I wish I could talk to him in real life also maybe later in the universe, you could give cobra commander a black outfit and a new helmet to put around his chrome mask

Apologies for the potentially idiotic question, but at 1:42:59 , if the concern is people's jobs then wouldn't it be more of an issue of society needing to better accommodate people's transition to other professions once their current skills potentially become obsolete rather than an issue with the technology itself?

The best selling book that no one is talking about or likes. 🧐 I'm convinced Sony is buying ASM every month, to keep it the #1 seller, bc they have an interest in the IP. And Marvel is using editorial to keep it terrible because they are petty.

You need infinite crisis . Identity crisis . Before 52 . I love 52 . Probably my favorite comic story.

Love every addition to the PalsVerse! Powerhouse Paul fits in great with this team

There is only one book that I will buy monthly regardless of creative team or story and that is ASM. It’s the book that got me into comics. I started with ASM around the mid-300’s and will always collect it. It also helps that my son loves spiderman, so I want to keep the run going for him. There have been many spiderman ASM runs that I really didn’t like, like OMD and the current Wells run, but I will grab it anyway. I know that it doesn’t support the idea of voicing your opinion with your dollar, but it is what it is.

Excellent review podcast guys absolute power is off to a great start but how long will the excitement last.

I would like Marvel to try new voices. Since 2008 we’ve had the same handful of writers rotating in and out. Spencer was the outliner and the one I liked the most. No more BND era writers, find a modern voice. I would also like a soap opera like (like the 80’s or early BND) else “events” and mystery boxes.

Reading 616 Spider-Man right now is like watching a car crash on the side of the road, you hope they are OK but you kinda want to see the destruction anyways.

Disney wants ASM to match with the MCU and recent cartoons to sell merchandise. They can't really profit off of Miles so they double down with Peter being a kid over and over again in cartoons. New Ultimate Spider-Man is kinda like fan service like renew your vows was in 2014 and 2015.

💥🌠❤ WOWZERS ❤🌠💥

blade killing thor? a vampire hunter versus a god? stupid and that is bloodhunt

Luthor Silver Banshee Parasite and Livewire - I would say none of them are villains at this point

some should, some shouldn't. Depends entirely on character and context.

This was a great discussion, there is so many characters you could of examined. Turning villains is tricky and the less used villains are easier to turn heroes, for example Songbird from Thunderbolts worked. I do think the X-characters have the easiest time with switching sides because Xavier's teaching feel like they give second chances. Rogue and Emma Frost have seems to been the most accepted switch.

Many people look at power levels and almost instantly draw a corrillation to those with more powers/abilities being worse indaviduals. But core values don't come with or from powers/abilities... More powerful characters often have the means to carry out larger scaled plans (magneto) while none powered ones (zsasz) and while one may be able to kill at intervals at a million at a time, the other has to be more maticulous, but over time may be capable and willing to do the same - neither are redeemable.... I'd say that example is extreme as I do believe some may be able to stop their evils, but if you've killed due to a believe and you stop killing, but feel like what you did was right, than are you any less evil over time, even if you won't kill again (some of that being because you have achieved your goals)

Within any world, fiction or non fiction, any character with a name and presence who has a set of radical core values, has put forth an effort to either stand on a hill (good) or stand in a ditch (bad). Some characters on the hill that have made mistakes may stand on a diminished mound, bringing them down from their perch, and some villains that have done some right may find themslves closer to level ground if they do some right, but there are some who have a mountain so high or a sinkhole so deep that if they are made to have a 180 deg turnaround they become different characters.... It is comics and there are countless ways to make any fictional character totally change and make it seam relivent in a world of writing... but in the real world it would be almost impossible.

I think villains should be redeemable if it fits the story or character, but it needs to be handled with a grace that is sometimes hard to find in big 2 superhero comics. To me redemption can't just be about being a better person and doing good things. It has to also be about making amends for past behavior and that almost never happens. Like I'm not expecting the comics to show Harley apologize to the families of the random people she's killed, but maybe there should be a panel or two where Emma expresses remorse and seeks forgiveness from major characters she's helped harm like Jean and Storm. Rogue made amends (multiple times) so I guess it's possible, you just need a writer like Claremont who is willing and capable enough to do that with grace and skill. There's also the cyclical problem that someone like Magneto struggles with where he starts off evil, is redeemed in the 80s, then does some truly heinous shit again in the 90s then goes through that cycle at least once again. It makes the redemption feel stilted.

Great discussion! But to the point that Joker can't carry a book cuz his a villain is hard for me to agree cuz Carnage has had many runs and he ain't no boy scout at any means. They just need to tell better villain stories. Mafia films do it all the time

I very rarely want villains to be "redeemed". Why would I want that? I often view it as a failure of storytelling to make a hero interesting if one has to desperately engage in contrivance to make the bad guy, good. But hey, it does work sometimes.... but even when it appears to work on the surface, it soon evolves into the exception that proves the rule. Harley Quinn is a prime example of a character whose "redemption" was sloppily done but appeared to work with Palmiotti and Connor's New 52 interpretation of the character, but time has clearly shown how uninteresting Harley is as a current character. DC has no idea what to do with her and she is more of a PRIDE show piece rather than a character that reflects her original psychopathy. Most readers have no idea that Harley was genuinely bad and arguably evil during Leiberman's run - going so far as to actually let a child die. Remember that in "Mad Love", Harley was actually successful in creating a scenario where Batman would have died but for Joker's jealousy. I also point to Marc Silvestri's relatively recent Batman & The Joker : Deadly Duo mini series (2023) that highlighted a decidedly evil Harley that was unapologetically Joker-allied ---- and far more interesting than any iteration in well over a decade. Of course, Many can disagree with me on this..... but my point is that Harley as a villain lost much of her appeal to me when she became an anti-hero and she completely lost my interest when she became a literal joke. DC's failure with Harley is that they forget that she is supposed to be a villain who kills and is regularly incarcerated and used by Waller in the Suicide Squad. Also, Harley was never Joker's "victim" anymore than Joker was hers. There is a reason why Harley and Joker got together. THEY ARE BOTH PSYCHOPATHS and like attracts like. The greatest deception Harley ever pulled was making her fans think that she was a victim of the Joker. Hell, she even has Batman believing the nonsense. To make matters worse, not only have we effectively lost Harley as a villain but the infection has now cost us Poison Ivy who has evolved into a misunderstood victim of Jason Woodrow and then victim of the Gardner. I don't know what DC is thinking but they obviously do not want their premier PRIDE characters to be demented villains --- which explains all of the out of continuity stories focusing on them and completing revamping previous conceptions. Bah. Great discussion Pals. Always a blast listing to your insights.

I realize Tyler said agender meaning nongendered but I heard "Superheroes, Transformers, and Fortnite is a gender" and was like ah yes finally an explanation for my social circle

I have to ask. Is there any reason why you pals don’t discuss Radiant Black or Rogue Sun? I’m not throwing around any judgement. I understand theres only so many dollars and hours in the day and sometimes you just have to say no to some content. But you pals always have such good taste and opinions and Radiant Black and Rouge Sun are decent books. It just seems so odd to me that it’s not on your radars. Are you just not interested? or have you tried and didn’t like it? Again no judgement, to each their own. Just curious.

10:33 PalsVerse Origins!

Enjoy the show buy audio Is low. Very low.

For all this constructive conversation about the success of Harry Potter, I think we have our answer: The comics industry needs more openly transphobic creators on Twitter

Okay, so juggernaught not being a mutant makes him f tier. then how can you use the phoenix force to justify making jean gray an s tier when phoenix isnt a mutant?

The gambit hate is... blasphemous. Criteria that you use to upgrade tiers for other heroes you ignore when gambit meets those same criteria. Great supporting character, best rogue love interest, plenty of solo adventures, pseudo omega tier, recognizable, and s tier charisma

As for the james gunn dcu i hope they continue focusing on legacy characters like it seems they are with green lantern. You could do so much with that because superman has a family, batman has one, and flash does too, just so many chracters and possibilities. I think dc legacy chracters is something they have over marvel

I think more competition is great for marvel and dc and im loving the energon stuff.

Trouble book club any day now

Gambit, Cable, Forge, Polaris, Storm

Sean > Tyler > Cale > Marco

sad i missed the livestream, next week!

Discord Heroclix league when?!

2:43:36 No wonder Sean is such a fan of the Zeb Wells Spidey run

Couldn’t listen live due to Mrs H’s return last week but so fun catching up today. I’m going to throw some comments on Discord about House, which I thought was fantastic.

I think the Lex helmet was a nod to “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” from the 80s by Alan Moore, Curt Swan and George Perez which was the unofficial end of that Superman era and then made way for the Man of Steel mini by John Byrne.

34:07 Just curious how you saw Bleeding Cool's sale info for June so soon? I've looked and can't find it. You said week of the 9th,so is this their "bestseller of the week" list that only represents 4% of the U.S. comic book stores?

Jeez even sean who likes zeb wells can't help but make the paul joke 😂😂 "who needs their relationship ruined ?"

Happy 300 from the Future! This means I've dug back 100+ episodes since I first started and I'm so happy for you guys

As someone with no interest in GI Joe or Transformers, I hope they keep it up! The industry I think will be healthier if DC and especially Marvel are forced to compete with someone else, particularly someone who focuses more on a handful of high quality titles rather than flooding the stands

Harley Quin - who cares if you can build a character who is nothing but an overused trope. PUNCHLINE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A GEM!!!! Her story would have plenty action but be made in the vein of older comics for chicks... A chick struggling to make it in the entertainment industry, who isn't a simp, who may be taken advantage of in business sense at first but quickly wises up, and comes to the point were, because most men aren't just going to take advantage of her like they can with some weman, she starts taking advantage of many... it's back and forth as some do get over on her, but she uses he ambitions and power (little as it is for a time) to get what she wants, and plays off many individuals in the D.C> universe.

Yall talking about Mega-Zords and Transformers but if you look threw Hasbros properties, it has some true gems (many from the 80's) that in my opinion are better than Power Rangers and some have as much potential as transformers. Many of them had only a moment in the spotlight and to many would be like new....

Drop the outro, I usually listen to you while a work. I follow the writers usually J.M Demetias, Peter David, Peter Tomasi, Paul Dini, Joshua Williamson, etc to name a few. Mini-series are good one and done. Long arcs are hard to follow sometimes.

Batman is being mismanaged and has been from the start and that's why his sales are flailing. He is a owner of a mega corporation. The Bat Corp should be a far more major line and he should have more stories dealing with his business, but many of them get taken care of by these members though he joins them often. Maybe some of those in the corp work for and or at sattilite sites of Wayne corp or work for companies Wayne Corp works with..... So when he fights criminals in gotherm that aren't disturbing his business it doesn't matter because they are so close any crime is hurting business, but as you go farther and farther out more and more of his stories should do with his business. And the Bat family has not been properly utilized at all.

G.I.-JOE IS LITTERALLY GOING 2 BE THE BELL OF THE BALL IF ITS NUMBERS BEAT MARVEL AND D.C. TITLES... but 12 o'clock comes quickly and when that heel falls off... GI-Joe is not competing with Marvel and D.C. long term. The only way Skybound would have had a chance to become a BIG3 would be if all Hasbro IPS were put into an a universe, and they were working together as well as these 3 properties are working right now. Skybounds universe (g.i.-joe/transformers/rival void) is to focused of an IP with a speciefic fan base, and many people feel (g.i.-joe) is an 80's property in so many ways, but they have gotten the talent that makes them undeniable for now.... It is one of the reason I think G.I.-Joe should have a medieval story line (galvinized iron) they go all in on, were maybe Duke had liniage many 100s of years ago that was/wer a foot soldier, and or a knight, and or a lord.... If they could pull that off and can have midieval and modern line going at the same time (maybe future timeline with a name like galactic inquisitors or a better I word) than G.I. Joe could really take off.