NYCC Exclusive News / DCKO Controversy
I'M WALKING HERE!
In this episode, Greg and Vargas dive into a variety of topics ranging from pranking schools to the latest news from NYCC. What happens when the Ultimate Universe ends? Fun implications of Superman entering the public domain? We're your home for breaking and exclusive THURSDAY-related NYCC coverage.
We dive head first into the controversy surrounding the newest DC event, DCKO. No other podcast is brave enough to ask the tough questions.
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00:00 Introduction to the Fuzzy Duo
03:00 Pranking 101: The Art of Mischief
05:47 NYCC Buzz: The Hottest Night of the Con
08:38 The End of the Ultimate Universe
11:35 Marvel's Strategy: Alternate Realities and Money
14:36 DC's Future: Quality Control and Creative Direction
17:17 Vertigo's Comeback: New Series Announcements
22:51 Zombie Dinosaurs and Comic Book Premises
24:35 Exploring Unique Storytelling in Comics
26:04 Thrillers and Obsessions in New Comics
27:36 The Return of Vertigo and Indie Comics
29:12 Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing Saga
32:57 Superman and the Public Domain Debate
39:43 The Future of Public Domain Characters
40:41 Big Dumb Comic Book Fun
44:52 The Twist of Darkseid and Booster Gold
46:10 Superman's Moral Dilemma
49:08 Crossover with the Absolute Universe
51:04 The Stakes of the Tournament
52:57 Final Thoughts on DCKO
53:50 Harley Quinn Meets Elvira
56:40 Exploring UFOs in Comics
59:41 Deluge: A Flood of Monsters
01:02:28 Unique Codes in Ignition Press
01:05:18 Transformers: A New Jumping Point
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Greg (00:00.914)
Hey everyone, don't be weirded out. know you're not used to hearing my voice fresh off the main episode. But it's a special new episode because noise boys are in full effect. Mike D is away. That means that Greg and Andy are here to play. Two thirds of FIC is here and some say the hairiest. Two thirds. Definitely.
Vargas (00:17.678)
you
Vargas (00:28.62)
Definitely the hairiest. Definitely the hairiest.
Greg (00:31.172)
If it's anything we can hang our hats on, we are the fuzziest of FIC. We put the F in Fuzzy and FIC.
Vargas (00:40.558)
So true. And we also put the toilet flush noises in FIC. That's right.
Greg (00:44.84)
Mm-hmm. Have you ever dropped a firework down the toilet and flushed it?
Vargas (00:52.457)
No, I've never done that.
Greg (00:53.734)
That is a huge, like, rascal thing to do in media, in movies and TV. I've never known anyone that has done it, or actually done it myself.
Vargas (01:00.608)
It is.
Vargas (01:05.27)
No, because it seems like it seems foolish on many levels. Like when you commit a prank, you never want the prank to come back on to you. And if you're
Greg (01:13.629)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:17.585)
Folks listen up. This is pranking 101. This is what you learn in trickster university
Vargas (01:22.478)
That's right. If you're blowing up a toilet, you might need to use that toilet someday. And you're ruining that toilet for your own use.
Greg (01:24.796)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:28.783)
Right.
Greg (01:33.01)
So trickster lesson number one, don't shit where you eat. Blow up someone else's toilet.
Vargas (01:36.014)
Literally, yeah. Yes, that's right.
Greg (01:41.604)
If you're going to experiment with plumbing explosions in different capacities, suppose, don't do it at home.
Vargas (01:51.342)
That's right Do it do it you know at a find a Johnny on the spot
Greg (01:52.21)
Do it at your worst enemy's house.
Greg (02:03.207)
Johnny on the spot famously has no plumbing. It's just a hole Okay folks confession time Andy flunked out of trickster university and had to go to pranking community college
Vargas (02:06.382)
Well, you got to start somewhere, you know?
Vargas (02:15.47)
We're already off the rails.
Vargas (02:24.526)
Well, it's only because my scholarship in clowning didn't pan out, you know.
Greg (02:29.923)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, clowning tech.
Vargas (02:33.584)
That's right.
Greg (02:36.007)
well, not only are tricksters fueled by a notoriously whimsical spirit and an infinite amount of fireworks, they're also fueled by Space Camper IPA, beautifully brewed from Boulevard Brewing Company. Yum yum, gimme some down in my tum tum Space Camper IPA, it's on a beer, it's a journey. Many varietals of flavors to send you into an otherworldly dimension of taste from, Extremely Hoppy.
to non-alcoholic with their Zero Gravity Space Camper line. Anyone can find a favorite Space Camper flavor in their long line of beers. So give it a try your next time you go out to your favorite bar or local prankster meetup and get yourself a Space Camper IPA. I am positive you will find a taste that suits your trickster nature.
Vargas (03:34.426)
And on top of that, speaking of Boulevard, in next month, come and see us in person in meat space at Boulevard at TowerCon. We're going to be wheeling. We're going to be dealing. We're going to be recording. We're going to be handing out freebies.
Greg (03:35.621)
Hmm? Hmm?
Greg (03:47.036)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (03:54.791)
Are we gonna be wheeling and dealing?
Vargas (03:57.351)
I mean, aren't we always?
Greg (03:58.79)
We are always wheeling, we do say that, always be wheeling and always be dealing.
Vargas (04:03.59)
Well, yeah, mean, hashtag always be plug-in, you know, like there's one thing we do. It's plug this show. We'll be wheeling and dealing.
Greg (04:05.991)
you
Greg (04:11.673)
Yeah. Yeah. So TowerCon is back. We are very excited to be back doing that with our buddies at Best Car Books. And to top it all off, it is hosted in one of our favorite places to be, the Boulevard Beer Hall, where we have had many great times that we don't quite remember. We are excited to add TowerCon to that list of things. Also happening in the Kansas City area, October 29th at the Crossroads comic book store.
We're there hosting a special Godzilla destroys Kansas City event. Buster Moody is going to be there. Kallstrom is going to be there. A bunch of the creators are going to be there. It's your chance to, if you're in the Kansas City area, come down and meet the creators, get a book that is specifically Kansas City based, which is very, very fun. So fun. In fact, I actually had a custom made t-shirt made so that when I go.
I can make all the creators go, ooh, isn't he so cool? When in fact, I am a huge nerd and I have a very specific plug to make custom t-shirts. So who knows? Maybe they'll want one. Maybe I can get them one. And then maybe I'll be in Godzilla Destroys Kansas City issue number two.
Vargas (05:11.704)
Yeah.
Vargas (05:31.074)
Perfect. What else what else we have to look?
Greg (05:32.411)
So hopefully we'll see you all down there because it sounds like a ton of fun. Anyway.
Vargas (05:38.442)
Excellent. Excellent work, both of us. Now that we've done all the sales pitches, that's just the end of the show, right? We just do sales pitches and then...
Greg (05:40.924)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (05:45.763)
Yep, quickest first issue club episode ever. Got it under six. So we'll have a bunch of lips in space for next week's episode. We can go extra long on that one.
Vargas (05:53.23)
you
Vargas (05:58.126)
No, we would never we have uh comic book news
Greg (06:00.008)
We would never specifically we wouldn't on this episode because it's NYCC baby. It is the place to be right now is the Big Apple. And the second place to be is this show where we talk about what happened on Thursday. Most historically the hottest night of the con. Everything gets announced on Thursday afternoon and evening.
Vargas (06:08.866)
man.
Vargas (06:12.931)
Dude.
Vargas (06:16.854)
in your way.
Vargas (06:28.718)
Hey, Thursday is what not, not creator day. What is it? Retailer day, right? I think, dude, I think that's the day to go. Like there was, there was so much stuff announced. There were, I saw so many creators there. It just, man, someday we're going to get to NYCC and no one's going to know who we are.
Greg (06:33.967)
Mm-hmm. Thursday's the new Friday.
Greg (06:39.526)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (06:43.559)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (06:53.755)
I think, I think next year, I think next year we go. We just, we just go. Bite the bullet. Our buddy, Chris Hacker and Bodder Mulligan are already up there. They're doing their thing, living the high life. I bet we could hide in their luggage. They'll fine. They can go be professionals and we'll just eat slices of pizza and drink coffee.
Vargas (06:57.166)
Mm-hmm.
We just go, we just get in the car and we just go.
Vargas (07:13.952)
now there's an idea. Yeah. Yeah.
Vargas (07:21.634)
Yeah. And we'll say all the New York stuff. I'm walking here. Perfect. We're fitting in already.
Greg (07:24.251)
Forget ab- forget about it.
Greg (07:29.319)
So official right here, 2026. We're going to be at NYCC. Look for the two Midwestern guys acting like they're New Yorkers.
Vargas (07:39.662)
And then Mike D, 50 feet behind us, pretending not to know us. That's right. The big news that I saw was that the Ultimate Universe is officially ending March 2026.
Greg (07:42.791)
Mm-hmm with with the leash being like boys settle
Greg (07:51.75)
Mm.
Greg (07:56.25)
Now, we're used to things coming to an end, not really. Like we get like a wink towards camera, just like, it's gone. Whoo. But you're saying this is stone cold. Uncle Ben gone.
Vargas (08:06.51)
Yeah.
Vargas (08:13.088)
Yeah, the article that I read from, you know, real truth news dot comic book, said that part of Hickman's agreement with Marvel to come and do the ultimate universe was that it would end when, when his story was told when everything was done. Yeah. So we got what two years, three years out of it, something like that and rolling it up.
Greg (08:21.073)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (08:32.473)
When he said so. Yeah.
Greg (08:43.099)
That's longer than some people's marriages.
Vargas (08:43.352)
Packing it in.
That's true. That is longer than some people's marriages. Luckily, I convinced you not to actually get married to your ultimate Spider-Man number one. I know you wanted to, but you were already married at the time.
Greg (08:55.737)
Mm hmm. Right. You convinced me and then I found out later, not actually legal.
Vargas (09:05.066)
Right, it's comic book bigamy is illegal in Missouri.
Greg (09:07.751)
Only in certain providences can I actually get married to a piece of paper.
Vargas (09:14.27)
Yeah, that's right. You got to go to Utah for that kind of funny business. Yeah, so Ultimate Universe Ending. What did you have? You had something.
Greg (09:22.737)
So I, well, I, before we get to that, I do have some questions for you. How are you feeling? What's the vibe check there for it ending? You doing okay?
Vargas (09:27.709)
Vargas (09:33.45)
I mean, it's, it is a disappointment. I think, it seems like obviously it's very successful for Marvel. They've launched a ton of these books. feels like there's still a lot of meat on those bones, you know, especially with stuff like, ultimate X-Men, you know, feels like there's a bazillion stories to tell.
Greg (09:38.055)
Mm.
Greg (09:43.14)
Right.
Greg (09:50.512)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (10:01.25)
But it also, it makes me wonder if we're not going to get something like this every couple of years out of Marvel. You know, some, some new creator comes in and figures out a reason to like spin up another universe. And they, they just kind of take it and run with it and, do another, whether it's ultimate or whatever they call it.
Greg (10:19.014)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (10:27.707)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (10:29.386)
And Marvel just kind of has this rotating slot of, you know, like three to five year chunks of like alternate reality stuff.
Greg (10:41.031)
think by now the big two know alternate reality equals money. It's a way for them to explore their characters in a way that doesn't really affect their sliding timeline. So they get to have things like Absolute Batman or, you know, Ultimate X-Men, like Peach Momoko's, it's just like kind of like wild interpretations. And I think...
and I will speak for myself as a fan of those franchises, it is a bit of a breath of fresh air. You know what I mean? It's just like, yes, we get the history and I get the knowledge of like knowing mainline X-Men, but when we get like kind of these little twists and turns, it's just like, like, yeah, that's kind of a fun interpretation or like a neat what if of like, had these things turned in little different ways, here's how those universes would have turned out.
And really what these are is just like thought experiments of just like, hey, you know, we always talk about this around the lunch table, explore it, see what happens, what do we got? And I would say eight times out of 10, absolute heaters.
Vargas (11:44.941)
Right.
Vargas (11:50.028)
Yeah. mean, look at, look at spider verse. That's basically all it was is all those different lunch table ideas smushed all together. Right. And it worked like
Greg (11:54.853)
Mm.
Greg (11:59.334)
Yeah.
I'm okay with it ending because, mean, what ultimate spider-man in the early two thousands went past a hundred issues. That's too much. like, you know what I mean? Like there is a thing of overstaying your welcome and hopes of making money. And I feel like Jonathan Hickman has the, I don't know the duty or the, the, the honor to be like, this is my thing I created.
Vargas (12:14.52)
Yeah.
Greg (12:31.623)
It is done now. It has done the thing that I want it to. I don't want it to spill out and to turn into something grotesque. So, you know.
Vargas (12:43.958)
Yeah. And yeah, to your point, the ultimate line in the two thousands, like, do we need another reboot of like ultimate fantastic four? Do we need a reboot of ultimate, you know, whatever it was, sinister six, like that universe got so bloated towards the end of it that it almost needed to die and come back.
Greg (12:57.904)
Mm-hmm. No.
Vargas (13:09.164)
to like remember what it was, like what's the point of this thing at this point, right?
Greg (13:11.27)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (13:14.821)
It's like when a campfire gets out of control and becomes a forest fire. It all seemed like a good idea in the beginning and then someone put gasoline on the fire and it got out of control.
Vargas (13:25.922)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Greg (13:27.153)
So I feel like Jonathan Hickman is one of those firemen that jump out of the airplane and just kind of like hacks out way at it with an axe to keep it controlled. And I respect that, honestly. So I'm OK.
Vargas (13:43.86)
It's, I'm probably going to feel a lot differently when the absolute stuff comes to an end because that has been so good and so like groundbreaking for DC. that it's, it's going to be tough to see how that stuff ends up.
Greg (13:51.719)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (13:57.938)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (14:03.223)
I can see DC beating that dead horse until it comes back as a zombie and then they beat it some more. They're gonna get every ounce of blood out of that goddamn horse.
Vargas (14:17.378)
It's.
Vargas (14:20.884)
Yeah, we'll, we'll talk a little bit about this when we get to to DC KO, because obviously we read that's, that's the big book of the week. But, you know, once DC KO is over, the, the, the all in initiative was Scott Snyder's baby boy. Like that was, that was his whole idea. This absolute universe was like the key to that whole thing. So once this all in initiative,
Greg (14:28.455)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (14:39.761)
Mm.
Greg (14:45.67)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (14:51.0)
goes the way that it's supposed to. DC's next decision, I guess, is to either end it or continue it with a new creative team. And that's going to be the breaking point. Are you going to go the way that ultimate Marvel did and become this beast where you just have two completely different universes with
Greg (15:04.028)
Hmm.
Vargas (15:19.214)
varying levels of quality as time goes on? Or do you just, you know, end it while, you know, get out while the getting's good.
Greg (15:22.608)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (15:28.751)
That is interesting because I mean, and maybe we can explore that more when we to TCKO, but it's just like, is a quality control thing. And that's why Jonathan Hickman made the decision that he wanted to now. Just like, listen, either I'm done with this story or this has come to its natural conclusion and I don't want too many cooks in the kitchen. This is, I don't want my legacy to be tarnished with this fun thing that we did, which is why he had it his contract in black and white to say, when I say it's done, it is done.
Vargas (15:46.968)
Yeah.
Vargas (15:52.099)
Yep.
Vargas (15:57.026)
Yep, for sure.
Greg (15:59.208)
Moving on with NYCC news, we kind of were wondering what was happening with Vertigo a couple of episodes ago. They had promised a lot of things for 2025. We really haven't seen anything come out in 2025. And so, you know, we were kind of scratching our heads. It's just like, well, did they kind of fumble the
Vargas (16:09.358)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (16:23.175)
the handoff here or are we expecting some big things towards the end of the year? And we have our answer. And it turns out that they've been trying to kick the can down the line to 2026 is when they're actually going to officially start getting these books out to readers like you and I. And they have given us the first 11, 10 or 11 series that they're going to be showcasing. Would you like to hear them?
Vargas (16:49.42)
I would. haven't seen this list, so these reactions are true and real.
Greg (16:54.075)
Well, Andy, I'm thankful that you're sitting down because there are some absolute bombs in here that you are not prepared for.
Vargas (17:01.198)
my first question, I just, just, I'm trying to temper my expectations with this question. How, how many of those 11 are Sandman universe books? Yeah.
Greg (17:02.619)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (17:06.951)
Mm.
Greg (17:12.421)
Are you ready? Zero.
Vargas (17:16.384)
Okay, all right, that's the answer I wanted. I think we know why.
Greg (17:17.773)
And I think we know why. I think we know why. Which is good because as great and fanatical that the Sandman universe is, I'm ready to put that to bed. It had its moment in time. We all put our black eyeliner away, put up our typo negative CDs, and we are done.
Vargas (17:35.702)
Yeah. Yeah.
Vargas (17:46.67)
Yeah, we're past it. All right, what's the list?
Greg (17:49.678)
Mm-hmm. Okay, first up, one that we kind of knew was coming. The Nice House by the Sea is going to be continuing on Vertigo. Started in February with number seven. It's the second cycle of James Tinian's horror epic, along with Alvaro Martinez, Bueno, and Jordi Belair. And it's kind of continuing the story that was told in the first arc of Nice House by the Sea.
I'm excited for that. I've loved that series, Nice House by the Lake and Nice House by the Sea. So it's fun to see that they're continuing out on Vertigo and honestly a great flagship to have on Vertigo, kind of like a nice strong pillar to kind of keep this whole thing up.
Vargas (18:34.754)
Yeah, absolutely.
Greg (18:36.369)
Bleeding Hearts by Dennis Camp, Stippin Moran, and Matt Hogsworth. A zombie named Poke discovers his heart beating again, threatening his place in a society where death reigns supreme. So kind of a flip on the zombie trope of a zombie realizes that he has come back to life. know, Dennis Camp is an amazing writer, so this is going to be a fun thing to explore with them. So I'm on board.
Vargas (18:51.662)
Okay.
Vargas (19:05.471)
Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. That sounds like such a vertigo book.
Greg (19:07.151)
And I will say...
my God. When I read through these lists, you'll be like, there's a reason this is like, these are all like new age, sad kid books and like, flannels back. As you can see, I'm wearing my flannel. Like we are, we are back in our alternative age. My friends. Next up end of life by Kyle Starks, Steve Pugh and Chris O'Halloran.
Vargas (19:15.79)
Hmm.
Vargas (19:20.929)
Yeah.
you
Vargas (19:31.16)
Hell yeah.
Greg (19:38.969)
A top tier hitman returns to his midwestern hometown to care for his dying father and confront his own mortality.
Vargas (19:39.63)
Okay.
Vargas (19:48.294)
hell yeah. Give me that sad boy book.
Greg (19:51.438)
Yeah, Kyle Starks I saw on Twitter was very excited to talk about this book. It's kind of like his take on John Wick and like what would happen if he went back home to his Midwestern roots. So Kyle Starks is like, you know, you and I love Kyle Starks. We've had him on the show a couple of times. An amazing creator, double threat with art and writing, but this time looks like he's just writing it. So, I mean, this is a for sure pickup for just the Kyle Starks name alone.
Vargas (20:17.397)
yeah.
That's awesome.
Greg (20:21.443)
Next is The Peril of the Brutal Dark, an Enzar Kane mystery by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Do I need to go on? A noir detective tale that collides with magic, fascism, the stolen artifact of imaginable power. I mean, come on.
Vargas (20:29.31)
no, that's put it put it in my basket.
Vargas (20:42.156)
Yeah. I mean, you, you separate the creative team from the, the, the, the elevator pitch and I'll buy both. Right. Like that's awesome. Yeah. Exactly. Chris Conant and Jacob Phillips are writing a book. Yep. Put it in the basket. there's a Nazis and noir and an artifact. Yup. Put that one in the basket too. huh.
Greg (20:47.323)
Ha ha ha.
Greg (20:52.439)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. You have two books right there. I don't know if you know that. You have two books.
Greg (21:03.686)
Yeah.
Greg (21:07.875)
magic? Cool, cool, yes. next up is 100 Bullets, the US of Anger. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Rizzo is back on the original 100 Bullets train. Lono returns to America and reignites chaos, taking the nation's darkest impulses to their violent extremes.
Vargas (21:15.744)
Whoa!
Vargas (21:29.612)
What a great book to bring back. Like considering the climate we live in. I know, but what a title to bring back. That's awesome.
Greg (21:32.187)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Greg (21:38.895)
I'm tired of living in unprecedented times.
Greg (21:46.758)
Yeah. Yeah. This is like, if you haven't read the original 100 bullets, go find it. It's at any library, half price book, LCS. It's, it's at this point kind of required reading. If you want to get into the indie sphere. it is just, it is, is intrigue, espionage, high-paced, big concept, a briefcase full of bullets. It's like,
It took a hold of the community when it first came out and it's very exciting to see this come back to shelves.
Vargas (22:20.024)
Yeah.
Vargas (22:24.684)
Yeah. The, the original, the original pitch for the book, if I'm remembering correctly is a guy gets offered an untraceable gun with a hundred untraceable bullets and just like, do whatever you want with it. Right. Yeah. Man, that's going to kick ass. That's going to kick ass.
Greg (22:29.457)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (22:35.951)
Mm-hmm. Yep. Do what you want. Mm-hmm.
So, again, an unprecedented book for unprecedented times. This one's gonna make Fox News.
Vargas (22:49.356)
sure.
god yes.
Greg (22:53.095)
Next we have Black Tower, The Raven Conspiracy by Rom V and Mike Perkins, two people that we absolutely adore. This is about wizard spies in the UK navigate a global cold war over sorcery revealing a hidden world of occult power.
Vargas (23:12.162)
Yep. mean, again, you separate the creative team from the title and you got two sales.
Greg (23:12.625)
So yes.
Greg (23:17.243)
Yes, I'm tired of popping out of the hot topic to tell you that I want this book.
Vargas (23:22.446)
you
Greg (23:24.229)
I'm trying to buy my Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt.
Vargas (23:25.742)
And my cat ears.
Greg (23:31.239)
Necrotaurus? Sit down for this one. Necrotaurus by Tom Taylor and Derek Robertson's scientist attempt to time travel to stop a zombie virus only to land 66 million years in the past among dinosaurs. Zombie dinosaurs!
Vargas (23:38.548)
buddy.
Vargas (23:52.606)
Yes. Yes. Please.
Greg (23:55.944)
This should breed 100 issues, a television series, six movies, popular hit single, a shoe line, it should resurrect pogs,
Vargas (24:02.926)
Thank
Vargas (24:07.404)
Yup.
Vargas (24:12.664)
Dude.
Man. for, you know, it's, it's one thing to have a goofy premise. Like how can, how can we make a zombie dinosaur comic book? That that's one thing I would buy that first issue for the bit, right? Like the cover on the show, but the fact that you put Tom Taylor and Derek Robertson on that book, like
Greg (24:18.459)
You
Greg (24:31.932)
Mm-hmm.
Just, yeah, just on curiosity alone.
Vargas (24:45.374)
Is the zombie dinosaur book gonna be good? And why does it deserve to be good?
Greg (24:48.231)
That's a full faith purchase, by the way. With those two attached, you're just like, shit, hold on, this is gonna be good, actually. This is actually gonna be fantastic. And I don't think people are ready for it. think when you hear zombie dinosaurs, people are gonna go, okay, well, whatever. Folks, look at the man behind the curtain here and realize that you're in for...
Vargas (24:57.89)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's crazy.
Vargas (25:15.234)
Yeah.
Greg (25:17.165)
Alright, I don't think you're ready for
Vargas (25:20.59)
Yeah, Tom Taylor wrote an entire book about MacGuffins. Did you read Seven Secrets? It's an entire book about... What's in the briefcase? The comic.
Greg (25:24.295)
Mm-hmm.
Yes, it's fantastic.
The book should have been called McGuffin's. McGuffin's Incorporated.
Greg (25:39.668)
Is it weird that platypuses aren't called MacGuffins?
I mean, it's kind of like the world's MacGuffin. Just like, what is it? Well, we don't really know, you know? Where was it? okay. We've got three more. This one's called a Fanatic by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer. A woman's obsession with a comic book spirals into a deadly parasocial fixation on its creator. Kind of cool.
Vargas (25:46.062)
If only we could go back in time.
I'm not quite sure, you know.
Vargas (25:58.299)
Okay.
Vargas (26:09.438)
Awesome. That sounds very like, not Miyazaki, it sounds very like Uzumecky. You know, very like...
Greg (26:17.837)
Mm-hmm. It's like when I just kept texting Donny Cates, where you at? What you doing? What would Vinny be thinking right now?
Vargas (26:23.904)
Yeah, we told you to stop and you wouldn't. Yeah, that sounds really interesting.
Greg (26:31.067)
Yeah, I'm excited to see how that goes. The Crying Doll by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero O'Connell, a Jekyll and Hyde thriller about just how far a young woman would go to protect her best friend who may or may not be a killer.
Vargas (26:49.378)
Yeah, man, that sounds awesome. I Marco Tamaki is an incredible writer.
Greg (26:52.513)
If, I mean, if that just, if that name didn't make your debit card jump out of your wallet, you might be broke. So that's, I actually haven't read, Mariko Tamaki book in a while. I don't know.
Vargas (26:57.848)
Yeah. Yeah. Damn.
Vargas (27:08.238)
Well, they probably were working on this Virgo bug.
Greg (27:10.395)
You know what? Zing got me. And then the last one. A walk. sorry. Let me try that again. Not that we edit. A Walking Shadow by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell. Eight strangers wake up chained to a boat in the woods. No memory, no escape, no explanation.
Vargas (27:33.922)
Yep. Totally. mean, God, killing it.
Greg (27:35.139)
yes.
Greg (27:40.68)
I will take that any day of the week. And of course, the site I'm looking at, which is the Popverse, they have all the covers up here for these books and they just, it is very nostalgic to look at books that have the Vertigo logo and you're just like, oh man, I don't know why Vertigo always feels like autumn to me, but it just seems like they're printed on dead leaves and it's just like, there's somehow like,
Vargas (28:06.926)
Well, because they're yeah, they're like sad boy vibes.
Greg (28:10.503)
It is very morose. like, like your favorite movie is The Crow.
Vargas (28:13.346)
Yeah.
Vargas (28:19.948)
Yeah, because the guy reading Transmetropolitan, super was like that guy in high school, for sure.
Greg (28:25.411)
you
Greg (28:29.677)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So this is all kind of just incredible. I'm so happy to see Vertigo back with some pretty heavy hitters, creator-wise, lined up. I mean, we already have, you know, confirmation of a sequel series to 100 Bullets, so that's going to get a lot of people's interests. And I think there's actually some real sleeper books in here that are going to cause people...
to really discover indie books in a way that they never have before.
Vargas (29:05.356)
Yeah, as if we weren't already living in the golden age of indie comics.
Greg (29:09.125)
I mean, mean, people say that haphazardly, but I mean, I don't think anyone really realizes how prevalent and maybe accessible indie books are now.
Vargas (29:22.318)
Yeah. I mean, the fact that we can name like four indie publishers that have more than two books on the shelves every month. Pretty, pretty incredible.
Greg (29:32.023)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, it's exciting stuff. Again, DC Vertigo is back in full effect in 2026. I think the first one drops in February. So, gives us time to get through the holiday season without having to spend a ton of money. And something to get through the cold months.
Vargas (29:53.686)
And hey, if any of those books sound interesting to you, make sure you keep you as dials tuned to First Issue Club, because you know we're buying all of them. That's right. That's right.
Greg (29:59.976)
Because the noise boys will tell us yes when to get some. The noise boys also add s's to words that shouldn't have s's.
Vargas (30:10.392)
Sometimes, as we do.
Greg (30:12.601)
It's just fun and games.
Vargas (30:15.15)
what other do you have any other news and out of NYCC? got to. I'm kind of surprised that's not a Vertigo book. anyway, Rick Veitch is finally getting the last four issues of his Swamp Things Saga released for the world.
Greg (30:19.774)
did we mention the swamp thing?
Greg (30:31.271)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (30:37.159)
Mm-hmm. Allegedly, this is the issues that something meets Jesus.
Vargas (30:45.1)
Really? Seriously?
Greg (30:45.485)
Yeah, it's a controversial timeline stuff. That's why these didn't ever got released back in the 80s.
Vargas (30:53.342)
Yeah, I- wait, are you- are you doing a bit? I'm serious, because I don't know anything about him.
Greg (30:58.009)
No, here we go. Swamp Things comic book series in which the titular character of the series went back in time and met Jesus Christ. Controversial time of creation, DC management of the period pulled the story entirely, with Veach leaving the series entirely as a result of the decision. So he wrote this series where he goes back in time, meets Jesus, DC said, no fucking way. And then he said, okay, deuces, and then left.
Vargas (31:15.372)
that
Vargas (31:21.9)
That fucking rips. What a badass. I hope DC is just like shoveling money at that guy now. Like, I hope he had the ability to be like, no, you can't release this shit. You know what I mean? Like, and I hope DC didn't just like dig up those issues out of out of storage and are now like farting them out because
Greg (31:23.451)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Greg (31:38.49)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (31:50.744)
No, no, no, this is good. This is getting the full treatment. As it should. It looks like here that it will be a part of the DC Vertigo expansion.
Vargas (32:03.982)
Nice. Okay. That tracks. do, I do like too, that they're keeping the legacy numbering that it's like issue, whatever. 89, 88 through 91. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. That's pretty big news for, uh, certain people in our discord and
Greg (32:11.015)
Mm-hmm. 88 through 91.
Greg (32:22.533)
Yeah, our buddy 10k, Resident Swamphead.
Vargas (32:25.322)
and fans of 90s comic books. That's gonna be cool. We're gonna cover that too on podcast for sure.
Greg (32:34.137)
Yeah, I guarantee since it's, you know, been written and being re-released, gonna be better than Hush 2.
Vargas (32:44.782)
I'm not gonna try and argue with it because I think it'll be more interesting than hush 2 Hey, hold on for first appearance first appearance Jesus DC continuity
Greg (32:50.855)
I have a little... huh?
Greg (32:57.095)
Surely not.
Vargas (32:59.22)
Slab it.
Greg (33:01.189)
God, if I could ever get a slab that says first appearance of Jesus Christ, I think I would do it. Do you think the like CGC would have the special paper banner that's just like stigmata or like, you know, it's it there's nothing in this slab. And then three days later, there's something there.
Vargas (33:20.686)
I think it is.
Greg (33:22.149)
My god, the slab's been moved away and my comic book has risen.
Vargas (33:24.142)
you
Greg (33:29.967)
Maybe that's what happens. Maybe Swampy convinces Jesus to go to the green with him.
Vargas (33:32.152)
you
Vargas (33:36.162)
Dude, what if Jesus is an avatar of the red?
Greg (33:38.524)
Holy shit. What if, oof, what if Jesus is booster gold? We find out that Jesus's mind has been put into Detective Chimp and that's why he's so surly. you know, my dad was a carpenter.
Vargas (33:44.942)
Okay, now you've sold me.
Vargas (34:02.168)
Jesus is vandal savage the whole time. boy. Okay.
Greg (34:10.983)
And here's something that we've talked about and then it's finally getting kind of some new cycle stuff because I think it's just like the date is approaching and so this is gonna be like some real buzz-worthy headlines that we're gonna be seeing for the next few years. It's happened with Mickey Mouse, it's happened with Winnie the Pooh, and in nine years-ish, it will be happening to Superman.
He will be entering the public domain. But don't worry folks, DC claims they have it all under control.
Vargas (34:48.214)
What's what's the deal? Does it go into any any specifics?
Greg (34:50.855)
So for those who aren't aware, Superman as a character falls into the public domain on January 1st, 2034, but it's only the version of the character as published in Action Comics number one back in 1938. Current U.S. copyright law drops work into the public domain 95 years after initial publication, meaning that both Superman and Clark Kent, not to mention Lois Lane, will enter the public domain in less than nine years, but the Daily Planet, Jamie Olsen, Lex Luthor,
or even a Superman that flies will still be copyrighted.
Vargas (35:23.704)
Right.
Greg (35:24.923)
They all first appeared in 1940, with the exception of Superman's flight, which showed up a year later. Nonetheless, a Superman will be public domain in 2034. But speaking during the appearance at NYCC 2025 retailers day on October 8th, Lee didn't seem overly concerned about it happening. Speaking about problems facing DC Comics in the future, Lee said, yes, characters will fall into the public domain. It's already happening. We've all seen these unsettling knockoffs of Mickey Mouse floating around online.
But here's the truth, the character isn't the magic. The storytelling is, the world building is, owning Superman isn't the same as understanding Superman, knowing how he moves, how he speaks, what he stands for. He went on saying, anyone can draw a cape, anyone can write a hero, that's been around as long as comics have been, and it's called fan fiction. There's nothing wrong with fan fiction, it shows how deeply these characters live inside all of us, but Superman only feels right when he's in the DC universe.
Our universe, our mythos, that's what endures. That's will carry us into the next century.
Vargas (36:32.13)
That's a very company line.
Greg (36:33.649)
God damn it, was it very corporate.
Vargas (36:36.486)
And, I, you know, I'll do that was Jim Lee. I assume that all due respect to Jim Lee. don't inherently disagree with what he's saying, but at this, but at the same time, we're going to get some really good Superman stories from, from this public domain thing. Like, I, yeah. I mean, it's.
Greg (36:39.697)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (36:46.385)
Sure.
Greg (36:53.105)
Fuck yeah we are.
Greg (36:58.011)
How he isn't getting absolutely flamed is beyond me.
Vargas (37:06.004)
It's not I get why you had to do it. You have to do that, right? You have to like Superman belongs to DC. That's his job. But but
Greg (37:10.342)
Mm.
Yeah, he's a company man given a company answer.
Vargas (37:17.336)
but at the same time, fuck that.
Greg (37:20.037)
Yeah. Here's, here's the thing. Winnie the Pooh went in and Mickey Mouse went in the public domain. There was some smatterings, you know, whatever. A few. So the Winnie the Pooh movie showed up. I haven't really seen any Mickey Mouse stuff. When this happens in nine years, there will inevitably be some Superman take through an indie publisher, through a webtoon, whatever. It could be.
fucking the Watchmen of Superman and it won't get the heat that it would if it was on DC. Mainly because DC has the money to just carpet bomb whatever the fuck is gonna be released. Not to like threaten it from being released, but just to overshadow it completely.
Vargas (38:09.068)
Yeah.
Vargas (38:14.048)
I mean, you're not, you're not wrong for sure. but that's, I guess, kind of why we as comic book fans need to be like doing what we're doing now, not to like overstate the importance of this dumb little podcast we do, but like, if some indie publishers coming out with a Superman book, I think we owe it to that indie publisher to
Greg (38:39.035)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (38:42.174)
read that book and give it a chance. And if it's if it's good publicize that it's good. And if it's bad publicize that it's bad because there's that's the whole reason characters go into public domain is so that people have the opportunity to take things that they love and create with them. Right. Like we wouldn't have Indiana Jones without what's his name Doc Sampson and all those like, you know,
Greg (39:03.11)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (39:11.566)
hub, you know, nerdy, like, you know, action, dime store, novel stuff, right? Like that Indiana Jones is just a fanfic of that stuff. you know, star Wars is just a fanfic of Akira Kurosawa. So like, there's a reason public domain exists. And, I think we all owe as fans owe it to give all that stuff a chance, even the steamboat Willie horror movie.
Greg (39:15.599)
Dime store novel. Yeah
Greg (39:26.727)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (39:41.038)
came out.
Greg (39:42.424)
And to be fair, when they made this public domain thing, they were probably thinking, surely a character will not be around for a hundred years. There's, there couldn't be a more popular thing that'll be around for a hundred years.
Vargas (40:01.026)
Yeah. When, when public domain actually came out, was initially something like 27 years after the characters for publication. And then it was like a certain 40 years after the death of the creator. But of course, Disney kept pushing those laws out further and further and further because they wanted to keep making money on their creations.
Greg (40:16.583)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (40:23.43)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (40:28.398)
And now it's 97 years after first publication or whatever.
But that only applies to stuff that came out before like 1970 or something anyway. So we will never get something is killing the children in public domain because they're just going to keep re-upping the copyright.
Greg (40:48.805)
We're not gonna get a public domain Moana.
Greg (40:54.245)
Is that why they keep making shitty movies?
Vargas (40:57.512)
of the reason yeah yeah man it's dog shit yeah it's terrible
Greg (40:59.919)
Wow. Hollywood. Ain't a fun.
So anyway, I'm kind of excited to see what happens in nine years with some kind of cookie Superman public domain shit.
Vargas (41:10.914)
Dude.
Vargas (41:14.818)
This is, this is a good episode for Mike D to not be on because I will absolutely be the guy. Like I will die on the Hill of every like shitty public domain thing for these characters should exist because we have dealt with Disney farting out Winnie the Pooh for the last 97 years. And now it's our turn to fart out Winnie the Pooh. Like, yeah.
Greg (41:19.188)
yeah.
Greg (41:24.955)
Mm.
Greg (41:30.203)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Greg (41:39.399)
Now it's my turn. Now I'm taking the steering wheel. And, Winnie's gonna go to some pretty weird places. You ever seen Winnie the Pooh strung out? You're about to. Well, he drives a race car.
Vargas (41:44.728)
Yeah, daddy's home and he's gonna make a Winnie the horror movie. Exactly. That's exactly right.
You about to.
Vargas (41:57.908)
and a jet ski.
Greg (41:59.122)
Copiloted by Dale Earnhardt's Ghost.
It's called Poo and Paw, out on Scout.
Vargas (42:09.011)
Of course. Thank you, Scout.
Greg (42:10.183)
Should we get into the books of the week?
Vargas (42:14.702)
Let's do it, baby. Do we want to do DCKO first since we're kind of already on the roll?
Greg (42:15.707)
Let's do it.
We might as well. We might as well.
Vargas (42:23.726)
so we both read this one. I think our discord said it best when it's big, dumb comic book fun.
Greg (42:26.086)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (42:33.605)
The big dumb for me comes from the convoluted back history of trying to like explain how we got here. And it's just like, shucks. Dang it. You put too much lore into it and now it's not as fun as like just a mix them up fighting game.
Vargas (42:59.02)
Well, yeah, I mean, that's, I think Scott Snyder is an incredible writer. I really do. But this is like classic Scott Snyder where he's like, what's a reason I can have to make DC's version of Civil War?
Greg (43:05.427)
of course.
Greg (43:11.9)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (43:21.143)
And to be clear, Andy and I did a specific show for Death Metal. We're all in on Scott Snyder, just so you know, folks. You can't find two people who are more in on Scott Snyder's tomfoolery.
Vargas (43:28.302)
Yeah. We are, we are death metal ophthalmologists. Yeah.
you
Vargas (43:39.254)
Yeah, for sure.
Greg (43:40.773)
But there is that middle part in every Scott Snyder number one issue. You're just like, God damn it. What the fuck is all this is like an encyclopedia right now.
Vargas (43:50.363)
Yeah. But, but once you get over that hump, like, like once, once Scott has placated the Grant Morrisons of the world, who need, who need this event to fit into a hundred and whatever years of DC lore.
Greg (43:53.372)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (44:01.147)
The lurkers in the chat rooms.
Greg (44:11.302)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (44:13.672)
Then we finally get all the good stuff. The beef, the beef that we're looking for. I did think it was really interesting how they tied the new 52 into this and really made this event feel like, well, I mean, yeah, they're, they're, they're making ties back to the other like crisis books, from
Greg (44:15.729)
The offline stuff.
Greg (44:28.932)
Right.
They're setting this up for reboot.
Greg (44:41.797)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (44:43.118)
the eighties to early two thousands and the new 52. And yeah, I think they're setting it up for another, uh, if not hard reboot of this universe. mean, kind of like, um, you say that, but like that absolutely crossed Jim Lee's desk at some point. All out. All aboard.
Greg (44:53.153)
They're setting this up for DC All Out.
Greg (45:03.367)
Mm hmm. Like on a sticky note, this is like DC all out? And then look, there's Scott Snyder in the doorway just like, can we do it?
Vargas (45:15.192)
But what if they fought each other? What if Superman had brass knuckles?
Greg (45:18.343)
But they're made of sons! It's like Scott, go out of my office, please. I'm trying to work on Hush 2.
Vargas (45:26.382)
I'm six months behind on the final issue of Hush 2.
Greg (45:28.186)
You
Vargas (45:34.318)
Lord. No, I think you're absolutely correct that there is a lore dump at the beginning of this book. Is that Tedward upstairs stomping around?
Greg (45:44.487)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (45:49.874)
So folks, what you're hearing right now is my two sons going absolutely ape shit on the ceiling above my head. Some added sound effects for everyone at home that, yes, we too have lives outside the podcast and they interrupt the show often.
Vargas (46:06.542)
.
Vargas (46:10.422)
I love it. love it. yeah. So there's, there's a Lord dump. I didn't find the Lord dump as egregious as death metal. Having to like explain that there's six different kinds of metal in the DC universe. And this one is like the worst one. And we got to find that that was like,
Greg (46:23.217)
Death metal is rough.
Greg (46:33.317)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (46:40.286)
even too much. I think, this one was, was a middle ground. I think it was, it was fine. It was silly and goofy, but the, the, thing that did it for me was the twist at the end where they had, and do we want to spoil it?
Greg (46:41.382)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (46:50.342)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (46:56.924)
Yes.
Greg (47:02.299)
I mean, yeah, folks, there's a spoiler coming. Jump ahead.
Vargas (47:04.622)
where I guess Darkseid is booster gold or controlling booster gold.
Greg (47:13.319)
It would seem to me that booster gold is somehow been has been corrupted by the Omega energy and Darkseed is like being able to manipulate and move through booster gold.
Vargas (47:30.124)
Yeah. So at the beginning of the book, when the timekeepers or whatever they are, are talking about how all the heroes have already lost. And they come up with this new plan. The twist of the book is that Darkseid knows everything that's going to happen and knows what's happening in the their little tournament that's going on. But all that dumb lore stuff aside.
Greg (47:38.554)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (47:55.312)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (47:59.554)
We got a really cool Superman learns how to cut loose book.
Greg (48:06.755)
Yes, it's kind of like the through line of this book that I mean, by no surprise, Superman doesn't like playing games where everyone can't win. You know, he's he's the cute grandma that has all the grandkids over and says, no, no, no, no, everyone when shoots and ladders when really you as a kid, just like, I don't think that works that way. Like there has to be a loser and it's my little brother. So.
Vargas (48:20.504)
Yes.
Greg (48:36.259)
We are kind of led to believe that if these heroes somehow destroy the, what is it, the Omega Heart in the center of our universe that is being set to explode or fucking who knows, they will have the ability to crown their own king to take on Darkseid King for the fate of our universe. And if we win,
everything that has been done could essentially be reversed, ergo, everyone wins because all of our friends are back. And that's how they really only get Superman to agree to do this... in earnest. Am I right?
Vargas (49:15.085)
Yes.
Vargas (49:23.026)
Yeah, and the the interesting thing to of this book to me was yeah, you you you get this book that sets up we're gonna do this tournament. And of course Superman is like, well, I want to help my friends and you get you know, even while they're in the tournament, he's like not really trying to win. He's just trying to survive so that
Greg (49:39.131)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (49:46.471)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (49:50.518)
his other friends can also survive. and what Snyder kind of cleverly does is gets Superman to like drop that pretension or drop that piece of his morality to realize that if I actually go out, then everything I do between point A and point B doesn't really matter.
Greg (50:05.223)
Mm.
Vargas (50:17.73)
because I can reset this so that this has never even happened. And I think it's a cool way to get evil Superman without getting Superman to be actually evil.
Greg (50:23.847)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (50:32.775)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (50:36.431)
It's also kind of giving more credence to that this is a reboot because we're going to see Superman go to his absolute limits, potentially lose his, you know, humanity and then get it back towards the end. This all gets tied into a bow and then everything is reborn anew. Much like Swamp Thing meeting Jesus. So.
Vargas (51:02.062)
Yep.
The other cool part about this book is that we got we got a crossover with the Absolute Universe kind of teed up. I don't think that was a surprise to anybody.
Greg (51:18.961)
So those are gonna be like the champions that Darkseid has?
Vargas (51:24.204)
That's, that's my bet is that towards the end of the tournament, they're going to have like another, you know, the final four are going to be the absolute Trinity and whoever the last person is or whatever, something like that. and the absolute people will be fighting for their universe and, and the last four from our, the regular DC universe will be fighting for their universe.
Greg (51:38.599)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Greg (51:53.424)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (51:54.198)
but I guess we'll see. we have also not had it explained how those two universes have crossed over yet. I don't think so. That's a mystery to be solved.
Greg (52:05.191)
No, this seems yeah, this book seems kind of out of place because it's like jumping ahead from even where the absolute versus because like we're just we just got absolute Catwoman and now it's just like, it's potentially gonna like be disappeared away and it's just like, wait a minute. What? Why? And even then Scott Snyder has said like, no, the absolute versus gonna be around for a while. I
Vargas (52:16.227)
Yeah.
Greg (52:34.663)
But like, what are the stakes here?
Vargas (52:36.94)
Yeah, one of the stakes that's that was that was kind of my thought. I mean, the stakes for the like Earth one, whatever you want to call it, the main DC universe are kind of clear. But from what I'm remembering from that all in special, it was like, my understanding was that Darkseid like was pulling his energy from the Absolute Universe. So is he is he just using the Absolute Universe as a battery and doesn't even really give a shit about it?
Greg (52:45.703)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (52:56.999)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (53:02.841)
Well, well, I think initially and then he has created other batteries around our universe because that because that's what it's in the middle of ours, right? Is like another Omega thing that's like fueling him. So I don't know, I feel honestly, I'm having fun. I just want to put that out front. I'm having fun. I feel lied to. It's first of all.
Vargas (53:21.89)
Guess we'll see.
Vargas (53:25.644)
Yeah, for sure.
Greg (53:31.96)
In the fucking bracket they gave us last week, where's the Joker? Cause he's here now.
Vargas (53:37.708)
Well, well, they did you see the bracket at the end? They they crossed out Batman with a little Joker smile. They duped us.
Greg (53:47.435)
No. This isn't, this isn't Prankster University. Versity, alright?
Vargas (53:52.334)
Hey, Scott Snyder, he actually graduated with honors from Prankster U. Maybe maybe some of the DC, the more involved DC people can explain it to us. But I feel the same way every time I read one of these big DC events. Like it feels like I was just like not reading whatever book.
Greg (53:57.316)
Yeah, Valedictorian. Honk honk. You little clown nose.
Greg (54:10.343)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (54:22.442)
led up to the big thing. And so now I don't understand the stakes of the big thing. But at the same time, I'm going to read this entire series because it's just so much fun.
Greg (54:27.652)
Yeah, well it kind of
Greg (54:34.041)
yeah, I am excited to see just like the fight books. Those are gonna be cool. But Batman being on already kind of fucks my bracket. Because I him go into like the third round and I don't know. Thank God this wasn't on DraftKings or else I could be able to sue.
Vargas (54:42.368)
you
Vargas (54:49.346)
Dude, I called it.
Vargas (54:54.83)
I called it man. I knew better. It was gonna be out like around one
Greg (54:58.821)
Well, I think we also knew too, because he has his own like mini-series within this event. So I knew he wasn't going go long because he has to fight Batman from the future, which is cool. I just wish I would have known upfront. DC, I'm tired of the deceit. A little honesty between us would be better.
Vargas (55:04.802)
Yeah, make, make, fight.
Vargas (55:17.88)
Dude, hey, there's the next event. Deceit.
Greg (55:21.091)
Ooh, fuck. Copyrighted.
Vargas (55:25.272)
Jim, call me. Alright DC.
Greg (55:26.523)
Jim, Jim please call me. You haven't been returning my texts. He turned off your location. don't know where you're at.
Vargas (55:36.674)
Find an editor. The app doesn't work anymore. Final thoughts on DCKO. Are we out of juice for this? Do we move on?
Greg (55:45.105)
Final thoughts, get to the punchin'.
Vargas (55:52.408)
Sure.
Greg (55:54.139)
That's what we're here for.
Vargas (55:57.078)
It is what we're here for.
Greg (55:58.369)
this is gonna be strung out for a while though, right? Like a few months.
Vargas (56:03.091)
Yeah, it goes like into 2026. It's going to be reading DCKO for a hot minute.
Greg (56:05.871)
Okay.
Greg (56:09.905)
Thumbs up. I'm tired. I'm ready to be tired.
Vargas (56:16.81)
All right. What else did you read?
Greg (56:19.463)
I read the Harley Quinn meets Elvira, Jimmy Palamati, Amanda Conner. This is my Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. You got chocolate in my peanut butter, you got peanut butter in my chocolate. I love these franchises. I love Jimmy Palamati and Amanda Conner. I think Elvira is a goddess and a queer icon and them two meeting up is a lot of fun.
The only stake here is Harley Quinn, a while ago, had to miss the opportunity to meet Elvira at a party because she ate something that made her throw up and other stuff for the whole evening. And they cross paths in this book. And now the goal is to throw the biggest and baddest party that Brooklyn has ever seen.
Vargas (57:15.532)
I like that. I like that the stakes are how much fun can we have? That's nice.
Greg (57:16.305)
Yeah.
Greg (57:20.589)
Mm-hmm. There is a line in there I think you'll like. Harley Quinn shoots off a bazooka and Elvira says, well that's better than any boomstick I've ever seen.
Vargas (57:32.622)
That's pretty good.
Greg (57:34.577)
So I think it's just gonna be a lot of fun. There's gonna be a lot of Easter eggs. Fans of Harley Quinn and Elvira are sure to get a lot out of this. It's through Dynamite. So you know there's gonna be a ton of covers. I don't know. mean, what else do you want?
Vargas (57:54.55)
Nothing. I don't I don't want anything
Greg (57:56.488)
That's like getting pissed off that you're not getting full-sized candy bars for Halloween during trick-or-treating, but hey jackass you're getting free candy so shut up.
Vargas (58:03.918)
Shut your mouth.
Greg (58:05.169)
Shut your mouth and enjoy the candy.
Vargas (58:08.062)
Well, I'm glad you had fun. You need to make sure and pick up a sketch cover of that so that you can have Jimmy and Amanda do some little sketches on it.
Greg (58:16.539)
that would pretty cool and unfortunately Elvira doesn't tour much anymore due to illnesses so you know maybe one day we'll meet in in heaven
Greg (58:37.127)
It can happen. It can happen.
Vargas (58:38.894)
They can, you know what? It will happen. How about that?
Greg (58:42.343)
Yeah, she'll definitely be there. I've got to take a few courses to get my grades up. Mm hmm. I've said some pretty uncouth things about hush too that would put me down to at least level six of hell.
Vargas (58:47.404)
We'll see. We'll work on it.
Vargas (59:00.588)
Well, really what's going to teeter you over the edge is how you react to swamping ex Jesus.
Greg (59:07.607)
you know what? That is a real pickle. mean, you can't be too excited and you can't be too upset. You got to really toe the line there.
Vargas (59:15.214)
You gotta say some night. You gotta, you gotta treat it with the reverence it deserves, Greg.
Greg (59:22.551)
Mm-hmm. damn it.
Vargas (59:25.102)
what else did you read? That was it. Right. Okay.
Greg (59:28.251)
That's it. That's it. The two biggest ones.
Vargas (59:33.422)
I read a couple of books. Two of them involve aliens and are very exciting. We'll talk about Red Book first. So I read Red Book. That's the new Tinian and Oming continuation of their series Blue Book. And it kind of gives you this, the background of some of the high strangeness that occurred
Greg (59:35.175)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (59:51.942)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:00:03.326)
in, like cold war, Russia. So you get some of the background and in true like blue book fashion, it's all very like, the, opening of Twilight zone where it's kind of narration-y, you know, or, or like unsolved mysteries. It's very unsolved mysteries. before you get to the meat and bones of the book.
Greg (01:00:09.734)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:00:24.539)
Imagine a world.
Okay.
Vargas (01:00:32.814)
where it talks about the Dyatlov Pass incident where some kids were found, dead, you know, without their clothes in the middle of winter and, broken bones and all that weird stuff. The cool part about this book that seemingly sets it aside from the previous two Blue Book, arcs that we've had is it seems like this is gonna kind of
Greg (01:00:55.729)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:01:00.406)
Set up stories. There's not one continuous story throughout the books. It's going to, it's going to give you, just kind of the explanation of the, the, story, and then give you like the flavor of the, the Russian government at the time. So it's, it's very much a cold war book. but it's revolving around instead of like,
Greg (01:01:04.518)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:01:24.838)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:01:28.992)
spies and espionage aliens and ufos and stuff like that so
Greg (01:01:30.535)
Right.
Greg (01:01:34.465)
I'm okay with that.
Vargas (01:01:37.004)
Yeah, it's, it's kind of a cool twist on, the blue book formula that I have come to know and love. but, but tying in like kind of the opposite end of the world. So cool book. Again, you know, if you've read blue book, you know that it's an insane creative team. you get, the, the backup story. They're continuing that where, you know, it's just a
Greg (01:01:43.399)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:02:04.814)
four page weird story from history in the back. Well worth your $4.99. And I'm excited to have more. I hope they continue to just keep doing these books. Just keep telling weird, like, is it true UFO stories? Because I fucking love it. I'll eat it up every time. And to that end, I also read High Strangeness by Chris Condon.
Greg (01:02:27.59)
here for it.
Vargas (01:02:34.57)
and Daniel Noah and much in the same vein as a blue book and red book. This is a, is it true? Is it false story? about a newspaper reporter who goes to a town in Indiana that's experiencing a UFO incidents. and it reads a lot like, like Mothman prophecies that Richard gear movie where you have like,
Greg (01:03:01.175)
Mmm. Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:03:04.0)
an investigator go to a town and then like weird stuff keeps like continually happening to him. you know, not much to say beyond that. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, then nothing else I can say really will, but great book. I I mean, it's true. Like if you don't want to read a UFO story about a, like a Truman Capote investigating UFOs, then you don't want to read this book.
Greg (01:03:09.574)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:03:19.175)
Then nothing else will.
Greg (01:03:34.735)
I always say, more Capote. I think Marvel and DC should add more German Capote.
Vargas (01:03:42.764)
You know what? I agree with that.
Greg (01:03:44.263)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:03:46.35)
And then the the last book I read was Deluge by Colin Bunn. This has nothing to do with aliens, but it does have everything to do with the great state of Missouri that we currently live in. So.
Greg (01:03:59.196)
God bless the state of Missouri.
Vargas (01:04:03.374)
This revolves around a women's penitentiary during the 1993 flooding that flooded my parents' neighborhood back in 1993. We weren't living there, but everything around my parents' house was completely underwater. So this story is about a women's penitentiary who is slowly flooding and towards the end of the book,
Greg (01:04:07.921)
Cut.
Greg (01:04:14.652)
Vargas (01:04:31.214)
you realize that they're being attacked by giant sea serpents that are coming up from the waters. So just when I thought that Colin Bunn was going to be writing like a, a prison survival story, he says, no, no, no, I'm still Colin Bunn. And he throws in some monsters and, and God
Greg (01:04:49.734)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:04:56.825)
Let's get some HP Lovecraft in this bitch.
Vargas (01:05:01.09)
Bless him for it. Truly. He's doing just the Lord's work.
Greg (01:05:05.831)
Here's how it goes. It's God bless Cullen Bunn. God bless the state of Missouri. And God bless women's penitentiaries.
Vargas (01:05:15.074)
You know, yes, all three of those. It's a really fun book. It's out on ignition press. And one thing I did want to say, because I just found this out. So every ignition press book has a four digit code on the back cover. And I investigated what this four digit code is, because my assumption was that it was going to be something like.
Greg (01:05:32.262)
Vargas (01:05:44.194)
Marvel's digital codes, right? You go to their website, you enter your code, you get a digital copy of the book, right? Name, name, name, name. What I discovered was each one of their books has a unique code printed on it. So every book from ignition press is technically a one of one.
Greg (01:05:46.065)
Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:05:51.013)
Yeah.
Greg (01:06:08.304)
Whoa.
Vargas (01:06:11.566)
Isn't that cool?
Greg (01:06:13.595)
So what's the code for?
Vargas (01:06:16.204)
The code is your unique. Think of it as a serial number for your book.
Greg (01:06:20.635)
There are many unique codes, but this one is mine and this one is special. Okay. Yeah. So, I mean, that is true. You have a valuable piece of media. If you know someone that loves the number 4,721.
Vargas (01:06:25.164)
That is correct.
Vargas (01:06:36.001)
You got a one on one.
Vargas (01:06:42.67)
True, very true. I just thought that that was cool and wanted to make sure.
Greg (01:06:47.004)
That is very cool. Kind of a weird detail.
Vargas (01:06:52.558)
It is a weird detail and I'm wondering what they're going to do with that. know, are they going to introduce a tracking system? Well, it could be McGovern. Are they going to introduce a tracking system? Are they going to introduce like, know,
Greg (01:07:00.945)
Could be a McGiffin.
Greg (01:07:07.941)
great, now I'm being tracked.
Vargas (01:07:11.255)
Well, like, like a, like a raffle, right? You go on their website and
Greg (01:07:15.013)
I was thinking there's some kind of raffle thing to this.
Vargas (01:07:18.678)
something. don't know what they're going to do with it, Ignition Press is a hot, hot, hot, hot coming out of the gate. They did a murder, murder podcast, Voyeur. Mike D covered that. They have Daylouge. They got a bunch of really cool books coming out. So check them out and
Greg (01:07:33.093)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Greg (01:07:39.333)
Yeah, they're hitting it hard at NYCC right now. So I'm very excited for those guys up there.
Vargas (01:07:44.206)
Yeah. Yeah. They're very, very cool publisher. And Daylou's is just another one of the cool books coming out on Ignition. So, and then the last book I read was Transformers 25. And the reason
Greg (01:08:02.341)
the new jumping in point for readers.
Vargas (01:08:06.666)
Yes. They set it up. guess they're in issue 24. There was some big battle. Megatron is recovering from it. Optimus Prime is recovering from it. Sort of resets you into who these characters are and what their motivations are. Megatron is bad. The Decepticons are bad. Optimus Prime is good. But the the inciting incident in this story is that Optimus Prime is able to
Greg (01:08:15.943)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:08:37.016)
capture a sound wave, the guy with the cassette player in his chest. And on top of that, he's introduced to some major general that I think we're supposed to know from GI Joe. I did not know who it was. And then the other big, I guess, spoiler is that Optimus Prime finds two Decepticons that the US government has had sort of in cold storage.
Greg (01:08:43.899)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:09:06.87)
since the 30s. They found them and have been like trying to turn them on and can't. So Optimus Prime has two more allies in the battle.
Greg (01:09:18.193)
Do we know who the Decepticons are?
Vargas (01:09:20.864)
Yeah, we know who they are. I can't remember their names because they're all like, you know, sound guy and, know, bric-a-brac. Yeah, exactly. But no, this, this I'm trying to try to read this book with a grain of salt because I'm 23 issues behind on reading it. Right. I haven't read this in forever. So to jump in 25 issues later and be like,
Greg (01:09:27.367)
Brick and brick.
Greg (01:09:41.422)
Mm-hmm.
Vargas (01:09:48.918)
I was confused about what was going on. It's like super unfair, right? but as a jumping on point, I think this is kind of all you can ask for is it, it resets all these characters. It introduces you to who the kind of who they are, the good robots versus the bad robots. and gives you those little seed sprinklings about what they're going to do, moving forward. So,
Greg (01:10:14.599)
Mm.
Vargas (01:10:19.148)
I'll say, I think if you have an interest in Transformers, this is a fine, as good a jumping on point as you're going to get. If, if somebody has said Transformers is really good, but you're not into like giant fighting robots, maybe go back and read. Yeah. Go back and read from issue one, because this is not the place for you to start trying Transformers.
Greg (01:10:34.395)
Definitely skip this one.
Greg (01:10:42.533)
Yeah, it's mostly robots and fisticuffs.
Vargas (01:10:47.382)
I mean, yeah, for sure. So that's what I got. Those are my books. They're all good. You should buy all of them. How about that?
Greg (01:10:58.631)
a good week for comic books. will say the Age of Revolution stuff started with the X-Men this week too. So if you're a big X-Head, you're eating good in the neighborhood. Mike T isn't here and he's typically the one that covers all our X-Men stuff. So he'll probably dip in next week to talk about the X-Men stuff that we missed. If you haven't seen already over on our Patreon, we made a new pin for all of our Patreon members.
And if you sign on now for the 399 tier, we will mail you one as a thank you. All of our current 399 members will be getting a pin in the mail here soon. So it's a great time to go to patreon.com slash first issue club. Go check out our Patreon. We have a free tier. We have a dollar tier, but the 399 tier is the sweet tier where you get the pin. Also don't forget.
We mentioned earlier in the episode, TowerCon is coming the second weekend of November. Almost said March. It's not March, it's November. We'll remind you again. We don't want you to miss it because we're going to be there recording a live episode. We will probably be talking about Godzilla destroying Kansas City because that book has just come out by the time TowerCon has started. We are on all the social media stuff. We're over on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, all that good stuff. We are...
edited and produced by the voices you hear right now. are sponsored by Boulevard Brewing Company. Am I leaving anything out, Andy?
Vargas (01:12:32.878)
We love you.
Greg (01:12:35.067)
That's true. do love you and we hope you have a great week and stay tuned for an episode that we have coming up where we talk about the rest of NYCC. Until then, remember to bag and board them.
Vargas (01:12:47.086)
Bye.