Do you see the possiblity of an big budget Live action Gargoyles Movie?
Forrest Lesak - [forrestlesak at gmail dot com]
posted @ Thu, May 28, 2020 1:49:44 am EDT from 76.94.253.185

Thanks Todd, always appreciated.
Matthew
Insert Inspirational Quote Here:________
posted @ Wed, May 27, 2020 4:28:55 pm EDT from 73.158.223.17

Thanks for the latest episode review, Matthew. I can't remember if I ever saw that episode or not, but your piece was another good one.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Wed, May 27, 2020 8:42:06 am EDT from 68.231.65.221

Watched "Identity Crisis" today (no relation to the not-so stellar DC miniseries) which wraps the Development Psychology trilogy and the return of Venom. Something of note is that the last three episodes each had their own unique framing device. "First Steps" used birthday wishes recorded on video, "Growing Pains" used auditions, and here we have Ned Lee's interviews.

I haven't talked much about Ned Lee, he's another character that got race-lifted like many other white, blonde characters and is now Chinese, or Korean or Vietnamese. We got hints that he's one of those "going for the big scoop" kind of reporters as far back as "Catalysts" and here we get to see him go all out. I especially liked the bit at the beginning where he's trying to sweat the truth out of Peter under the lights, only for the "interrogation room" to be the Bugle office with the lights off and the spotlight to just be a desk lamp.

Something I should point out is the fact that despite having a headline titled "Peter Parker is Spider-Man!!" the Bugle ultimately chose not to run with that, instead waiting until after Lee made his investigations. It's interesting to see considering the rage Jonah was in last episode that he would actually consider caution in this case. Could be that despite his unending hatred for Spider-Man he doesn't want to throw someone he actually likes (or tolerates) to the public wolves until absolutely sure. I imagine Robbie had something to do with that, and as plus he actually gets to print the "correct" story for a change rather than have to make a retraction like the last few times. So that's ultimately the reason Eddie most likely outed Peter to the press.

Venom's plan is pretty dang insidious, first Eddie makes Peter paranoid enough to lead him to the symbiote. Then he enacts a PR war against Spidey and even manipulates Colonel Jupiter to go after him. And after John fails to kill him, he publicly outs him to the guy who hates him the most (as well as the paparazzi) to try and ruin his private life. And finally, plans to strip him of his powers, publicly unmask him, and then let anyone whether it be petty crooks, gangsters or costumed villains kill him (though I think Venom would ultimately decide that no one's going to kill Peter except him).

Once again we see that in a straight fight Spidey really doesn't stand much of a chance against Venom. Spidey attacks Venom from behind with a trashcan, Venom attacks Spidey from behind with a whole car. He can't trick the Symbiote into abandoning Brock like last time and Venom even manages to power through his sonic vibration weakness. A couple of things I liked about their fights, one is the fact that Spider-Man was able to surprise Venom a few times, it's a good reminder that while spider-sense can't pick up the Symbiote, the Symbiote has spider-sense at all. And then there's the times where it looks like the Symbiote is fighting Spider-Man own it's own, like right after Venom crashed from the top of the building and the Symbiote starts making tendrils of its own to chase Spidey while
Venom's body sort of dangles around. I do wonder how effective the gene cleanser would be in the long term against Venom considering all of his powers come from the Symbiote rather than a full biological change. I sometimes wonder if the chemicals involved caused a severe shift in it's cellular structure that would cause it to undergo mitosis, and that's how we'd get Carnage in season 3...

Continuing the relationship drama; we get a close case of Peter and Gwen almost kissing before being interrupted by Harry, though it's not touched upon just yet the tension between the two of them and the nature of Peter's work with the Bugle and as Spider-Man would ultimately end his relationship with Liz. While Flash's persistence with Sha Shan is treated as him being bull-headed I can't help but feel that if this episode was made today a greater focus would be put on "no means no." And finally there's been a few hints of mutual attraction between Mark and MJ, though that won't be seen in full until later. We also get a little moment with Lee asking Betty out and her seeming interested, a nice reference to their own relationship in the comics.

There's one more thing I want to touch on; while Uncle Ben's influence is critical for shaping Peter Parker into the hero and the man he became too often the other father figures are overlooked. In this case Robbie and Captain Stacy, both of whom have long history of secretly knowing Peter's identity both keeping it to themselves out of respect. Robbie paying Peter for photos of himself to help him with his financial situation. And Stacy recognizing that deep down, Peter's a good kid trying to do the best he can with his situation in life. Robbie making sure that Peter's life wasn't ruined but this and Stacy's speech at the end show that Peter still has some positive role-models in his life.

Some final thoughts: that one reporter wondering whether Spider-Man can turn invisible becomes pretty funny considering a few years later we'd be introduced to Miles Morales who can. That same creepy looking reporter that harasses Gwen has been thought by some fans (including me) to be an early appearance of Mac Gargan aka the Scorpion. Unlike other character models used for extras which contain elements from other characters, his is fully unique. Knowing Greg's love of early-bird cameos, it wouldn't surprise me. Man the "take off your mask to prove you're not Peter Parker" line of reasoning sounds like every political debate I've heard over the last four years. You know I think we had the dumbest crooks in the series this episode, did they really try to unmask and kill Flash as Spider-Man in front of several news groups? Congrats Rhino, you're no longer the dumbest villain.

At the end of season 1 Gwen offhandedly referred to her kidnapping by Venom as a case of post-traumatic stress, yet when she sees him again during the fight at the school she actually freezes up from shock. We seen D. Warren begin his eventual takeover of ESU, makes me wonder what sort of things he'd get up to in season 3. You know I like to imagine that in true British stiff-upper lip-ness Mr. Devereaux was just enjoying his tea while there was a big super hero fight going on. I wonder what the Marvel Universe's schools do in the event of such fights considering how our schools now have such things like active shooter drills. Seriously though, as appropriate as it was for Flash to get the role of Nick Bottom it really isn't fair to whoever was initially cast in the role. And finally, the ending of this episode echoes the endings of the last two; in "Growing Pains" a former friend goes mad after the loss of his powers, just like Eddie did here. In "First Steps" a former enemy starts to change into a good man much like Flash did here, managing to distract Venom at the most crucial moment.

Favorite Lines:
Flash: Yo! Mr. Devereaux!
Devereaux:...Yo.
Flash: Okay, so you didn't cast me in the school play, no hard feelings. Guy to guy, part would really get me in good with a certain girl. See?
Devereaux: Ah! I see! Unfortunately, I'm directing a play. Not managing a dating service.

Ned: Peter Parker...Spider-Man
(Connors laugh uproariously)
Martha: You've...got to be-!...All though...It would explain a few things, like when-
Curt: You don't mean-
Martha: And what about-
Curt: It's pretty far-fetched-
Martha: And yet...
Both: No comment.

Ned: Is your nephew, Spider-Man?
May: Am I being Punk'd?

Venom: THAT. WAS. UNPLEASANT!
Spider-Man: Oh great. Now he's mad.
(cue off screen beating)

Eddie: It'll come back, you'll see! We're Venom! And we'll destroy Spider-Man yet!
Flash: Brock's lost it. Venom's like twice his size.

Captain Stacy: I once thought this whole masked vigilante thing was, problematic. But I've to realize that if Spider-Man's true identity was revealed, everyone that he cared about would be in constant danger. Maybe a man in a mask doesn't have something to hide, but something to protect. Wouldn't you agree?
(cut to Peter all alone in class)
Peter: Uh, yes sir.
Matthew
Insert Inspirational Quote Here:________
posted @ Wed, May 27, 2020 3:48:29 am EDT from 73.158.223.17

(8th)Eighth!!!!!!!!
Vinnie - [thomaspeano at yahoo dot com]
Deplorable and loving it!
posted @ Tue, May 26, 2020 11:58:54 pm EDT from 172.14.186.123

Hi Mr. Weisman. I have a question for you:

I don't know if you are aware, but in the "Early Warning" episode of Whelmed: The Young Justice Files (back in Oct. 2019) the host quoted you on something you told him in conversation. This is something that used to happen now and then, but lately it happens in almost every episode: "Greg texted me this", "Brandon emailed me that", "Greg/Brandon told me whatever", etc.

So, looking at your 2-year and 8-month backlog of 1172 questions, I'm wondering: why are you giving BTS information to this one person while the rest of your fanbase has to submit questions and wait months (at least) or YEARS (worst case and more likely scenario) for an answer???? It must be really cool to be so intimate and chummy with one's idol, and I bet the host feels super important and validated, but this is some double standard bullshit!

Are you aware of this? And if you are, how can you be okay with it? Don't you think this is unfair? You have thousands of fans who support your work whichever way they can, but 99.9% of them have never even met you in person, let alone exchanged emails or text messages with you.

If I make an entire podcast dedicated to kissing your asses, will I earn the same privileges? Will I be able to ask all my questions without a waiting queue? Will I get to hang out with you, have lunch together or exchange personal contacts?

(Originally I posted this on AskGreg, but then I decided I shouldn't have to wait 2 years for an answer, for all the reasons above.)
Jordan
posted @ Tue, May 26, 2020 4:24:43 am EDT from 185.180.222.154

6 in the name of Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, and Bronx.
Adam
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 8:19:50 pm EDT from 76.113.172.81

Guess I'm pleading the fifth this week!
Matt
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 3:54:39 pm EDT from 97.85.187.228

Guess I'm pleading the fifth this week!
Matt
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 3:54:38 pm EDT from 97.85.187.228

Fourth!
Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 2:41:47 pm EDT from 68.231.126.227

3rd
VickyUK
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 1:49:32 pm EDT from 86.157.40.245

Second, for Memorial Day.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 8:38:25 am EDT from 68.231.65.221

First, in the name of time zones.
Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]
posted @ Mon, May 25, 2020 12:19:50 am EDT from 174.28.171.87