Episode 128 - Hellfire and Brimstone

L: Peter Wyngarde as Jason King. C: Jason Wyngarde and Jean Grey in Uncanny X-Men 132. R: Jason Wyngarde and Diana Rigg in The Avengers. Imitation and flattery, et cetera.

It’s been a while, but we are happy as heck to welcome back writer, journalist and From the Sublime editor Iain Hepburn back to the show for a long chat about some classic British popular culture (and other stuff).

We start with the recent passing of film and tv music composer Laurie Johnson at age 96. Although probably best known for The Avengers (and New Avengers) themes, he had a long career that includes Jason King and The Professionals on TV and films including Dr. Strangelove. We talk about his career and other British TV composers like Ron Grainer (The Prisoner and Doctor Who) and Edwin Astley (Randall and Hopkirk Decased, Danger Man). This leads into a chat about 1960 British shows, the ones that made it to the US and the ones that didn’t and the fun of spotting actors on those before before they were famous.

Then, there’s plenty of chat about Doctor Who and the return of Russell T. Davies to run the show. We talk about how the vast Doctor Who library is now on BBC iplayer, the Tales of the Tardis special featuring classic cast members, modernizing old episodes for a contemporary audience and the hunt for missing episodes. This segues into a chat about physical media, streaming services, the phenomenon of Talking Pictures TV in the UK, preservation and restoration of older programs, how that relates to classic wresting TV shows and more.

There’s also chat about Iain’s magazine From the Sublime, who third/fourth issue is currently in production. We talk about the previous issues and some of the topics, including a Buck Rogers-themed restaurant in Glascow in the 1980s and futbol kit culture, including an unexpected discussion of the NASL and MLS. If you want a copy of From the Sublime and you order from their website, enter “WINTERPALACE” for 15% discount.

It’s always great to talk to Iain about stuff, so hopefully it won’t be more than eight years before he is back on the podcast.

Episode 125 - Sweet F.A.

The famous 1974 photo of Exotic Adrian Streeet and his coal mining father.

It’s always great to welcome back birthday twin Kevin Day (@kevinhunterday) to the show. First up, once I learned Kevin had been a fan of World of Sport wrestling growing up, I knew that would be the subject of his next appearance. Since he was casual fan watching, he brings a different perspective to the business than most of our usual guests, who are historians or competitors themselves. We talk about how it evolves over the 20+ years it was on ITV in the UK and chat about most of the well-known names: host Kent Walton, Big Daddy (no HOF talk here), Giant Haystacks, Mick McManus, Kendo Nagasaki (I explain to Kevin about his Japanese namesake in 80s American wrestling), Johnny Saint, Steve/William Regal, Robbie Brookside, Catweazle and others. But we spent a lot of time talking about Adrian Street. (Kevin was originally going to do the pod right after Adrian’s death earlier this year). We talk about his career in the US and the UK, the famous photo (seen above) with his Welsh coal mining father in 1974, his influence on glam rock, how the character was presented at the time and now in present day and, of course, his infamous showdown with a certain disgraced UK TV presenter.

From there, we discuss Kevin’s new book he co-wrote with former guest Kieran Maguire and their Price of Football producer Guy Kitty called “Unfit and Improper Persons.” We discuss how the book came about as a way to discuss the myriad of issues in the world of football finance without it being just a textbook (since Kieran already wrote that book). Here, the three of them start a fictional football team named West Park Rovers and we follow their journey from pub team to Europa League participant. Along the way, they discuss many of the issues plaguing the modern game: financial fair play, sustainability, accessibility, inclusivity and, of course, amortization. There’s also some chat about Lionel Messi in MLS, David Beckham, Pele, The New York Cosmos, Once in a Lifetime, the NASL, the NFL and other American sports.

Wrapping up, we learned on the Price of Football that both Kieran and Kevin were also gamers and both were playing the new Zelda game, “Tears of the Kingdom.” We heard from Kieran a few months ago about his thoughts on the game and now we hear Kevin’s opinions having finished the game and how it compared to its predecesor “Breath of the Wild.”

And, by happenstance, we recorded the show the night before our two teams played in the Premier League, so there’s some brief chat about the fortunes of our two clubs this year.

I love talking to Kevin about old school British popular culture, as he provides an eye witness account on shows and sports I either watched here in the US on PBS with no cultural context (Monty Python, Doctor Who) or only discovered years later (Randall and Hopkirk, Dad’s Army and Department S/Jason King for example).

Episode Eighty-Six - Kaos Theory

The high point of Star Trek Picard: the reunion with Riker, Picard and Troi.

With the Splendid Isolation mini-series ended, we are back to regular episodes. Thanks to those who listened while I tried to keep busy.

We welcome back John Champion (@dvdgeeks) from the Mission Log Podcast (@missionlogpod) to discuss the recently-completed Star Trek Picard season one. We chat about what we liked and what was problematic and where the show might go in future seasons. On the Trek front, we talk about the changes to Mission Log, with Ken Ray departing and Norman Lao arriving at the beginning of the year.

From there, it’s lots of spy talk, starting naturally with Get Smart (since it’s episode 86). From there, it’s a cornucopia of shows on the docket, including Mission: Impossible, the Man from UNCLE and more. With the passing of Robert Conrad, we of course discussed the Wild Wild West, including why the show was so fun. And with the recent death of Honor Blackman, we talk about the Cathy Gale version of The Avengers, as well as her role in Goldfinger.

To round up the show, it’s some other British programs to examine, including Danger Man, the Prisoner, Randal and Hopkirk Deceased (which John had not seen before) , Department S, Jason King and how the star of the last two shows had a connection to the Bronze Age X-Men comic books.

Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the show.

Episode Sixty-Four - The Mad Titan

From the Death of Captain Marvel. (c) 2017 Marvel Comics.

Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, an over-stuffed episode about comics, movies, TV and video games. We welcome Craig from the Puzzle Warriors 3 podcast (@PuzzleWarriors3) to talk all that and more.

We start by going over what got Craig back into comics after a couple decades, what we are both enjoying right and looking forward to coming out soon. Plenty of good recommendations here. Also, why does Craig love Dazzler so mych?

From there, we talk about the just completed season of Doctor Who and what we could happen in the Xmas Special as well as thoughts on the new creative team and cast.

And lots of Marvel Puzzle Quest talk, including why he, Ian and Craig started the show, thoughts of some of the more powerful characters in the game, balancing PVE, PVP and DDQ, how much fun the special events have been of late and chat about the special plants for their 100th episode in two weeks time. 

Lots of random stuff at the end, including wrestling and hockey talk. We never got around to all the old TV show and cartoon talk that was on the docket, so hopefully Craig will be back in a future episode.

Note: We had a brief addition to the show for a mention of the passing of George A. Romero and Martlin Landau. As a huge Mission Impossible fan, I am working on lining up a special guest to talk about Landau's career. 

Episode Sixty-One - Masters of the World

Parejas Increibles. Valeria Richards and Victor Von Doom. (c) 2017 Marvel Comics

Todd Rowker (@rowkerthejoker) from The Longbox Heroes Podcast (@longboxheroes) returns to the show for a chat about a variety of subjects. First, we talk about the new season of Doctor Who, what has and has not worked so far and a brief discussion of the rest of the season. Some small spoiler talk but only things shown in the teaser trailer.  We then talk about the Gallifreybirds project Todd and Joe (@joesposto) are doing this year on Longbox Heroes After Dark, We go over why Todd chose each episode of Doctor Who so far for Joe to watch, as well as thoughts on the wrestling he has seen so far. Then, some chat about current comics, including the Batman/Flash cross-over "The Button", Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and another endorsement for Scooby Doo Team-Up. We briefly chat about some Marvel books, including thoughts after the deep dive re-read I did recently of Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four and FF. 

Also, as mentioned on the show, we will be setting up at the Powerbomb.TV Breaking the Barrier show on June 11 in Old Forge PA. Hopefully, there will be a new Odessa Steps Magazine debuting at the show. 

Episode Fifty-Nine - The Royal Flush Gang

Would you trust Noh-Varr? From Royals 1 by Al Ewing and Johnboy Meyers.(C) Marvel Comics. 

Today on the show, writer Al Ewing (@Al_Ewing) stops by for a wide-ranging chat about his work.  First, we discuss his current work at Marvel, including the recently-launched Inhumans book Royals, including the book's creation, it's outer space setting, the inclusion of Noh-Varr and more. We also chat about his other current books Ultimates and US Avengers, and their predecessors, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers and Contest of Champions. Lots of fun stuff for you here, including the joy of C-list villains, serious vs fun superhero books and we even discuss Iso-8, the MacGuffin Mineral that features throughout Marvel's comics and video games. 

Then, we chat about Doctor Who in a number of forms. We mention the "Doctor What" story in 2000AD done by Al and Brendan McCarthy, as well as the Matt Smith Era Doctor Who comics Al wrote for Titan.  We also discuss the current season (following the season premiere), Peter Capaldi's performance as the Doctor and more. 

Finally, we go on a bunch of tangents and have a long chat about UK and US television, everything from World of Sport to Gladiators to The Great British Bake Off to QI and lots more.  If you are a fan of British Comedy, there's a lot of it mentioned, including Whose Line Is It Anyway, Blackadder, The Young Ones, Dad's Army, Morecambe and Wise, Fry and Laurie, but no French and Saunders.

Note: Stephen Fry left QI after the "M" season in 2015. Sandi Toksvig became host with the "N" season in 2016. Alan Davies' "magician murder mystery show" is Jonathan Creek. 

You can get Al's comics from your local comics shop, Amazon or Comixology. You can get The El Sombra Trilogy  from Amazon. 

Paste Pot Pete sketch by Phil Hester. 

Kirby's Sandman costume. From Fantastic Four 61. (C) Marvel Comics.

Episode Forty-Six - Baker Street

Doctor Who Weekly (now Magazine) issue 1

(C) 2016 Panini

Todd Rowker (@rowkerthejoker) from the Longbox Heroes podcast (@longboxheroes) joins the show for our big valentine to Tom Baker and classic Doctor Who. We talk about Todd's rewatch of the series from the beginning, currently up to Tom Baker's first series. We discuss our favorite episodes from his tenure as the Doctor, watching episodically vs entire serial, the longevity of many of the actors and more.  We also talk about issue 501 of Doctor Who Magazine, which featured a giant six-part interview with Baker, covering all facets of his time in the role, as well as his appearance as the Curator in The Day of the Doctor (see below). We discuss seeing elderly talent at conventions, be it entertainers or comics creators.

(33:05) - That seques into our discussion of current comics, including the Batman Family of books at DC (Batman, Detective, All-Star Batman), with dscussion of plot points from the current storylines.  We also recommend Old Man Logan, All-New Wolverine, Mockingbird and The Vision from Marvel and the Black Monday Murders and Chew from Image. 

Episode Twenty-One - Busted Heads by Von Doom

Todd Rowker (@rowkerthejoker) from the Longbox Heroes podcast (@longboxheroes) returns to the podcast to talk about the Doctor Who 2015 Xmas special and how it compare to past episodes. We also talk season 9 as a whole, favorite moments and what might be in store for next season. We also talk about some Patrick Troughton era episodes. Then, we talk Secret Wars 8 and the showdown between Doctor Doom and Thanos (two of Todd's favorite characters). We also discuss the year in comics, including our favorite Battleworld books, some of the new Marvel titles, the Shazam Convergence book, the amazing output from Image, the Archie reboot and the greatness this year of both Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) and Brian K Vaughn. You can hear more of Todd's "Best of 2015" Picks on this week's Longbox Heroes podcast coming later this week. 

Episode Eighteen - The Author Theory 1

Hopeless Savages Break (C) 2015 Jen Van Meter

1:20 - Comics writer Jen Van Meter (@hopelessjen) discusses her @Onipress graphic novel Hopeless Savages Break. We talks about working with artists Meredith McClaren (@inquitousFish) and Christine Norrie (@christinenorrie) on the new book, past volumes of the series drawn by Norrie, Chynna Clugston Flores (@chynnasyndrome) and Bryan Lee O'Malley (@radiomaru), future stories, (9:56) her @ValiantComics series drawn by Roberto de la Torre The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage and (14:00) writing the Injustice Gang back in 2006 in JSA Classified. (17:00) We also talk about the MLS championship won last week by the Portland Timbers & the crazy plays in the match, (24:45) the Timbers being featured in Greg Rucka's (@ruckawriter) Stumptown and (28:10) life as a comics pro living in Portland.

30:55 - Yahoo Sports hockey editor of the Puck Daddy blog and the co-host of Marek vs Wyshynski podcast Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) discusses his new book Take Your Eye Off the Puck, its origin and contents, including chapters on fancy stats and cutting edge technology. (43:09) We also talk the current NHL Season, the hot start by Dallas, the slow start by Pittsburgh and Anaheim and Detroit post-Mike Babcock. Then we talk nerd culture, featuring (47:16) the just-finished season of Doctor Who, (57:19) binge TV watching and spoiler culture, (1:01:15) the resurrected MST3K and (1:07:15) new comics, including Saga, Batman and the new Marvel Star Wars books. 

Episode Nineteen - Cretinous Humanoids

01:56 - Former wrestling manager Scott Bowden (@KFriedRasslin) from Kentucky Fried Rasslin talks the passing of Tommy Gilbert: his career as a wrestler, referee & head of the Gilbert Family with sons Doug and Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert. We also talk how Eddie turned Scott from ref to manager, Nick Bockwinkel in Memphis and his famous match with Jerry Lawler, Dream Machine Troy Graham, the funeral for the Bruise Brothers, the all-too-brief brief Koko Ware & Bobby Eaton tag team and more.

30:37 - Matt D talks Bockwinkel, his matches in the AWA and other territories, the Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi feud in CMLL, (49:21) the season finale of Doctor Who, (51:20) comics talk including Art Ops, Doctor Strange, Guardians of Infinity, Spidey, The Vision, Black Knight and Paul Cornell's work at Marvel, James Robinson's work on the Uncanny Avengers Annual, Scarlet Witch, Airboy and Leave It to Chance and (1:03:50) some slighty-spoilery talk about Marvel's Jessica Jones TV show.

Episode Fifteen - Heaven Knows Their Recipe

 (0:55) - Roger Bennett (@rogbennett) from the Men in Blazers (@meninblazers) talks about the upcoming Blazer Con this weekend in New York City, the line-up of futbol heavy hitters attending, a conference vs a convention, the implosion of Chelsea, the season so far for Everton, the late Howard Kendall and more,

(16:40) - Magazine contributor Matt D returns to look at the world of popular culture. We talk the season so far for Doctor Who, the Zygon Invasion [episode recorded before the Zygon Inverson aired], the greatness of Peter Capaldi and what could be in store for the season finale. We also talk new comics, including what's caught our eye from the "post-Secret Wars" Marvel books (New Avengers, Spider-Man, Iron Man,...), Greg Rucka (@ruckawriter) and Nicola Scott (@NIcolaScottArt) and the first issue of Black Magick from Image, Gail Simone's (@gailsimone) new Vertigo book and just what is Marvel's best book right now? Hint: It doesn't take place in the 616. Also some quick wrestling talk about what the WWE will do after Seth Rollins' injury forced his being stripped of the world title and what's going on in NXT.

Episode Thirteen - Two Minutes for Murder

1:04 - The return of Jeff Marek (@jeffmarek) from Hockey Night in Canada and the #MvsW podcast who talks Live Audio Wrestling, helping Trish Stratus (@trishstratuscom) get into the WWF, the new NHL season, 3 on 3 in OT, prospects for the Maple Leafs and Red Wings, rookie seasons for Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, will expansion to Las Vegas and/or Quebec City happen, the MvsW podcast, the start of the major junior season, Blue Jays fever and more.  

29:42 - And a brief look at some popular culture news, including the start of Doctor Who season 9, the new Doctor Who spin-off Class, CMLL Anniversary fallout, Los Ingobernables t-shirts for sale at lucha shop dot com, Waid/Samnee move to Black Widow, the conclusion of Zander Cannon's (@zander_cannon) first arc of Kaijumax, Hechicero (@_reyhechicero) poses with new Odessa Steps Magazine, Podcast Day shout-outs and more.

Episode Twelve - Time Has Come Today

Happy New Doctor Who Season Everyone!

1:02 - Todd Rowker (@rowkerthejoker) from Longbox Heroes (@longboxheroes) talks classic Doctor Who, watching on PBS, new Who, Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, future companions, Marvel's Secret Wars and Battleworld comics, the greatness of the new Archie by @markwaid and @fionastaples, the awesome craziness of Weird World, the sustained quality of @jasonaaron, @ruckawriter and Brian K/ Vaughan and more.

1:00:52 - Matt D talks new Who, the future of Steven Moffat as show runner, the next companion, his article on @chilangamaskin1 for Odessa Steps Magazine issue 5, CMLL Anniversary show predictions and more.