Capes On the Couch - Where Comics Get Counseling

Part 1 of our New York Comic Con interviews! Anthony chats with Cullen Bunn, Howard Mackie, Meredith Finch, Jeremy Whitley, and the inimitable Gail Simone! Listen to what they have to say about the characters they've created and written!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Cullen Bunn (3:20)

    • What's he working on

    • Moon Knight – what did he want to focus on writing Marc?

    • Is Khonshu real or not?

    • How did he come up with the various Priests of Khonshu in the Acts of Evil annual?

    • How did he come to write Moon Knight originally?

    • Who's his favorite personality of Moon Knight?

    • What does he hope to see in the Disney+ show?

  • Howard Mackie (12:37)

    • What was inspiration for Danny Ketch?

    • What aspects of Danny are based on Howard?

    • Danny's relationship with his mom

    • What baggage did Danny carry because he lost his sister in his origin?

    • How did he differentiate Danny from Johnny Blaze?

    • How did he differentiate Ben Reilly and Kaine from Peter Parker?

    • What's coming up next?

  • Meredith Finch (26:44)

    • Wonder Woman – what did she want to tell through Diana

    • What perspective did she bring as a woman writing Wonder Woman?

    • How did she write Diana with the burden of being a hopeful character?

    • What other stories did she want to tell with Diana?

    • Xena – what would she do that Wonder Woman wouldn't do?

    • Rose – who is Rose and what is her story?

    • What is her next project?

  • Jeremy Whitley (36:03)

    • Did he choose to put Maker as the villain of the book or was that an editorial decision?

    • How did Rikki Barnes end up in the book?

    • What does Jeremy like about the Maker as a character?

    • Julie Power – was she intended as POV character?

    • Julie vs. Maker – dealing with heartbreak in different ways

    • Family – themes recurring in the book

    • What's next?

  • Gail Simone (48:45)

    • Tell us about Seven Days, the new book

  • Ending

  • • Next episode – part 2 of NYCC interviews, then Roy Harper

References:

• Into the Knight Moon Knight Annual review (03:03)
• Maker episode (35:43)
• Sliding Doors - Jeremy Whitley (38:30)

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OK, this looks bad. Anthony & Doc take on Matt Fraction's run on Hawkeye. And lemme tell you - it's futzing great. You should stop what you're doing and listen now. Unless you're watching Dog Cops. Then you should finish the episode and THEN listen.

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to The Struggle Bus – a bi-weekly advice podcast hosted by Katharine & Sally – they answer questions and offer opinions, it's mental health without judgment

• Background (4:16)

  • Hawkeye, Clint Barton – created by Stan Lee & Don Heck in Tales of Suspense #57 (Sept. 1964)

  • Orphaned as a young boy – he and his brother Barney joined the circus

  • Grew up as a circus performer with incredible aim with projectiles, particularly a bow & arrow

  • Used his skills initially as a thief before reforming and becoming an Avenger

  • Met, fell in love with, and marries Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, a former SHIELD agent turned Avenger – rendered mostly deaf after use of a sonic arrow to defeat Crossfire

  • Marriage became strained, and they break up – begins dating Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman

  • As series begins, he is living in an apartment building in Bed-Stuy that is under assault by Russian mob – he and Kate Bishop, also Hawkeye, defend the building and its tenants – Clint buys the building and becomes de facto superintendent, but learns it's much bigger than one building

  • Clint begins regretting taking on all the responsibility, but realizes no one else will do it, and despite his repeated assurances that he can do it alone, he needs help

  • Unfortunately, his attitude drives Kate away to LA (and she took the dog with her) – she deals with Madam Masque

  • His brother Barney shows up to help Clint, and takes a beating intended for Clint before stealing a ton of cash from him and leaving

  • In the end, the good guys win, but at a cost

• Issues (11:38)

  • Clint's lone wolf mindset gets him in trouble

  • Feels guilt over place in superhero-dom

  • Despite that, he gives people chances, even if it comes back to bite him

• Break (35:10)

  • Plugs for Cage's Kiss and Perfect Package Podcast

• Treatment (37:14)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (49:24)

• Ending (55:43)
  • Next episodes: Roy Harper, NYCC interviews
  • Listener survey
  • Live appearance at Rogue Comics in Cranford NJ

References:

• She-Hulk episode - Anthony (1:56)
• Agent Carter - Anthony (8:57)
• Scott Adams - Talent stack - Doc (20:50)
• Bugs Bunny/Humphrey Bogart - Anthony (28:18)
• Ed Koch - Doc (46:45)
• Adele "Hello" - Doc (48:22)

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Our second thematic episode focuses on survivor guilt! How does Emma Frost cope with all of the horrible things she's encountered? What impact does being the Last Son of Krypton have on Superman? Anthony & Doc break it all down - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to And a Bag of Chips, the podcast that's all things late 90s/early 2000s – hosted by Lisa Foiles of All That and Drew

• Background (2:20)

  • Survivor guilt is the idea that a survivor of a traumatic event feels guilty for surviving when others have died

  • First identified in the 1960s, and was featured among several Holocaust survivors – also common among armed forces personnel, victims of natural disasters, and survivors of terrorist attacks

  • Can take several forms: guilt over things they didn't do or could've done, guilt over things they did to survive, and mere guilt over living when others died

  • Can manifest in anxiety, depression, suicidality, nightmares, mood swings

• Examples

  • Emma Frost - New X-Men 138-139, Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 13-18, X-Men: Manifest Destiny 2

    • First, Jean and Emma have a psychic battle after Jean discovers Emma's psychic affair with Scott, and drags her through everything she's done wrong

    • Then Cassandra Nova manipulates Emma into helping Cassandra destroy the X-Men, and is aware of what she's doing – brings up her survival of Genosha's destruction

    • Then, even when she's headmistress of the school and in the good graces of the team, she still feels that she doesn't belong, and that her past will be rubbed in her face at any moment

  • Cyclops (18:22)

  • • After Avengers vs. X-Men, feels guilt over killing Xavier, and is basically on a suicide mission to redeem himself

  • Superman (25:50)
    • Last Son of Krypton says it all

  • Batman (30:28)

    • Guilt for not being able to save his parents – so much of what he does & who he is centers around that

  • Walking Dead (35:13)

    • Rick feels guilty abandoning Lori and Judith murdered by the Governor's crew

• Treatment (45:04)

• Ending

  • Next episode – Hawkeye (Fraction run), Roy Harper

  • Listener survey

  • Discord

  • Live episode coming in October at Rogue Comics

  • Live at NYCC

References:

• I, Robot - Anthony (4:00)
• Triple H - Doc (5:32)
• Scott is a dick - Anthony (6:20)
• Stepford Cuckoos episode - Anthony (6:41)
• Inception - Anthony (7:42)
• Led Zeppelin - "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" - Anthony (55:32)

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Anthony & Doc examine the Maker (aka Ultimate Reed Richards). What differentiates him from his 616 counterpart? What can heartbreak do to a super genius? All this, plus Doc's most inventive treatment idea yet - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to Cheers to Comics – Brian Wayne talks all things comics

  • Listener Survey

• Background (04:00)

  • Ultimate Reed Richards created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert in Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 (February 2004)

  • Based on an updated version of the Earth-616 Mister Fantastic

  • Reed Richards was a child genius recruited to the Baxter Building program with other brilliant young minds, including Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, and her brother Johnny

  • While attempting to teleport matter through the N-Zone, the experiment goes wrong and Reed gains the ability to stretch himself to incredible lengths

  • He and the rest of the Fantastic Four are heroes until the Ultimatum event, where Magneto's attempt to destroy the world results in the deaths of dozens of heroes and villains, the Four disband, and Reed & Sue, who were romantically involved, break up

  • Reed believes the world is "broken", and only he can fix it – he attempts to eliminate all the top scientific minds in the world, but is defeated by a team of heroes – his face gets burned by a blast from Johnny and he is trapped in the N-Zone

  • He escapes, and creates a group of genetically enhanced people called the Children of Tomorrow – now known as the Maker, they take over Europe until he is defeated by Sue

  • Secret Wars – Maker teams with 616 Reed to defeat God Emperor Doom, but Maker turns on Reed and is turned into pepperoni pizzas by the Molecule Man

  • Recovers and turns up in new Prime Earth – was in a cell until recently, when he was broken out by the Future Foundation, who was looking for 616 Reed

• Issues (14:40)

  • Villainy stems from broken heart – incel culture

  • Bullied as a child, both by fellow students and his father (26:42)

  • So focused on intelligence and intellectualism that he's lost any semblance of humanity (36:20)

• Break (47:13)

  • Plugs for Talk Me Into and Occultae Veritatis

• Treatment (48:42)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (57:57)

• Ending (62:17)
  • Next episodes - survivor guilt, Hawkeye (Fraction run), Roy Harper
  • Listener Survey
  • Discord
  • Appearance at New York Comic Con
  • Live appearance at Rogue Comics in Cranford, NJ in October

References:

• Matt Damon/Jimmy Kimmel - Anthony (0:55)
• Molecule Man episode - Anthony (11:35)
• Batman: The Killing Joke - Anthony (14:20)
• Incels - Anthony (15:30)
• Hamilton - "The Reynolds Pamphlet" - Doc (16:56)
• Tony Stark episode - Anthony (20:26)
• Michelle Carter - Anthony (30:35)
• Eeyore - Doc (34:28)
• Crossfire board game - Anthony (49:45)
• Pareto principle - Doc (57:45)

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To tie in with the Absolute Carnage storyline, Anthony & Doc tackle Carnage himself, CLETUS KASADY! What treatment is there for a deranged, amoral serial killer bonded to a symbiote? Doc has the answers! Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to Cage's Kiss podcast – Every episode covers another Nicolas Cage film

• Background (02:36)

  • Cletus Kasady created by David Michelinie and Erik Larsen in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 (March 1991)

    • Created because Michelinie wanted to kill off Eddie Brock in ASM 400, but he was too popular – Aunt May killed off instead

  • Born in Ravencroft Asylum, but his heart stopped for a few minutes until he was revived by an ancient evil who foresaw that Cletus would be the one to free him

  • As a child, he pushed his grandmother down a flight of stairs and killed her, threw a hair dryer in the bathtub with his mother, and killed his mother's dog with a drill

  • His father went to jail for beating his mother, so he was raised in an orphanage, which he burned down after killing the administrator

  • Grew up to become a serial killer, and shared a cell at Ryker's with Eddie Brock – when the Venom symbiote rebonded with him, a piece broke off and merged with Kasady, creating Carnage

  • Spider-Man and Venom teamed up to defeat him, and the symbiote was thought to be destroyed, but it was bonded to his blood

  • "Maximum Carnage" - he broke out of the Vault and joined other villains to take over New York, until he was defeated by a collection of heroes

  • Later being held in the Raft – escaped, but grabbed by Sentry, flown out of the atmosphere, and ripped in half

  • Repeatedly captured, breaks out, and kills again

  • AXIS – morality inverted and becomes a hero who sacrifices himself to save humanity from the inverted X-Men

  • Absolute Carnage – symbiote returns and bonds with the aforementioned ancient evil to wreak havoc

• Issues (10:20)

  • Displays Conduct Disorder as a child – intervention could have prevented further problems

  • Nihilist mindset – believes laws are meaningless, and only chaos is true freedom (26:15)

  • Symbiote and its impact on his mental state – (34:30)

• Break

  • Plugs for Deleter, Play Comics, and Popcorn Psychology

• Treatment (39:55)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe (47:10)

• Skit (54:29)

• Ending
  • Next episodes - Ultimate Reed Richards (Maker), Survivor's Guilt
  • We have a Discord!
  • Anthony's fundraiser night at George & Martha's
  • Listener survey

References:

• Doc's column for Adventures in Poor Taste - Anthony (01:12)
• Eddie Brock episode - Anthony (03:52)
• The Bad Seed - Anthony (06:30)
• Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage - Anthony (08:24)
• Sentry episode - Anthony (08:37)
• Blazing Saddles - "'Scuse me while I whip this out" (NSFW) - Anthony (11:45)
• The Dark Knight - Hospital scene - Anthony (31:50)
• Charles Manson family - Doc (47:20)

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We cover the second Robin, JASON TODD, at the request of Patron Ariel! How did he go from being Dick Grayson 2.0 to one of the angriest members of the Bat-family? Doc unveils one of his most inventive treatment methods yet, plus we finally get an answer to the age-old question of how the Joker got away! (No reason why Batman smells, though.) Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Doc wrote a guest column for Adventures in Poor Taste

  • She-Hulk & Moon Knight shows on Disney+

  • Shoutout to Drop Anchor

• Background (7:18)

  • Jason Todd created by Gerry Conway & Don Newton in Batman #357 (March 1983)

  • Jason was the second Robin, after Dick Grayson left to become Nightwing

  • Originally the son of circus acrobats who were killed by a criminal, he was adopted by Bruce Wayne in the pre-Crisis continuity

  • Post-Crisis, he was revamped to be an orphan attempting to steal the tires off the Batmobile

  • Batman takes him in as protege to prevent him from becoming a criminal

  • A Death in the Family – Jason is searching for his biological mother, but she's blackmailed by Joker to draw him out – Joker beats Jason and blows up the warehouse, and Jason dies

    • This was voted on by fans, as Jason was not a popular character among the fanbase

  • Years later, revealed that when Superboy-Prime altered reality, it brought Jason back to life, although he suffered amnesia – Talia al Ghul takes him in and used a Lazarus Pit to restore his health, although it affected his mind

  • Begins to plot his revenge on both Batman and the Joker – Joker for killing him, and Batman for not being able to save him

  • Becomes Gotham crime lord known as the Red Hood – beats Joker within an inch of his life, but spares him to use against Batman

  • Confronts Batman and wants to know why he never killed Joker – gives Bruce ultimatum: kill me, or I kill Joker – Bruce disarms Jason, and Joker escapes

  • Becomes an anti-hero with no qualms about killing villains, and ends up in Arkham, where he kills dozens of inmates before escaping

  • New 52 – revamped origin again, revealing that Joker was responsible for his parents' deaths – now he heads up the Outlaws, a group of anti-heroes looking for redemption

  • Rebirth – once again Batman takes him in, but realizes he's too violent – he becomes Red Hood after his resurrection, which places him at odds with Bruce – creates new Outlaws group with Bizarro and Artemis

• Issues (16:00)

  • Revenge oriented – both against Joker and Batman

  • Forced into Robin mantle by Batman - dyed his hair like Dick, and was told he became Robin to keep him out of trouble - always living in Dick's shadow (23:50)

  • Troubled youth led to life of crime – also potential BPD and depression – led to suicidal thoughts (34:30)

  • Insanity as a result of Lazarus Pits (40:14)

• Break (45:40)

  • Plugs for Cult of Domesticity & Popcorn Psychology

• Treatment (46:35)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe (50:31)

• Skit (62:09)

• Ending

References:

• Anthony's guest appearance on Into the Knight (3:36)
• Lonely Island - "On a Boat" (6:46)
• "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" - Doc (08:24)
• Talia al Ghul episode - Anthony (11:32)
• Ra's al Ghul episode - Anthony (12:24)
• Joker episode - Anthony (17:30)
• Chris Rock - O.J. Simpson routine - Anthony/Doc (22:38)
• TV Tropes - Replacement Goldfish - Anthony (25:30)
• Jeremy Whitley - Anthony (71:10)

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Patron Ruby requested we cover Jen Walters, aka SHE-HULK! Why does a successful attorney prefer to be green? Why does she keep relationships short & easy? Plus another five-star review from a happy fan. Listen now!

• Intro

  • Shout-out to Pod Sound School for the audit & help and Collateral Gaming for being awesome

• Background (04:44)

  • She-Hulk created by Stan Lee & John Buscema in Savage She-Hulk #1 (February 1980)

  • Created to prevent anyone else from having rights to female version of Hulk

  • Jen Walters, a lawyer and cousin of Bruce Banner, got shot by goons of a crime boss she was making a case against – Bruce, who was visiting her when she was shot, gave her a blood transfusion to save her life – she raged out when the mobsters came to the hospital to finish her off, and became She-Hulk

  • Comes to embrace the She-Hulk form, and prefers the confidence it gives her over her "normal" look, which was much more shy

  • Joined the Fantastic Four to replace the temporarily depowered Thing – during this time, exposure to radiation meant she could never return to her human form

  • Thanks to a hex from the Scarlet Witch, Jen goes mad and ends up destroying an Idaho town in a fight with Bruce, who gets blamed for all the damage

  • Later joins a prestigious law firm, who wants her as Jen Walters – she reluctantly agrees to remain human while working for the firm, and begins dating a coworker, Augustus Pugliese

  • Gets disbarred after a client, who she defended for murder, confessed he was guilty and showed photos, leading her to hulk out and attack him

  • Joins the Future Foundation for a time

• Issues (12:04)

  • Uncomfortable as Jen – much prefers She-Hulk, and considers Jen weak

  • Relationships tend to be short-term – not inherently bad, but it means she avoids stronger connections (20:38)

  • Living in the moment creates problems if she has to plan long-term (30:03)

• Break (38:13)

  • Plugs for Frigay the 13th and Play Comics

• Treatment (39:50)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (49:30)

• Ending

References:

• Incredible Hulk episode - Anthony (12:37)
• "It's Not Easy Being Green" - Anthony (13:06)
• StarFox - Anthony/Doc (22:16)
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - Doc (33:45)
• Sean Corvelle - Anthony - 35:15
• "Poor Unfortunate Souls" - Anthony (55:39)

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Our second ever creator interview has Anthony & Doc speaking with ERICA SCHULTZ, writer of Twelve Devils Dancing. Who is Callum Cooper? What impacts does being raised in a cult have on him? And a tease for one of her big upcoming projects. Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro
  • Plugs - Ignorance Was Bliss, Popcorn Psychology
• Interview (02:50)
  • Background - other works in comics
  • What inspired this story?
  • What was the motivation to give Cal Parkinson's? (10:52)
  • Multiple characters refer to Cal as "cocky". However, it's clear that he's unsure of himself in every area besides decoding and hunting this serial killer. Was that the intention from the start? (17:36)
  • The story places a high value on intelligence across the board (31:06)
  • Protagonist is victim of cult mentality
  • Upcoming projects and social media plugs
• Break - plug Anxenity
• Ending
  • Next episodes - She-Hulk and Jason Todd

References:

• Macdonald Triad - Erica - 7:02
• Speed - Erica - 26:13
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs - Erica - 27:34
• Freudian Sips - Anthony - 27:43

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Patreon Brian asked us to cover THE RIDDLER! Why does Edward Nygma keep leaving clues he knows Batman will solve? What is OCD really like? All these questions and more - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

• Background (1:15)

  • Riddler created by Bill Finger & Dick Sprang in Detective Comics #140 (October 1948)

  • Edward Nigma loved puzzles so much he became obsessed with using puzzles to cheat people out of money

  • Decided to challenge Batman as a worthy adversary

  • Hush – Riddler determines Batman's secret identity and threatens to expose it, but Batman says that a riddle that everyone knows the answer to is meaningless

  • Becomes adversary of Green Arrow for a while

  • Spends a year in a coma and awakens to find himself cured of his insanity and obsession with riddles – but does not remember Bruce Wayne is Batman – he assists several heroes with his intellect for a while

  • Returns to villainy after being hit with a bomb, restarting his psychosis

  • New 52 – slightly new look, but same adversarial stance with Batman's

  • Rebirth – begins as inmate in Arkham, and helps Gotham PD against the Joker

    • Offers Joker a partnership, saying if either killed Batman, the other would be unfulfilled – Joker shoots him in the stomach and leaves

    • Forms a team to fight Joker in a turf war over Gotham

• Issues (8:48)

  • Brian – why does he leave puzzles for Batman to find?

  • Why doesn't he stop since he always loses? (12:29)

  • During his reformation, he retained his intelligence and detachment from humanity, yet wanted to do good – why?

• Treatment (29:38)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe (36:14)

• Skit (45:32)

• Ending

References:

• Joker episode - Doc - 7:18
• Marc Summers - Anthony/Doc - 20:20
• Rubik's Cube - Doc - 32:15

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For our 50th episode, we open up the mailbag and answer questions from our listeners! Who's Doc afraid to get on the couch? What inspired Anthony to get into comics? Is Scott still a dick? All these questions and more - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Merch on TeePublic!
• Additional swag for Patrons!
• Questions:
  • Patron Ruby
  • Patron Brian
  • Marvel Mythos
  • Jeanne
  • Rey from Into the Knight
  • Nick
• Ending
  • Next episodes: Riddler, Callum Cooper (Erica Schultz interview), She-Hulk, Jason Todd

REFERENCES:

• Oprah Winfrey - "You get a car!" - Anthony - 9:05
• Queen - "Flash Gordon Theme" - Anthony/Doc - 12:35
• South Park - "Scott is a dick" - Anthony - 41:55
• Into the Knight interview with Anthony - 59:44
• The Critic - Orson Welles - Anthony - 62:55
• Pinky & the Brain - "Yes, Always" - Anthony - 63:30
• The Critic - "Buy my book!" - Anthony - 67:12

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