KajusX

(NOTE: I am deleting my little introductory paragraph here where I commented on Chris's #creep #cocaine trending topics people were discussing. I initially said I heard where people were coming from but as a whole he seemed ok in the episode, but reading some more of the comments in this thread and having my memory refreshed of some of the weird things Chris said— coupled with hearing more of him today on i4h— I am totally on board with people's assessment of his attitudes. Anyway. My comment was about comic books, and it's a doozy, and it's where most of my attention went after the episode, so here it is:) I have a gripe! I don't want to be that guy because OOF I hate internet-complaining, but I'm going to be that angry nerd guy (but I'll try and scale it back to 'minor annoyed nerd guy'). Here is my issue: When Chris Gore was explaining the film rights issue of comic book films, which is something I explain constantly when regular folk genuinely ask me "Why another movie? What's with all the reboots?" Chris did a fine job breaking it down and earning some respect and appreciation from me for spreading the word on film rights, then he DUMPED IT ALL ON THE FLOOR when he started explaining where comic book companies make money and what comic books are: 1. Yes, for the most part, comic books in the SUPERHERO GENRE fit Chris's description. The superhero genre dominates comic book sales, perpetuated by the Big 2 of Marvel and DC, and makes up most of their comic book business. Superheroes are the modern mythology. The characters have been around for decades upon decades, their stories retold and rebooted in a monthly, serialized format by a revolving door of creative teams, and have been adapted into many other mediums and formats (radio, tv, movies, animation, toys, amusement park rides, musicals, etc) from the moment of their inception. Most importantly they are PROPERTIES owned by huge companies. They are no different than Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Star Wars, etc. Superheroes (mostly) from the Big 2 reign supreme in all facets of pop culture. 7-11 Big Gulp cups. T-Shirts with insignias. Nerd Mecca which started today down in San Diego (Btw, RIP lady who was fatally struck by a car yesterday while camping out for the Twilight panel. That shit is so fucked up and sad). Comic books are but one medium in which superheroes exist, and it happens to be where the 'superhero' was born. 2. Chris then stated that COMIC BOOKS aren't written for kids anymore. Not true. Comic books are written for all ages. Comic books AND superheroes became popular during World War II. That U.S. generation of kids read the books like crazy. Millions of copies sold of single issues. Then that generation grew up, some of them continued to read comic books, the next generation was reading them too, and then they grew up, etc. Multiple generations of adults reading comic books along side young, new readers. What Chris hopefully meant to say but didn't articulate was that the majority of SUPERHERO COMICS— ESPECIALLY FROM MARVEL AND DC— aren't written for kids anymore, and haven't been for a while. That is a true statement. 'Comic books are not written for kids' is not true. Like animation, the youth embraced the art form in its infancy. Now it's a medium (and has been for a goddamn long while), and a medium is not bound by age restriction, despite what some may think. 3. When Chris goes on to say that comic books are written for grown up dudes who will open their wallet for any super-deluxe 'graphic novel' hardcover with paintings in it (because of a bullshit collector's mentality thrust upon the comic book community of the batshit '90s when all those original 1940s comics started selling for a shit-load of money because they were RARE due to the U.S.'s paper shortages resulting in recycling drives to support the war effort) that really says more about Chris's mentality than it does about COMIC BOOKS. Fucking hell. 99% of comic books aren't collector's items that one can turn a profit on. They're floppies. They're magazines made of newsprint. In the '90s they printed out millions of copies of an issue, AND SOLD THEM, just like back in the '40s, except this time everybody bought multiple copies: 1 to read (and save) and the rest to really SAVE (because MONEYMONEYMONEY). Everyone saved all those millions of copies except this time there was no WWII paper shortages to force the majority of them to be recycled and destroyed. Comics are not rare and valuable (besides the quality and content of the stories within them). I buy the floppies because I love the monthly format of a 22-page comic. I bag the issues so they don't get fucked up (because flimsy magazine books get fucked up easy) so I can thumb through them later. Then, when a story I really enjoyed is collected into a trade paperback volume (or hardcover), I buy it so I can put that book on my bookshelf, where it can stand up straight and be where it belongs with all my books, and it's much more convenient to flip through. It's akin to watching a television show as it airs, then when it comes out on dvd I buy the season. I don't even have an issue with OMNIBUS editions. It's like buying all the seasons at once (or a whole lot of them at once). But, if you own all the seasons individually and they're in great shape, then what the fuck are you buying the whole box set for (unless you're upgrading and giving away your copies to potential new fans, hopefully)? To mindlessly buy any deluxe new hardcover GRAHHHphic NOVVVel (*adjusts monicle*) is akin to people buying every new edition of the Star Wars films or any other similar property (there's that word again) that's trying to squeeze every last penny out of its loyal fanbase by offering up a new coat of paint for a thing people have already liked, own, and have spent more money on than they should. If you have the money to go for the gold, then right on. No judgements. You like what you like. But let us be honest about what is happening here. (Btw, 'graphic novel' is a bloated term meant to dignify comic books, and gets used improperly all the time to the point where now it really doesn't matter how it gets used, but still. It was once meant to signify a comic book that came out all at once as a thick, self-contained story, like a novel. Joe Kubert's Jew Gangster is a graphic novel. Monthly comic books collected into a volume is called a trade paperback, or tpb for short. and now monthly comics that take years to end but DO have a definite ending are also called graphic novels, because they end— once again— like how novels have endings. Now it just means a thick comic book, which is fine. Of course that is fine. But we're not reading graphic novels when it's all said and done, we're reading comic books, and if we are in a conversation and you call your Spider-Man Essentials Vol 8 a graphic novel, I might get a weird look on my face) 4. All of that stuff is something one can take issue with, and that is apparently what I have just done, but what really upset me (as much as an opinion about an entertainment medium I adore can) was when Chris decided to take an entire artistic medium and crassly define it by its POTENTIAL MONETARY WORTH IN OTHER, MORE PROFITABLE ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUMS. Chris is right— comic books don't make billions of dollars, but movies based on them do. The math checks out. Case closed. Comic books is not widely recognized nor respected as a legitimate storytelling art form in the United States. Japan and Europe are two examples of places where the people love and adore comic books much more than the U.S. They get printed on nice paper and in over-sized formats. There is content for everyone of every age, and most people there know that comics are not "just for kids" nor are they "just for adults," just like tv and film and books. It is also reputed for having more than one genre. "I like comic books" doesn't equal "I like superheroes" in Japan and Europe. It is getting better in the US all the time but FUUUUUUCK do I hate the lack of respect for an artform that marries visual art and writing together to tell a fucking story in a way unique to itself. TO TELL A FUCKING STORY. We LOVE stories. Comic books aren't "just a way to explore story material," whatever the fuck that condescending dreck means. Comic books are stories, PERIOD. They are full of raw, unmolested ideas far less artificial and plastic than any movie with enough credited writers to count on two hands (who had to FIGHT for credit after the film was made, no less!), with massive amounts of studio interference and changes made to the vision of the story by agencies, managers, producers and vapid hollywood stars far detached from any real issues of humanity all fighting for room to piss in the pot before it gets crowd-tested and run back through that same obstacle course of shit. FUCKING. GROSS. And the only reason stories in comic books are being cheaply mined is because they don't get any respect in the U.S.! SO. Comic books are great because they are full of amazingly raw and touching ideas and designs, but since nobody respects the form, it allows big companies to buy up distribution and development rights on the cheap, then adapt the source material into more profitable entertainment mediums and make the company billions. You know, ART. Fucking awesome. Good for comic books. What a ringing endorsement. SDCC, here we come! 5. Kulap. Oh Kulap! I'm really hoping when you chimed in encouragingly with "They're storyboards!" you were just trying to be agreeable and didn't really mean that. We all (hopefully) know comic books aren't 'storyboards.' Try and make a shot-for-shot movie out of a comic book and you make a terribly-paced, clunkily-directed movie. Comic books are their own narrative art form/language (plus were around before the invention of a story board). Sure, a movie can pay homage to a panel in a comic book, but a comic book is not a series of storyboards. The ideas that can be conveyed in the GUTTERS between panels in a comic book are capable of saying things only a comic can. It's not just a series of key frames. I know this conversation was had during the chart segment on the new Spider-Man film, and so one could make the argument that Chris's explanation was solely about the relationship the superhero genre of the comic book industry has with their conglomerate parent distribution companies, but it was so vague, callous and poorly expressed that I felt compelled to comment on it in defense of a barely-respected medium in which I find so much enjoyment and worth. I can swallow Chris's opinion of what comic books are to the Hollywood machine through the eyes of a marketer or advertiser, because that's what the comic books are to them. They are dollar signs. Hollywood is going to fuck out comic books until the last drop. And that's fine. It's entertainment. But that is not what comic books are, nor is it all they are good for. They are a form of expression, and their stories are moving and crushing and hilarious and every emotion under the sun, and they can't be told in this way in any other medium. Motion comics aren't even close to the experience of reading a comic. Please don't get me wrong. I love seeing these ideas brought to new audiences in new mediums. I love film and television and music and musicals and all that. I love seeing all the gorgeous actors making the best of the lo-brow superhero adventure soap opera stories they've been cast in, to the scorn and adoration of the superhero-savvy audiences. But I'll always love comics books more. They are worthy of respect, and the creators of comic books should be the millionaire superstars (or at least living comfortably for fuck's sake!). Creator Rights. Original stories. New ideas. Respect. 'Comic book' does not equal superheroes. 'Comic book' equals stories, just like any other medium. For those of you going, "huh? tl;dr" but then actually did read my huge comment, here's a modest list of comic books that aren't in the superhero genre and are phenomenal reads (I'll try to guess a general, arbitrary age rating). Some of them have been adapted into other mediums: Bone by Jeff Smith (all ages) Blankets by Craig Thompson (16+) Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron by Daniel Clowes (16+) Black Hole by Charles Burns (16+) Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee O'Malley(16+) BLACKSAD by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (16+) The Adventures of Tintin series by Hergé (all ages) The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola (13+) Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon (16+) The Keepers of the Maser by Frezzato (16+) The Upturned Stone by Scott Hampton (13+) Phonogram by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (16+) 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (16+) Northlanders by Brian Wood (16+) Freakangels by Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield (16+) Queen & Country by Greg Rucka (16+) Locke & Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez (16+) Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (13+) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Marvel) adapted by Eric Shanower & Skottie Young (all ages) Etc etc etc. Anyway. I've said my piece. Keep up the good work, guys. I really really REALLY DO love your podcast!

HOLY. SHIT!

HOLY. SHIT.

I have been planning on buying Have A Summah since its release but keep forgetting/was out of town! After that last letter though (as well as you guys playing snippets of it over the past few Two-ch's), I came home at lunch and picked it up post haste. I really enjoyed how thoughtful and touching that letter was, as well as Kulap's and Howard's words afterwards You guys rule. My Summah Gum is Orbit's Melon Remix, btw. OH! I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SUMMAH! Basically, I HATE August. It is the worst month of the year because of its unrelenting, vicious heat. Seeing as heat is a part of Summah, how do you take the best of the best out of the worst month of the Summah season?

My i4h ritual is to always listen to it after my lunch break on Thursdays, sitting at my desk in my cubicle, usually covering my mouth, teary eyes squeezed shut, trying not to breathe, trying not to laugh out loud because seriously? This show is so funny. I love how much stuff goes into this show, I love the bonus episodes with the deleted scenes, and I had no idea how far down the show could plunge into the depths that are Eric the Intern's routinely fubar segments. I remember around the end of the Earwolf Challenge when Matt was talking about this show and hadn't decided on a name yet, and when he listed the three or four he was split on, improv4humans definitely stuck out to me and I'm glad it was picked. Beyond that though? I had no idea that the Thursdays of the future would consist of me in the office, post-lunch, gleefully in pain with an aching belly and smile muscles completely spent, giggling like a maniac. Good show, old sport.

I'm sure people have said this before, but if you can't stand listening to the one minute ad, pause it, scroll forward just about one minute, and then press play. If you've done this right, the next thing you here will either be Scott welcoming you back to the show, or the tail-end of the ad saying 'this cola taste is real,' and then Scott welcoming you back to the show. Boom. Crisis averted.

That picture is adorable.

Reggie Watts?! He's already been on like, three podcasts this week! What the hell?! —Oblivious Guy Seriously tho? YAY! Can't wait. It's downloading now! And I'm preemptively commenting in the middle of the night, as usual! yay. seriously, you guys. YAY.

Great bonus ep! Adam's X-Men dig was an awesome call back! I was like, "Oh yeah!"

The first time I heard the pepsi ad it was on improv4humans when Adam McKay was on, and I thought it was him ranting out a fake pepsi ad that they included with no set up or anything. Only upon hearing it again did I realize it was just an ad, and well, unlike the radio, I can fastforward a podcast.

!!! I'd have set the table if I had known someone was about to get served.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIG!!!!!!

Oho no. Oh no no no. I'm not ready for this. NO ONE is ready for this. Kulap AND Pete... TOGETHER?!?! Batten down the Professor's hatch! Tell the Apple Sisters to duck and cover! Close the border gates to Sklarbro Country! Someone get Bob Ducca on the line! Oh, the improv4humanity! Whisk Scott & Reggie onto Earwolf One! Quickly now, before this assuredly chartocalyptic GIGGLE FIT consumes us all! The Wolf DEAD! THE WOLF DEA-- *kssssshhhhhhhhhhhh* -end transmission-

Alison, Jason and Saul Goodman?! S'all good, man. Hey now!

Alright, very cool! I'm downloading this episode right now. I'm sure it will be good, but fair warning: I expect The Legend of Korra to at least get a mention. That show is awesome, and a great follow up to Avatar: The Last Airbender. UPDATE! Korra is mentioned at 3:14. There it is. P.S. RE: 2012 Chart Themes— I think they're great. They're a different feel than the '11 chart themes, and that's a really good thing! I wanted to mention this because I never weighed in before, and to be honest, I was reserving judgement for a very good long while. But they work great! Kulap's chart theme was an early favorite pretty much unanimously, but they're all quality— especially Howard's theme. The more I listen to it, the more I love it! It's a real slow burn. Every time I've listened to it I hear something new and get into the groove more and more. It somehow snowballs in its endearing-ness as the weeks and charts come and go.

All the content on these bonus episodes are always good. I appreciate you guys keeping the main show under a certain time, so if the formula continues with the main podcast and these bonus episodes, I'm all for that! Personal request: More Brian Huskey! And of course Andy Daly and Sean Conroy and Chad Carter. These guys are RINGERS!

This was a really fun episode! Ian was great, and the conversation was high-spirited. I smiled the whole way through. Would do business with this podcast again.

Damn! Christina Ochoa's science is too tight! I enjoyed this episode a lot because it's always great to have someone there with some serious explaining to do. It always gives you guys a lot with which to work, and Christina brought it. I can't imagine how in-depth you guys would've got, had there not been time constraints. And like everyone else, I send well wishes to Tig. We miss you! Beepboop boop boop

Holy cocking shit! And I thought tonight's Game of Thrones was going to be the highlight of my night! I cannot wait to have this episode in my ears. Are you kidding me? What an awesome get! You're WAY too good to us loyal listeners! Happy Third Year Anniversary, Comedy Bang Bang! Happy Anniversary INDEED!

That was a really good What's Up Hot Dog Memorial Plugs song.

Oh my god, what was Howard doing with his hand?! I tried my best to do what he described (devil horns, [i.e. index and pinky] palm down on a flat surface, ring and middle tucked under, thumb placed under palm and, one can only assume, pushed out between the ring and middle fingers) and the result was what seemed to be a crude, knuckled facsimile of a woman's vulva. Is that right? If so, what do the pointer and pinky finger represent? ANYway. I feel tricked and my hand felt sullied. Elizabeth and Andy were great guests!

OMG YES. Yesterday I watched the pilot and first episode of Best Friends Forever and they were great! I also loved these ladies on their HDTGM appearances. And of course Wompler is a CBB fav. Can't wait to give this a listen after I finish my taxes (which I forgot was a thing)!

Sweet beans! No complaints when when an episode is a big longer than the usual!

I don't remember who started it initially (especially considering how much David, Tig and Kyle often all partake in the bits), but the time that sticks out to me the most is an instance where Kyle is continually doing it and Tig can clearly be heard laughing at him, hence my correlation with Kyle doing it.

I don't understand why people keep saying things like this. Scott isn't making excuses for the quality of these two episodes. He is explaining why they were not posted after being recorded. I myself appreciate the set up, as it affords a rare opportunity to see how Earwolf and CBB are figuring things out right up until they start recording. It's a testament to the quality of the program that these episodes Scott felt were scrambled together are still funny and enjoyable. Yes, Scott could've released them with no explanation and we would've all thought, "Oh. Another good episode." We all get that. But It is not, nor has it been the point of his stories at the top of the past two shows to 'disclaim them.' They're lost episodes. By their very nature, they are allotted an introduction describing the scenario in which they were never aired.