Hey Kids, Comics! #194 - Rogue-ish I's: Barrel of Laughs

Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston prepare to bid adieu to "Rogue-ish I's" with heavy hearts as this was a personal favorite arc for them both.  But if you have to go, then go out laughing as the old adage recommends!

With that in mind the arc concludes with a Batman villain who loves laughter so much it's deadly!  Laughter is not the best medicine when it comes to the Joker!  Your hosts explore this little fact with special guest Kelly Long.

When the Clown Prince of Crime is the subject of discussion, Hey Kids, Comics! goes to a dark, if funny, place.  Of all of Batman's nemeses, the Joker is the most mysterious, the most callous, the most clinically insane...and perhaps the most likely to reflect the psyche of the Dark Knight himself.  Find out for yourself just how alike these arch foes truly are as this latest arc concludes.

Prepare yourself for an intimate look at the man in purple who has brought the pasty face of villainy to Gotham City with a show that is a double-barreled shotgun of laughs!

Hey Kids, Comics! #193 - Rogue-ish I's: Cat's Pajamas

Rogue-ish I's draws closer to its conclusion and issue #200 looms large on the horizon as Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston prepare to discuss the most purrrfect of Bat-villains, Catwoman!

Gotham's feline femme fatale has been a mainstream of the mythos for just over three quarters of a century!  Naturally that makes for a character in need of exploration HKC! style.  Joining your hosts this week is Catherine Houston (aka Mrs. JediCole).  A female perspective being most welcome when it comes to discovering a storied career rich with many changes of character as well as costume.

Catwoman rose from "just another crazy comic book criminal" to become a fairly heavy hitter in the DC Universe.  But what is her place in the psyche of Batman himself?  What facets of the Dark Knight are reflected in her personality like the facets of a coveted gem about to be stolen from a one-percenter's wall safe?  These and other questions are raised right here, right now. 
                              

Hey Kids, Comics! #192 - Rogue-ish I's: Coin Toss

Heads or tails, black or white, off or on, this or that.  Pairs of choices that can dictate life if they are allowed.  In the case of one particular denizen of the Gotham City underworld, this is not only allowed, it is a way of life!

As the latest story arc continues to explore the place of Batman's top five villains in his war on crime and his life as reflected in each, Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston brave the dichotomy of none other than Two-Face.

Steve McCauley returns to the show to add his own insights on this duplicitous villain.  Thoughts, ideas, and observations are tossed around like so many double-headed silver dollars and many a discovery is made about the nature of post-acid-assault Harvey Dent.

No flip of the coin is necessary when it comes to the decision of whether or not to delve into the more than two sides of Two-Face in the latest issue of 

As promised, the exchange between Grundy and Bizarro!

(Click the link above to read "The Apocrypha #6".)

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Hey Kids, Comics! #191 - Rogue-ish I's: Silly Bird

Rogue-ish I's continues with another chapter delving deeply into the psyche and nature of the villains that truly define aspects of the Batman.

Bruce Wayne's alter ego-fueled war on crime is punctuated by those adversaries that mirror facets of his life and personality.  Generally in an exaggerated form, some part of the Dark Knight Detective can be found within those villains that plague his days the most.  Despite a dapper appearance that is almost comical in nature, the Penguin has proven himself more than worthy to find a place in the upper echelon of Batman's rogue's gallery.

In this compelling issue, the villainous one-percenter Oswald Cobblepot becomes the topic of discussion.  Andrew Farmer and Cole "JediCole" Houston are joined by Eddie Medina of The Rantcor Pit shows!  Enjoy this exploration of another of the more underrated of the Bat-foes as three seasoned podcasters put on the Ritz and ponder the parasol-wielding, seafood-eating, bird-keeping, tuxedo-wearing, waddle-walking fine feathered fiend that is the Penguin!  

Caution:  A little wine and the combination of Andrew and Eddie has this issue of the show taking a few...adult oriented turns.  Enjoy!



As promised, here is the All-Con Guide to Convention Etiquette video from which this episode took its name.  - JediCole

Hey Kids, Comics! #190 - Rogue-ish I's: Riddled Through and Through

Welcome to a brand new story arc for HKC!, "Rogue-ish I's".  You are entering in this issue an in-depth look at five of the most vital adversaries in the Dark Knight's long crime-fighting career.  To begin, Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston pose a riddle.

More accurately, a Riddler!  

One of the most underrated Bat-Villains, the Riddler has come of his own in more recent years.  Re-imagined as something more than just a periodic thorn in Batman's side, Edward Nygma's curious alter ego is a force to be reckoned with indeed!

To help unravel the mystery within a puzzle inside an actual enigma, your hosts have enlisted the aid of Dallas-area Riddler maven and cosplayer, Josh Watson.  Bringing his considerable knowledge and love of the character to bear, the insights into the mind of this most curios of criminals abound.

Hey Kids, Comics! #189 - Caucus on Infinite Earths

"Politics! Politics! Politics! Politics!" - Comicus (History of the World:  Part 1)

Hear ye!  Hear ye!  We now convene the first Comicental Congress of the United States!  

Actually your hosts Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston are going political this week in honor of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.  Simply put, they are finally getting around to exploring politics and especially politicians in comics!

Just a glimpse at Richard M. Nixon's storied comic book Presidential career.

From the fictional politicians to those of the real world who have managed to wind up in the pages of many a super-hero or other comic book, there are many examples discussed and debated.  As with any aspect of life, art is a keen imitator and politics are as vital to these ongoing narratives as social issues and personal internal struggles.  

Cast a vote for comics by giving this electoral issue of HKC! a listen!

HKC! SDCC 2016 Special

It was bound to happen...

San Diego Comic Con very nearly got a pass this year.  Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston just didn't get all that incensed about this industry juggernaut and its hobby-ruining exclusives.

But something changed.  Something stirred within their fanboy consciousnesses and they simply could not let a year slip by without addressing the annual hurt that is SDCC!

This year they are joined by Mrs. JediCole of Whadjahthink? as they wax bitchy about all of the cool things they were not going to see in 2016, if ever in some cases!  

This EXCLUSIVE special edition is only for those who could not attend San Diego Comic Con 2016.

We've got your back!

"NOT lying!"

Hey Kids, Comics! #188 - Identity Theft (or "Let Me Talk to Bruce."

"Don't surround yourself with yourself" - Yes; I've Seen All Good People (The Yes Album); 1971

Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston are back to face off on a weighty issue that confronts many a comic book hero.  This would be, of course losing oneself in one's alter-ego.  

When someone loses themselves wholeheartedly in their secret identity their "other self" can exert control to the point that they are lost within that self.  

Batman tends to spring to mind first, but there are many other examples sited.  Beyond a hero becoming too much the mantle thereof, your hosts also explore examples of alter-egos taking on alter-egos of their own!

Hey Kids, Comics! #187 Salon de Refuses

Hey Kids, Comics! goes all art history on you with a look at some of the most overlooked, underrated, and obscure comic books that can be found.  That is if you really look around a lot!

For this issue, Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston are going to party like it's 1863!  Invoking Napoleonic-era France, your hosts present their own Salon de Refuses for comics.  Not even the "Big Three" always hit their marks, but most of the topics of discussion are so obscure and ignored as to teeter on the brink of abject obscurity.  This exhibition of sorts will seek to bring attention to some gems among the back-issue stones.

Your hosts even go so far as to raise forgotten or ignored comic characters to a new and artistic level that you will have to hear to believe!

Hey Kids, Comics! #186 - Tarzan of the Comics

Heyyyayyayyyaayyayyayyyayyyyyyyyyyyyyy Kids, Comics!

The mysterious sounds emanating from the primeval forests of Africa mingle into a symphony of the beautiful and the deadly.  Into this unexplored jungle Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston dare to press forward on a safari of discovery.  Their quarry is none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous creation.  The Lord of the Jungle himself, Tarzan!

The ubiquitous ape-man is such a part of the cultural vernacular that it is little wonder that Tarzan has a long and rich history in comic books.  In honor of a combination of Cole's decades long affection for the English aristocrat voted most likely to really pull off the doe-skin loin cloth look and the arrival in theaters last Friday of The Legend of Tarzan, this issue of the show heeds the call of the wild(s of Africa)!

It is important to have a capable guide when mounting such an expedition and your hosts are duly outfitted with the help of their amazing guest, comic book and movie historian, prolific author, and gentleman scholar Michael H. Price!  So gather your spear, your bow and arrows, your grass rope, and your father's hunting knife and join in on the journey into the realm of Tarzan in comics!