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We're back with a new episode of the Character Corner and this time we're covering the legend himself: Captain America Steve Rogers. This will actually be a two part episode with the second episode focusing on the other holders of the shield (Bucky, Sam, Isaiah and others). 

For this episode though, we wanted to focus on Steve Rogers and some of the key runs for the character and how much of a symbol he is for the Marvel Comic universe. For those that falsely claim that comics today are "too political", it's clear they've never read a Captain America book because politics runs deep in these issues. Hell, the Captain America and the Falcon Secret Empire run (oh look at that, not the first time Secret Empire was used in a Captain America book) ends with Steve giving up the shield and becoming Nomad in a story that is a direct response to Nixon and Watergate that was happening around the same time.

We're also using this to springboard into our rerun of Nick Spencer's run and to show how Spencer's run builds on stories that came before it. There is a recurring theme in Captain America books about Steve being discredited and the lesson being "don't just blindly follow symbols"

Issues:

* Golden Age

* Captain America Comics #1 - First appearance of Steve Rogers/Captain America, James Buchanan"Bucky" Barnes, First appearance of Red Skull George Maxon (decoy)

* Captain America Comics #7 - First Appearance of Johann Schmidt as the real Red Skull

* Key First Appearances

* Avengers #4 - First Appearance of Silver Age Cap/Joins the Avengers

* Avengers #6/ Sgt Fury and His Howlinng Commandos #8 - First Appearance of Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo)

* Tales of Suspense #75 - First Appearance of Sharon Carter

* Tales of Suspense #77  - First Appearance of Peggy Carter

* Strange Tales #135

* Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos #5 - First Appearance of Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker 

* Captain America #117 - First Appearance of Sam Wilson

* Key Issues

* Captain America #290 - 301 Death of the Red Skull

* #290 - First appearance of Sinthea Schmidt/Mother Superior (Sin, daughter or Red Skull)

* #298 tells the full origin of the Red Skull

* Captain America and The Falcon: Secret Empire

* Mark Gruenwald

* Issues #307 - #443

* Issues #323 - First Appearance of John Walker aka US Agent

* Brubaker's Run

* Captain America: Winter Solder Vol 1

* Captain America: Winter Soldier Vol 2

* Captain America: Red Menace

* Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol 1

* Hickman's Avengers run

* Avengers Standoff Assault on Pleasant Hill 

* Spencer's Captain America Run

* Coates Captain America Run

The rest of Brubaker's run will be talked about during episode 2 when we talk about Bucky's time as Captain America. We've also talked several times about Hickman's Avengers Run that covers what happened with the Illuminati, New Avengers and Time Runs out in other episodes.

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Leave it to the Agents to find a hilarious way to interrogate people to see if they're Chronicoms. Listen, "moist" is a weird word that is going to get some kind of reaction from a human. This show always finds ways to insert humor into the most serious situations. 

* While we're still holding out for our Agent Peggy Carter appearance, it was great to see Daniel Sousa show up. Even better is the tie-in to him trying to expose the fact that SHIELD and other government agencies have been infiltrated (by what we know is Hydra)

* Dpalm has a pretty good theory on what can happen with Sousa and it ties into something that was brought up inn the first two episodes

* We love the team-ups on this show that also reveal deeper issues and get into more character development. Both May and YoYo are both struggling with the effects of what happened to them last season

* Gotta love how seamless this show brings up the racism and sexism of the time periods. It's not heavy handed but also not ignored. For a show with a cast as diverse as Agents of SHIELD, we appreciate them bringing up the fact that the 1950's weren't that great for certain groups

* Once again, gotta say, the Chronicoms plans aren't that bad. They are villains but they have a pretty good villain plain

* Where is Fitz? How long was Simmons "gone" to build all of what she built and gain this knowledge? We know the reveal is gonna be  mind blowing

We continue to love  how this final season is bringing us full circle with SHIELD and Hydra and can't wait for the next episode.

 

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"Snowpiercer:" A Procedural Gateway to 1001 Cars

Just as in Bong Joon-Ho's feature lengthy film "Snowpiercer," the new TNT series takes place aboard the Great Ark Train in perpetual motion around a globe frozen in the second Ice Age. The survivors are seven years into their trek into the future. The rigid class system, so brutally authoritarian in the film, exists beneath a glossy sheen of orderliness.

Jennifer Connelly, Alison Wright in TNT's Snowpiercer. Photograph by Justina Mintz

 

But, beneath the surface, the rumblings of revolution, from the tail, are growing louder as train operations begin to strain under catastrophic set backs. To make matters worse, there's been a murder. 

This may seem like a far cry from Joon-Ho's grimy allegory about class but that's only true if you've never stop to ask, how did the conditions on the train get to such a brutal point. Once you do, then this step back in time makes sense and ups the tension to a whole new level.

The Weather May Have Changed, But People Didn't 

As a way to introduce life on the Great Ark, the flow and dynamics between the classes and among the stowaways living in the tail of the train, as well as the challenges of sustaining life in a closed ecosystem, a murder in need of solving isn't a bad choice. It creates a logical opening into a complex world built on dirty politics. 

The head of hospitality, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) calls on the last surviving homicide detective Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) to solve the murder threatening to force the bubbling unrest to the surface. 

There's just one problem with her choice, Andre lives in the tail and is the head of the brewing rebellion. 

Katie McGuinness, Daveed Diggs in TNT's Snowpiercer. Photograph by Justina Mintz

 

Layton swiftly realizes he's this investigation puts him in a position to not only see more of the train that anyone else from the tail but try to capitalize on tension between the classes and build strategic relationships the rebellion needs.

Story Within A Story

While Layton's making his moves, Melanie's intent on keeping the train's inhabitants turned firmly on what she wants. The class divide plays out to create a different kind of drama. In this lux world there's excitement, danger, and twisted machinations intertwine. It's also where this series deviates from it's film roots. 

If you're familiar with show-runner Graeme Manson (Orphan Black) then you know he's never just talking on one level. So, you can take it as read that this seemingly straightforward police procedural isn't anything so uncomplicated. 

Taking advantage of the vivid production design to turn the train into a ever-evolving character critical to the plot, the serialized "Snowpiercer" builds on the strength of this dynamic universe to best leverage some of the themes from the original graphic novel  Le Transperceneige to create a ten-episode slow-building thrill ride. 

Settle in for secrets, lies, violence, betrayal, and twisted relationships certain to push things to a tipping point before it's all over.

By the end of episode four (and the first full story arc) murder mystery "Snowpiercer" viewers will be primed. There's a murderer set to go to trial and third class workers demanding equal representation. 

Things are just getting started and order may not survive a murder trail.  

A Show Worth Discussing

If you're a premium subscriber of the MTR Network, the crew's recent re-watch discussion

People once upon a time called sports an escape from the real world, but as the last few weeks have shown, everything is connected and any escape is tied to what you are willing to ignore. The world changed seemingly overnight, and watching the sports world react has been inspiring, insightful and at times, downright hilarious. If you can't laugh, you'll cry, so come do a spot of the former.

Guest: Justin - @Ljay90

 

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Agents of SHIELD always finds new ways to throw in wrinkles and up the stakes and this last season is no different. In the first episode Simmons told us that they wouldn't know when the next time wave would pull them to the next moment in time but with everything else going on we kinda forgot about it. And it seems like the other Agents kinda glossed over that as well. Now Enoch is stuck in the past with Koenig and we now have to wonder, was this always part of the timeline? Did SHIELD's existence always come from this team protecting the future? We don't know but we like where this is going.

* What's up with May? Has she just resorted back to Calvary May or is she an incomplete LMD/Chronicom?

* Of course it's Super Soldier serum

* We love this Simmons

* We know what side of the"Would you kill baby Hitler?" hypothetical Daisy is on

* Enoch got an upgrade that gave him some hands but...it's still a robot trying to fight Agent May

If you want to shoot us an email about Agents of SHIELD, send it to [email protected] and put "Agents of SHIELD" in the subject and we will read it next episode.

 

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This Shirley Audio Review Definitely Went Left... 

Once again, Kriss agreed to talk to Ro about a film without first watching the trailer. This time we're talking upcoming release from Neon, "Shirley" starring Elizabeth Moss. Listen in because we had thoughts and feelings galore. 

A young newlywed couple - new to the college town - find themselves entering the lively, yet strangely regimented, home of Shirley Jackson during a party. Shirley's husband, Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) invites them to stay with the couple.   

Rose (Odessa Young) the supportive wife and her quickly neglectful husband Fred (Logan Lerman) arrive just as the writer begins writing her considering her next project. It quickly becomes clear, something is off about the abrasive Shirley. Despite that, Rose is curious about the woman behind the horror stories. 

 

When Things Take A Strange Turn Sometimes It's a Good Thing...

Rose's hope to audit classes while her husband establishes himself swiftly falls by the wayside in service to Fred's ambition. In an effort to gain Stanley's favor, Rose ends up nursemaid and house wife to the eccentric Shirley. She and Rose slowly bond. As time seems to give way to the story Shirley's writing, Rose exists less and less away from her. She's sucked into Shirley's process completely. Stanley a toxic, serial philander with an inflated sense of importance who soon comes to resent the young couple's presence despite initially demanding it.

What follows is a surreal day-in-the-life look into the abyss. It's never clear what's really happening and what amounts to falling into Shirley's mind. One one level, it just so well crafted you don't care. But beneath this atmospheric glimpse into these women's lives there's a certain emptiness that shouldn't be. 

 

Shirley Should've Been the Center 

Based on Susan Scarf Merrell's novel Shirley and directed by Josephine Decker, this adaptation makes the most the fictional character Rose. Odessa Young gives an ever-increasingly haunting performance that shines even as it doesn't entirely make sense. 

This is a gothic tale about a young woman lured into Shirley's orbit in a way that seals the two together in an captivating and manipulative dance. It's a story Jackson definitely would've written. There's betrayal, gas-lighting, bitter rivalry, back-biting and twisted love 

What "Shirley" isn't is a biopic and it absolutely should've been. Shirley Jackson was a deeply complex whose deep issues manifested in her writing. She wrote horror. The insidious kind that lingered in the psyche and unbalances the unsuspecting. Elizabeth Moss gives an unparalleled performance as a woman ostracized by the establishment, celebrated among the bohemian and utterly tormented by her own mind.

Who is Shirley Jackson?

This world that lacks proper context. Had Decker incorporated a broader array of details (like the fact Jackson's husband made her agree to accept his infidelities as a condition of marriage) about her, the story we're given would've feel so...niche. 

There are flashes of brilliance in how "Shirley" weaves her issues into the story we're given. There's not-so-silent commentary about docility and expectation that's downright engrossing to watch play out. Moss's portrayal comes with a twitchy-witchy edginess that most definitely could've carried a gritter, fuller look at Shirley Jackson. This agoraphobic, paranoid about her work, overtly hostile, wicked smart yet decidedly lacking in "womanly" charm woman is a walking metaphor ...

MTR's science team, PFunk & Coqui, talk about the US falling behind in scientific research and Georgia re-opening too soon.

Slower Hurricanes Are Not A Good Thing - https://www.sciencealert.com/hurricanes-are-slowing-down-because-of-co2-giving-them-more-time-to-wreak-havoc

US Not At the Forefront Of Scientific Research Anymore - https://www.sciencealert.com/in-1945-the-us-successfully-planned-for-75-years-of-science-research-what-s-next

COVID News

Two Year Tail for the Pandemic - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-01/covid-19-pandemic-likely-to-last-two-years-report-says

Georgia Lifts Stay at home order - https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-reports-1000-new-covid-cases-as-kemp-lifts-stay-at-home-order-2020-5

New Drug for COVID on the Market - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/gilead-gets-emergency-fda-authorization-for-remdesivir-to-treat-coronavirus-trump-says.html

 

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Considering this is a show that once ended the season with a giant Beebo doll fighting a demon, we thought we were prepared for the season 5 finale of Legends of Tomorrrow.

We were wrong. We weren't prepared for a cameo by Sisqo performing the Thong Song during the finale fight. Like..how could we? But before we got there, we got the absolutely hilarious "Congrats" video from the rest of the Arrowverse. This show is so fun. Things we loved:

* The theme of family coming together throughout the entire season

* The original Zari sacrificing herself to save Behrad 

* Mick and Lita's relationship 

* The Hall of Bad Ideas (The shakeweight was a terrible idea)

* The final fight taking place with the Thong Song Playing

* Sisqo performing the Thong Song like its 1999

* John Constantine's character arc

And there's so much more. Seriously, this is a masterfully written show that is ridiculous but never jumps the shark and knows just when to get serious. We can't wait for next season and what we can only assume is aliens. Bring it on.

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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Oh it's been too long. WAY TOO LONG. But The King is Back. Agents of SHIELD is back for it's seventh and final season. Oh how we've missed this show. This season is picking up right where we left off last season and is promising to bring us full circle. To save SHIELD in the future the team has to save Hydra? Oh yeah let's do it. Between Agents and Legends of Tomorrow, we have two shows that know how to have a fun time but also hit us in our feelings right when we least expected it. Seeing LMD Coulson get the rush of emotions of experiencing all that he's been through the last 2 years including his death and final goodbyes was rough. But it's also nice to know that he's basically the same Coulson with the same bad jokes (with a basic super power upgrade). 

Also gotta appreciate the racism and sexism they slipped into the episode sine the team is back in 1931. I mean, Mack might be Director of SHIELD but he's still a large black man in 1931. We appreciate the historical accuracy. 

Listen as we discuss this episode and strap in, it's gonna be a fun finale season.

 

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It's a TV show(s) inside of a TV show. Once again we're left asking "How can you not love Legends of Tomorrow?" Charlie "saved" the Legends by resuming her role as one of the Fates and putting the Legends on TV shows that gave each Legend what they "wanted". Of course that doesn't go as planned because when do the Legends ever behave like little good boys and girls? Once again sounding like a broken record, this episode does a great job of balancing the ridiculousness (Ultimate Buds!!!) with the serious (Ava remembering seeing Sara die, Behrad remembering he's dead on every timeline and John making a sacrifice so Astra can be happy). This show is so great. 

Kriss and Dpalm record the Mailbag at the end of every month. If you want to send in your own questions and thoughts, email us: [email protected]

 

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