Hey Kids, Comics! #15 – Marvel’s Great White North

“I just wanted you to know that I think you are the greatest American actor..”

“Actually I’m Canadian.”

“I want you to know that you are the greatest Canadian actor..”

“There aren’t that many of us.”

– Robert and William Shatner (Free Enterprise)

Apart from 1982’s Contest of Champions the Marvel Universe was largely devoid of super-heroes outside of the United States.  Granted Captain Britain had been around since 1976 and Union Jack ran around with the Invaders in World War II, but most of the rest of the world seemed to be without meta-human champions.  That is until Chris Claremont and John Byrne brought Canada’s premiere super-team to the fore. 

Our neighbor to the north seems to have fielded the greatest volume of heroes from mutants to sorcerers to users of high-tech gizmos of any other country before or since.  And like all things Canadian (or so we are meant to perceive) it was a government funded operation!  In this unique issue of Hey Kids, Comics! Andrew indulges Cole with a show devoted to a single comic book and its characters and history.  Alpha Flight has a history that meshes with that of the X-Men and continues to build to this day.

So join us as we make our way due north to explore Alpha Flight in depth!  And as an added bonus, there is little to nothing in the way of Strange Brew references.

Hey Kids, Comics! #14 - HKC! Presents 1

"I get that reference!" - Captain America, The Avengers

What exactly is HKC! Presents?  Why it is the first installment of a new feature on the show in which we ask you our listeners to ask us questions about anything to do with comics!  After 13 plus issues we are turning the tables a bit to buy ourselves time to give a much better showing on our episode about Alpha Flight and to open the door to a new kind of show.

On this episode we field two questions, one specific to a character and one with a broader focus on comic reading and colleting.  As first outings go this one typifies exactly what we are looking for with HKC! Presents.  Give this episode a listen and begin to formulate your questions.  Then send them in to me at jedicole@yahoo.com and you might just wind up being featured in a future issue.  This particular feature will be back in about ten or so episodes because we want to hear from our listeners and make you a part of the show!

The Rantcor Pit #2 - The Collection Assassin

Welcome to October's edition of The Rantcor Pit!  It is hard to believe that an entire month has passed since this show premiered on the JediCole Podcasting Network.  And so it was time to rattle off another episode of me prattling away on some Star Wars subject. 

This week I delve into one of my Star Wars passions, collecting.  And more specifiically I tackle the contentious issue of exclusives.  Are there just too many exclusives out there for anyone to even care to keep collecting?  Listen in to find out what I have to say on the matter as a collector since Christmas 1977!

Hey Kids, Comics! #13 – A Geeks Journey

"Remember, no matter where you go…there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension)

Taking a break from story arcs Andy serves up a bit of fun as he and Cole talk up comic collecting past and present with special guest Rick Gutierrez of the United States of Geekdom. 

We have given Rick considerable grief about his past as a comic collector both on the USG and when he joined us as a guest of a previous issue of this show.  So Andrew and Cole are giving him a chance to redeem himself by exploring the past and how his tastes changed considerably over the years.  The collecting and reading histories of your hosts are also explored in this special episode.

TV v JT Episode 3: The Emmys

Welcome back to TV v JT. This week we honor the most important night for television come every year: the Emmys! Unfortunately, both Andy and I were very disappointed with the results. Among the most upsetting outcomes was the Emmy for best lead in a comedy series, which goes to John Cryer this year for his role in Two And A Half Men.

Other disappoints include Bryan Cranston not winning again this year for his role in Breaking Bad, the utter lack of nominations for Game of Thrones, and Homeland sweeping everything (even though nobody has ever seen it).

Hats off to the Emmy board for this one.

Also, I do apologize for skipping a week. I thought it was already done, and I did not realize that an entire week passed from my last show. Time sure does fly.

This episode really highlights how incredibly exhausted I was during taping...

Hope you enjoy the show, and see you next week!

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Hey Kids, Comics! #12 - Comics, Commerce, and the All-Mighty Buck: Pandering for Paychecks

“It’s all about the money, boys!” – Daniel “Big Dan” Teague (O Brother! Where Art Thou?)

While the various cover enhancements and other gimmicks of the 90s would eventually lose favor with collectors, there is always that tried and true means to generate interest and bolster flagging sales – controversy. 

Be it the death of a beloved, long-standing hero, revealing the secret sexuality of character, or introducing a new character of eyebrow-raising ethnicity, newsworthy maneuvers in comics can send sales soaring.  But at the end of the day (or the month?) has anything truly been achieved.  Is a fleeting sales spike really a triumph?

Foil enhancements and pack-ins are not the only way to drive sales.  Andrew and Cole take "Comics, Commerce, and the All-Mighty Buck" full circle in this concluding issue of the story arc.