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 126 - Tokyo Giant

Godzilla vs The Marvel Universe. From Godzilla 24 by Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe, et al. (c) 2023 Marvel Comics.

After seven long years, we’re happy to welcome Zander Cannon (@zandercannon) to the pod to discuss the mad monster party, officially known as Godzilla Minus One. We basically go through the entire film plot point by plot point, so if you haven’t seen it yet, save the pod for after you’ve watched it. Short version: it’s as good or better than all the buzz you’ve heard about it. We talk about the main characters, both the humans and Big G himself, compare it to the original 1954 film (with and without Raymond Burr in the American version), the call-backs to previous movies, the drama at the heart of the movie and what very nerdy fan service thing I would have loved to see in the movie, even if most viewers may not have gotten the reference.

From there, we discuss the 1979 Godzilla comic from Marvel. Zander only read a couple issues as a kid, but I reread all 24 issues for the show. So, we discuss the creators and art style, which Marvel super heroes appear in the book and, of course, the giant Mattel Godzilla toy from that era (you know, the one with the spring-loaded fist you could shoot).

That’s a natural segue into Zander’s comic Kaijumax, which finished up last year and the third of three hardcover collections is coming out soon (it may be out when you hear this) from Oni Press. We talk about the evolution of the series over its 30 issues, the lack of monster vs monster splash pages in the series, all the tropes that got turned on their heads in the series and more.

We end with what could a general talk abou the comics industry, largely about original art, prices these days for older pages, creating comics digitally vs the old pen and ink days, color guides and how cool they are to see, retro technology and a bunch of other topics.

It was great to talk to Zander again on the show and hopefully it won’t take seven years to invite him back.

The Plot Podcast - Episode 12 - Year of the Domino

Subliminal Messaging as seen by Reuben Flagg in American Flagg issue 1. (c) Howard Chaykin

We take a look at the use of subliminal message in two classic 1980s pieces of science fiction - Howard Chaykin's American Flagg comic from 1983 and the original British pilot for Max Headroom from 1985. We discuss the history of each project, how subliminals were used in the plot and just ahead of their time both projects were and would fit right in today's culture in 2023.