I'm Chris Ferrell from the All Things. Good and Nerdy Podcast, a wacky weekend.
Morning show part of the Guine Geek Network. Just like the show you're checking out right now, shows on the network are individually owned, and the opinions expressed may not reflect others. Find other awesome geeky shows over@guno geeknetwork.com and welcome to Play Comics, where once again, we're here looking at a video game based on a comic property and how well it represents that source material. As always, I'm Chris, and I have here a wonderful guest here. You've heard him before, looking at those little muscly wrestle guys from Muscle. Oddly enough, it's the return of Doc issues. And, Doc, how are you today?
All right. I'm doing great. Yeah, I remember that episode. It was wonderful. And I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this one because I certainly am going to be bringing some interesting thoughts.
That's good, because I have some sneaky interesting thoughts that I'm hoping will catch you a little bit by surprise. But first, we need to tell the people what we're talking about. We are looking at Superman, the Man of Steel, the Xbox exclusive game from 2002. But before we get into the game side of things, we need to worry about the comic part. And, Doc, what is it to you that makes Superman such a special character?
Okay, so I will say that I grew up with the basic characters on both sides on Marvel and dc. I really do think that Superman is the best of us, which is why in the past, when I do my own podcast with my best friend Anthony, I say it's going to be really tough. I don't think I'll ever do a Superman episode because I'm a psychiatrist by trade. I'm not going to badmouth it, because even when he has his down days, even when he has his alternate universes and all that stuff, I think ultimately it's still the idea that if you have all of that power, you have all those abilities and all that you can. You can do just about anything. And when you still decide you're going to dedicate it to making the universe a better place, then let's roll with that. That's really where it comes down with Superman.
For me, Superman is basically the epitome of somebody who sees the world as a great place, and he wants to keep it that way. Really? The opposite side of the coin of Batman, where he sees the world as a horrible place and he wants to make it better. Yeah, for sure.
And Superman is somebody that's grown on me. Like longtime listeners of the show know that I came into all of this thinking Superman was, you know, your stereotypical Superman hater. Thoughts of overpowered, gets new powers when it's plot convenient, nobody can ever hurt him kind of thing. And then as I'm going through all of these games, as I'm looking at the background material of everything, it's just really dawning on me that for Superman, it's not really about how fast can he beat somebody up, how hard can he beat somebody up? It's about how do you protect the humanity that you've decided that you're going to protect along the way?
Yep, yep. Yeah, it's. It's. I'll put it this way. There's two ways to go about it. One is his background. You got the whole alien coming to the planet Earth, but then you also have small town upbringing. You have, you know, very salt of the earth kind of ethics and just trying to find the good in people and the best in whatever you come across first before you have to combat anything that's wrong with it. And I do think that mindset bodes well, not just for someone like Superman, but for a lot of people. I always think the world has to be in balance, and right now, not getting into anything specific, but right now I think people need to be reminded of that. Like, there is a positive side. If you could find it for yourself and for people around you, then, you know, you'll probably end up in a better place.
That positive side probably has cookies, so you should go there. I was really wondering with you how I was going to get through a lot of this, because we've looked at eight Superman games before. Not me and you, but me and other people have. Right?
And like, for the listeners, I don't want to set them up hearing the same backstory of everything, the same thing that everybody loves about Superman, because I've gotten lucky. And every Superman guest I've had on has really loved the character. And I'm racking my brain trying to figure out, you know, what new angle can we take on this and how can we look at this where Superman is just this super iconic figure and like the shining example of what the American way and what humanity and everything is supposed to be. And on my drive home, your John Walker episode starts. Oh, yeah. So I thought that was a really nice difference, a really nice contrast there of they're both trying to do what they think is good and right for the people that they're representing. Yeah, but how they're doing that and the paths that they're taking to get there are just so different.
Yeah, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. You know U.S. agent John Walker, I mean, oh, boy. You want to talk about. Just get to the bottom line and like all that nice mushy stuff that we were talking about before and just putting that to the wayside. That's. That's a good example. Definitely a good example. I feel like I and I going to butcher this. I forgot who said it. It's like the medium is the message. Well, you know, f you and kicking your teeth in. That's the message with John. So, yeah, all sorts of all the other nuance as to why people turn out the way they are and all that stuff. I mean, the episode itself is fine to plug it, of course, but still none of that with the wholesome verse that is Superman. Interesting one to bring up, I admit. I did not see that coming.
I told you it was going to be a surprise. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So if you've got anybody who is one of those Superman haters or somebody who just, they want to get a good look at the character, what are some of the Superman stories that you would point them towards?
All right, so the one that I think everybody knows is the Death and Return of Superman. That's one that I. I'm talking like everything, the tie ins, all of that. I went through that cover to cover and I think that's actually the best place to start because it just completely destroys the myth. The whole point was, well, Superman is just completely invincible and what's the point? Et cetera, et cetera. Meanwhile, the whole premise of that is you have a Kryptonian being that was created purely out of everybody's spite and hate and all of that. Well, scientists just basically trying to create a super weapon that ends up destroying the scientists too, that ends up going dormant for a super long time. Ends up because it's just an unknowable. It's an unknown unknown. Like nobody realizes things around and all that. So therefore nobody knows what to do with it. And it really does destroy Superman. Like. All right, cool. So your whole premise is defeated. Thank you. Have a nice day. And then how do you build up from that? I always love a redemption story. Not that Superman needed redeeming, but, you know, he pretty much had to learn how to exist again. And so I do think that's a. A great way to start, especially since people exploit it. It does say a lot about society as A whole. You get Cyborg. We'll get into that, too. You get the eradicator. You know, you get a new version of Lex. You get all this other stuff where they basically, at that point, said, like, all right, we'll keep with some of the things, you know, some of the things you don't. You get Steel. I mean, all of it. It was a great setting off point for anybody that just thinks of, like, the original action comics, Superman. Try to think of another one that would be a pretty good jumping off point. I liked Final Crisis. I know that's not purely a Superman story. I admit that. I, you know, I'm a little hesitant to just say, like, that one in particular. But what gets me about that is just simply not just Superman, but Batman, Wonder Woman. They're. They're all involved. And it's pretty much saying, like, yeah, you guys know nothing. You think everything is going just fine. But some of the decisions that you've made before are really not in the best interest of everyone, even if you think they were. So, once again, a spin on. Oh, yeah, everything's. You know, he's perfect, therefore everything must be perfect. No, not at all. And get to see a different side of him. So those are. Those are two that come to mind. Off the top of my head, I'm.
Surprised, but also really happy that the two that I would pick. There is absolutely no crossover there between our picks. Sweet.
One of the great things about Superman is that he is so ingrained in the American zeitgeist, that you don't have to throw somebody to the beginning. You don't have to really give them an origin story. They all know well enough where he's from, unless you live under a rock. So I would start with probably Superman Smashes the Clan, because it's. It's a nice, simple, straightforward one, but it really, really shows Superman caring for humanity and trying to do the right thing and everything. And that is basically what Superman is. Is the human form of doing the right thing.
All right. My other one really, really plays off the fact that everybody basically knows who Superman is anyway. So Superman, Red sun. Because, like, you're. Oh. Oh, my goodness, you're right. Like your final crisis, you get to take, okay, what if things are different and you don't have to know all the intricacies of who Superman is before that, you know, that he landed in America and that he grew up with all those ideals? So what if he landed in Russia and grew up a Soviet?
Oh, man, you. You definitely made a great choice. I Mean, Anthony and I did. I don't know if it was just a trade paperback review for our Patreon or if it was a regular episode, but we did do a review of Superman Red Son, because that is one of my favorite stories. So you definitely have good taste.
I have you on, and I've had Anthony on as a guest. So, I mean, that pretty much defines that I have good taste. I think we're okay there. But as you said, there's a lot of other good characters in this game that we're going to be looking at. The main one I want to hit on right now is Brainiac. This is Brainiac 13. I'm not a big enough Brainiac person to know if there's a difference between different versions of Brainiac.
Yes, there are, and it is as simple as you would think. It's no different than software upgrades, really. So that's why they chose the number 13, other than, you know, being quote, unquote, unlucky. It's also the idea that this one is so more advanced compared to the others. That's. That's pretty much the whole premise. And now the fact that this was based on, ooh, Y2K, like, that's. That's part of what plays into it. But, yeah, Brainiac for the. I see. Similar to Superman. I'm not sure who would be initiated this and who wouldn't be. But the point is Brainiac at one point was the think the. Nowadays, I think we can describe it better. Think the ultimate AI in Kryptonian world. In Krypton, I should just say. And, you know, pretty much survived the cosmos and has been collecting data and information and information ever since. So, you know, at some point might have gone a little wild and become pretty much sentient and want to control the known universe. So you kind of get that sort of thing. It does provide some really good technology that's advancing humanity. So that's a good thing. Not that they knew that that's what the point of it was. But he's come back to harvest it, basically saying, like, all right, I did all of my data mining and sweeping and all that other stuff, you know, like ChatGPT does. And now that I have that, now it's time for me to play. Except I'm in control and not you.
If you have all the answers like that, why wouldn't you be the one in charge? Well, if part of it is that you don't want anybody else to ever get the answers instead of answering other people's questions, then that Might be problematic. But what if we all just want to live in the Wall E world and stay in our chairs and have milkshakes all day?
Yeah, that's. That's. That's always the risk, isn't it? But thankfully, they always make these technologies look very ominous and evil and for whatever reason, humanoid. That's the one part I never really understood with any of this. I'm like, why would you think that these things want to look like us? I think that's also why. And I go on a tangent here. I think that's also why when originally you could do, like, dall e stuff like in chatgpt and whatnot. Why they don't get fingers right. They don't care, like, exactly how things line up because it's like, that's accessory stuff to them. They don't. It doesn't matter. It's not relevant to them. You know, our very form and essence is not really germane to what they're doing. So, you know, I always wondered about that. Why do they choose the humanoid form like they always do with Brainiac or who, or whatever, know, technological being.
But you also have. I mean, obviously you have Lois Lane because it's a Superman game. How do you not have Superman without Lois Lane? And, yeah, you've got Lex Luthor for basically the same reasons. Like, he seems to be tied to Superman even more than the Joker is tied to Batman.
Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much. Be glad that I'm not doing any of the Batman games, because that actually is a pet peeve of mine, because Joker is one of my favorite characters ever, and they made me sick of them. So that says a lot. But, yeah. And the thing I like about this game, though, is what's a little different compared to other games is we're at the point where Lois and Superman, AKA Clark, they are a thing. Like, they are together. It's not, you know, it's not the really old school, like, oh, my. You know, what are they? That sort of. So I appreciate we don't have to deal with that pretense.
And the villains on here, you've got so many good bosses. Like, the most iconic Superman villains that you can think of. Yep. Whether they're good or not is a whole different issue, but we'll get there.
Yeah. I'm just thinking off the top of my head, like, going through this. It was. Let's see, it was Mongol War World. It was Metallo. What do you call it? Cyborg. Oh, wow. How could I forget Cyborg? I mean, great character. To rag on in our podcast. Although he did do some serious damage in an episode, but I'm not gonna derail too much on that and of course Brainiac itself. But yeah, yeah, I. Oh boy, I appreciate the actual story. I appreciate the way that they were all brought in.
Well on that note, because peak behind the scenes Brainiac tried to attack us and all the technology went out and I can't remember where we were. So we're just going to drop some promos for a few other things and pray that this is a good spot to do the promo drop. Nice.
I am Connor from the House of El. And I am Ray from the House of Zod. We are two of the many, many survivors of Krypton's destruction and we have made our home in Australia and dare I say have become Australians for better or worse. But we have also decided to read Superman comics, read Superman books, watch Superman shows, cartoons, movies, basically everything super Superman. And from an Australian perspective as well. Whether you're a seasoned fan like me or whether you are coming in fresh.
Wide eyed and wanting to learn more. Like me, then this podcast is for you. Join us for our bi weekly adventures available on all good podcast Catches. But just search for Last Sons of Krypton, a Superman podcast. We'll be coming to you from a Australia or some cosmic dimension wherever we are that week. Up, up, up and away.
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Those are some great things to check out. But first let's finish up here. So Doc, it's ready for the fun part. Yeah, we're looking at the game Superman the Man of Steel is not the first game called Superman the Man of Steel, but it is the one that we're looking at today. This was an Xbox exclusive released in. I said that horribly. This was an Xbox exclusive released In November of 2002, like I said, only on the Xbox. It was made by Infograms and Circus Freak Infograms. We have looked at a lot of games before. If I would remember to scroll Infograms. We've seen a good number of games before. A bunch of Dragon Ball Z stuff. Men in Black, Smurf actually, another Superman game. And north and South. You know, if you're into weird Belgian comics looking at American political conflicts, circus freaks, they. They pretty much made this game, and that was it. And not to spoil anything, but it is not hard to understand why.
You know, I grew up with Superman 64, and so I always had this idea that I can't wait for the Next Generation games so that they can do Superman justice. No pun intended. And this game made me keep waiting. I get the idea of flying around. They got that right. That's important. And they have heat vision. It's important. And they have ice freezing breath. Okay, that's cool. It has punching. Yay. And it has a lot of doing that over and over. Every level, every level. And repeating it just, you know, until you win. Yeah. I can't imagine after the first two or three levels saying to myself, you know, after the mission complete screen, saying, you know, I'm really looking forward to how this unfolds and what. What new gameplay or just original things I'll be able to do with what's considered one of the most powerful characters in the comic universe. Nah, doesn't really.
I'm really starting to think that as I'm looking at these games, saying that you're just going through the level punching things is my way of saying the game is bad and I don't get it. But then you get a game like this where you are literally just going through the level and doing your objective. And like, outside of cutscenes, it seems like that that's really all there is. And why is it Superman? It's just really hard to look at because I said it before. We've looked at eight different Superman games now before this one. And like, why is it so hard to get a Superman game right?
I've been asking myself that my whole life. And I used to think, oh, well, they don't want to make him too overpowered, so they have to neuter his abilities. But then in a game like this, it wasn't even that, like his health bar. I mean, it regenerates. It's not really a problem. Controls are super janky, but, you know, you can deal with it. But other than that, I just realized, like, nah, it's just because there are plenty of superhero games. I mean, look. Look at the Spider man games. Look at the. Oh, my God, the Arkham Asylum series. You know, even. Even the Dragon Ball games, they. They managed to have flying, overpowered beings and all of that. And I. I think those are. You know, some of those are great. So it's not the elements that's really the problem. I don't know if it's just the idea that because Superman is a known name, I hate to even say this out loud, and I hope I'm wrong, that developers and creators just kind of phone it in and say, like, well, it's a Superman game. What do you expect? Like, is it. Is the trope itself? Is the. Is the meme itself the thing that's driving the idea that let's not even try and make a truly unique or decent Superman game? I don't know. I'm really, like, just speculating philosophic.
And the thing is, yes, I get that you have to work about gameplay limitations. I get that you have to work around gameplay limitations. Like, you can't have a character essentially going through the game on God mode and have that be how you're making the whole thing. You know, obviously put that as a mode in your game if you want to, because there are times when I just want to go around stomping everybody. And if that's how you want to play it, that's fine. But with Superman, yes, that's how he can be looking at how he would go through this game, just tearing through every enemy. But I just want a silly little hand wavy reason why I have a health bar and why I have to worry about all these enemies that are shooting at me. Like, why can somebody please just tell me in the game that all of the enemies have Kryptonite? Like, I don't care how unrealistic that is. Just tell me that and it's fine. This is a game based on comics.
Yeah. You know the irony of this, and I know this is not in my wheelhouse. I do not develop games. I do not from any level. I don't program anything. So please take this pillar of salt, let alone a grain of salt. But I feel like certain genres of games, I'll give the example of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, things like that, where it's not necessarily that you think you're going to win the game. It's that, you know that there are certain things that are really, really difficult and you have to have pinpoint reflexes just to survive, let alone actually beat one of the characters. I almost feel like they may need to push this in that direction where, you know, Superman is. Because it goes into this game. Like Superman is in the Phantom Zone. Like, that's where they put the, you know, the characters that you don't ever want to mess with because they've done so many damaging things. I'm like, okay, fine, put them in there. And he's doing nothing but like kind of one on one mega battles where one wrong move and. Yeah, there you go. He's. He's pretty much almost laid out. So it's not necessarily that he's stronger because he's. Maybe he's just as strong, but, like, he can't really take too many of those type of monster hits. So whatever. I'm just. I'm just. Just one example. Like, I'm just thinking of anything different than what I've seen before. Because the other thing that comes into this game that's in all games is some of the boss battles are you're dealing with a really, really big thing. And therefore, because your character is not the same size as that big thing, you have to take it down piece by piece. And that's fine as long as I know that I'm not doing the exact. Yep, I am. I'm just flying around. And honestly, the thing about it is, it's literally, okay, fly around and get this thing. All right, now fly around and get this other thing. Okay, now there's the window attack. Okay, fly around, get this thing. But there's nothing even like dazzling about it. I'll deal with that in plenty of games that have the paint by numbers, you know, on rails kind of system. But at least I'm getting more bang for my buck. More entertainment in between. And that's, I think, something that's missing here.
I mean, first off, we have to give this game some credit. Sometimes you don't have to go get the thing. Sometimes you have to take the thing somewhere else. Okay, okay. But also, I'm actually a big fan of the idea of a timer in Superman games because I think that's. Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah. You go in there and yes, he's super fast, he's super strong, but he can't be everywhere at once. So, you know, save your people, save the building. Do everything you need to do. If you have enough things and enough enemies doing those things, somebody's gonna be able to beat Superman. And you might not be able to kill him, but you're gonna make him really, really sad when the puppy Dies.
Yeah, you know what, you're right. You're right. They did do that well. And some of the levels that really does that hits home because as you know, whoever it is, whether it's, you know, Metallo causing problems in the city, and it's like, oh my God, now these things are on fire. I gotta put out these fires or whatever. And oh, no, there's someone in that car. Oh, this. These people are trapped in that building. I gotta rescue them. I gotta move it. Yeah, yeah, that's true. It's. And they make it very clear, like, okay, do all the things, you know, you have to do them all, and if you don't, then there are consequences, people are going to die and all that. So, yes, they do get that right. There is this sense of overwhelm depending on what you're being overwhelmed with. So I will give credit to that. You are correct.
The other thing with this game, we're getting much more into the game critique than we usually do on this show. But it's Superman and I feel like it. So we're going to do it. Like, Xbox is still pretty early in 3D gaming. So, like, Superman 64 has the holy crap built in excuse of this is Basically your first 3D console. Obviously you've had a few little things before that, but, you know, Sega Saturn was made to be a 2D fighter powerhouse. You know, everything before that was 2D games that could do 3D. And sometimes they did it well and sometimes they didn't. But 64 was all about those 3D games. So you had a system in a world style where nobody really knew what they were doing. Like, you can't give Superman 64 a bunch of crap without also giving Super Mario 64 a lot of that same crap. Because Mario 64 is a. I'm gonna say it and everybody's gonna hate me. It is a horrible looking, what the heck is everybody thinking game. But it's so much fun because it's Mario and they got those parts of it and the fun parts of it, Right?
Yes. And Xbox is not really that much later technology wise.
True. But you know what? I'll be honest. I didn't consider it to be an ugly game. I thought, putting myself into that time frame, I thought it. Especially the cutscenes. I. I'm like, all right, it's that. I'll say, I think they made that the overall story of the game even. I think they made it compared to the. To the comic. The only thing I'll say, because I did read the Comics was. I don't know how you shoehorn in Lena Luthor the toddler child slash Brainiac thing. Like, I don't know what to say about that, but I'm not surprised that wasn't in the game.
I'd completely forgotten about that part.
Now that's. That's the thing I realized. Like, I. I surprised myself because there will be like this huge deserts of time where I don't. I don't. This is gonna sound blasphemous for the podcast. I don't read every single comic ever known to man, even with the characters that I love. And yet. Yeah, I know. Shocking, right? And yet this I read. And then I even went back and I'm like, let me read this again. And I realized I'm like, yeah, you're not gonna shoehorn in a toddler that. Or is manipulating with like, sentient capabilities and stuff like that can actually be a part of Brainiac. Like, no, that's not. That's not going to go well in a random video game if you're trying to appeal to a larger audience. And I don't even know how you do that type of mechanic in this game because, yeah, you just don't mess with kids that way. And other games that have younger people, like the Last of Us and whatnot, like, it just wasn't on people's radar, I think, at that time.
There's just so many aspects of this game that are sitting either in a good spot or they're right there and you can forgive them for it. And yet, at least to me, it is both a horrible representation of what Superman is, but also maybe the best one that I've talked about on the show so far. Yeah. Oh, boy. I enjoy the fact that it's not the worst Superman game. You don't want to tell us what the worst Superman game is?
I. I don't even. I don't even think about that because Superman 64 left such a bad taste in my mouth because that was my first attempt. I didn't play any of the NES stuff, so I. I didn't even have an inkling of what a super. So then that came out, and they're doing all the brain styles, so that always just. That's just a personal preference thing.
At least I can make you feel a little bit better about that one. Superman 64 is a simulation created by Luthor, focusing entirely around just frustrating the heck out of Superman.
Right. At least this game, I will say, shape that steel. We all know you don't have to Know anything about comics or anything to say, like, oh, Luther's in it. No, Luther. Somehow, you know, he's responsible. And so, yep, turns out that I don't mind that. And in the comics, it really is Sybil. So that's. That's good. I feel like they missed an opportunity in a video game, though, that they could have done so much more with Natalia, because the natal fight is literally same as all the other. Oh, yeah, you got heat vision. Make sure you use it. Don't get hit with his blast. That's literally it. Like, there's. There's nothing else to it. Meanwhile, comic gotta, like, shatter his. Or they. They shatter his Kryptonian core, like his Kryptonite core, basically. But then that has consequences. And so I'm like, okay, see, that's. To me, even if it's just a cut, you had opportunities. You really did. As opposed to him just falling over after you defeat him.
And I really wonder, and I wish I had thought about looking this up and had time to look this up after I did think about it, but I really wonder how this one started out. Like, was it always a Superman game? Or did somebody say, oh, hey, we need to use our Superman license so we can keep the rights? I mean, that's me pulling stuff out of my butt. So it might be entirely wrong.
I mean, it's true, though, for, like, other sourced material. I mean, that's why Spider man movies. I mean. Yeah. So it may not be that far off. Normally about now I'd ask you what this game gets right and gets wrong, but we've really explicitly said it throughout the entire thing, and I don't think we need to rehash all of those points again. Right. Just Superman as a character. Like, he's so important to you. He's gotten pretty important to me. Like, I just want to see a good Superman game.
Yeah, I. I don't know what that's going to. Yeah, I. I'm not even sure. Maybe now this is. That was me talking out of my butt. Maybe there's got to go like a different genre. Maybe they need to go like ARPG or something. I. I just don't know. I have no clue.
And, like, my thoughts are just. I mean, just lean into it and make a fighter. Just a straight up fighter. I know that they've made Injustice. I know that they made Justice League task force, but, you know, just. Just make a straight up Superman fighting game. That's all I want. Yeah.
That's why. That's why I made the Comparison with, you know, Elden Ring and Dark Souls and stuff. Like, I would. I wouldn't mind, actually just thought of something else maybe in, like, more of the God of War kind of. I doubt it would be as bloody, but just. Yeah, you really are that powerful. And when things are going down, yeah, you're going to have to wreck shop and you're going to be doing it in an overwhelming way. Like, if you're doing it with, like, you know, dozens of enemies on screen and you are just racking up super combinations and things that. That, you know, now it becomes more of the a God playground kind of feel, which maybe that'll work. I don't know. I think it says a lot that rather than typical pattern of how this is supposed to go, we're pretty much just saying, like, all right, we're beyond that. Let's see what else we could create.
So that being said, let's put a little bit of a twist on one of the questions I ask everybody. If you knew somebody who wanted to get into Superman and you absolutely had to give them a game, like, you don't get a choice. Is this one even in the conversation?
If I have someone who's a completionist, it could be, and I'll tell you why. Because the pure repetition, once you hear the basis of the story, you can see, like, oh, wow, some serious stuff is going down in Metropolis. And now it's this thing that's coming back and taking over everything. I just want to know how it ends. Because there's enough interest in the story that you. You do learn things. And it is a great, like, just instant build. Like, in this game alone, you will learn about major Superman villains. You'll learn about some of the relationship Jimmy Olsen's in. We never mentioned that. You know, you can get pretty decent feel. And that's it. It wouldn't be for the game itself. It would just be. Because I don't want. You have to go through an entire back catalog of, you know, endless comics if you really don't want to. But if anybody has an interest after seeing some of this stuff, then great. But. Oh, man, the idea that I would have someone even start with a Superman game is so wild. I. Oh, yuck.
Just looking at the ones that I've looked at here on the show, this is top three for what I would show people. Okay. It's this or Death and Return of Superman. Okay, okay. Or Justice League Task Force, because at least that one's a fighter. And you don't have to worry about a story. And you can just say, hey, look at these powers everybody has. Isn't that cool?
Yeah. And finally, if you could have Jimmy Olsen turn into any Muppet and he got to hang around with Superman, which Muppet would you have Jimmy Olsen turn into?
Oh, dear. So, oh, my goodness. I just realized I'm gonna actually mention another character we've ever mentioned, and that was Bizarro. But like, I would appreciate Jimmy Olsen turning into animals so much just for the freak out factor of, you know, Superman being like, what? Not even like just complete non sequitur. Like, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do now. You know, it's not like threatening. No. But just running around yelling, banging on things like they're drums. Yes. That's what I would pitch.
I keep wanting to ban animal as an answer, but it's such a good one for everything. And I. You know, it's funny that you mentioned that, because I've heard that so many times that I was going to almost promise myself, like, just go and. And I'm a huge Muppet person, so I have plenty that I was thinking and I'm like, you know what? I gotta be honest though. I have to tell the truth.
Well, doc, I guess you are our Superman because you just have to be honest and tell the truth and make sure that everybody gets exactly what they need. And if what people need is more doc issues, where else can they find you? Around the Internet?
Sure. It's very simple. We have capes on the couch, capesonthecalch.com you can find us on anywhere that you can listen to podcasts. Once in a while, when I feel like it, I will write what's well on our website, some blog posts, but we are on all the things, you know, Instagram, Twitter, you know, we have a YouTube channel, Facebook, you know, that still exists. And yes, I said Twitter not ends. We have a Discord page, we have a Patreon, all of which Brandon Capes on the couch, along with my co host, Anthony, who really does all the stuff. And the only thing I have to do is show up and be doc issues because I'm a board certified psychiatrist and I love talking about comic book characters. Aside from seeing patients.
Well, you do your part of the job very well and Anthony does his part of the job very well too. He's just not here right now to hear me say that. Oh, don't worry, I'm sure he's going to hear this. And I know that you're going to be meeting with him And I know the other. The other ultimate thing that actually has not happened yet is both of us on this show simultaneously. That still needs to happen.
I don't know if the world is going to be ready for that, but we're going to do it anyway. We just need the world to stop conspiring against us. I know that's the only reason it hasn't happened already. Yep. There's, you know, once in a while there's a monkey wrench that's thrown into things. And don't worry, we're. We're getting everything fixed and we'll be ready to go.
As always. If you want to hear more from me, then the best place to do that is to head on over to playcomics.com where there's links to all the social media things. I don't know what's going to be around in three months or three minutes or even by the time I wake up, which is hopefully longer than three minutes away. Yeah, that was kind of a weird order, but we're going to roll with it because that is what I am going to do. If you want to be on the show yourself, then there's a link down in the show notes where you can check out a link and see what I'm looking to get booked the soonest. I do really need to prioritize the people that I had to cancel on while my tech issues were happening. They get first priority on scheduling. After that, you know, it's the normal, we'll see when we can make it work kind of deal. And you know that that's pretty normal. We'll make it work. We'll make it happen. I like having new guests that are fun. So if you are a new guest that is fun or returning guests that is fun, then we'll make it happen. If you want to help support the show, then you can be like Dan McMahon and Uno, like class, and give the show money because it does cost money to run a podcast. Or you can just leave reviews or tell people about it. And maybe I should start reading reviews here or something. Let me know what you think about that. Like, seriously, let me know because that's a great thing to know about. Don't forget that Play Comics is a part of the Guinea Geek Network, home to such wonderful shows as Legends of SHIELD where we have been watching Agatha all along. And all along they have been helping me keep my sanity because I could at least get that show done while my tech issues were happening. Over here. A big thank you to all of them for working with the limited tech that I had, we made it work almost like magic. See what I did there? If you really like the music that I'm talking on top of right now, then head on over to BackingTrack GG, where you can find links to all of their great music and you can use it in some of your own stuff. But preferably not this song, because I like this one and I picked it. I don't want to have the same song as somebody else. Most of all, though, just grab a game, grab a stack of comics, and go find yourself a new favorite character.