Warning.
This podcast is a mail bag podcast, but it's gonna contain spoilers from a variety of different stories and comics and movies and television shows likely, so you know, like, if you don't want to get spoiled about what's going on in Star Wars, the High Republic comics, or the sixth book of the Harry Potter series and just pass on it. But we're gonna be talking about that stuff, so be warned.
Hello. My name is JASONN.
Stepsci, and welcome next to Revision the Crooked Podcast, where we dive deep down into your favorite shows, movies, comics, and pop culture. Joining me today, Oh, the gang is back together for the holiday mail bag. We have both of our hosts, the great Rosie Knight and the fantastically talented Cody Ziggler.
Folks, how are you?
We are great, We're thriving. As I told both of you, I'm going to see Spider Man away Home after we we this. Yes, yes, I expect the group chat and my Twitter to be exploding with nerdy takes all weekend, folks. I'm getting it here now. I'm doing great.
I love it. I am also doing great. I'm so stoked to be here with both of you.
I'm so stoked you're about to sea Spider Mans in you you are writing Spider Man.
You have already seen.
I know, I know. Like when they said that, hey you can that. One of the producers of this show was like, hey, we have screenings this day. As like, I thought about getting a flight back to la just to see it, but I was much more conscious about my money spending.
But good plan.
Yeah, I really wanted to see it early.
I love that responsibility. But you know, I'm glad you're seeing it today. Okay, let's get to the mail. Our first question, Lars asks what are her own thoughts on the High Republic the Star Wars High Republic novels and comics so far. I think they're a very interesting direction to go into for Star Wars. What upcoming projects are we excited for for the Disney Plus shows aside from Kenobi,
which everyone is pumped for. Rosie, you had some very specific thoughts about their Higher Republic comics.
Yeah, I really love it.
Actually, I think it's a really cool project and kind of it has a massive scope.
In case you haven't seen it, it's a.
New era of Star Wars and it goes over comics, graphic novels, for kids, adult novels. It's got all kinds of incredible creators. Claudia Gray did my favorite book so far called Into the Dark. She'd also done this incredible Star Wars book called Lost Stars, Kevan Scott, Justina Ireland, Daniel Jose Older, Charles Saul Like, it's smalls board of
great creators. And the really cool thing is, if you like, if you grew up reading Star Wars expanded Universe and kind of these stories that added to the law that you loved in this really new and inventive way. This is very much HARKing back to that age, but in a canonized way.
This is official Star Wars stuff.
But it's got that scope and that new characters, exciting new worlds, and I just think it's really good. And yeah, if I was going to recommend one, i'd say Claudia Gray, Into the Dark is a really great place to start. But Charles Saw also did the High Republic kind of kickoff books, So if you don't know where to start, that's a good novel to get in on the ground floor.
Charlestill crushing it right now.
I know he's killing it.
He is absolutely killing it. Okay, Emil asks what are your top crossover events? My favorite of all time was Galactic Storm. He also mentions Nightfall, Acts of Vengeance, the Original Inferno shout out to the Original Inferno, and Madeline Pride.
Reign of Superman also have an honorable mention.
Uh, Zig, what are your favorite crossovers?
Ah Man, that's such a good question. You know, I was a big fan of World War Hulk because that was the first crossover actually got into, and I didn't know how crossovers work, so I just thought there were a dozen books all about the World War. Also, I distinctly remember reading An Unredeemable Ant Man where Eric O'Grady had to shrink down to go inside the Hulk to try to kill him. But yeah, Insider just destrogged his outside, so he just got And like that was my intro
into like crossover events. Like I'm soldly that, Like that was a big fun because you just see Hulk beat up every single character in the Marvel universe, like his uh there's like a three issue I think one where he goes to uh Professor X's academy and like he just curb stumps all of those, Yeah, guys, those are probably that's probably that In Marvel zombies are like my favorite crossover.
Events, Rosie.
I like the weird stuff especially so like I have a lot of like weird old crossovers like Batman Sport and Batman Predator, Archie versus Predator I really like when you get I mean Batman versus Gore make sense. They have a lot of capes. But seriously, if you haven't read Archie, guys has Predator. That is like one of the funniest, deepest kind of comics. More on like a classic superhero Level is definitely like Crisis on Infinite Earth,
also Infinity Gauntlet. Like I like those big cosmic stories where you get to see all these different characters you would never expect kind of brawling it out.
Jason, what about you?
Oh gosh. I also love those big, sprawling crossovers. I think Marvel Cosmic has had some of the greatest crossovers in recent years, so Annihilation, Annihilation Conquest or just like Massive in scope, they introduced the modern version of the Guardians of the Galaxy team. You get to watch a group actually speak in words in this but it's it's super great, Like Giant space opera across many, many worlds. Incredible villain, really really fun. In that same vein War
of Kings was also really good. Maybe he doesn't get quite the shine, but also another Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning kind of like cosmic crossover, this time kind of related. It's like a lot of Summer's family. So Scott Summer's Cyclops is a mutant, his brother Alex also a mutant.
Their other brother Vulcan, also a mutant.
They all have these kind of like energy powers, and it's you know, Vulcan basically is extremely powerful and he just basically goes nuts and people have to try and stop him, and the various kings that try to stop him, and include black Bolt and the King of the Humans.
It's really really fun, really good. And then I guess.
More recently, War of the Realms I really enjoyed as just like a good old Thor fun. It was really really great to watch the various baddies from Asgarden elsewhere trying to invade Earth. Good good stuff right there, and that whole Thor run up to War of the Realms starting with Jason Aaron's it's like it's just it's an unrivaled run of greatness.
So check that out.
And that's a good I think that's a really good place if you want to know what might be happening and Thoor love and Thunder, it's like a very good and also Russell Dorman is just like the best.
So whenever you get that rustle lot, you're just like.
A v D sixty nine seventy seven.
Asks do you think we'll ever get a solid live action anime? Uh?
Let me. Rosie and I are both about the clapaphone or soapbox, so please bear with this, please.
Please, I'm I'm presenting the soapbooks. Do you warm up?
Yeah? Yeah? There are tons of really really solid live action adaptations of anime and manga just never gets over here. I'd say, like just right out the back. The most recent one that I can think of that's easily accessible is Late of the Immortal. Yes, I think that's on Amazon or who if you have a streaming network, is going to be on there, like a really really great one. I think this was a manga. I don't think it actually got an adaptation to animation just yet. But I
am a hero. If you're a big fan of zombies or like a Walking Dead. It's a really nice, interesting take on that from the perspective of like just an everyday shlub in the middle of Japan, like a big dan city in Japan. It's really great, really interesting, Like it's fun seeing how their gun laws just affect how you would survive a zombie invasion. And if you're looking for like a fun American ad patient that's a little
cheesy and also just have some great practical effects. The Guiver and the Guyver Dark Heroes from the mid nineties great. If you want to see Mark Hamill change into a giant cockroach, that's the movie to watch.
Who doesn't want to see that?
I mean, yeah, Blater the more old Like I think it was Takashi Meks like two hundredth movie or something as well. I got to interview him about it. It was like my dream. But that movie is so great. It's so violent, it's so interesting, it's so thoughtful, it's so fun. Also, like the Japanese Death Note is like, yeah, it's very like zerozy, but I really like that. I think also the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure movie that they did the live action one, so I think like all already
great live action anime adaptations being made. They're just generally being made in Japan. I was just going to seek them out, and I do think I do believe we can get them here too. I just think it's a journey. They've been making them in Japan for so long. That's where the quality comes from.
Yeah, I mean they have hometime advantage. I will say, even like at Leata Battle Angel wasn't terrible like I thought it was gonna be.
Like that movie. Actually yeah, I kind of like that movie.
Yeah, it was a fun like it's there. You think you just, like RADI said, you have to look a little bit harder than like just Netflix.
John asks is JK Rowling's exclusion from the twentieth anniversary get together that's on HBO Max, the original cast all getting together in the kind of like Friends reunion. Vein is her exclusion appropriate giving her critical role as author of the HP universe. It's I'll let you guys go first, but yes.
By a video, yeah, yes, next question yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah it is.
It is and she's still getting paid, so I'm sure she's Fine's I mean, write some nasty tweets and then hopefully people can enjoy it without, you know, they didn't want to have to edit out her say and all that stuff.
She would inevitably have.
Said, Yeah, she'll She'll be fine. Your weirdest friends from high school and college will still defend them and like you can just ignore them on your Facebook or timeline, They'll be fine.
I mean JK recently, like with like days ago, quintumpled or quint you know what, Sex tuppled down on her transphobic stance with a pretty inflammatory tweet that I'm not going to repeat here, but it's in vain with her other stuff. I'll just say that, like the community that grew up around the stories that took from those stories, this kind of message of inclusion, of acceptance, of people finding who they are and finding the magic within themselves
and finding community. That way, UH should move on as a community without the kind of divisiveness Unfortunately that JK is injecting into the conversation. Just like, you know, sit in your Scottish castle and enjoy your money.
That's all.
Like you wrote the stories, and as Rosie noted, you're still getting significantly paid and so just enjoy your billions and stop tweeting about I about trans people in a really, really terrible way. Next, Ash asks, the Disney plus Hawkeye series lifts so wonderfully and heavily from the fraction in Aya run. But as I understand it, Aya isn't credited much less paid for Disney using all of this work.
What's up with that?
And can you guys talk about how Disney is literally just having their credits people and production designers create quote unquote fan art essentially of all as work.
Rosie, you have as well.
So if anyone's read any of my work, and if you haven't, there's there's a ton there if you'd like to. But I write quite a lot about creative rights and creative credits and Disney and also Marvel before Disney.
This is a long established established the beginning of the industry.
Like when comics began, there was not such a thing as a work for higher contract.
It was very blurred.
That's why you can have Jack Kirby's family or the Segal and Schuster estates arguing for the ownership of these characters. But from around the seventies, everyone in comics, in Big Two Comics, Marvel and DC has been working under what it's called a work fire contract. When you make these characters.
When you create them, they are owned by Marvel. Now, the question is when you signed that contract, did you know that Marvel or DC would become the biggest blockbuster industry in the entire world and you were creating characters that could be used to make billions of dollars. I mean, there's lots of creators who have talked out about this
a lot. Jim Stalin, the creator of Thanos, he he basically talked shit on Marvel not paying him and Disney not paying him until they did, and it was incredible, and that is Jason kind of pointed this out before we started talking. But you can maybe get paid by Disney, but you're gonna have to go after them to get that money. And also, the crediting thing is interesting because
David Aheart is a really really extreme example. The entire Hawkeye credits are taken from his art style, all the promotional work, and he did a tweet where he said, I'm not bothered about being credited like Disney, just how about you pay me? Essentially I'm paraphrasing, and that made people say, wait, he's not getting paid. Basically, he does get a technical credit where if you wait till the end of Hawkeye, and I always write all of these
and explain who is being thankedful what. In my Easter eggs, you can see a special thanks. They have this at the end of movies, and that is essentially where they acknowledge the people who created either the characters or the story arcs which are being taken from. There was a creator who was one of the co creators of Yolena the Black Widow, who came out and said, you know, when you get the special Thanks, there is a set
payment that Marvel is allegedly gonna send you. But even that five thousand dollars or whatever it's supposed to be, is not something that they immediately send you five yeah, and that's to seek them out apparently to get it. So the special thanks is it's there. I'm glad it exists, but I would like to see a Hawkeye based on characters by with the big credit, you know, that would be nice.
Absolutely, this is.
A contracting issue.
It's an ongoing issue that multiple corporations have and that Comic Books is at the very heart of. But I think it's really really cool that Ash pointed this out, because I think it's the question a lot of people have, and I think a lot of people assume that anyone who writes comics is a millionaire because these movies.
Where's one hundred which is, as we know, zig one hundred percent true?
Yes, you.
Wrote Spider Man.
So yeah.
So I think it's really cool that people are having these conversations. I would love for David a how to get paid more? I would And so another thing that people were kind of confused about, specifically with Hawkeye, Matt for Action is listed as a consulting producer. So a lot of people said, oh, why isn't David ahar listed as that. We don't know what those conversations we had between the two of them, but what we do know is Disney and Marvel Studios did not reach out to
Matt Fraction to be a consulting producer. In fact, it was revealed that Seth Myers put him in touch with the creative team on the show and said he because that he was friends with both of them, and he said, hey, why don't you bring.
Maw and as a producer. So Disney is not doing that outreach.
It's all about the personal connections that you make and the kind of willingness that you have to fight and David Aha, he's very happy. Man doesn't really sell his original art, makes his cool art, Like he kind of did a ship post about Disney and I think now he's just like, don't worry about me.
Guys, Like I'm fine.
Yeah, I mean, Rosie covered everything that needed to be covered. But also it's one of those things where like there's no comic book unions like I'm I'm a television writers, Like we have a whole union that's fault for years to make sure that if I somebody ever adapts anythings that I've written, I get a pretty nice check and not just like I don't have to like hunt down the head of Sony.
Studios to get there to find them.
Yeah, I'm not the you know, I'm not Liam Neeson trying to track down the guy who took my money.
Yeah, Which is to say union productions are great. Uh, it would be great to have those in the comics industry so there more be a more equitable division of the monies which creators helped generate.
And I think that's all in all a.
Good thing that I hope we see more of than that we could fight for that's that would be good, and I would urge everyone to examine their personal relationship with corporations whenever they can.
Y up next more mail bag.
Continuing with the Hawkeye subject the Ronan suit, Tara asks where did it come from?
And why is it called that? Rosie? Would you like to take us down into the lore?
Yes, that's my dream.
Like I have to say, O, I thought I would hate it. I'm a Jeremy Renner hater, but the show is great. I love all the characters they included. And so basically, something very cool. The first ever Ronan was actually Echo New Avengers eleven Brian Michael Bennison Jokesada created her, and then Clint took on the mantle and a bunch
of other people took it on. But something that is really cool is that originally Ronan was actually meant to be revealed as Matt Murdoch, but editorially there was like a conflict with the Dead Evil title, so they went with Echo. So you have Echo and then you have Clint, and that is where Ronan comes from, and Echoed that was just her cool costume. But obviously it's inverted here where we saw Clint have the suit first in the MCU, and then you know, we haven't seen Echo.
It is a fake out in New Avengers, well, you know whatever issue that is. Captain America goes to see Daredevil and is like, hey, I need somebody for this mission.
Do you know anyway? I think you'd be great.
For it, and Matt's like, maybe I would, And then all of a sudden, this Ronan shows up. But then it's a fake out and it's actually spoiler Echo.
Also it's it's rown in r O N I N for those who are playing at home, rone in r A in. The accuser wrote in.
That I understand the confusion, but it's Roan. Yeah, it's the it's.
The Letlone Samurai Ronan.
The accuser is of course a Cree and part of the whole Accuser squad, who are kind of like combined an extension of the pre military slash judicial system slash warrior who goes out there and is like judge, jury and executioner like everywhere in space where he is continuing with more stuff that can kind of branch off from Hawkeye. Uh Angtrik asks, where when how do we think that the MCU will officially do Young Avengers who I mean
they're all here, which is great. As soon as Doctor Stranger in the Multiverse of Madness comes out, we will get America Chaves, so are all here but one? Well Hulkling also okay, so never mind they're not all here, we're missing Hulking in American showing they're on their way soon.
When do we think we'll see them?
You know, I think uh, I mean you already touched the America job as I'm wondering if there will be some hopeling action in Secret Wars. I'm thinking maybe that's when we'll get a little bit more of the scroll Side, because we really haven't gotten much out of them outside of you know, a Thoroughway joke in the second Spider
Man movie and and you know Captain Marvel. So I'm hoping there will be some hopeing action and then and then we can finally all come together and get my I want to see my boy Patriot leading the charge like see signs.
All.
Yeah, I really I think that Post one division. You know, we know that we have late wi Can and speed and and and like with Secret Invasion coming, we could definitely see Hulkling come there. Jason, you mentioned before we were recording about it being very suited for TV, and I actually think you're right.
I think it's going to be a show. I think I think it'll be a show, like I think it'll be a Young Avengers show. Maybe they'll move out to la It feels like it feels like Kate already needs a change of scenery age. He's already thinking about the warmer climates, get a new start somewhere else. I think they'll move out there and they'll do some stuff out there. Here's something I've been thinking about's sort of an asidety. You mentioned secret invasion. Who's the scroll?
Somebody right now? Is the scroll? Right? Yeah?
You know it?
You know there's a scroll somewhere.
Yeah, who's the scroll right now? In the MCU it's someone.
Oh boy do I used to be the number one at talk.
I used to be like, it's why would he do all of this stuff? That's not the case.
I've seen the show. I take it all back. I'm sorry I've been wrong for like five years.
It's probably gonna be someone less. I think it's going to be shieldy or someone less obvious.
I love the idea of it being like in the comics where it's this huge, sprawling thing, but I think Figi said it's going to be much more intimate, much more kind of paranoid, scary, kind of like espionage drama. So in that way, I think it's going to much more likely to be a shield type kind of yeah, secondary character, but still that's gonna have a little bit of impact.
Yeah, I mean they've already infiltrated swords, so like, yeah, I'm I'm with Rosie. I think it'll be like, oh, that person that had three lines in that one scene.
I predicted Maria Hills. That's really Yeah, here's a fun well, actually, this is a great opportunity to talk about a thing that caused a lot of controversy. What if it's Officer Paxton aka Bobby Canavali from the from the from the ant Man universe, or someone's like someone's wife and or partner and or kid being a scroll. I think could be fun and so let me address this now. Many people were like, hey, did Jason forget that Bobby canavally is offers practicing from ant Man? Uh, no idea forget?
But what I did forget to do? And this is what happens. This is like a mal and I used to talk about this on bingemin all the time, where we are so used to talking to each other about this stuff, that would you forget that this is for people and that you have to provide context all the time for things. And we'll just like have like inside jokes and non sequitters that make it onto the tape and you listen back and you're like, this is like a statement that is referencing nothing like only we would
get this. So, yes, I knew that he is Officer Paxson. The thing that I forgot to mention is like, there's a lot of examples of double casting. Jemma Chan is in Captain Marvel and is in The Eternals, Aaron Taylor Thomas is Quicksilver and is now Craven. There's other examples. Josh Brolin YadA, YadA, YadA. That said, yes, I knew it, I should have said it, and I humbly apologize to all of you. Next question, Brandon asks what are our
favorites heroes take break issues? My fave, though it's two issues, is Tom King's Superman Batman double date.
That is a good one. It's really it was Selena. Really that is a good one.
That's one of those like, I'm not a DC person, but I read it in which Selena and Lois become my favorite duo. Ever, that's a great question, Brandon Rosie, Do you have a favorite?
Yeah, so my most recent one.
And this actually made me think of it as in the DC Pride issue, Danny Law did this story about the non binary Flashes Chambers getting ready to go on a date and it has big that kind of energy. Also, I'm a big fan of any time that the X Men play baseball. And for my Hawkeye easter eggs, I was doing my funny like is there a number? Was
it a easter egg to an issue? And I found this issue of Avengers three twenty five and it's it's after this big drama and they have a break and so Circe holds a party and while there is some shenanigans like the waiting stuff end up trying to kill them, most of the thing is just that Avengers just having this party and Circe using her magical powers to make them have a really cool party, and it's so much fun.
It's like absolutely ridiculous.
Zig I was trying to think of one off the tone and now I'm thinking of immediately going to anime and manga, and like, my favorite one is Dragon Ball super There's an episode where everyone just plays a baseball game because the character Yamcha is a professional baseball player in the universe of that of that series, and like it's just all the players playing a game. There's like gods on one side and god on the other side,
and they just play a game of baseball. That's that's the entire stakes of that particular episode.
Sports anime and anime and manga have such good slice of live stuff, Like superhero comics need to really get to that level.
I love it.
My uh, this is a this is a pair. So my favorite two would be Uncanny X Men to forty four. This is from the Claremont run when they were when the X Men were in Australia. It's called Ladies Knights, the Debut of Jubilee. The Uncanny X Men. You know, they're out there all dirty and the Australian outback and they're like, you know what, we need a break from all this bullshit fighting the Reavers out here in the dust.
Let's go to the mall.
What do you.
Let's teleport to La and go to the mall and that's where they meet Jubilee, who makes her debut in that episode. It's really fun. And then during the Brian Michael Bendis Uncanny X Men run, which I quite enjoyed. Actually during the Inhumanity event in which you know, the inhuman terrogen bomb released and this was like positioning the in humans to be, you know, like the kind of
next force of powered individuals in Earth culture. There is an issue I think it's Issue it's Issue fifteen, and it's basically all the ladies' ex ladies go out and
they go shopping once again. They go to it's all this terrigen shit is happening, and they're like, you know what, Emma frost Iliana, Kitty fucking Tempest, Jan Great, the original Gene of the time transport did Jean Gray, like the original Gen Gray from the sixties transported to the to the present day and the step Ford Cuckoos all go shopping and it's wonderful.
I love it.
I love this.
Uh those are just my favorite. I think.
You know, like our heroes, they're fighting all the time. They need a fucking break. They need a break sometime. Okay, Scott asks Uh, do you think they'll do stories from the blip the MCU. Do you think we'll see stories from the Blip? If so, what or who would you want to see? I'd love to see Rocket writing emails. Yeah,
I think. I think if if the developments within Hawkeye and and within you know, the various MCU movie properties that if that are coming out, are any indication we are going to explore the Blip as like this global traumatic event more and more. There's gonna be a lot of things that come out of that. I think it's gonna be an origin story for villains and heroes. Uh, We're gonna see a lot more of what happened there.
It's it's a great it's so comic sye because it's like this huge event that just is vast in scope that you know, whatever creative team wants to can just go in and be like, Okay, I'm staking out this area of the Blip and saying this happened.
It's going to be super fun. What about y'all?
Yeah, I mean it's such like it's such a get out of Joe free car, Like here's five years It is where anything could happen and no matter what is going to be reset at the end of it, So
do what you want to do. I think, to Jason's point, you'll see a lot of I think you'll see a lot of origin stories, or you'll see a lot of like those seeds planted, like like I mean, I'm sure I'm assuming re Re happens after in yes, she's probably directly inspired by Ironman, but like if you seek a little bit of what she was going on during like the five year period or like, uh, if they do like want to do like a young Avenger stuff, like maybe they have some throwback stuff to happening like in
that time as a timeframe as well.
Yeah, just to quickly hijack episode five of Hawkeye and the Black Widow who Yolena attempts to rescue but is actually fine and is just doing hits. But now after the blip, she comes back and this woman has like adopted a kid with their partner. I don't think that that kid is Rebey Williams, but I also would not be surprised if that kid was.
Yah, we'll continue what we're gonna say.
I definitely no, No, I just agree with you both.
I think it's like it's this hilarious comic book thing where it's kind of a nightmare to have to explain it, but it also gives people like a lot of freedom. And there's definitely I won't say what, but there's like there's one plot point in No Way Home, like it's a thoroughway line, but I would love to see that expanded on.
If you've seen it, you'll know what it is. I think The Blip has a lot.
Of fun space, and I definitely think with what if with the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special coming up, I think there's likely that we might get some kind of anthology of the Blip where you could mix funny stuff with that darker more kind of like Carly style Falcon the Winter Sold just storytelling, because there's gonna be funny stuff like you know, rocket sending emails, people trying to live their lives, is going to be terrible traumatic
stuff like Calie staw Cap dealing with it and stuff. So yeah, I think it's I think it's a ripe for exploration, but there's also like a twenty percent chance that in about a year they'll just stop mentioning it.
Yeah, it's an absolute night Matt.
I'm like back with more listener mail.
After this, Andreas asks what do we all think about uh? And might we talk about the live action Cowboy BEBAP and Netflix's Arcane, which Zig and I have been a texting back and forth about.
Zig, do you want to do? You want to say?
Arcane is the cleanest shit I've ever seen? Like that is very, very so good, Like I will say so. Riot Studios is the game studio that these games are based off of League Legends, but like they they have been making fantastic shorts, animated shorts for almost a decade, Like the same studio that I think it's a French name. I don't want to but I don't want to say it because Butcher it. But like that studio has been making fantastic shorts for the better part of a decade,
really great stuff. And like there are so many moments at watching the series where I was just trying to figure out, like how they were doing the shot. It seemed like they were doing like a combination of like live mocap and then going back over and doing digital painting over every single frame, And I was like, this is fantastic, and that's not even that's not even taken to effect. That's the points where they like break animation style.
Like there's a bunch of there's some really cool set pieces where they they just break the animation style and go intothing that's completely different. Also, it's completely cool. I cannot wait for more of this type of animation to get out there, and like, I hope that the series does numbers, which it seems like it is doing.
It's like definitely the most exciting experimental animation since like Into the Spite of Us, Like the way they play with holding lines, the way they play with animation styles, the way that they use animation to tell the story and create the world, but in a way that's not narrative. It's just to do it a day.
It's yeah.
And also Hailey Steinfeld's she's killing it.
I am almost done with the first season of Arcane. It is fucking great. Episode two just launches in a completely different direction that I'm not versed in the League of Legends lure at all. So this is my intradiction to Jinx and the rest of these characters. But I'll just say, like it is really great, Like it's really really good.
I agree with you.
There are a couple of times, like especially kind of like two shots or full body shots where a characters like walking into a space where I'm like, man.
Did they mocap this?
Like this looks the uncanny Valley feeling is amazing. And then some of the fights are so unbelievably brutal and good. It's really really great, so watchable, action packed, and like the characters are really I mean, Jinx is like up there is an all time like, hm, can you fix her character? Just like Kyle asks, will you be doing any video game segments on the show? Elden Ring, which is the new game from soft game God of War, Ragnarrock, Horizin Zerodonna's Breath of the Wild, a lot of other
great games coming out this year. I think that would be really fun to do. I think the release of the live action Halo long awaited long live action Halo show, I think is a good opportunity to do that. I was Cody and I were recently commiserating about, like how good the original Eric Nyland Halo books are.
Yeah, they got no business being that good, but they were fantastic.
Stupendously good.
Like if you like if you like space, military, naval action, if you loved enders game, Fall of Reach and the rest of them by Eric Nyland are so much better than they should be. And I've been playing the heck out of the new Halo game, so I think that that would be a cool thing to talk about in the future. If you all are game Rosie, do you are you playing anything right now that you like?
Yeah?
I mean I I love playing games.
I don't play I have a I have a switch in a PlayStation, but I do mostly play like indie games. So I've been playing like Spirit Fairer pretty extensively. I love Breath of the Wild, so I will turn that's love that the sequel is like my most anticipated movie. I have a Zelda TI that's like one hundred percent my ship.
Let me see where.
Oh wow, I'm.
Sorry, Rosie and I forgot podcast audio.
We have, Rosy and I are showing off oursell the tattoos.
Yeah.
I'm still playing Animal Crossing like way too much because.
Cozy Grove. I mean for me, the.
Switch actually, like expanding into letting third party developers make so many games has been like life changing. I just play whenever there's a sale. I just buy a ton of random indie games and it has been like a total blessing. But I know I will be I will be moving back to the Triple A because like obviously the Wolverine game is, oh yeah, it comes out, I will be there, and the first I love Spider Man,
I love Mars Morales. I love the Arkham games because I love that fighting mecanim So I'm ready for that with Wolverine.
I'm there.
Continuing on the on the video game tip, Danny Brandy asks thoughts on the Witcher season one and a chiance we get any hard coverage of season two.
Much as Jason never played League Legends, I had never played in neither Witcher series or read any of the books, So like I just watched the series and like I really liked it, Like I I it's a it's as fun. It's big budget, but also there's like some fun practical stuff, Like they just have practical effects, and like that's a thing that's still near and dial to my my old souls. Like I like seeing it. I like knowing that there's like an actual guy with one eye dressed up as
like a satyr, like next to Henry Cavill. Like that's great. It seems like they're really making a push Netflix wise, like make that like an expanded universe, because I think they have like an anime or an animated series, animated feature for in the Witcher universe. So like I'm all aboard like anything that makes like big fun sci fi or fantasy, Like, I'll give it a chance. I'm into it.
I didn't like love the show, but the book I actually got into because the show came out and the game is great, but the books are actually like really good, Like if you're looking for that weird sci fi.
They are like weird and good, and I really like that.
The focus for the new seasons of the Witcher is like really inclusive and like changing that kind of idea of who is usually in fantasy. So I'm definitely gonna I'm gonna give it a try as they spread, and I think the series was meant to be incredible. I haven't watched it yet, but it got like a lot of.
Love from anime fans I liked.
I liked the series a lot.
I especially like as a game player, and full disclosure, Witcher three is really sure that I've played, but I loved Witchard three. I was really impressed by Henry Cavill's just like kind of grunts because his grunts were directly out of the game, just like that stuff is.
I was like, wow, that it sounds just like the game.
Holy shit, stay tuned. I think that's definitely something that we could do. Yeah, and then finally Alex asks, I'm looking for recommendations for fantasy sci fi adventure novels. The problem I have is a lot of recommendations I find online or books that are too hard to follow. They haven't have way too many characters with unfamiliar names. I can't cap track of them. Any recommendations for easy fun reads. Love the show. Thanks Alex, Rosie, you had some You had some good ones for this.
Yeah, I totally relate to this because I absolutely love fantasy, and I grew up on really dense, esoteric, hardcore stuff and sometimes you just want that easier to get into, like captive read. So some that I have been throwing out Six of Crows, which is by Libadugo, which is
basically a spinoff of Shadow and Bone. But Six of Crows is like, well ultimate, So Six of Crows is an ultimate badass high story that is just one of the most incredible books I've never met anyone who hasn't read it in about two days because it is just the most gripping stuff and if you like it, you can go in to Shadow and Bone, but this is really its own great story. I read a brilliant book recently called The Gilded Ones by Namina Forumna, which is like.
A fantasy story about.
A young woman who bleeds gold and in her village that means that she's a witch. And it basically is this monster dragon mythology with a brilliant black lead and it is just really cool and has a lot of twists and if you want to chill one, but that is one of the best books I've read.
There's this book called The.
House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ.
Kloon, and it's about a world where magic is real and a guy who works for a very boring Douglas adamsesque kind of dystopian government has to go and look at the orphanages where magic children are kept, and they're usually horrible, and one time he goes and he's assigned to this place with this very charming father figure with all these weird children, one of whom is the Antichrist, and it's basically this weird found family, X Men and quea brilliant story, and I.
Just it's so good. It's just so good.
I will add to those, well, listen if you're looking for a space adventure that is a super fun fast, funny read. Rosie just mentioned Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's Guides to the Galaxy books are just fucking hilarious.
They're so funny.
It's like it actually makes me mad how funny they are, Like it enrages me that they're that good. I would also add Makaiah Johnson's The Space Between Worlds, which came out this year. It is one of the more original like alternate universe kind of like sci fi's that I've read lately, and it's got a really interesting like social justice message in it, diverse characters, author of color, really good.
I would recommend that. And then The Past is read by Catherine Valenti, which is like also like really funny, kind of like a magical realism sci fi and like this like garbage post apocalyptic future. It's stark, but there's like a there's like a lightness and a fun to it. And then I guess, like I find sometimes like starting like a whole ass novel can be really daunting, So I'm like, give me short stories. Ted Chiang's Exhalation compilation
of short stories is really great. The first one, Like, go to a bookstore, find that book and just read the first one and if it doesn't grab you, then don't read the rest of it.
But if it grabs you, just buy the book. Folks.
This was super fun, big thanks to Rosie and Cody. Where can people find more of you?
If you're looking for me? Yeah, for zig on social media at Instagram and Twitter, and I'm assuming you're like amazing spider Man dot bay. Those are my spidy comics and you read those and them that make Happy New Year for me?
At Bay I got it and May and Doc Rock that's like my ide really deliver it.
Yes, I was like, this is why we're on the show together. This is.
I'm Rosie Marx on Instagram.
And if you like any of this stuff I talked about that, I've written a ton of different stuff about it. If the creator ownership stuff seemed interesting to you, I wrote a really big piece on Esquire about stan Lee and his impact on creator ownership.
The good sides, the bad sides, and.
That's a really good primer for forgetting more into this stuff. And also, I think we touched on it before, but Image Comics workers tried to start a union recently, so like email, Image support those workers and maybe we can get a comic book union.
Well, folks, If you want to learn more about what we explore each episode, check out our listeners guide to all things x ray Vision in the show notes on our website. Quick note, we will be taking a break after Christmas to just rest and relax and refit. We'll be back Friday, January seventh of the year twenty twenty two. May the blessings of God be upon us, and hopefully it's a better time in the world at that time, but who knows. I want to drop us an email. Get to us at x ray at crooked dot com
to pitch your nerd out subjects. More instructions in the show notes. That's x ray at crooked dot com. Folks, don't forget about the five star ratings. Do forget about the four star ratings. Definitely forget about the three star ratings. Absolutely erase any suggestion of two star ratings from your mind. And one star ratings. I don't even understand why You're here. Five star ratings only on the podcast platform of your choice. X ray Vision is a Crooked Media production. The show
is produced by Chris Lord and Saul Rubin. The show is executive produced by myself and Sandy Gerard. Caroline Restlin and Carlton Gillespie are consulting producers, and our editing and sounder design is by Sarah Gibalaska and the good folks of Chapter four. Thank you to Brian Vasquez for our theme music. Folks, have a great holiday season, and may it be wonderful, and may you be around people that care about you and that you care about.
Goodbye, h