[Master Higgins]

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE: The Comic Conspiracy — Episode 112 (2013-06-17)
We abuse the hell out of the "Explicit" tag this week as five nerds slap-fight over the most divisive comic book movie of all time -- Warner Bros' Man of Steel. Starring Ryan Higgins, Omar Brodrick, Bryce Larsen, Brock Sager, and Charlie West.
Running Time: 1h 25m 00s

[red_shirt]

boy were the arguments this week pretty weak and superficial...

Spoiler: show

sorry, but the arguments from Brock, Bryce, and Omar were pretty weak and ungrounded. I don't completely follow Higgin's lovefest but I fall closer to Charlie's assessment of the movie. I think the biggest problem with movie viewers watching Man of Steel is that they are bringing with them too much expectation based on what they WANT to see rather than what was presented. Much like the haters and complainers of JJ Abrams' reboot of Star Trek, the audience needs to understand that this movie was a REBOOT and doesn't assume any previous history, continuity, knowledge of the characters shown. The movie is meant to be a first impression of a new character to let the director/writer/etc. have full control over how/what they wanted to present.

I'm sorry, but the arguments against the death of Zod at the end of the film are completely offbase. At no time in the film did it ever talk about Superman being a boyscout or that he never killed. All the people complaining about that fact are basing this off their own vision of superman (whether brought in from the comics or previous movies) and are not watching the movie actually presented before them. The whole premise of this film was about showing that people (specifically Kal-El) can make choices in their life and that ones future is not foretold or predetermined.

If I had to rate the film, I'd agree with Higgins that Marvel films have a completely different core audience. To me, Marvel movies are directed more towards the younger audience for licensing sales and shallow themes. As much as I like the Marvel films for those reasons, I prefer the more thought-provoking and grounded films of Nolan. Man of Steel for me outweighs most all Marvel movies. Sorry to say, but the only Marvel film that matches that was Avengers simply for its pacing and overall fun-factor.

As for the supposed violence. Why is it that everybody is fixated on the violence level of a movie for a so-called boyscout (which is never stated in the movie itself) more critically panned than say the violence in the marvel movies? Iron Man (and War Machine) killing off terrorists is fine just because they're terrorists? What about all the nazis Captain America and crew killed? What happened to Marvel's boy scout? For movies based off of comic books or science fiction, if the violence was important it wouldn't be shown offscreen. For anything that happens offscreen we can make up and bring our own judgements to, but what's the point? It's obviously not the point of the movie so relax and just keep watching the rest of the movie!

[kenzo]

Dude, use spoiler tags.

[achickenchaser]

I'd give the Man of Steel a B grade.

One question: Why the couldn't they just use Mars instead of Earth to repopulate a planet with Kryptonians. Conflict solved.

[darfox8]

I think Higgins and Charlie won the war. Alot of the stuff that Omar and Bryce talked about were either inaccurate or moot points. It just seems like they didn't like some of the beginning and they tuned out for the rest of it, thus all the wrong stuff they said. I thought the movie was probably as good as Batman Begins but that's not quiet enough since we've come further since then. Still a cool movie worth going to the theater to watch.

[meDotJS]

I'd give the Man of Steel a B grade.

One question: Why the couldn't they just use Mars instead of Earth to repopulate a planet with Kryptonians. Conflict solved.

People in fiction make terraforming Mars out to be a simpler process than it really is. The core of Mars is dead, they'd have to restart it and it'd take a bit more than increasing its mass to do that. If they tried terraforming Mars now wiht its dead core they'd just have to watch as the atmosphere got stripped away piece by piece.

[shokenji]

I fall more in the Higgins camp, but no Smiths on the soundtrack; this movie has more of a Sisters of Mercy vibe. Unfortunately, I think they gave us the closest thing we'll see to Brainiac on screen for a while with Sups tentacle tussle o'er the world engine. Damn shame, cause a Brainiac film would be great, but think it'll be more down to earth with the next film.

Any thoughts on the birth codex? Was that in the Byrne post-crisis relaunch? Adds a freaky dimension to the Lois and Clark husbandry debate?

[comicsanddakine]

WAR?!?! Hahaha. Love it. So happy that Bryce and me beer clinkin and high fives can make MoS a movie that you all stand behind as a high quality film. Charlie was solid in his introspective rev of the film but Higgins is on a PURE, I am a part of this industry (comics-retailer) AND everyone MUST love Man of Steel for the sake of comics-survival...AND PLEASE GIVE ME MY JUSTICE LEAGUE FILM kick...

Man of Steel was just about as disappointing as I have been with the recent Superman Unbound animation that took one of my fave stories of Kal-El's first actual interaction with Brainiac and chopped it up to shit. If I was Geoff Johns or Gary Frank, I would kick James Tucker in the balls.

I think Higgins and Charlie won the war. Alot of the stuff that Omar and Bryce talked about were either inaccurate or moot points. It just seems like they didn't like some of the beginning and they tuned out for the rest of it, thus all the wrong stuff they said. I thought the movie was probably as good as Batman Begins but that's not quiet enough since we've come further since then. Still a cool movie worth going to the theater to watch.

[crimson8199]

I found myself liking the film a lot. I should say that I think Superman is my least favorite heroes because of his lack of personality and pretty much omnipotence. So everything that Superman fans hate about Man of Steel I loved. Also, Superman Returns was complete balls and every complaint I had about that movie was fixed in this. I much preferred sincere and conflicted Man of Steel over the creepy-staring Twilight character that was in Superman Returns. Man of Steel was so good that it is actually erasing the bad taste of Returns in my brain-mouth. Man of Steel was shot beautifully and had way better actors. And why am I agreeing with Higgins so much with loving that there's no Lex Luthor or kryptonite not to mention Lois knows and I get to skip all that stupid love triangle crap. So good. Sooooo goood!

[LiQuid]

Read about a third of ASSM so far and despite not liking the art it has been incredible. I'm still laughing at the Dino-Czar lead Subterranasauri.

[Guillermo_DudeL]

Higgins has never sounded more like a fucking imbecile than in this episode.

[Roadie Brock]

If you are reading our comic book club selection All Star Superman, don't forget to vote on if you liked it or not at http://www.conspiratorbrock.com. Voting ends at 6:00 PM (Pacific) tomorrow.

[DukeTogo]

I'm definitely in the camp of people who didn't love MoS. The action, while poorly paced in my opinion, was pretty specatcular for the most part. Of course, that mattered less to me because the whole thing was built around half-baked characters who stood around spouting poorly-written expository dialogue. That said, I like the cast an awful lot and hope that the sequel is much, much better.

I will say that Master Higgins's exasperated sighing and whithering tone when dealing with Comic Conspiracy and Geekbox co-hosts who didn't like the movie were killing me. It's like he's physically pained just living in the same world with people who didn't like this movie.

[LiQuid]

I will say that Master Higgins's exasperated sighing and whithering tone when dealing with Comic Conspiracy and Geekbox co-hosts who didn't like the movie were killing me. It's like he's physically pained just living in the same world with people who didn't like this movie.

In moments like that Higgins can know what it is like to be me.

[Master Higgins]

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE: The Comic Conspiracy — Episode 113 (2013-06-24)
Super-long podcast for our second Superman-themed podcast! This week, we discuss Ryan’s fear of flight, new Action Comics creative team, San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, DC Comics Retailer Roadshow 2013, Age of Ultron #10, and the Comic Conspiracy’s first Book Club pick — All-Star Superman. Starring Ryan Higgins, Omar Brodrick, Bryce Larsen, Brock Sager, Toby Sidler, and Charlie West.
Running Time: 1h 50m 08s

[slinkdickens]

Just listened to last week's episode and Ryan defends plot points in Man of Steel and it's clear this is the case of someone bringing in the baggage of reading a bunch of comic books with him into the movie. Ryan basically filled in all the character gaps on his own. It reminds me of watching a toddler who can't read "read" a story book. He's basically making up his own movie.

The problem with Man of Steel is primarily that Zack Snyder doesn't understand that movies (and stories in any form) are about characters, not about scenes. He pretty consistently directs characters that are empty shells. I think that's why Ryan loves this movie so much. He was given a blank slate to watch and was able to project the Superman he wanted onto it.

[LiQuid]

Pretty sure this movie could have been 3 hours of stick figures animating and Higgins would have still given it an A+ because he's hopelessly beating his drum for a possible Justice League movie and can't cope with the fact that DC is incapable of making even an average superhero movie. Same reason he liked the Green Lantern movie despite it being bad and the same reason he likes Nolan's Batman trilogy despite it being an incoherent mess.

[kenzo]

Quick thought while listening to the podcast:

When someone (Omar? Brock?) mentions that All-Star Superman is the sexiest that Lois Lane will ever get, and nobody called them out, that basically outted the entire podcast as having never read a single issue of Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort's Superman.

[LiQuid]

K.Roc's babes!

How the fuck can anybody think any woman Quitely draws is sexy? That's fucking garbage.

[Roadie Brock]

I'm definitely in the camp of people who didn't love MoS. The action, while poorly paced in my opinion, was pretty specatcular for the most part. Of course, that mattered less to me because the whole thing was built around half-baked characters who stood around spouting poorly-written expository dialogue. That said, I like the cast an awful lot and hope that the sequel is much, much better.

I will say that Master Higgins's exasperated sighing and whithering tone when dealing with Comic Conspiracy and Geekbox co-hosts who didn't like the movie were killing me. It's like he's physically pained just living in the same world with people who didn't like this movie.

He's like this all the time about everything.

[Roadie Brock]

Just listened to last week's episode and Ryan defends plot points in Man of Steel and it's clear this is the case of someone bringing in the baggage of reading a bunch of comic books with him into the movie. Ryan basically filled in all the character gaps on his own. It reminds me of watching a toddler who can't read "read" a story book. He's basically making up his own movie.

The problem with Man of Steel is primarily that Zack Snyder doesn't understand that movies (and stories in any form) are about characters, not about scenes. He pretty consistently directs characters that are empty shells. I think that's why Ryan loves this movie so much. He was given a blank slate to watch and was able to project the Superman he wanted onto it.

Agreed and agreed.

[Roadie Brock]

Higgins has never sounded more like a fucking imbecile than in this episode.

[karubah]

The fact that Frank Quietly made Emma Frost look like a cross-dresser means he should be charged for crimes against humanity....like what the hell?

[comicsanddakine]

Whoa! Never realized the junk in her crotch!!

The fact that Frank Quietly made Emma Frost look like a cross-dresser means he should be charged for crimes against humanity....like what the hell?

[LiQuid]

Whoa! Never realized the junk in her crotch!!

The fact that Frank Quietly made Emma Frost look like a cross-dresser means he should be charged for crimes against humanity....like what the hell?

Did you notice that even tho we're looking at her straight on, one of her boobies is "in front" lol

[kenzo]

Finally listening to the MoS podcast... listening to Bryce and Omar talk felt like I was contracting cancer.

[Master Higgins]

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE: The Comic Conspiracy — Episode 114 (2013-07-01)
This week, we discuss Toby schooling us all with his review of Man of Steel, Infinity crossovers, changing comics, Trinity War fallout, Larfleeze #1, Inhumans recommendations, Invincible: The Movie, our Villains Month plans, the Last of Us comic, X-Men suggestions, Ryan's Bryce impression, IDW's Wild Blue Yonder, Image Expo, and Neil Gaiman's San Francisco book reading. Starring Ryan Higgins, Brock Sager, Toby Sidler, and Charlie West.
Running Time: 1h 27m 39s

[Guillermo_DudeL]

Superman did not crash the plane, that was Stabler's character. The humans were the real heroes as they devised the plan and succeeded at destroying the terraforming machine and dealt with the majority of the Kryptonians. And the Phantom Zone is not the same as death, it's an eternal prison and is often a more poetic punishment for Superman's villains.

Do not compare the final battle of Justice League Unlimited to Man of Steel. The whole point of that scene was that he knew he didn't have to hold back anymore and no one was around to get hurt. You can argue that Superman is an angry young man in the movie and I think he fits that description but an angry young man has to learn his lesson. Superman doesn't, he's just arrogant in the end. This movie only thinks it's mature when it's very juvenile.

And Toby, as someone else who's a mixed race guy who grew up struggling between cultures I did not like the conclusion Superman came to with his identity. I view myself as one human amongst billions who are different yet also the same, meanwhile I thought Superman embraced his alien-side too much and came off as something better than humanity rather than the the best of humanity.

[kenzo]

Great podcast. It was nice to just hear people (minus Brock being insufferable) earnestly discussing stuff without devolving into a fanboy tirade. I love Bryce and Omar, but guys you have to chill out.

Listening to Toby talk about MoS was cathartic. He basically has my exact perspective about the film and says it all way better than I could have. It was great, and there wasn't a single thing I disagreed with. And it was a much more measured and enjoyable thing to listen to than the clusterfuck that was the episode a few weeks ago.

Charlie - the game you were thinking of was "Skies of Arcadia". And if you like anime of that 'genre' you should watch a show that just finished up called "Gargantia". It's like that stuff, but grounded in the ocean and leans more sci-fi than fantasy.

This is a response to DudeL but putting it in spoiler tags since obviously spoilers are being talked about here.

Spoiler: show

The humans were the real heroes as they devised the plan and succeeded at destroying the terraforming machine and dealt with the majority of the Kryptonians.

Were we watching the same movie? The humans didn't come up with the plan, compu-Jor El did and had Lois tell everyone.

Do not compare the final battle of Justice League Unlimited to Man of Steel.

Do you know what the word 'compare' means? Because I think you mean "do not equivocate".

...I thought Superman embraced his alien-side too much and came off as something better than humanity rather than the the best of humanity.

Seriously, were we watching the same film? He embrased his alien side so much that he completely rejected his Kryptonian self by murdering Zod, banished the rest of his race to the Phantom Zone, and destroying the scout ship that held a bunch of Kryptonian-embryos effectively dooming his species to extinction. Yep - embraced his alien side real well there.

[karubah]

Kenzo beat me to it, but I thought of Skies of Arcadia as soon as Charlie started describing it. And if you like steam punk airship animes I would recommend Steamboy directed by Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame. It has a bit of a studio Ghibli feel to it.

Higgins Bryce impersonation is so spot on it is almost scary.

I don't know what to think of Man of Steel. Overall I thought it was alright film, but really hope the sequel injects some much needed cheerfulness and sense of wonder, like the original Christopher Reeves movies.