I am working on editing the new episode. It should be ready for tomorrow night. We continue to explore Villain’s Month And have some great voicemail content as well! I will keep you posted.
Direct Currents 2.0 Week of September 9th 2013
Direct Current 2.0
Week of September 9th, 2013
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Marriage oh my!
By Jim Durdan
Item 1: A few weeks ago IDM release the latest version of the classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic (Hereafter called Thunder Agents). IF you are not familiar with this wonderful title then you really need to find either the archive editions that DC published or check the back issue bins of your local comic shop.
The premise of the team is that they all have unique powers given to them by a piece of technology that they were. Be it super strength, the ability to fly, read minds and a few other powers. The down side is that every time they use the power they run the risk of killing themselves, because the tech in question is deadly over time. In one case the technology granted it’s user super speed, but at the cost of rapidly aging the wearer.
The creators of Thunder Agents read like a who’s who of comicdoms elite. They were created by Wally Wood and Len Brown. Over the years people like Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, George Perez, Jerry Ordway and a host of others have been part of the creative team that has make Thunder Agents one of the most overlooked classics of the silver and bronze age.
Originally Thunder Agents came from a small publisher, Tower Comics in the sixties and was a more or less hit or miss proposition. Months would go by without an issue being published. Eventually Tower would fold, and Thunder would, over the next 4 decades be published by a half a dozen companies, some maintaining the style and tone of the original comics, others only using the Characters as little more than chess pieces to tell a rather uninteresting story with an agenda (Solsons Productions rant on the Reagan era is something to read if you ever want to know how to NOT do a Thunder Agents book). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.H.U.N.D.E.R._Agents
Eventually the property found its way to DC. Two miniseries were produced in 2010 and 2011. In general the feel of the series stayed true to the original Thunder Agents, but the tone of amazement and joy found in the original series were gone. I think in time DC might have been able to reinvent the team in a way that felt fresh without ignoring all that had gone before. Unfortunately we will never know. Retail sales just were not there, and DC either opted not to pursue a continuing licensing agreement or just cut its loses and released the license. Either way the latest version of the Agents is now at IDW and it’s a mixed bag at best.
Continue reading Direct Currents 2.0 Week of September 9th 2013
Episode 363 is here: Trinity War concludes, Forever Evil begins!
Episode 363: Trinity War concludes, Forever Evil begins! Sean and Jim finishe their 3 part look at Trinity War and being our look at Forever Evil and the villains issues. We discuss Forever Evil #1, Supergirl 23, Justice League Dark 23, Justice League 23, Action 23.1 #1, and Green Lantern 23.1 #1.
Listener voicemails return next week.
Show Notes:
0:00 Show opening, http://www.heroinitiative.org, http://www.DCBService.com, http://www.Instocktrades.com, show voicemail line 1-440-388-4434 or drnorge on Skype,and more.
Show contact info and web site: http://0nm.a46.mywebsitetransfer.com
4:05 Trinity War 3 and Forever Evil begins!
1:53:20 Show Closing (Hawkman song by friends of the show “Wednesday Heroes”) http://wednesdayheroes.com/wordpress/
We’ll be back next week with our next episode. Check Ragingbullets.com, Twitter and our Facebook group for regular updates.
Ultraman Link mentioned on show
http://supermanrebirth.wikia.com/wiki/Ultraman
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New show up tonight and next week’s show detailed!
We will have a new episode up tonight as I posted yesterday. Beyond that, we plan on doing weekly shows spotlighting evil month. It’ll be fun to share our thoughts on what we think of the various villain revamps.
We have an interview planned with a long time friend of the show as well that will be rescheduled soon too. It’ll be a great few weeks.
Sean
New show up tonight: The end of Trinity Way, Forever Evil #1 and a beginning of our look at “Evil Month”!
We have a new show being posted tonight. We are back on schedule and very excited!
Sean
Episode 362 is finally here! Trinity War Part 2 of 3, Ben Affleck as Batman, DC Animation, Voicemails and more! We are back!
Episode 362: Trinity War Discussion Continues, Ben Affleck as Batman, DC Animation and more! We are back! Sean and Jim continue their 3 part look at Trinity War with Justice League Dark 22, and Justice League of America 7. Also, we have an in-depth chat on the Ben Affleck casting and some casual chat on DC Animation. Plus we have some fantastic listener voicemails.
Note: Part 3 of our look at Trinity War (Our wrap up) will be next week
Listener voicemails from Anthony, Brandon and a mystery song parody about the show.
Show Notes:
0:00 Show opening, http://www.heroinitiative.org, http://www.DCBService.com, http://www.Instocktrades.com, show voicemail line 1-440-388-4434 or drnorge on Skype,and more.
Show contact info and web site: http://0nm.a46.mywebsitetransfer.com
4:27 Ben Affleck as Batman, DC Animation and Trinity War continues
1:45:00 Voicemails
2:21:00 Show Closing (Hawkman song by friends of the show “Wednesday Heroes”) http://wednesdayheroes.com/wordpress/
We’ll be back next week with our next episode. Check Ragingbullets.com, Twitter and our Facebook group for regular updates.
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Show update: Slight delay to tomorrow due to putting final touches on the show and back to weekly releases.
My mother’s funeral was on Saturday and I was able to get back to editing the show today. I am hallway done and it will be up tomorrow. I managed to get all of the voicemails as well. This will get us back to a weekly schedule moving forward. It was a lot of fun so I hope you enjoy it. Evil month is coming at DC and we are ready for it.
Episode 362 is recorded will be up Friday or Saturday!
Jim and I had a chance to chat tonight and it was a really nice therapeutic break! We discussed the Batman casting news, the new DC animation, and continued our look at Trinity War!
Show update for the end of August!
Hey Everyone,
Sad news: My mother passed away on Sunday after a 7+ year battle with breast cancer. Over the years, so many of you have shared your thoughts, prayers and well wishes for her. Please know that whether we talked directly or it was something you did on your own, I appreciate the support. She was truly courageous and the most wonderful and supportive parent.
There will be another show in the next week or so. Things are a bit crazy on this end right now but as it settles, I am looking forward to taking a break and clearing my head with a conversation about all things comics! I think we all find something therapeutic in the escape that pop culture provides for us.
I will keep you posted and thanks for your patience, concern and understanding.
Sean
Show update: 1 or 2 more August shows planned and back to normal in September
Hey Everyone,
I wanted to give a quick update. As I posted here previously, my mother is very ill. I wanted to quickly thank everyone for their support. She only has what appears to be days left and she is being well cared for by fabulous doctors and nurses. I do want to say that she has always been my biggest support when it comes to reading. She always made sure I had access to books, comics, the library, etc. As a kid, she would give me gifts of comic subscriptions and bought comics for me whenever we would hit a local convenience store. (This was before a local comic shop.) There is so much I could say about how supportive she has been throughout my life. I have been very lucky to have her. I am sure everyone reading this has been luck enough to have people who have supported them throughout their life in a variety of endeavors. I encourage you to make sure you thank them regularly.
On the show side of things, I really want to get in another August recording. I love talking comics with all of you and that will happen. If possible, I’d like to sneak in two. Comics have always been a wonderful medium of escapist fiction for me and I really could use that right now. I am sure all of you can relate. September will gradually be a return to normal for the show. I will post here to keep you updated.
I consider the audience and community friends and really want to thank you for how supportive so many of you have been over the last 7 years of my mother’s cancer battle. You may not have known it but so many times this podcast has been there for me when I needed to shift focus. I hope on some level it has been there for you as well. I can’t wait to do more!
Thanks again,
Sean