Kryptonian Thought-Beast

Watched:  Part 1 - 10/02, Part 2 - 10/03 Format:  HBOmax Viewing:  First Decade:  2020's Director:  Chris Palmer I've not kept it a secret that I haven't thought all that much of the narratives of DC Animated films in several years.  There's been some winners, and some mediocre stuff, and a certain bit of leaning in to the "edge-tacular" stuff that was kicked off by Flashpoint .   Hence, I haven't really wanted to give anyone any money to watch any of the animated features.  I've paid for a Superman and Wonder Woman movie here and there, and I know I caught a Bat-film or two, but none of it knocked my socks off.  Including some adaptations of some favorite stories straight from the comics. More out of curiosity than anything, Jamie and I decided to check out Batman: The Long Halloween (2021) on HBOmax.  She also read the comic maybe 15 years ago, so we both had a bit of knowledge about what to expect.   Frankly, for me, i...

Watched:  10/03/2021 Format:  HBOmax Viewing:  First Decade:  2010's Director:  Sam Liu Look.  This... should never have been a movie.  I know what DC/ WB Animation was thinking, but I have no idea what DC/ WB Animation was thinking. Winding it way back, in 1988 I would have been about 13 when I stumbled across The Killing Joke  as a comic book.  And, yes, at one point I had a first printing of the comic, which rises and falls in value on a regular basis.   It's worth noting - Moore and Bolland were commissioned to do the comic en route to the Keaton-starring  Batman  movie.  Moore now distances himself from the comic as he has all things DC.  It was, I assume meant to be something of the moment and to give people curious about Batman and the Joker and modern comics something they could pick up as a "graphic novel" at B. Dalton Booksellers.   This was the era just before 1989's Batman movie, and DC was...

Polygon recently ran an oral history of the New 52 effort from DC Comics .  It features then DC Co-Publisher, Dan Didio, as well as a number of writers from the era.  It's a fascinating article for a lot of reasons, in part because of what those interviewed considered success and good ideas, and it seems that at least one person seems to have some difficulty separating fact from fiction on a few points. A lot of talent - writers, artists and editors - seem to have turned down Polygon's request for an interview, some even citing that working on the New 52/ Nu52 was so unpleasant, they'd rather not talk about it.  So the number of voices that you'll see represented are minimal and probably well insulated from being seen as "difficult" or "willing to talk" by the current folks in charge.  After all, it's a tiny industry, and speaking out of turn even about deposed rulers can still label you as a problem. In my opinion, reading the article, it's ...

Well, that went better than expected.   If you watched, I invite you to jump into the comments. It's hard to wrap up talking about an entire season of a television show, but I can say without reservation that it was considerably better than I figured we'd get.  I've done some due diligence - I watched *most* of Smallville , all of Supergirl to date, several seasons of The Flash , about 2.5 seasons of Legends of Tomorrow , and plenty of crossovers between the shows.   The CW DC shows are great to watch on the elliptical when there's a shortage of O2 headed to your skull, but none of it's working on the level of Watchmen or name-your-prestige-show.   At this point, I've seen some remarkable comics adaptations on TV as well as the movies.  I'm still reeling from what Marvel has delivered on Disney+. I didn't mind that DC and CW were afraid to take on a Superman show.  After all, Superman should be a movie-level property, even if Superman has t...

Watched:  03/01/2021 Format:  BluRay Viewing:  Unknown Decade:  1980's Director:  Richard Lester Other ways to listen We assemble the finest trio possible to take on the third in the Salkind's Superman franchise - this one inexplicably very heavy on very adult comedian Richard Pryor. It's a future-shock story of the magic of computers and how they can make a Superman a grumpy gus. Join SimonUK, Stuart and Ryan as they get super excited over the sharp turn the franchise took into goofiness.   The Signal Watch PodCast · 140: "Superman III" (1983)- a Kryptonian Thought-Beast Episode w/ SimonUK, Stuart and Ryan Music: Main Title, The Streets of Metropolis - John Williams, Superman III OST The Struggle Within/ Final Victory - John Williams, Superman III OST  

spoiler: the movie was not released in October Watched:  12/25/2020 Format:  HBOmax Viewing:  First Decade: 2020's Director:  Patty Jenkins For more ways to listen Our elite team of nerds comes together to discuss the hottest ticket on HBOmax and at the cinema. Is she a wonder? Has the world been waiting for her? We try to step inside the characters as we ponder what the film did and why, and, does it work? If you WISH someone could get to the bottom of this film - look no further! We're in our satin tights fighting for the right answers!  The Signal Watch PodCast · 134: "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020) a Kryptonian Thought Beast episode w/ Stuart, Jamie and Ryan Music:   Themyscira - Hans Zimmer, Wonder Woman 1984 Soundtrack

Ryan is joined by fellow Superman super-fan, StuartW, as they take on the 1978 superhero film that made the world believe a man can fly. It's a discussion of how lightning was caught in a bottle and set a template that the better superhero films still emulate. It's a geek-out fan-fest as Stuart and Ryan fly high into the movie that maybe both of them have seen way, way too many times.   The Signal Watch PodCast · 100: "Superman: The Movie" (1978) - a Super Film selection with Ryan and Stuart!

Everyone loves "Superman II", or at least that's how they remember it. Listen in as two guys who have seen this movie way, way too many times, read too much about it and - frankly - thought more about it than an adult person probably should set about discussing the follow-up to the super-tastic "Superman: The Movie". This one has the big bad-guy fight! But also, weird powers, a shiny disco bed, and will the real Gene Hackman please stand up?   The Signal Watch PodCast · 104: "Superman II" (1981) - a Super Film Selection with Ryan and Stuart

Tweet at us: Brandon Z at Austin Books and Comics -  @ComicBookBrando Ryan -  @melbotis To see images of most of the comics discussed, and links with further info about our recommendations, scroll on down.   Brandon Z and Ryan talk about how comics have embraced Christmas over the years, from the cute to the weird and everything in-between. We also make some practical recommendations for folks who want to gift some comics this holiday season. Recommendations:  General Joe Hill's DC Comics line Y: The Last Man 100 Bullets Fables The Sandman Watchmen Batman Batman: Year One Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Batman: The Long Halloween Batman:  Court Of Owls Storyline Batman:  Tom King's run Batman: The Killing Joke Adventure Time by Brandon! For Kids Bone Amulet Dog Man Raina Telgemeir comics Adult Comic Strips Kate Beaton/ Hark, a Vagrant! Perry Bible Fellowship War Comics R...