Therefore I Geek

***Spoiler Alert*** In which, Dude and Becky fill in for Andrew & Tracy due to unforeseen circumstances and cover the premiere of Captain America: Civil War. Dude, in a moment that surprises literally no one, hated the movie, while Becky actually liked it. They discuss awkward closeups, the implosion of Marvel's greatest bromance, and wonder why the female superheroes do not get the same treatment as the males.

In which, the guys discuss a topic very near and dear to Andrew's heart: what it is that sums up the existence of Superman. Dude is actually on the east coast for this one and the energy in the room is palpable. The crux of the argument on the table is whether or not Zach Snyder's Man of Steel, in which Superman breaks Zod's neck, is an accurate interpretation of who Superman is and should be.

In which, Tracy, Andrew, and Dude take on the topic of Fan Theories--a conversation brought about by an article about how fan theories may be replacing actual film critique.

In her first solo episode, Tracy reflects on a lifetime of Tolkien addiction, her annual tradition of rewatching Peter Jackson’s homage, The Lord of the Rings, and the differences–both good and bad–between the books and the movies.

Walk Around in Circles is an appropriate track for this week's episode, in which, Andrew and Dude discuss Star Wars. With the new Rogue One trailer dropping last week and the blue ray of The Force Awakens available now, that's the topic on everyone's mind. They also discuss the expanded universe and what is canon and what is no longer canon, trekking down a side path to discuss favorite expanded universe media and characters. A brief foray into other cool movie topics, including Eddie the Eagle, and how the Coen brothers depict dopey Communism in Hail, Caesar. After Star Wars has been thoroughly discussed, the pair venture into new movies, comics and role playing games that they are excited about.

In which, Andrew and Tracy discuss Season 2 of Netflix's Daredevil. There were a lot of plot threads in season 2 and a lot of antagonists running around. Tracy loved the character development of Punisher and Karen Page--and apparently cannot pronounce "pep talk" without some practice. Andrew defends Foggy as a character and enjoyed some of the most powerful fight scenes; and both of us appreciate the series' choice to replace Ben Ulrich.

***** SPOILER ALERT ***** This podcast will be discussing plot points of comics and movies which may be considered spoilers. Consider yourselves warned. "No one cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman." - Perry White. Emotions are at an all time high as Andrew, Tracy, and Dude discuss Zack Snyder's Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Dude loves it, Tracy hates it, and Andrew is... meh. Ultimate takeaways: Wonder Woman rocks, pacing is slow, and everyone would like to see more emotion from Superman.

In which, Andrew and Dude (who has finally learned his name) nerd out hardcore discussing all the Star Trek series finales. They discuss the Next Generation team of the future, agreeing that "old Picard" is the best part of the DS9 finale; Andrew delves into his own distant past for relevant stories. They take a brief detour into a conversation about Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek. The ultimate takeaway from this episode is that Romulans always suck.

In which, Andrew and Tracy step out of their comfort zones and into Dude's, discussing the 1st Amendment and free speech--both what it means to us, and what it means in the context of comic books and broader geek culture. A little heavier and pithier than our normal podcast topics, this one is timely given the current climate of the geek community.

In which our hosts, Andrew and Joseph (The Dude), talk about all the comic book movies coming out in 2016. They decide that nobody cares about Michael Fassbender, while failing to pronounce any non-English name. Dude also manages to completely befuddle Andrew by staunchly defending Keanu Reeves.

In which, our fearless heroes talk to Mitch Gerads, the artist of Sheriff of Babylon--our current favorite comic from Vertigo. Mitch gives us the (incredibly compelling) story of how he started in graphic design and ended up living his dream as a comic artist. We also talk life at Vertigo, working with Tom King, his own personal--kinda strange--process, and how much he likes his editor.

In which, Andrew and staff writer Joseph De Paul AKA Dude get together to discuss cost-of-living in various areas of the country... just kidding, they are talking about tabletop war games, from the very beginning. Dude provides a pretty thorough, concise definition of a war game, and he and Andrew discuss the moment when they realized that loving tabletop miniature games is not a given in everyone's lives, and the moment when they fell out of love with them. They both admit that they have never played Settlers of Catan (at which Tracy was duly horrified). Dude also describes what is, in his opinion, pretty much the perfect war game: Commands & Colors Ancients.

In which, Andrew is flying solo for the very first time on the podcast, and reviews the brand new Marvel blockbuster Deadpool. He is not a big fan of Deadpool, but surprised himself at how much he enjoyed the movie. He also covers why comic fans love the characters that they love and why one actor's commitment to his role can make a mediocre character into an awesome reason to go see a movie; and builds an old fashioned pros and cons list for the Deadpool movie.

On this episode Tracy got the opportunity to sit down and chat with Pete Newcomb of Borderless Comics. Pete is a fascinating storyteller, and the tale of how he became a comic book store owner is unique and very interesting. Besides sharing his personal journey, Pete also provided some insight into the workings of a comic book store. Borderless is unusual in that it is a read store–meaning that the owners encourage customers to read comics in the store. If you think this sounds like an insane idea, you’re not alone, but Pete has some compelling reasons for believing that this is a solid business model.

In which Andrew, Tracy, and Becky talk about Becky’s first convention, Baltimore Comic Con. Becky discusses cosplaying at a medium convention, her impressions of the whole thing, and we discuss other first time con-goers.

In which, Tracy has a cold and her voice sounds all husky and amazing. But actually, we are talking mostly about non-universe comic book movies with lots of long diversions into all kinds of other topics. We also comment on comic books that should be made into movies.

In which, Andrew and Tracy revisit the topic of literary influences. We discover that most of Andrew’s are sci-fi books that have since been turned into movies, and that Tracy is a little too passionate about C. S. Lewis. Also we get sidetracked on Hunter S. Thompson, the libertarian views of Robert Heinlein, and the bizarre scientific theory that led six men to take a balsa wood raft from Peru to the Polynesian islands (a trip that took 101 days) in 1947.

In which, Tracy and Andrew discuss Bowery Boys: Our Fathers with its writer Cory Levine. We discuss the inspiration for the book (hint: he lived in NYC for a while), Cory’s affinity for historic novels and coming-of-age tales, and how a collaborative work is different from a work in which the artist comes on board after the story is written. Lots of cool anecdotes and confirmation of stuff that we found in the subtext come out in the conversation.

In which, Andrew, Tracy, and Kurt are joined by PJ Haarsma, an executive producer of the new hit web series Con Man. PJ gives us the inside scoop on behind the scenes thoughts on fan generosity, scrambling to fix casting problems, and working around a five hour time difference with his leading man. He also gives the origin story of his fabulous hair and reveals that there are FOUR planned seasons of Con Man that he and Alan Tudyk would like to produce and release!

In which, Mike Kennedy rejoins the Therefore I Geek crew to talk about some exciting news from Magnetic Press. We discuss the new subscription service that they offer, a new, digital first book, and the book Tracy has been drooling over for months. There were some pretty serious technical difficulties during this episode, due to the fickle nature of Skype, but the content was interesting and important, and we wanted to go ahead and share it with you guys.