Capes On the Couch - Where Comics Get Counseling

In conjunction with The Gifted Season 2 premiere, Anthony & Doc examine the Stepford Cuckoos! What problems could telepathic identical triplets possibly have? Plus, we're pretty sure this is the first ever time WWE, Santeria, and Sweet Valley High are mentioned in the same hour! Listen now! SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• The Walking Dead listener poll & Anthony's Extra Life fundraiser
• Background (04:47)
  • Stepford Cuckoos were created by Grant Morrison in New X-Men #118 (Nov. 2001)
  • Introduced as identical quintuplets and proteges of Emma Frost - Sophie, Phoebe, Mindee (Irma), Celeste, and Esme
  • Called the Stepford Cuckoos by classmates, they preferred to be called the Five-in-One
  • Esme had a crush on Kato Anishiwa, a student at the Xavier Institute - he turned out to be Stuff, an advance scout for the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, who attacked the school
  • All five girls combined their psychic powers to help defeat Kid Omega, who was leading a rebellion of students at the school - Sophie was under the influence of a drug called Kick which amped her powers, and died as a result - it was later revealed that she did it because Esme, also on Kick, wanted her to
  • The four remaining Cuckoos blamed Emma Frost, and told Jean that Emma was having a psychic affair with Scott - Esme tried to murder Emma, and then fled the school
  • Esme returned alongside Xorn (Magneto in disguise), but she turned on Xorn, and he killed her
  • On M-Day the Cuckoos retained their powers, and were forced into a fight by Emma to join the new X-Men
  • "Warsong" - we discover the Cuckoos origin - they were genetic clones born of Emma Frosts's stolen eggs by Dr. John Sublime as part of Weapon Plus - they were designated Weapon XIV and there were thousands of the girls incubated and artificially aged - 5 were placed in the Xavier school to infiltrate - during the event, the Phoenix Force activated the Weapon Plus nanotech inside their bodies, which temporarily resurrected Sohpie and Esme - it activated the Thousand-in-One hivemind - Celeste took control of the Phoenix Force and trapped it inside their diamond hearts
  • "Utopia" - The girls lost their Phoenix abilities, and became depressed
    • Afterwards, Mindee and Celeste stayed on Utopia, while Phoebe went back to the school - Celeste had a crush on Quentin Quire
  • "Mutant Revolution" - The girls became more independent - Irma dyed her hair black, and Phoebe dyed hers red
  • Girls rejoin the school, and Celeste is the first to discover Emma after she was killed
• Issues (15:00)
  • Each sister has difficulty finding their own voice and individual personality among the gestalt
  • Difficulty coping with deaths of Sophie & Esme, and how they died (20:57)
  • Personality quirks (28:52)
    • Sophie - dominant
    • Phoebe - aggressive
    • Irma - laid-back
    • Celeste - timid but haughty
    • Esme - conniving
• Treatment
  • In-universe (35:41)
  • Out-of-universe (39:28)
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Amoeba Boys - Powerpuff Girls villains - Anthony, 06:37
• Scott Summers episode - 08:10
• WWE Survivor Series - Anthony, 09:34
• WWE King of the Ring - Anthony, 09:35
• "Santeria" by Sublime (NSFW lyrics) - Anthony, 10:26
• "Let it Go" from Frozen - Anthony/Dr. Issues, 10:38
• Old Spice diamonds commercial - Anthony/Dr. Issues, 11:44
• Sweet Valley High - Dr. Issues, 12:52
• Baby-Sitters Club - Anthony, 13:18
• Transformers gestalt - Anthony, 15:26
• Devastator - Anthony, 15:27
• Survivor's guilt - Anthony, 21:28
• Four humours - Dr. Issues, 29:10
• Starscream (TV Tropes entry) - Anthony, 31:15

The Walking Dead listener poll iTunes: here Google Play: here Stitcher: here TuneIn: here iHeartRadio: here Twitter FacebookE-mailPatreon

In conjunction with The Gifted Season 2 premiere, Anthony & Doc examine the Stepford Cuckoos! What problems could telepathic identical triplets possibly have? Plus, we're pretty sure this is the first ever time WWE, Santeria, and Sweet Valley High are mentioned in the same hour! Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• The Walking Dead listener poll & Anthony's Extra Life fundraiser
• Background (04:47)
  • Stepford Cuckoos were created by Grant Morrison in New X-Men #118 (Nov. 2001)
  • Introduced as identical quintuplets and proteges of Emma Frost - Sophie, Phoebe, Mindee (Irma), Celeste, and Esme
  • Called the Stepford Cuckoos by classmates, they preferred to be called the Five-in-One
  • Esme had a crush on Kato Anishiwa, a student at the Xavier Institute - he turned out to be Stuff, an advance scout for the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, who attacked the school
  • All five girls combined their psychic powers to help defeat Kid Omega, who was leading a rebellion of students at the school - Sophie was under the influence of a drug called Kick which amped her powers, and died as a result - it was later revealed that she did it because Esme, also on Kick, wanted her to
  • The four remaining Cuckoos blamed Emma Frost, and told Jean that Emma was having a psychic affair with Scott - Esme tried to murder Emma, and then fled the school
  • Esme returned alongside Xorn (Magneto in disguise), but she turned on Xorn, and he killed her
  • On M-Day the Cuckoos retained their powers, and were forced into a fight by Emma to join the new X-Men
  • "Warsong" - we discover the Cuckoos origin - they were genetic clones born of Emma Frosts's stolen eggs by Dr. John Sublime as part of Weapon Plus - they were designated Weapon XIV and there were thousands of the girls incubated and artificially aged - 5 were placed in the Xavier school to infiltrate - during the event, the Phoenix Force activated the Weapon Plus nanotech inside their bodies, which temporarily resurrected Sohpie and Esme - it activated the Thousand-in-One hivemind - Celeste took control of the Phoenix Force and trapped it inside their diamond hearts
  • "Utopia" - The girls lost their Phoenix abilities, and became depressed
    • Afterwards, Mindee and Celeste stayed on Utopia, while Phoebe went back to the school - Celeste had a crush on Quentin Quire
  • "Mutant Revolution" - The girls became more independent - Irma dyed her hair black, and Phoebe dyed hers red
  • Girls rejoin the school, and Celeste is the first to discover Emma after she was killed
• Issues (15:00)
  • Each sister has difficulty finding their own voice and individual personality among the gestalt
  • Difficulty coping with deaths of Sophie & Esme, and how they died (20:57)
  • Personality quirks (28:52)
    • Sophie - dominant
    • Phoebe - aggressive
    • Irma - laid-back
    • Celeste - timid but haughty
    • Esme - conniving
• Treatment
  • In-universe (35:41)
  • Out-of-universe (39:28)
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Amoeba Boys - Powerpuff Girls villains - Anthony, 06:37
• Scott Summers episode - 08:10
• WWE Survivor Series - Anthony, 09:34
• WWE King of the Ring - Anthony, 09:35
• "Santeria" by Sublime (NSFW lyrics) - Anthony, 10:26
• "Let it Go" from Frozen - Anthony/Dr. Issues, 10:38
• Old Spice diamonds commercial - Anthony/Dr. Issues, 11:44
• Sweet Valley High - Dr. Issues, 12:52
• Baby-Sitters Club - Anthony, 13:18
• Transformers gestalt - Anthony, 15:26
• Devastator - Anthony, 15:27
• Survivor's guilt - Anthony, 21:28
• Four humours - Dr. Issues, 29:10
• Starscream (TV Tropes entry) - Anthony, 31:15

The Walking Dead listener poll
iTunes: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Patreon

It's our second Patreon President selected episode - SPAWN! Find out what happens when an atheist becomes an agent of Hell! Plus references to the Simpsons, Annie Duke, and Pascal's Wager! Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (08:54)
  • Created by Todd McFarlane in Spawn #1 (May 1992)
  • Al Simmons, former Marine and CIA black operative, killed by a partner and sent to Hell - made a deal with Malebolgia - in exchange for his soul, he can see his wife again
  • Returns to human world 5 years later - wife has now married best friend Terry and they have a daughter, Cyan
  • Attacked by Violator, another demon and lackey of Malebolgia, who tells him he's an agent of Hell
  • Meets bum Cogliostro, who knows history of Hellspawns
  • Attacked by Angela, agent of Heaven who hunts Hellspawns
  • Finds out order to kill him was given by Jason Wynn, his former boss, who is given heavenly powers to become Anti-Spawn/Redeemer - Spawn comes out victorious
  • Fights the Freak, tortured by nightmares of his past
  • Meets Harry Houdini, who's a real magician
  • Finds out his suit is a living being known as Leetha of the 7th House of K
  • Gets caught up in battle between Heaven and Hell - uses power of Greenworld to become more powerful - he & Angela go to hell to fight Malebolgia - Angela dies, and Spawn kills Malebolgia in retaliation
  • Gets offered chance to rule Hell and declines - finds out Cogliostro is really Cain, who wants to control Hell and use Spawn to do it
  • Rejected by Heaven & Hell, he is on Earth in a warehouse with a rotting, maggot-infested corpse - his body ends up in Hell, and he, along with Sam & Twitch, have to escape
  • Discovers that Wanda has given birth to God and Satan (Jake and Katie) - lots of allusion to 12 disciples of Jesus, the 4 Horsemen, Armageddon happens but gets reset after Spawn eats fruit from the Garden of Eden, and gets resurrected as an angel on the same level as God and Satan - forces them to fight each other without armies and shuts them off from Earth
  • Returns to Earth as Al Simmons, but can't reconcile with Wanda because he beat her into a miscarriage the day before he died, so he once again becomes a Hellspawn
  • Encounters his brother Richard, who is being tortured by his own sins - finds out Mammon introduced Richard to drugs and convinced young Al to torture animals - then discovers their mother slept with Mammon to create a great evil - Richard sacrifices himself to save world
  • Endgame - Spawn's symbiote is fighting him because he rejected the godlike powers - Cyan stabs Spawn with a mystical knife that wounds K7-Leetha, who leaves Al Simmons - moves to new host, Morana, the miscarried child, who was restored by Mammon - Al & Cyan team up to trap Morana in Hell, and Al kills himself again
  • Reborn on Earth as Jim Downing, who has powers of Hellspawn
• Issues (27:02)
  • Atheist as agent of hell caught up in religious battle - makes deal with devil
  • Guilt over what Al Simmons did before he died
  • Torn over Wanda moving on after he died, and marrying his best friend and having children
• Treatment (43:35)
  • In-universe
  • Out-of-universe
• Skit (57:15)
• Ending

References:

• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" - Anthony - 11:19
• "Treehouse of Horror IV" from The Simpsons - Anthony - 11:24
• "Illusions, Michael" - Arrested Development - Anthony - 18:15
• "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph - Dr. Issues - 24:06
• Watchmaker analogy - Dr. Issues - 28:00
• Pascal's Wager - Anthony - 32:22
• Nuremberg defense - Anthony - 33:16
• Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke - Dr. Issues - 48:39

The Walking Dead listener poll iTunes: here Google Play: here Stitcher: here TuneIn: here iHeartRadio: here Twitter FacebookE-mailPatreon

It's our second Patreon President selected episode - SPAWN! Find out what happens when an atheist becomes an agent of Hell! Plus references to the Simpsons, Annie Duke, and Pascal's Wager! Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (08:54)
  • Created by Todd McFarlane in Spawn #1 (May 1992)
  • Al Simmons, former Marine and CIA black operative, killed by a partner and sent to Hell - made a deal with Malebolgia - in exchange for his soul, he can see his wife again
  • Returns to human world 5 years later - wife has now married best friend Terry and they have a daughter, Cyan
  • Attacked by Violator, another demon and lackey of Malebolgia, who tells him he's an agent of Hell
  • Meets bum Cogliostro, who knows history of Hellspawns
  • Attacked by Angela, agent of Heaven who hunts Hellspawns
  • Finds out order to kill him was given by Jason Wynn, his former boss, who is given heavenly powers to become Anti-Spawn/Redeemer - Spawn comes out victorious
  • Fights the Freak, tortured by nightmares of his past
  • Meets Harry Houdini, who's a real magician
  • Finds out his suit is a living being known as Leetha of the 7th House of K
  • Gets caught up in battle between Heaven and Hell - uses power of Greenworld to become more powerful - he & Angela go to hell to fight Malebolgia - Angela dies, and Spawn kills Malebolgia in retaliation
  • Gets offered chance to rule Hell and declines - finds out Cogliostro is really Cain, who wants to control Hell and use Spawn to do it
  • Rejected by Heaven & Hell, he is on Earth in a warehouse with a rotting, maggot-infested corpse - his body ends up in Hell, and he, along with Sam & Twitch, have to escape
  • Discovers that Wanda has given birth to God and Satan (Jake and Katie) - lots of allusion to 12 disciples of Jesus, the 4 Horsemen, Armageddon happens but gets reset after Spawn eats fruit from the Garden of Eden, and gets resurrected as an angel on the same level as God and Satan - forces them to fight each other without armies and shuts them off from Earth
  • Returns to Earth as Al Simmons, but can't reconcile with Wanda because he beat her into a miscarriage the day before he died, so he once again becomes a Hellspawn
  • Encounters his brother Richard, who is being tortured by his own sins - finds out Mammon introduced Richard to drugs and convinced young Al to torture animals - then discovers their mother slept with Mammon to create a great evil - Richard sacrifices himself to save world
  • Endgame - Spawn's symbiote is fighting him because he rejected the godlike powers - Cyan stabs Spawn with a mystical knife that wounds K7-Leetha, who leaves Al Simmons - moves to new host, Morana, the miscarried child, who was restored by Mammon - Al & Cyan team up to trap Morana in Hell, and Al kills himself again
  • Reborn on Earth as Jim Downing, who has powers of Hellspawn
• Issues (27:02)
  • Atheist as agent of hell caught up in religious battle - makes deal with devil
  • Guilt over what Al Simmons did before he died
  • Torn over Wanda moving on after he died, and marrying his best friend and having children
• Treatment (43:35)
  • In-universe
  • Out-of-universe
• Skit (57:15)
• Ending

References:

• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" - Anthony - 11:19
• "Treehouse of Horror IV" from The Simpsons - Anthony - 11:24
• "Illusions, Michael" - Arrested Development - Anthony - 18:15
• "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph - Dr. Issues - 24:06
• Watchmaker analogy - Dr. Issues - 28:00
• Pascal's Wager - Anthony - 32:22
• Nuremberg defense - Anthony - 33:16
• Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke - Dr. Issues - 48:39

The Walking Dead listener poll
iTunes: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Patreon

WE'RE BACK! Season 2 of Capes kicks off with a look at Typhoid Mary, the multiple personality seductress featured in Iron Fist S2 this week! So sit back and enjoy all the South Park references and psychoanalysis you can handle!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction/welcome back
• Changes to the show for Season 2 (01:55)
  • Weekly blog
  • Listener poll
  • Livestreaming if unlocked by Patreon
• Anthony's Extra Life fundraiser (09:30)
• Background (13:15)
  • Mary Walker, created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr. in Daredevil #254 (May 1988)
  • Suffers from multiple personalities - Mary is weak and sickly, Typhoid is impulsive and lustful
  • Typhoid has low level telekinesis and psionic ability to manipulate men
  • Hired by Kingpin for her dual abilities - Mary to seduce Matt Murdock, Typhoid to battle Daredevil
  • Typhoid also seduced Kingpin, although she couldn't control him well
  • Defeated Daredevil and nearly killed him, until Mary's guilt took over and she saved him
  • Created additional personality - Bloody Mary - sadistic man-hater who kills domestic abusers
  • Mary becomes friends with Mary Jane Watson while Typhoid/Bloody Mary fight Spider-Man
  • Mary regains control and gets treatment
  • While in institution, each personality hired a mercenary - Mary hired Deadpool to kill her, Typhoid hired Deadpool to break her out, and Bloody hired the Vamp/Animus to break her out for a killing spree
  • Typhoid joins Deadpool and they have semi-romantic relationship until he tries to reform her
  • She gets captured and sent to the Raft, where she breaks out and begins working for Kingpin again
  • Joins Shadow Initiative as "Mutant Zero" and works for Henry Gyrich until she's outed by Taskmaster
  • "Shadowland" - she joins the Hand and fights alongside Daredevil (who's really the Beast), and then reports to Kingpin who uses code words to reveal he's been controlling her all along
  • Lady Deathstrike's Sisterhood of Mutants - joins with Enchantress to take down X-Men, but gets defeated by Psylocke
• Issues
  • Multiple personalities
  • Mary is weak, often sick - sickness is healed when Typhoid takes over - guilt-ridden and suicidal
  • Typhoid is hypersexual and impulsive
  • Bloody is misandrous and sadistic
• Treatment
  • In-universe - use Magneto's helmet, try to keep Mary in control
  • Out-of-universe - help her find her voice, build off small successes
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Butters summoning Biggie Smalls - South Park - 19:48
• Monica using a 619 she saw on TV - Heroes - 24:08
• Article on Psylocke returning to a Caucasian body - io9 - 26:01
• Munchausen by proxy - WebMD - 29:00
• "Money, Power, Respect" by the LOX, Lil Kim, and DMX (NSFW lyrics) - 42:18

iTunes: here Google Play: here Stitcher: here TuneIn: here iHeartRadio: here Twitter FacebookE-mailPatreon

WE'RE BACK! Season 2 of Capes kicks off with a look at Typhoid Mary, the multiple personality seductress featured in Iron Fist S2 this week! So sit back and enjoy all the South Park references and psychoanalysis you can handle!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction/welcome back
• Changes to the show for Season 2 (01:55)
  • Weekly blog
  • Listener poll
  • Livestreaming if unlocked by Patreon
• Anthony's Extra Life fundraiser (09:30)
• Background (13:15)
  • Mary Walker, created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr. in Daredevil #254 (May 1988)
  • Suffers from multiple personalities - Mary is weak and sickly, Typhoid is impulsive and lustful
  • Typhoid has low level telekinesis and psionic ability to manipulate men
  • Hired by Kingpin for her dual abilities - Mary to seduce Matt Murdock, Typhoid to battle Daredevil
  • Typhoid also seduced Kingpin, although she couldn't control him well
  • Defeated Daredevil and nearly killed him, until Mary's guilt took over and she saved him
  • Created additional personality - Bloody Mary - sadistic man-hater who kills domestic abusers
  • Mary becomes friends with Mary Jane Watson while Typhoid/Bloody Mary fight Spider-Man
  • Mary regains control and gets treatment
  • While in institution, each personality hired a mercenary - Mary hired Deadpool to kill her, Typhoid hired Deadpool to break her out, and Bloody hired the Vamp/Animus to break her out for a killing spree
  • Typhoid joins Deadpool and they have semi-romantic relationship until he tries to reform her
  • She gets captured and sent to the Raft, where she breaks out and begins working for Kingpin again
  • Joins Shadow Initiative as "Mutant Zero" and works for Henry Gyrich until she's outed by Taskmaster
  • "Shadowland" - she joins the Hand and fights alongside Daredevil (who's really the Beast), and then reports to Kingpin who uses code words to reveal he's been controlling her all along
  • Lady Deathstrike's Sisterhood of Mutants - joins with Enchantress to take down X-Men, but gets defeated by Psylocke
• Issues
  • Multiple personalities
  • Mary is weak, often sick - sickness is healed when Typhoid takes over - guilt-ridden and suicidal
  • Typhoid is hypersexual and impulsive
  • Bloody is misandrous and sadistic
• Treatment
  
  • In-universe - use Magneto's helmet, try to keep Mary in control
  • Out-of-universe - help her find her voice, build off small successes
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Butters summoning Biggie Smalls - South Park - 19:48
• Monica using a 619 she saw on TV - Heroes - 24:08
• Article on Psylocke returning to a Caucasian body - io9 - 26:01
• Munchausen by proxy - WebMD - 29:00
• "Money, Power, Respect" by the LOX, Lil Kim, and DMX (NSFW lyrics) - 42:18

iTunes: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Patreon

It's our second ever Patreon President-selected episode, as listener Matt suggests Multiple Man Jamie Madrox! Anthony & Dr. Issues discuss paralysis by analysis, and Doc deals with an unorthodox group session. Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (03:33)
  • Created by Chris Claremont, Len Wein, John Buscema in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (Feb. 1975)
  • Has ability to create numerous duplicates of himself, usually through kinetic force
  • Is not a mutant, but a changeling - a subsection of mutants whose abilities manifest at birth, rather than adolescence
  • Splits into two babies when the doctor slaps him at birth
  • Father creates a suit to control his powers
  • Damien Tryp tries to convince Madroxes to let Jamie come with him, they refuse, and Tryp creates a tornado that destroys his home and kills his parents
  • Finds the Fantastic Four, who send him to Professor Xavier, who sends him to study at Muir Island with Moira McTaggert
  • He gets close with Siryn, daughter of Banshee
  • Duplicate goes off and joins the Fallen Angels, who then aligns with Mister Sinister - ends up shooting another duplicate, and then gets reabsorbed into Madrox Prime, who was suffering from existential crisis that dupe could have separate life and be considered a separate individual - he basically saw another version of himself murdered in front of him
  • Exposed to Legacy Virus - while infected, taken by Goddess as part of Infinity Crusade
  • Dies from Legacy Virus - except it was a dupe, and the real Madrox has amnesia
  • M-Day - opens X-Factor Investigations with game show winnings - keeps powers because he is a changeling, not a mutant
  • Civil War - Madrox is both anti-registration, as well as a member of SHIELD hunting down protestors
  • Goes on mission to reabsorb numerous dupes - discovers Father John Maddox, a dupe with a family and a son, so Jamie leaves him alone
  • Discovered one of his dupes slept with Siryn, and the other with Monet St. Croix - they're not happy
  • Layla Miller and a Madrox dupe go into the future and end up in Bishop's future - Madrox Prime ends up with same M-style tattoo but weaker
  • Siryn gave birth to a son named Sean, but when Jamie held him, he absorbed him - this made Jamie suicidal
    • Discovered that John Maddox's son wasn't biologically his
  • Summers Rebellion - Alternate future where mutants fight against human oppressors - Cortex is an agent of the government trying to put down the rebellion, and turns out to be a Madrox dupe
  • Killed again by Bloodbath - ends up in alternate reality where he's sent back to reality by spirit of Dr. Strange
  • Matt Rocks - attorney dupe who helps She-Hulk defend Steve Rogers
  • Retired to a farm to live with Layla Miller, but went back to Muir Island to investigate Terrigen mists - got infected and died - Prime and all dupes buried on Muir Island
• Issues (26:23)
  • Lack of identity
  • Inability to make a decision because he can make all of them (31:55)
  • Inability to father children as a result of absorbing duplicates (38:09)
• Treatment (45:34)
  • In-universe - focus on Prime, get him to acknowledge he can't control everyone and everything
  • Out-of-universe (49:30)
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Fagin - Oliver Twist - Anthony - 08:03
• Silence of the Lambs clip (NSFW) - Anthony - 15:37
• Multiplicity - Anthony - 16:50
• Power Perversion Potential - TV Tropes link - Anthony - 18:07
• Ric Flair - Anthony - 23:04
• Arthur - Anthony - 24:44
• Poochie rap - The Simpsons - Anthony - 25:48
• "The Golden Man" - Anthony - 32:15
• Next - Anthony - 32:23
• "I'm not Xena, I'm Lucy Lawless" - The Simpsons - Anthony - 58:55

iTunes: here Google Play: here Stitcher: here TuneIn: here iHeartRadio: here Twitter FacebookE-mailPatreon

It's our second ever Patreon President-selected episode, as listener Matt suggests Multiple Man Jamie Madrox! Anthony & Dr. Issues discuss paralysis by analysis, and Doc deals with an unorthodox group session. Listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (03:33)
  • Created by Chris Claremont, Len Wein, John Buscema in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (Feb. 1975)
  • Has ability to create numerous duplicates of himself, usually through kinetic force
  • Is not a mutant, but a changeling - a subsection of mutants whose abilities manifest at birth, rather than adolescence
  • Splits into two babies when the doctor slaps him at birth
  • Father creates a suit to control his powers
  • Damien Tryp tries to convince Madroxes to let Jamie come with him, they refuse, and Tryp creates a tornado that destroys his home and kills his parents
  • Finds the Fantastic Four, who send him to Professor Xavier, who sends him to study at Muir Island with Moira McTaggert
  • He gets close with Siryn, daughter of Banshee
  • Duplicate goes off and joins the Fallen Angels, who then aligns with Mister Sinister - ends up shooting another duplicate, and then gets reabsorbed into Madrox Prime, who was suffering from existential crisis that dupe could have separate life and be considered a separate individual - he basically saw another version of himself murdered in front of him
  • Exposed to Legacy Virus - while infected, taken by Goddess as part of Infinity Crusade
  • Dies from Legacy Virus - except it was a dupe, and the real Madrox has amnesia
  • M-Day - opens X-Factor Investigations with game show winnings - keeps powers because he is a changeling, not a mutant
  • Civil War - Madrox is both anti-registration, as well as a member of SHIELD hunting down protestors
  • Goes on mission to reabsorb numerous dupes - discovers Father John Maddox, a dupe with a family and a son, so Jamie leaves him alone
  • Discovered one of his dupes slept with Siryn, and the other with Monet St. Croix - they're not happy
  • Layla Miller and a Madrox dupe go into the future and end up in Bishop's future - Madrox Prime ends up with same M-style tattoo but weaker
  • Siryn gave birth to a son named Sean, but when Jamie held him, he absorbed him - this made Jamie suicidal
    • Discovered that John Maddox's son wasn't biologically his
  • Summers Rebellion - Alternate future where mutants fight against human oppressors - Cortex is an agent of the government trying to put down the rebellion, and turns out to be a Madrox dupe
  • Killed again by Bloodbath - ends up in alternate reality where he's sent back to reality by spirit of Dr. Strange
  • Matt Rocks - attorney dupe who helps She-Hulk defend Steve Rogers
  • Retired to a farm to live with Layla Miller, but went back to Muir Island to investigate Terrigen mists - got infected and died - Prime and all dupes buried on Muir Island
• Issues (26:23)
  • Lack of identity
  • Inability to make a decision because he can make all of them (31:55)
  • Inability to father children as a result of absorbing duplicates (38:09)
• Treatment (45:34)
  • In-universe - focus on Prime, get him to acknowledge he can't control everyone and everything
  • Out-of-universe (49:30)
• Skit
• Ending

References:

• Fagin - Oliver Twist - Anthony - 08:03
• Silence of the Lambs clip (NSFW) - Anthony - 15:37
• Multiplicity - Anthony - 16:50
• Power Perversion Potential - TV Tropes link - Anthony - 18:07
• Ric Flair - Anthony - 23:04
• Arthur - Anthony - 24:44
• Poochie rap - The Simpsons - Anthony - 25:48
• "The Golden Man" - Anthony - 32:15
• Next - Anthony - 32:23
• "I'm not Xena, I'm Lucy Lawless" - The Simpsons - Anthony - 58:55

iTunes: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Patreon

Don't be afraid, it's just the latest episode of Capes on the Couch featuring Gotham's premier fear fetishist, Scarecrow! Anthony & Dr. Issues talk about how Jonathan Crane would be a mage, and Anthony goes on a non sequiter about cookies. It's par for the course, really - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (02:50)
  • Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson - World's Finest Comics #3 (Sept. 1941) - only made 2 Golden Age appearances, later revived in the 1960s
  • Jonathan Crane was bullied as a child because he looked like Ichabod Crane, becomes obsessed with making others afraid
  • Becomes a psychologist, works at Arkham and conducts secret experiments on patients
  • Utilizes a fear gas that creates hallucinogenic visuals of victim's worst fears
  • Often allies with other members of Batman's rogues gallery
    • Worked with Hugo Strange in the Terror storyline, but betrayed him
    • Robbed a bank with Mad Hatter during Long Halloween
    • Part of Two-Face's gang in Dark Victory - puts fear gas in children's toys on Christmas Eve
    • Helps Riddler fight Catwoman in When in Rome
    • Teams with Joker in Knightfall to ransom the Gotham mayor - sprays fear gas on Joker, but has no effect
    • Hired by Penguin during As the Crow Flies - ends up mutated into Scarebeast creature
    • Works for the Riddler and Hush during Hush storyline - uses knowledge of other criminals to manipulate their fears
    • Recruited by Black Mask in Battle for the Cowl arc - helps create a new drug called Thrill, but defeated by Batgirl
  • Blackest Night/Brightest Day - Immune to fear and yet addicted to it, he allies with Sinestro, who gives him a yellow power ring, until it is stolen by Lex Luthor under the spell of the orange greed ring - kills LexCorp interns for revenge, and creates a new fear toxin capable of affecting a Kryptonian
  • New 52 - Origin story now that he was subjected to fear experiments as a child by his father, who died of a heart attack while Jonathan was trapped in a room for days - became obsessed with fear, and was fired from his job for covering an arachnophobic student in spiders
  • Allies with other villains against Bane in the Forever Evil arc, but ends up hanged by Bane as a symbol that he has Gotham under his control
  • Rebirth - Makes some appearances, and then uses a Sinestro Corps power ring to make citizens afraid of Batman
• Issues (19:25)
  • Obsession with fear
  • Arrested development - many issues stem from childhood, often speaks in nursery rhymes (27:45)
• Treatment (33:39)
  • In-universe - Use lantern rings to get him to feel other emotions, or call upon heroes/villains he respects
  • Out-of-universe (37:35)
• Skit (46:07)
• Ending

References:

• "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie - Anthony - 02:42
• Tank - Gaming concept - Anthony - 08:18
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check - TV Trope discussed by Anthony - 12:45
• Reformed but Rejected - TV Trope mentioned by Anthony at 13:00
• The Shadow - Pulp hero - Anthony - 13:57
• Flooding - Psychological treatment technique - Dr. Issues - 17:24
• Hysterical strength - Anthony - 25:00
• Arrested Development - TV series - Anthony - 27:53
• Arrested Development - Rap group - Anthony - 27:54
• Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude - German expression meaning "joy at suffering of others is the best kind of joy" - Anthony - 35:31
• Hannibal Lecter - Anthony - 36:28
• Hydrox - Cookie - Anthony - 54:45

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Don't be afraid, it's just the latest episode of Capes on the Couch featuring Gotham's premier fear fetishist, Scarecrow! Anthony & Dr. Issues talk about how Jonathan Crane would be a mage, and Anthony goes on a non sequiter about cookies. It's par for the course, really - listen now!

SHOW NOTES:

• Introduction
• Background (02:50)
  • Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson - World's Finest Comics #3 (Sept. 1941) - only made 2 Golden Age appearances, later revived in the 1960s
  • Jonathan Crane was bullied as a child because he looked like Ichabod Crane, becomes obsessed with making others afraid
  • Becomes a psychologist, works at Arkham and conducts secret experiments on patients
  • Utilizes a fear gas that creates hallucinogenic visuals of victim's worst fears
  • Often allies with other members of Batman's rogues gallery
    • Worked with Hugo Strange in the Terror storyline, but betrayed him
    • Robbed a bank with Mad Hatter during Long Halloween
    • Part of Two-Face's gang in Dark Victory - puts fear gas in children's toys on Christmas Eve
    • Helps Riddler fight Catwoman in When in Rome
    • Teams with Joker in Knightfall to ransom the Gotham mayor - sprays fear gas on Joker, but has no effect
    • Hired by Penguin during As the Crow Flies - ends up mutated into Scarebeast creature
    • Works for the Riddler and Hush during Hush storyline - uses knowledge of other criminals to manipulate their fears
    • Recruited by Black Mask in Battle for the Cowl arc - helps create a new drug called Thrill, but defeated by Batgirl
  • Blackest Night/Brightest Day - Immune to fear and yet addicted to it, he allies with Sinestro, who gives him a yellow power ring, until it is stolen by Lex Luthor under the spell of the orange greed ring - kills LexCorp interns for revenge, and creates a new fear toxin capable of affecting a Kryptonian
  • New 52 - Origin story now that he was subjected to fear experiments as a child by his father, who died of a heart attack while Jonathan was trapped in a room for days - became obsessed with fear, and was fired from his job for covering an arachnophobic student in spiders
  • Allies with other villains against Bane in the Forever Evil arc, but ends up hanged by Bane as a symbol that he has Gotham under his control
  • Rebirth - Makes some appearances, and then uses a Sinestro Corps power ring to make citizens afraid of Batman
• Issues (19:25)
  • Obsession with fear
  • Arrested development - many issues stem from childhood, often speaks in nursery rhymes (27:45)
• Treatment (33:39)
  • In-universe - Use lantern rings to get him to feel other emotions, or call upon heroes/villains he respects
  • Out-of-universe (37:35)
• Skit (46:07)
• Ending 

References:

• "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie - Anthony - 02:42
• Tank - Gaming concept - Anthony - 08:18
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check - TV Trope discussed by Anthony - 12:45
• Reformed but Rejected - TV Trope mentioned by Anthony at 13:00
• The Shadow - Pulp hero - Anthony - 13:57
• Flooding - Psychological treatment technique - Dr. Issues - 17:24
• Hysterical strength - Anthony - 25:00
• Arrested Development - TV series - Anthony - 27:53
• Arrested Development - Rap group - Anthony - 27:54
• Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude - German expression meaning "joy at suffering of others is the best kind of joy" - Anthony - 35:31
• Hannibal Lecter - Anthony - 36:28
• Hydrox - Cookie - Anthony - 54:45

iTunes: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Patreon