True Believers: A Comic Book poDCast

In Episode Ten of True Believers, Andrew and Alana briefly walk into the world of "Fangs" by Sarah Anderson, and somehow devolve into a highly contentious quiz to determine which of them is chrs's REAL best friend.

NOTES:

• Alana is the friend mentioned at the end of the show notes of Episode Five: Back to the Future State.
• The “furry” thing we keep referencing is actually not that bad. He’s taking a nap in wolf form and starts wagging his tail when he opens his eye and sees that she’s changing in front of him.
• This was not a tinder date. They just met in a bar because Jimmy heard Elsie say that she was a dog person.
• The True Blood thing was actually an entirely different white guy named Andrew that I went to school with. Apologies to Andrew, my co-host.
• https://www.instagram.com/p/pB58KrJXxD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
• It’s probably important to mention that Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt don’t kiss romantically in “Interview With the Vampire”
• Campana is actually the Spanish word for Bell.
• Halle Berry is in the original X-Men trilogy, Michelle Pfieffer is in Ant-Man and The Wasp, Michael Keaton is in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Ben Affleck is in Daredevil.
• The thing that makes the Constantine thing debatable is that he’s a member of the Justice League. 
• The THIRD paragraph on Alan Moore’s wikipedia page starts off with “Moore is an occultist, ceremonial magician, and anarchist” - honestly wtf????
• Apparently Taylor Lautner has Dutch, French, and German ancestry, and has stated that he has "distant" Native American ancestry (specifically Odawa and Potawatomi, both Anishinaabe peoples) through his mother.
• Andrew meant to say that DC Comics Bombshells takes place in the 1940s, not the 1980s.

Music: “Onion March” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In the ninth episode of True Believers, Andrew & chrs give you everything you ever wanted. If what you wanted was a spoiler HEAVY review of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.

Follow us on instagram @truebelieverspod, on twitter @truebelieversp (yes, the name was too long), and on facebook @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)

If you want to speak to us directly, feel free to DM us on social media or email us at [email protected], or, you can leave us a voicemail at (650) 761-2629.

NOTES: 

• https://twitter.com/SimuLiu/status/1408804131150643204?s=20
• Katy Chen does, in fact, have a degree from Berkeley
• Zach Cherry (Do A Flip Guy) has apparently been campaigning for more Do A Flip Guy in the MCU since 2017, so I'm glad to see him back in a movie I would actually watch
• I don't know why I started singing "Out of My Mind" by BoB...my only explaination is that I've been over-watching tiktok
• The reason why nobody knows who  徐夏靈 Xu Xialing is is because she's going by Lingling in her Golden Daggers Club
• Comedian Ronny Chieng plays Jon Jon in Shang-Chi
• Andrew was right and scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials in the construction, maintenance and repair large man-made structures. I was talking about something completely different
• Katy's Chinese name is 瑞雯 Chen Ruiwen
• At the beginning of the movie, Shang-Chi's mother tells him that his pendant could lead him home if he ever got lost.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvhnRAd4V0
• I'm pretty sure that the correct terminology for the graffiti letters is "wildstyle"
• Ta-Lo (or Daluo Tian) is a pocket dimension in 616 that houses the Taoist Gods
• I still don't know what the other creatures were, but the lions are Chinese Guardian Lions (colloquially known as Foo Dogs) who represent yin and yang
• I don't think we ever mention it, but Shang-Chi and Xialing's mother's name is Jiang Li
• https://i.redd.it/mvzljcolxnz41.jpg
• Xialing's preferred weapon is a rope dart
• Kanan (50 Cent) did kill his son Shawn on Power
• I meant to say propelled, not rappelled
• Tristan Strong is a middle grade book character who Punches a Hole in the Sky, Destroys the World, and Keeps Punching
• In 616 the Dweller-In-Darkness is a Fear Lord, a group of mainly demonic beings who develop their powers throught the exploitation of the fear of others

Music: “Mysterious String Quartet” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In the eigth episode of True Believers: A Comic Book PoDCast, Andrew and chrs dip their toes into Marvel's latest Disney+ original, What If...?

Follow us on instagram @truebelieverspod, on twitter @truebelieversp (yes, the name was too long), and on facebook @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)

If you want to speak to us directly, feel free to DM us on social media or email us at [email protected], or, you can leave us a voicemail at (650) 761-2629.

NOTES: 

• Josh Keaton voices twink Steve Rogers.
• "One on One" is an American sitcom where an NBA player turned sportscaster (Flex Alexander) becomes a full-time dad when his teenage daughter (Kyla Pratt) moves in with him to avoid moving to Nova Scotia.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZNzyI2sLA
• In the fictional Captain America adventure programme, our hero's defenseless sweetheart  - BETTY CARVER - finds herself in the clutches of evil (Agent Carter episode "Bridge and Tunnel" 
• https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/hitlers-obsession-with-the-occult-35975075.html
• Hydra's emblem is apparently supposed to highlight how they have wrapped their tentacles into the framework of society. 
• https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Steve-Rogers-Patient-Health-Issues.jpeg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=310&dpr=1.5
• Djimon Hounsou plays Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. He understood the assignment. 
• Peter Quill is actually from Missouri. 
• Taneleer Tivan (aka The Collector) is one of the Elders of The Universe, and apparently in the MCU, apparently En Dwi Gast (aka The Grandmaster) is his brother.
• It was deeply unsurprising to chrs that the Wakandans had spaceship technology → https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Intergalactic_Empire_of_Wakanda
• Ophelia Lovibond plays The Collector's Krylorian slave Carina.
• Kurt Russell reprised his role as Ego in episode two and Brian T. Delaney played Peter Quill.
• Coulson's password is actually “Hashtag-Steve-Steve-Steve-I-Heart-Steve-0-7-0-4.”
• Divulge means to make something known. DIVERGE means to go in a different direction. 
• Samuel L. Jackson is actually seventy-two years old. And still killing it in these action roles, purrrrrr. 
• https://www.polygon.com/22620158/what-if-captain-carter-steve-episode-marvel-story

Music: “Mystery Unsolved” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In this off-the-wall interview with writer Jason Douglas, Andrew and chrs discuss his debut graphic novel "Parallel", the writing process, and just...overall have a good time because he's a nice man!

You can follow Jason on instagram (his only social media) at https://www.instagram.com/jdouglaswrites/

You can find and purchase physical (catch them quick, they're going fast) and digital copies of Parallel at https://sourcepointpress.com/products/parallel-ogn

If you want to find out more about the Ringo Awards (The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards), you can go to https://ringoawards.com/

NOTES: 

• Almost Famous (dir. Cameron Crowe) is the story of a teen journalist touring with a fictional rock band and attempting to get his first cover story published.
• https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Marsden_Matting
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48729949-angel-of-greenwood
• the "little girl" mentioned is sixteen year old American activist Marley Dias, the founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks
• The book referenced as the "happy slave book" is "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" written by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton which actually came out in 2016
• Cheesecake calendar is a slang term that became the publicly acceptable term for scantily-clad, semi-nude, or nude photos of women because pin-up was considered too racy in the early 20th century
• The briefly mentioned THUNDERBIRD aka JOHN PROUDSTAR is a currently deceased X-Man from the Yavapai–Apache Nation who was created in the mid-70s. He is an incredibly sore spot for christian, as she wasn't expecting him to die (she was young).  He also (apparently) appears in live action played by actor Blair Redford in THE GIFTED. (it is not clear if Redford's Native ancestry has been documented and/or verified)

If you want to speak to us, feel free to DM us on social media (instagram, facebook, and tiktok @truebelieverspod - twitter @truebelieversp), email us at [email protected], or leave us a voicemail at (650) 761-2629.

Music: “Dirty Gertie” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In the septenary episode of True Believers, Andrew & chrs cover the long and somewhat questionable history of Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu, as a quick guide for fans before the September 3rd premiere of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Follow us on instagram @truebelieverspod, on twitter @truebelieversp (yes, the name was too long), and on facebook @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)

If you want to speak to us directly, feel free to DM us on social media or email us at [email protected], or, you can leave us a voicemail at (650) 761-2629.

NOTES: 

• “In 2020, Shang-Chi starred in a self-titled five issue miniseries written by American Born Chinese author Gene Luen Yang with art by Dike Ruan and Philip Tan. Initially set for a June 2020 release, the first issue was delayed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” -Wikipedia
• Tony Shalhoub is actually doing a parody of David Carradine in Kung Fu in the movie Galaxy Quest “I can’t play an Asian guy. I won’t play an Asian guy. But I will play a guy who plays an Asian guy.” and he is the son of a Lebanese immigrant (I don’t remember if I said that I didn’t know what his ethnicity was, but, bases covered).
• Annette Bening absolutely DOES play Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel, and she’s the avatar of the Kree Supreme Intelligence.
• “The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu” (the first book in Sax Rohmer’s series) was published in 1913. Here is an article about the birth of the character: (It’s giving The Birth of a Nation vibes) http://philsp.com/SaxRohmer/birthof.htm
• Moving Shadow is actually Shang-Chi's half-brother.
• Jodie Landon, the self-proclaimed (and undisputed) ‘Queen of the Negroes’ in Daria is dating Michael Jordan “Mack” Mackenzie, my fourth favorite character on Daria behind Jodie, Mrs. Morgendorffer, and Principal Li.
• I, unfortunately, now know that there’s not a separate word for people who have bug fursonas, but it’s not an unheard of phenomenon. Please direct all questions about furry categorization, furries, or being a furry to askpapabear.com. If you direct them to me, I will tell you to go right to the pits of hell.
• The Peter Parker of Earth-92100 has six arms.
• https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EthnicMagician
• The Five Weapons Society is made up of the House of the Deadly Staff, the House of the Deadly Sabre, the House of the Deadly Dagger, the House of the Deadly Hammer, and the House of the Deadly Hand.
• I was going to verify my statement that the Protector of China was a Makluan and I ended up on the MCU wikipedia page instead by accident, so, you heard it here folks: the Great Protector is in Shang-Chi.
• https://time.com/3524847/gwen-stefani-racist-harajuku-girls/

Music: “Xenon Sentry” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In this episode (and on very short notice) Andrew and chrs unexpectedly tackle the young adult graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo.  

Follow us on instagram @truebelieverspod, on twitter @truebelieversp (yes, the name was too long), and on facebook @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)

If you want to speak to us directly, feel free to DM us on social media or email us at [email protected]

NOTES: 

• Trigon actually seduced Raven’s mother Arella (Angela Roth) under false pretences in a human form to get her to marry him and bear a half-human, half-demon child.
• Raven is a Cambion - the half-human half-demon offspring of an incubus, succubus, or demon with a human.
• chrs meant a HOMECOMING mum. There’s no such thing as a graduation mum. 

https://www.countryliving.com/life/g28035883/homecoming-mums-tradition-ideas/

• What was said about Slade is not without merit, and apparently it is a hot debate.
• The “Teen Titans Go!” episode referenced is called “Two Parter” and it’s episode 3x17
• “Once An Accident, Twice A Coincidence, Three Times A Pattern” - Alan Weiss, PhD.
• If you wanted to read more about Raven, you can find her in DC Special: Raven (2008) Raven (2016-2017), and Raven: Daughter of Darkness(2018-2019)
  
  

Music: “The Paladin's Underworld” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In this episode, Andrew + chrs step back into DC Nation’s Future State to recommend and review their favorite serieses. 

ig:  @truebelieverspod
twitter: @truebelieversp
facebook: @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)
email: [email protected]

NOTES: 

• Fun fact: chrs doesn’t even enjoy the movie “Back to the Future”
• Yara Flor’s design is inspired by an indigenous Brazilian model named Suyane Moreira
• The concept that chrs was thinking of when she was struggling to define Yara Flor’s story was a parable. A parable is a story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, and they’re very common in most theologies.
• It’s actually Brainiac’s skull ship where Diana encounters The Spectre. 
• The Spectre is...something like the DC Comics version of Ghost Rider. You’d have to look it up. I’m not wrong, but I’m also not making an effort to be right. 
• Their interplanetary group is called the United Planets. Not the Federation. 
• Before Krypton exploded, the Bottle City of Kandor was captured and miniaturized by Brainiac. After defeating him, Superman brought the city to his Fortress of Solitude and spent many years attempting to return it to the normal size. Because the people of Kandor are alive and thriving, Superman has never actually been the last son of Krypton.
• The space/time ocean was called the Confluence. A confluence is the joining of two rivers.
• chrs did in fact accidentally make a Moana reference. 
• The fish were called the Glimmerfish.
• The Aquaman: The Beginning miniseries starts on 9/21 and Brandon Thomas also wrote FS: Aquaman
• Bobo T. Chimpanzee is also known as Detective Chimp. Similarly to Throg and Spectre? You better use google.
• Andrew was wrong. It’s actually “Gone, gone, the Simian, arise the demon Etrigan.”
• The Doctor Fate of Future State is Khalid Nassour
• Mongol 2 actually said that Superman wouldn't be  able to save the people next to him, not that he wouldn't be saved.
• We both said "Mr. Terrific" but we both MEANT "Mister Miracle" ...sorry, Scott Free.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyE_l80D4Y
• Mikel Janín is pronounced like Mik-ell Yah-neen.
• My friend legitimately has somewhat of a Jesus fetish or, rather, has been known to be attracted to Jesus Christ in multiple forms of media. Talk about a holy roller.

Music: “Big Boi Pants” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

Following our inadvertent theme of multiversal mixup, in this off the rails episode Andrew and chrs recap and review the mad merry-go-round movie that is Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans.

Notes:

We apologize for the choppy sound editing towards the end of the episode. Andrew was up editing the episode at two in the morning because of work obligations.

Our bad.

• We accidentally said episode 3 at the beginning. This is  episode 4. 
• “Avengers: Endgame'' released in April of 2019 and “Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans” premiered at SDCC in July of 2019, but the digital release was in September of 2019.
• Lil Yatchy did write a significant portion of “Act Up” by City Girls after saying “no homo'' before going into the booth.
• The literal definition of Satire is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.”
• Teen Titans premiered in July of 2003 and the final episode, "Things Change," premiered in January of 2006, followed by the movie “Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo,” premiering  September the same year.
• There’s a 55-issue comic book called “Teen Titans Go!” based on the 2003 animated series and their continuity that’s mostly collected in six trade paperbacks.
• The “Nevermore” episode indirectly references the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. Ironically, the word ‘nevermore’ is a prophetic warning in the poem.
• In “Nevermore” Cyborg actually counsels against Beast Boy invading Raven’s room. Minding his black-owned business. We stan.
• The alternate aspects of Raven are her “emoticlones” that serve as a physical manifestation of her true feelings.
• “Tiny Titans'' was a two-time Eisner Award winning series featuring alternate versions of DC Comics characters in an elementary school environment. The initial series ran for 50-issues from February of 2008 to March of 2012, and from 2014-2015, the series revived with a 6-issue miniseries - “Tiny Titans: Return to the Tree House”
• “Auld Acquaintance” is the 26th episode of Young Justice, and the first season's finale. The only Justice League member who doesn’t get their shit rocked by the JV is Wonder Woman.
• I couldn’t be bothered to look up the H.I.V.E. episode we were referencing, but it’s interesting that their stupid battle catchphrases seem to parody Robin’s “Titans, GO!”
• When Raven mentions facing her demons, she’s directly referencing season 4 of Teen Titans.
• Santa Claus actually appears many times in Teen Titans Go! (largely as an antagonist) in the episodes “Second Christmas”, “The True Meaning of Christmas”, “The Teen Titans Go Easter Holiday Classic”, “Who's Laughing Now”, “Halloween v Christmas”, “Teen Titans Save Christmas”, and “The Streak”
• The stupid ‘Battle Ready Armor’ joke is a reference to the ubiquitous armor worn by the teen ninjas in  “Codename: Kids Next Door”
• Cyborg is the one who obtains the Worlogog after it goes flying out of Megan’s hands, which is understandable - before he was cybernetically enhanced and became a superhero, he was a promising young athlete.
• Teen Titans Go! Cyborg has the nerve to have actually yelled out “Cyborg Cycle, Activate Alpha Maneuver 42 Delta!” without having agreed on any codewords ahead of time.
• Because of their mythological association with misfortune and misery, a group of ravens is called An Unkindness.

Music: “The Victory Of Heroes” by Shane Ivers - www.silvermansound.com

In this mischievous episode, Andrew and chrs sort through six episodes of multiversal madness with a roguish recap and review of the Disney+ Loki show.

Follow us on instagram @truebelieverspod, on twitter @truebelieversp (yes, the name was too long), and on facebook @truebelieverspod (facebook.com/truebelieverspod)

If you want to speak to us directly, feel free to DM us on social media or email us at [email protected]

Notes: 

• The actress who plays Hunter B-15 is the gorgeous Oluwunmi “Wunmi” Mosaku
• chrs definitely knows how to pronounce Mjölnir, she was just joking.
• Sylvie Laufeydottir is based on two characters - Lady Loki (Loki taking a female form after being reincarnated post-Ragnarök) and Sylvie Lushton (a human girl enchanted by Loki to believe she was an Asgardian who styled herself after the first Enchantress, Amora ("Dark Reign: Young Avengers")
• "Journey into Mystery" is the name of a series published by Atlas Comics and later Marvel that ran “The Mighty Thor” by Lieber, Lee, and Kirby starting in issue #83. It was renamed for it’s breakout superhero star from issue #126 on, and has been revived as Journey into Mystery at least three times in the decades since.
• The Journey into Mystery Storyline chrs references is written by Kieron Gillen and starts with "Journey into Mystery vol. 1: Fear Itself"
• The Great Sphinx of Giza has a missing nose. No one knows exactly why the nose is missing, but many people believe that it was shot off with a cannonball by the French army under Napoleon Bonaparte.
• The Beyoncé song chrs references is called “BLACK EFFECT”.
• I refuse to recap Throg, Frog of Thunder. If you want to know? Google it.
• Alligator teeth of the lower jaw can not be seen when the jaw is closed. Crocodile teeth of the lower jaw can be seen when the jaw is closed. In crocodiles, the upper and lower jaw are about the same size. So, the upper and lower teeth interlock or interdigitate when the mouth shuts.
• Kid Loki, or KING Loki (as chrs would say) is the oldest variant in the Nexus, and has just never aged -  that’s why it’s his kingdom.