Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together”(does he though?) is the fourth volume in the Scott Pilgrim saga and probably my personal favorite! It’s also possibly the least like the movie?
Scott vs the Summer
It’s a scorching summer in Toronto, Canada. Scott and friends go to the beach to celebrate Julie’s birthday (at her aunt’s beach house). There are a lot of cute moments between Scott and Ramona in this one, while the two of them awkwardly consider taking the next step in their relationship (aka the L Word: not “lesbians”). During a heat wave, Scott escapes his non-air-conditioned apartment to go hang out at the mall where he runs into Lisa Miller! (see the flashback from Vol 2)
The episode begins with the song “Demons” by Hayley Kiyoko, immediately setting the stage for a seemingly out of place scene at a margarita bar, between Hunter C-20 (the temporal agent who had been enchanted in the previous episode) and Lady Loki herself, “Sylvie” (played by Sophia Di Martino). It’s all an illusion of course, in C-20’s mind, as Sylvie as trying to pry information out of her regarding the time keepers.
Chris and Erik try and rank all the (live action) Spider-man movies! (so far!)
Spider-man (2002)
Spider-man 2
Spider-man 3
The Amazing Spider-man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-man 2
Spider-man: Homecoming
Spider-man: Far From Home
Venom
*Note: Although we didn’t include “Into the Spider-verse” on our lists, we’re planning on covering that one in a future episode. Like our ‘Ranking the X-Men Movies’, this episode was also recorded several months ago.
Also on this episode:
What we’ve been reading (Chris: “The Immortal Hulk” by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, Erik: Donny Cates’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”)
What we’ve been watching (CW / DC “Arrow-verse” shows, “The Mandalorian” Season 2)
Essential Reads: Spider-man (“Marvel Knights: Spider-man” by Brian Michael Bendis and “Spider-man: Blue” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale)
The age old questions of comic fans: Batman or Superman? Spider-Man or Wolverine? The debates about the best heroes are endless. We tried to make a top 10 list, but that was just too hard. So we tried a top 25, but that quickly became a top 50… you get the idea. So we were able to ‘narrow’ it down to an even 100. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with who did or did not make the list, or just the order that we placed them. But, hey, it’s our list.
(Honorable mentions to Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Hercules, The Frenchman and the Female (the Boys), Abe Sapien, Spider-Man 2099, Static Shock, Nite Owl, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Spawn, Atom Eve, Mary Marvel, and a hell of a lot more. So many more we could- and may- do another whole 100 list!)
We will release these in installments of 10 so that you don’t have the longest list ever to read through. Agree with the placement or who made the list? Disagree with the burning power of a thousand suns? Let us know! Enjoy!
Episode 2 starts with a Ren Fair! I really like the way it kicks off, fading from the green Marvel logo to what at first glance looks like it could be somewhere in Medieval Europe, before we quickly find out that it’s Wisconsin in the 80’s. It’s those little moments that really play up the theme of things not quite being what they appear to be.
After another squad of minutemen are ambushed by the “other Loki”, Mobius brings Loki along to try and find a clue as to the variant’s motives.
It can’t be understated how great this cast is. Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson are one of the best buddy cop duos since Riggs and Murtaugh. Once again, we get a wide array of super random quirky moments, like Miss Minutes being a high tech holographic Alexa to Agent Mobius obsessing about jet skis.
Chris and Erik try and rank all the X-Men movies (so far!)
X-Men (2000)
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men: First Class
The Wolverine
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Deadpool
X-Men: Apocalypse
Logan
Deadpool 2 / Once Upon a Deadpool
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
*Note: when this episode was recorded (several months ago), we hadn’t yet seen “New Mutants”, but we reviewed it on the previous episode (Issue #8). We also discuss Tom King’s “Mister Miracle”, Chip Zdarsky’s “Spider-man: Life Story”, our initial thoughts on “The Three Jokers”, and speculate about the Snyder Cut (see Issue #7 for our review on that one).
With another new animated Batman series in the works (Batman: The Caped Crusader), we figured it would be a great time to revisit the classic that has stood the test of time and remains to this day one of the absolute best superhero cartoons to date!
Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, “Batman: The Animated Series” first premiered in 1992 and lasted 4 seasons (including “The New Batman Adventures”), spinning off into several other animated series throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s – Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Justice League, Justice League: Unlimited, and Young Justice! Inspired by the style of the 1941 Fleischer Superman cartoons, the 90’s Batman series was a dark and faithful adaptation.
Batman: The Animated Series is, in my humble opinion, the absolute best version of Batman to date. Sure, the Tim Burton movies are great, Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy is a masterpiece of cinema, and the Arkham games are a lot of fun, but nothing has really captured the magic of the old school Batman comics quite the way that this show did. Not only did Bruce Timm and Paul Dini draw heavily from the source material, in some cases they streamlined and improved on some of the classic storylines and characters from the comics!
Unlike the campy Adam West series from the 60’s, this one took a darker and grittier look at Gotham, while still retaining the fun elements. Further, the voice talent on this series is incredible, including but not limited to Kevin Conroy as Batman / Bruce Wayne and of course, Mark Hamill as The Joker! And to top it off, the show was actually geared towards adults, while still being appropriate for kids, which is not an easy task.
The following list is 100% up for debate, so feel free to yell at me on Twitter @ErikSlader!
Marvel’s new “LOKI” series is a wild, off-the-rails, jaunt through time – once again starring Tom Hiddleston as the Asgardian Trickster God himself. Following this first episode and the success of “Wandavision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, I think it’s safe to say that the MCU is *still* going strong on Disney+!
LOKI 101
For those who somehow don’t already know, Loki is a supervillain in the pages of Marvel comics (first appearing in ‘Journey Into Mystery’ #85, 1962), loosely based on the Norse deity of the same name, he’s the adopted son of Odin, and brother to his greatest adversary, Thor – the God of Thunder. He was also the first villain to fight the Avengers in “The Avengers” #1 in 1963! In the comics, like in Norse Mythology, Loki has taken on a number of forms throughout the years, including a female persona. While Loki has an array of powers, including shape-shifting and conjuring illusions, his most cunning weapon is his mind and his innate ability to persuade and manipulate others for his own ends.
Comic Zombie 