The X-Men TAS Podcast: What If…Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on September 20th, 2021 by Willie

We reflect deeply on the current and future states of Marvel’s cinematic offerings while exploring the latest What If mashup between Iron Man and Black Panther! Join us as we discuss…

  • Being old as a prerequisite to enjoy Columbo!
  • Digging the trashy fun of HBO’s Titans series!
  • Praying that the future X-Men movies won’t let us down!
  • Seeing how Disney manages to contain the spicy socio-political realities of Killmonger’s motivations!

We got a little philosophical on this episode and perhaps go off the deep end a bit but when you are 200 episodes + into a podcast, what can you really expect? The X-Men TAS Podcast is now on Twitch… click here to go to our page and follow and subscribe so you can join in on all the mysterious fun to be had! Also, make sure to subscribe to our podcast via BuzzsproutiTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: The Spider-Man Years – Secret Wars: Chapter Three: Doom

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on May 25th, 2020 by Willie

The Fantastic Four take center stage as they take on the benevolence(?) of Dr. Doom in the third to last Spidey TAS episode ever! Join us as we discuss…

  • Why Dr. Doom is awesome and the FF4 are kind of lame!
  • Is slapping “new” on a freshly discovered region lazy cartography?
  • More sad moments from Jack Kirby’s underappreciated life!
  • Lets face it, if any hero is going to invent time travel, it’s Mr. Fantastic!
  • Spoiler alert: Good wins!

We also talk a little bit about the greatness of the “The Great,” a cool new Hulu show we very much enjoyed this week! Make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout, iTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: The Spider-Man Years – Secret Wars: Chapter Two – The Gauntlet of the Red Skull

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on May 18th, 2020 by Willie

Spider-Man’s jealous of Captain America while Morbius expresses a bond deeper than love on the latest episode of Spider-Man TAS! Join us as we discuss…

  • That you have to make sure to have consent before transporting someone across the galaxy!
  • How Red Skull somehow managed to recruit Nazi goons on an alien world!
  • Is Spider-Man cheating on his transdimensionally lost girlfriend, or the corpse of his cloned wife?
  • How we’re wishing for X-Men tv shows and cartoons more than movies these days!

Only three episodes to go after this one until we complete our five season odyssey with our favorite animated web-head! Make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout, iTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: The Spider-Man Years – Secret Wars: Chapter One – The Arrival

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on May 11th, 2020 by Willie

For Spider-Man’s final adventure, he is beamed across the galaxy to fight in a battle of good vs. evil because some super god can’t tell the difference yet! Join us as we discuss…

  • Shopping a better title for planet Earth!
  • How the bench for the team of evil gets a little weak at the end!
  • Super-hero hype vs. super-hero tropes!
  • Should we read the Secret Wars comic book?
  • Ranking the Batman, X-Men and Spider-Man shows!

We’re into the home stretch here for our old pal Spider-Man and again, we’re pleased as punch for everyone who strapped into this ride with us! Make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout, iTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: The Spider- Man Years – Carnage

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on November 4th, 2019 by Willie

Spider-Man and his galaxy of friends and villains all collide in a super-nova of action-packed mayhem on the latest episode of Spider-Man TAS! Join us as we discuss…

  • Carnage’s Halloween face and curious backside!
  • Another thwarted Spider-demasking!
  • Venom and Carnage, terrible monsters who keep their promises!
  • The wide world of magical flying life fores in the Marvel Universe!
  • Some Star Wars and Avengers video game and movie news!

Season 3 is rapidly coming to a stunning close so stay tuned for the ride! Make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout, iTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: The Spider- Man Years – The Spot

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on October 21st, 2019 by Willie

Spider-Man gets tangled up in some inter-dimensional holes battling the Spot on the latest episode of Spider-Man TAS! Join us as we discuss…

  • Tony Stark, world’s worst boss?
  • Kingpin’s keen eye for free lance mad scientist talent!
  • British villains, someone explain this to us!
  • The Spot’s goofy throwback charm!

What a fun episode this was to watch, another ace up Spider-Man’s sleeve! Make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout, iTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitter and please join our Facebook Group!

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The X-Men TAS Podcast: BONUS – Avengers End Game (SPOILERS)

Posted in The X-Men TAS Podcast on April 29th, 2019 by Willie

We have reached the End Game of the MCU…only proceed if you have as well as we discuss…

  • That time when [REDACTED]
  • Or how about [REDACTED]
  • Our thoughts on [REDACTED]
  • We get the joke, you aren’t going to write any spoil-[REDACTED]

Please do yourself a favor and hold off on downloading until you see the film, but we hope if you have, you enjoy our conversation as we try to make sense out of this major milestone movie event! Also, make sure to subscribe to our podcast via BuzzsproutiTunes or Stitcher and tell all your friends about it! Last but not least, follow Willie Simpson on Twitterand please join our Facebook Group!


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The Real History of Marvel Comics with Jack Kirby in an Ultra Rare Interview

Posted in Comic Books, Jack Kirby on July 2nd, 2012 by Willie

Superhero movies are everywhere these days, coldly destroying the competition in the movie theaters in the summer.  Their omnipresence is even sparking interesting debate from elitist movie critics at the New York Times.  With movies starring classic comic book characters like Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men, the question rises as to what collection of creative geniuses could have possibly come up with these zillion dollar ideas that millions of people have become fiercely loyal to?  The obvious answer is that it boils down to two Jewish guys from New York City, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  However, if you really deep fry the question, the answer might just boil down to one man, Jack Kirby.  The real story of the history of Marvel Comics is not exactly the tale of a happy collaboration between the revolutionary pop artwork of Kirby and the bottomless imagination of Stan Lee.  In actuality, the authorship of these legends is a jumbled and bitter history featuring bad work for hire contracts and editorial self-aggrandizement.  According to Jack Kirby, he basically not only created and drew every Marvel Comic of significance, but plotted and wrote all the dialog, a telling of history that leaves little room for one Stan Lee.  Jack recollected Stan as a “bother” and “office prankster,” hired as an office boy by Marvel’s owner Martin Goodman as a favor because they were related, and overtime graduated from office paperboy to over-glorified editor.  Stan would change some dialog to make it snappier or funnier, as well as changing character’s names on a whim, but Jack did all the heavy lifting, and because he worked at home, had little contact or interaction with Stan Lee.  Evidence speaking to this arrangement is found in this wonderful article published in a Jack Kirby fanzine, which you can read here.  In that article, you can read more about the troubled history between Stand and Jack, and see Jack’s original artwork and dialog, as well as the light notes Stan put in the margins.  Jack’s version of history is very negative towards Stan Lee, probably to an unfair degree.  Marvel Comics never properly took care of Jack over the years, treating him as a standard work for hire artist, and not the genius who revolutionized the way comic books are written and drawn, thus creating in Jack a deep bitterness.  A popular story out there is that Jack once entered a toy store towards the end of his life, (he died in 1994), and started to cry because he saw that every toy was of something he created, and he wasn’t getting a dime.  Stan, to his credit, did have more of a role in Marvel’s success then Jack would ever admit.  While Stan’s role in the creation of the Fantastic Four, the hit that saved Marvel from closing its doors in the early 60s, is questionable, Stan did create Spider-Man with artist Steve Ditko, the greatest superhero in the Marvel roster.  Jack, filled with bitterness, would claim for years that he was actually the one that created Spider-Man, a claim knocked down by numerous people close to the situation.  I could go on and on, but you can see the depth of wonderful intrigue to this history, and I hope one day, someone makes a smart and serious period piece movie about Stan and Jack, bringing this complicated history to light.  In light of this history, the global success of the multi-billion dollar Avengers/X-Men/ and Spider-Man franchises, is a bit bittersweet for two reasons.  First, Jack never lived to see it, and the second is that Jack’s name is not as well known as Stan’s, who has received an undue level of credit for something that essentially belongs to Kirby.  Anyway, the interview below is an incredible document.  Its Jack reflecting on his long life, how he started making comics, his stories from being a soldier in Patton’s army, and his personal cosmic philosophy that influenced all of his creations.  The interview took place in 1990, and while the interviewers do a wonderful job in allowing Jack to speak, as well as asking pertinent questions, the callers at the end basically have no idea of who Jack Kirby is, and thus ask a series of ludicrous questions, that are equally humorous and slightly disrespectful to a man of Jack’s stature.  It’s a great interview and well worth listening to because this is the man who facilitated the enjoyment of millions of people’s childhoods.  So, enough yapping, here is Jack Kirby, King of Comics.  Oh, the transcript of the interview is here, handy if you want to follow along more closely.

The video is courtesy of the Jack Kirby Museum, an incredible YouTube channel started by Jack’s family that fans of Jack should all subscribe to.

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