Across the Omniverse

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ALL-STAR COMICS #8: First Appearance of Wonder Woman! Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

Trigger warning: someone farts on mic this episode.
And if that's not bad enough, my mic was not set properly for the intro of the episode. But don't worry, the bad sound quality only lasts fifty minutes. We talk about all kinds of news and stuff, and also there's a recorded fart, but it sounds very bad. So if you don't want to suffer through it skip to 50:19.
When we get to All-Star #8 we are faced with a stultifying Justice Society of America book-length epic before diving into Introducing Wonder Woman. Along the way we talk about what a weirdo William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator, was and we examine how very different modern warrior Wonder Woman is from the character's initial origins.
We'll be covering What If...? in our next few episodes, and then Echo. Meanwhile we will be doing an episode of Watch Men about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, available only to subscribers at the $5 and above level. Click here to subscribe!

The Bad Batch: A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

A Cinema Sangha Special Presentation!
This week we are giving you a free glimpse at one of our other podcasts, The Bad Batch. That's our weekly Star Wars show, and this week we're talking about the new documentary A Disturbance In the Force, about the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special.
It's a pretty terrific documentary that gives you a good sense of the context of early Star Wars, of 1970s TV and just how the hell something as truly awful as the Star Wars Holiday Special even came to be.
If you like this episode join the Patreon to get more! For just $1 a month you'll get The Bad Batch every week and access to our Discord, where we hang out and talk about movies, TV and all kinds of stuff. But get this - it's not toxic! For real!
Click here to join the Patreon!

FANTASTIC FOUR #1: First Appearance of the Fantastic Four! Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

This week it's a look back at the birth of the Marvel Age of Comics, and it's not completely what you might expect. It's weird, silly and not actually the Marvel Universe as we know it. For one thing, the Fantastic Four debut in a fictional city, not New York!
Before that we have some news, and some movie talk - Derek has caught up with Napoleon and The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, while I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3. Find out what we think about these, what we think about Sean Gunn playing Max Lord in Superman: Legacy, and a whole bunch more.
Next week: All-Star Comics #8, the first appearance of Wonder Woman! Find it on the DC Universe app.
And by the way - we sell stuff now! Check out our web store and buy a shirt, a mug or a horrific sweatshirt. Click here to buy something nice for Christmas (no guarantee it arrives by Christmas).

DETECTIVE COMICS #27: The First Appearance of Batman! Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to the debut of Batman... or should we say, The Bat-Man. In Detective Comics #27 Bob Kane and Bill Finger introduced a character who would impact the pop culture of the 20th century in ways nobody could have guessed. Hell, reading this entire comic book it becomes clear nobody would have guessed this stuff would still be around in ten years, let alone 80+ years later.
We attempted to read all of Detective Comics #27, but the length and the general crumminess stymied us! Still, reading some of the other stories helped give some interesting context for just how samey and yet how different Batman is in comparison to these other detectives.
Also: what the hell is wrong with the movies? We go on a long digression and kind of an argument about the way that franchises - especially action franchises - have disappointed at the box office this year. Are we on the cusp of an inflection?
Thanks for listening! Join us on the Discord by becoming a member at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha!

AMAZING FANTASY #15: First Appearance of Spider-Man! Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

This week we're back to reading comics, and we are continuing our origins project. It's Amazing Fantasy #15, the historic first appearance of Peter Parker, the spectacular Spider-Man!
You can find this comic on Marvel Unlimited or for free on the Kindle app; what's nice is that Marvel has reprinted the whole comic, which includes a bunch of frankly terrible back-up stories... which we also read and talk about!
How does this tale hold up? Did Stan Lee and Steve Ditko get it right the first time? Find out!
By the way - we have merch now! Hit up our merch store where you can buy one of two t-shirt designs, both based on Derek's iconic catchphrase "Aggressively Fine." All sales from the shirts go to Derek, who frankly does not get paid enough for these podcasts. Put some spending money in his pocket!
Click here to check out the merch.

ACTION COMICS #1 Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

While we wait for What If...? to start, we decided to do more comic book readalongs. But we learned a lesson from Secret Wars II - we can't ask you guys to read 9 comics a week. So our interim activity will be reading first appearances of famous characters, and what more famous a character to start with than Superman himself, first appearing in 1938's Action Comics #1.
But first: a whole lot of news! Pedro Pascal! We talk about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (no spoilers)! Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and what that has to do with Fantastic Four! And so much more, inckding how Derek broke his phone.
And when it comes to Superman, we discuss Jerry Siegel's Batman-like origin story, what elements of the Man of Steel were in place from the start, Superman's relationship to Judaism and immigration, and we broach the dangerous topic of "Were Siegel and Shuster geniuses or just two guys with one good idea?"
Next week: the first appearance of Spider-Man! It's Amazing Fantasy #15, which you can read on the Marvel Unlimited app (and which is almost certainly easy to find elsewhere on the world wide web).
Thanks for listening!

LOKI: "Glorious Purpose" Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

It's the end of Loki... and it's the end of Loki? Big series finale here, with major consequences for the God of Mischief. But does the rest of the season support the finale? Is it possible the last episode of a show can be amazing if the ones before are kind of not great? Find out!
Also: we talk a little bit about The Marvels, saving the main discussion for our podcast Watch Men. You can get that by subscribing at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha. Just $5 a month! Somehow that is now the cost of a cup of coffee.
Next week we're trying something different. We enjoyed talking Secret Wars II but the investment in time - some weeks we asked you to read 9 comics! - was too much. So as we wait for Echo to start we're going to read famous first appearances of classic comic characters. First up: Superman in Action Comics #1! That's available free on Comixology and also on the DC Unlimited app.
Thanks for listening, see you next week!

LOKI: "Science/Fiction" Nov 05, 2023

Show notes

Believe it or not this week I'm not complaining. The penultimate episode of Loki season 2 is a lot of fun and has the kind of lovely strangeness that's been missing. It also has the Velvet Underground... and that I complain about, believe it or not.
Plus: hot takes on that big Variety piece about Marvel Studios, and which parts sound kind of like BS. Who is throwing Nia DaCosta under the bus here? And what does it mean when FX are "out of focus?"
Next week: the season finale! It's probably gonna be big, so join us to hash it all out.

LOKI: "Heart of the TVA" Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

This week's Loki ends on a major cliffhanger, but is the journey to get there worth it? On this episode we try to figure out what the different characters actually want, and what the stakes of the show are - things you would hope the program made clearer!
Before that - a revisit of Infinity War and Endgame leads to discussion about why Phase Four feels so different, excitement-wise, from the first three phases. What's different, and what does the future hold? Plus - we finish reading MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, and have some thoughts!
Thanks for listening and see you again next week.

LOKI: "1893" Oct 22, 2023

Show notes

What does everybody want in this show? This week we talk about some muddled motivations and some muddled stakes, but do those things mean the episode isn't enjoyable? Not necessarily!
Also: we're reading MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios and it's giving me memberberries about the days when I was in the scooping game.
Come join the Patreon at www.patreon.com/cinemasangha!

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