Kitty Pryde Has Grit

00:03 Speaker A: I'm not even wearing my shirt today.

00:05 Speaker B: That's why I couldn't hit the button. You are wearing your shirt.

00:07 Speaker A: No, I'm not wearing the I push the button shirt. So I couldn't push the button. It was.

00:12 Speaker B: It was adequate.

00:13 Speaker A: It was.

00:13 Speaker B: You know, we have a guest and we'll introduce. I'll have James introduce himself in a second. But before. Before we get there, I just want to say that your writing partner, Michael Tanner.

00:24 Speaker C: Yes.

00:25 Speaker B: In a response to one of my posts today, insulted your wife.

00:29 Speaker A: What did he say?

00:30 Speaker B: He said that we looked exactly the same. And it's very clear that you're. Behind you is decorated by Anne. And behind me is a bunch of books thrown on a bookshelf. How insulting is it to Ann Smith, the owner of the Retro Emporium in Kent, Washington, who redesigns her store on a regular basis as incredible interior design taste. It designed that entire room right behind you to compare.

00:59 Speaker C: To compare.

01:00 Speaker A: I know. And. And I mean, and my setting just recently got an upgrade. I mean, usually I have my live on air from the Tinkertopia, but today I have what she picked this weekend from Chris Fowler from the. The toy stable. The. This Jet City posted poster behind me.

01:25 Speaker B: Yeah.

01:26 Speaker A: And I can. I can pan up a little bit, but I believe James, our guest, will recognize this piece.

01:33 Speaker C: Yeah. Matthew Clark. Matthew Clark pencils. I inked it. And then that's my signature right behind. Below the bomber girl looks like. And. Yeah. Is that on Phone Core?

01:42 Speaker A: It is on phone core. He had it in the shop for. For a while, I believe.

01:47 Speaker C: And then I think Michael Garcia, who's down at Southern Cal colored it. In fact, I'm. I'm positive he did that.

01:57 Speaker B: See, that's classy. And I have a tier action figure I got from Anne. See, so, you know, that's. And a Wolverine popcorn bucket over here that kind of covers up the garbage on my desk. You know what else? Yeah. You know, I feel like. I feel like Mr. Tanner really wants a fight. Mr. Tanner does that while they're poking the bear.

02:22 Speaker A: Poking. He's poking.

02:24 Speaker B: He.

02:25 Speaker A: He wants.

02:25 Speaker C: He.

02:26 Speaker A: Well, he's desperate to come on the show. He's doing anything to get you, get you and myself riled up to. To get him on here. I mean, it's been. How long we've been doing the show, Dan?

02:38 Speaker B: I don't know. Forever.

02:40 Speaker A: Forever.

02:40 Speaker B: I mean, 211 episodes apparently.

02:43 Speaker A: But even before that, I mean, I mean, you go back to the times when we're driving around the Scout just recording ourselves on cassette. Tapes and then throwing them away. I mean, we. Not throwing them away, but throwing them in the back of the. In the scout.

02:54 Speaker B: It's Memorex. Yeah.

02:56 Speaker A: Yeah. We, we've been doing this forever and Mike Tanner has never. Michael Tanner has never been on. Never been invited.

03:04 Speaker B: Well, that's. As I, as I noted. That's because he doesn't invite others of us to other things, so.

03:09 Speaker A: Oh, well, maybe you should be the bigger man and we'll, we'll throw that.

03:15 Speaker B: That's why we brought James on. To get right in the middle of this.

03:18 Speaker A: To get right in the middle.

03:20 Speaker B: Because I have a feeling that in November Mr. Tanner and I may be in the same place at the same time. Oh,

03:28 Speaker C: so we might need like a little cage free guys, you know, to like a type thing.

03:34 Speaker B: Yeah, he can't handle these guns.

03:40 Speaker A: There are. Are you saying there might be a cage at Grid City?

03:46 Speaker C: Well, we might have to. Now.

03:47 Speaker A: I have to now.

03:49 Speaker B: I've never podcasted from a steel cage before. That could be. Well, James, welcome.

03:56 Speaker C: Thanks for having me.

03:57 Speaker B: I. Yeah, I heard from Randy Emberlin when we had him on that we should actually introduce the guest. Is that a fair. Is that, is that what we should do?

04:09 Speaker C: It's not a bad idea.

04:11 Speaker B: Okay, well, in that line, James, go ahead and introduce yourself.

04:15 Speaker C: Okay, well, I'm James Taylor. About me. So I run Grid City Comic Show. Before that it was called Jet City Comic show. And that was started in. I'm forgetting if it was 2009 was the first year or2010. I mean, it's been a long time, right? Getting older, Forget dates. But I have been in and around the comic book industry since, I don't know, 96, 97. Started out, you know, with Brian who owns the Subspace comics up in Lynwood. Me, him and a couple other guys were doing little ash cans. I went off to college then. Oh, wait, no, I went back to college, Lynn. And that's when I first started working as an anchor in comic books. Working for Brainstorm Comics on the old Vampiratica. And then I moved on to some other books like indie books like Super Guru Crime Fighters, which. Oh, I got a copy of that. Which is just a crazy book. Kind of fun crazy, like they're, you know, disco type guys. I mean, try to find a copy of this nowadays. It was five or six issues, I think. And then I just kept working in comics. The main places that I worked at once I got really established was Penny Farthing Press, who put out a lot of great books. Like Ann Steelyard, which Ron Randall pencil dynked the Victorian, which was. Was penciled by Claude St. Alvin who worked with DC a lot, I think mainly as an anchor base pencil when I was there. So I worked in comics from about 97 to about 2018 and then. Oh, and the Bullies Bully. That's the only creator owned book I did with my partner, Courtney Huddleston. Yeah, it's a fun book and we had a lot of fun. It was a webcomic and then we. It put it out as a Kickstarter and then. Yeah, I also published comics as Rorschach Entertainment in about 2003 to about 2008. But really the first two years is when I put out more books. And then Brian and I started Jet City comic shop in 2009, 2010 and. But I've been a dealer in comic book shows, of course, an artist, a creator of comic book shows. I kind of deal with literally done just about everything in comic books at some point, you know. So yeah, yeah, that's, that's me. And now basically now I just run the show and I still set up as an artist here and there, he

07:01 Speaker A: says here and there. But I've seen you, I've seen you post about being at shows.

07:06 Speaker B: It's not here and there.

07:07 Speaker A: You, you've been doing stuff like all year.

07:09 Speaker C: So. Yeah, yeah, I, I tried it. It's nice to do about six shows a year.

07:14 Speaker A: You know, that's a good amount.

07:17 Speaker C: Whereas, yeah, back way back in the day when I was really working in comics and publishing. So back in like 2003, four or five, I was doing about. And that's before the explosion of shows everywhere. Right. I mean Denver Comic Con was probably just starting. Emerald City was just starting too. Um, so I was doing about 12, 13 shows a year. Now there's a show every weekend, which there kind of wasn't other than like the small swap meets at that time. But then it, you know, it exploded and then, you know, and then it kind of COVID of course killed off a lot of shows. But there were, there were probably too many live shows. Were already struggling in 1819 anyway because there's just too many shows and the fans only have so much expendable cash.

08:05 Speaker A: Yeah.

08:06 Speaker C: And. And I'm even seeing it. It's been a problem for Jet City, Grit City, just because all these shows, because Emerald City was in the spring, is in the spring. All the shows wanted to be in the fall. And even though we predate all of them, they all like put on Their show within a week or two or the same weekend as Grid. As Grid City. And it's like, it's just hurting the fans. I mean, there's. There's other months, you know.

08:31 Speaker A: Right.

08:32 Speaker C: I mean, it's. It's great. Summercon is in. Was it June? May. June, yeah. You know, so they're at least away from other shows. They're away from Emerald City, but they have space to grow in Rose City. Well, that happened to us with Rose City. So in their second or third year, they move to the same dates that we were at as Jet City. So. Okay, we'll push back to October and November, you know, is. Things like that. So. Yeah, I mean, it's. There's a lot of shows out there everywhere.

09:02 Speaker B: Well, our. Our favorite showrunners at SummerCon are running HorrorCon right before you.

09:07 Speaker C: Yeah, that. And then their toy show is the weekend before their big toy show. Yeah.

09:12 Speaker B: How nice.

09:13 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. We say we're.

09:17 Speaker B: We're huge fans of the showrunners of.

09:20 Speaker C: So.

09:20 Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Uh, I mean, if they just, like with Mike, if they want to come on the show and defend themselves, that's fine. Um, it might be a. It might be a more serious debate than I will have with Mr. Tanner. But yeah, just like, you know, advertising guests that don't show up are, you

09:41 Speaker A: know, not putting actual creators inside a building, making them sit outside and then

09:48 Speaker B: having the creators argue to have them come inside the building and. And then moving that person to an empty table because other people didn't show up that were advertised. Yeah, but. But what I will say I want to stay positive on SummerCon, because when Randy was on, he said he had one of his best weekends ever and really enjoyed meeting a lot of the fans. So it's kind of like this thing where, you know, as a. As a fan of certain things is hard because I'm a fan of comic books. And it's very clear that Summer Con is now focusing more on celebrities than comic books. And so I go, and I want updates on the comic creators that are going to be there. So if you tell me. Right. That you know Jack, or that. If you tell me that Stan Lee's chosen replacement, not Jack Kirby's chosen replacement, Jack Kirby, I don't think liked him. But if you tell me, you know, that Roy Thomas is going to show up at a show on a Friday and I buy a ticket for the show, I go there to meet Roy Thomas.

10:49 Speaker C: Right, right. Great guest.

10:52 Speaker B: And that is a great guest when they're there. And so you Know, those are the kind of struggles. In fact, I still have it right here, Greg. I have my. I told you I was going to go negative, but I have my alter egos with the article of Roy Thomas talking about his favorite.

11:10 Speaker C: Oh, wow.

11:11 Speaker B: Books to write.

11:12 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, right there.

11:15 Speaker A: But then also, too. I mean, then you have other shows like James's show, where you have comic book creators and comic book vendors where you can go and you can find comics. You can find comic book creators that

11:28 Speaker C: have worked on said comics. Right.

11:30 Speaker A: And meet them, marry them up, and talk. Talk comics with people.

11:35 Speaker B: Yeah, because we're gonna. We're going to talk glowingly about James's show. I'm going to give one negative. But it's not your fault. But it's not your fault. No, Greg, Greg, Greg has to hit me. He has to punch me a couple times when I go to the show because I laugh at the. Some of the vendors who price their books too high, and then they carry all their books in and carry them out, and then Greg has to go, shut up, Dan. This is not the time to talk about that. Be quiet. Your podcast is the time to talk about that. The car is the time to talk about that. Not in the middle of the show. Don't ruin the show. But outside of that. I mean, that's a Northwest thing, I think. Like, I see that happening constantly in the Northwest, and I don't know why I would think vendors would want to bring maybe. Well, you vend at times, so maybe you can shed some light on this. Why do I get so frustrated sometimes when I go into a show and I'm looking around and I'm like, why is this stuff priced so high?

12:30 Speaker C: So those are the guys, you know, because it's not like they're going to reprice their books from show to show for the most part. Those are the guys that do the big shows that cost, you know, let's say 800, $1,000 for a booth, you know, so lots of times you'll see them at. At least at half off at Grid City. So they. They bring up their prices because, you know, they got to pay those big table fees at other shows.

12:56 Speaker A: Right.

12:56 Speaker C: I think at Grit City, a lot of the vendors do have a fair price, but that's because they don't do the big shows. You know, like me, I'll price my books a sell. I don't want to sit on the books. Right?

13:07 Speaker A: Yeah.

13:07 Speaker C: I want them to go up. And that's. That's what I think most dealers would want. And we have, I haven't done a count yet, but I think, I know we're probably right around 40 comic book dealers, you know. Now some of those are like Jason Metcalf. Yeah, he's an artist. He's setting up with all the sprints, but he's bringing some, you know, I think he brought like five, six long boxes last year to the show to sell comics. And maybe it was more, you know, and he's like. And that was his first time ever doing it from his own personal collection. And he's like, man, I. It was awesome, you know, for him. So. And you know, Jason Martin, forgetting the books that he published and same thing, he brings some of his personal collection. I mean, if you're going to have a vendor booth to sell your artwork, well, you know, you could have some comic books from Marvel, DC or whoever and sell those too if you want. Canon Artist Alley.

13:57 Speaker A: But see keyword Dan. Vendor booth versus Artist Sally. Dan was upset because I'm doing, we're doing Artist Sally. He was like, can I bring my books to sell?

14:07 Speaker C: And I was like, no, you can't

14:08 Speaker A: bring your books to sell.

14:10 Speaker C: That's right. Poster fell.

14:12 Speaker A: He got angry.

14:14 Speaker B: You knocked down the poster that you just got. I know, Yeah. I think, well, and I think, you know, it's a good point too. And one of the reasons I asked the question, I was sort of, I was sort of hoping you would answer that way. It was one of those where I had actually done some research for once. For once, Greg.

14:31 Speaker C: Yes.

14:31 Speaker B: And was seeing about. I was seeing the prices that are being charged by the big shows like especially Emerald City and, and looking, you know, why try. I was. Because, you know, people were pricing out and they were talking about why they have to price so high. Because if you're paying $1,000 for the weekend.

14:50 Speaker C: Yeah.

14:51 Speaker B: You can't drop your prices and you can't sell them at a regular price because you're paying so much. And James, I'm assuming you're not charging the comic dealers $1,000 for the day.

15:03 Speaker C: No, no, no, no. We're quite a bit less. I like. We try to be as affordable as we can. I mean the convention center isn't the cheapest. I mean we find cheaper places. But it's a nice convention center. Parking is tight, so I keep the prices as low as possible. And just so you know, that's why we, you know, we don't have a ton of guests because honestly I want more creators, you know, like self published creators to be there as possible. So we bring in what, 10, 12 guests.

15:33 Speaker B: We're not really doing actors.

15:35 Speaker C: Yesterday we only ever did like three actors at a show. And normally they're really kind of like how, you know, not the high end. You know, we never did brought in, we brought in like the old school sci fi or you know, guys like that, women like that. Or we only brought in one wrestler over the years which kind of wish I'd brought in more over the time, you know, over, you know, the 10 years of JETSU. But now Grid City is just strictly comic. So try to keep it a little more affordable. And this way you can buy tickets for $10 online before the show. I mean there's a little fee from the simple ticks and then. Sorry, I'm moving my table here so the camera's moving. Yeah, you know, I mean we want the show to be affordable for everybody. Even Jet City. For a long time we kept tickets at $10 for a single day, you know, because we, we want people, we want families to be there. There were shows, well, Emerald City, you know, years ago when it was growing, it's like, oh, we're gonna start charging for like 2 year olds.

16:39 Speaker A: Why?

16:40 Speaker C: They literally a 6, 8 year old has some buying powers because mommy, daddy, buy me this toy or something. But a two year old, no buying power. But they actually kind of didn't want kids there, little kids or me, I'm like, hey, they're coming here, they're being exposed to comments and maybe they're not seeing what they're doing and you know, so seeing what's, you know, what it really is at that age. But you know, but for those 10 year olds, it's 12 and under is free to come into the show. So you know, I mean we're gonna, we. One of the things is, is we gotta grow more readers for this industry anyways. And one of that ways, besides the comic book stores, it's also comic book conventions. I mean that's where you get a meat creators more than any. That's really Grade's books. If Grade wasn't there and you were selling them, you're a lot less likely to sell that book because you're, you know, you're not the creator or, or so. And so is not the creator. You know, so the creator being there helps sell the books. And so, you know, hopefully I could help a little bit bringing in more, more of an audience. I mean, obviously self publish or indie books, it's a little harder sell no matter what. But you know, I'm more likely to buy from Craig than I am from somebody else selling his stuff at that table.

18:02 Speaker B: You know, Now, I did notice something. First off, I do want to remind folks, I don't know if we've actually said it. Saturday, November 7, 2026 Tacoma, Washington. We mentioned the convention center open 10 to 5. One of the best things about this show is it's like 10 bucks to get in and you can walk the floor in a couple of hours, but then you can spend the rest of your time, like James said, talking to creators. So it's one of those shows where you can choose your own adventure, too. Right? You're. If you show up there, you're not locked in elbow to elbow with people and trapped, where you're, you know, going to spend eight hours just circling one room, hoping you got into the next place. It's in the big, wide convention center, so there's plenty of space to wander around and look at things. There's all sorts of different things to do. I assume you're going to have the. I assume the Star Wars Legion folks will be there.

18:52 Speaker C: Yeah, we got the Star Wars. We've got the Ghostbusters, the Halo crew, who's been coming for, I think, since the first Grid City.

19:04 Speaker A: And.

19:04 Speaker C: Yeah, so those are out in the lobby, which is a free area. And so that's always fun for family and whatnot. And then of course, the big giant Lego displays out there as well. So from the guys that run brickcon, they. They bring their LEGO crew up there, and it's a lot of fun. It's cool to see what they can do.

19:23 Speaker A: My wife knows none of those people at all. She doesn't. She doesn't go hang out with those people. She doesn't. She doesn't build Legos with them. She doesn't know anything about them.

19:31 Speaker B: No Legos.

19:34 Speaker A: She didn't sit out. She didn't stay up last night way too late building Lego at all. Not at all. Juan.

19:41 Speaker B: I was just looking through the featured guest list. One. One thing I will say is that I think somebody might be missing from the guest list.

19:51 Speaker C: Somebody.

19:52 Speaker B: Yeah, I need to get you up there.

19:56 Speaker C: Huh? I totally messed up on that. All right, I'll get you up tomorrow.

20:02 Speaker B: I just was waiting. We didn't tell you. We actually. We actually didn't tell you on purpose so we could do that on the show.

20:07 Speaker C: Okay. All right. That's good.

20:09 Speaker B: We promise. Notice we're grinning.

20:11 Speaker A: We are.

20:12 Speaker B: This was totally on purpose. We did not design this to put you on the spot. We talked about it last week. We could have easily said something.

20:19 Speaker A: So this was.

20:19 Speaker B: I just want to make it real clear, James, this is not to call you out. I just wanted the pop moment and the grin. No, that's good.

20:26 Speaker C: Good. But I've got it on my screen right here.

20:29 Speaker B: I was excited. No, I was super excited because there's folks that I know and I've met before and gotten to talk to, and then there's folks that I haven't spent as much time talking to. I. You know, we got the table next to Dev. I love talking to Dev. I could talk to Dev for hours. Dev Madden, Rich Warner will talk to you for hours, whether you want to or not. And I don't mean that as. Like, he knows everything about the industry that you could possibly want to know, from editing to drawing to writing. Like, if you want a master's class writing a comic book. Right. Or you want to write a comic book and you want to know what to do, go to Rich and say, rich, like, how did you get a comic into the industry? And he will tell you how he did it, how he helped somebody else do it, how he edited for somebody that did it. And then you're going to learn so much just from talking to him. Ron Randall will be there, who you've inked, if you want to know about. Yeah. If you want to know how to launch your own independent book and how to write for one of the big companies. Ron German. And our draw.

21:44 Speaker C: Super nice guy.

21:45 Speaker A: So nice.

21:46 Speaker B: And I just. I remember him. We've told it on this podcast before, but James, I don't know if you know, Ron was telling me about one of his favorite books he ever did at dc. He inked it. And Murphy. Or he drew. He. He penciled it. And Murphy Anderson inked it.

22:03 Speaker C: Right. Which is like a.

22:04 Speaker B: He, like his idol, inked the book that he was drawing and he was like, this is fantastic. And another great human to talk to. And if you've never read Trekker, you need to start getting those Kickstarters. And he'll have it there. Scott Collins, who knows nothing about inking. That was sarcasm. 00 is going to be there.

22:31 Speaker C: His first time.

22:33 Speaker A: Yeah.

22:34 Speaker C: At our show. At our show.

22:35 Speaker A: That's a good get. It's a great get for people. Yeah. For folks that are sleeping on the show. Like, if you. If you go for anything, like, I mean, everything that we've talked about before, those are all fantastic reasons. But if you want to see somebody, this is somebody that should be on your list.

22:53 Speaker C: Yeah, definitely.

22:54 Speaker B: Yeah. And I was joking Too. I've never. I'm. I'm going to say right now, I've never gotten. Not in person. Not looking at them. Obviously looking at them is different, but I've never gotten Scott Collins and Scott Koblish confused at all being in. In the books at the same time. Doing a lot of stuff at the same time. Both doing work with Keith Giffen when he was alive.

23:17 Speaker C: Okay.

23:18 Speaker B: So I never confused them at all.

23:20 Speaker A: Like.

23:22 Speaker B: But no, he's absolutely fantastic. Oh, that's okay. I just had to do some quick research. So I think Coblish was doing some Legion stuff with Levitz and Giffen. Collins was doing the Lar Fleas book, the Orange Lantern one. Greg, you're like, who's Lar Freeze? The Orange Lantern, Lar Fleas. You're like, I don't know.

23:42 Speaker A: Larfleeze is a cool name.

23:44 Speaker B: Well, he had the, like, Orange Lantern, the Greed Lantern, and he had his, like, own planet. He was collected. They did. And Keith Giffen got to do kind of a funny, haha, like, series with him in 2013. Scott Collins did the pencils and inks for it.

23:57 Speaker C: Okay.

23:58 Speaker B: A bunch of the books. Yeah.

23:59 Speaker C: So it's tough. Tough at the big companies to do pencils and inks yourself.

24:03 Speaker B: Yeah, it looks like 12 issues on that. And then a couple of specials, too. Like, that's. I have those. And he did do Legion, Volume four. I was right. Okay. There was some Legion, some Archie Legion.

24:16 Speaker A: Oh.

24:17 Speaker B: But when it was becoming less Archie. Yeah, I. Because it's kind of hard thinking about Scott Collins drawing Archie.

24:26 Speaker A: Archie style.

24:30 Speaker C: Yeah.

24:30 Speaker B: But yeah, he's. He. He was. Well, he did do one that was kind of Archie style. I will say that. I'm kind of looking at it right here, which is really weird for me to think about, but yeah, he did sort of the end of the. Of that run as they were transitioning to Abnet Lanning, moving from the Tom McCraw run to that in the late 90s, which nobody cares about except for me. So I'm going to stop talking about that.

24:54 Speaker A: It's just Dan.

24:54 Speaker B: It's just Dan. Literally, no one cares. I can hear Travis Webb yelling at me right now, to me, stop talking, Dan. Stop talking about the Legion, Dan. Nobody cares about the Legion.

25:04 Speaker C: He.

25:05 Speaker A: He literally just called. Just telling me to tell you to stop talking.

25:08 Speaker B: Yeah, I. I'm sure. Oh, he did a Solomon Grundy book. How fun is that? I think I have that.

25:13 Speaker C: I think he wrote it too.

25:15 Speaker B: He wrote that one. I think he did. Maybe he did. I'M looking at it.

25:19 Speaker C: Double check me on that. Okay.

25:21 Speaker B: Yeah. Born on a Monday. I'm gonna make sure you know that. So. And he also wants pants, but he has kind of pants in the story, so, you know, Solomon Grundy wants pants. Yeah, he wants pants too. You know, it's very important. So, yeah, I'll quit talking about Scott, but I have a bunch of Scott stuff. I cannot wait to bring a couple things to have him sign.

25:43 Speaker C: Sweet.

25:44 Speaker B: And get to chat with him. Bob Smith. That guy's not done anything.

25:48 Speaker A: No, not at all.

25:49 Speaker C: Been working forever, since the 70s.

25:52 Speaker B: Talk about Archie, by the way. Super nice, super friends.

25:59 Speaker C: And he's from, what, Aberdeen originally. And then he moved out to New York, you know, working at D.C. and then now he's back in think Aberdeen area. So, yeah, he's, I think he had quite the career.

26:11 Speaker A: Yeah, he lived out my way for a minute.

26:14 Speaker C: Okay.

26:15 Speaker A: Like a hot minute. He, he was like, literally, we were, we probably shopped at the same grocery

26:20 Speaker C: store, and I was like, wow, so you fanboyed it?

26:28 Speaker A: Well, no, but I like when we tabled, we tabled next to each other once, and it was like, my wife's a big RG collector.

26:37 Speaker B: So, yeah, he fanboyed.

26:38 Speaker A: I, yeah, of course. I, I, I was like, hey, what's going on?

26:46 Speaker C: We're both super nice guy.

26:48 Speaker B: Like, he's, he's so unassuming, too. It's hard to like, I mean, it's. You're fanboying, but then he's just like, really chill. Yeah, he's a nice dude.

26:59 Speaker C: I mean, he worked with Stan Goldberg forever, you know, at Archie. You know, I mean, that alone is legendary. You know, those two together, just doing stuff. But, and then all his.

27:10 Speaker B: And you had a, you have another guy who did some work with Keith Giffen writing, too. Matthew Clark did one of the Doom Patrol relaunches that Keith Giffen wrote.

27:20 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And he's, Matthew is a huge fan of Doom Patrol 2. So he was so happy to be on that book. That is. No, this is good guy.

27:29 Speaker B: This is fun.

27:31 Speaker C: Matthew's done our show probably as, as many times as Shane White. They've probably done the most shows of Great City Jet City shows as anybody. So, you know, he's, he's, we've been, you know, known him for, well, since the very first Spokane Lilac Con. Since he did that when it was back in the old, what is it, the community college over there. So that's when I got to know him. Yeah. The first or second one I Can't remember.

28:00 Speaker A: Okay.

28:01 Speaker C: Yeah, no, yeah, he's had a great career, too, in comics, you know.

28:06 Speaker B: You know, I'm just poking around on the DC Wiki right now. Fun fact. Apparently the. And I have no idea. I'd have to pull this back out if. If I even have it. I don't even know if I was still collecting it at this point. But there was an issue of the Outsiders run in the 2000s that Matthew Clark and Ron Randall drew together.

28:24 Speaker C: Yes, that's right. Think Ron might have been the Ink Girl, though. I can't remember. Maybe they both penciled. I don't know.

28:31 Speaker B: They were both penciling. Yeah. So they split, it looks like.

28:35 Speaker C: Okay, yeah. Because they were in the studio in Portland together at that time.

28:41 Speaker B: Oh, that makes. Okay, yeah. This looks like it's around the end of that series when they were doing, like, the checkmate thing, right before they killed Blue Beetle Ted Cord. There are lots of blue beetles. I should specify Ted Cord. Well, Ted Cord got better, apparently. That's one of those. There are some deaths in comics that should stay. That one should have stayed. It's.

29:06 Speaker A: It's not the same Ted Court that you remember.

29:09 Speaker B: Well, no, because they do the universe thing, and I get it, but. And I get why they bring characters back and they've got to make money and all of those things, but, man, that story was so good.

29:17 Speaker C: He's excited.

29:19 Speaker B: When you have a story that good, I think we may be getting into a character they shouldn't bring back here in a second. So when you have a story that good, you probably shouldn't bring the characters back. Like, when you kill a character, it should mean something. And, you know, you shouldn't bring them back, like, literally the next issue. Right, James?

29:40 Speaker C: Sure, sure. Gotta make them worth. Worthwhile. Who.

29:43 Speaker A: Who died?

29:46 Speaker B: Well, I was.

29:47 Speaker C: I was.

29:47 Speaker B: I was. I was talking about X men. Like, like 30 years ago, longer than 30 years ago, I bought this graphic novel, the X Men, because it had Phoenix on the COVID not knowing that Phoenix wouldn't be in the story at all.

30:03 Speaker C: And. Oh, that's a good point. But it's a nice Art Adams cover. It looks like. Is that Art Adams?

30:10 Speaker B: It is Arthur Adams.

30:11 Speaker C: You are correct.

30:13 Speaker B: Look, see, this is why we have artists on the show, Greg. So I can just hold up things and they go, oh, that's an Arthur Adams cover. And I would have to go get, like, my Arthur Adams coffee table book and, like, pull it out and, like, look at it. And oh. Oh, yeah, that's this. That's when we have artists on the show and they're like, oh, yeah, I can just tell by the line work there that that's Arthur Adams and we're good to go. See, this is where.

30:38 Speaker C: Very distinctive artist. Yeah.

30:41 Speaker B: Yes, we get an Arthur Adams cover. And I almost said. And unfortunately we get. But I actually don't. I know some of Paul Smith's run on the X Men is kind of mashed between John Byrne and Silvestri and sometimes people don't value it. I thought Paul Smith's art on X Men was fine.

31:05 Speaker C: He's a great draftsman. Yeah, he's. He's a good storyteller. You know, he just didn't have a big. I mean, he had a decent run actually on. That's been not like super long, like a lot of guys back then, but he. I forget he did quite a bit, if I remember right.

31:20 Speaker B: Well, and when you come after Dave Cockrum and John Byrne, I mean, it's tough. Yeah, that's. That's not. You know, I know Mike Grell has even spoken to the past about coming after Dave Cockrum on Legion. And then, you know, Byrne goes after Dave Cockrum on X and then you bring in new artist.

31:38 Speaker C: Right?

31:38 Speaker B: Here you go, new artist. Replace these two legends who aren't even legends yet. But. Well, I guess at that point Cockram

31:48 Speaker C: probably where it was Cocram was. And Burn and made a huge name for himself obviously on X Men by that point too.

31:54 Speaker B: So, yeah, I think Burn becomes the legend after DC buys him.

31:58 Speaker A: Just. Yeah, like.

31:59 Speaker C: Right.

32:00 Speaker B: And then he has. And then he's both a legend and we discussed Superman. Yeah, not right now. I'm. I'm not getting off track today. Weird. That's. This is not how we're focused, Dan.

32:12 Speaker C: Don't.

32:13 Speaker B: Don't talk about how terrible man of Steel is and the whole Superman run and destroying Legion of Superheroes and don't. Not today. Not. Not today.

32:21 Speaker C: We're not.

32:21 Speaker B: We're not doing that today.

32:22 Speaker A: Just because we have a guest doesn't mean you have to impress them with your. I can stay on task.

32:29 Speaker B: Oh, well, it wasn't even like impress him that I stay on task. I was just impressing him by saying that. I'm not going to talk about how much I hate John Byrne today. That's.

32:40 Speaker C: So. So you didn't get his new little. His new Ed Twin book that he just put out, right? Oh, no, no, I'll make sure.

32:46 Speaker B: No, I copy it for you. Like. Yeah, so I haven't. I haven't bought Marvel books. I Haven't bought Marvel books since they took the mask off Spider man and Civil War and wow. And also the Disney buyout. So I just, it was, I was buying, I think I was buying a couple of books that I, I, I went down, I think I was buying. Obviously not popular to say you're buying stuff from Joss Whedon, but I was buying Astonishing and I was buying, I was buying X Factor, but then they combined it with Civil War and made it a regular superhero book instead of a, instead of a detective agency book. So I dropped that. And then I was kind of starting to drop the X stuff. And then I almost became an exclusively DC and Image and other book person from that point forward. So on occasion, I will go buy a Marvel book, right? So right now I just buy uncanny because Gail Simone writes it and that's the only Marvel book I buy each month.

33:52 Speaker C: So you're still giving them a little bit of love, you know, that's okay.

33:56 Speaker B: Yeah, a little. Yeah. And I mean, I love Matt Fraction, but I didn't even go like, buy ma Matt Fraction stuff at Marvel. Right? Like it's. Matt Fraction wrote the introduction to Teenagers from Teenagers from the Future, essays on the Legion of Superheroes. And I don't even. To buy Matt's book.

34:17 Speaker A: You're like, no, can't do it. I don't wanna, I don't want those Marvel books in my room.

34:23 Speaker B: Yes. If you write in a non, if you write the forward to a non fiction book about the Legion of Superheroes, I probably am going to love you forever if you're an artist or a writer. But yeah, that wasn't even enough. And a lot of it was what now 20, 15 years later, I've been proven right. Which I'm not proud of. I hate that. Right. I wish that Marvel under Disney had not recycled a bunch of old plots and done a bunch of trickery and run their readership into the ground. You know, it's, it's awful, right? Because it just hurts creators and their opportunities. And, and that's the thing, you know, but you know, we know who's talked about a lot in the show. I mean, last year was the first time DC outsold Marvel since the 70s. The early 70s.

35:18 Speaker C: Wow, that's crazy. Yeah, it's about time they, they made it there.

35:23 Speaker B: But yeah, and that's, and DC is just doing a better job right now. So we're not focused on that.

35:31 Speaker A: No.

35:33 Speaker B: James wanted us to talk about a book. Well, you want us to talk about two books and one we didn't have access to it. It's so hard to find the first book, James.

35:40 Speaker A: Yeah, tell us about the first one because it looked really cool.

35:42 Speaker B: It did look really cool.

35:44 Speaker C: Yeah. The first one is called Pathways to Fantasy. Right. This is from first comics back in 84. And they only published one issue because they kind of ran out of money at that time. Pacific Comics. And it's premium, so it's, it's like painted interiors. It's on glossy paper. It's not newsprint. We got Barry Windsor Smith, Jeffrey Jones in there. Bruce Jones wrote a couple stories. I think he probably put it together. So, yeah, I mean, you got some cool Windsor Smith artwork. You can never go wrong with him. You know, it's like classic stuff, classic sub now. And then you got John Bolton in there too, you know, doing his paintings. I think he's more of a gallery artist now, John Bolton. But he did like backup stories in Classic X Men. I think, like, that's what it was. And then of course, he did other books and comics too. But yeah, I mean, it's just basically great artwork, you know, and it's all fantasy artwork, you know, fantasy stories. And it's like. It's an anthology. So there's, I don't know, four or five, six stories. And I, I just. When I was looking through some of my comics, I'm like, oh, this one would be cool, but I doubt it's online anywhere to even find or something, you know. But, you know, but Pacific Comics put it. I mean, that's the thing is there were so many great publishers back in the 80s Pacific first. I mean, you could keep going and going, you know, there was so many great comic books coming out. Yeah, Amazing creator, sorry, Comico. Neil Adams, Comico. You know, there. So many creators were launching their careers or in those indie books, they gotta really just do what they like, really put their heart and soul into those stories, you know. Whereas, you know, Marvel dc working on a monthly book is more of being a machine. You know, these. They probably took their time and just did it, right? But yeah, I mean, but the printing quality. Just because I worked as a graphic designer for so long too, that the printing quality is just amazing. When you think it's 1984, that you can see the different tones, it's not flat colors, it's. It's. It's painted. So yeah, that's. So it's a cool one to find if you ever find it. It's not an expensive book. When you would consider the creators that are on it, you would Think it would be, but I mean, it's probably less than $8 to find it.

38:19 Speaker B: And if you find the first comic books in the bins and just come right over to the table at Grit City and tap me on the shoulder and say, dan, go right there.

38:27 Speaker A: Go right there.

38:28 Speaker B: And. And. And you go away, and I will grab and buy.

38:33 Speaker A: And also, if you find any US Ones.

38:36 Speaker B: No, you don't need any us Ones. Owning number one and number three is enough. I don't need to own any more US One. Yeah. James, though, we were talking. I mean, if we did do a live podcast at Grit City ever, we might have to cover an episode issue of US One High Adventure Trucking.

38:59 Speaker C: All right.

39:01 Speaker B: It could be a thing.

39:02 Speaker C: He just.

39:03 Speaker A: He just. He says no more. But yet he. He offers more.

39:07 Speaker C: Look, look.

39:09 Speaker B: I mean, using. Look, I. I think if I was. If I had a half robot brain.

39:15 Speaker C: Yeah.

39:16 Speaker B: And I was going to think of all the things I could possibly do it. Do it. Optimizing my trucking routes and learning to be the best trucker ever.

39:25 Speaker C: Yeah.

39:25 Speaker B: Would definitely be the way I would use my robot brain.

39:28 Speaker A: You wouldn't go to the casino and play blackjack or.

39:32 Speaker B: No, I would not. I would become the best trucker ever. Right? That would be. And yeah, it's.

39:40 Speaker C: But. But if you think about it, he's ahead of his time, though. I mean. Yes. That's, you know, that's his ways or Google Maps long before they ever existed. True.

39:52 Speaker A: Real talk.

39:53 Speaker C: I mean, think about it. You used to have to use a Thomas guy driving across country, which I've done.

39:58 Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

39:59 Speaker A: I have to. When I used to drive for stuff back in the day, it was. I had a Thomas Guide on the side of my. In my passenger seat. And I, like, knew every route around the. The Seattle metropolitan area. And it was like my wife's like, how do you know all these back roads? Thomas guide.

40:18 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. Well, I went to college in Michigan, so driving. So I drove from Seattle to Michigan with the Thomas guide, you know, and it's.

40:26 Speaker B: I went to college.

40:28 Speaker C: Did I miss that exit? Okay. Yeah, you know.

40:31 Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

40:31 Speaker C: It's hard.

40:32 Speaker A: Driving across country is like. Yeah, yeah. Anywhere you miss that exit yet or

40:37 Speaker C: am I there yet?

40:38 Speaker B: Yeah, not just the Thomas guy, James, but my dad was in aaa, so when I drove to Arkansas to go to school, I got the flip thing from AAA where it flipped the map as you go.

40:50 Speaker C: Nice. Yeah, that's probably even better.

40:53 Speaker B: Yeah, it was very nice. Well, and they even let you build stops along the way. And then they let you go places and so. Yeah, I mean, there's all sorts of. Anyway. Oh, the comic. We're gonna talk about a comic. Yeah. Okay, 41, 41 minutes, Greg.

41:12 Speaker A: 41 minutes, everybody. Listeners, 41 minutes. We're getting to the content.

41:19 Speaker C: Well, we talked a lot of comic book stuff, though.

41:21 Speaker A: We did, we did talk a lot of comic books. But now we're getting to the. We're allowed.

41:25 Speaker B: I mean, honestly, we can talk about where we want. It's our box.

41:27 Speaker C: That's true.

41:28 Speaker B: We can do whatever we want. I, I do. I, I keep holding this book up because I really.

41:35 Speaker A: Then I want to talk about chicken. Like the based pizza. When you got a, like a chicken based pizza that is like all chicken as the dough as opposed to like a, Because I'm gluten free, you know, so I can't do a lot of stuff. I, I can't do a regular wheat pizza, like a, like a flour dough. It's like chickpea or cauliflower or this chicken pizza. Now that's a lot of protein, Dan. You know, a lot about, like, you know, how much you should and shouldn't have. Is that too much, Dan? I mean, no, I mean, how many slices should you eat?

42:18 Speaker B: I mean, I don't have macros.

42:21 Speaker C: A lot of protein.

42:22 Speaker A: How. How many slices did I eat? Too many of probably.

42:26 Speaker B: If you, if you had, I mean, if the chicken pizza, the chicken crust, you probably should not have very many pieces.

42:34 Speaker A: So the whole pizza was too many pieces.

42:37 Speaker B: Yeah, probably.

42:38 Speaker A: But it was delicious.

42:39 Speaker B: Yeah, that's. You may need to, you may need to venture off during the podcast.

42:45 Speaker A: I, I joke. I didn't eat the whole chicken pizza. I would never do that. That's a monster.

42:50 Speaker B: That's a lot of protein.

42:51 Speaker C: So since you're gluten free. My daughter is too. She recently started making her cottage cheese crust.

42:58 Speaker B: Oh, okay.

43:00 Speaker C: Yeah. And there's actually one frozen pizza that uses a chuck cottage cheese crust as well.

43:06 Speaker A: I might have to check this out

43:08 Speaker C: because she liked it. So I, I don't know because she's. Yeah. Trying to cut out carbs as much as possible anyway. So. Yeah, I made up.

43:17 Speaker B: I made a cauliflower crust once and it took me like two hours. And it was like eight inches and thin.

43:23 Speaker A: Right.

43:24 Speaker B: It tasted very good. Yeah.

43:26 Speaker A: No cauliflower.

43:26 Speaker B: And it was gone in like four

43:29 Speaker A: minutes between me and the roommates and everybody. All the housemates. Yeah. But, but then afterwards, like about 30 minutes later. 30 minutes later, maybe like an hour, I was fine.

43:42 Speaker B: It was Real?

43:44 Speaker A: Is everybody. Was it. No, I mean, like, what was the. What was the vibe of the house though, Dan?

43:49 Speaker B: It was fine. Little G. Nah.

43:52 Speaker A: No.

43:52 Speaker C: Are you sure?

43:54 Speaker B: Cause no, it's r. Are you sure? Hamburger's fine. I'm sure.

43:58 Speaker A: I sat down with a head of cauliflower at work one day. Oh, boy. It was a bad idea.

44:02 Speaker B: You just have a chat with it or what?

44:04 Speaker A: No, I sat down, start eating it like a monster.

44:08 Speaker B: Were you installing the head of cauliflower? Were you installing like the US one electronic brain into it? Exactly. If it would talk to you.

44:16 Speaker A: I. I did. I tried to. And then I said I.

44:18 Speaker B: Forget it.

44:19 Speaker A: This ranch is looking delicious.

44:20 Speaker B: Carniferous. No, that's not right.

44:24 Speaker A: My cue mate looked at me like I was a. Like I was a full on monster eating this cauliflower.

44:29 Speaker B: Well, you are kind of a monster. You should just tell them to let you work from home.

44:34 Speaker C: Try.

44:36 Speaker B: I think that's. That's the best argument from work from home ever. Is just going to need a cauliflower every day.

44:42 Speaker A: And a cauliflower and a. In a. And a head of cabbage.

44:44 Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that would be.

44:47 Speaker A: What are you doing? It's a diet. It's a choice, a lifestyle choice.

44:52 Speaker C: It's affecting everyone.

44:55 Speaker B: Well, James said we should read. Uncanny x men number 168. And I don't always remember what Uncanny X Men was.68 is because I first read it in this book. Side Note, this is 12 issues, so that book. 17 bucks for 12 issues. That's pretty cool.

45:19 Speaker C: That's nice.

45:19 Speaker B: So I got 168 through 180 in here. That's a lot of, a lot of X Men.

45:24 Speaker A: Yeah.

45:25 Speaker B: This buttressed up against my friend Jen's books who I got to read. So I think that's why I got this whole set because I probably ended around where her book started because I remember she had Inferno and all that in her set. So we're getting around that time frame, I think because we're starting it in this. We're starting it with it. We're starting Inferno with this issue, are we not? In a way, inadvertently.

45:49 Speaker C: No way. You are.

45:49 Speaker B: Yeah.

45:50 Speaker A: Yeah.

45:51 Speaker B: At least the first appearance of someone. We've got two first appearances in here.

45:55 Speaker A: Yeah.

45:55 Speaker B: One is way more important than the other one. And I'm going to stress.

45:58 Speaker A: Yeah, this does build into all that. Oh my gosh.

46:01 Speaker C: Yeah.

46:01 Speaker A: It's been a minute since I like, I'm, I'm. I have the same book Dan has. It's just in a. In A in a box.

46:09 Speaker B: You know that Chris Claremont. Really?

46:11 Speaker C: Yeah, I just got original not too long ago. I got it at one of the shows, I don't know, a month or two ago. Yeah, I'm rebuilding my collection, so. Yeah. All right.

46:23 Speaker B: Chris Claremont. Good at writing.

46:26 Speaker C: Yes, yeah.

46:28 Speaker B: Good at plotting.

46:30 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

46:30 Speaker A: Now, do you.

46:31 Speaker B: I almost think that Claremont's a better plotter than writer, which is. I mean, this is not to insult his writing. Writing. Very high plotting.

46:41 Speaker C: Yeah.

46:41 Speaker B: I mean, he could plan things out for years.

46:46 Speaker C: Yeah. I wonder if he did plan out. Do you think that that character for Inferno, you think he plotted it out? I doubt he plotted it out that far in advance.

46:56 Speaker B: Oh, I'm sure.

46:57 Speaker C: Oh, you think?

46:59 Speaker B: So the other question that is he plots out for a one shot story

47:04 Speaker C: that's like 60 issues in between. Right.

47:06 Speaker A: So just like holding that idea and like waiting to just drop it. Like, just like, okay, you know, like start here and then just boom.

47:19 Speaker C: Or did he just remember the character and brought her back maybe?

47:23 Speaker B: Or did he have to do it because they brought back X Factor?

47:30 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Because that's true.

47:33 Speaker B: Wheezy and Walt were like, we're going to do this other book over here and we're going to use Jean, the original.

47:39 Speaker C: Yeah, we're going to bring her back.

47:43 Speaker B: So you have to use this. Well, anyway. All right, so this book. We saw the COVID and this book opens with. This is why I knew as soon as I saw the book, I was like, oh, I know this book.

47:57 Speaker A: I know you texted me as soon as, like, yeah.

48:00 Speaker C: Oh, it's weird to have the pages backwards. So that should be the very first page and then you flip to the next page. I wonder if that messes up the storytelling some because.

48:12 Speaker B: Probably does mess it up a little

48:14 Speaker C: bit, you know, somewhere in there. Because you know when you're thinking about. When you're drawing a book, you're thinking about those two pages facing each other.

48:21 Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

48:22 Speaker B: And I've got. Or not. Well, and it's. You think she's probably talking to one of the X Men, but she's talking to Ileana too, so.

48:32 Speaker C: Right.

48:32 Speaker B: It's. Yeah. This is an interesting time for Kitty Pryde because they launched New Mutants. And New Mutants was a. As much as I love it, it was a commercial failure. I think in relation to the rest of the X books, they wanted that to be the next takeoff book. Eventually. Eventually some people take it over. Like Liefeld. Liefeld. Sorry, Nisienza. Right. Was it nice that wrote it?

49:08 Speaker C: No.

49:10 Speaker B: Dick. Ca.

49:13 Speaker C: Yep. Yes.

49:15 Speaker B: Yeah. So they take over the book later because sales are lagging, and so they take it away. They take the book away from Claremont.

49:20 Speaker C: Right.

49:21 Speaker B: And they go a different, complete, totally different direction. Yeah. And then you get X Force out of the book.

49:28 Speaker A: So in a fantastic movie later in the. In the.

49:32 Speaker B: Oh, shut up. We waited five years. Yeah. It was terrible.

49:42 Speaker C: Disappointing.

49:43 Speaker B: I wanted. Yeah. I'm not supposed to see here. Now I've started cussing. You bring up that movie. That is the way to get me going.

49:52 Speaker A: We had.

49:53 Speaker B: I wanted that movie to be good. The way they did Ileana in X Men 97, even though they murder her, was better than they do her in the Newton's movie.

50:05 Speaker A: Not to bring the podcast down, but my mom was so excited for that movie. And then I was, well, no. And then, you know, the movie doesn't come out. Doesn't come out. Doesn't come out. My mom passes away and then the movie comes out. And I was like, I'm glad she didn't get to watch this because. Because, like, she. I mean, like, growing up, I mean, we read a lot of stuff together. Like, she's like, oh, you like this stuff?

50:27 Speaker C: All right, cool.

50:28 Speaker A: You know, like, you know, your dad. These are dad books and stuff. And then she'd pick up some things and, oh, I like this book. You know, so she'd give me, you know, other stuff and then, you know. But this is like, you know, that. That was something that she was. She was into. So she was like, oh, yeah, you. This is going to be a great movie. This is going to be awesome. I'm glad she didn't get to watch it.

50:49 Speaker C: See, I think New Mutants would have been a good TV series because then, you know, because they're young and then build the characters. Right. Yeah. And while Edwin stays at the movies, you could have that kind of, you know, kind of like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. even though they aren't linked with the MCU, it's still N. Kind of attached.

51:07 Speaker A: Yeah.

51:07 Speaker B: We only do that with Runaways runways.

51:11 Speaker C: Yeah.

51:11 Speaker B: Yeah.

51:12 Speaker C: That was almost. Yeah, yeah, that was. That's along those lines. Yeah. The.

51:18 Speaker B: Yeah. Well, this is a. This is one of my favorite kind of books. We've talked about these on the podcast before. These are these. Claremont did them really well. Paul Levitz did them really well. I think that Mark Wolfman did them really well. These are these in between storybooks that kind of. They wrap up things. And we had one. Another one. We were going to release Greg and then Computo ate it.

51:46 Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

51:47 Speaker A: Oh.

51:47 Speaker B: So we had a Future one with another guest where we were covering the mall issue, where all the women go to the mall and they find Jubilee.

51:56 Speaker C: Oh, Jubilee. Yeah.

51:58 Speaker B: And so, same kind of idea, Right? That was right after Inferno. So Inferno. So that's future of this.

52:04 Speaker C: Right.

52:04 Speaker B: That happens. And then they have a couple of breathing issues. Right. And this is one of those breathing issues here. We're between things that happened. So the last part of the story, I believe, was Vampires. X Men Annual 6.

52:22 Speaker C: Okay.

52:23 Speaker B: And then previous to that, we had them coming back from dealing with outer space stuff. Right?

52:30 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. The. What was it the Brood? Right, yeah. Was that who they were going. Yeah, yeah.

52:37 Speaker B: Ah, the Brood. The Brood. Gross.

52:41 Speaker A: I.

52:42 Speaker B: You know, I will tell you, if they'd had one of the people in this. This issue to fight the Brood, the Brood wouldn't have been a problem.

52:48 Speaker A: It's true.

52:50 Speaker B: It's just like, if Jonesy had done his job and they, you know, alien would have ended and.

52:58 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

53:00 Speaker B: Like, it's. That. That would have been fine. But by the way, Brett Wadelli has a great art piece.

53:06 Speaker A: Ah, yes.

53:07 Speaker B: On that theme, if you. Nobody knows Jonesy.

53:10 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

53:11 Speaker B: Holding the alien, like.

53:13 Speaker C: Yeah.

53:14 Speaker B: Eating it.

53:14 Speaker A: Yeah, I know the piece.

53:16 Speaker C: Anyway.

53:18 Speaker B: Ileana. And. And, like, so this is a weird time because Kitty Pryde shows up in the first. I was making a point, I promise. In the first few issues of New Mutants and then just kind of disappears. Right.

53:32 Speaker A: Well, she phased.

53:33 Speaker B: Right.

53:33 Speaker A: She just phased out.

53:34 Speaker C: She just.

53:35 Speaker B: Yeah.

53:36 Speaker C: Went through the wall.

53:38 Speaker B: Yeah. She walked upstairs and phased out the house like that girl on Family Matters.

53:44 Speaker C: Okay.

53:46 Speaker A: Yeah, the middle sister.

53:48 Speaker B: Yeah. Just left forever. Right. Phased. Right. That's. Now we know what happened. Now we know her power set.

53:54 Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. She's had Professor Xavier School for Gifted Children all along. Damn.

54:02 Speaker B: And I don't think it was a popular decision to move Kitty in here. And that's one of the ones that you're at, you know, Now. Now we get to. Now we get to wonder, did Claremont plot this or did he do a pivot based on fan response and bring Kitty back to the X Men?

54:19 Speaker C: I have a feeling that Kitty was put into the New Mutants because she was a little bit more established character.

54:26 Speaker B: Yeah.

54:26 Speaker C: You know, and to help sell that book and then. Yeah. Pivot to bring her back out, you know, so that probably was along the lines, I would think, the whole time. But. Or maybe then, you know.

54:40 Speaker B: But she is ranting harder than I rant about anything about how unfair it was that she's been put with the X Babies reading this book I had, I knew who Kitty Pride was. Right. But I didn't have a lot of exposure to Kitty Pride. I'm gonna tell you, this book did not make me like Kitty Pryde.

54:57 Speaker C: She's a teenage girl, a dance girl. Well, she's upset.

55:04 Speaker B: Yeah. I felt like she spent most of the issue making Professor X's argument for him. But the, we, we turned the page and we get, I, this is the, we get the first appearance. Well, it's the second appearance. But the first appearance when he gets a name of one little dragon that's going to make it with Kitty, that's going to hang out with Kitty Pryde for a long, long time. All the way through Excalibur. Yeah. And so we get these little alien eyes and he's just get some narration. It's some narrations like by alien eyes. He hasn't been here long. He hates the weather and the hunting has been poor and he decides that's about to change. We don't know what it is yet, but it's already adorable.

55:55 Speaker C: So.

55:55 Speaker B: Paul Smith, people can criticize you, but you drew Lockheed for the first time. I'm just going to spoil it. So.

56:02 Speaker A: But how could you do that?

56:04 Speaker C: Lockheed is here.

56:05 Speaker B: I, I love Lockheed. And you know, Dave said this one might be boring for the podcast. I disagree because we have, maybe the comic would be boring if we read it word for word. But there are so many threads here that we get to talk about. Yes, of course. One of them is Australian Wolverine getting ready to go into the, in, into the Canadian wilderness.

56:31 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Out west. Going out west. Yes.

56:34 Speaker B: He's growing out.

56:35 Speaker C: Well, I, I, and I think some of that is because he's so sad about Jean Gray dying, you know, so, you know, they're still pulling from 30 issues ago, you know, some of those emotions because they do bring her up a few times in here, you know,

56:51 Speaker B: and it's been non stop for them. Right.

56:53 Speaker C: So. Right.

56:53 Speaker B: They've just been going from thing to thing to thing and romping through outer space and you know, he needs a break. Of course, Rovery never goes off on his own and never does.

57:05 Speaker C: Yeah, he needs a dose, you know. Yeah, it's.

57:10 Speaker B: But they do have a fight. Yeah, yeah, they do have a fight here about how Charles Xavier is treating Kitty Pride.

57:18 Speaker C: Right.

57:18 Speaker B: And they're both like, yeah, you know, she's. And I think Wolverine makes a pretty poor argument that they used to send 12 year olds off to war. Nightcrawler calls him out on this and says, you know, that's probably not a good thing. But their point is made. Kitty Pride's been in X Men. Why is she moving to the New Mutants? That doesn't make much sense. It's also interesting, too. Oh, sorry, James.

57:47 Speaker C: No, you could say that she. He moved her down there because maybe a leadership role with the New Mutants, which. I'm surprised they didn't mention that at all, because she does have that X Men experience. Yeah, that makes sense.

57:59 Speaker A: She could be, like, the leader of the New Mutant. She has the conch, right.

58:04 Speaker C: I guess she's done some of this. I don't know. Even though, you know, her powers aren't exactly, you know, they're just going through walls or whatever, but, you know, it's not like cannibal, you know, who, of course, was the leader of the New Mutants. I guess so.

58:18 Speaker B: Yeah. And that worked out well.

58:21 Speaker C: Yeah, that's true.

58:22 Speaker B: And I mean, he's immortal, man. Anyway. God. Yeah, that storyline was great.

58:32 Speaker C: So

58:35 Speaker B: we flipped a page and we find out that Charles Xavier has been given new legs. That's really cool.

58:42 Speaker C: No, no, he's a clone body.

58:45 Speaker B: Oh, he's a even.

58:46 Speaker C: It's a clone body. His brain got moved into the clone body.

58:51 Speaker B: Sweet. You know how I love clones. Yeah.

58:54 Speaker C: Yes. And we'll get to clones later in this issue, too.

58:57 Speaker B: So does this mean, like, 20 issues later, this is going to be like Ben Reilly, but then. Is that how that works?

59:07 Speaker C: I don't know.

59:09 Speaker B: And then he's gonna wear a Scarlet Xavier, so he'll be Scarlet Xavier, and then Real Xavier will come back. Is that.

59:21 Speaker C: He's gonna have to rate some more X Men to find out.

59:24 Speaker B: Yeah, a little. Little Clone Saga humor. Notice nobody's laughing because the Clone Saga wasn't funny. So the. He's trying to learn to walk, but his brain is still thinks that he can't walk. So when he tries to walk, he's dealing with this. And Landra is there. And I don't know, how do we explain the Landra in, like, three sentences?

59:48 Speaker C: Alien girlfriend.

59:50 Speaker A: Okay, sure.

59:51 Speaker B: Alien girlfriend.

59:53 Speaker C: And a queen. Queen alien. Right. She's a queen, isn't she?

59:56 Speaker B: Yeah.

59:57 Speaker C: Yes, Queen. Yeah.

01:00:00 Speaker B: And her sister is Death Bird, and she runs a giant outer space thing. The SHI Are, right?

01:00:11 Speaker C: Yes.

01:00:12 Speaker B: Yeah. And it's kind of like. It's kind of like if you were reading comics, like, say, right now as well, you would go to the other comic. Say, let's say we call it Uncanny Titans.

01:00:34 Speaker A: Okay.

01:00:36 Speaker B: And you'd be reading about Starfire, and Blackfire runs Tamaran in Outer space. Where they have to go to outer space and like deal with these things. Yeah. Nothing similar at all.

01:00:52 Speaker A: Nothing.

01:00:53 Speaker C: No, no, no.

01:00:56 Speaker B: So if you're reading a different company's book, you might be reading something really similar.

01:01:00 Speaker A: Why would they do such a thing

01:01:02 Speaker B: around the same time? Also, I believe these were both the best selling books at the two companies at the time.

01:01:08 Speaker C: Oh, wow. Was Teen Titans the best selling them?

01:01:11 Speaker B: Teen Titans was the number one book in 82 and 83 and I believe 84.

01:01:15 Speaker C: Oh wow.

01:01:16 Speaker B: Teen Titans was number one until they took it direct sale only.

01:01:21 Speaker C: Okay.

01:01:22 Speaker B: Which was a bold strategy to take your number one selling book and make it direct sales only.

01:01:27 Speaker C: That is. Yeah.

01:01:29 Speaker B: Yeah.

01:01:29 Speaker C: Interesting.

01:01:31 Speaker B: That's a bold strategy.

01:01:32 Speaker C: I didn't realize that you want to. I wasn't a PC guy, so. Yeah.

01:01:36 Speaker B: Want to make it even more fun? Legion was the number two book in 82 and 83 and they took it direct sale only as well. So they took their top two books and make it direct sale only. You will notice Marvel did not take their best selling books and make them direct sale only. And they left them on the stand for people to buy at comic shops or on the stand wherever they wanted to buy their books.

01:01:59 Speaker C: Where everything stores. Every spinner racks. Yeah.

01:02:02 Speaker B: Yep. 75 cents, baby.

01:02:04 Speaker A: 7 11.

01:02:07 Speaker B: Ride that bike down 1 52nd to the 7 11. Put those books in a bag and bring them home. Greg.

01:02:12 Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I did every week.

01:02:15 Speaker C: That's what I did. Yeah.

01:02:16 Speaker B: And if you made it.

01:02:18 Speaker C: Until I found the first, my first comic book store, I wasn't allowed to

01:02:23 Speaker A: go downtown by myself until I met Dan.

01:02:29 Speaker B: And then my mom was like, well, I went to. And we've told this a lot on the podcast, but I went to o' Leary's Books in Tacoma when Legion went direct sale only. So it had reprints for a year that you could get off the spinner rock. So all the direct sale books had reprints for a year. But then they stopped the reprints and I went to my dad and I'm like, I can't buy my favorite comic book anymore. So I would call the store once a month and be like, is Legion of Superheroes number in? And they would say yes or no. And then I'd be like, can you drive me to the comic book store? Yes. But then he always act like it was a burden, but he'd go like, look at the records and look at the magazines.

01:03:04 Speaker A: Look at all everything else.

01:03:07 Speaker C: Because it's a store.

01:03:08 Speaker B: Yeah. So it wasn't much, but yeah. I hear you could obviously, I think obviously sales, sales speak for themselves. X Men continuing being a top selling book through the 80s. You know, it's interesting because we're doing the Marvel book now, so now we have the time to contrast it. Right. Like the strategy of not taking these direct sale only obviously was extremely successful. You don't take your top books and make them direct sale only. That's just a, well, crazy business mistake.

01:03:35 Speaker A: It's not even just the fact that they were able to like increase their sales by not having them, by, by having them on every possible space, but they were able to maximize that by spreading out and, and expanding the brand by opening other venue. You know, venues, if you will, creating other storylines and other books. So it just, it just proves that if you make it accessible, you can market more.

01:04:02 Speaker C: Yep.

01:04:03 Speaker B: And they. Yeah. And you want those things out there. So when you're looking at.

01:04:07 Speaker C: And then it was quality too, you know.

01:04:09 Speaker A: Yeah.

01:04:10 Speaker C: Good stories.

01:04:14 Speaker B: You all both make a good point too. High quality. And they're able to expand the brand. Right. Where there's one Titans book. Titans did expand a little bit because they had like Titan Spotlight when they had the two books. When they had the two books. When they had the two books when it was direct sale, they had the Deathstroke and Tara storyline going in, in the. The news handbook. So I mean, they did. Even though that storyline is reprehensible now. So I don't know if that's the best one to bring up.

01:04:44 Speaker C: It's not.

01:04:45 Speaker A: Yeah, can like that and well, that's the thing about the show. It's like, I mean, you take a look back at the old times and you're like that. It might have been an interesting story at the time, but considering how much we've evolved as people, I, I think

01:05:00 Speaker B: it was not great then.

01:05:02 Speaker A: No, no, no. Yeah. No, but I mean like in our mindsets, right. As, as, as people, as readers, you know, or just like looking back at it, we're like, I, I don't think I'd pick that up. Even if it was the only thing available, I wouldn't pick it up.

01:05:17 Speaker B: Well, the thing was, it was extremely popular because it was like a mystery story. Right. And so, you know, people are reading the mystery, they're not thinking about the end part of the mystery. Right. Yeah. So you don't get the. So they're picking it up because you're not getting the, you're not finding out that they're presumably like together until the end of the story. Right.

01:05:36 Speaker C: Maybe.

01:05:37 Speaker B: But the Beginning of the story, she's just spying on the Teen Titans, right? And she's talking to somebody. And it's not till later she starts smoking cigarettes. Because that's the best way to become a bad guy is to smoke cigarettes or show up in the Keebler elves Teen Titans against Drugs issue.

01:05:54 Speaker C: So that's.

01:05:55 Speaker B: Yeah, but which we have covered on this podcast, by the way.

01:06:00 Speaker C: Yes,

01:06:03 Speaker B: well, it wasn't Keebler elves, but, yeah, the protector instead of Robin, because that was.

01:06:07 Speaker A: I'm pretty chancer.

01:06:08 Speaker B: They didn't have the licensing to Robin and.

01:06:10 Speaker A: Dan, will you. Will you cosplay as a protector for me?

01:06:14 Speaker B: No. Please, please, please. I don't think anybody wants that.

01:06:18 Speaker A: Listeners, if you want Dan to cosplay as a protector, please write in.

01:06:24 Speaker B: Send your.

01:06:25 Speaker A: Send your likes to this episode. Tell us that you want Dan to cosplay as a protector.

01:06:30 Speaker B: You want me to cosplay as a

01:06:32 Speaker A: teenage boy at Grit City Comic show?

01:06:36 Speaker C: There you go, James.

01:06:39 Speaker B: Teenage boy at your. At your comic show.

01:06:42 Speaker C: Why not?

01:06:43 Speaker A: We would love it.

01:06:48 Speaker C: I would be curious how many people would identify you as. As that guy, as the protector. I mean, how many people remember the protector? No, how many.

01:06:58 Speaker A: How many times do people have boof babes at their table? But I could have a booth.

01:07:04 Speaker B: Booth babes.

01:07:05 Speaker A: Yeah, but I would have a.

01:07:07 Speaker C: Yes. What.

01:07:08 Speaker A: What I have. I'd have a booth.

01:07:11 Speaker B: Are those the booths I go away from? Is that why.

01:07:13 Speaker A: I know, but I'd have something different to offer. I'd have a booth beefcake.

01:07:19 Speaker B: Oh, well, admittedly, I would be drawn more to the table with the booth.

01:07:23 Speaker C: Booth.

01:07:24 Speaker B: Booth beef. Can I say booth beefcake cake. Yes.

01:07:28 Speaker A: See, There you go. See?

01:07:30 Speaker C: Yeah, There you go. Yeah.

01:07:32 Speaker A: So.

01:07:32 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:07:33 Speaker A: See, Listeners, do you want to see? I. I think. I think the.

01:07:38 Speaker C: The listeners.

01:07:39 Speaker A: Viewers out there, they want to see this. I mean, you're already dressing up as. As. As.

01:07:46 Speaker C: Who are you dressing up as for your birthday?

01:07:49 Speaker B: I don't know. I don't think I'm gonna make the weight, so.

01:07:51 Speaker A: Oh, okay. Okay. Okay.

01:07:52 Speaker B: That's a little skin tight. Well, if I. If I. If I don't lose the weight, I'll just wear a suit.

01:07:58 Speaker A: Oh, I see.

01:07:58 Speaker B: Oh, like James, my costumes are real easy.

01:08:02 Speaker C: Okay. Yeah.

01:08:04 Speaker B: I mean, I just have to put on a suit and a tie. It's not hard.

01:08:11 Speaker C: No, no.

01:08:12 Speaker B: Yeah, well, or you could put on

01:08:15 Speaker C: weight and be the kingpin.

01:08:17 Speaker B: That's true. I have to smash people.

01:08:20 Speaker A: You're the kingpin on, like, Manjaro.

01:08:32 Speaker B: Me?

01:08:33 Speaker A: It's me he wants. Well, still in pain.

01:08:43 Speaker B: Well, speaking of X Men 168, We, Kitty Pride and Ilana are at Stevie Hunter's dance studio. Doesn't Stevie Hunter get powers later on? Come and say for sure, like, way later on.

01:09:11 Speaker C: It seems like it. Why would you introduce the character otherwise?

01:09:14 Speaker A: I. I want to say she does, but I can't remember for sure.

01:09:18 Speaker C: 100.

01:09:18 Speaker A: And this is. And this is me. Like, honestly, like, I did a. I did. I personally did. Back during. During the dark times of the 2000s. I did a. A total, like. Okay, I'm gonna jump back into all this stuff.

01:09:33 Speaker B: And I.

01:09:34 Speaker A: And I did a.

01:09:35 Speaker B: Before.

01:09:35 Speaker A: I think it was, like, right when we started doing the show for this series and stuff. I was like, I'm going back into the old books. And I can't remember, was it.

01:09:49 Speaker B: You know what? Here I gotta be like.

01:09:51 Speaker A: It's got to be like. It's got to be like, 40 issues away. Is it 40 issues away?

01:09:57 Speaker B: I see. It's something around. There's something to do with the Shadow King later.

01:10:04 Speaker A: Okay, but it's like.

01:10:05 Speaker B: Is that like 30 superpowers?

01:10:08 Speaker A: But it's.

01:10:09 Speaker C: No, but she's a congress woman.

01:10:12 Speaker B: Ah, that's how. Okay. That's how we get there.

01:10:16 Speaker A: That's a superpower in itself. Yeah, but how many issues away is it?

01:10:22 Speaker B: She kind of sticks around for a while.

01:10:23 Speaker A: Yeah, but I mean, like, she always

01:10:25 Speaker C: think God loves man kills as well.

01:10:28 Speaker B: Ah, that's where I've. Okay.

01:10:30 Speaker C: That's where I've also run into Jake. She was in there for a while. She's.

01:10:35 Speaker A: She's a pretty like a. Like, I want to say, like a

01:10:41 Speaker B: she is to X Men as Rick Jones is to the Hulk.

01:10:44 Speaker C: Oh, my.

01:10:45 Speaker B: There for 10 years and then disappears forever. That's. Okay, well, anyway, Stevie Hunter is giving the young women some guidance and helps them. Helps Kitty decide to confront Charles Xavier and let him know that she should be an X Men.

01:11:09 Speaker C: Or give him a compelling reason why. Yes, yes.

01:11:15 Speaker B: We get a page of fanboy love where Storm is walking around naked, but then her powers stop working, and then she's scared.

01:11:27 Speaker A: Did she not pay the. Pay the bill?

01:11:29 Speaker B: Correct. She did not pay the storm bill. Yeah.

01:11:32 Speaker C: That was no electricity. Yep. Yeah. So this must be, like, the beginning of her losing her powers and that storyline.

01:11:43 Speaker B: Yeah. Something about, like, saying something about a toad getting hit by lightning or something and. And terrible jokes caused her loser powers.

01:11:53 Speaker C: It was awful.

01:11:55 Speaker B: Then we flip the page, and we get to see Kitty Pride's attempt to dis. To persuade Professor Xavier which.

01:12:03 Speaker A: It's a really fun little vignette.

01:12:05 Speaker B: I love this grid.

01:12:06 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:12:07 Speaker B: She tries. She beats him in chess.

01:12:09 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:12:10 Speaker B: Prove how smart she is. And then she tries to debate with him. And then she decides to be cooperative. Like clean her. Clean the danger room or something. It looks like better than cleaning your room. It's like cleaning the danger room.

01:12:27 Speaker C: So dangerous.

01:12:28 Speaker B: And then she tries some flattery. And nothing. Nothing is quite working yet. And then we flip the page and he shows up

01:12:42 Speaker A: everyone's favorite X Men.

01:12:46 Speaker B: No one's favorite X Men.

01:12:48 Speaker A: I. I like him, Dan. I think he's a class act and a. A well rounded guy.

01:12:55 Speaker C: You can't have the earth. Yeah.

01:12:59 Speaker A: Without this guy.

01:13:01 Speaker C: That's her. Yep.

01:13:02 Speaker B: X Men. The X Men most likely to create Epstein Island.

01:13:07 Speaker A: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

01:13:09 Speaker C: Are you sure?

01:13:11 Speaker B: Yes.

01:13:13 Speaker A: I mean,

01:13:16 Speaker B: he'd invite the Hellfire Club in his mind.

01:13:21 Speaker A: That was only one time, Dan. It was Exit.

01:13:24 Speaker C: He didn't. That's right.

01:13:27 Speaker B: You Grant Morrison. Okay, so

01:13:33 Speaker C: when

01:13:35 Speaker B: I, I. Because I haven't read the issues before this and I have these 12 issues. But he pivots away from this woman very quickly. I have no idea how this woman fits into the story at all. He apparently goes to the boats to meet some woman working on a boat. She rapidly changes her clothes and is now wearing half a shirt. Some more Fanboy service here by Mr. Paul Smith. How affair.

01:14:06 Speaker C: Well, they are on a beach in Florida. They're not dressed in. Fully clothed.

01:14:11 Speaker B: Well, why is Scott wearing all these clothes then? Right? Like, how come I don't get my fan service?

01:14:19 Speaker C: He should be without a shirt on at the very least. Yeah.

01:14:23 Speaker B: Greg read the 82 Legion books with me when they were playing. When they were playing volleyball, the boys weren't wearing any clothes either. Right, Greg?

01:14:29 Speaker A: That's true. They weren't. They were wearing. They're wearing like it was. It was no tops and very little shorts.

01:14:37 Speaker B: Yeah. Kiss.

01:14:38 Speaker C: So Top Gun.

01:14:39 Speaker A: Top Gun. Yeah.

01:14:41 Speaker C: Volleyball scene.

01:14:42 Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

01:14:43 Speaker C: That works.

01:14:44 Speaker B: I like that.

01:14:45 Speaker A: Yeah.

01:14:46 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:14:46 Speaker A: Scott can do it.

01:14:47 Speaker B: Except I have to see Tom Cruise.

01:14:49 Speaker A: But I mean, Scott's Tom Cruise.

01:14:53 Speaker B: Scott is. He's Cruise. If he was. If he was four. A foot taller. Yeah.

01:14:59 Speaker A: But he is the Tom Cruise of the X Men. Think about it. Think about it.

01:15:03 Speaker B: Everybody hates him.

01:15:05 Speaker A: He's always smiling. You don't know why he's.

01:15:09 Speaker B: You never know why he's the leader because he's Lady.

01:15:12 Speaker A: The lady. The lady. The lady wants you to see his new movie that nobody wants to watch, but it might actually be good.

01:15:20 Speaker B: Travis Webber Your ears burning, by the way? Right now?

01:15:25 Speaker A: They are. He just dialed again.

01:15:27 Speaker B: Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

01:15:28 Speaker A: It was.

01:15:28 Speaker C: He just texted.

01:15:29 Speaker A: It was a butt dial. He's. Sorry.

01:15:30 Speaker C: He's. He.

01:15:31 Speaker B: He's literally the only person in the entire world that likes Cyclops. He.

01:15:36 Speaker A: He loves Cyclops, which, I mean, it's associates with Cyclops. He also invited the Hellfire.

01:15:42 Speaker B: I disassociate with Cyclops.

01:15:44 Speaker A: Disassoci.

01:15:47 Speaker B: That's how Kitty Pride got her power is so she could fade through walls to get away from him.

01:15:53 Speaker A: I need to get away from this guy.

01:15:55 Speaker B: Yeah, he's like. I mean, besides. So it's either like, one you've got, like, you know, if you are. So to be fair, I did mention the disgusting nature of a Teen Titan storyline. So if you were a teenage girl who looks at you first, Wolverine or Cyclops. Yeah, that awkward moment brought to you by that comment. Not everything in the X Men was on the up and up with the good writing either.

01:16:31 Speaker A: You know, at times, I, I'm, I, I, I'm. I agree. You're probably right.

01:16:39 Speaker C: Cyclops, between those two. Yeah, between those two. Lorraine is quite older, you know, but it's.

01:16:46 Speaker A: And he's gonna be.

01:16:46 Speaker B: It's a close battle there.

01:16:48 Speaker A: He protect. He attack.

01:16:50 Speaker B: Yeah, he attacked.

01:16:51 Speaker C: He protect.

01:16:53 Speaker B: Cyclops does like to go from lady to lady, though. That is he.

01:16:57 Speaker A: It is.

01:16:58 Speaker B: He.

01:16:58 Speaker C: Well, he's a tall, handsome man.

01:17:01 Speaker B: I think he's just not confident in himself.

01:17:04 Speaker A: He doesn't. Well, he can't look in the mirror and see himself. That's the problem.

01:17:09 Speaker B: Well, we've all met those people that are real. I mean, again, I, I, you know, to. To each their own. But we've all met folks that are completely reliant on companionship. Right?

01:17:20 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:17:21 Speaker B: Right. You have to go from one companion to another. If a relationship ends, it is like the end of the world for them to be alone for six months. They've got to immediately go find another companion. Right. Look, probably better than. What I do is not. Is live in my basement and hang out with no one. So that's. I mean, I'm not comic books. Right. And comic books are. And I have my dog. Right. That's like. I want to be clear, that's not a critique of the folks that do that, but it is a critique of Cyclops because he's a jerk.

01:17:51 Speaker A: To. Well, I mean, so it should say at the beginning, instead of professor Xavier is a jerk. Cyclops is a jerk.

01:17:59 Speaker B: Is that given? I mean, we have multiple episodes titled Cyclops is a jerk. So it's true.

01:18:04 Speaker C: It's true.

01:18:05 Speaker B: It's. You know, that's. It's. It's very. Well, anyway, we flip to one of my other favorite characters from the 80s that. That got written out of the story eventually. Amanda Se. In.

01:18:16 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:18:17 Speaker B: Didn't she become, like, a demon or something? Every's like, we need to. We all need to phone our X Men friends. Okay, I'll quit looking up every character in this.

01:18:29 Speaker A: Phone an X Men friend.

01:18:32 Speaker B: He became a dick. Became a. She became a demon. I was something. I was.

01:18:37 Speaker C: I was right. Yeah. A sorceress. Yeah.

01:18:40 Speaker A: Bam.

01:18:41 Speaker C: I. I was.

01:18:42 Speaker B: I was not wrong.

01:18:43 Speaker C: I don't remember that, though. But yeah.

01:18:46 Speaker B: Anyway, we get a. She comes home from her flight attendant job. See, I did remember that one. So it comes home from her sexy flight attendant job to a very sexy high button neck. Yeah.

01:19:00 Speaker C: Thing.

01:19:00 Speaker A: I mean, it's a classy. She's very classy.

01:19:03 Speaker B: It was different back in the day for the flight attendants.

01:19:05 Speaker A: Like, she's gonna sit down and play the piano.

01:19:07 Speaker C: What? Mid-80s? Yeah, early mid-80s.

01:19:10 Speaker B: So when you got full meals on the flights for free.

01:19:12 Speaker A: Holy crap.

01:19:13 Speaker C: I know.

01:19:15 Speaker A: Not looking forward to next week before

01:19:17 Speaker B: the doors fall off of airplanes. You know, like, it's. It's. It's so. It's. Yeah. And so. And again, I mean, that Nightcrawler's Choice there, but he seems to be wearing a lot of clothing for meeting his girlfriend there.

01:19:33 Speaker C: Well, I mean, laying on the couch like that.

01:19:37 Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

01:19:38 Speaker C: He's in the reaper position.

01:19:39 Speaker A: He's ready to do what? Like, you know, set up for a photo like that.

01:19:45 Speaker B: I just thought they were kind of doing the whole bearskin rug thing.

01:19:48 Speaker C: Well, yeah, that's.

01:19:49 Speaker B: It's that. It's that time period.

01:19:51 Speaker A: Sears photo, reaper position. He's ready to. He's. He's showing you.

01:19:56 Speaker C: He's.

01:19:56 Speaker A: He's. He's like.

01:19:58 Speaker C: No, no.

01:19:59 Speaker B: Reynolds position. That's what he's doing.

01:20:02 Speaker A: Well, no, but my dad did the same thing at Sears.

01:20:11 Speaker B: Okay, well, I hate Kitty Pride more because she's got a complete Rubik's Cube next to her.

01:20:22 Speaker A: Because you can't complete one.

01:20:24 Speaker B: I cannot.

01:20:25 Speaker A: I know.

01:20:26 Speaker C: A Rubik's Cube. It seems like there's too many little squares on.

01:20:29 Speaker B: There's extra squares. She's got one of the extra big ones.

01:20:31 Speaker C: There are. So it's a tougher one.

01:20:34 Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. Dan couldn't do that.

01:20:37 Speaker C: No.

01:20:38 Speaker B: Paul, Dyslexia and Rubik's Cubes don't go well together.

01:20:41 Speaker A: Paul could do it.

01:20:42 Speaker B: No, Now. Yes, now. If you were curious now, Jiu Jitsu lawyer Paul. Now if you were needing some legal assistance and you needed somebody to tap out your, you know, opposition and you needed somebody that could complete a Rubik's Cube, you should call Paul because that would be, that would be the person like that. Oh, yeah, absolutely. He could. He, he can do Ruby's Cube. In fact, he can do them very fast.

01:21:04 Speaker A: I've watched him. It's. It's freakish how fast he can do it. He can, he can just sit there and you're sitting there talking to him and he's like,

01:21:15 Speaker B: you got another one. And James, if you have, if you know anybody that needs some like, gets into some trouble with their employer or something and it's terrible, they could call Jiu Jitsu lawyer Paul. They could also train with him at, at 27th and Jackson, slash Bridgeport here in Tacoma at Certified Martial Arts. Go inside and see the really very, very cool Dragon Ball Z murals on the wall.

01:21:41 Speaker C: They are at a Jiu Jitsu.

01:21:44 Speaker B: Yeah, it's pretty cool. Or if you show up at. I shouldn't say this out loud, but if you show up at 11 o' clock on a Saturday, you'll see me lifting 200 pound sandbags and carrying them around the gym. If anybody ever wants to come join in on that, it's really fun.

01:22:00 Speaker A: Everyone in the state of Washington or Oregon because you can just drive on up on a Saturday at 11am, go watch Dan lift sandbags.

01:22:11 Speaker B: You can lift them with me and that's fine.

01:22:13 Speaker A: Dance sandbags.

01:22:16 Speaker C: Or you can motivate them by yelling at me.

01:22:18 Speaker A: Yeah.

01:22:19 Speaker B: Oh, I'm not at them. You can motivate me by yelling at me. You like to train or just be sad and hide? Uh, not too good with that kind of training anyway. I, if you do, if you do have a. SO license in Washington and California, if you do have a problem like that, just call Paul, 253-656-4475. You'll talk to the wonderful Kelly. She'll get you an appointment. And if you have a problem Paul can't take care of, he can happily refer you to somebody else. But as we talked about on the show last week, we've spent an inordinate of time talking about debt and stuff at the end of the podcast. I'm not sure why, but it was probably. I left it all in because I think it was actually probably helpful to people. It's good, like how to not handle debt collectors without a lawyer and Things like that. But yeah, I mean you should definitely, I'll say from last show, freeze your credit. But besides that, if you're in some sort of legal trouble, don't ignore it. Reach out, get some help and pay a lot less in the beginning to take care of it than you will later.

01:23:18 Speaker C: That's right.

01:23:19 Speaker B: By pretending like it didn't happen. So, so, but yeah, reach out to Paul and he will help you out. So back to the comic. We do have Kitty Pryde doing everything I did as a kid. Actually, this is, this is where it's not a joke. I wasn't doing a ton of programming, but as Greg knows, I had a computer in my house before. We had a microwave or a VCR because my dad took a correspondence course and we had a TRS 80 model 3 with a tape drive and then a floppy drive and later an external hard drive. And then we got another computer that ran dos and we even had a laptop. When I was a teenager because my dad had one, I used to steal it and take it to my room.

01:24:07 Speaker C: How heavy was that?

01:24:08 Speaker B: Oh, it was, it was, it was, it was heavy. It didn't last very long and. But yeah, back in. But this computer is hooked up to their internal network here because this is back in the day when you either hooked up to an internal network or you dialed on a bulletin board system one phone number at a time and made your move in the, in the game and then logged off and waited an hour and called back if the number wasn't busy, hoping to get to make the next move on whatever you're doing and do it again or leave

01:24:41 Speaker A: a message or you know, you can still get on BBS's now. They're still alive.

01:24:47 Speaker C: They're still around.

01:24:49 Speaker A: Yeah, well, like they, they people have been recreating them and hosting them on, on various services. But you can like, so it's not a dial in, but you can still get like you can get onto various BBSs and still play the classic games and talk to people like mudding. Oh my goodness. Mudding.

01:25:14 Speaker B: Well, there you go. Well, we're not mudding here. But she does use the computer to discover that there's some life form down in the tubes.

01:25:21 Speaker A: Oh my.

01:25:22 Speaker B: In the tools. Yeah. So she goes down to check it out and she finds that something's been chewing on a cable. I'm can't. And she does. Not on cable. On a cable.

01:25:33 Speaker A: Oh, okay.

01:25:36 Speaker B: And too early for that. Yeah, too early for that. We're not there. They look. We're introducing his mom this issue. Chill out. We're not even there yet. We're working there. We're getting there.

01:25:51 Speaker A: Van. They really do these setups really good.

01:25:54 Speaker B: They do a cable. We know his name already. My light went out. I lost the light.

01:25:59 Speaker C: So maybe Claremont was involved with creating cable here and also.

01:26:03 Speaker B: Ah, that's a good point.

01:26:05 Speaker C: Wow.

01:26:06 Speaker B: I just lost half my lights, everyone.

01:26:08 Speaker A: That's crazy.

01:26:09 Speaker B: I don't know what happened here. Well, it was cable, but she's being super responsible and talking to Professor X because she wants to get back in his good graces. Right? And then Lockheed falls out of a shaft and hooks himself around her neck like he has done forever. Because he's hiding from these things. Oh, my God.

01:26:34 Speaker A: These are big, bad Beetleborgs.

01:26:37 Speaker B: Sidrian hunters.

01:26:39 Speaker A: Oh, okay. Sidrian hunters.

01:26:41 Speaker C: I think he was hunting them.

01:26:43 Speaker B: Oh, is he hunting them or is he hiding from them? I think he was, because he was talking earlier.

01:26:48 Speaker C: He was hunting. Oh, okay.

01:26:50 Speaker A: You could be hunting and hiding at the same time. Because sometimes hunters hide.

01:26:55 Speaker B: That's true. Well, they get in a big fight. Is that affair? And she's getting hit, and she tries to phase, but it doesn't work.

01:27:06 Speaker A: Her face.

01:27:07 Speaker C: Yeah, her powers are gone.

01:27:12 Speaker B: Face plants. So she's fighting with her wolverine fighting techniques.

01:27:19 Speaker C: Yes, yes. What he taught her.

01:27:23 Speaker B: And. Yep. And he had. She knocks, takes out two of them, is doing really well. But then she fades out for a second, and Lockheed's shooting them with lightning, which is super cool.

01:27:38 Speaker C: Lightning fire, Something like that.

01:27:40 Speaker B: Yeah. And navy fire. I always wonder, was it fire or lightning? For Lockheed, I think it's fire. Right. Because he has little smoke puffs later in the comics. That's one of the gimmicks, isn't it? Come out of his nose.

01:27:51 Speaker C: I think it was fire. Yeah.

01:27:54 Speaker B: And after she takes out two of

01:27:56 Speaker A: them,

01:27:59 Speaker B: Professor X manages to get Colossus back in there, and he blocks the beam, smashes the last one as a Colossus does. And then we get a very full Lockheed on the next page, who's gone in and eaten all of the. Their eggs. Very brood.

01:28:19 Speaker A: Like they were breeding there.

01:28:21 Speaker B: It's very brood like, right after a brood story. Got a lot of eggs going on.

01:28:27 Speaker A: How are they going to make omelets?

01:28:29 Speaker B: I don't know. Well, Lockheed ate them all, so. And then they go back and see the professor, and she's like, we're keeping Lockheed no matter what. That's his name. He's my dragon now. You can't have him. And he's like, if you. If you. If I say, no. Will he eat me? And she's like, of course not. And then we get an interesting. So I would love both of your thoughts on this, because I. I do like this story. I've read it many times. I have had this book. But one of the things that always bugged me in the story was Professor X's explanation of why she stays on the X Men. Because he's like, well, since I've never actually watched you fight before, I didn't know you were good at it. So you can stay.

01:29:17 Speaker C: Yeah. That she can take care of herself right now.

01:29:21 Speaker B: How is he basing his decisions the entire other time to move her from the team and back and forth the team and build a new team and make her leader of the team and do all these things if he'd never.

01:29:32 Speaker C: And.

01:29:32 Speaker B: And he stays in, like, mental contact with the X Men when they're fighting a lot. And he's never watched her fight,

01:29:40 Speaker C: and he didn't physically see her fight this time either, just through reading her mind or whatever. But, yeah, you would think he would have in the past.

01:29:53 Speaker B: And she proves him right in the battle by almost dying.

01:29:58 Speaker C: Correct.

01:29:59 Speaker B: And needing to be bailed out, to be failed after he told her to leave the situation before she started.

01:30:08 Speaker A: It's kind of like when my dad was teaching me how to drive, and I crashed into all the mailboxes. And he's like, yeah, you'll get better, kid, after you fix these mailboxes and, you know, continue to let me drive. But, you know, it's Professor X just saying that you're doing all right.

01:30:33 Speaker C: She did okay. But. But he did say it was, like, on a con, you know, like a probationary period, you know? You know, so it wasn't. You still have to prove yourself to stay on the team, you know? Yeah. So it wasn't like, you're full X Men. You kind of come off the bench type of like a pinch hitter.

01:30:59 Speaker A: Yeah. Like, yeah, she's just moving up from the farm team, but not. She never was on the. She was on the farm team, but

01:31:07 Speaker C: not on the farm team.

01:31:08 Speaker A: She was, like, there very briefly.

01:31:10 Speaker B: Yeah, she.

01:31:11 Speaker A: She got on and got called up and then.

01:31:14 Speaker B: But, well, she's gonna be an X Men. And we go back, we flip the page, and Scott Summers, I didn't tell you before, but he was gonna go to Anchorage to meet with somebody with his dad and his brother, and so

01:31:27 Speaker C: I think they were going fishing.

01:31:29 Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. So we've got, you know, we've got Alaska.

01:31:32 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:31:33 Speaker B: We've got Cyclops.

01:31:34 Speaker C: But why would they go from Florida to Alaska? Because Florida has a big fishing state, too. Yeah, that's true.

01:31:40 Speaker B: That's also a really fun trip. Yeah.

01:31:43 Speaker A: I mean, different types of fish. I mean, you can get marlins all day long, but you can get a lot of good salmon and you can get your crab and all your other stuff. I mean, matter of fact, it looks

01:31:56 Speaker B: like Alaska Airlines has definitely upgraded their planes since the 80s. That's good news. Anchorage's airport has also gotten a little bit bigger. And there's far less snow in Anchorage during global warming. Uh, that's. Yes, it must. That must be it. Uh, Anchorage was always covered in giant snow, like this giant snow. And so it's their climate there in Anchorage.

01:32:17 Speaker C: Yes.

01:32:19 Speaker B: Anyway, it is funny how they perceive how somebody living in New York perceives Anchorage to be as an artist. Yeah, I'm just kind of humored by this. And they get there, but no 737s yet, right, Greg?

01:32:35 Speaker A: Not yet.

01:32:35 Speaker B: Not yet.

01:32:36 Speaker A: I mean, well, I mean, it's pretty early and I mean, we. Yeah, we don't see them for a while. Maybe a 747 might have been available,

01:32:43 Speaker B: but not a 37 go from Seattle to Alaska.

01:32:46 Speaker A: I mean.

01:32:47 Speaker C: Well, probably not to Alaska.

01:32:49 Speaker B: Well, they probably a 716 or 757. So if it's my guess, they would have at this time flown on Trans World Airlines From Miami to St. Louis action and then St. Louis to Seattle and then got on Alaska and then flew to Alaska.

01:33:08 Speaker A: You know what they would have flown

01:33:09 Speaker B: on DC night or DC10DC.

01:33:13 Speaker C: It does look like a cargo plane. There's no windows on it.

01:33:16 Speaker A: Yeah, that's probably. Yeah.

01:33:18 Speaker B: Well, you mean to Alaska or do you mean across the country?

01:33:21 Speaker C: No.

01:33:22 Speaker B: Oh, what do they go on from.

01:33:25 Speaker A: From.

01:33:26 Speaker C: From.

01:33:26 Speaker A: If they were flying across the country or even. I mean across the country or even even up to Alaska. It doesn't matter necessarily because they would have been going. I mean, like, those are common body.

01:33:41 Speaker B: So who made it? That was McDonnell Douglas Plane.

01:33:43 Speaker A: McDonnell Douglas DC10.

01:33:45 Speaker B: What plane did Lockheed make? Because that's clearly the planes they use.

01:33:49 Speaker A: They made the same fly. The same plane that the X Men fly around in, which would be the Jets SR71. But I mean, we don't call it.

01:33:59 Speaker C: Who is this? The Blackbird.

01:34:01 Speaker A: The Blackbird. Yeah.

01:34:04 Speaker C: Because Lockheed didn't do commercial liners, did they?

01:34:07 Speaker A: No, they did. Everything that they. That they have done is all military.

01:34:11 Speaker C: Government. Military.

01:34:13 Speaker A: Yeah.

01:34:16 Speaker B: Well, anyway, I've delayed the inevitable. Here they we get to the last play page. We've got jerk number one, Lorna's boyfriend, who's also a jerk, and their dad, who is also a jerk because he left them and didn't tell them they had grandparents.

01:34:31 Speaker C: That's true. And Alex is there, too.

01:34:35 Speaker B: Well, that's Lorna's boyfriend, his brother.

01:34:37 Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

01:34:38 Speaker B: Lorna's boyfriend.

01:34:40 Speaker A: Jerks. Jerks and jerks.

01:34:43 Speaker C: That's right.

01:34:44 Speaker B: Who's the biggest jerk in X Factor? Scott or Alex?

01:34:52 Speaker C: Alex.

01:34:53 Speaker B: Okay. Who's the biggest jerk in the X Men?

01:34:55 Speaker C: May. He's a cocky jerk. Yeah.

01:34:59 Speaker B: So if Alex outranks his brother as the top jerk in X Factor and his brother's the top jerk in the X Men, then where does that leave their dad?

01:35:09 Speaker A: Ooh.

01:35:12 Speaker C: Abandoned his kids. That's true.

01:35:15 Speaker B: To go play in space.

01:35:18 Speaker C: Yes.

01:35:18 Speaker A: Is he like.

01:35:19 Speaker C: So they grew up in an orphanage

01:35:22 Speaker B: with superpowers. Scary. It could explain why they're such jerks.

01:35:30 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:35:30 Speaker B: Greg, did you steal the glasses from my house?

01:35:34 Speaker A: No, I got this.

01:35:36 Speaker C: I.

01:35:37 Speaker A: This. Actually, it's ironic that we're talking about Alaska, because this is the.

01:35:43 Speaker C: Cheers.

01:35:44 Speaker A: Anchorage glass.

01:35:47 Speaker B: Okay.

01:35:48 Speaker C: Oh, by the way, not steal from your house.

01:35:50 Speaker B: By the way, some woman that looks just like Jean Gray is here, and it's. Her name's Madeline. Okay.

01:35:55 Speaker A: Yeah, it's Madeline. Don't you know, Dan Throwing. She just ends it like that. That's it.

01:36:02 Speaker C: Just like. What the heck?

01:36:03 Speaker B: Oh, see, we've got the original book. We've got Kitty's costume corner. Oh, are these. Are these submissions from.

01:36:11 Speaker C: I don't know. I think these are original ideas. I didn't actually read it.

01:36:14 Speaker A: That's cool.

01:36:19 Speaker B: The blue and blue one kind of looks like the one she ends up with. Kind of.

01:36:22 Speaker C: Yeah, a little bit. Yeah.

01:36:26 Speaker A: That's pretty cool.

01:36:27 Speaker B: Is that a note from Simonson?

01:36:31 Speaker C: I'm guessing it doesn't say Simonson, but it does say Louise, so that'd be my guess. And of course, you know, you also get an original time with a bunch of different ads. Yes, but you gotta love the ads.

01:36:41 Speaker B: How many a week?

01:36:43 Speaker C: And there's a gaming one there for you.

01:36:45 Speaker A: Oh, hey, is that an Atari ad? No,

01:36:52 Speaker C: Network. M Network is so Mattel.

01:36:57 Speaker B: No, it's a Mattel Atari game.

01:36:59 Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. Mattel Electronics. Yeah. Okay. Oh, new life, too, Greg.

01:37:04 Speaker B: I knew something.

01:37:06 Speaker C: Or Sears video arcade system.

01:37:10 Speaker B: Same system.

01:37:11 Speaker C: Same system. And then reactors on the back cover. Nice. You know, since you got all your gaming behind you, right?

01:37:18 Speaker B: Yeah.

01:37:18 Speaker A: Yeah.

01:37:19 Speaker B: Well, I got game system, Sears and Atari.

01:37:22 Speaker A: I got my Atari sitting over there with my Donkey Kong sitting on top of it waiting to be played.

01:37:29 Speaker C: There you go.

01:37:30 Speaker B: You know, I'm glad you have the ads. We love going through the ads.

01:37:34 Speaker C: Oh, yeah, the ads are awesome.

01:37:36 Speaker B: Do you have any house ads in there for what else was going on at Marvel or one of the, like,

01:37:41 Speaker C: a Marvel out this week here? There's a subscription. There's the comic convention, and they have a bunch of different shows around the country.

01:37:55 Speaker A: Oh, my.

01:37:57 Speaker C: You know, Philly, Manhattan, San Francisco. They're everywhere. Is there any other ads or actual comics? There's a holiday coupon for Marvel.

01:38:09 Speaker B: There we go.

01:38:09 Speaker C: To order something. Classic power. Yeah, I don't think there's no. It's not. At least not in here. Dungeons and Dragons. And then you got the old Bolton. Oh, old letter column.

01:38:26 Speaker A: Love it.

01:38:26 Speaker B: Beautiful.

01:38:27 Speaker A: Is. Is there a. Is there a letter from TM Maple

01:38:30 Speaker B: in there or TE Pounty.

01:38:34 Speaker C: Let's take a look.

01:38:35 Speaker B: We.

01:38:36 Speaker A: We love those letters.

01:38:37 Speaker B: We do.

01:38:38 Speaker A: Broke my rubber band.

01:38:40 Speaker B: You know, if somebody should take all those TM Maple letters and make a book out of it, that would be my girl. This is a good idea.

01:38:46 Speaker C: Oh, you know what? Yeah. It's not a letter column. It's a bullpen. So, Jim Shooter. Oh, talking about. Whatever. Shooter.

01:38:54 Speaker B: Pew. Pew. Much nicer in old age than he was then.

01:38:58 Speaker A: And in person.

01:38:59 Speaker C: Yes.

01:39:00 Speaker A: Yeah. So nice.

01:39:01 Speaker B: We liked him in person. He was really nice. But. But in the 80s, maybe not the best. Not the best.

01:39:10 Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. He might have been a little rough, you know, but he got them to put out a lot of good books.

01:39:16 Speaker B: And. And as he aged, he became better and didn't become a crazy maga Republican, either. Toward the end of his life, he was actually quite friendly and not that, was he. Yeah, we met him at Summercon a couple years ago before he passed away.

01:39:30 Speaker C: Right. Yeah, he was there.

01:39:32 Speaker B: He was great. We talked to him for, like, an hour. We talked to him for a long time.

01:39:37 Speaker C: To talk for an hour. Yeah, I would think he was.

01:39:40 Speaker B: We talked to him for, like, 20 minutes, and then he had us talk to him again later. And then we saw his little presentation.

01:39:46 Speaker C: He just. He.

01:39:47 Speaker A: Yeah, we've. We've been very fortunate sometimes, in which sometimes these folks will see us and then call us back and like, yeah, like, just catch us.

01:40:00 Speaker C: Just want to chat.

01:40:01 Speaker A: It's like, okay, this is like. Like, the child inside me is like, losing their. But I have to keep it together as a. As an adult because I am just trying to, like, you know, maintain. But I am.

01:40:19 Speaker C: My. My.

01:40:20 Speaker A: The child me is like.

01:40:24 Speaker C: Right, cool. Yep. So, yeah.

01:40:27 Speaker B: It was a good part, kind of crazy part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We. I don't know. It's. Yeah, it's. It's wild.

01:40:39 Speaker C: It's.

01:40:39 Speaker B: It's quite wild. Who we get to talk to and then talk to again. Anyway. Yeah, well, we were gonna. I was gonna turn this back around into getting to talk to people because I think it's time to wrap this thing up. But first off, James, I assume you'd like us to talk more about Grit City comic show.

01:41:00 Speaker C: Sure, if you want.

01:41:02 Speaker B: Well, I do.

01:41:02 Speaker C: And you can meet Greg there. And grand will be there.

01:41:06 Speaker A: I will be there.

01:41:07 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:41:10 Speaker B: I will also be there. I will be there. On the other side. Greg will be between us, and Tanner will be on one side, and I will be on the other side.

01:41:20 Speaker C: Awesome.

01:41:22 Speaker B: And so we can have peace.

01:41:24 Speaker C: Yes, yes, yes. Okay.

01:41:26 Speaker B: Because we need peace at the show. We don't need. You don't need a fist fight or a wrestling match at the show, right?

01:41:31 Speaker A: No, no, we.

01:41:32 Speaker B: Unless.

01:41:32 Speaker C: So don't. Don't put you next to somebody. So not next to Rich, then?

01:41:42 Speaker B: Well, if you put me next to Rich, I'll just talk to Rich the whole time, and then it'll be distracting. You could put us next to Scott Collins, Ron, Dev, Bob, any of these guys. Yeah, I guess. Jason.

01:41:57 Speaker C: Anybody?

01:42:01 Speaker A: No.

01:42:02 Speaker B: Last two years ago. Two years ago, we were next to Dev, and Dev and I had some incredible conversations about both current stuff and the old comics. It was great. People would come by, and I had to make sure. I asked Greg. I had to make sure I wasn't distracting him from people buying stuff because we were having great conversations, and I wanted to make sure I didn't prevent sales from happening. So there is those kind of things. But, yeah, so what I will tell everybody right now is I bought originally 12 tickets to this show, and I have nine left. So if you are in the Tacoma area and. Or you're not, but you just want to come here on November 7, 2026, all you have to do is in any of the social media this week, tell us why Cyclops is not a jerk, even if you think he is, and I will give you one ticket to the Grid City comic show. That simple.

01:43:05 Speaker A: That simple.

01:43:06 Speaker C: That's nice. Awesome.

01:43:08 Speaker B: Listener Sean has a ticket, so. Yeah, we are, but we'll make sure that happens. So, James, because we want people to come to the show, and when you had the tickets on sale for half the price that they are Now, I

01:43:21 Speaker A: bought 12 of them. Wild.

01:43:26 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:43:26 Speaker B: James is like, wait, that's kind of how you do that you're supposed to do.

01:43:29 Speaker C: No, no, you are. That's. That's a perfect time to get tickets for friends to bring somebody that's never been to a show before, you know, and honestly, I think Grid City is a great introduction into comic book conventions because if somebody's never been to a show before and they go to, let's say, Emerald City, I mean, it could be a little overwhelming. It's a lot, you know. It's a lot, you know, and of course, there's even bigger with San Diego and New York. I mean, can you imagine being the first time at something like that?

01:43:58 Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.

01:43:58 Speaker C: Go to a show where you can actually look through things. You're not running into people. And then everybody's pretty happy at Grit City too, because it's such a relaxed convention.

01:44:09 Speaker A: I've had friends that have brought their kids on the spectrum and have been so thankful that this is the kind of show that they can bring their kids to that enjoy comics, enjoy the characters, and don't feel overwhelmed and overstimulated because they can leave and come back. The show floor is not as overwhelming and packed as a show like Emerald City or any other show like that, you know, where it's just so much in such a confined space where Grid City is. Is very much for the people that want to be there, in a sense. Right. And there you're able to have those conversations in the pathways, and people can stop and look and talk, and those same kids can sit there and. And pick up a book and look at it and ask questions. That might take a little bit longer. Then, you know, a bigger show would allow them to have that moment, you know, and they can have that. That time with the creator. So they were very thankful for a show like this.

01:45:21 Speaker C: Oh, great. Yeah.

01:45:23 Speaker B: And when you go up those escalators to come in, you can go right back down those escalators to go outside, like Greg said. And if you need a break, you can take a walk around the block or go grab some lunch or whatever. You can also grab lunch there.

01:45:35 Speaker C: Good restaurants right there.

01:45:36 Speaker B: Ye, yeah, yeah. And come right back to the show. And they also have a board, gaming areas and role playing areas that you can have access to that you have a little bit. It's a little bit more chill than doing some of those in the rooms at some of the bigger shows, too. So you've got that there.

01:45:54 Speaker C: Right.

01:45:55 Speaker B: And I mean, I love this show. I was so sad that I missed it. Last year. I was on a cruise in the Caribbean. But I was also like, Craig's giving me a terrible time.

01:46:06 Speaker A: I was so.

01:46:07 Speaker B: I was so double booked myself.

01:46:08 Speaker A: I was so frustrated with you.

01:46:10 Speaker C: But that's okay.

01:46:11 Speaker A: That's okay.

01:46:11 Speaker C: I went.

01:46:12 Speaker A: I had a great time. I had.

01:46:14 Speaker C: You were all by yourself, Craig.

01:46:16 Speaker A: Oh, yeah. No, but I had a great people

01:46:18 Speaker C: at the same time and around me.

01:46:20 Speaker A: So yeah, I had. I had.

01:46:23 Speaker C: And friends surrounding and stuff like that.

01:46:25 Speaker A: Kevin Newman who lives around here and stuff like that. I see him around. He wasn't too far around, too far away. So he popped in and checked in on me.

01:46:35 Speaker B: So, James, are you still looking for volunteers?

01:46:39 Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I'm just starting to put that list together right now. So now's a good time to fill out that little volunteer application on the website. Okay.

01:46:48 Speaker B: So you'll be hearing the show comes out on the 10th, so. Or 10th. Not. I said the 10th. That's probably not true. Probably the 11th. And so make sure that you, if you hear this, go to the Grit City website and put in that volunteer thing there and put a note. Hey, James, I just heard about this on Funny Book Forensics. I'd love to help out. So James can incorporate you in quickly.

01:47:12 Speaker C: Sounds good. Yeah.

01:47:14 Speaker B: And yeah, come join us. And like I said, you can also, if you just want to come for funsies, grab a free ticket from us. Just all you have to do is let us know why Cyclops is not a jerk.

01:47:27 Speaker A: Why he's not a jerk.

01:47:29 Speaker B: We will make sure you have a ticket to the show.

01:47:33 Speaker C: Hopefully they could change your mind.

01:47:36 Speaker B: Unlikely. Unlikely.

01:47:41 Speaker C: This is.

01:47:42 Speaker A: I would be really compelled to see some of. I can't wait to see some of the arguments. We'll have to put some of them up. But talk them. Discuss them down.

01:47:51 Speaker B: I mean, we can discuss them. Uh, they're just like the zombie jerk because. And then I say mind sex with the White Queen and then it's all done.

01:48:00 Speaker A: But I mean, honestly though, the White Queen, I mean, maybe not you, Dan.

01:48:06 Speaker C: It's very.

01:48:06 Speaker A: It's.

01:48:07 Speaker C: It's a.

01:48:07 Speaker A: It's a compelling.

01:48:11 Speaker B: Compelling.

01:48:11 Speaker C: Yeah.

01:48:12 Speaker B: I mean, there was the one character in the Hellions that. Quite attractive.

01:48:17 Speaker A: The, the guy that was like part robot.

01:48:20 Speaker C: No.

01:48:21 Speaker B: Oh, those aren't the Hellions.

01:48:23 Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry. Not the hell.

01:48:24 Speaker B: That's the Pierce. That was. That was Pierce's team.

01:48:27 Speaker A: That is Donald fierce. Yeah, sorry, sorry, sorry.

01:48:30 Speaker B: That's very different.

01:48:31 Speaker C: Very different.

01:48:32 Speaker A: But I mean, yeah, I mean, you know, if you like that kind of.

01:48:35 Speaker B: No, not similar at all. No, it's like. No, not similar at all. So. All right, so we should wrap this up.

01:48:46 Speaker A: Greg.

01:48:47 Speaker C: Yes?

01:48:48 Speaker B: Do you have anything that you need to promote right now?

01:48:51 Speaker A: Right now, the only thing that I think I need to discuss and talk to you about is the thing that

01:48:59 Speaker B: Dan, you're going so slow right now,

01:49:01 Speaker A: discusses and talks about all the time.

01:49:05 Speaker B: You know it.

01:49:05 Speaker A: You love it, Alex. Rain brings the pain in the rain on a train Here and there Back again. A cyborg story. The cyborg story.

01:49:19 Speaker B: Okay.

01:49:20 Speaker A: Travis Webb, Brett Waddell, Albert Pu. You know you want it. Good.

01:49:25 Speaker B: Overcastcomics.com.

01:49:27 Speaker A: that's the place.

01:49:28 Speaker B: Okay, well, you can go to overcastcomics.com or you can track that thing on

01:49:32 Speaker C: Kickstarter,

01:49:35 Speaker B: and someday you'll have a story about cyborgs or something.

01:49:39 Speaker C: Yeah. Nice.

01:49:41 Speaker B: It might even be a Nemesis of Swords.

01:49:44 Speaker A: Oh, that's the actual title. Nemesis A sequel. Alex.

01:49:48 Speaker C: Re.

01:49:49 Speaker B: Oh, I thought it was like Nemesis Kid versus. Anyway, okay, so Nemesis the Kid. Nemesis the Kid and the Robot guns.

01:49:58 Speaker A: Yes.

01:49:58 Speaker C: There you go.

01:49:59 Speaker B: James, do you know about this book?

01:50:02 Speaker C: Not offhand.

01:50:04 Speaker B: Oh, there we go.

01:50:05 Speaker C: Well, I know, I know. I'll have to take a look.

01:50:08 Speaker B: They're having a sequel to the Nemesis movie in comic book. All right, so with the approval of the estate of Albert Pugn. So, yes, that's very, very cool.

01:50:22 Speaker C: Travis.

01:50:22 Speaker B: Also looking on a recut of Cyborg currently.

01:50:28 Speaker A: So that's actually. That's actually on Kickstarter 2, I believe right now.

01:50:32 Speaker B: The film.

01:50:33 Speaker A: The film. So it's a.

01:50:35 Speaker C: It's.

01:50:36 Speaker A: It's not a recap. Well, it's a. It is the fifth installment of the

01:50:39 Speaker B: cyborg movies, but it's something like that. We'll get you a good description. It'll be fantastic.

01:50:46 Speaker A: It's fantastic.

01:50:47 Speaker C: Yeah, I'll look for it on social media. I'll look for that post.

01:50:51 Speaker B: Grit City comic. Grit City, Yeah. Overcast Comics, Grid City. On November 7th. Go to overcast Comics. Call Jiu Jitsu lawyer Paul if you want to. And I think, oh, we have a new website.

01:51:07 Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, we do. Dan shared it with me today, and I was actually like, holy crap, my socks have been knocked off. This is actually.

01:51:16 Speaker B: We have an absolutely new website. We're just gonna. Really quick. Just throw up here right now. Bang. You can come right here. It's not completely done, but if you want to go around and experiment with us. My favorite part, it's not 100% complete because it pulls them from the episode description. But if you want to find out if we've covered a comic, you can come right to this page and go find it.

01:51:41 Speaker C: Yeah, nice.

01:51:42 Speaker B: So you can go to any of the episodes and be like, hey, did you cover the Glitter Vipers Kickstarter where. Yes, yes, we did. In fact, it's right here. It's one of my favorite books. Did you cover all of Tom King's Human Target, which we now call the series Lanterns on hbo? Yes, yes, you did. In fact, you covered it before when Guy Gardner was the jerk in that one, too. So it was fantastic. Did you cover all of Iron man getting Drunk? Yes, yes, we did. In fact, it's all right here. So you can go through this page and find out all sorts of things about what we have done. So that's one of my favorite additions to the book, to the thing. And it's. It's all right here. So I. I still have a couple of improvements to make, but if you. I'll give you. That's the other thing. If you go to. Go to the site here and you see have an improvement you want us to make, we'll make it. Let me know and you can get a ticket to Grit City Comic Con. So either, wait, you tell us what

01:52:42 Speaker A: you don't like, and then you, Dan, will give you a ticket. You tell us that you don't like about the website that Dan just put together, and then he'll give you a ticket.

01:52:50 Speaker C: That's.

01:52:50 Speaker B: That is, if you. If you find a mistake up there or something that links off to something you don't like or it's a little awkward, just let me know so I can fix it. And yeah, so either tell us why Cyclops is not a jerk, or just tell us something about the website you'd like to see make us better.

01:53:07 Speaker C: So.

01:53:08 Speaker B: Yeah. All right, that's it. Thank you all so much. And I'm going to hit the button right now. Bye, everyone.

01:53:15 Speaker C: Bye.

01:53:16 Speaker A: Bye.

01:53:17 Speaker C: Be it.