two hundredth and thirty-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.

Mike and Jeff continue their look at The Trial of Superman and even include some Underworld Unleashed action as well!

First up is Superman #107, where Superman tries to get medical help for Mope after his injuries in the previous episode and runs afoul of a character named Tolos.  (Fun fact; Tolos will become really important in the middle of cover date 1996.)  Also, the Cyborg Superman gets in on the action and takes on Team Superman, who are careening through space on an asteroid that Steel made rocket powered with the parts of Superboy’s space cycle.  Then, in Adventures of Superman #530, Superman and Mope head to a planet where the plot spins its wheels for part of the issue.  Meanwhile, on Earth, the Metropolis SCU takes on an Underworld Unleashed Hellgrammite.  Finally, in Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #3, we get the back story on how Lex Luthor went from being weak and on the threshold of death to the handsome, rugged, and still bald specimen he has been since the first issue of Man of Tomorrow.

Warning; Jeff’s final thought leads to a discussion on an announcement that had just happened when this was recorded in the fall of 2019.  This discussion has opinions that some might find objectionable.  There’s nothing personal against anyone in particular.  So…yeah.

Below is a gallery of covers and select pages from the books the boys discuss in the episode.

You can subscribe or listen to the show in a variety of ways. First there is the RSS Feed and then there is the Apple Podcasts link.  You can also find the show on Spotify and the Google Play Store.  Are you on Facebook? Be sure to “like” the official FCTC page, which you can find by clicking on this link.  You can email the show by clicking this link. All questions, concerns, fears, trepidations and cheap shots are welcome.  Also be sure to give us a review over on iTunes and feel free to comment on the show here at the site!

Next Time: The boys wrap up Cover Date 1995 with the FINAL Supplemental Episode!  Books covered will be Superboy #22, Steel #22, Underworld Unleashed issues 2 and 3, and Showcase ’95 #12.