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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Source Material Comics Podcast.
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That's Evan Bevins over there, I'm Jesse Starger. We're excited
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because this.
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Is a comic book that we've been waiting to talk
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about and probably one of the more contemporary issues that
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will air on the Source Material Comics Podcast. There's been
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a few where I've got it the week and then
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talked about it like the week after or something like that.
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This is going to be sort of one of those.
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When did this release? Like a couple weeks back? A
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few weeks back?
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Yeah, yeah. This month. It's still technically September.
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That's right. So this is going to be Correct me
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if I'm wrong on the title. You have it right
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there in front of you. Is it Batman, Superman, or Superman, Batman?
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It's Batman, Superman. I never thought I'd see the day,
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but Batman gets top billing these days.
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Okay. Batman, Superman, Weird Al.
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Mm-hmm.
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World's weirdest, correct?
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Yes, sir.
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All right.
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I guess it went on sale September 2nd.
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It's been a while.
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Longer ago than I thought.
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Well, we'd known this was going to be getting released.
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I think my biggest curiosity was what kind of a
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story could they tell where Weird Al is palling around
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with two of DC's biggest heroes, most iconic heroes. Before
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we get into all that, obviously, we have an appreciation
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for Weird Al Yankovic. And.
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I don't know if you and I have had a
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chance on the Source Material show to talk about this.
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We're currently, ladies and gentlemen, cheap plug, for the Kapow!
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The Pop Culture Podcast, episode one of our breakdown for
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a 64-song tournament to determine what is the greatest Weird
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Al song. Evan and myself have participated, and that is
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currently out there to listen to. So we had our
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chance on that show to kind of express... our appreciation
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for Weird Al Yankovic. I don't think we've ever had
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a chance to do so on the Source Material Comics podcast.
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We both have a good idea, but our audience may not.
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So Evan Bevins, let the people know why you gravitate
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toward Weird Al. Some interactions, what you've done recently, by
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the way, with heading to the concert. Let the people
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know why Weird Al Yankovic.
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I think it was back in kindergarten, a friend of mine,
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his mom actually told my mom, hey, we got this
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tape from this guy who changes the words to all
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these songs. It's pretty crazy. And the album was Dare
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to Be Stupid. And I was hooked from there. Taking
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familiar songs and making them a whole lot weirder, a
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whole lot funnier. In some cases, making me listen to
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songs I otherwise wouldn't. Just crazy. cracking me up year
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after year after year. Something that I've laughed at and
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enjoyed these songs. My kids know him now. All three
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of us can sing the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
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Without any musical accompaniment earlier this year, I took my
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youngest to see Weird Al live down in Charleston. And
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I don't go to a lot of concerts. Sometimes it's
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an uphill battle for me to want to leave the house.
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But even seeing people perform live on TV or whatever, understandably,
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it's a little different. Sometimes it's just different. Sometimes you're like, eh,
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it sounded better in the studio, understandably. But his sounded
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just as good. Obviously, there were differences. There are some
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things you can't sing three different parts simultaneously. But he
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was great, and he just kept getting better as the
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show went on. Did we say how old he is?
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He's in his late 60s, I think. Dude's got more
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energy than I do, for sure. Just absolutely hilarious, has
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had a more enduring career than most of the artists
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he's parodied, can sing any style, is musically talented in instruments,
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not just vocally, and can write songs and is absolutely
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hilarious and seems to be just a genuinely nice dude. Right. Right.
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For example, when I interviewed him 10 years ago for
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an entertainment publication that our company did, when I completely
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whiffed on a joke he made, he was very polite
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and didn't say, I thought you knew my stuff and
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had a sense of humor. So, yeah. All right. Great dude.
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Yeah, so myself, I've tried to figure out what, happened
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first i'm fairly certain that i ended up with the
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weirdo in 3d cassette tape somehow nice um so that
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came out i was just looking it up that came
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out in 1984 i don't think this isn't where i'm
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buying that off the shelf i'm six years old at
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the time this releases i clearly remember listening to it
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in 87 88 somewhere around then There is a story
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that I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now,
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and you will hear it again when we do the
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second half of the bracket.
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Oh, good. I swear I can plan my bathroom break.
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Yes. So that album was, I mean, I had it
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in heavy rotation. Weird Al in 3D, just to kind
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of give everybody... the low down here on that album
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is eat it. All right. So probably one of the
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ones that I feel like is going to go pretty
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far in the bracket, by the way, we also had
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on that at the very end was nature trail to
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hell in three and in three D as a matter
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of fact. So like I said, heavy rotation at my house,
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my stepdad, we had been living with him for a
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couple of years at that point. Good guy, by the way.
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This is not going to be a good story that
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paints him in a great light. But he's a great guy, okay?
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He was watching out for the soul of his new stepson.
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And the fact that a song I played over and
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over had the word hell in it did not go
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so well with a man with pretty good Christian values.
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So much, in fact, that he took the tape and
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he grabbed the film out of the tape And just
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did this in front of me one day. It was rough.
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It's very rough. And I was like, dang, that was
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audio cassette tapes. Weren't easy to come by when you're 10.
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I just lost the tape that I really, really liked
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that will forever be like in my memory of how
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somebody got so upset over something really, really silly. Nature
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Trail to Hell is just basically poking fun at some
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of the crazy horror sequels that's out there, and it
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completely missed them. Of course, it's just poor Weird Al Yankovic,
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well poor me too, was a victim at that point
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of some really misplaced assumptions.
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I can sort of understand it. I ripped the what
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if in half because Wolverine ate a baby in it.
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Let me tell you, if my stepfather would have seen
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some of the comics that I was reading at 10
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years old, and I probably had that what if Inferno issue,
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but him cracking a comic open, not going to happen.
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Him happening to go to the bathroom while I'm playing
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Nature Trail to Hell, definitely happening. But anyway, so... I've always,
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I've at least appreciated what he was able to put
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out there since, you know, at least I was 10
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years old. Like a surgeon, all the, all the, the
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first thing you notice if you're a kid and you're
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listening to Weird Al Yankovic is the parodies, obviously, because
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those are the things that are catching everybody's eye. What
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you soon learn after that is, or at least I did,
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is the appreciation for some of his original material, I guess.
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It may be influenced by something else, but it's more,
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you could probably put it towards more original. I really
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I love the weird Al Yankovic kind of kept up
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with him. I can remember in 2003, I like many
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other people in the world had access to high speed
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Internet for the first time. And therefore, I had access
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to a lot of sites that would give you. free music.
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So long as you didn't catch a free virus at
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the virus alert. Um, you, so you wouldn't, uh, you know,
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so you had to pick and choose carefully, but at
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that point I got a lot of albums. Don't download
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the song. Um, anyway, sorry, I'm, I'm going, I'm just
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going to start reciting lyrics. Um, I got a lot
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of albums that I had missed.
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It was his best.
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It really is. Um, I had got a lot of
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albums that I had missed over the years. And at
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that time, I think, was it Poodle Hat? I believe
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had been released at that point. And so I caught up.
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I caught up. in 2003. And then the launch of Spotify,
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I put together my first ever, like best of Weird
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Al playlists, my favorites. So enjoyed them there. I, I
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think I watched UHF for the first time all the
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way through a few years ago. Um, I just, I do.
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Remember watching that at my grandparents' house and they didn't
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take it out and it was rented. So they didn't
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pull the tape apart, but there was one line in
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particular that that I think my mom or my grandparents
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heard and I was like.
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I don't know. Well, yeah, so I I think he
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has a great eye for making the absurd sound on great. I,
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I don't, I don't know. Great imagination to make ear,
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something like that. I have a great year to appreciate it.
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He has a great imagination to produce it. Yeah. The
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absurd is always something that I associate with him and
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I've always appreciated it. I, I can remember going to
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chorus and we'd have downtime while we were in choir,
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essentially just kind of milling around at the end of
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the day. And I would put on some stuff I
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recorded from Dr. Demento because it was silly and it
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was entertaining. And Weird Al was usually a part of
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that every once in a while. So, all right, all
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that to be said, we both, we both love this guy.
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We both appreciate what he's done. And wow, he is
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now in a DC comic. I don't know if you
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looked into this or not, but I assume this has
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got to be his first appearance, right? In a DC comic,
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because I have a feeling... At.
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Least in a comic.
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I saw he had a bunch of covers leading up
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to this.
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Well, at least two. On the 50th issue of Batman
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Superman World's Finest, which is one of the finest comics
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being produced today, there's a variant cover that he's on
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that I obtained from our mutual friend, Jordan... And then
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he messaged me. He's like, oh, did you want the
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other one? Which is for a series that I was
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kind of interested in, but wasn't. I was like, no, no,
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I'm going to exercise restraint. And then I'm like, oh,
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come on. Of course I want it. Which is him
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with Bizarro and Bat-Zarro as Norm-Al Yankovic.
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So I just want to give a shout out to
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Jordan here in Asylum Comics because he is a big.
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Weird Al fan as well. And he knew that we
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liked him so much that he held those back. Now,
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the thing is, is that... Did you... You asked for
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the first one, but he was kind enough to say,
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do you want the second one, right?
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Yeah.
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Didn't even ask me. Like, I went in there to
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pick up what was on my pull list, and he knew. Like,
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he just threw them in there. So he knew... And
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I think a lot of that is because he got
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them for you, he's got to get them for me too.
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So he's like, I'll throw them in there. And then...
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you and I were talking about getting this world's weirdest issue.
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He either heard it or I either mentioned it to him,
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but I, I did not ask him to pull it
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and he pulled it for me. And I assume same
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thing for you. So asylum comics, third street, Marietta, Ohio.
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If you're listening and you're in the area, stop in
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and tell Jordan, Hey, I heard about you on the
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source material comics podcast. And then he'll be like, dang,
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somebody listens.
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Yeah. I'd be like, well, let me tell you about Kapow.
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Yeah, let me show you this.
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I know I'll be more skeptical of this than you,
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but according to Google AI, the first in-story appearance of
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Weird Al in a comic book was in X-Factor number
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73 from October 1991. Okay. Where he appeared as a voice. Well,
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Peter David was writing it. Okay. I probably have that somewhere,
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so we may have to do some follow-up. So that
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could be an unspoken issue.
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Yeah, it falls right back in the 90s.
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And then it says his first physical comic book appearance
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was in Spider-Man and Deadpool No. 6.
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Okay, well.
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In Marvel. In DC Comics continuity, he first appeared in
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a publication in Batmite Presents Batman's Strangest Cases.
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And does it have a year on that one? 2011.
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I'm curious as to how many real-world figures are appearing
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in both Marvel and DC. I don't know. That might
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be a really, really exclusive list just to him.
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There's some famous instances with each one, but yeah, I
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can't think of too many.
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Yeah, it was.
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You gotta figure Obama had to have been in both.
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Okay. And Letterman.
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Letterman was on the cover of Avengers.
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Okay.
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I still remember Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter in Super
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Villain Team-Up. They weren't the villains and they weren't together.
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But they were both on the same issue. But, yeah,
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they were a lot of presidents.
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I bet you presidents. And then, my goodness, if we're
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just talking.
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I can think of at least two Marvel comics that
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Trump's been in. And he was referenced in Astro City
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when it was published by DC, I think.
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And if we are talking real world, maybe we should
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put a cap on how far we go back to
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maybe to the 60s or something like that. Yeah. Because
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I'm sure George Washington or Abraham Lincoln is going to
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be making appearances in both. So, well, regardless, how about this?
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Living celebrity now, the present living celebrity, he may be
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on that exclusive list that might only have a handful
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of that. Yeah. So.
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I don't know if Jeremy Lin ever showed up in
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DC continuity.
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Jeremy Lin was, what was he doing over in Marvel?
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He was playing basketball with the Hulk.
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That's right.
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Amadeus Cho.
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That's right. That's right. All right. Well, let's go ahead
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and get into our book here. I've got a synopsis written.
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Let's give the creative team first. So writers are Mark
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Wade and Tyrone Finch. Is that correct?
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Sounds right to me.
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Okay. Weird Al Yankovic is on Vibes. The art is
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by Dan Schoening and Fico Osseo. Colors by Louis or
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Louis Antonio Delgado and letters by Steve Wands. So here
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is our synopsis. You ready? Any notes or anything before
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I get into the synopsis here?
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No, I'm just like, like I said, this is, I mean,
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Mark Wade is the regular writer on Batman Superman World's Finest,
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which this is a takeoff of, and that's one of
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my favorite comics in a long time, probably my favorite
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one being published right now. Although the issue where they
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play baseball in hell didn't quite land. But otherwise, pretty
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fun stuff. It takes place, as this issue appears to,
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in some sort of nebulous period in DC's past. Although
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this one is a little harder to place, where Dick
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Grayson was still Robin. And that's just them encountering different aspects.
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It's basically just Mark Waid going, hey, you know what
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would be a cool story?
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Yeah.
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And going from there, although he did manage to cross
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it over with Justice League Unlimited present day, which he's writing. Okay.
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All right.
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Well, let me go ahead and I will deliver. We
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got a three paragraph synopsis here. I want to try to.
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I capture everything, so just kind of sit tight, and
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I'll read to you for a few, and then we'll
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talk about what we liked out of this thing. So
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here we go. So our comic opens years ago in Linwood, California.
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Straight out of Linwood.
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Straight out of Linwood. Was he eight at the time?
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He was pretty young. I can't remember.
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He was eight, yes.
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Eight years old. Eight years old. An eight-year-old Al Yankovic
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is confronted by a fifth-dimensional demon by the name of,
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oh boy, here we go. Let's see how the... You're on.
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Your own on the pronunciation bridge on this one.
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I walk alone. Fifth dimensional demon named Brixpertz, a collector
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of souls who challenges him to a musical wager. Owl
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soul against the demon's golden accordion. Brixpertz assumes the deal
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is only... Excuse me, is already won. After dazzling the
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boy with his own performance, but Al insists on taking
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his turn and proceeds to play so brilliantly that even
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the surrounding demons give him a perfect score. Defeated and
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moved to tears, Brickspert surrenders the golden accordion. Al takes
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it home, quickly discovers that it smells absolutely terrible, and
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shoves it away in his room where it remains forgotten
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for years. In the present day, trouble erupts in the
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fifth dimensional realm of Zerf. When Mr. Mixidil, ah, Mixis, Mixis,
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Mixis Piddalick.
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Mixis Piddalick. Yes. They do have a pronunciation in there.
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I love that. When Mr. Mixis Piddalick discovers that its
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magic and absurdity are disappearing, gifts turn boring, colorful surroundings
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become drab, and the impossible is replaced with the painfully ordinary.
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The same mundanity wave soon reaches Earth, stripping the extraordinary
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from people and places. The Joker becomes visually bland, Lex
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Luthor's kryptonite turns harmless, and Barry Allen becomes merely the
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fastest man on his pickleball team. Green Lantern becomes a
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traffic cop, and Zatanna is reduced to doing children's birthday
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party magic. And even heroes like the Doom Patrol and
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Ambush Bug... are transformed into dull versions of themselves. Batman, Superman,
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and Mix's Piddalick trace that the last surviving bit of
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weirdness is in Los Angeles, and that, of course, is
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where Weird Al has likewise been transformed into an ordinary
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office worker at the COG Corporation. Fortunately, though, some of
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Al's trademark weirdness survives, particularly inside his home where the
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long-forgotten golden accordion still radiates this fifth-dimensional magic. The group
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soon confronts the culprit, Mr. Nobody, the reality-warping absurdist. who
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has decided that modern society has become so unimaginative and
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repetitive that he will force the entire world into absolute normalcy,
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drive everyone mad with boredom, and then return as the
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savior who ushers in a new age of limitless absurdity.
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With Mix's magic weakening and Batman and Superman themselves beginning
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to succumb to the wave, Al retrieves the golden accordion
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and challenges Mr. Nobody through music. Al rejects Nobody's entire philosophy. Weirdness,
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he argues, cannot be imposed on people. It has to
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be something they choose for themselves. As the accordion's magic spreads,
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ordinary people rediscover their individuality and imagination, while Al declares
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that his music has always been about telling oddball kids
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that being weird is something to embrace rather than something
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to be ashamed of. His performance overwhelms Mr. Nobody, destroys
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the mundanity wave on Earth, and blasts the villain out
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of their dimension. After the battle, though, Al finds himself
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transported to a strange realm where Harvey the Wonder Hamster
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explains that Al has helped shape an entire nexus of imagination, frivolity,
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and absurdity. A kind of world powered by a weird force.
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From which Al has been drawing all along. Al initially
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worries that the magical accordion deserves the credit for saving
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the world, but Harvey helps him realize that the real power...
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came from Al himself. Before he can settle into his
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giant accordion-shaped home, Batman, Superman, and Mix's Piddalick arrive with
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one final problem. Zurf is still trapped beneath the mundanity wave.
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Although the golden accordion has been destroyed, because it got exploded,
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I think, when he played it, Batman reminds Al that
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it was only a tool, and the real weirdness has
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always been inside him. Armed with an ordinary accordion, Al
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plays again, restoring the fifth dimension and becoming an instant celebrity. Actually,
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I think he was a celebrity before he got there,
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but either way, he definitely impressed some people. And the
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adventure ends with Weird Al performing an impromptu concert for
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delighted imps, Superman on drums, and Batman working the cowbell.
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As the comic leaves readers with its perfectly appropriate final message...
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All is weird that ends weird. So there you go,
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Evan Bevins. I want to go first with my notes,
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and then I'm going to let you have the floor.
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I enjoyed what I got here. I believe that the
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crossover works. Sometimes it's kind of tough to put a
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real person into the DC universe, and I feel like
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that can kind of get awkward sometimes. You're kind of
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worried about the story they're going to tell, and can
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they faithfully write the... character or the person that you
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are either a fan of. And the book, it wisely
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treats Al as kind of like he's always existed in
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this world. At first I was like, oh, they pulled
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him into this world and he wakes up and he's like, hey,
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I was just getting ready for my concert. But no,
390
00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:02.250
he's actually been here for a little bit already.
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He's surprised Batman knows who he is and Batman says, Yes,
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you make comedy albums that Robin loves and I tolerate.
393
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And then he's like, will you do the blurb for
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my book or my next album or something like that?
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I think I think it's it's OK. I was kind
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of worried as far as the crossover goes or this
397
00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:25.650
this concept goes. I think I think it works. Superman
398
00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:28.029
is a fan, by the way, which is great. Now,
399
00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:31.390
as for the villain, Mr. Nobody, let me just ask you,
400
00:23:31.430 --> 00:23:33.450
what do you think about Mr. Nobody as the villain here?
401
00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:38.789
An inspired choice, a cosmic absurdist. Had you seen anything
402
00:23:38.829 --> 00:23:39.910
with him in it before?
403
00:23:40.430 --> 00:23:43.819
He's not reading it. No. Have you watched doom patrol?
404
00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.279
I don't think I have not, but yeah, he's most
405
00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:48.000
famously a doom patrol villain.
406
00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:48.759
Right.
407
00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.299
I don't know if he appeared before that, but especially
408
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in the Grant Morrison era, which if you want somebody
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to figure out how to weaponize absurdity and make you
410
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.500
take it deadly seriously, Grant Morrison is your guy.
411
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:03.019
Yeah. Yeah.
412
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:06.160
Um, I have a feeling Weird Al would read some
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Grant Morrison comics and be like, man, it's a little
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out there. But with respect.
415
00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:15.789
We've read a few Doom Patrol stories, I think. Watching
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the show, it does a great job of at least
417
00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:24.500
capturing that. And Mr. Nobody, played by Alan Tudyk. Oh, yeah,
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00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:30.069
that's right. So, done really well. And it's also... You
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00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:33.569
start to look at, like, okay, who's going to be
420
00:24:33.609 --> 00:24:37.829
an antagonist for Al Yankovic? And I think that Mr.
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00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:44.390
Nobody's probably... I definitely expected Mr. Mix's Piddalick to be
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00:24:44.609 --> 00:24:48.109
involved here. I did not expect Mr. Nobody, but when
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00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:51.680
it happened, I was like, oh, that hits. That's the
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way it's supposed to go.
425
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So... I would have kind of liked to see Al
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00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:58.109
look at the Joker and be like, dude, none of
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00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:02.369
that's funny. You are not funny. You have a problem.
428
00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:06.890
Okay, I also enjoyed the mundanity wave. I think that
429
00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:10.940
was a good concept here, turning everybody bland and normal.
430
00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:15.500
All the funny references to the poor heroes that didn't
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00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.619
make it out of the mundanity wave. I think the
432
00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:20.119
Doom Patrol is like sitting around a TV watching C-SPAN.
433
00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:22.519
Yeah, C-SPAN 2.
434
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:24.519
C-SPAN 2, like, oh, man.
435
00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:28.599
The stuff that isn't exciting enough for regular C-SPAN.
436
00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:31.480
Yeah, yeah. This thing is stripping away, like, all the
437
00:25:31.529 --> 00:25:36.529
individuality and imagination. So, great way to bring Al Yankovic
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into this thing. And his character is completely opposite of
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00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:44.569
what the mundanity wave imposes on people. And speaking of,
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I wouldn't call it message, but I guess it is. Like,
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Al's coming out here and saying, look... Weirdness is a
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vibe that can't be imposed on people, and this should
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be something that's celebrated. Do you think, did this feel
444
00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:58.440
preachy at all at any point to you?
445
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.519
I don't think so. I don't know. I guess maybe
446
00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:03.880
a little, but if anybody's going to preach to you,
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00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:07.960
aside from actual preaching, if Weird Al and Superman are
448
00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:09.640
telling you something, you ought to listen.
449
00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:13.059
This is more like, OK, Weird Al is like this
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00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:16.740
because of this and he believes in this. So I
451
00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:19.089
don't think it I don't think it got overbearing or
452
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:21.710
preachy in any way. I like the fact that they're like, OK,
453
00:26:21.809 --> 00:26:24.289
let's this is the message. Let's embrace it.
454
00:26:24.369 --> 00:26:28.890
So Weird Al always even despite some of his darker material,
455
00:26:29.009 --> 00:26:33.309
he always embraces positivity. And so, yeah, it it it fit.
456
00:26:34.450 --> 00:26:36.609
I think it fit pretty well. That's the message you
457
00:26:36.829 --> 00:26:38.890
would expect from Weird Al. He's certainly not going to
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be helping Mr. Nobody, and he doesn't want to be
459
00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:45.329
forced into a mold or whatever, but he doesn't want
460
00:26:45.369 --> 00:26:50.329
anybody to be forced into anything. Right. He's weird because that.
461
00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:54.119
Works for him. Are you okay with how Mark Waid
462
00:26:54.150 --> 00:26:54.880
portrayed him here?
463
00:26:55.410 --> 00:26:55.910
Oh, yeah.
464
00:26:56.490 --> 00:26:58.799
I'm sure Al had... He's obviously part of the creative
465
00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:02.559
team here with the vibe section, but any criticisms of how...
466
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:04.420
He was portrayed at all.
467
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:08.019
No, no, I didn't. I didn't see anything. He's been
468
00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:10.720
promoting this from the get-go, so he's got to be
469
00:27:10.789 --> 00:27:13.910
okay with it. Right. I figure at this point, he
470
00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:17.089
doesn't need the cash grab. So he's doing this because
471
00:27:17.109 --> 00:27:19.470
he enjoys it, and he probably wants to have at
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least a little input on it. I doubt that he
473
00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:25.109
demanded final approval of the script. One of my favorite
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00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:28.690
parts is where he is saving the world in the
475
00:27:28.730 --> 00:27:32.059
fifth dimension, and he's singing... a song to the Superman march,
476
00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:33.569
and it's like, and hey, if this isn't as good
477
00:27:33.609 --> 00:27:36.569
as my usual stuff, don't blame me. Mark Waid's writing this.
478
00:27:36.730 --> 00:27:39.410
Right.
479
00:27:39.529 --> 00:27:42.490
It fit with what I've seen in interviews and the
480
00:27:42.529 --> 00:27:45.710
persona he projects at the concert. And when I interviewed
481
00:27:45.750 --> 00:27:48.029
him by phone, he wasn't as weird, but heck of
482
00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:48.609
a nice guy.
483
00:27:49.150 --> 00:27:52.519
Yeah. All right. Your notes here, I'm just going to
484
00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:54.519
give you the opportunity to kind of dive in because
485
00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:55.680
you probably have some.
486
00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:57.160
Okay.
487
00:27:58.460 --> 00:27:59.160
Any Easter eggs?
488
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.440
I noticed most of them weren't, were more at some
489
00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:07.559
of his original songs because probably, I don't know what
490
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.960
the legalities are to reference some of the parodies, but
491
00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:16.109
right on the first page, we have Linwood, his album
492
00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:19.150
Straight Outta Linwood. And did you notice that to let
493
00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:22.769
you know exactly where Linwood is, it's 800 miles southwest of?
494
00:28:22.789 --> 00:28:24.759
Oh, McCurdy.
495
00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:30.059
And then, let's see. After that, of course, we had
496
00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.400
Harvey the Wonderhamster.
497
00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:35.450
Okay, so I need some help with that one. I
498
00:28:35.750 --> 00:28:39.950
pretty much consider myself a pretty good connoisseur of some
499
00:28:39.990 --> 00:28:42.950
of his stuff, but Harvey the Wonderhamster, for some reason,
500
00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:44.329
eludes me.
501
00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:49.240
Well, there's a song on Alapalooza called Harvey the Wonderhamster,
502
00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:53.539
and we get the lyrics to it when Harvey's introduced,
503
00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:56.970
at least the only lyrics I remember. I want to
504
00:28:57.089 --> 00:29:00.970
say it was on that Saturday morning TV show he had,
505
00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.579
which I almost never watched.
506
00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:04.599
Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
507
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:07.900
It might have been just outside the demographic somehow, or
508
00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:08.400
I don't know.
509
00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:11.319
It was mid to late 90s, wasn't it?
510
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:14.039
Yeah, so it would have been in high school, I guess.
511
00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:18.900
I think Harvey appeared on that. So we get Harvey
512
00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:22.619
the Wonder Hamster welcoming him into the weird force and
513
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:26.589
telling him, That he can stay there. It's like his Valhalla,
514
00:29:26.630 --> 00:29:28.779
his reward, and he's got a room right next to
515
00:29:28.819 --> 00:29:30.960
the noisy ice machine for all eternity.
516
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:32.779
Yeah.
517
00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:37.369
Which, if there's one criticism, I don't think that that
518
00:29:37.410 --> 00:29:39.970
was a reward in the song Everything You Know.
519
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:40.559
Is Wrong.
520
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.019
I guess if there's one place where maybe they missed
521
00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:48.400
slightly in terms of Weird Al. And then at one point,
522
00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:51.609
I think in his song Saving the World in the
523
00:29:51.670 --> 00:29:55.829
Fifth Dimension, when he's singing, did you notice that he
524
00:29:55.950 --> 00:29:58.569
referenced bear claws?
525
00:29:58.589 --> 00:29:58.660
Yes.
526
00:29:59.170 --> 00:30:01.410
And the one not spoiled man he never found.
527
00:30:01.849 --> 00:30:05.390
Yes. Another, another hit back to Albuquerque.
528
00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:10.049
Yeah. So yeah, enjoyed all that. I, I do have
529
00:30:10.109 --> 00:30:16.210
a couple of nitpicks. When the, the soul stealing imp appears,
530
00:30:16.230 --> 00:30:19.269
Al says, shouldn't they be playing for a fiddle? But
531
00:30:19.349 --> 00:30:22.089
if Al was eight, I believe that would have taken
532
00:30:22.130 --> 00:30:24.849
place in 1967. And the devil went down to Georgia.
533
00:30:24.890 --> 00:30:29.720
Wasn't released until 1979. Um, This is probably a multiversal thing.
534
00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:31.880
This may not even be Earth Prime or Earth One
535
00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:34.920
or whatever Earth is the main one in DC right now.
536
00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:38.400
So we can excuse that, which would also probably excuse why,
537
00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:41.400
if this is in the nebulous point in the past
538
00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:45.539
that Batman Superman World's Finest is set in, I don't
539
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.319
think the Michael Holt version of Mr. Terrific would be
540
00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:54.430
however he was in the movie. And I don't even
541
00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:57.589
know why. This is just how my comic fan brain works. works,
542
00:30:57.690 --> 00:31:01.069
I go, hey, wait a minute. But it's fine. It's great.
543
00:31:01.950 --> 00:31:07.339
The whole thing's fun from start to finish. What did Mr.
544
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:08.640
Terrific's sleeve say?
545
00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:12.480
Well, it's supposed to say fair play. I don't know.
546
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:13.640
What did it say in this one?
547
00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:14.839
Who cares?
548
00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:21.440
Who cares? Oh, they did the other Easter egg I missed.
549
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:24.150
When Harvey welcomes him into the world he helped create,
550
00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:25.750
he said, we're inside UHF?
551
00:31:26.289 --> 00:31:29.930
Yeah, yes, yes. Oh, it's great. It's classic.
552
00:31:30.910 --> 00:31:33.589
Yeah, when I found out it was happening, I told Jordan,
553
00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:34.769
I'm like, I got to have this one.
554
00:31:35.150 --> 00:31:36.130
Yeah.
555
00:31:36.210 --> 00:31:38.569
That was a gimme. But you're always kind of wondering,
556
00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:41.809
I don't know if I knew Mark Waid was the
557
00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:45.269
writer on it. You never know how these things are
558
00:31:45.289 --> 00:31:47.430
going to go. And sometimes there's lots of comics I
559
00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:51.539
have and I like because of the idea or what
560
00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:56.539
they represent. Like Stan Lee creating the DC Universe. I
561
00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:59.960
have all those trades. I love them. I'm not going
562
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:03.339
to argue that that's like the pinnacle of the art form.
563
00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:09.009
Or Stan Lee writing a random original future character like
564
00:32:09.069 --> 00:32:11.269
Ravage 2099, for example.
565
00:32:11.549 --> 00:32:12.509
This happened?
566
00:32:13.109 --> 00:32:17.849
Yeah, yeah. It's a thing. But this one, the execution
567
00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:20.970
is great. I can't... Nobody wants a grim and gritty
568
00:32:21.109 --> 00:32:22.990
Weird Al story. Okay, I kind of want a grim
569
00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:27.680
and gritty Weird Al story. Like maybe... Well, let's see.
570
00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:31.819
Who's the DC equivalent of the Punisher? Maybe Weird Al
571
00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:34.839
getting white and nerdy with Gangbuster or something like that.
572
00:32:34.859 --> 00:32:35.660
Oh, Gangbuster.
573
00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:38.839
Yeah, but okay, that could be funny. But this is
574
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:41.680
the story you need Weird Al in, and they could
575
00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:44.819
have had him face off against an antagonist who was
576
00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:48.619
obsessed with order or whatever. But how about Mr. Nobody,
577
00:32:49.529 --> 00:32:54.130
who might even be weirder than Al, but is missing
578
00:32:54.190 --> 00:32:56.930
the point of the weirdness? It's not for you, buddy.
579
00:32:57.299 --> 00:33:00.799
It's for everybody. What does he say? Weird isn't a mandate,
580
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:01.500
it's a vibe.
581
00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:02.599
That's right.
582
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:06.079
There were some great details, like when he's playing one
583
00:33:06.119 --> 00:33:10.599
of his epic accordion solos, he's turning law books into
584
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.759
issues of Mad Magazine. Yes.
585
00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:17.180
Saw that. That was great. Which, by the way, they
586
00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:19.460
share a name. We got Alfred E. Newman.
587
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:22.740
Well, yeah, and he's a fan of Mad Magazine, and
588
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:27.359
that is a DC property. So in the accordion duel,
589
00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:30.259
it cracked me up because I remember listening to The
590
00:33:30.299 --> 00:33:33.039
Devil Went Down to Georgia when I was in high school,
591
00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:35.180
and my friend's going, I don't know, man, I kind
592
00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:38.680
of think The Devil's solo was better. But that has
593
00:33:38.700 --> 00:33:41.180
always been something that gets me in works of fiction
594
00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:44.259
where it's like, oh, this is the song that changed
595
00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:46.720
the world, or this is this amazing song, and you're like,
596
00:33:47.339 --> 00:33:49.680
but is it, though? You know, it's like they're telling
597
00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:54.509
you it's amazing, but this one, the... Blixel Bird or
598
00:33:54.609 --> 00:33:58.890
whatever his name is, plays and it says gratuitous accordion solo.
599
00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:01.910
And then Al plays and it says, imagine the best
600
00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:05.509
accordion music you've ever heard. It's like, how can you
601
00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:06.089
argue with that?
602
00:34:06.289 --> 00:34:08.989
Yeah, it's a great visual joke, too, because you're reading
603
00:34:09.050 --> 00:34:11.699
a comic and you have to think about this song
604
00:34:11.739 --> 00:34:13.400
being played. And the only way you can get it
605
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:15.889
across as better is to say it. You got to
606
00:34:15.929 --> 00:34:16.309
say it.
607
00:34:17.349 --> 00:34:20.409
You could go with reactions or something else, but this
608
00:34:20.449 --> 00:34:22.409
is the best one. This is the prologue. This is
609
00:34:22.469 --> 00:34:25.690
not the main story here. I thought it was fun
610
00:34:25.730 --> 00:34:28.530
all the way through. I think it's true to what
611
00:34:28.570 --> 00:34:32.639
Weird Al tries to project. Is Batman brooding a little
612
00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:36.780
less than we expect? Sure, but there was Batman stuff
613
00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:41.500
before Tim Burton. And there exists Batman stories between Adam
614
00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:45.159
West and Robert Pattinson. One of the moments that I
615
00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:47.960
really liked, the art, I'm not familiar with this art team,
616
00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:51.159
but I think they were very well suited to the job.
617
00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:55.840
But when Al restores the imp's homeland, he says it worked,
618
00:34:55.900 --> 00:34:58.699
and Batman says a little too well. Superman's cape is
619
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:02.739
made of flowers, and Batman has a Mad Hatter hat on.
620
00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:03.429
Oh, yes.
621
00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:09.780
As Mixius Biddlelick is reuniting with his... Love, which, you know,
622
00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:14.579
go Mixie. In the background, Superman is heat visioning off
623
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:15.480
Batman's hat.
624
00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:18.079
Yes. That's good stuff.
625
00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:22.869
So, yeah, just fun all around. It's what I can give.
626
00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:25.989
to my daughter and you don't have to be steeped
627
00:35:26.050 --> 00:35:28.900
in comic lore or anything like that it's just hey
628
00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:32.699
superman superman batman's batman weird al's weird al and here's
629
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:34.599
the story you don't even have to know anything about
630
00:35:34.619 --> 00:35:37.739
mr nobody his name is nobody he warps reality and
631
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.340
he looks like that that's all you need to know
632
00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:44.599
it is new reader friendly just fun all around i
633
00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:46.900
don't know what else i would have expected for them
634
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:48.019
maybe bat might.
635
00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:51.880
Or maybe Well, he's had his run in already, apparently.
636
00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:53.099
We haven't had a chance.
637
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:53.639
Oh, that's true.
638
00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:57.849
Let me just go ahead and say that I had
639
00:35:57.889 --> 00:36:00.329
fun reading it. It was fun to point out, see
640
00:36:00.349 --> 00:36:02.150
the Easter eggs and see the fun things that were
641
00:36:02.210 --> 00:36:07.469
nodding to his songs. Probably my biggest criticism of the
642
00:36:07.510 --> 00:36:08.840
book is that I wanted more of it.
643
00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:09.809
Yeah.
644
00:36:09.889 --> 00:36:12.989
I feel like the writing team had a. They didn't
645
00:36:13.010 --> 00:36:15.960
want to overwhelm and seem like they were really leaning
646
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.719
into the gimmick or something like that. But that led me. Okay,
647
00:36:18.739 --> 00:36:20.699
so I'm giving this a six and a half out
648
00:36:20.739 --> 00:36:24.639
of ten. All right? But I'm going to give us
649
00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:29.099
the opportunity to make a what would make me give
650
00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:30.059
this a ten out of ten.
651
00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:30.500
Okay?
652
00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:32.920
Of course, we're going to have to change the story
653
00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:34.780
up a little bit. So the next Weird Al story
654
00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:36.690
that comes out, here's the ten out of ten for me.
655
00:36:36.809 --> 00:36:37.170
You ready?
656
00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:38.210
Okay.
657
00:36:38.429 --> 00:36:42.469
This all has to come from our minds. I want
658
00:36:42.510 --> 00:36:45.070
a 12-issue series, but I don't think we'd get a
659
00:36:45.070 --> 00:36:48.090
12-issue series on this.
660
00:36:48.170 --> 00:36:50.449
If you let Tom King tackle it and do a
661
00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:52.159
bunch of nine-panel grids.
662
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:56.780
We won't do that. And for the brevity of this podcast,
663
00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:59.099
we aren't going to do that. We are going to
664
00:36:59.139 --> 00:37:02.900
have a six-issue series, Evan Bevins. And from the mind
665
00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:07.219
of Evan Bevins, you have to now come up with...
666
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.320
Here's the premise. And then you have to come up
667
00:37:10.389 --> 00:37:15.380
with each issue... We are going to... This has been
668
00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:18.840
done in the movies a lot. The creator of said
669
00:37:18.909 --> 00:37:25.030
movie possibly or somehow winds up in a movie. Possibly
670
00:37:25.150 --> 00:37:28.929
even in a movie of their own creation. Weird Al
671
00:37:29.889 --> 00:37:36.989
gets transported into his songs and has to escape. Each
672
00:37:37.150 --> 00:37:41.349
issue is a song. Or it could be multiple. Up
673
00:37:41.369 --> 00:37:43.730
to you. We'll do... I would like to stick with
674
00:37:43.889 --> 00:37:48.929
one song per issue. Now, weird or not, Elvira did this.
675
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:51.579
This was done in an Elvira comic that me and
676
00:37:51.619 --> 00:37:54.599
Mark read. She went into some, like, classic films, right?
677
00:37:54.619 --> 00:37:56.260
And she had to try and escape or figure out
678
00:37:56.280 --> 00:37:59.960
what's up. But Weird Al gets transported into his song,
679
00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:03.980
so we have to figure out, like, what setting or
680
00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:08.210
what songs each issue is going to represent... Okay, I've.
681
00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:09.190
Got a starting point, JC.
682
00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:11.190
I've got two off the top of my head, but
683
00:38:11.230 --> 00:38:11.590
go ahead.
684
00:38:11.730 --> 00:38:16.110
Let's see where we're going. Okay. The biggest ball of
685
00:38:16.130 --> 00:38:17.150
twine in Minnesota.
686
00:38:17.510 --> 00:38:18.929
Oh, we're starting there. Okay.
687
00:38:19.469 --> 00:38:24.079
Well, this is my first idea. Maybe it's later on. Okay.
688
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:26.639
But he's got to get to the biggest ball of
689
00:38:26.659 --> 00:38:27.699
twine in Minnesota.
690
00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:28.579
Okay.
691
00:38:28.619 --> 00:38:31.219
Got to drive straight through for three whole days and nights.
692
00:38:31.699 --> 00:38:33.699
Of course, you stop for more pickled wieners now and then.
693
00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:35.090
But.
694
00:38:35.929 --> 00:38:38.610
Instead of a 53 DeSoto, it's going to be an
695
00:38:38.670 --> 00:38:42.219
old pickup truck. Oh. It's going to be traveling hard
696
00:38:42.469 --> 00:38:46.619
with a couple of hard-traveling heroes seeing America with Green
697
00:38:46.659 --> 00:38:47.840
Lantern and Green Arrow.
698
00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:52.889
Oh, wow. So we are bringing some... of the i
699
00:38:52.929 --> 00:38:56.989
wasn't expecting this i wasn't expecting to have some superhero.
700
00:38:56.170 --> 00:38:59.369
I thought we were talking still in the dc universe.
701
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:02.199
Yeah no that's fine i'm perfectly fine with that and
702
00:39:02.219 --> 00:39:05.619
i i was initially thinking like weird al on his
703
00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.500
own trying to get out actually bringing some heroes into
704
00:39:08.539 --> 00:39:13.780
this that's perfectly fine i love that idea because okay
705
00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:16.889
then we'll alternate here All right. So you got them
706
00:39:16.909 --> 00:39:18.780
going to the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
707
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:23.320
Like, hey, man, can you believe all the income inequality
708
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:27.119
and overpopulation and pollution? It's like, yeah, but check out
709
00:39:27.139 --> 00:39:28.449
the Tupperware Museum over here.
710
00:39:30.650 --> 00:39:36.739
All right. So this turns into a commentary, like possibly,
711
00:39:36.760 --> 00:39:39.920
and then Al just keeps ruining it with his absurdity somehow.
712
00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:43.420
Or pointing out that, hey, maybe you guys disagree about
713
00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:46.420
some things. Look at this magnificent ball of twine.
714
00:39:46.820 --> 00:39:47.139
Okay.
715
00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:49.639
What was he trying to do? Who was he trying
716
00:39:49.659 --> 00:39:49.800
to hurt?
717
00:39:52.250 --> 00:39:52.630
That's good.
718
00:39:52.929 --> 00:39:53.230
All right.
719
00:39:53.789 --> 00:39:59.110
So we'll say at the end of that issue, let's
720
00:39:59.150 --> 00:40:01.889
get into some alternate reality hijinks here. So we can
721
00:40:01.929 --> 00:40:06.730
bring in some alternate reality heroes and villains. Okay. But
722
00:40:07.269 --> 00:40:10.050
let's say somehow he falls into some kind of portal
723
00:40:10.070 --> 00:40:12.190
or whatever. His day is the guy runs off with
724
00:40:12.230 --> 00:40:14.429
his camera. He chases after him, and he falls into
725
00:40:14.469 --> 00:40:17.530
a portal. All right? And then he realizes that when
726
00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:22.650
he lands... The Earth has been scoured and nearly destroyed
727
00:40:23.230 --> 00:40:26.010
by the slime creatures from outer space.
728
00:40:26.449 --> 00:40:26.929
Oh, dear.
729
00:40:27.949 --> 00:40:30.920
Issue two is he has to team up with an
730
00:40:30.980 --> 00:40:34.900
alternate reality DC superhero. We've got to pick something. Well,
731
00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:36.059
from a.
732
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:39.159
Dystopian future, how about Kamandi, the last boy?
733
00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:42.000
All right, so we're cooking now. So that's part two.
734
00:40:42.099 --> 00:40:43.909
I'm not going to give the full plot because I
735
00:40:43.949 --> 00:40:47.059
have no idea what would happen. But somehow... He has
736
00:40:47.099 --> 00:40:51.099
to escape. Now he's realizing, I've got to get back home.
737
00:40:51.980 --> 00:40:56.360
I'm in an alternate reality. He somehow falls backwards into
738
00:40:56.449 --> 00:41:00.670
saving the planet with Commandee, and then he also somehow
739
00:41:00.750 --> 00:41:03.469
falls backwards into a portal and goes into another universe.
740
00:41:03.489 --> 00:41:05.510
I have no idea what's causing this to happen. Maybe
741
00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:07.710
that'll be the big reveal at the end. The big
742
00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.230
reveal at the end is going to be Armageddon 2001,
743
00:41:10.210 --> 00:41:12.989
and it's going to be Hawk, and everybody's going to
744
00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:16.880
be mad. So, okay. So that's issue two. Issue three,
745
00:41:17.460 --> 00:41:18.360
where's he going next?
746
00:41:19.210 --> 00:41:23.269
Well, he thinks he's back in his own world, but
747
00:41:23.750 --> 00:41:25.590
he doesn't know anybody, so he's got to get a
748
00:41:25.630 --> 00:41:29.579
job like a regular guy. He hears about some of
749
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:32.380
the weird things going on there in Gotham City. I'm
750
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.380
going real obscure here, Jesse.
751
00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:36.949
I'm sorry. All right, all right, that's all right.
752
00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:40.039
So he's got a job. He's keeping his head down.
753
00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:43.019
Being weird in Gotham City, that can lead to villainy.
754
00:41:43.059 --> 00:41:45.980
Maybe he gets a couple of offers to hinge for
755
00:41:46.019 --> 00:41:48.500
some people, but he's just going to keep his head down,
756
00:41:48.940 --> 00:41:53.630
go to his office job on the same bus every day.
757
00:41:54.369 --> 00:41:57.110
And I know what you're thinking. Another one rides the bus.
758
00:41:58.449 --> 00:42:01.469
But this other one who's riding the bus is a
759
00:42:01.530 --> 00:42:03.889
striking redheaded Barbara Gordon.
760
00:42:04.900 --> 00:42:05.599
Oh, goodness.
761
00:42:05.980 --> 00:42:08.559
And she's polite enough to nod at him when he
762
00:42:08.619 --> 00:42:16.130
waves on the bus on the Jackson Park Express. Launching
763
00:42:16.150 --> 00:42:17.610
a whirlwind romance.
764
00:42:18.619 --> 00:42:19.460
That never happens.
765
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:20.920
It's all in Al's mind.
766
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:22.159
Never happens.
767
00:42:23.340 --> 00:42:26.420
And she leaves. And he can't find her again because
768
00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:28.400
she had to duck into an alley and put on
769
00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:29.039
a costume.
770
00:42:29.539 --> 00:42:32.389
All right. I love that. So she ducks into the alley.
771
00:42:32.449 --> 00:42:35.190
He goes after her, right? He's finally decided he's going
772
00:42:35.210 --> 00:42:38.030
to make his move. The one thing that doesn't happen
773
00:42:38.750 --> 00:42:41.630
in the song, he doesn't make his move, but he's
774
00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:44.050
finally going to make his move. He turns the corner
775
00:42:44.170 --> 00:42:46.650
and then he, of course, in his haste, steps through
776
00:42:46.690 --> 00:42:50.960
another portal. Like you do. So now we're in issue four, right?
777
00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:53.670
So we've got to have, we're just going to throw
778
00:42:53.889 --> 00:42:57.590
everything out the window because things have gotten really strange.
779
00:42:57.610 --> 00:42:59.690
He has no idea what's going on. He starts to
780
00:42:59.750 --> 00:43:04.170
recognize some of these things, but somehow we have to
781
00:43:04.289 --> 00:43:10.539
visually conceive everything you know is wrong as a comic book.
782
00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:14.159
And he's just trying to figure out what the heck
783
00:43:14.179 --> 00:43:17.039
has happened. How do I get back to where I'm going?
784
00:43:17.099 --> 00:43:20.000
He's obviously aware he's no longer in Gotham. He's not
785
00:43:20.059 --> 00:43:24.940
home again. So whatever happens there, I don't know how
786
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:26.280
we get out of that situation.
787
00:43:26.300 --> 00:43:29.059
Well, who is the perfect DC character to guide him
788
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.309
through this world where everything you know is wrong?
789
00:43:31.869 --> 00:43:34.090
Oh, okay. So this is going to be somebody we
790
00:43:34.130 --> 00:43:35.809
may have just ran into. But anyway, go ahead.
791
00:43:36.630 --> 00:43:38.170
Well, let's see.
792
00:43:38.809 --> 00:43:39.670
Let's take it this way.
793
00:43:40.269 --> 00:43:42.929
Okay. Bizarro am not the obvious choice.
794
00:43:43.969 --> 00:43:45.010
Oh, oh, right.
795
00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:49.389
All right. I can't, yeah. Yeah, yeah. If everything you
796
00:43:49.429 --> 00:43:51.469
know is wrong, Bizarro has to be there.
797
00:43:51.829 --> 00:43:55.949
That's true. I like that. Okay, so he goes through
798
00:43:55.969 --> 00:43:59.389
this crazy world with Bizarro. All sorts of shenanigans are happening.
799
00:43:59.730 --> 00:44:02.889
Bizarro's explaining it, so the reader still has to try
800
00:44:02.929 --> 00:44:04.610
to read it like five times to figure out what
801
00:44:04.630 --> 00:44:06.170
he's trying to say. And then.
802
00:44:06.230 --> 00:44:08.250
At some point, Al's got to point out, like, is
803
00:44:08.289 --> 00:44:12.199
that really the opposite? Like the line on Seinfeld. Why
804
00:44:12.239 --> 00:44:16.110
would he say... why would he say goodbye for hello?
805
00:44:16.150 --> 00:44:17.269
Wouldn't he say bad bye?
806
00:44:19.889 --> 00:44:23.219
At least six, six incidents of that happening in the
807
00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:27.500
comic for sure. All right. So we're heading into issue five.
808
00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:30.440
This is yours. Um, I really don't know if I
809
00:44:30.460 --> 00:44:31.820
can come up with a good finale cause I got
810
00:44:31.840 --> 00:44:33.460
to come up with a good villain, but all right.
811
00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:36.519
Issue five rolls around. He, he somehow flies through it.
812
00:44:36.539 --> 00:44:38.030
Do you want to go five? Cause I know where
813
00:44:38.050 --> 00:44:39.409
the finale has to take place.
814
00:44:39.510 --> 00:44:40.349
Okay. All right then.
815
00:44:40.369 --> 00:44:43.010
I think where the finale has to take place too.
816
00:44:43.349 --> 00:44:46.909
When you say it, I'll be like, well, yeah, no doubt. Gosh,
817
00:44:47.150 --> 00:44:50.110
what would be the next song then that he has
818
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.969
to he would go into? So we've gotten some pretty
819
00:44:52.989 --> 00:44:55.840
street level stuff. We've gotten some really crazy stuff with
820
00:44:55.900 --> 00:44:58.199
issue four. So we've got to kind of bring things
821
00:44:58.260 --> 00:45:01.360
back down. Plus, we also have to like Al's putting
822
00:45:01.380 --> 00:45:04.739
things together. Like he's finally like trying to he's starting
823
00:45:04.760 --> 00:45:07.000
to put like, OK, this is the person that's either
824
00:45:07.019 --> 00:45:10.320
messing with me or he's he's getting clues. And he's
825
00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:13.000
finally starting to figure out like, OK, I've got to
826
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:15.110
get back. And this is the person that's messing with me.
827
00:45:15.730 --> 00:45:20.949
So what Weird Al World would this be? I could
828
00:45:20.969 --> 00:45:28.230
go with one of my favorites. But it would be completely....
829
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:28.320
No.
830
00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:34.059
Well, shoot. Okay, so I've got to ask. You'd probably know.
831
00:45:35.139 --> 00:45:36.119
The Condiment King.
832
00:45:37.210 --> 00:45:37.570
Okay.
833
00:45:38.230 --> 00:45:40.130
Are we DC or are we.
834
00:45:40.269 --> 00:45:44.250
Oh, yeah. On Batman the Animated Series, although... His weapons
835
00:45:44.309 --> 00:45:49.050
made an appearance in the Absolute Power crossover issue of
836
00:45:49.070 --> 00:45:49.630
Green Lantern.
837
00:45:50.269 --> 00:45:51.750
Okay, so we're in DC.
838
00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:53.260
Yeah, Condiment King, yes.
839
00:45:53.940 --> 00:45:57.480
The Condiment King meets the Waffle King.
840
00:45:57.500 --> 00:45:59.179
Nice.
841
00:46:00.760 --> 00:46:05.280
So Al steps into this new universe. Everybody's treating him
842
00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:09.449
like royalty, right? And he is enjoying it, as he should.
843
00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:12.650
And somehow he runs afoul of the Condiment King. Now,
844
00:46:12.690 --> 00:46:15.929
the Condiment King is a lackey, all right? And he's maybe,
845
00:46:16.449 --> 00:46:18.349
I don't know if he's an alternate world guy or not.
846
00:46:18.409 --> 00:46:21.010
I feel like he seems like that would be an
847
00:46:21.110 --> 00:46:25.400
alternate world. Take to me if this is DC Prime
848
00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:26.260
or something like that.
849
00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:30.400
He debuted on the animated series, but he has been
850
00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:33.219
inducted into the DC Universe proper now.
851
00:46:33.409 --> 00:46:35.389
Okay, well, we're just going to pretend that this is
852
00:46:35.449 --> 00:46:39.550
a world, this is an Elseworlds. where the Condiment King
853
00:46:40.150 --> 00:46:42.809
has had his way with the world, and it turns
854
00:46:42.869 --> 00:46:46.449
out the Waffle King, who is revered by everybody, is
855
00:46:46.550 --> 00:46:47.289
going to be... I.
856
00:46:49.090 --> 00:46:49.349
Don't know.
857
00:46:49.550 --> 00:46:51.809
Things are going to get settled with a cook-off. Waffles
858
00:46:51.849 --> 00:46:55.909
for everybody! And then as we're going through the story,
859
00:46:55.929 --> 00:46:58.329
this is all straight off the top of my head,
860
00:46:58.829 --> 00:47:02.670
as we're going through the story, Al starts to figure out, like, okay,
861
00:47:03.650 --> 00:47:07.630
he's working for somebody. He goes and he... tries to
862
00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:11.489
track down the Condiment King and the Condiment King escapes
863
00:47:11.530 --> 00:47:15.239
through a portal and Al follows him right after. Now,
864
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:16.980
I really hope this is a great lead-in to what
865
00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:19.119
you're going through. Because I might have threw you under
866
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:20.480
the bus if I set things up bad.
867
00:47:21.360 --> 00:47:24.360
Here's the thing, Jesse. Al's been going through all these
868
00:47:24.420 --> 00:47:27.760
different worlds. They're familiar, but they're different. He's not sure.
869
00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:31.690
Things keep changing all the time. But he's had one
870
00:47:31.769 --> 00:47:37.489
constant with him through it all. Through... Slime creatures from
871
00:47:37.570 --> 00:47:44.349
outer space, journeys across America, even a plane crash. He's
872
00:47:44.389 --> 00:47:50.820
always had that lucky, lucky autograph glow-in-the-dark snorkel. So, of course,
873
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.559
what does Condiment King take through that portal with him?
874
00:47:53.579 --> 00:47:55.840
Oh, no. No!
875
00:47:56.940 --> 00:48:00.639
So, he has to track him down to where it's
876
00:48:00.679 --> 00:48:04.860
all got to end. A magical faraway place... Where the
877
00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:07.199
air smells like warm root beer and the towels are
878
00:48:07.260 --> 00:48:08.159
also fluffy.
879
00:48:08.639 --> 00:48:09.360
Oh my gosh.
880
00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:12.969
Where the Shriners and the Lepers play their ukuleles all
881
00:48:13.010 --> 00:48:16.349
day long. Anybody on the street will gladly shave your
882
00:48:16.369 --> 00:48:17.130
back for a nickel.
883
00:48:17.989 --> 00:48:21.090
What I want in this issue, I don't want any
884
00:48:22.130 --> 00:48:27.480
overt dialogue that points out what's happening. I want it
885
00:48:27.519 --> 00:48:30.079
to all happen on the page and people have to
886
00:48:30.119 --> 00:48:33.940
be like, wait a second, that guy is shaving his back?
887
00:48:34.780 --> 00:48:36.340
I'm going to be able to pick that out, but
888
00:48:37.059 --> 00:48:39.559
I'm just going to say I want every single image
889
00:48:39.820 --> 00:48:42.880
from that, was it nine minutes?
890
00:48:42.900 --> 00:48:43.840
Yeah, 11 minutes.
891
00:48:44.059 --> 00:48:47.099
I want every image from that 11-minute song to make
892
00:48:47.139 --> 00:48:50.780
it into that comic book. And I interrupted you. Please continue.
893
00:48:50.940 --> 00:48:55.340
No, that's okay because it's all got to lead to Albuquerque.
894
00:48:56.159 --> 00:48:59.840
But here's the question, Jesse. Who's the villain? Who's the mastermind?
895
00:48:59.900 --> 00:49:01.969
And I will give you three choices.
896
00:49:02.530 --> 00:49:07.000
Oh, dude. I've got to come up with a... No, no, no.
897
00:49:07.079 --> 00:49:08.559
I've got your three. You've got to pick.
898
00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:10.780
Oh, okay. All right.
899
00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:12.239
Or feel free to throw in.
900
00:49:12.260 --> 00:49:14.380
I'm not going to guess. I'm not guessing anything.
901
00:49:14.980 --> 00:49:17.019
I'm going to tell you, and you tell me who
902
00:49:17.039 --> 00:49:17.739
should be the villain.
903
00:49:18.179 --> 00:49:19.610
Got it. Okay, so.
904
00:49:20.030 --> 00:49:23.130
Condiment King, he could be a lackey for a lot
905
00:49:23.170 --> 00:49:26.590
of people, but what if he was working for a
906
00:49:27.610 --> 00:49:31.090
villain only a few rungs higher than him who knows
907
00:49:31.179 --> 00:49:36.320
that he can't achieve super villain status through the traditional means,
908
00:49:36.340 --> 00:49:39.420
so he's got to do things a little bit weird. Okay.
909
00:49:40.530 --> 00:49:44.809
And so it's not the guy you'd expect, but he
910
00:49:44.849 --> 00:49:48.489
can't just come straight at taking out the most powerful heroes.
911
00:49:49.369 --> 00:49:53.349
So at the end of it all, this guy only
912
00:49:53.389 --> 00:49:57.349
has one nostril because he was in an accident in
913
00:49:57.389 --> 00:50:01.869
his new experimental kite. We're talking about Charles Brown himself,
914
00:50:01.949 --> 00:50:05.269
Kite Man. Cosmic Kite Man.
915
00:50:07.110 --> 00:50:11.010
Oh my gosh. So... Wow.
916
00:50:11.239 --> 00:50:16.010
Or is it another villain who usually doesn't but has
917
00:50:16.090 --> 00:50:21.329
dabbled with cosmic powers and for whom insanity and chaos
918
00:50:21.449 --> 00:50:24.510
is his native language and who I would love to
919
00:50:24.570 --> 00:50:29.309
see Al debate the merits of what's really funny? Is
920
00:50:29.369 --> 00:50:30.090
it the Joker?
921
00:50:30.429 --> 00:50:32.440
The Joker. Okay. All right.
922
00:50:33.329 --> 00:50:35.969
It just occurred to me Psycho Pirates, probably a pretty
923
00:50:36.090 --> 00:50:39.179
obvious option here with breaking the fourth wall and stuff.
924
00:50:39.239 --> 00:50:42.260
But the other one I was thinking of, you already
925
00:50:42.500 --> 00:50:50.179
alluded to it, the villain no one sees coming, Hank Hall. Monarch.
926
00:50:51.500 --> 00:50:55.650
And so somewhere in Albuquerque, instead of Zelda, he meets
927
00:50:55.730 --> 00:51:00.210
Dawn Granger. And she asks Weird Al to help her
928
00:51:00.329 --> 00:51:04.349
defeat her former partner, Looks him straight in the eye
929
00:51:04.389 --> 00:51:06.530
and says, I want a new hawk.
930
00:51:07.309 --> 00:51:17.599
Oh, dude, come on. Come on. Oh, that was great.
931
00:51:18.539 --> 00:51:23.199
That's great. Well, OK, so we end this. We've got
932
00:51:23.219 --> 00:51:25.139
the plot. We've got we've got a great idea for
933
00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:25.940
a six issue series.
934
00:51:26.300 --> 00:51:28.699
Maybe we rearrange it. Maybe we start out slow. Make
935
00:51:28.739 --> 00:51:30.800
Jackson Park Express the first issue.
936
00:51:31.139 --> 00:51:31.400
Okay.
937
00:51:31.500 --> 00:51:34.119
All right. We can rearrange it some. I don't know.
938
00:51:34.139 --> 00:51:35.030
We can workshop this.
939
00:51:35.110 --> 00:51:36.190
I've got my man.
940
00:51:36.269 --> 00:51:38.869
I like the idea of a quiet slice of life,
941
00:51:39.510 --> 00:51:43.130
almost romance comic that then gets weird and cosmic. I agree.
942
00:51:43.150 --> 00:51:46.510
There's pacing issues here. You're probably right. You're probably right.
943
00:51:47.889 --> 00:51:50.969
I can't say that I've had more fun talking about
944
00:51:51.110 --> 00:51:54.940
an imaginary Weird Al comic than what we just did.
945
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:57.760
That was a good time. All right, any other notes
946
00:51:57.780 --> 00:51:59.420
that you had before we get into plugs?
947
00:52:00.260 --> 00:52:02.809
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to see more,
948
00:52:02.829 --> 00:52:04.630
but at the same time, I think they did it
949
00:52:04.710 --> 00:52:07.429
about as well as could be done. I'm not saying
950
00:52:07.489 --> 00:52:10.690
more wouldn't be good, but you don't want to overdo
951
00:52:10.730 --> 00:52:13.949
it either. If they use our idea, sure. But otherwise,
952
00:52:14.130 --> 00:52:16.530
I think it was pretty darn good, and I got
953
00:52:16.570 --> 00:52:18.550
my money's worth out of this comic.
954
00:52:18.750 --> 00:52:19.760
Yeah, yeah.
955
00:52:19.889 --> 00:52:21.280
I'm just saying something these days.
956
00:52:22.019 --> 00:52:24.510
It's true. I was sitting there thinking, like, I don't
957
00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:26.989
own any comics with Weird Al in them. I gave
958
00:52:27.010 --> 00:52:28.389
this a six and a half out of ten, but
959
00:52:28.429 --> 00:52:31.789
the fact that it's that still wouldn't deter me. There's
960
00:52:31.809 --> 00:52:34.670
something to having that. I really do appreciate it.
961
00:52:35.070 --> 00:52:36.869
I didn't think of a number rating, but I'd go
962
00:52:36.889 --> 00:52:37.929
at least seven and a half.
963
00:52:38.489 --> 00:52:38.730
Okay.
964
00:52:39.329 --> 00:52:42.010
I don't know if I'd quite get to eight. It's
965
00:52:42.230 --> 00:52:44.050
pretty much exactly what I would have wanted, so.
966
00:52:45.110 --> 00:52:47.699
Okay, all right. Are you making another joke, a reference?
967
00:52:47.880 --> 00:52:48.039
No.
968
00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:50.260
Okay, for a second there, I'm like, I'm going through
969
00:52:50.300 --> 00:52:52.119
all of my Weird Al knowledge. I'm like, he's saying
970
00:52:52.159 --> 00:52:52.860
these numbers specifically.
971
00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:55.659
No, if it had been just okay with a few
972
00:52:55.719 --> 00:52:57.380
good jokes, it would have been good enough for now.
973
00:52:57.780 --> 00:52:58.340
I knew it!
974
00:52:59.570 --> 00:53:01.869
No, I wasn't trying to until you said it, and
975
00:53:01.929 --> 00:53:04.869
I'm like, well, I guess I'll go for it. Okay, well,
976
00:53:04.889 --> 00:53:06.510
we need to do plugs because I got a boogie.
977
00:53:07.030 --> 00:53:10.170
All right, there it is, ladies and gentlemen. We have
978
00:53:10.210 --> 00:53:13.949
discussed the world's weirdest. We really hope you had a
979
00:53:13.969 --> 00:53:18.239
good time. So Evan Bevins, tell everybody what you've got
980
00:53:18.460 --> 00:53:20.659
on your plate on the Internet as well.
981
00:53:21.460 --> 00:53:25.539
Go over to Substack, look for EB asterisk 51, and
982
00:53:25.579 --> 00:53:27.699
that's where you can find my newest writing and some
983
00:53:27.739 --> 00:53:31.300
of my, well, I started to say recycled or reused,
984
00:53:31.320 --> 00:53:34.280
but I call it remastered because that sounds classy, which
985
00:53:34.409 --> 00:53:36.429
just means that I put a new intro on it
986
00:53:36.449 --> 00:53:39.719
and fix a typo. But, hey, it's remastered. I'm doing
987
00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.480
more with movies right now than with comics, but there
988
00:53:42.500 --> 00:53:45.139
will be plenty of both coming up. I am working
989
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:47.690
my way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a feat that
990
00:53:47.730 --> 00:53:51.869
has never been attempted in the history of Internet content creation.
991
00:53:51.889 --> 00:53:53.130
That's my understanding.
992
00:53:53.389 --> 00:53:56.170
Not even by people on, like, threads or Twitter just going, hey,
993
00:53:56.230 --> 00:53:59.070
I'm watching the Marvel. No, nobody's ever thought of this before.
994
00:53:59.150 --> 00:53:59.349
Nope.
995
00:53:59.590 --> 00:54:05.230
I'm also working my way through another hip contemporary cutting-edge series, Rocky.
996
00:54:06.079 --> 00:54:06.539
That's right.
997
00:54:08.099 --> 00:54:09.920
Hey, he's got a new movie and a new book
998
00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:13.900
out this year. That's right. Got my finger on the
999
00:54:13.940 --> 00:54:18.099
pulse of something. And then today, when we're recording this
1000
00:54:18.340 --> 00:54:21.650
over on the Magazines and Monsters channel, Billy Dee, a.k.a.
1001
00:54:21.690 --> 00:54:24.969
Doc Strange, released the next installment of our journey through
1002
00:54:25.030 --> 00:54:29.150
Marvel fanfare with the start of a four-part Black Widow
1003
00:54:29.210 --> 00:54:31.190
story drawn by George Perez.
1004
00:54:31.769 --> 00:54:32.289
Oh, wow.
1005
00:54:32.309 --> 00:54:32.889
Wow.
1006
00:54:32.929 --> 00:54:34.219
Wow. All right.
1007
00:54:34.440 --> 00:54:37.360
So just gives you everything you need to know about
1008
00:54:37.380 --> 00:54:40.650
the Black Widow in 1983. That sounds sarcastic, but it's not.
1009
00:54:40.690 --> 00:54:43.030
It just means more stories happened after that, but gets
1010
00:54:43.070 --> 00:54:45.190
you right up to the point where Black Widow is
1011
00:54:45.269 --> 00:54:48.690
and sends her off on a mission of international intrigue
1012
00:54:49.309 --> 00:54:54.239
and inexplicably continues artist Gil Kane's adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's
1013
00:54:54.280 --> 00:54:54.940
The Jungle Book.
1014
00:54:56.440 --> 00:54:58.559
How long, what part are you guys in on that one?
1015
00:54:58.699 --> 00:55:03.090
Like, I think there's like three or four of them.
1016
00:55:03.179 --> 00:55:05.949
This is the second one. But I didn't ever sit
1017
00:55:05.989 --> 00:55:09.050
around going, I wonder what a legendary comic artist would
1018
00:55:09.090 --> 00:55:12.469
do with the original source material of the Jungle Book.
1019
00:55:12.530 --> 00:55:15.599
But if you're going for a prestige, high-profile comic, do
1020
00:55:15.619 --> 00:55:17.059
something a little different. Knock yourself out.
1021
00:55:17.619 --> 00:55:20.300
Yeah, have a good time.
1022
00:55:20.380 --> 00:55:23.079
So yeah, we do that once a month. And occasionally,
1023
00:55:23.420 --> 00:55:25.869
Billy has me on to talk about some weird comics,
1024
00:55:25.909 --> 00:55:27.369
weird movies, that sort of thing.
1025
00:55:28.579 --> 00:55:31.639
Very cool. Well, yeah, hey, just right off the bat,
1026
00:55:32.300 --> 00:55:34.559
if you guys like Marvel Snap, you can go check
1027
00:55:34.599 --> 00:55:36.780
out the Snap Material podcast where me and Evan Bevins
1028
00:55:36.820 --> 00:55:38.500
get together and we talk Marvel Snap and have a
1029
00:55:38.519 --> 00:55:42.179
good time doing that. Also, on the Source Material Comics podcast,
1030
00:55:42.239 --> 00:55:46.239
we do comic books of any era. And, my goodness.
1031
00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:49.179
Like 2026. Yeah, as a matter of fact.
1032
00:55:49.610 --> 00:55:51.710
You can go check out me and Mark Radulich talking
1033
00:55:51.769 --> 00:55:56.530
about the Bruce Wayne murderer slash fugitive. That just wrapped up.
1034
00:55:57.320 --> 00:55:59.840
And I just realized I did not put the poll
1035
00:55:59.940 --> 00:56:02.719
out for September for the unspoken issue stuff. I'm going
1036
00:56:02.739 --> 00:56:05.769
to have to do that. We're a little late. That's
1037
00:56:05.809 --> 00:56:06.710
all right. That's all right.
1038
00:56:07.090 --> 00:56:08.289
You've got a couple hours left.
1039
00:56:08.769 --> 00:56:11.739
I do. Only a one-hour poll. Get your votes in now.
1040
00:56:12.300 --> 00:56:13.159
I just meant to start it.
1041
00:56:15.210 --> 00:56:17.989
The Unspoken Issues podcast where we talk 90s comics all
1042
00:56:18.010 --> 00:56:21.300
the time. Monday. Shoot, I need to get this. I
1043
00:56:21.340 --> 00:56:22.780
need to get this on the website. It's been so
1044
00:56:22.820 --> 00:56:26.659
long since I've posted something on the Unspoken Issues Facebook site.
1045
00:56:26.739 --> 00:56:30.559
Me and Chris Armstrong got together and we talked Backlash Spider-Man.
1046
00:56:31.059 --> 00:56:34.469
So if you are an Image Comics fan or a
1047
00:56:35.010 --> 00:56:39.309
fan of the Ben Reilly era of Spider-Man, you might
1048
00:56:39.349 --> 00:56:41.130
want to check that out. We had a good discussion,
1049
00:56:41.190 --> 00:56:44.000
had a fun time. That was on, I think, the
1050
00:56:44.340 --> 00:56:47.300
poll winner of our 96 number ones, if I remember right.
1051
00:56:47.679 --> 00:56:51.980
So for August. All right. We're getting out of here.
1052
00:56:52.280 --> 00:56:55.610
That is Evan Bevins over there. I'm Jesse Starcher. Stay weird.
1053
00:56:55.820 --> 00:56:59.530
Stay wonderful. Something weird out.
1054
00:56:59.710 --> 00:57:01.190
Stick the landing.
1055
00:57:03.010 --> 00:57:06.929
Which I did not do. Thanks for joining us. All
1056
00:57:06.969 --> 00:57:10.329
of this would not be possible without W2Mnet.
1057
00:57:08.909 --> 00:57:12.750
Com, so make sure to seek them out for more podcasts.
1058
00:57:13.849 --> 00:57:16.230
If you enjoyed what you heard today, please feel free
1059
00:57:16.250 --> 00:57:19.050
to share, and we look forward to entertaining you again soon.
1
00:00:00.070 --> 00:00:04.070
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Source Material Comics Podcast.
2
00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:08.570
That's Evan Bevins over there, I'm Jesse Starger. We're excited
3
00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:09.550
because this.
4
00:00:24.089 --> 00:00:25.910
Is a comic book that we've been waiting to talk
5
00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:30.320
about and probably one of the more contemporary issues that
6
00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:33.619
will air on the Source Material Comics Podcast. There's been
7
00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:35.100
a few where I've got it the week and then
8
00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:37.390
talked about it like the week after or something like that.
9
00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:39.950
This is going to be sort of one of those.
10
00:00:40.009 --> 00:00:41.950
When did this release? Like a couple weeks back? A
11
00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:42.530
few weeks back?
12
00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:45.810
Yeah, yeah. This month. It's still technically September.
13
00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:50.140
That's right. So this is going to be Correct me
14
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:51.479
if I'm wrong on the title. You have it right
15
00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:56.240
there in front of you. Is it Batman, Superman, or Superman, Batman?
16
00:00:56.409 --> 00:00:59.229
It's Batman, Superman. I never thought I'd see the day,
17
00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:01.509
but Batman gets top billing these days.
18
00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.370
Okay. Batman, Superman, Weird Al.
19
00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:06.150
Mm-hmm.
20
00:01:06.709 --> 00:01:08.609
World's weirdest, correct?
21
00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:09.969
Yes, sir.
22
00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:10.790
All right.
23
00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:13.030
I guess it went on sale September 2nd.
24
00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:13.530
It's been a while.
25
00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:14.829
Longer ago than I thought.
26
00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:18.829
Well, we'd known this was going to be getting released.
27
00:01:19.030 --> 00:01:21.390
I think my biggest curiosity was what kind of a
28
00:01:21.409 --> 00:01:25.459
story could they tell where Weird Al is palling around
29
00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:31.159
with two of DC's biggest heroes, most iconic heroes. Before
30
00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:36.239
we get into all that, obviously, we have an appreciation
31
00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:39.120
for Weird Al Yankovic. And.
32
00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:42.950
I don't know if you and I have had a
33
00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:45.439
chance on the Source Material show to talk about this.
34
00:01:45.469 --> 00:01:50.079
We're currently, ladies and gentlemen, cheap plug, for the Kapow!
35
00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:56.219
The Pop Culture Podcast, episode one of our breakdown for
36
00:01:56.540 --> 00:02:00.760
a 64-song tournament to determine what is the greatest Weird
37
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:04.359
Al song. Evan and myself have participated, and that is
38
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.609
currently out there to listen to. So we had our
39
00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:13.460
chance on that show to kind of express... our appreciation
40
00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:15.979
for Weird Al Yankovic. I don't think we've ever had
41
00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.060
a chance to do so on the Source Material Comics podcast.
42
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.319
We both have a good idea, but our audience may not.
43
00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:28.830
So Evan Bevins, let the people know why you gravitate
44
00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:33.050
toward Weird Al. Some interactions, what you've done recently, by
45
00:02:33.069 --> 00:02:35.330
the way, with heading to the concert. Let the people
46
00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.129
know why Weird Al Yankovic.
47
00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:41.370
I think it was back in kindergarten, a friend of mine,
48
00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:44.409
his mom actually told my mom, hey, we got this
49
00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:46.789
tape from this guy who changes the words to all
50
00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:50.810
these songs. It's pretty crazy. And the album was Dare
51
00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.259
to Be Stupid. And I was hooked from there. Taking
52
00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:59.639
familiar songs and making them a whole lot weirder, a
53
00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.259
whole lot funnier. In some cases, making me listen to
54
00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:07.310
songs I otherwise wouldn't. Just crazy. cracking me up year
55
00:03:07.409 --> 00:03:10.870
after year after year. Something that I've laughed at and
56
00:03:10.909 --> 00:03:14.650
enjoyed these songs. My kids know him now. All three
57
00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:17.349
of us can sing the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
58
00:03:19.009 --> 00:03:22.349
Without any musical accompaniment earlier this year, I took my
59
00:03:22.409 --> 00:03:25.960
youngest to see Weird Al live down in Charleston. And
60
00:03:25.979 --> 00:03:30.199
I don't go to a lot of concerts. Sometimes it's
61
00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.080
an uphill battle for me to want to leave the house.
62
00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:38.060
But even seeing people perform live on TV or whatever, understandably,
63
00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:42.129
it's a little different. Sometimes it's just different. Sometimes you're like, eh,
64
00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:48.610
it sounded better in the studio, understandably. But his sounded
65
00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:50.830
just as good. Obviously, there were differences. There are some
66
00:03:50.849 --> 00:03:54.530
things you can't sing three different parts simultaneously. But he
67
00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:56.669
was great, and he just kept getting better as the
68
00:03:56.710 --> 00:03:58.300
show went on. Did we say how old he is?
69
00:03:58.370 --> 00:04:01.849
He's in his late 60s, I think. Dude's got more
70
00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:08.169
energy than I do, for sure. Just absolutely hilarious, has
71
00:04:08.310 --> 00:04:12.400
had a more enduring career than most of the artists
72
00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:20.870
he's parodied, can sing any style, is musically talented in instruments,
73
00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:24.930
not just vocally, and can write songs and is absolutely
74
00:04:24.990 --> 00:04:28.430
hilarious and seems to be just a genuinely nice dude. Right. Right.
75
00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:32.660
For example, when I interviewed him 10 years ago for
76
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:38.199
an entertainment publication that our company did, when I completely
77
00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.360
whiffed on a joke he made, he was very polite
78
00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:43.170
and didn't say, I thought you knew my stuff and
79
00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:49.850
had a sense of humor. So, yeah. All right. Great dude.
80
00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:56.910
Yeah, so myself, I've tried to figure out what, happened
81
00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:01.850
first i'm fairly certain that i ended up with the
82
00:05:01.990 --> 00:05:07.319
weirdo in 3d cassette tape somehow nice um so that
83
00:05:07.379 --> 00:05:09.139
came out i was just looking it up that came
84
00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.980
out in 1984 i don't think this isn't where i'm
85
00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.019
buying that off the shelf i'm six years old at
86
00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:20.079
the time this releases i clearly remember listening to it
87
00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:26.360
in 87 88 somewhere around then There is a story
88
00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:28.990
that I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now,
89
00:05:29.019 --> 00:05:31.009
and you will hear it again when we do the
90
00:05:31.069 --> 00:05:32.569
second half of the bracket.
91
00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:36.129
Oh, good. I swear I can plan my bathroom break.
92
00:05:37.149 --> 00:05:42.480
Yes. So that album was, I mean, I had it
93
00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.259
in heavy rotation. Weird Al in 3D, just to kind
94
00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:48.819
of give everybody... the low down here on that album
95
00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:54.389
is eat it. All right. So probably one of the
96
00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:56.209
ones that I feel like is going to go pretty
97
00:05:56.250 --> 00:05:59.009
far in the bracket, by the way, we also had
98
00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:03.959
on that at the very end was nature trail to
99
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.560
hell in three and in three D as a matter
100
00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:11.560
of fact. So like I said, heavy rotation at my house,
101
00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.360
my stepdad, we had been living with him for a
102
00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.589
couple of years at that point. Good guy, by the way.
103
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.519
This is not going to be a good story that
104
00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.660
paints him in a great light. But he's a great guy, okay?
105
00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:26.689
He was watching out for the soul of his new stepson.
106
00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:30.410
And the fact that a song I played over and
107
00:06:30.470 --> 00:06:33.629
over had the word hell in it did not go
108
00:06:33.689 --> 00:06:36.170
so well with a man with pretty good Christian values.
109
00:06:38.350 --> 00:06:41.250
So much, in fact, that he took the tape and
110
00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.850
he grabbed the film out of the tape And just
111
00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:48.949
did this in front of me one day. It was rough.
112
00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:52.610
It's very rough. And I was like, dang, that was
113
00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:57.310
audio cassette tapes. Weren't easy to come by when you're 10.
114
00:06:57.310 --> 00:06:59.689
I just lost the tape that I really, really liked
115
00:07:00.129 --> 00:07:03.209
that will forever be like in my memory of how
116
00:07:03.430 --> 00:07:09.220
somebody got so upset over something really, really silly. Nature
117
00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:12.339
Trail to Hell is just basically poking fun at some
118
00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.519
of the crazy horror sequels that's out there, and it
119
00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.889
completely missed them. Of course, it's just poor Weird Al Yankovic,
120
00:07:19.930 --> 00:07:23.110
well poor me too, was a victim at that point
121
00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:26.529
of some really misplaced assumptions.
122
00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:29.100
I can sort of understand it. I ripped the what
123
00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.310
if in half because Wolverine ate a baby in it.
124
00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:33.850
Let me tell you, if my stepfather would have seen
125
00:07:33.930 --> 00:07:35.850
some of the comics that I was reading at 10
126
00:07:35.850 --> 00:07:39.389
years old, and I probably had that what if Inferno issue,
127
00:07:41.589 --> 00:07:44.649
but him cracking a comic open, not going to happen.
128
00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:47.050
Him happening to go to the bathroom while I'm playing
129
00:07:47.089 --> 00:07:53.500
Nature Trail to Hell, definitely happening. But anyway, so... I've always,
130
00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.120
I've at least appreciated what he was able to put
131
00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:59.240
out there since, you know, at least I was 10
132
00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:02.040
years old. Like a surgeon, all the, all the, the
133
00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.189
first thing you notice if you're a kid and you're
134
00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.649
listening to Weird Al Yankovic is the parodies, obviously, because
135
00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:09.629
those are the things that are catching everybody's eye. What
136
00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:12.430
you soon learn after that is, or at least I did,
137
00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:17.209
is the appreciation for some of his original material, I guess.
138
00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:19.779
It may be influenced by something else, but it's more,
139
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you could probably put it towards more original. I really
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I love the weird Al Yankovic kind of kept up
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with him. I can remember in 2003, I like many
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other people in the world had access to high speed
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Internet for the first time. And therefore, I had access
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to a lot of sites that would give you. free music.
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So long as you didn't catch a free virus at
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the virus alert. Um, you, so you wouldn't, uh, you know,
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so you had to pick and choose carefully, but at
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that point I got a lot of albums. Don't download
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the song. Um, anyway, sorry, I'm, I'm going, I'm just
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going to start reciting lyrics. Um, I got a lot
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of albums that I had missed.
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It was his best.
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It really is. Um, I had got a lot of
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albums that I had missed over the years. And at
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that time, I think, was it Poodle Hat? I believe
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had been released at that point. And so I caught up.
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I caught up. in 2003. And then the launch of Spotify,
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I put together my first ever, like best of Weird
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Al playlists, my favorites. So enjoyed them there. I, I
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think I watched UHF for the first time all the
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way through a few years ago. Um, I just, I do.
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Remember watching that at my grandparents' house and they didn't
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take it out and it was rented. So they didn't
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pull the tape apart, but there was one line in
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particular that that I think my mom or my grandparents
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heard and I was like.
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I don't know. Well, yeah, so I I think he
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has a great eye for making the absurd sound on great. I,
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I don't, I don't know. Great imagination to make ear,
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something like that. I have a great year to appreciate it.
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He has a great imagination to produce it. Yeah. The
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absurd is always something that I associate with him and
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I've always appreciated it. I, I can remember going to
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chorus and we'd have downtime while we were in choir,
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essentially just kind of milling around at the end of
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the day. And I would put on some stuff I
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recorded from Dr. Demento because it was silly and it
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was entertaining. And Weird Al was usually a part of
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that every once in a while. So, all right, all
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that to be said, we both, we both love this guy.
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We both appreciate what he's done. And wow, he is
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now in a DC comic. I don't know if you
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looked into this or not, but I assume this has
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got to be his first appearance, right? In a DC comic,
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because I have a feeling... At.
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Least in a comic.
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I saw he had a bunch of covers leading up
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to this.
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Well, at least two. On the 50th issue of Batman
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Superman World's Finest, which is one of the finest comics
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being produced today, there's a variant cover that he's on
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that I obtained from our mutual friend, Jordan... And then
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he messaged me. He's like, oh, did you want the
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other one? Which is for a series that I was
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kind of interested in, but wasn't. I was like, no, no,
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I'm going to exercise restraint. And then I'm like, oh,
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come on. Of course I want it. Which is him
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with Bizarro and Bat-Zarro as Norm-Al Yankovic.
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So I just want to give a shout out to
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Jordan here in Asylum Comics because he is a big.
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Weird Al fan as well. And he knew that we
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liked him so much that he held those back. Now,
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the thing is, is that... Did you... You asked for
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the first one, but he was kind enough to say,
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do you want the second one, right?
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Yeah.
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Didn't even ask me. Like, I went in there to
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pick up what was on my pull list, and he knew. Like,
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he just threw them in there. So he knew... And
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I think a lot of that is because he got
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them for you, he's got to get them for me too.
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So he's like, I'll throw them in there. And then...
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you and I were talking about getting this world's weirdest issue.
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He either heard it or I either mentioned it to him,
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but I, I did not ask him to pull it
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and he pulled it for me. And I assume same
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thing for you. So asylum comics, third street, Marietta, Ohio.
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If you're listening and you're in the area, stop in
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and tell Jordan, Hey, I heard about you on the
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source material comics podcast. And then he'll be like, dang,
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somebody listens.
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Yeah. I'd be like, well, let me tell you about Kapow.
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Yeah, let me show you this.
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I know I'll be more skeptical of this than you,
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but according to Google AI, the first in-story appearance of
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Weird Al in a comic book was in X-Factor number
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73 from October 1991. Okay. Where he appeared as a voice. Well,
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Peter David was writing it. Okay. I probably have that somewhere,
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so we may have to do some follow-up. So that
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could be an unspoken issue.
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Yeah, it falls right back in the 90s.
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And then it says his first physical comic book appearance
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was in Spider-Man and Deadpool No. 6.
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Okay, well.
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In Marvel. In DC Comics continuity, he first appeared in
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a publication in Batmite Presents Batman's Strangest Cases.
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And does it have a year on that one? 2011.
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I'm curious as to how many real-world figures are appearing
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in both Marvel and DC. I don't know. That might
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be a really, really exclusive list just to him.
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There's some famous instances with each one, but yeah, I
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can't think of too many.
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Yeah, it was.
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You gotta figure Obama had to have been in both.
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Okay. And Letterman.
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Letterman was on the cover of Avengers.
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Okay.
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I still remember Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter in Super
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Villain Team-Up. They weren't the villains and they weren't together.
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But they were both on the same issue. But, yeah,
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they were a lot of presidents.
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I bet you presidents. And then, my goodness, if we're
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just talking.
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I can think of at least two Marvel comics that
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Trump's been in. And he was referenced in Astro City
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when it was published by DC, I think.
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And if we are talking real world, maybe we should
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put a cap on how far we go back to
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maybe to the 60s or something like that. Yeah. Because
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I'm sure George Washington or Abraham Lincoln is going to
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be making appearances in both. So, well, regardless, how about this?
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Living celebrity now, the present living celebrity, he may be
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on that exclusive list that might only have a handful
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of that. Yeah. So.
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I don't know if Jeremy Lin ever showed up in
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DC continuity.
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Jeremy Lin was, what was he doing over in Marvel?
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He was playing basketball with the Hulk.
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That's right.
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Amadeus Cho.
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That's right. That's right. All right. Well, let's go ahead
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and get into our book here. I've got a synopsis written.
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Let's give the creative team first. So writers are Mark
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Wade and Tyrone Finch. Is that correct?
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Sounds right to me.
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Okay. Weird Al Yankovic is on Vibes. The art is
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by Dan Schoening and Fico Osseo. Colors by Louis or
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Louis Antonio Delgado and letters by Steve Wands. So here
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is our synopsis. You ready? Any notes or anything before
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I get into the synopsis here?
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No, I'm just like, like I said, this is, I mean,
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Mark Wade is the regular writer on Batman Superman World's Finest,
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which this is a takeoff of, and that's one of
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my favorite comics in a long time, probably my favorite
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one being published right now. Although the issue where they
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play baseball in hell didn't quite land. But otherwise, pretty
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fun stuff. It takes place, as this issue appears to,
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in some sort of nebulous period in DC's past. Although
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this one is a little harder to place, where Dick
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Grayson was still Robin. And that's just them encountering different aspects.
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It's basically just Mark Waid going, hey, you know what
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would be a cool story?
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Yeah.
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And going from there, although he did manage to cross
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it over with Justice League Unlimited present day, which he's writing. Okay.
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All right.
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Well, let me go ahead and I will deliver. We
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got a three paragraph synopsis here. I want to try to.
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I capture everything, so just kind of sit tight, and
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I'll read to you for a few, and then we'll
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talk about what we liked out of this thing. So
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here we go. So our comic opens years ago in Linwood, California.
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Straight out of Linwood.
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Straight out of Linwood. Was he eight at the time?
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He was pretty young. I can't remember.
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He was eight, yes.
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Eight years old. Eight years old. An eight-year-old Al Yankovic
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is confronted by a fifth-dimensional demon by the name of,
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oh boy, here we go. Let's see how the... You're on.
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Your own on the pronunciation bridge on this one.
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I walk alone. Fifth dimensional demon named Brixpertz, a collector
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of souls who challenges him to a musical wager. Owl
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soul against the demon's golden accordion. Brixpertz assumes the deal
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is only... Excuse me, is already won. After dazzling the
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boy with his own performance, but Al insists on taking
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his turn and proceeds to play so brilliantly that even
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the surrounding demons give him a perfect score. Defeated and
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moved to tears, Brickspert surrenders the golden accordion. Al takes
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it home, quickly discovers that it smells absolutely terrible, and
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shoves it away in his room where it remains forgotten
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for years. In the present day, trouble erupts in the
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fifth dimensional realm of Zerf. When Mr. Mixidil, ah, Mixis, Mixis,
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Mixis Piddalick.
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Mixis Piddalick. Yes. They do have a pronunciation in there.
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I love that. When Mr. Mixis Piddalick discovers that its
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magic and absurdity are disappearing, gifts turn boring, colorful surroundings
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become drab, and the impossible is replaced with the painfully ordinary.
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The same mundanity wave soon reaches Earth, stripping the extraordinary
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from people and places. The Joker becomes visually bland, Lex
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Luthor's kryptonite turns harmless, and Barry Allen becomes merely the
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fastest man on his pickleball team. Green Lantern becomes a
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traffic cop, and Zatanna is reduced to doing children's birthday
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party magic. And even heroes like the Doom Patrol and
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Ambush Bug... are transformed into dull versions of themselves. Batman, Superman,
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and Mix's Piddalick trace that the last surviving bit of
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weirdness is in Los Angeles, and that, of course, is
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where Weird Al has likewise been transformed into an ordinary
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office worker at the COG Corporation. Fortunately, though, some of
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Al's trademark weirdness survives, particularly inside his home where the
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long-forgotten golden accordion still radiates this fifth-dimensional magic. The group
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soon confronts the culprit, Mr. Nobody, the reality-warping absurdist. who
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has decided that modern society has become so unimaginative and
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repetitive that he will force the entire world into absolute normalcy,
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drive everyone mad with boredom, and then return as the
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savior who ushers in a new age of limitless absurdity.
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With Mix's magic weakening and Batman and Superman themselves beginning
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to succumb to the wave, Al retrieves the golden accordion
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and challenges Mr. Nobody through music. Al rejects Nobody's entire philosophy. Weirdness,
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he argues, cannot be imposed on people. It has to
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be something they choose for themselves. As the accordion's magic spreads,
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ordinary people rediscover their individuality and imagination, while Al declares
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that his music has always been about telling oddball kids
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that being weird is something to embrace rather than something
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to be ashamed of. His performance overwhelms Mr. Nobody, destroys
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the mundanity wave on Earth, and blasts the villain out
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of their dimension. After the battle, though, Al finds himself
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transported to a strange realm where Harvey the Wonder Hamster
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explains that Al has helped shape an entire nexus of imagination, frivolity,
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and absurdity. A kind of world powered by a weird force.
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From which Al has been drawing all along. Al initially
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worries that the magical accordion deserves the credit for saving
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the world, but Harvey helps him realize that the real power...
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came from Al himself. Before he can settle into his
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giant accordion-shaped home, Batman, Superman, and Mix's Piddalick arrive with
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one final problem. Zurf is still trapped beneath the mundanity wave.
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Although the golden accordion has been destroyed, because it got exploded,
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I think, when he played it, Batman reminds Al that
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it was only a tool, and the real weirdness has
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always been inside him. Armed with an ordinary accordion, Al
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plays again, restoring the fifth dimension and becoming an instant celebrity. Actually,
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I think he was a celebrity before he got there,
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but either way, he definitely impressed some people. And the
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adventure ends with Weird Al performing an impromptu concert for
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delighted imps, Superman on drums, and Batman working the cowbell.
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As the comic leaves readers with its perfectly appropriate final message...
376
00:22:10.329 --> 00:22:14.750
All is weird that ends weird. So there you go,
377
00:22:14.849 --> 00:22:17.470
Evan Bevins. I want to go first with my notes,
378
00:22:18.150 --> 00:22:19.849
and then I'm going to let you have the floor.
379
00:22:20.490 --> 00:22:22.789
I enjoyed what I got here. I believe that the
380
00:22:22.809 --> 00:22:25.569
crossover works. Sometimes it's kind of tough to put a
381
00:22:25.650 --> 00:22:29.950
real person into the DC universe, and I feel like
382
00:22:29.990 --> 00:22:34.039
that can kind of get awkward sometimes. You're kind of
383
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:35.880
worried about the story they're going to tell, and can
384
00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:43.119
they faithfully write the... character or the person that you
385
00:22:43.339 --> 00:22:47.019
are either a fan of. And the book, it wisely
386
00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:51.529
treats Al as kind of like he's always existed in
387
00:22:51.589 --> 00:22:54.049
this world. At first I was like, oh, they pulled
388
00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:57.170
him into this world and he wakes up and he's like, hey,
389
00:22:57.210 --> 00:22:59.950
I was just getting ready for my concert. But no,
390
00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:02.250
he's actually been here for a little bit already.
391
00:23:02.269 --> 00:23:08.589
He's surprised Batman knows who he is and Batman says, Yes,
392
00:23:08.630 --> 00:23:11.369
you make comedy albums that Robin loves and I tolerate.
393
00:23:13.470 --> 00:23:14.779
And then he's like, will you do the blurb for
394
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.039
my book or my next album or something like that?
395
00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:19.539
I think I think it's it's OK. I was kind
396
00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.339
of worried as far as the crossover goes or this
397
00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:25.650
this concept goes. I think I think it works. Superman
398
00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:28.029
is a fan, by the way, which is great. Now,
399
00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:31.390
as for the villain, Mr. Nobody, let me just ask you,
400
00:23:31.430 --> 00:23:33.450
what do you think about Mr. Nobody as the villain here?
401
00:23:35.390 --> 00:23:38.789
An inspired choice, a cosmic absurdist. Had you seen anything
402
00:23:38.829 --> 00:23:39.910
with him in it before?
403
00:23:40.430 --> 00:23:43.819
He's not reading it. No. Have you watched doom patrol?
404
00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.279
I don't think I have not, but yeah, he's most
405
00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:48.000
famously a doom patrol villain.
406
00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:48.759
Right.
407
00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.299
I don't know if he appeared before that, but especially
408
00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:55.480
in the Grant Morrison era, which if you want somebody
409
00:23:55.539 --> 00:23:58.680
to figure out how to weaponize absurdity and make you
410
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.500
take it deadly seriously, Grant Morrison is your guy.
411
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:03.019
Yeah. Yeah.
412
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:06.160
Um, I have a feeling Weird Al would read some
413
00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:08.200
Grant Morrison comics and be like, man, it's a little
414
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:12.059
out there. But with respect.
415
00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:15.789
We've read a few Doom Patrol stories, I think. Watching
416
00:24:15.829 --> 00:24:18.529
the show, it does a great job of at least
417
00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:24.500
capturing that. And Mr. Nobody, played by Alan Tudyk. Oh, yeah,
418
00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:30.069
that's right. So, done really well. And it's also... You
419
00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:33.569
start to look at, like, okay, who's going to be
420
00:24:33.609 --> 00:24:37.829
an antagonist for Al Yankovic? And I think that Mr.
421
00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:44.390
Nobody's probably... I definitely expected Mr. Mix's Piddalick to be
422
00:24:44.609 --> 00:24:48.109
involved here. I did not expect Mr. Nobody, but when
423
00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:51.680
it happened, I was like, oh, that hits. That's the
424
00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:52.619
way it's supposed to go.
425
00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.349
So... I would have kind of liked to see Al
426
00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:58.109
look at the Joker and be like, dude, none of
427
00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:02.369
that's funny. You are not funny. You have a problem.
428
00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:06.890
Okay, I also enjoyed the mundanity wave. I think that
429
00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:10.940
was a good concept here, turning everybody bland and normal.
430
00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:15.500
All the funny references to the poor heroes that didn't
431
00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.619
make it out of the mundanity wave. I think the
432
00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:20.119
Doom Patrol is like sitting around a TV watching C-SPAN.
433
00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:22.519
Yeah, C-SPAN 2.
434
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:24.519
C-SPAN 2, like, oh, man.
435
00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:28.599
The stuff that isn't exciting enough for regular C-SPAN.
436
00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:31.480
Yeah, yeah. This thing is stripping away, like, all the
437
00:25:31.529 --> 00:25:36.529
individuality and imagination. So, great way to bring Al Yankovic
438
00:25:36.569 --> 00:25:40.589
into this thing. And his character is completely opposite of
439
00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:44.569
what the mundanity wave imposes on people. And speaking of,
440
00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:47.259
I wouldn't call it message, but I guess it is. Like,
441
00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:50.970
Al's coming out here and saying, look... Weirdness is a
442
00:25:50.990 --> 00:25:53.519
vibe that can't be imposed on people, and this should
443
00:25:53.539 --> 00:25:56.740
be something that's celebrated. Do you think, did this feel
444
00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:58.440
preachy at all at any point to you?
445
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.519
I don't think so. I don't know. I guess maybe
446
00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:03.880
a little, but if anybody's going to preach to you,
447
00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:07.960
aside from actual preaching, if Weird Al and Superman are
448
00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:09.640
telling you something, you ought to listen.
449
00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:13.059
This is more like, OK, Weird Al is like this
450
00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:16.740
because of this and he believes in this. So I
451
00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:19.089
don't think it I don't think it got overbearing or
452
00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:21.710
preachy in any way. I like the fact that they're like, OK,
453
00:26:21.809 --> 00:26:24.289
let's this is the message. Let's embrace it.
454
00:26:24.369 --> 00:26:28.890
So Weird Al always even despite some of his darker material,
455
00:26:29.009 --> 00:26:33.309
he always embraces positivity. And so, yeah, it it it fit.
456
00:26:34.450 --> 00:26:36.609
I think it fit pretty well. That's the message you
457
00:26:36.829 --> 00:26:38.890
would expect from Weird Al. He's certainly not going to
458
00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:42.769
be helping Mr. Nobody, and he doesn't want to be
459
00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:45.329
forced into a mold or whatever, but he doesn't want
460
00:26:45.369 --> 00:26:50.329
anybody to be forced into anything. Right. He's weird because that.
461
00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:54.119
Works for him. Are you okay with how Mark Waid
462
00:26:54.150 --> 00:26:54.880
portrayed him here?
463
00:26:55.410 --> 00:26:55.910
Oh, yeah.
464
00:26:56.490 --> 00:26:58.799
I'm sure Al had... He's obviously part of the creative
465
00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:02.559
team here with the vibe section, but any criticisms of how...
466
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:04.420
He was portrayed at all.
467
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:08.019
No, no, I didn't. I didn't see anything. He's been
468
00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:10.720
promoting this from the get-go, so he's got to be
469
00:27:10.789 --> 00:27:13.910
okay with it. Right. I figure at this point, he
470
00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:17.089
doesn't need the cash grab. So he's doing this because
471
00:27:17.109 --> 00:27:19.470
he enjoys it, and he probably wants to have at
472
00:27:19.750 --> 00:27:21.769
least a little input on it. I doubt that he
473
00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:25.109
demanded final approval of the script. One of my favorite
474
00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:28.690
parts is where he is saving the world in the
475
00:27:28.730 --> 00:27:32.059
fifth dimension, and he's singing... a song to the Superman march,
476
00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:33.569
and it's like, and hey, if this isn't as good
477
00:27:33.609 --> 00:27:36.569
as my usual stuff, don't blame me. Mark Waid's writing this.
478
00:27:36.730 --> 00:27:39.410
Right.
479
00:27:39.529 --> 00:27:42.490
It fit with what I've seen in interviews and the
480
00:27:42.529 --> 00:27:45.710
persona he projects at the concert. And when I interviewed
481
00:27:45.750 --> 00:27:48.029
him by phone, he wasn't as weird, but heck of
482
00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:48.609
a nice guy.
483
00:27:49.150 --> 00:27:52.519
Yeah. All right. Your notes here, I'm just going to
484
00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:54.519
give you the opportunity to kind of dive in because
485
00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:55.680
you probably have some.
486
00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:57.160
Okay.
487
00:27:58.460 --> 00:27:59.160
Any Easter eggs?
488
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.440
I noticed most of them weren't, were more at some
489
00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:07.559
of his original songs because probably, I don't know what
490
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.960
the legalities are to reference some of the parodies, but
491
00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:16.109
right on the first page, we have Linwood, his album
492
00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:19.150
Straight Outta Linwood. And did you notice that to let
493
00:28:19.170 --> 00:28:22.769
you know exactly where Linwood is, it's 800 miles southwest of?
494
00:28:22.789 --> 00:28:24.759
Oh, McCurdy.
495
00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:30.059
And then, let's see. After that, of course, we had
496
00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.400
Harvey the Wonderhamster.
497
00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:35.450
Okay, so I need some help with that one. I
498
00:28:35.750 --> 00:28:39.950
pretty much consider myself a pretty good connoisseur of some
499
00:28:39.990 --> 00:28:42.950
of his stuff, but Harvey the Wonderhamster, for some reason,
500
00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:44.329
eludes me.
501
00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:49.240
Well, there's a song on Alapalooza called Harvey the Wonderhamster,
502
00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:53.539
and we get the lyrics to it when Harvey's introduced,
503
00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:56.970
at least the only lyrics I remember. I want to
504
00:28:57.089 --> 00:29:00.970
say it was on that Saturday morning TV show he had,
505
00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.579
which I almost never watched.
506
00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:04.599
Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
507
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:07.900
It might have been just outside the demographic somehow, or
508
00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:08.400
I don't know.
509
00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:11.319
It was mid to late 90s, wasn't it?
510
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:14.039
Yeah, so it would have been in high school, I guess.
511
00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:18.900
I think Harvey appeared on that. So we get Harvey
512
00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:22.619
the Wonder Hamster welcoming him into the weird force and
513
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:26.589
telling him, That he can stay there. It's like his Valhalla,
514
00:29:26.630 --> 00:29:28.779
his reward, and he's got a room right next to
515
00:29:28.819 --> 00:29:30.960
the noisy ice machine for all eternity.
516
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:32.779
Yeah.
517
00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:37.369
Which, if there's one criticism, I don't think that that
518
00:29:37.410 --> 00:29:39.970
was a reward in the song Everything You Know.
519
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:40.559
Is Wrong.
520
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.019
I guess if there's one place where maybe they missed
521
00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:48.400
slightly in terms of Weird Al. And then at one point,
522
00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:51.609
I think in his song Saving the World in the
523
00:29:51.670 --> 00:29:55.829
Fifth Dimension, when he's singing, did you notice that he
524
00:29:55.950 --> 00:29:58.569
referenced bear claws?
525
00:29:58.589 --> 00:29:58.660
Yes.
526
00:29:59.170 --> 00:30:01.410
And the one not spoiled man he never found.
527
00:30:01.849 --> 00:30:05.390
Yes. Another, another hit back to Albuquerque.
528
00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:10.049
Yeah. So yeah, enjoyed all that. I, I do have
529
00:30:10.109 --> 00:30:16.210
a couple of nitpicks. When the, the soul stealing imp appears,
530
00:30:16.230 --> 00:30:19.269
Al says, shouldn't they be playing for a fiddle? But
531
00:30:19.349 --> 00:30:22.089
if Al was eight, I believe that would have taken
532
00:30:22.130 --> 00:30:24.849
place in 1967. And the devil went down to Georgia.
533
00:30:24.890 --> 00:30:29.720
Wasn't released until 1979. Um, This is probably a multiversal thing.
534
00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:31.880
This may not even be Earth Prime or Earth One
535
00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:34.920
or whatever Earth is the main one in DC right now.
536
00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:38.400
So we can excuse that, which would also probably excuse why,
537
00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:41.400
if this is in the nebulous point in the past
538
00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:45.539
that Batman Superman World's Finest is set in, I don't
539
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.319
think the Michael Holt version of Mr. Terrific would be
540
00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:54.430
however he was in the movie. And I don't even
541
00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:57.589
know why. This is just how my comic fan brain works. works,
542
00:30:57.690 --> 00:31:01.069
I go, hey, wait a minute. But it's fine. It's great.
543
00:31:01.950 --> 00:31:07.339
The whole thing's fun from start to finish. What did Mr.
544
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:08.640
Terrific's sleeve say?
545
00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:12.480
Well, it's supposed to say fair play. I don't know.
546
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:13.640
What did it say in this one?
547
00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:14.839
Who cares?
548
00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:21.440
Who cares? Oh, they did the other Easter egg I missed.
549
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:24.150
When Harvey welcomes him into the world he helped create,
550
00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:25.750
he said, we're inside UHF?
551
00:31:26.289 --> 00:31:29.930
Yeah, yes, yes. Oh, it's great. It's classic.
552
00:31:30.910 --> 00:31:33.589
Yeah, when I found out it was happening, I told Jordan,
553
00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:34.769
I'm like, I got to have this one.
554
00:31:35.150 --> 00:31:36.130
Yeah.
555
00:31:36.210 --> 00:31:38.569
That was a gimme. But you're always kind of wondering,
556
00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:41.809
I don't know if I knew Mark Waid was the
557
00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:45.269
writer on it. You never know how these things are
558
00:31:45.289 --> 00:31:47.430
going to go. And sometimes there's lots of comics I
559
00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:51.539
have and I like because of the idea or what
560
00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:56.539
they represent. Like Stan Lee creating the DC Universe. I
561
00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:59.960
have all those trades. I love them. I'm not going
562
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:03.339
to argue that that's like the pinnacle of the art form.
563
00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:09.009
Or Stan Lee writing a random original future character like
564
00:32:09.069 --> 00:32:11.269
Ravage 2099, for example.
565
00:32:11.549 --> 00:32:12.509
This happened?
566
00:32:13.109 --> 00:32:17.849
Yeah, yeah. It's a thing. But this one, the execution
567
00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:20.970
is great. I can't... Nobody wants a grim and gritty
568
00:32:21.109 --> 00:32:22.990
Weird Al story. Okay, I kind of want a grim
569
00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:27.680
and gritty Weird Al story. Like maybe... Well, let's see.
570
00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:31.819
Who's the DC equivalent of the Punisher? Maybe Weird Al
571
00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:34.839
getting white and nerdy with Gangbuster or something like that.
572
00:32:34.859 --> 00:32:35.660
Oh, Gangbuster.
573
00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:38.839
Yeah, but okay, that could be funny. But this is
574
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:41.680
the story you need Weird Al in, and they could
575
00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:44.819
have had him face off against an antagonist who was
576
00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:48.619
obsessed with order or whatever. But how about Mr. Nobody,
577
00:32:49.529 --> 00:32:54.130
who might even be weirder than Al, but is missing
578
00:32:54.190 --> 00:32:56.930
the point of the weirdness? It's not for you, buddy.
579
00:32:57.299 --> 00:33:00.799
It's for everybody. What does he say? Weird isn't a mandate,
580
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:01.500
it's a vibe.
581
00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:02.599
That's right.
582
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:06.079
There were some great details, like when he's playing one
583
00:33:06.119 --> 00:33:10.599
of his epic accordion solos, he's turning law books into
584
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.759
issues of Mad Magazine. Yes.
585
00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:17.180
Saw that. That was great. Which, by the way, they
586
00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:19.460
share a name. We got Alfred E. Newman.
587
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:22.740
Well, yeah, and he's a fan of Mad Magazine, and
588
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:27.359
that is a DC property. So in the accordion duel,
589
00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:30.259
it cracked me up because I remember listening to The
590
00:33:30.299 --> 00:33:33.039
Devil Went Down to Georgia when I was in high school,
591
00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:35.180
and my friend's going, I don't know, man, I kind
592
00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:38.680
of think The Devil's solo was better. But that has
593
00:33:38.700 --> 00:33:41.180
always been something that gets me in works of fiction
594
00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:44.259
where it's like, oh, this is the song that changed
595
00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:46.720
the world, or this is this amazing song, and you're like,
596
00:33:47.339 --> 00:33:49.680
but is it, though? You know, it's like they're telling
597
00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:54.509
you it's amazing, but this one, the... Blixel Bird or
598
00:33:54.609 --> 00:33:58.890
whatever his name is, plays and it says gratuitous accordion solo.
599
00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:01.910
And then Al plays and it says, imagine the best
600
00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:05.509
accordion music you've ever heard. It's like, how can you
601
00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:06.089
argue with that?
602
00:34:06.289 --> 00:34:08.989
Yeah, it's a great visual joke, too, because you're reading
603
00:34:09.050 --> 00:34:11.699
a comic and you have to think about this song
604
00:34:11.739 --> 00:34:13.400
being played. And the only way you can get it
605
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:15.889
across as better is to say it. You got to
606
00:34:15.929 --> 00:34:16.309
say it.
607
00:34:17.349 --> 00:34:20.409
You could go with reactions or something else, but this
608
00:34:20.449 --> 00:34:22.409
is the best one. This is the prologue. This is
609
00:34:22.469 --> 00:34:25.690
not the main story here. I thought it was fun
610
00:34:25.730 --> 00:34:28.530
all the way through. I think it's true to what
611
00:34:28.570 --> 00:34:32.639
Weird Al tries to project. Is Batman brooding a little
612
00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:36.780
less than we expect? Sure, but there was Batman stuff
613
00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:41.500
before Tim Burton. And there exists Batman stories between Adam
614
00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:45.159
West and Robert Pattinson. One of the moments that I
615
00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:47.960
really liked, the art, I'm not familiar with this art team,
616
00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:51.159
but I think they were very well suited to the job.
617
00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:55.840
But when Al restores the imp's homeland, he says it worked,
618
00:34:55.900 --> 00:34:58.699
and Batman says a little too well. Superman's cape is
619
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:02.739
made of flowers, and Batman has a Mad Hatter hat on.
620
00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:03.429
Oh, yes.
621
00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:09.780
As Mixius Biddlelick is reuniting with his... Love, which, you know,
622
00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:14.579
go Mixie. In the background, Superman is heat visioning off
623
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:15.480
Batman's hat.
624
00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:18.079
Yes. That's good stuff.
625
00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:22.869
So, yeah, just fun all around. It's what I can give.
626
00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:25.989
to my daughter and you don't have to be steeped
627
00:35:26.050 --> 00:35:28.900
in comic lore or anything like that it's just hey
628
00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:32.699
superman superman batman's batman weird al's weird al and here's
629
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:34.599
the story you don't even have to know anything about
630
00:35:34.619 --> 00:35:37.739
mr nobody his name is nobody he warps reality and
631
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.340
he looks like that that's all you need to know
632
00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:44.599
it is new reader friendly just fun all around i
633
00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:46.900
don't know what else i would have expected for them
634
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:48.019
maybe bat might.
635
00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:51.880
Or maybe Well, he's had his run in already, apparently.
636
00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:53.099
We haven't had a chance.
637
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:53.639
Oh, that's true.
638
00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:57.849
Let me just go ahead and say that I had
639
00:35:57.889 --> 00:36:00.329
fun reading it. It was fun to point out, see
640
00:36:00.349 --> 00:36:02.150
the Easter eggs and see the fun things that were
641
00:36:02.210 --> 00:36:07.469
nodding to his songs. Probably my biggest criticism of the
642
00:36:07.510 --> 00:36:08.840
book is that I wanted more of it.
643
00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:09.809
Yeah.
644
00:36:09.889 --> 00:36:12.989
I feel like the writing team had a. They didn't
645
00:36:13.010 --> 00:36:15.960
want to overwhelm and seem like they were really leaning
646
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.719
into the gimmick or something like that. But that led me. Okay,
647
00:36:18.739 --> 00:36:20.699
so I'm giving this a six and a half out
648
00:36:20.739 --> 00:36:24.639
of ten. All right? But I'm going to give us
649
00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:29.099
the opportunity to make a what would make me give
650
00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:30.059
this a ten out of ten.
651
00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:30.500
Okay?
652
00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:32.920
Of course, we're going to have to change the story
653
00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:34.780
up a little bit. So the next Weird Al story
654
00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:36.690
that comes out, here's the ten out of ten for me.
655
00:36:36.809 --> 00:36:37.170
You ready?
656
00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:38.210
Okay.
657
00:36:38.429 --> 00:36:42.469
This all has to come from our minds. I want
658
00:36:42.510 --> 00:36:45.070
a 12-issue series, but I don't think we'd get a
659
00:36:45.070 --> 00:36:48.090
12-issue series on this.
660
00:36:48.170 --> 00:36:50.449
If you let Tom King tackle it and do a
661
00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:52.159
bunch of nine-panel grids.
662
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:56.780
We won't do that. And for the brevity of this podcast,
663
00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:59.099
we aren't going to do that. We are going to
664
00:36:59.139 --> 00:37:02.900
have a six-issue series, Evan Bevins. And from the mind
665
00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:07.219
of Evan Bevins, you have to now come up with...
666
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.320
Here's the premise. And then you have to come up
667
00:37:10.389 --> 00:37:15.380
with each issue... We are going to... This has been
668
00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:18.840
done in the movies a lot. The creator of said
669
00:37:18.909 --> 00:37:25.030
movie possibly or somehow winds up in a movie. Possibly
670
00:37:25.150 --> 00:37:28.929
even in a movie of their own creation. Weird Al
671
00:37:29.889 --> 00:37:36.989
gets transported into his songs and has to escape. Each
672
00:37:37.150 --> 00:37:41.349
issue is a song. Or it could be multiple. Up
673
00:37:41.369 --> 00:37:43.730
to you. We'll do... I would like to stick with
674
00:37:43.889 --> 00:37:48.929
one song per issue. Now, weird or not, Elvira did this.
675
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:51.579
This was done in an Elvira comic that me and
676
00:37:51.619 --> 00:37:54.599
Mark read. She went into some, like, classic films, right?
677
00:37:54.619 --> 00:37:56.260
And she had to try and escape or figure out
678
00:37:56.280 --> 00:37:59.960
what's up. But Weird Al gets transported into his song,
679
00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:03.980
so we have to figure out, like, what setting or
680
00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:08.210
what songs each issue is going to represent... Okay, I've.
681
00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:09.190
Got a starting point, JC.
682
00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:11.190
I've got two off the top of my head, but
683
00:38:11.230 --> 00:38:11.590
go ahead.
684
00:38:11.730 --> 00:38:16.110
Let's see where we're going. Okay. The biggest ball of
685
00:38:16.130 --> 00:38:17.150
twine in Minnesota.
686
00:38:17.510 --> 00:38:18.929
Oh, we're starting there. Okay.
687
00:38:19.469 --> 00:38:24.079
Well, this is my first idea. Maybe it's later on. Okay.
688
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:26.639
But he's got to get to the biggest ball of
689
00:38:26.659 --> 00:38:27.699
twine in Minnesota.
690
00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:28.579
Okay.
691
00:38:28.619 --> 00:38:31.219
Got to drive straight through for three whole days and nights.
692
00:38:31.699 --> 00:38:33.699
Of course, you stop for more pickled wieners now and then.
693
00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:35.090
But.
694
00:38:35.929 --> 00:38:38.610
Instead of a 53 DeSoto, it's going to be an
695
00:38:38.670 --> 00:38:42.219
old pickup truck. Oh. It's going to be traveling hard
696
00:38:42.469 --> 00:38:46.619
with a couple of hard-traveling heroes seeing America with Green
697
00:38:46.659 --> 00:38:47.840
Lantern and Green Arrow.
698
00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:52.889
Oh, wow. So we are bringing some... of the i
699
00:38:52.929 --> 00:38:56.989
wasn't expecting this i wasn't expecting to have some superhero.
700
00:38:56.170 --> 00:38:59.369
I thought we were talking still in the dc universe.
701
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:02.199
Yeah no that's fine i'm perfectly fine with that and
702
00:39:02.219 --> 00:39:05.619
i i was initially thinking like weird al on his
703
00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.500
own trying to get out actually bringing some heroes into
704
00:39:08.539 --> 00:39:13.780
this that's perfectly fine i love that idea because okay
705
00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:16.889
then we'll alternate here All right. So you got them
706
00:39:16.909 --> 00:39:18.780
going to the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
707
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:23.320
Like, hey, man, can you believe all the income inequality
708
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:27.119
and overpopulation and pollution? It's like, yeah, but check out
709
00:39:27.139 --> 00:39:28.449
the Tupperware Museum over here.
710
00:39:30.650 --> 00:39:36.739
All right. So this turns into a commentary, like possibly,
711
00:39:36.760 --> 00:39:39.920
and then Al just keeps ruining it with his absurdity somehow.
712
00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:43.420
Or pointing out that, hey, maybe you guys disagree about
713
00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:46.420
some things. Look at this magnificent ball of twine.
714
00:39:46.820 --> 00:39:47.139
Okay.
715
00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:49.639
What was he trying to do? Who was he trying
716
00:39:49.659 --> 00:39:49.800
to hurt?
717
00:39:52.250 --> 00:39:52.630
That's good.
718
00:39:52.929 --> 00:39:53.230
All right.
719
00:39:53.789 --> 00:39:59.110
So we'll say at the end of that issue, let's
720
00:39:59.150 --> 00:40:01.889
get into some alternate reality hijinks here. So we can
721
00:40:01.929 --> 00:40:06.730
bring in some alternate reality heroes and villains. Okay. But
722
00:40:07.269 --> 00:40:10.050
let's say somehow he falls into some kind of portal
723
00:40:10.070 --> 00:40:12.190
or whatever. His day is the guy runs off with
724
00:40:12.230 --> 00:40:14.429
his camera. He chases after him, and he falls into
725
00:40:14.469 --> 00:40:17.530
a portal. All right? And then he realizes that when
726
00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:22.650
he lands... The Earth has been scoured and nearly destroyed
727
00:40:23.230 --> 00:40:26.010
by the slime creatures from outer space.
728
00:40:26.449 --> 00:40:26.929
Oh, dear.
729
00:40:27.949 --> 00:40:30.920
Issue two is he has to team up with an
730
00:40:30.980 --> 00:40:34.900
alternate reality DC superhero. We've got to pick something. Well,
731
00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:36.059
from a.
732
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:39.159
Dystopian future, how about Kamandi, the last boy?
733
00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:42.000
All right, so we're cooking now. So that's part two.
734
00:40:42.099 --> 00:40:43.909
I'm not going to give the full plot because I
735
00:40:43.949 --> 00:40:47.059
have no idea what would happen. But somehow... He has
736
00:40:47.099 --> 00:40:51.099
to escape. Now he's realizing, I've got to get back home.
737
00:40:51.980 --> 00:40:56.360
I'm in an alternate reality. He somehow falls backwards into
738
00:40:56.449 --> 00:41:00.670
saving the planet with Commandee, and then he also somehow
739
00:41:00.750 --> 00:41:03.469
falls backwards into a portal and goes into another universe.
740
00:41:03.489 --> 00:41:05.510
I have no idea what's causing this to happen. Maybe
741
00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:07.710
that'll be the big reveal at the end. The big
742
00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.230
reveal at the end is going to be Armageddon 2001,
743
00:41:10.210 --> 00:41:12.989
and it's going to be Hawk, and everybody's going to
744
00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:16.880
be mad. So, okay. So that's issue two. Issue three,
745
00:41:17.460 --> 00:41:18.360
where's he going next?
746
00:41:19.210 --> 00:41:23.269
Well, he thinks he's back in his own world, but
747
00:41:23.750 --> 00:41:25.590
he doesn't know anybody, so he's got to get a
748
00:41:25.630 --> 00:41:29.579
job like a regular guy. He hears about some of
749
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:32.380
the weird things going on there in Gotham City. I'm
750
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.380
going real obscure here, Jesse.
751
00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:36.949
I'm sorry. All right, all right, that's all right.
752
00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:40.039
So he's got a job. He's keeping his head down.
753
00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:43.019
Being weird in Gotham City, that can lead to villainy.
754
00:41:43.059 --> 00:41:45.980
Maybe he gets a couple of offers to hinge for
755
00:41:46.019 --> 00:41:48.500
some people, but he's just going to keep his head down,
756
00:41:48.940 --> 00:41:53.630
go to his office job on the same bus every day.
757
00:41:54.369 --> 00:41:57.110
And I know what you're thinking. Another one rides the bus.
758
00:41:58.449 --> 00:42:01.469
But this other one who's riding the bus is a
759
00:42:01.530 --> 00:42:03.889
striking redheaded Barbara Gordon.
760
00:42:04.900 --> 00:42:05.599
Oh, goodness.
761
00:42:05.980 --> 00:42:08.559
And she's polite enough to nod at him when he
762
00:42:08.619 --> 00:42:16.130
waves on the bus on the Jackson Park Express. Launching
763
00:42:16.150 --> 00:42:17.610
a whirlwind romance.
764
00:42:18.619 --> 00:42:19.460
That never happens.
765
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:20.920
It's all in Al's mind.
766
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:22.159
Never happens.
767
00:42:23.340 --> 00:42:26.420
And she leaves. And he can't find her again because
768
00:42:26.440 --> 00:42:28.400
she had to duck into an alley and put on
769
00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:29.039
a costume.
770
00:42:29.539 --> 00:42:32.389
All right. I love that. So she ducks into the alley.
771
00:42:32.449 --> 00:42:35.190
He goes after her, right? He's finally decided he's going
772
00:42:35.210 --> 00:42:38.030
to make his move. The one thing that doesn't happen
773
00:42:38.750 --> 00:42:41.630
in the song, he doesn't make his move, but he's
774
00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:44.050
finally going to make his move. He turns the corner
775
00:42:44.170 --> 00:42:46.650
and then he, of course, in his haste, steps through
776
00:42:46.690 --> 00:42:50.960
another portal. Like you do. So now we're in issue four, right?
777
00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:53.670
So we've got to have, we're just going to throw
778
00:42:53.889 --> 00:42:57.590
everything out the window because things have gotten really strange.
779
00:42:57.610 --> 00:42:59.690
He has no idea what's going on. He starts to
780
00:42:59.750 --> 00:43:04.170
recognize some of these things, but somehow we have to
781
00:43:04.289 --> 00:43:10.539
visually conceive everything you know is wrong as a comic book.
782
00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:14.159
And he's just trying to figure out what the heck
783
00:43:14.179 --> 00:43:17.039
has happened. How do I get back to where I'm going?
784
00:43:17.099 --> 00:43:20.000
He's obviously aware he's no longer in Gotham. He's not
785
00:43:20.059 --> 00:43:24.940
home again. So whatever happens there, I don't know how
786
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:26.280
we get out of that situation.
787
00:43:26.300 --> 00:43:29.059
Well, who is the perfect DC character to guide him
788
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.309
through this world where everything you know is wrong?
789
00:43:31.869 --> 00:43:34.090
Oh, okay. So this is going to be somebody we
790
00:43:34.130 --> 00:43:35.809
may have just ran into. But anyway, go ahead.
791
00:43:36.630 --> 00:43:38.170
Well, let's see.
792
00:43:38.809 --> 00:43:39.670
Let's take it this way.
793
00:43:40.269 --> 00:43:42.929
Okay. Bizarro am not the obvious choice.
794
00:43:43.969 --> 00:43:45.010
Oh, oh, right.
795
00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:49.389
All right. I can't, yeah. Yeah, yeah. If everything you
796
00:43:49.429 --> 00:43:51.469
know is wrong, Bizarro has to be there.
797
00:43:51.829 --> 00:43:55.949
That's true. I like that. Okay, so he goes through
798
00:43:55.969 --> 00:43:59.389
this crazy world with Bizarro. All sorts of shenanigans are happening.
799
00:43:59.730 --> 00:44:02.889
Bizarro's explaining it, so the reader still has to try
800
00:44:02.929 --> 00:44:04.610
to read it like five times to figure out what
801
00:44:04.630 --> 00:44:06.170
he's trying to say. And then.
802
00:44:06.230 --> 00:44:08.250
At some point, Al's got to point out, like, is
803
00:44:08.289 --> 00:44:12.199
that really the opposite? Like the line on Seinfeld. Why
804
00:44:12.239 --> 00:44:16.110
would he say... why would he say goodbye for hello?
805
00:44:16.150 --> 00:44:17.269
Wouldn't he say bad bye?
806
00:44:19.889 --> 00:44:23.219
At least six, six incidents of that happening in the
807
00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:27.500
comic for sure. All right. So we're heading into issue five.
808
00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:30.440
This is yours. Um, I really don't know if I
809
00:44:30.460 --> 00:44:31.820
can come up with a good finale cause I got
810
00:44:31.840 --> 00:44:33.460
to come up with a good villain, but all right.
811
00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:36.519
Issue five rolls around. He, he somehow flies through it.
812
00:44:36.539 --> 00:44:38.030
Do you want to go five? Cause I know where
813
00:44:38.050 --> 00:44:39.409
the finale has to take place.
814
00:44:39.510 --> 00:44:40.349
Okay. All right then.
815
00:44:40.369 --> 00:44:43.010
I think where the finale has to take place too.
816
00:44:43.349 --> 00:44:46.909
When you say it, I'll be like, well, yeah, no doubt. Gosh,
817
00:44:47.150 --> 00:44:50.110
what would be the next song then that he has
818
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.969
to he would go into? So we've gotten some pretty
819
00:44:52.989 --> 00:44:55.840
street level stuff. We've gotten some really crazy stuff with
820
00:44:55.900 --> 00:44:58.199
issue four. So we've got to kind of bring things
821
00:44:58.260 --> 00:45:01.360
back down. Plus, we also have to like Al's putting
822
00:45:01.380 --> 00:45:04.739
things together. Like he's finally like trying to he's starting
823
00:45:04.760 --> 00:45:07.000
to put like, OK, this is the person that's either
824
00:45:07.019 --> 00:45:10.320
messing with me or he's he's getting clues. And he's
825
00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:13.000
finally starting to figure out like, OK, I've got to
826
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:15.110
get back. And this is the person that's messing with me.
827
00:45:15.730 --> 00:45:20.949
So what Weird Al World would this be? I could
828
00:45:20.969 --> 00:45:28.230
go with one of my favorites. But it would be completely....
829
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:28.320
No.
830
00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:34.059
Well, shoot. Okay, so I've got to ask. You'd probably know.
831
00:45:35.139 --> 00:45:36.119
The Condiment King.
832
00:45:37.210 --> 00:45:37.570
Okay.
833
00:45:38.230 --> 00:45:40.130
Are we DC or are we.
834
00:45:40.269 --> 00:45:44.250
Oh, yeah. On Batman the Animated Series, although... His weapons
835
00:45:44.309 --> 00:45:49.050
made an appearance in the Absolute Power crossover issue of
836
00:45:49.070 --> 00:45:49.630
Green Lantern.
837
00:45:50.269 --> 00:45:51.750
Okay, so we're in DC.
838
00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:53.260
Yeah, Condiment King, yes.
839
00:45:53.940 --> 00:45:57.480
The Condiment King meets the Waffle King.
840
00:45:57.500 --> 00:45:59.179
Nice.
841
00:46:00.760 --> 00:46:05.280
So Al steps into this new universe. Everybody's treating him
842
00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:09.449
like royalty, right? And he is enjoying it, as he should.
843
00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:12.650
And somehow he runs afoul of the Condiment King. Now,
844
00:46:12.690 --> 00:46:15.929
the Condiment King is a lackey, all right? And he's maybe,
845
00:46:16.449 --> 00:46:18.349
I don't know if he's an alternate world guy or not.
846
00:46:18.409 --> 00:46:21.010
I feel like he seems like that would be an
847
00:46:21.110 --> 00:46:25.400
alternate world. Take to me if this is DC Prime
848
00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:26.260
or something like that.
849
00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:30.400
He debuted on the animated series, but he has been
850
00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:33.219
inducted into the DC Universe proper now.
851
00:46:33.409 --> 00:46:35.389
Okay, well, we're just going to pretend that this is
852
00:46:35.449 --> 00:46:39.550
a world, this is an Elseworlds. where the Condiment King
853
00:46:40.150 --> 00:46:42.809
has had his way with the world, and it turns
854
00:46:42.869 --> 00:46:46.449
out the Waffle King, who is revered by everybody, is
855
00:46:46.550 --> 00:46:47.289
going to be... I.
856
00:46:49.090 --> 00:46:49.349
Don't know.
857
00:46:49.550 --> 00:46:51.809
Things are going to get settled with a cook-off. Waffles
858
00:46:51.849 --> 00:46:55.909
for everybody! And then as we're going through the story,
859
00:46:55.929 --> 00:46:58.329
this is all straight off the top of my head,
860
00:46:58.829 --> 00:47:02.670
as we're going through the story, Al starts to figure out, like, okay,
861
00:47:03.650 --> 00:47:07.630
he's working for somebody. He goes and he... tries to
862
00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:11.489
track down the Condiment King and the Condiment King escapes
863
00:47:11.530 --> 00:47:15.239
through a portal and Al follows him right after. Now,
864
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:16.980
I really hope this is a great lead-in to what
865
00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:19.119
you're going through. Because I might have threw you under
866
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:20.480
the bus if I set things up bad.
867
00:47:21.360 --> 00:47:24.360
Here's the thing, Jesse. Al's been going through all these
868
00:47:24.420 --> 00:47:27.760
different worlds. They're familiar, but they're different. He's not sure.
869
00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:31.690
Things keep changing all the time. But he's had one
870
00:47:31.769 --> 00:47:37.489
constant with him through it all. Through... Slime creatures from
871
00:47:37.570 --> 00:47:44.349
outer space, journeys across America, even a plane crash. He's
872
00:47:44.389 --> 00:47:50.820
always had that lucky, lucky autograph glow-in-the-dark snorkel. So, of course,
873
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.559
what does Condiment King take through that portal with him?
874
00:47:53.579 --> 00:47:55.840
Oh, no. No!
875
00:47:56.940 --> 00:48:00.639
So, he has to track him down to where it's
876
00:48:00.679 --> 00:48:04.860
all got to end. A magical faraway place... Where the
877
00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:07.199
air smells like warm root beer and the towels are
878
00:48:07.260 --> 00:48:08.159
also fluffy.
879
00:48:08.639 --> 00:48:09.360
Oh my gosh.
880
00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:12.969
Where the Shriners and the Lepers play their ukuleles all
881
00:48:13.010 --> 00:48:16.349
day long. Anybody on the street will gladly shave your
882
00:48:16.369 --> 00:48:17.130
back for a nickel.
883
00:48:17.989 --> 00:48:21.090
What I want in this issue, I don't want any
884
00:48:22.130 --> 00:48:27.480
overt dialogue that points out what's happening. I want it
885
00:48:27.519 --> 00:48:30.079
to all happen on the page and people have to
886
00:48:30.119 --> 00:48:33.940
be like, wait a second, that guy is shaving his back?
887
00:48:34.780 --> 00:48:36.340
I'm going to be able to pick that out, but
888
00:48:37.059 --> 00:48:39.559
I'm just going to say I want every single image
889
00:48:39.820 --> 00:48:42.880
from that, was it nine minutes?
890
00:48:42.900 --> 00:48:43.840
Yeah, 11 minutes.
891
00:48:44.059 --> 00:48:47.099
I want every image from that 11-minute song to make
892
00:48:47.139 --> 00:48:50.780
it into that comic book. And I interrupted you. Please continue.
893
00:48:50.940 --> 00:48:55.340
No, that's okay because it's all got to lead to Albuquerque.
894
00:48:56.159 --> 00:48:59.840
But here's the question, Jesse. Who's the villain? Who's the mastermind?
895
00:48:59.900 --> 00:49:01.969
And I will give you three choices.
896
00:49:02.530 --> 00:49:07.000
Oh, dude. I've got to come up with a... No, no, no.
897
00:49:07.079 --> 00:49:08.559
I've got your three. You've got to pick.
898
00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:10.780
Oh, okay. All right.
899
00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:12.239
Or feel free to throw in.
900
00:49:12.260 --> 00:49:14.380
I'm not going to guess. I'm not guessing anything.
901
00:49:14.980 --> 00:49:17.019
I'm going to tell you, and you tell me who
902
00:49:17.039 --> 00:49:17.739
should be the villain.
903
00:49:18.179 --> 00:49:19.610
Got it. Okay, so.
904
00:49:20.030 --> 00:49:23.130
Condiment King, he could be a lackey for a lot
905
00:49:23.170 --> 00:49:26.590
of people, but what if he was working for a
906
00:49:27.610 --> 00:49:31.090
villain only a few rungs higher than him who knows
907
00:49:31.179 --> 00:49:36.320
that he can't achieve super villain status through the traditional means,
908
00:49:36.340 --> 00:49:39.420
so he's got to do things a little bit weird. Okay.
909
00:49:40.530 --> 00:49:44.809
And so it's not the guy you'd expect, but he
910
00:49:44.849 --> 00:49:48.489
can't just come straight at taking out the most powerful heroes.
911
00:49:49.369 --> 00:49:53.349
So at the end of it all, this guy only
912
00:49:53.389 --> 00:49:57.349
has one nostril because he was in an accident in
913
00:49:57.389 --> 00:50:01.869
his new experimental kite. We're talking about Charles Brown himself,
914
00:50:01.949 --> 00:50:05.269
Kite Man. Cosmic Kite Man.
915
00:50:07.110 --> 00:50:11.010
Oh my gosh. So... Wow.
916
00:50:11.239 --> 00:50:16.010
Or is it another villain who usually doesn't but has
917
00:50:16.090 --> 00:50:21.329
dabbled with cosmic powers and for whom insanity and chaos
918
00:50:21.449 --> 00:50:24.510
is his native language and who I would love to
919
00:50:24.570 --> 00:50:29.309
see Al debate the merits of what's really funny? Is
920
00:50:29.369 --> 00:50:30.090
it the Joker?
921
00:50:30.429 --> 00:50:32.440
The Joker. Okay. All right.
922
00:50:33.329 --> 00:50:35.969
It just occurred to me Psycho Pirates, probably a pretty
923
00:50:36.090 --> 00:50:39.179
obvious option here with breaking the fourth wall and stuff.
924
00:50:39.239 --> 00:50:42.260
But the other one I was thinking of, you already
925
00:50:42.500 --> 00:50:50.179
alluded to it, the villain no one sees coming, Hank Hall. Monarch.
926
00:50:51.500 --> 00:50:55.650
And so somewhere in Albuquerque, instead of Zelda, he meets
927
00:50:55.730 --> 00:51:00.210
Dawn Granger. And she asks Weird Al to help her
928
00:51:00.329 --> 00:51:04.349
defeat her former partner, Looks him straight in the eye
929
00:51:04.389 --> 00:51:06.530
and says, I want a new hawk.
930
00:51:07.309 --> 00:51:17.599
Oh, dude, come on. Come on. Oh, that was great.
931
00:51:18.539 --> 00:51:23.199
That's great. Well, OK, so we end this. We've got
932
00:51:23.219 --> 00:51:25.139
the plot. We've got we've got a great idea for
933
00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:25.940
a six issue series.
934
00:51:26.300 --> 00:51:28.699
Maybe we rearrange it. Maybe we start out slow. Make
935
00:51:28.739 --> 00:51:30.800
Jackson Park Express the first issue.
936
00:51:31.139 --> 00:51:31.400
Okay.
937
00:51:31.500 --> 00:51:34.119
All right. We can rearrange it some. I don't know.
938
00:51:34.139 --> 00:51:35.030
We can workshop this.
939
00:51:35.110 --> 00:51:36.190
I've got my man.
940
00:51:36.269 --> 00:51:38.869
I like the idea of a quiet slice of life,
941
00:51:39.510 --> 00:51:43.130
almost romance comic that then gets weird and cosmic. I agree.
942
00:51:43.150 --> 00:51:46.510
There's pacing issues here. You're probably right. You're probably right.
943
00:51:47.889 --> 00:51:50.969
I can't say that I've had more fun talking about
944
00:51:51.110 --> 00:51:54.940
an imaginary Weird Al comic than what we just did.
945
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:57.760
That was a good time. All right, any other notes
946
00:51:57.780 --> 00:51:59.420
that you had before we get into plugs?
947
00:52:00.260 --> 00:52:02.809
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to see more,
948
00:52:02.829 --> 00:52:04.630
but at the same time, I think they did it
949
00:52:04.710 --> 00:52:07.429
about as well as could be done. I'm not saying
950
00:52:07.489 --> 00:52:10.690
more wouldn't be good, but you don't want to overdo
951
00:52:10.730 --> 00:52:13.949
it either. If they use our idea, sure. But otherwise,
952
00:52:14.130 --> 00:52:16.530
I think it was pretty darn good, and I got
953
00:52:16.570 --> 00:52:18.550
my money's worth out of this comic.
954
00:52:18.750 --> 00:52:19.760
Yeah, yeah.
955
00:52:19.889 --> 00:52:21.280
I'm just saying something these days.
956
00:52:22.019 --> 00:52:24.510
It's true. I was sitting there thinking, like, I don't
957
00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:26.989
own any comics with Weird Al in them. I gave
958
00:52:27.010 --> 00:52:28.389
this a six and a half out of ten, but
959
00:52:28.429 --> 00:52:31.789
the fact that it's that still wouldn't deter me. There's
960
00:52:31.809 --> 00:52:34.670
something to having that. I really do appreciate it.
961
00:52:35.070 --> 00:52:36.869
I didn't think of a number rating, but I'd go
962
00:52:36.889 --> 00:52:37.929
at least seven and a half.
963
00:52:38.489 --> 00:52:38.730
Okay.
964
00:52:39.329 --> 00:52:42.010
I don't know if I'd quite get to eight. It's
965
00:52:42.230 --> 00:52:44.050
pretty much exactly what I would have wanted, so.
966
00:52:45.110 --> 00:52:47.699
Okay, all right. Are you making another joke, a reference?
967
00:52:47.880 --> 00:52:48.039
No.
968
00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:50.260
Okay, for a second there, I'm like, I'm going through
969
00:52:50.300 --> 00:52:52.119
all of my Weird Al knowledge. I'm like, he's saying
970
00:52:52.159 --> 00:52:52.860
these numbers specifically.
971
00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:55.659
No, if it had been just okay with a few
972
00:52:55.719 --> 00:52:57.380
good jokes, it would have been good enough for now.
973
00:52:57.780 --> 00:52:58.340
I knew it!
974
00:52:59.570 --> 00:53:01.869
No, I wasn't trying to until you said it, and
975
00:53:01.929 --> 00:53:04.869
I'm like, well, I guess I'll go for it. Okay, well,
976
00:53:04.889 --> 00:53:06.510
we need to do plugs because I got a boogie.
977
00:53:07.030 --> 00:53:10.170
All right, there it is, ladies and gentlemen. We have
978
00:53:10.210 --> 00:53:13.949
discussed the world's weirdest. We really hope you had a
979
00:53:13.969 --> 00:53:18.239
good time. So Evan Bevins, tell everybody what you've got
980
00:53:18.460 --> 00:53:20.659
on your plate on the Internet as well.
981
00:53:21.460 --> 00:53:25.539
Go over to Substack, look for EB asterisk 51, and
982
00:53:25.579 --> 00:53:27.699
that's where you can find my newest writing and some
983
00:53:27.739 --> 00:53:31.300
of my, well, I started to say recycled or reused,
984
00:53:31.320 --> 00:53:34.280
but I call it remastered because that sounds classy, which
985
00:53:34.409 --> 00:53:36.429
just means that I put a new intro on it
986
00:53:36.449 --> 00:53:39.719
and fix a typo. But, hey, it's remastered. I'm doing
987
00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.480
more with movies right now than with comics, but there
988
00:53:42.500 --> 00:53:45.139
will be plenty of both coming up. I am working
989
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:47.690
my way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a feat that
990
00:53:47.730 --> 00:53:51.869
has never been attempted in the history of Internet content creation.
991
00:53:51.889 --> 00:53:53.130
That's my understanding.
992
00:53:53.389 --> 00:53:56.170
Not even by people on, like, threads or Twitter just going, hey,
993
00:53:56.230 --> 00:53:59.070
I'm watching the Marvel. No, nobody's ever thought of this before.
994
00:53:59.150 --> 00:53:59.349
Nope.
995
00:53:59.590 --> 00:54:05.230
I'm also working my way through another hip contemporary cutting-edge series, Rocky.
996
00:54:06.079 --> 00:54:06.539
That's right.
997
00:54:08.099 --> 00:54:09.920
Hey, he's got a new movie and a new book
998
00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:13.900
out this year. That's right. Got my finger on the
999
00:54:13.940 --> 00:54:18.099
pulse of something. And then today, when we're recording this
1000
00:54:18.340 --> 00:54:21.650
over on the Magazines and Monsters channel, Billy Dee, a.k.a.
1001
00:54:21.690 --> 00:54:24.969
Doc Strange, released the next installment of our journey through
1002
00:54:25.030 --> 00:54:29.150
Marvel fanfare with the start of a four-part Black Widow
1003
00:54:29.210 --> 00:54:31.190
story drawn by George Perez.
1004
00:54:31.769 --> 00:54:32.289
Oh, wow.
1005
00:54:32.309 --> 00:54:32.889
Wow.
1006
00:54:32.929 --> 00:54:34.219
Wow. All right.
1007
00:54:34.440 --> 00:54:37.360
So just gives you everything you need to know about
1008
00:54:37.380 --> 00:54:40.650
the Black Widow in 1983. That sounds sarcastic, but it's not.
1009
00:54:40.690 --> 00:54:43.030
It just means more stories happened after that, but gets
1010
00:54:43.070 --> 00:54:45.190
you right up to the point where Black Widow is
1011
00:54:45.269 --> 00:54:48.690
and sends her off on a mission of international intrigue
1012
00:54:49.309 --> 00:54:54.239
and inexplicably continues artist Gil Kane's adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's
1013
00:54:54.280 --> 00:54:54.940
The Jungle Book.
1014
00:54:56.440 --> 00:54:58.559
How long, what part are you guys in on that one?
1015
00:54:58.699 --> 00:55:03.090
Like, I think there's like three or four of them.
1016
00:55:03.179 --> 00:55:05.949
This is the second one. But I didn't ever sit
1017
00:55:05.989 --> 00:55:09.050
around going, I wonder what a legendary comic artist would
1018
00:55:09.090 --> 00:55:12.469
do with the original source material of the Jungle Book.
1019
00:55:12.530 --> 00:55:15.599
But if you're going for a prestige, high-profile comic, do
1020
00:55:15.619 --> 00:55:17.059
something a little different. Knock yourself out.
1021
00:55:17.619 --> 00:55:20.300
Yeah, have a good time.
1022
00:55:20.380 --> 00:55:23.079
So yeah, we do that once a month. And occasionally,
1023
00:55:23.420 --> 00:55:25.869
Billy has me on to talk about some weird comics,
1024
00:55:25.909 --> 00:55:27.369
weird movies, that sort of thing.
1025
00:55:28.579 --> 00:55:31.639
Very cool. Well, yeah, hey, just right off the bat,
1026
00:55:32.300 --> 00:55:34.559
if you guys like Marvel Snap, you can go check
1027
00:55:34.599 --> 00:55:36.780
out the Snap Material podcast where me and Evan Bevins
1028
00:55:36.820 --> 00:55:38.500
get together and we talk Marvel Snap and have a
1029
00:55:38.519 --> 00:55:42.179
good time doing that. Also, on the Source Material Comics podcast,
1030
00:55:42.239 --> 00:55:46.239
we do comic books of any era. And, my goodness.
1031
00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:49.179
Like 2026. Yeah, as a matter of fact.
1032
00:55:49.610 --> 00:55:51.710
You can go check out me and Mark Radulich talking
1033
00:55:51.769 --> 00:55:56.530
about the Bruce Wayne murderer slash fugitive. That just wrapped up.
1034
00:55:57.320 --> 00:55:59.840
And I just realized I did not put the poll
1035
00:55:59.940 --> 00:56:02.719
out for September for the unspoken issue stuff. I'm going
1036
00:56:02.739 --> 00:56:05.769
to have to do that. We're a little late. That's
1037
00:56:05.809 --> 00:56:06.710
all right. That's all right.
1038
00:56:07.090 --> 00:56:08.289
You've got a couple hours left.
1039
00:56:08.769 --> 00:56:11.739
I do. Only a one-hour poll. Get your votes in now.
1040
00:56:12.300 --> 00:56:13.159
I just meant to start it.
1041
00:56:15.210 --> 00:56:17.989
The Unspoken Issues podcast where we talk 90s comics all
1042
00:56:18.010 --> 00:56:21.300
the time. Monday. Shoot, I need to get this. I
1043
00:56:21.340 --> 00:56:22.780
need to get this on the website. It's been so
1044
00:56:22.820 --> 00:56:26.659
long since I've posted something on the Unspoken Issues Facebook site.
1045
00:56:26.739 --> 00:56:30.559
Me and Chris Armstrong got together and we talked Backlash Spider-Man.
1046
00:56:31.059 --> 00:56:34.469
So if you are an Image Comics fan or a
1047
00:56:35.010 --> 00:56:39.309
fan of the Ben Reilly era of Spider-Man, you might
1048
00:56:39.349 --> 00:56:41.130
want to check that out. We had a good discussion,
1049
00:56:41.190 --> 00:56:44.000
had a fun time. That was on, I think, the
1050
00:56:44.340 --> 00:56:47.300
poll winner of our 96 number ones, if I remember right.
1051
00:56:47.679 --> 00:56:51.980
So for August. All right. We're getting out of here.
1052
00:56:52.280 --> 00:56:55.610
That is Evan Bevins over there. I'm Jesse Starcher. Stay weird.
1053
00:56:55.820 --> 00:56:59.530
Stay wonderful. Something weird out.
1054
00:56:59.710 --> 00:57:01.190
Stick the landing.
1055
00:57:03.010 --> 00:57:06.929
Which I did not do. Thanks for joining us. All
1056
00:57:06.969 --> 00:57:10.329
of this would not be possible without W2Mnet.
1057
00:57:08.909 --> 00:57:12.750
Com, so make sure to seek them out for more podcasts.
1058
00:57:13.849 --> 00:57:16.230
If you enjoyed what you heard today, please feel free
1059
00:57:16.250 --> 00:57:19.050
to share, and we look forward to entertaining you again soon.