Comic Relief Podcast

All right, Marvel. You have my attention.

Apparently, this September, we’re getting – what I assume to be a one shot, called Alpha Flight: True North #1.

From what I’ve read on Marvel’s site, the story will feature: Puck, Snowbird (although they wrote her name as Snow-bird, sigh), Talisman, Northstar, Marrina, Guardian and Vindicator. If the image to the left, also featured on their site, is any indication; it also has Shaman, Sasquatch and Aurora on the cover; but does not have Talisman or Guardian (assuming Heather is going by Guardian, and Mac is Vindicator still?). I mean, Shaman did briefly go by the moniker of Talisman when he took on the Talisman headpiece – but he also changed his costume… and it seems like it’d be a bad idea to shift him over to Talisman, and take out Elizabeth (his daughter) as Talisman.

Like I said, I assume this is a one shot – and not a limited series (or even an ongoing series) – but something Chris Robinson (the editor, I am guessing?) said was:

To celebrate the Toronto Raptors winning the NBA Championship, we’re bringing back the greatest of the Great White North, Canada’s premiere super-team Alpha Flight! And we’ve assembled a super-team of Canadian talent behind the scenes for extra authenticity. Trust me, these guys are going deep into the Department H files to tie-up those loose Alpha Flight story threads that have been keeping you all up at night. You wanted dip with the chips? Here it is!

The “these guys are going deep into Department H files to tie up those loose Alpha Flight story threads”… There’s probably one (or two) that they’re actually going to focus on, because Alpha Flight (in their original run) changed hands quite a few times, which resulted in different writers starting things that never got resolved. So this is why I don’t think they’re really going to deep dive into everything. I assume this one shot is going to pick up some dangling thread, that they got a cool idea to do a story on.

So who is behind the book? Well, if you thought it was one writer and one artist – you’d be wrong (which also makes this unusual) – so here’s what we know! It’s written by: Jim Zub, Jed MacKay, and Ed Brisson. Art is by: Max Dunbar, Djibril Morissette-Phan, and Scott Hepburn, with the cover by Nick Bradshaw. (The cool – perhaps odd? – twist is – they’re all apparently Canadian? How fitting, if true!)

Regardless, I will be picking this up and hoping for the best!

• Tawmis

When I was a young lad, and first got into comics, Thor was one of my staple comics after getting into Avengers. And the run of Thor had some amazing writers and amazing artists, throughout it’s history. But there was one – to me – who stuck out above the rest. That was Walter Simonson.

Walter had this amazing ability, in his story telling, to bring a great mixture of mythology and super hero. Thor had, until Walt came along, pretty much focused solely on the super hero side of things. Walter came in and brought in Surtur, not just as a villain – but as a part of the Ragnarok story in the pages of Thor. He also made some of Thor’s background characters stand out – Odin, Loki, The Warriors Three (Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral), Sif, Enchantress, and on and on. He also gave the world Beta Ray Bill, who would go on to become one of my favorite characters. And that’s just his writing. Walter also happened to be the artist – and without a doubt – one of my favorite artists. His run of Thor was phenomenal in every regard.

He would eventually go on to IDW, and create a comic called Ragnarok (unrelated to Thor, from Marvel obviously; but his own version of a character named Thor, from the Norse Mythology), that has more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco. It is strictly a mythology type story (not a super hero story, at all). It was a limited series; but news broke, that at San Diego Comic Con, Walter would be releasing a new Ragnarok story entitled: Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim. If you’ve not checked out the other Ragnarok series – do yourself a favor – go back and read it – and get ready for The Breaking of Helheim.

• Tawmis

It looks like the dynamic duo of Chris Claremont and Bill Siekiewicz are going to team up for a one-shot of the classic New Mutants team that includes: Mirage, Sunspot, Cannonball, Magik, Wolfsbane, Cypher, Karma, and Warlock.

The story will undoubtedly take place between New Mutants #21 and #38 (Volume One), since that’s the run in which Bill Siekiewicz was on the book. (Not that I think Marvel Comics truly cares about Continuity these days, but that’s neither here nor there…)

The story will focus on their techno-friend, Warlock, who experiences a nightmare – and from there, things simply descend into madness – as even Magik’s Darkchylde form threatens to cut loose!

Here’s the bit that Marvel released:

NEW MUTANTS: WAR CHILDREN #1
Writer: Chris Claremont
Art: Bill Sienkiewicz
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
STRONG AND FREE! Don’t miss this momentous event as legendary creators CHRIS CLAREMONT and BILL SIENKIEWICZ reunite with Magik, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Cypher, Mirage, Karma, and Sunspot to share this never before told story of the New Mutants’ past! When Warlock experiences a nightmare, he begins going haywire, and it’s up to his friends to save him! But as Warlock grows more frenzied, they should be worrying about being able to save themselves…and doubly so when Magik’s inner demon, Darkchylde, threatens to break free! Also, a special guest appearance by none other than Kitty Pryde!

As a random confession, back when New Mutants had originally come out – I dropped the title a few issues into Siekiewicz’s run. A few years later, when Bill left the book – I ended up going back and getting the issues I had missed to complete my run.

I was, of course, much younger, and simply preferred the easier on the eyes, cleaner form of art style. These days, I can appreciate Siekiewicz’s amazing artistic ability – but honestly, visually, it’s not really my style. But I am, without a doubt, going to pick this up, just for that journey back to the “olden days.”

So, Jason Aaron, who wrote Thor for a bit – then wrote Thor, when Jane Foster became Thor, is returning to the world of Thor again – in a round about way. Or should I say he’s returning to the world of Jane Foster. Or is it that Jane Foster is returning to the world of Thor? OK, fine – I will get to the point (“Finally!”) – Jason Aaron (along side co-writer, Al Ewing) is writing another Jane Foster series – this time, Jane is not coming back as Jane Foster… she’s not coming back as Thor… No, she’s coming back as… Valkyrie. (You probably would have never guessed that based on the title of this post, right?)

Spoilers ahead for War of the Realms #2… So Stop Reading If You Don’t Want To Be Spoiled.

Still here? Good. So apparently, during War of the Realms #2, all of the Valkyries are slaughtered. I had hoped – hoped – when I first heard news of a Valkyrie series, it would be Brunhilde returning to the mantle. As an avid fan of the original Defenders series, she was one of my favorite female characters. I would have settled for the movie version from the MCU being the new Valkyrie too, if not Brunhilde – because it would make logical sense, because it’s a character, who MCU fans might be able to immediately recognize if they were interested in picking up the comic to know more.

What I was not expecting was that Jane Foster would take the mantle. The article on Marvel states “a lot of fans have been waiting to hear about Jane Foster.”

However, as I read the article on Marvel’s site – there was something that made me sigh. Al Ewing states:

…. she [Jane Foster] does have something not seen before in the world of Asgard — UNDRJARN THE ALL-WEAPON, forged in the fires of the Realm-War, that can change its shape and be whatever the wielder needs — including wings! 

Wait. So it’s not just that she’s a Valkyrie… but she has… uh, what’s it called? Undrjarn – the all weapon?

Now I love me some Norse Mythology – but… I didn’t recall a weapon by that name. Now, to be fair, when Walt Simonson introduced Beta Ray Bill, he created Stormbreaker, which was essentially a copy of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. But… they’re introducing Valkyrie’s weapon as The All Weapon, similar to Odin being the All Father. It sort of reeks of “Looks how much more powerful my character is because of this weapon!” (I just wish they simply called it Undrjarn – without the title of “The All Weapon”).

For me, I am a little bummed that it’s not Brunhilde or the Valkyrie from the Thor MCU movie. I didn’t particularly enjoy Jason Aaron’s Thor, or his Jane Foster Thor, so I don’t have high hopes that I would enjoy his Jane Foster Valkyrie.

I will say this though – despite the tone of this piece – I am actually very happy for the Jane Foster fans, who will be able to continue to read stories of Jane Foster – as a character – continuing her heroic career.

Another episode! This time we’re at Free Comic Book Day at Southern California Comics again! Once again, I have Ryan (who has been on our podcast previously – from the previous years we podcasted at Southern California Comics for Free Comic Book Day before!), I also have CJ (better known as CartoonJunkie on DeviantArt), and CJ’s friend, Larry! We cover so much – from Captain Marvel, To Avengers: Endgame, Shazam gets a ton of love; we talk Arrow, Flash, Gotham, Doom Patrol, Legends of Tomorrow, Into the Spider-Verse, and so much more! As always, I want to thank Jamie of SoCalComics for allowing us to set up and be a part of the event! You can either stream the podcast below, or if you want to download it, you can. Or if you’re an iTunes person – it usually appears on there within 24 hours. If you happen to have an iTunes account, I would love if you took the time to drop a rating and a comment on our iTunes. It helps convince people that we’re worth listening to! And by all means – whether you enjoyed it or not – please take a moment to share the link to our podcast to your social media platforms, and tell friends, family, pets – whoever is willing to listen – about our podcast. Word of mouth is not only free advertisement for us, but someone endorsing it personally is always the best validation! Thanks again for those of you who stopped by to talk (some didn’t want to be on the podcast, but just spoke to me offline) – and to those of you who take the time to listen. Love you all.

• Tawmis

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People who have enjoyed Marvel’s “Space Adventures” from the last few years ago, have been wondering when Nova was going to be in one of these MCU movies. The Nova identity has been held by two people – Richard Rider, who was the first Nova. And later, Sam Alexander. Richard Rider, as Nova, earned a lot of attention during Nova (Volume Four) which tied to the Annihilation event. Nova (Volume Five) continued Nova’s push, and included Annihilation Conquest, The Initiative, among other events.

Nova (Volume Six) saw the introduction of Sam Alexander assuming the role of Nova, with Richard Rider having apparently died “in the Cancerverse” sacrificing himself. Sam was not accepted by a wide variety of people because they saw him as the replacement for Richard Rider. A younger, more relate-able person for younger comic book readers. I wrote a piece about how Sam Alexander, as a character definitely deserves a chance to be recognized as a great character, despite my desire for Richard Rider’s return back then.

Nova (Volume Eight) brought the return of Richard Rider and had him briefly working with Sam Alexander, as he dealt with the results of surviving the Cancerverse. Tragically, the series was cut short.

Learn all about Nova below:

• Nova (Volume One)
• Nova (Volume Two)
• Nova (Volume Three)
• Nova (Volume Four)
• Nova (Volume Five)
• Nova (Volume Six)
• Nova (Volume Seven)
• Nova (Volume Eight)

There’s next to nothing known about these next set of Star Wars movies; whether they will be a trilogy of movies; or if they’re going to be individual movies, every two years.

It’s not surprising (and I am thankful, personally!) that Disney is going to launch another series of movies, on top of having Star Wars related shows on their Disney streaming service. I’ve enjoyed the Star Wars movies – other than the original Prequels (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith). Even in those movies, I can find some good that comes out of it. I’ve enjoyed Solo, The Force Awakens and the much debated The Last Jedi. So I am eager to see what comes next with the Star Wars franchise, in regards to movies. With Star Wars Land opening up at Disneyland – they need to keep feeding the machine and target each generation with Star Wars goodness. Count me along for the ride.

May the Force be with You,

• Tawmis

Peter Mayhew was someone you may not know by name, but there’s a solid chance you know his role. Peter Mayhew played the role of Chewbacca in the Star Wars franchise. He was featured in A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi for the original trilogy. He also reprises his role for the Star Tours in Disneyland/Disneyworld, and then appeared again in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He would next show up in Star Wars during Star Wars: The Force Awakens where his physical limitations forced him to share the role of our favorite Wookie with Joonas Suotamo. He remained with the Star Wars franchise during Star Wars – The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story as a Chewbacca Consultant. He did reprise his role in Star Wars Holiday Special (back in 1978) and also did his voice for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in 2011.

Naturally, he was in more than just Star Wars related things (in a movie called Terror; Dragon Ball GT: A Hero’s Legacy, Yesterday Was A Lie, Dark Towers, Glee among a few others).

For now, he is roaring across the heavens, hanging out with our favorite princess.

God Speed. And May The Force Be With You.

• Tawmis

This is the one. This is the one to end them all. After 10 (well, now 11?) years in the making… Avengers: EndGame has arrived. The wife and I saw it opening night at 9:50pm – and were excited to talk about it – so Saturday morning, she and I sat down to record this episode. You can tell here and there, as we’re talking about it – there’s some emotion still in our voices over what we saw. Just be advised, there’s major spoilers in this episode, as we pretty much go over the whole movie. You can stream it down below, or download it here (Right Click, Save As). It should also appear on iTunes within a day or so, typically. I don’t want to say much more… other than, if you’ve enjoyed the MCU – go see this movie. It’s everything you want it to be and more. Because the wife and I were excited to discuss it, we knocked out this episode – I may do one later with Maico if he’s interested in talking about it. By then, I am sure I will have seen it again. Because I am ready to see it quite a few more times.

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James Hudnall, who I originally heard of from his work on Alpha Flight has passed away. He worked on Alpha Flight between 1987 and 1988 (on issues 63, then 67-86). He’d also done work on Strikeforce: Morituri (between 1987-1988) between issues 21 and 31, which in hindsight, I was probably familiar with; just didn’t pick up on the name back then. It was really Alpha Flight that I noticed who was writing the book, because I was such a big fan of the characters (though the series definitely had it’s ups and downs). He had a pretty extensive history in comics, all together, as well as dabbling in other things (political, cartoons, computer programming).

In 2017, Maico and I had the good fortune of meeting James Hudnall in person at San Diego Comic Fest. I am happy that I managed to take this selfie with James, while we were speaking with him.

James was born April 10th, 1957 and left this world one day before his birthday, on April 9th, 2019.

God speed, sir. And may you be at peace.

– Tawmis