Michael takes the plunge into his Superman fandom this week with having not one but two guests. Steve Younis, webmaster of the Superman Homepage, and Neal Bailey (no relation), also of the Homepage join Michael to discuss the Man of Steel and some of their experiences at the recent Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Ill. Unfortunately they never get to Neal’s highs and lows of the Celebration and Steve has to pop out early, but the discussion is lively and Michael learned a lot about the history of the site he reviews for and how Steve and Neal got into Superman in the first place.
I think it is fair to say that of all the things I do on the web (even this podcast) one of the accomplishments I am proudest of is becoming a Mild Mannered Reviewer and contributor to the Superman Homepage. Being associated with this site has led to me making several life long friendships and to being able to interview several writers and artists that I truly admire. Having both Steve and Neal on the show this week was a definite high point in the history of this podcast and I am looking forward to the next time I have one or both of them on.
They’re great guys. Anyone says different gets a punch to the bread basket.
I also wanted to take the opportunity to give a shout out to a few other people that I have met from the Homepage. I will be using screen names to protect those who might want to be protected.
Car-El: It was a true pleasure to meet you. You’re a wonderful person and a lot of fun to be around. I am truly glad to know you.
MikeK: Dude, you are awesome. There are few people on this planet that I truly feel a connection to as far as Superman goes and you are high on that list. Talking with you is always a treat and it looks like we have other things in common too, which is awesome.
RedHobbs: The Kato to the Homepage crew at the celebration. I didn’t get to talk to you all that much but you were fun to be around. Hope to see you at a future Celebration.
ScottyV: Someone from my old neck of the woods. Scotty, you’re great. Never let anyone tell you different. I enjoyed hanging out with you and will always appreciate the e-mails you send me. Meeting your lovely wife and daughter was fantastic. Give my best to the family.
LoisLane73: It was great meeting you. Hope I didn’t come off as too much of an ass. I get jaded sometimes, but you seemed like a great person and swimming with you and Neal on that last night was a blast.
To everyone else (Jamie, Stephanie, all you guys) if I didn’t mention you specifically it was nothing personal. Attending the Celebration was one of the best experiences of my life and y’all made that possible.
Links
Superman Homepage: THE Superman website. You probably have this saved in your bookmarks, but just in case check it out.
Photos From The Celebration: They are horrendously out of order, but here is a gallery of my photos from the Celebration. Enjoy.
The Celebration: Nothing much there now, but this is where we went this year. Bookmark if you want to go next year because it is a lot of fun. Unless you hate Superman, in which case you’d probably have a terrible time.
Part two of the Hulk discussion and this time it’s pretty much all about the two Hulk films. Michael and Brad go over their problems with the 2003 Ang Lee film where Mike just has to do the whole origin joke again. They move on from their feelings regarding the 2008 film and along the way get side tracked with all kinds of tangents, including one about Marvel’s past comic book movie adaptations that must be heard to be believed. All in all a fun show and comes in about twenty minutes shorter than the first part. A quick warning as always; the language gets a little blue, so throw those headphones on if you are at work.
The links are the same as last week, but in lieu of that since it is easy to embed a link into the name of the site, which is the Spider-Man Crawlspace, I present you these videos.
Enjoy. Or at least I hope you enjoy it. Some of you may never want to listen again.
Michael once again teams up with Brad Douglas, webmaster of the Spider-Man Crawlspace (or as Michael at one point refers to it the “Crider-Man Crawlspace”) and host of the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast. This time out the die-hard Superman fan and the die-hard Spider-Man fan discuss their second favorite character; the Incredible Hulk. In between some really messed up digressions the two manage to spend an hour and twenty minutes discussing the Hulk television series, the various animated series and about twenty years of Hulk comics including their thoughts on Peter David’s run, Planet Hulk, World War Hulk and why John Byrne’s second crack at the character sucked beyond belief. All of this and a special appearance by the hokey-pokey Hulk too.
A quick warning to those of you that may listen to this program at work; Brad and I get a little…blue as they say in this episode. The language gets a little rough in places, so throw those headphones on if you are in a place where such things can get you in trouble.
Links
As mentioned in the episode and above Brad is the webmaster (a rather appropriate term all things considered) for the Spider-Man Crawlspace. Brad’s been doing the website thing for ten years now and recent gave the site a bit of a face lift. Brad also hosts the Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast, a monthly show that features Brad, Spideydude, J.R., and Morbius discussing the latest issues of Spider-Man in addition to comics from the past and all related media having to do with Web Head. It’s a fun show and if you are even a passing fan of the character I would recommend it.
Spider-Man Crawlspace- The main page. I suggest checking out the Weird Marvel Collectibles.
Crawlspace Message Board- Probably one of the most civil message boards I have ever been a member of. It’s a fun group of people who actually seem to like the subject they are talking about, which is kind of shocking given some of the other boards I have been a part of over the years.
Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast- Here’s a direct link to the show with a complete list of all of the episodes. Brad recently interviewed Roger Stern, which was easily one of the best fan to pro interviews I have ever heard. Then again Brad’s day job is in broadcasting so it was more like a pro to pro interview.
Michael presents his first ever pro interview. This week Views is very happy to present a conversation with Michael Eury, former editor at both DC and Dark Horse and current editor of TwoMorrows’ Back Issue magazine. Mr. Eury talks about how Adam West got him into comics, his time at DC, the Who’s Who Binder Edition (covered last episode oddly enough), his stint at Dark Horse, his opinion of the Barb Wire film and how Captain Action brought him back to comics publishing. The audio quality of the interview is not spectacular, but should improve if you throw on some headphones. And keep an ear out for a guest appearance by Michael Bailey’s wife Rachel, who, for a variety of reasons, all justified, was a little annoyed with the host at the time.
Links
Since we’re talking with Michael Eury here is the site related to his current job as editor of Back Issue.
TwoMorrow Publishing- The official homepage for the publisher. Sweet Christmas this is a great site for comic book fans. Not only does TwoMorrows publish Back Issue. but Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego, the Jack Kirby Collector and a nice series of companion books featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman, the Justice League of America, the Justice Society and coming soon the Flash. I cannot say enough good things about this publisher, so go check them out and buy something.
Seriously, buy Back Issue. I don’t tell you to do such things often, so give the magazine a shot.
The “celebration” continues with this second part of the one year anniversary. Michael and Shag continue their vs. conversation by discussing DC Direct vs. Marvel Legends, Who’s who vs. the Marvel Handbook (or what became Who’s Who vs. the Marvel Handbook), Superman/Batman vs. Worlds Finest, Man of Steel vs. Brand New Day and more. This one runs a tad longer than the first part but Michael and Shag make up for it by…well, they don’t really make up for it in any form. But you get to hear two “old” men up past their bedtime and lots of swearing, so that should count for something even though it doesn’t.
Links
During the course of the episode I mentioned two sites that serve as annotations to Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. Both sites are well worth checking out.
The Annotated Crisis on Infinite Earths- Don’t have a copy of the two Crisis indexes put out in 1986? Here’s your chance to get the feel of those fine books.
The Annotate Infinite Crisis- Another fine site. My personal favorite is the section which lists the differences between the series as originally published in single issue form (or floppy form for the stuck up snobs in the room) and as published in collected form. DC has had an annoying habit of late of changing things George Lucas style and frankly I wish they would stop. In some cases it makes sense. In others it changes the intent of the story. I can handle the former, but not the latter.
Has it really been one year? Well, in a day it will be. Michael has managed to keep this podcast going for a year and the next two episodes are going to celebrate that…somehow. Shag makes a return visit to the show and after some vacation talk and about one thousand digressions the two get to the actual subject of the next two installments. It’s compare and contrast time as Mike and Shag choose a bunch of subjects to discuss and those subjects include trades vs. single issues, Joe Q. vs Dan D. and Super Powers vs. Secret Wars. All in good, clean, comic book fun.
Links
During the episode Shag and I discussed both the Super Powers and Secret Wars line of toys. There are two fantastic websites dedicated to both lines.
Super Powers Archive- Everything you wanted to know and more. If you liked this line of toys check out the original proposal and see what could have been. Frankly I’m glad we got what we got, but man a Green Lantern playset would have been freaking awesome.
Ultimate Guide to Marvel’s Secret Wars- Not that I am the biggest fan of this line of toys (though Shag obviously was) this is a rather impressive site. I especially liked the foreign variants.
This week Michael flies solo again and presents an episode about the Hulk that doesn’t completely suck. In expectation of the new film Michael goes over his feelings about the hype leading up to the 2003 HULK movie. Thrill as Michael goes through the merchandising, the action figures and the books that came out during that year. Michael also goes into the Hulk Encyclopedia that came out around that time and boy does he hate that book. All this and some feelings on the books and merchandise coming out this year.
After a quick apology to Van Plexico for a goof later in the episode Michael continues his delayed conversation with Keith Dallas. After a bit on the late seventies history of DC Comics Michael and Keith begin talking about various eras of the Flash including Cary Bates’ run and the adventures of Wally West as written by Mike Baron, William Messner-Loebs and Mark Waid. Things wrap up with some talk of the 1990/91 live action FLASH television series. Remember that Keith is the editor and head writer of the FLASH COMPANION, which will hopefully come out in July from TwoMorrows Publishing.
I’m sick again. I have the rest of the interview with Keith Dallas on my hard drive but I really don’t feel like putting it together this week.
Yeah, I know. I suck.
But, next week we have the rest of the Keith Dallas interview and if I can get off my ass I’ll even post a review of Iron Man (which I finally got to see) and assorted other odds and ends.
Sorry about the delay, but in all honesty I really need the rest given how my personal life has been the height of stress and sickness lately.
This week kicks off a two part conversation with Editor-In-Chief of Comics Bulletin and writer/editor of the upcoming FLASH COMPANIONfrom TwoMorrows Publishing Keith Dallas. Keith was Michael’s editor back when he wrote reviews for Silver Bullet Comic Books and was nice enough to come on the show. Part 1 has Keith and Michael discussing Keith’s collecting history, including a little digression into Star Wars. Then you get to hear a preview of sorts of the FLASH COMPANION and some of Mark Waid’s thoughts on the Bart Allen Flash series before Mike and Keith get into a kind of haphazard discussion of the Flash and his history.
Two Links of Interest
Comics Bulletin- The site Keith is the Editor-in-Chief for. It’s a great site and even has a column by the freaking awesome Beau Smith
TwoMorrows Publishing- The publisher that is putting out the Flash Companion. They also have a bunch of fantastic books and magazines that will no doubt put you in the poor house.
Views From The Longbox is a weekly hosted by reviewer, blogger and would-be commentator Michael Bailey. Every Wednesday (or so) the host (as in me) takes between 30 minutes to an hour to discuss something to do with the world of comic books. Occasionally I have a co-host, most notably Shag of Once Upon a Geek and The Unique Geek, the latter of which I am also a part of. Anything goes really and some episodes are really random, but I have fun and I hope you will to.
If you have any questions or comments go ahead and use the little comment thingie at the bottom of the post.
All images used on this site and all audio samples used in the podcast are owned by the people who control their copyrights, licensing and publishing rights. I don't own them and I don't claim to own them. They are used merely for entertainment purposes and I am not compensated for them in any way. They are there to add a little more to the blog/podcast and to illustrate the points made by the author.
