DC Comics

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 143: JLMay 2023, The Brave and the Bold

It’s JLMay 2023! Join me as I take a look at issue #10 of the 2007 version of DC’s classic team-up series, The Brave and the Bold. The Challengers of the Unknown! Superman! The Silent Knight! Aquaman! The Teen Titans! It’s some Silver Age DC goodness brought to you by Mark Waid, George Perez, and Bob Wiacek! Plus, listener feedback!

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

Music in this episode was by Alexander Nakarada and was used under the Creative Commons license.

The opening track is “The Good Guys”:

The closing track is “Rise Up, Stand Up”:

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 140: My Batman Phase

If I can point the true origin of my comic book collecting career to one point in time, and especially one character, it’s the spring of 1990 and the character is Batman. For this episode, I’m going to take you through “My Batman Phase,” starting with how I first got to know the character, and walking through my experience with some of the biggest Bat-related events of the 1990s.

You can listen here:

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 129: Continuity, Sagas, and Histories

When you start reading comic books decades into a character or even an entire publisher’s existence, how do you go back and find out all of the stories that got them to that point, especially when it’s 1991, you’re fourteen, and you don’t have money, a car, or the Internet at your disposal? Well, join me as I talk about how I learned about Marvel and DC’s histories through their “official” history accounts: The History of the DC Universe, Marvel Saga, The History of the Marvel Universe, and The Other History of the DC Universe. Plus: listener feedback!

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

9/11 and Popular Culture Part Two

It’s the second episode of a six-part miniseries that examines the books, movies, music, comics, and other popular culture that directly addresses or is about the attacks of September 11, 2001. In this episode, I look at comic books, starting with The Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 #36, Marvel’s A Moment of Silence, Kitchen Sink Press’ 9/11: Emergency Relief, Dark Horse’s 9/11: Artists Respond, DC’s 9/11 compilation, and Art Spiegelman’s In the Shadow of No Towers.

A quick content warning: Though these events are now 20 years in the past, they are still traumatizing to many, and I also discuss some of my personal feelings and views, so listener discretion is advised.

Finally, I will be including a feedback section in the sixth episode of the series, and would love to hear what you think, so leave comments on the Pop Culture Affidavit Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or email me at popcultureaffidavit@gmail.com.

Here’s where to listen:

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

And for a look at when I covered two of these stories ten years ago, here’s a link to a “My Life as a Teen Titan” Post, This Too, Shall Pass.

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 123: Cardboard Heroes

The Eighties and Nineties were a boom for the baseball card and trading card industry, and since I was a kid, I was right there in the thick of it.  Join me as I recount my days collecting baseball cards as well as cards featuring characters from Marvel, DC, Star Trek, and Star Wars before looking at books and documentaries about the hobby.  Plus, I open four packs of vintage baseball and trading cards live on the show!

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

And here’s a gallery of the cards I opened (plus the gum) …

(more…)

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 122: Titans Two-Fer Part Two, Apokolips Now

In 1982, Marvel and DC teamed up to present a story featuring their two hottest properties: The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans.  Written by X-scribe Chris Claremont with art by Walt Simonson and Terry Austin, the crossover was one of the best ever produced and had the X-Titans facing off against Deathstroke, Darkseid, and Dark Phoenix.

To take a look at my favorite inter-company crossover of all time, I’m joined by The Irredeemable Shag from the Fire and Water Network.  We take a look at it from all angles and really find our joy talking about this classic.

You can listen here:

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

A QUICK NOTE: The show is only currently available on the Two True Freaks website for streaming and download. We’re working on getting the feeds fixed and that will hopefully get them to podcatchers soon.

Don’t forget that if you’d like to leave feedback, you can email me at popcultureaffidavit@gmail.com!

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 121: Titans Two-Fer Part One, The Judas Contract

In 1984, Marv Wolfman and George Perez shocked their fans by revealing that the New Teen Titans’ newest member, Terra, was working with Deathstroke: The Terminator.  Then, they finished Terra’s story in what is the high-water mark for their run, “The Judas Contract.”  This episode, Donovan Grant joins me to take a look not only at the story as a whole, but The Other History of the DC Universe #3.

CONTENT WARNING:  In this episode, we discuss the relationship between Slade and Tara and talk specifically about issues concerning rape, and the exploitation of minors.

You can listen here:

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

Don’t forget that if you’d like to leave feedback, you can email me at popcultureaffidavit@gmail.com!

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 109: JLMay 2020 — The Return of Donna Troy

Episode 109 Website CoverIn 2004, DC Comics released ‘Countdown to Infinite Crisis,” and set in motion a six-month buildup to what would be the most monumental crossover in recent DC history, Infinite Crisis.  This May, that ‘countdown” and buildup to Infinite Crisis is the topic for the annual JLMay crossover.  It is “The Event Before The Event.”

In this episode, I step in to take on the only miniseries from that time that you’d expect, which is The Return of Donna Troy. But in order for you to actually understand how and why Donna Troy is returning (and where she went in the first place, you need to know the answer to the age-old question … “Who is Donna Troy?”

And trust me, the answer is complicated.

Join me as I look at Donna’s origin and history through its most important phases–the swingin’ ’60s original Teen Titans, the Wolfman-Perez classics “Who is Donna Troy?” and “Who is Wonder Girl?”, and even the Nineties where she was the victim of crossover shenanigans and John Byrne.  And that’s just a warm-up for my coverage of the four-issue miniseries that’s written by Phil Jimenez, penciled by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (praised be his name) and inked by George Perez.

You can listen here:

Apple Podcasts:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

This episode is just one part of a huge podcast crossover for JLMay 2020.  Be sure to check out the following shows over the course of May to continue the epic coverage of the event before the event.

Also, if you are listening to these shows and digging this podcast crossover, be sure to use #JLMay2020 if you’re sharing these episodes on social media.

Pop Culture Affidavit Episode 88: Laying Down the Law, Part 1

Episode 88 Website Cover.jpgIt’s the first of a two-part look at police story comics of the late 1980s and early 1990s!  This time around, I look at the DC Comics four-issue miniseries Underworld by Robert Loren Fleming and Ernie Colon from 1987.

You can listen here:

iTunes:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download 

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

And look for part two next week!

Origin Story Episode Fourteen

Origin Story Episode 14 Website CoverDifferent distributors in the 1980s means different release dates for comics means that I’m putting this episode out two days before the last one.  This time around, I take a look at The Adventures of Superman #429 by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway, which puts the spotlight on Cat Grant in a sense, or at least gives us more insight into her relationship with her son Adam and his father.  Plus, I walk down WWF memory lane by talking about Wrestlemania III and the legendary match between Randy “Macho Man” Savage and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.

You can listen here:

iTunes:  Pop Culture Affidavit

Direct Download

Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page

And as promised in the show, here is a link to ESPN’s “Oral History” of the Macho Man-Steamboat match:  “Oral History: Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, 30 Years Later”

Adventures_of_Superman_429