Dejavu

So I wasn't imagining that Punisher's skull looked weird.

Anyway , even though we didn't agree on ASM, thanks for including me in the podcast.  I've already freaked out and sent the link to all my friends.

*wearing Phillies hat and shirt, waves WORLD CHAMPIONS banner*

Why Ron, no one on this site would dare try and make fun of your *cough*chokejob*cough* Mets.

:) Go Phillies!

I'm surprised you guys found 50 minutes of material for the second sub-par release week in-a-row.  The upcoming week looks promising though.

@Odds - If there's one problem we NEVER have, it's coming up short on time.

@TheNextChampion of course you're a Philly fan.

@Ron:

Oh! Ow! My heart! Dagger! Help, police! Murder!

(Sorry my team won with homegrown players and your highly coveted pitcher Johann Santana couldnt get the job done. :P)

I live in Philly, but I refuse to choose sides.  

Mike Allred! Yes! I was seriously just about to send an email sygessting a Talksplode! Awesome!

Very excited

Paul's the X-Men to MLB's Civil War.

And "Kingdom Come Porn" sounds like something far dirtier than intended.

The new green arrow writer also wrote "Helen Killer", which i think remember Ron liking.

great show and I have never felt like shirtlessly connecting with you guys. 

Nice Robert Johnson intro. music by the way!

@TheNextChampion - Are all Phillies fans as rude as you?

Hellen Killer is sweet.  Sadly, this past joker arc on Batman Confidential is not. Where as Judd Winnick seemed to fall apart when he went away from his strengths (Barry Ween, for example), Kreigsberg (sp?) seems more at home in the dark, action packed weird.  

Here's hoping he plays to his strengths with GA/BC.  

Also- a man sold his soul for your music this week.  HIS SOUL!  

First time I like the music.

I loved the first Flash episode, but then the second episode was really bad. I didn't watch the others.

Re: Late comics. So far, I've waited until they come out.

@J4K3: We've destroied Santa Clause and we're drunk to every game....what do you think? lol

@TheNextChampion-Are you also a Raiders fan?  Is your favorite movie Wedding Crashers?

Moreen (sp?) is from the Wisdom MAX series that Cornell did before.  I know this because I just picked up the 6 issues at a local shop for $0.25 each!!  Pretty decent romp, but he has most certainly refined his comic writing skills in Cap.  But I will say one thing about the Wisdom series...Skrull Beatles!!

Great show,  fun times.  I wouldn't at all call it a sub par week, just a little slow.  Still, since joining this site it seems I am oh so disappointed if I don't pick up at least 5 comics a week!  I used to usually pick up 3 and freak out if I had more than that.  One time I picked up 8 and nearly died.  But still, I am much happier now that I have embraced my inner ifanboy :-)

All I got to say is go Braves! :) 

@Kory  Interestingly, one could argue that being a Braves fan and being an X-men fan are both experiences that peaked in 1991. . .make of that what you will.

@ohcaroline- I hate to sound like a stickler, but the Braves peaked in 1995.  It's been a slow decline ever since. :)

@drake: Actually I'm a Houston Texans fan (the only one on the east coast) and my favorite film is The Thing.

If I can be serious for two seconds you guys mentioned on the podcast that your fine with Wolverine being so late because it's so good. If your fine with Wolvie, then why not with RASL? Yes it sucks it gets delayed and it's also on a seasonal schedule, but those issues took just as long as this recent issue of Old Man Logan did. Just curious on why RASL gets the axe while Wolvie is okay to read.

Thanks for the explanation about Nightwing and Flamebird, Conor. Now I understand that last scene in Action Comics. I just thought the artist wasn't any good at drawing Dick.  :o)

@Garrett-Every artist is good at drawing Dick :-P

@TheNextChampion-despite being annoying, you raise a good point.  If two books are delayed for the same amount of time, and you like both equally, why do you drop one but not the other?  How much of your decision is influenced by the fact that it would be the last issue of the current story arc or end of the mini?  

Me personally, I still picked up every single issue of Astonshing X-men...but switched to trades with Ex Machina recently.

lovin' the robert johnson goodness...

@ohcaroline  Good one!

If I were alone with Dave Lapham in an elevator or in a dark alley I would be very, very afraid.  I LOVE Young Liars, even though I'm not exactly sure I'm experiencing what Lapham is intending me to.  What a weird, wonderful book!

@Kory  The Braves peaked in '05.  Being a Braves fan peaked with the worst-to-first season in '91.  (Or, okay, there's also a good argument for Frankie Cabrera's game-winning hit in '92 -- by which point being an X-Men fan was probably already on a downturn).

I write this as somebody who was (you might guess) Braves fan in the '90s and at some point around the doping scandals had the kind of violent dramatic leaving-the-fandom experience with baseball that some Marvel fans associate with Onslaught and Heroes reborn.   Braves fans are mercurial.

Ron, the steady devoted passionate Mets fan, makes total sense as somebody who sticks with the X through thick-and-then.

Conor

the Nightwing and Flamebird are silver age Superman characters, and the reference to Nightwing (Richard Grayson) using them as a point of inspiration has been in the story from the first issue he donned the figure skating costume way back in the titans.

@Ron - So it wasn't just me who thought the Lobdell years weren't very good.  Thank you, I thought it was just me who thought that way.

@leigh: Absolutely correct.

@leigh- it really was a figure skating outfit, good call!

Loved the show, apart from the mention of sports. Sports. Bah.

Anyway, I think it was the excellent Conor who mentioned that Bette Kane/Flamebird had been on the dark side at one point. Did I miss something? I remember her being an irritant with her Dick worship, but always trying to do good.

@ohcaroline- I know nobody will see this, but good work on the Frankie Cabrera reference.  I thought I was the only person who remembered him.  I think I have met my match when it comes to Atlanta Braves knowledge.

@Kory   Now I'm trying to remember who scored on that play. . .I have a vague memory that Sid Bream had to limp home.

That play was totally the highlight of my sports watching life until a couple years ago when my no-name commuter school made the Final Four.

@ohcaroline- Indeed, it was Sid Bream.  I have a framed copy of the Atlanta Journal Constitution from the next day hanging on my wall right next to a Dale Murphy jersey that verifies it.

@Kory  You win!

The girl I dated in 7th grade was a huge Dale Murphy fan.  Collected his cards, bought the poster.  Worshipped the guy.  I never felt like I measured up.  She used to laugh at my insecurity.

Today Dale Murphy isn't in the Hall of Fame and my letter just got printed in the latest issue of Blender.

Who's laughing now, Michelle?

Ryne Sandberg is in the Hall, but Dale Murphy is not.  It's a damn travesty if you ask me.

It's religious persecution.

It has to be.  I see no reason why Sandberg qualifies, but Murphy does not.  He must offended some sports writers during his playing days.

I loved Dale Murphy as much as any other 8 year old Mormon kid living in a backwater Southern town with TBS as her only link to the outside world (okay, that kid was probably JUST me) but are his stats really comparable to Sandberg's?  He had a few years when he hit a lot of home runs for the time (which at the time was like 30 a season, right?)  but I'm not sure he was that well-rounded.  He's probably fallen victim to home run inflation, as much as anything.

Sanberg has him beat in some statistical areas, but the main difference is Sandberg was THE premeire player at his position, while Murphy was an above average player for his position, but they're stats are relatively comparable.  Murphy falls victim to the "not enough home runs argument".  He came about in the era where home run totals started to skyrocket.  He would consistently hit 25-30 homers a season, but now shortstops hit that many home runs, so his numbers seem rather paltry compared to today's players.  He suffers from what Chipper Jones will suffer from when it comes time for him to be voted to the Hall.  They're not great players, but they are very solid players who do their job under the radar with very little style and flash.

Jim Rice and Dale Murphy are two of the biggest victims of the steroid era.  I think Rice will get in soon.  Murphy was huge for a few years but then disappeared very quickly.

Murphy was also never on a team that won any games.  Of course, the Cubbies never won a championship, but I think Sanberg went to the playoffs at least a few times, right?  And yeah, the position thing makes sense.  Powerhitting outfielders tend to get lumped together while Ryne gets compared against other second(?) basemen.

I don't think Chipper Jones is a hall-of-famer, but I may be biased because his era as the Braves' premiere player was around when I stopped caring.  I saw him play in AAA, though, good times.  The minor league Braves moved out of my city this year, though, so my last connection to that fandom is pretty much severed :-/.