Welcome to Geektown

High school student, college student, photojournalist, teacher? Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man has actually held a number of different jobs over the years. Going in chronological order, we look at the various career paths Peter has taken, starting all the way back at his first appearance to today.

Following up on Episode 51, where we found out how Nick Fury started looking like Samuel L. Jackson in the comics, we discuss the miniseries Original Sin, and how that led to a whole new status quo for the original Nick Fury. Warning: If you don’t like eyeballs by themselves, do not check out the show notes.

Board games are a more popular pastime than ever, but different people have grown up with their own house rules, and may want to go back and “redo” their turn from time to time. A listener asks how important it is to follow the exact rules and stick to player decisions, and Kurt (with decades of board game playing under his belt) gives his opinion on the subject.

This mini-sode (it was required to be 1-2 minutes) was done for a podcasting contest. Joel L. wants to know if the heroes and villains who use "Doctor" in their codename deserve that title, and we find a surprising answer.

It has been a rough few weeks for the comic book industry, with news of abusers and other bad actors coming into (or back into) the light. I want to stand with and support those who were brave enough to come forward, and so this episode is a statement on that subject, as well as the ongoing issue of minority representation in comics, and its relation to Black Lives Matter.

Dungeons and Dragons has been seen played in many TV shows and movies. But, what did they get right, and what was totally wrong? A curious listener wants to know specifically about the “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” episode of Community, and Kurt obligingly breaks it down for her.

Let’s talk D&D Conventions! Well, not Conventions, but conventions, aka the social expectations one is likely to find when they first sit down at a table to play D&D, or other role-playing games. A new listener is afraid to start playing, and Kurt is here to assuage those fears, and let her (and you) know how you should behave at your first (and subsequent) session.

In this recurring feature, we look at the various heroes that have replaced the original, and what happens to them after their tenure is over. Maybe it’s because he’s a sidekick and not (usually) a solo hero, but Robin is one of the few cases where the original never actually came back. Instead, we’ve had a parade of Robins, which we’ll discuss in this episode.

In the fourth and final portion of this multi-episode interview, Kurt wraps up his talk with comic book writer/game writer and producer/college professor Evan Skolnick with some listener questions, mostly about the video game industry.

In part three of this multi-episode interview, Kurt continues his talk with comic book writer/game writer and producer/college professor Evan Skolnick, getting into his video game work, after briefly discussing his time at Acclaim Comics and the comic boom and bust of the 90s.