Checkered Past Episode 4

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you ready? Yeah. Are you with it? Yeah. Okay, let's go. You know what to do. [00:00:05] Speaker B: The whole world's watching and counting on you. [00:00:08] Speaker A: And all you people listening out there. Everybody everywhere. [00:00:13] Speaker B: Hang on, hang on, hang on. Welcome to Checkered Past, A loving postmodern examination of the gogo check branded comic magazines published by DC Comics between February 1966 and August 1967. I'm Dr. Bob and each week I'll be your guide on this trippy tour through 535 mid century masterpieces of graphic noveldom. This week our Fighting force is number 98. Cover date February 1966. Cover price, $0.12. Cover artist, IRV Novick. Edited by Robert Kanigher. Featuring Death Wore a Grin written by Robert Kanigher with art by Irv Novick in which the fightin devil dog puts a strangulatin shutdown on a sinewy sumo fighter. And breakthrough in reverse art by Jack Abel in which some soldiers fight Russians. I guess to try and get a three day leave in Tokyo. Also, girls love stories number 117. Cover date February 1966. Cover price $0.12. Cover artist, Tony Abruzzo. Edited by Jack Miller. Featuring Twice Lost Dramatically performed for you by the girls Young Romance True Love Story Players. Are you ready? Are you with it? Then away we go. Go war. What is it good for? [00:01:48] Speaker A: Absolutely nothing. [00:01:49] Speaker B: Not nothing. Comics, that's what. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah, right. [00:01:54] Speaker B: Hey. Hi. [00:01:55] Speaker A: Hi. How are you? [00:01:56] Speaker B: I'm good. How are you? [00:01:57] Speaker A: I'm fantastic. [00:01:58] Speaker B: How you been doing? [00:01:59] Speaker A: Fine. How you been doing? [00:02:01] Speaker B: Fine. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Good. [00:02:03] Speaker B: So today is a first for me. [00:02:06] Speaker A: How so? [00:02:06] Speaker B: I've never read a war comic before. [00:02:09] Speaker A: Neither have I. [00:02:10] Speaker B: Well, you haven't read a lot of comics, but me with my vast experience now I have read some war comics characters as they intersected with superheroes. [00:02:22] Speaker A: Right. Like Steve Trevor. [00:02:26] Speaker B: No, that's not. No, he's with Wonder Woman. [00:02:30] Speaker A: Right. And. [00:02:32] Speaker B: Oh, you're right. [00:02:33] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:02:34] Speaker B: Well, when I was growing up it was the 70s and Steve Trevor was not a soldier, he was something else. Well, he also not named Steve Trevor because he had died and come back to life. [00:02:45] Speaker A: Keep in mind that many of our listeners also, like myself, have only a very passing interest in comics. And. And a lot of what they remember of comics was from 1970s television. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Honestly. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Yes. [00:02:56] Speaker B: When you said Steve Trevor, what flashed into my mind was Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. [00:03:01] Speaker A: We all know that he was not in. He was not even a superhero. Nor was he. [00:03:05] Speaker B: I disagree. He had superpowers. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Those weren't powers, those were bionics. [00:03:11] Speaker B: So, so Batman doesn't have powers, but he's a superhero? [00:03:15] Speaker A: Well, one could argue that. I would argue that he isn't really a superhero, but that's okay. You know what? Let's not get off track. Let's go back to the war comic. Right. [00:03:24] Speaker B: So we're talking about war comics and romance comics. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:28] Speaker B: Now there's something standing in our way of a good solid war story. [00:03:33] Speaker A: What? [00:03:34] Speaker B: The Comics Code Authority. [00:03:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:37] Speaker B: So you may be familiar with the Comics Code Authority if you look at the front cover of the comic we're reading today. [00:03:42] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:03:43] Speaker B: The upper right hand corner, approved by. [00:03:46] Speaker A: The Comics Code Authority. [00:03:47] Speaker B: Right. So the Comics Code Authority came about in the early 1950s. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:55] Speaker B: As a way for the comics companies to self police themselves so that their content was suitable for young growing minds. Because there had been lots of, you know, gore and really horrible things happening in comics before that point. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Really? [00:04:12] Speaker B: Not really. Not by our standards today. [00:04:14] Speaker A: But kids chewing gum and playing pool, I'll say. [00:04:18] Speaker B: Buying worms and spy glasses out of the front covers. Anyway, would you like to hear a little bit about the Comics Code Authority? [00:04:25] Speaker A: Just a little. [00:04:27] Speaker B: Here you go. Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Okay. [00:04:43] Speaker B: If crime is depicted, it shall be as sordid and unpleasant activity. Policemen, judges, government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority. Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. Well, that seems a repeat of rule number two, doesn't it? In every instance, good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds. [00:05:15] Speaker A: Well, how's that serving us in our current political environment? [00:05:19] Speaker B: Well, I'll get to that. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:05:20] Speaker B: No comic magazine shall use the words horror or terror in its title. [00:05:24] Speaker A: Really? [00:05:25] Speaker B: Really. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Wow. [00:05:27] Speaker B: All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism, shall not be permitted. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue. And in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader. Oh, here's a good one. Scenes dealing with or instruments associated with walking dead torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism. [00:06:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:06:02] Speaker B: Are prohibited. [00:06:03] Speaker A: What? [00:06:04] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Really? [00:06:05] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:05] Speaker A: They must have changed. Well, we know they change it later on. [00:06:08] Speaker B: Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Well, I wonder how they got away with the weirdo legionnaire last week. He didn't have a shirt on. [00:06:20] Speaker A: Well, think of how. So at that time. [00:06:25] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:25] Speaker A: It was okay for men to be seen bare chested, I guess, as long. [00:06:28] Speaker B: As they didn't have nipples. Which the weirdo legionnaire did not. [00:06:31] Speaker A: No, he did not. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities. [00:06:40] Speaker A: That didn't last very long. [00:06:41] Speaker B: Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. [00:06:46] Speaker A: Rape scenes, my God. [00:06:48] Speaker B: As well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable. Well, sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:58] Speaker B: Nudity with meretricious purpose. What does that mean? Meretricious? [00:07:05] Speaker A: Are you reading that correctly? [00:07:07] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:08] Speaker B: I don't. I mean, I don't know. What's it mean? [00:07:10] Speaker A: I'll look it up. [00:07:11] Speaker B: Google it. Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product. Clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals. Any luck on that word there? [00:07:32] Speaker A: Not with my iPhone 6, no. Give me a day or two. [00:07:36] Speaker B: Good one. Thanks, Apple. I have it. Meretricious, of course. Apparently attractive, but having in reality no value or integrity or. Oh, no, too relating to or characteristic of a prostitute. Well, all right. We don't want any prostitutes in our comic magazines, do we? [00:07:58] Speaker A: No. [00:08:00] Speaker B: So how does this relate to war comics? [00:08:02] Speaker A: Well. Well, we see a highly stylized, sort of rather benign portrayal of the realities of war. [00:08:10] Speaker B: Yes. As I read the comics code authority, you can't really show anyone being killed. [00:08:17] Speaker A: Right. Which we all know is a good consequence of war. Yes, yes. [00:08:22] Speaker B: You also can't show anyone in a seductive pose, which would seem to limit the story possibilities of a romance. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Girls in love. Right? [00:08:31] Speaker B: Right. Well, we're in the middle of the 60s, let's recall. We're in the middle of a war. [00:08:37] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:38] Speaker B: Vietnam. [00:08:38] Speaker A: Vietnam. [00:08:39] Speaker B: It's pronounced Vietnam. [00:08:41] Speaker A: Okay. Yes. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Also, we're in the middle of a sexual revolution, or soon to be. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Well, no, we had free love in the 60s. Right. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:50] Speaker A: And that accompanied the. The Vietnam War. And so now we're moving into this, the late 60s and the 70s, when women are really stepping into that. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Women libbers, you might say. What are we looking at today? [00:09:04] Speaker A: We are looking at the fighting devil Dog fighting forces. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Yeah. I think they lost a good chance to Go with an apostrophe. Fighting. [00:09:13] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. [00:09:14] Speaker B: That's what I called him in the theme song. I made up for him. [00:09:17] Speaker A: You did? [00:09:18] Speaker B: I did. [00:09:19] Speaker A: What theme song? [00:09:20] Speaker B: The theme song I wrote last night as I was laying awake in bed. You want to hear it? [00:09:23] Speaker A: I'd love to. [00:09:24] Speaker B: Can you give me a ostinato bass? [00:09:27] Speaker A: Doom, doom, doom, doom doom doom, doom, doom. [00:09:31] Speaker B: Here comes the fightin devil dog. [00:09:35] Speaker A: We're not in the same key. [00:09:36] Speaker B: Yes, we are. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Okay, I'll try it again. Doom, doom, doom doom doom doom doom, doom, doom. [00:09:44] Speaker B: Here comes the fightin devil dog. [00:09:46] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Okay, finally I realized what key you're in. Can we start all over again? [00:09:49] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:50] Speaker A: Okay. [00:09:51] Speaker B: And. [00:09:51] Speaker A: Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. [00:09:56] Speaker B: Here comes the fighting devil dog. Larry Rock, the fighting devil dog. He's got shrapnel in his head. He can see the color red. Here he comes, the fighting devil dog. [00:10:15] Speaker A: That's great. [00:10:16] Speaker B: As alluded to in the theme song, Fightin Devil Dog has piece of shrapnel in his head. [00:10:22] Speaker A: Yes, he does. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Which he doesn't want anybody to know about. [00:10:24] Speaker A: No, he wants to keep that a secret. [00:10:26] Speaker B: The piece of shrapnel causes him periodically to see the world in a wave of red. Yes, the color red. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Blinding headaches. [00:10:37] Speaker B: Blinding headaches. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:10:39] Speaker B: So why not stay in battle? [00:10:41] Speaker A: But does he rage? Does he have an increase in raging ability like Wolverine? [00:10:47] Speaker B: Not quite clear from the text. Now we're reading our fighting forces. Number 98. Yes, this is the fourth solo appearance of a fighting devil dog. And the fourth of four. [00:11:02] Speaker A: So it would be the last. [00:11:03] Speaker B: The last of his cover appearances. He will appear later on, but I'm not quite clear if this red haze makes him go into a rage or if it's just a vision impairment. [00:11:17] Speaker A: So as I like to do, I will point out a couple inconsistencies. Yes, the COVID has them all wearing green helmets, the Japanese. And they do not wear green helmets in the rest of the story. Anywhere else. [00:11:30] Speaker B: No. In fact, on the COVID it looks like they actually have green bowl cut haircuts. [00:11:36] Speaker A: Well, if you look closely on the left of the COVID one of them actually has a chin strap. So I'm extrapolating from that, that we just can't see the ch. Chin straps. Because their broad smiles are stretching their skin over their chin straps. [00:11:50] Speaker B: Yes, we should address that. [00:11:52] Speaker A: And there is, by the way, an American GI in the background who never appears again. [00:11:57] Speaker B: Oh, he does. I found him. [00:11:58] Speaker A: Oh, you did? [00:11:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:59] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:12:02] Speaker B: So we should address perhaps that the Japanese soldiers Are drawn in a very non flattering way. Big wide buck teeth, grins. [00:12:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:15] Speaker B: And slanty eyes. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And they all look like exactly the same. [00:12:23] Speaker B: That's a holdover from the 1940s when of course we were at war with the Japanese. And they were drawn in a not very flattering way in comics magazines. Now it's not as bad as it was in the 40s. I will say that the one exception is the giant nine foot sumo wrestler who Fightin Devil Dog is battling. [00:12:46] Speaker A: Why he's described as a mountain of flesh. [00:12:49] Speaker B: Yes. [00:12:49] Speaker A: A black belt master. A master of the black belt. [00:12:53] Speaker B: I don't know why this Japanese battalion has a nine foot soldier dressed as a sumo wrestler. [00:13:02] Speaker A: And why he looks like an Italian. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Well, he looks actually an Italian. [00:13:07] Speaker A: He has very Italian like features. [00:13:09] Speaker B: I guess he kind of looks like a caveman to me. Nonetheless, when I picture a black belt I'm thinking of a little, you know, a little fella, skinny, quick. [00:13:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:22] Speaker B: Not a giant mountain of flesh. We open the comic. Fighting Devil Dog has been captured by the Japanese. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:32] Speaker B: There's no preface to tell us how he was captured. [00:13:34] Speaker A: We just know he's there. [00:13:35] Speaker B: We just know he's there. A previous owner of this comic I should mention has drawn a goatee on Fightin Devil Dog and war paint all. [00:13:46] Speaker A: Over his face with the words Me Big Chief. [00:13:51] Speaker B: Except they spelled it wrong. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:52] Speaker B: Chife. [00:13:53] Speaker A: Chife. [00:13:55] Speaker B: The Japanese bring forth their master of the black belt who will pit his bare hands and mastery of karate against the marines weapons. [00:14:06] Speaker A: We just, we learn that what he's trying, why he's fighting with the master of karate is because he needs to protect his men that are, that are walking wounded behind the lines. He's trying to keep these guys from advancing to find his troops where they are walking wounded and they could possibly shoved back from their lines into the sea. [00:14:28] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:29] Speaker A: To be eaten by the sharks. [00:14:31] Speaker B: Walking mountain of man Flash is kicking, fighting, punching, jumping. He's doing it all. [00:14:35] Speaker A: Lands every single punch. [00:14:37] Speaker B: Yep. [00:14:37] Speaker A: On Fighting Devil Dog rips his rifle strap, his leather rifle strap right off of him. [00:14:45] Speaker B: Yep. [00:14:46] Speaker A: Just pummels. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Takes his grenades from his grenade belt. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Throws him at the chest of Fighting Double Dog. The guy's name's Larry. [00:14:55] Speaker B: Larry. Larry Rock. [00:14:56] Speaker A: Larry Rock. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Larry Rock starts fighting back, right. [00:15:01] Speaker A: He, he hits, he lands a couple punches but does no damage whatsoever. [00:15:05] Speaker B: Damage. He is starting to pass out. He has a vision of a heavenly blonde man's face appear in the clouds. [00:15:16] Speaker A: Alby. [00:15:17] Speaker B: Vince. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Albee. [00:15:18] Speaker B: Albee. [00:15:19] Speaker A: Yes. [00:15:20] Speaker B: The guy I've been trying to catch up to all my life. [00:15:24] Speaker A: So now we go on a little backstory. [00:15:26] Speaker B: Hurrah. Larry Rock flashes back to the high. [00:15:31] Speaker A: School football field where he was a water boy. [00:15:33] Speaker B: For Vince Albee, the quarterback, number one. [00:15:37] Speaker A: On his jersey, all star football player. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Larry Rock, dreaming of being a star. [00:15:42] Speaker A: Like Vince and actually becoming one or two different things for him. [00:15:46] Speaker B: That's right. [00:15:48] Speaker A: So he goes to his locker in the locker room and looks at a picture of his older brother Frank. Frank. Who's. Who's at war. [00:15:55] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, we'll get back to that a minute. Suddenly, Vince Albee's in an iron lung. [00:16:00] Speaker A: Yes. We don't know why. Nope. [00:16:02] Speaker B: I'd imagine he has polio or something. [00:16:04] Speaker A: Smiling happily, looking up at his mirror. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Toward Frank. [00:16:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Larry. [00:16:10] Speaker A: Larry. Larry Rock. [00:16:11] Speaker B: Larry Rock. [00:16:12] Speaker A: Yes. [00:16:12] Speaker B: Fighting devil dog. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Who's Frank? The older brother. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, part two. Vince is out of the iron lung and into the Marines. [00:16:21] Speaker A: Yes. [00:16:22] Speaker B: Semper fidelis, everybody. That's the motto of the Marines. For short. They say semper fi. Did you know that? [00:16:31] Speaker A: Yes. [00:16:32] Speaker B: Oh, flash forward a couple months. Larry Rock's on the football field scoring a touchdown, I think. Is that what happens in football? [00:16:40] Speaker A: Yes. It's a touchdown, Bob. He's going. He's going. I don't understand why he's going through the goal posts, but that's. [00:16:46] Speaker B: Well, that's. [00:16:47] Speaker A: Once you get to that line, it's enough. You don't have to actually go through the golf post, the goal post. [00:16:52] Speaker B: If you say so. I don't. It looks like there's two goal posts. [00:16:55] Speaker A: It looks like he's about to run into one. It could be because he's running through between them and. And then he's also looking back behind him, guys. [00:17:03] Speaker B: So, yes, art here is by Irv Novik. I recall Irv Novik in the 70s drawing lots of Batman and the Flash. Now, you may have noticed that his artwork here is very static and uninspired. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:18] Speaker B: It's fine. It's serviceable. You might extrapolate how that would look on a character like the Flash, who's supposed to be running at super speed all the time. Yeah, it wasn't very exciting. [00:17:27] Speaker A: No, I bet not. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Nor on Batman swinging across the cityscape. Everybody kind of looks like Judge Parker in this. [00:17:37] Speaker A: So we learned that Vince had. Had recovered from his time with the iron lung and pulmonary infection. That one panel. And now he has joined the Marines. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Yes. And he's shipping off. Yep. Just as Larry signed up for the Marines. Vince is shipping off. [00:17:55] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:56] Speaker B: All Larry Wants is to be with Vince. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:58] Speaker B: I wonder if there he looks deeper. [00:17:59] Speaker A: Backstory. He looks up to him very much so. [00:18:02] Speaker B: Vince is in Pearl harbor when the rising sun blistered it. [00:18:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:06] Speaker B: Rising sun. That's slang for Japan. [00:18:07] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:09] Speaker B: Finally, Larry catches up to Vince in Pearl harbor, and Vince is shipped out again. [00:18:14] Speaker A: That's right. [00:18:14] Speaker B: Off to Australia for training. [00:18:16] Speaker A: Yep. [00:18:18] Speaker B: Larry finally gets catches up with Vince and is injured. Now he's in Guadalcanal. Where's that? [00:18:29] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:18:30] Speaker B: It sounds like South America, but I don't think that's where it is. [00:18:33] Speaker A: I knew at one point I probably. [00:18:35] Speaker B: Did too, but I learned to the test, so. [00:18:40] Speaker A: I'll look it up. Continue on Larry Rock. [00:18:43] Speaker B: Still on the search for Captain Vince Albee. A passing soldier says, captain Vince Albee. Here's where the action is. Leading a special Marine raider group behind enemy lines way out in front of everyone, especially me. [00:18:57] Speaker A: Larry says, okay, here we go. Yeah. So Guadalcanal is the principal island of the Guadalcanal province of the nation of the Solomon Islands. Located in the southwestern Pacific northeast of Australia, the island is mainly covered in dense tropical rainforest and has a mountainous interior. [00:19:13] Speaker B: There's the soldier you were asking about in the bottom panel there. Yes, Lenny. He's got a hat like Larry Storch on F Troop. [00:19:20] Speaker A: Right. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Lenny. [00:19:23] Speaker A: Look it up, folks. [00:19:25] Speaker B: Lenny apparently knows all about the piece of shrapnel and fighting Devil Dog's head. [00:19:30] Speaker A: He does. [00:19:30] Speaker B: Because he says, lieutenant Larry, I'm speaking to you as a friend, not as a non com to an officer. Let me tell the medics about the steel in your head. You should be in a hospital, not here in a foxhole. [00:19:48] Speaker A: So Larry is an officer, apparently, and the other guy's enlisted. [00:19:51] Speaker B: Yep. [00:19:51] Speaker A: Yep. [00:19:53] Speaker B: Lenny says nothing doing. If you say a word to anyone about this Lenny, I'll kill you. Fighting Devil Dog is determined to stay in the war until he finds Vince Albee. [00:20:05] Speaker A: Then we break into this. Yes, Yes. [00:20:08] Speaker B: I did some Facebook creeping to see if there's actually anyone named Vince Albee. I don't think it's a real person. There's Vince. I'll be spelled differently. Who? Construction contractor. [00:20:23] Speaker A: So you don't think there's a Vince Albee, war hero, Football. Football star? [00:20:27] Speaker B: No. There's a Vincenzo Albi in Italy who likes to post pictures of his own face superimposed over the ocean several times. [00:20:38] Speaker A: So I just want to add here, as I'm sure people who are listening are thinking this, a Facebook search of a 1966 comic with the name Vince Albee. [00:20:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Is probably not going to yield any significant results. [00:20:53] Speaker B: Listen, old people love Facebook. In fact, Facebook is only old people now the kids are off of it. There's an Albee Vincent who lives in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. I don't think that's it. And there's a Vincent Albiez from Whitefish, Montana, who worked at Holiday on Ice. Oh. But he was born in Pentaloltz, Switzerland. There you go. No, Vince Albee. [00:21:20] Speaker A: So when the bombardment. When the. When the bombardment stopped, the enemy attacked. But sizzling grenades and searing steel were like snowflakes compared to the roaring flames in my head. [00:21:30] Speaker B: This is it. So he isn't kind of a berserker Rage. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Yes, he is like Wolverine. [00:21:35] Speaker B: Punching, punching. Pow. Crunch. Finally, Lenny shakes him out of his rage. [00:21:41] Speaker A: Yes. [00:21:43] Speaker B: And. But Lenny is convinced that fighting Devil Dog can continue fighting despite the searing pain and blood red. It's a brain bleed. I'm assuming that's what makes him see red all the time. Do you think? [00:21:56] Speaker A: It must be. [00:21:57] Speaker B: Maybe that's why he's fixated on Larry, because he's just. All he can remember is moments from the past. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Maybe why he only has four issues. [00:22:07] Speaker B: It could be. Rage is hard to sustain. [00:22:11] Speaker A: So you would know more about this than I do. [00:22:13] Speaker B: Yes. [00:22:13] Speaker A: When they draw these comics, do they. Do they. Do they just make these up in their head or do they have the guys act them out there in the studio and they just draw them? [00:22:21] Speaker B: I don't think they have people act them out. [00:22:27] Speaker A: They don't. [00:22:27] Speaker B: Now, they may have a life model for certain poses. [00:22:31] Speaker A: Sure. [00:22:31] Speaker B: Here and there. For example, Alex Ross, that's an artist, you know. [00:22:37] Speaker A: I do. [00:22:37] Speaker B: Well, he does paintings of superheroes, and he does use life models in actual costume. Yeah, but Irv Novik, I'm assuming he just went out on the street and found men walking to work and drew them. Because that's what everyone looks like. [00:22:56] Speaker A: There's walking to work even when they're fighting. Yeah. Yeah. [00:23:00] Speaker B: Lenny and fighting Devil Dog take off through the jungle. They're ambushed beside a river by a. [00:23:07] Speaker A: Group of Japanese soldiers who are jumping out of a tree with almost no foliage on it whatsoever. I'm not exactly sure how they were hiding, especially because they're all wearing gray and the tree is clearly brown and green. [00:23:23] Speaker B: The ninjas, maybe they were invisible. [00:23:25] Speaker A: I. I don't understand it. [00:23:27] Speaker B: I mean, it's a bonsai tree. Clearly, that's why there's. [00:23:30] Speaker A: There are four men jumping out of a very small tree with almost no, foliage. Yeah, they're ninjas ambushing them. [00:23:37] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, ninjas. [00:23:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:38] Speaker B: Clearly the fight continues underwater. [00:23:42] Speaker A: Underwater. [00:23:43] Speaker B: Very exciting. Larry and Lenny are captured. [00:23:46] Speaker A: They are. [00:23:47] Speaker B: Now we're back in the present. [00:23:49] Speaker A: Now we're here with him fighting the mountain of Flesh, the master of the black belt. [00:23:54] Speaker B: Yes. Now is the time to mention that Master of the black belt, Slash Mountain of Man Flesh has a medallion, a star shaped medallion on a chain. On a chain. The medallion is the size of his head. Remember that. He's nine feet tall. So it's a very large medallion. [00:24:16] Speaker A: It's quite prominent. And every time he makes a move, it swings about his neck. [00:24:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Now I think you see where we're going with this. Fighting Devil Dog. In a last show of strength, seeing Red, grabs hold of the medallion and swings it around the master of Man Flesh's head. Master of Man Flash. That's not what he's called, but I like that name. [00:24:48] Speaker A: That's a different kind of comic. [00:24:50] Speaker B: Master of Man Flash falls to the ground, breaking his own neck and dying in the process. Now, does this get us around the comics code authority? [00:24:59] Speaker A: You know, he's an evil guy and he dies. [00:25:03] Speaker B: Technically, fighting Devil Dog didn't kill him. [00:25:05] Speaker A: We don't see any blood. [00:25:06] Speaker B: No, except the blood red sky in the background. That Fighting Devil Dog. [00:25:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:10] Speaker B: Sees the world in. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Right. And they're the soldiers attacking him with their. Their Japanese machetes. [00:25:17] Speaker B: Yep. [00:25:17] Speaker A: You know, I'm assuming they're machetes because they're flat on the end and they're not pointed. So they're not like swords. Well, I mean, they're swords. [00:25:26] Speaker B: Machete is no match for fighting Devil Dog because he just punches and punches. [00:25:30] Speaker A: And then the guys come in and back him up the other side. [00:25:32] Speaker B: And look who's there. Look who's here to come to the rescue. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Who? [00:25:38] Speaker B: Vince Albee. [00:25:39] Speaker A: Vince Albee. There he is. [00:25:40] Speaker B: Finally, wham. Vince and Larry have a warm, friendly, manly reunion. [00:25:49] Speaker A: Reunion. Smoking cigarettes. [00:25:53] Speaker B: Larry says, I wonder what it would be, what it would feel like to be like you, Vince. A guy who's always where the action is, who's always out in front of everyone else. [00:26:04] Speaker A: He says, are you kidding, Larry? I've been trying to catch up to someone who's always been in front of me. You ought to know him. He's a relative of yours. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Good. My brother Frank, the one and only Rock of Easy Company, Vince Albee just happens to have an 8x10 of Sergeant Rock. [00:26:21] Speaker A: It's quite, quite a large. [00:26:22] Speaker B: Now, Sergeant Rock, I've heard of Him? [00:26:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:24] Speaker B: Because he would often team up with Batman or Superman. [00:26:27] Speaker A: Really? [00:26:28] Speaker B: In the superhero comics. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. [00:26:32] Speaker A: Here Larry Rock has been chasing around after his hero, Vince Alby. [00:26:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:38] Speaker A: Who's been chasing after his hero, Larry Frank Brock. Yeah. [00:26:43] Speaker B: That's about the shape of it. You seem they could have cut out the middleman and just had Larry look up to his own big brother, but. [00:26:49] Speaker A: Yeah, well, he needed to fight the mountain of flesh, apparently. Yes. [00:26:54] Speaker B: Now we have a bonus battle tale in this comic. [00:26:57] Speaker A: We have a what? [00:26:58] Speaker B: A bonus battle tale. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Okay, thank you. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Called Breakthrough in Reverse. I didn't really understand what was happening here. It seems to be taking place in Korea. [00:27:09] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:10] Speaker B: Although the enemy soldiers. [00:27:13] Speaker A: So we're backing up in time here, right? To the 1950 to 1953. [00:27:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:21] Speaker A: Actually, no, we're going forward in time. We went from World War II. [00:27:24] Speaker B: From World War II. [00:27:24] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:25] Speaker B: Backward from 1966. Which is when we're publishing. The enemy soldiers are not drawn to look Asian. Which is why I was so confused. [00:27:33] Speaker A: But I don't know what they are. [00:27:35] Speaker B: Well, they have red stars on their helmets. [00:27:39] Speaker A: So. Are they Russian? [00:27:40] Speaker B: You know, I think they're supposed to be North Koreans, but. [00:27:42] Speaker A: I know. [00:27:43] Speaker B: And also their helmets look like they're made of fur. Is that a Korean thing? [00:27:48] Speaker A: I don't know. Let me look it up. [00:27:50] Speaker B: All I know from Korea is mash. And they didn't have helmets, they just had scrubs. [00:27:56] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. They were Korean. [00:27:59] Speaker B: You're sure about that? [00:28:00] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure. I'm not sure about the stripedy. The stripedy shirts, but. Or jackets that they're wearing. But that. But that's supposed to be Korean. [00:28:09] Speaker B: Maybe they're prisoners. [00:28:12] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:28:13] Speaker B: Anyway, we start. [00:28:15] Speaker A: Basically, we're in a battle. Okay. [00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, that's the splash page, Right. We turn the page. Sergeant and Lieutenant King are talking. Lieutenant King says a week's furlough and swing in Tokyo. That's what the big brass has offered the outfit that scores the first breakthrough. I can just picture it. Can you, Sergeant? Sergeant says, roger, Lieutenant King. But then what? Sergeant tells Lieutenant King for his platoon to stay behind. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:44] Speaker B: Guard the rear. To quote, this is as far as your platoon goes, Lieutenant King. What is this, high school? Your inexperienced men will be fill ins for our combat savvy platoons if and when needed, up front. Well, he's a dick. [00:29:00] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. Well, that's okay. They're kind of drawn like elves anyway. They look like they're. [00:29:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:05] Speaker A: You know, art here. They look. Actually, they look really haggard. Look at how prominent their cheekbones are and how deeply set their cheeks are. [00:29:13] Speaker B: Well, they're, you know, they've been on front lines a long time. [00:29:17] Speaker A: They don't look like any of the other soldiers I've seen drawn. [00:29:19] Speaker B: The art here is by jack abel, who's better known as an inker of other people's pencils. And I think that's probably where he. [00:29:27] Speaker A: Frankly, it's awful. [00:29:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. I've seen worse. But this is not. Not anything you'd want. So what happens? The platoon in the rear gets attacked. They're fighting and fighting. [00:29:41] Speaker A: They get attacked over and over again. Lots of hand to hand combat. [00:29:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Platoon up front keeps calling for backup, but they can't. They're busy. They're fighting. They're being attacked from the rear, which. [00:29:51] Speaker A: Of course, the platoon up front does not believe is happening. [00:29:53] Speaker B: No, they think they're just being pussies because they're inexperienced. Yes, I said it. [00:30:00] Speaker A: I love when they're using automatic weapons. So they go. [00:30:04] Speaker B: It'S fantastic. [00:30:05] Speaker A: Pow, pow, pow, powp. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Here comes a tank. Clank, clank. [00:30:11] Speaker A: Now, what's so interesting about this tank is that we never actually see the americans taking over the tank. They battle, they fight at the tank, they climb onto the tank, they. But then we learn here soon, they use the tank. The americans use the tank to push through the enemy lines. [00:30:29] Speaker B: Here they are, they're riding it. [00:30:31] Speaker A: They're riding it. But they never actually. You never see any sort of text or any. Anything that says, oh, we've got it, and we're going in and we've killed the soldiers and removed them and we're taking over. Well, what you see in a movie, right? [00:30:45] Speaker B: Well, we're spoon fed everything in movies. Maybe this is something that regular readers of war comics would just assume happened. Like, I assume several things in superhero comics that take you by surprise. Like superman being a boy as superboy, by the way, which we have proved. [00:31:05] Speaker A: That other people have also. [00:31:09] Speaker B: Yes, agree. We have. I owe you and america an apology because I've encountered several people, mostly girls, who did not know superboy was superman as a boy. Also, apology number two last week. [00:31:23] Speaker A: This is a big. This is a banner day for me. [00:31:25] Speaker B: Yeah. This is more to america than to you. [00:31:28] Speaker A: Oh. [00:31:28] Speaker B: Because I announced that supergirl appeared on cbs television and she no longer does. She is on the wb. [00:31:37] Speaker A: The wb? No, the what? [00:31:39] Speaker B: The cw. [00:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah, the cw. [00:31:40] Speaker B: It used to be wb though, really, didn't it? [00:31:43] Speaker A: What does it stand for? Country western. [00:31:45] Speaker B: Yes. Or coonhound wrangling. I don't know. [00:31:49] Speaker A: Character Westerns. Character wrangling. Character wrangling. Maybe character wrap ups. [00:31:55] Speaker B: Yes. I don't know. Yeah, we'll Google that later. [00:31:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:00] Speaker B: Apology number three. I've been listening to my introduction to the podcast for four weeks. [00:32:06] Speaker A: Yes. [00:32:06] Speaker B: I cannot pronounce the word February. February. Do you say. Did you pronounce the first R? February? [00:32:13] Speaker A: I do. February. [00:32:15] Speaker B: February, February, February. [00:32:18] Speaker A: It's very, very subtle, but you could tell if you slowed it down, you would not hear this. February. [00:32:23] Speaker B: Well, I have no subtleties, so that's why I can't pronounce it. I think I'm trying to pronounce it like qpon. February. [00:32:30] Speaker A: Do you know what word I have a very hard time pronouncing? There's two words, actually. [00:32:34] Speaker B: Dickensheets. [00:32:37] Speaker A: Mike, Dickensheets is the guy who serviced my motorcycle last week. But no classical guitar. I cannot say classical guitar. [00:32:47] Speaker B: Oh, you just said it twice. [00:32:51] Speaker A: I play the classical guitar. Oh, it's hard. You don't know how hard I have to concentrate to say that. [00:32:56] Speaker B: Really? [00:32:56] Speaker A: Yes, it's, it's, it's the classical, the. That, that sequence of consonants. It's very hard. Very often I just get stumped on it. I go and I say classical guitar. I have a. I grew up with a very, very slight stutter which I still have to deal with as an adult. [00:33:21] Speaker B: Well. [00:33:23] Speaker A: I'm sure that'll be edited. I'm sure that that'll be the, the only time I share that. [00:33:31] Speaker B: So guess what happens? The platoon in the rear actually breaks through the enemy lines first. [00:33:38] Speaker A: Yes. [00:33:38] Speaker B: With the tank. With the tank. [00:33:41] Speaker A: And then somehow finds them all in a cave. Finds the enemy in a cave. Finds these. [00:33:46] Speaker B: Yeah. They find the enemy hold up in a cave. [00:33:48] Speaker A: In a giant cave. We're talking Lord of the Rings, mythic proportions. The minds of Moria. Of Moria. Yes. [00:33:59] Speaker B: They blow up the cave with all the enemy and then they break through the line and then they get to go to Tokyo. Hurrah. The end. [00:34:05] Speaker A: And all of the soldiers and the women basically all look the same. I mean, I can't, I can't distinguish an American soldier from a Japanese soldier from anyone. [00:34:12] Speaker B: And even the geisha girls look like American soldiers. [00:34:16] Speaker A: Actually, they look like American girls with black wigs. Yeah, yeah. [00:34:20] Speaker B: Speaking of wigs. [00:34:22] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:23] Speaker B: We've got a new feature premiering in just a few moments. Are you ready for this? [00:34:28] Speaker A: I'd love to hear about it. What is it, girls? [00:34:30] Speaker B: Young Romance, True Love Story Theater. [00:34:32] Speaker A: Oh, I'm so excited. [00:34:35] Speaker B: This Week featuring Twice Lost from Girls love stories number 117. We'll be right back after this message. [00:34:49] Speaker A: Public service announcement. [00:34:51] Speaker B: Theater presents Superman says People Are People. One day at the circus. [00:34:59] Speaker A: Great Scott. A circus lion on the loose. [00:35:02] Speaker B: A circus worker wrangles the lion back to his cage. [00:35:06] Speaker A: Nice work, lad. I'll have him back in his cage in a jiffy. [00:35:11] Speaker B: I can't thank you enough, Superman. A lot of people would have been in danger if you hadn't come along. [00:35:18] Speaker A: You'd better thank a young boy over there whose quick thinking and courage kept this lion at bay before he could run wild. [00:35:25] Speaker B: Yet was one of these two boys. Mr. Carson. My boy. I say, my boy. I want to reward you. [00:35:33] Speaker A: Wait a minute. How do you know it wasn't the other lad? [00:35:38] Speaker B: Why, er. [00:35:40] Speaker A: I. [00:35:41] Speaker B: Boy. [00:35:42] Speaker A: Because of his color. As a matter of fact, he was the one. You just jumped to a conclusion because of a common prejudice. [00:35:52] Speaker B: I'm sorry, Superman. You're quite right, young man. This should serve as an example to a lot of people like me who have gotten some wrong notions in their heads. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Mostly because they've forgotten in elementary truths that people are people and should be judged as such, regardless of color or beliefs. [00:36:17] Speaker B: Brotherhood Week is being observed February 15th through 22nd, but the ideas behind it should be observed all year. Presented as a public service in cooperation with the National Social Welfare Assembly Coordinating Organization for National Health, Welfare and Recreation Agencies of the usa. And now the girls. Young Romance True Love Story Players Proudly Present Twice Lost. [00:36:48] Speaker C: I gazed down the quiet street from my hotel window and was suddenly afraid it was a mistake to come back. He'll never see me and. And even if he does, he'll only tell me what he told me once. That he doesn't love me any more. Those words of Rand's echoed through my mind as clearly now as they had that awful night. He'd spoken them over a year before. [00:37:21] Speaker B: Just like that. [00:37:23] Speaker C: I don't love you anymore. [00:37:24] Speaker B: And that's the end of it. [00:37:26] Speaker A: I'm sorry, Jenny. [00:37:28] Speaker B: And what about me? I still love you. What am I supposed to do about that? [00:37:33] Speaker A: Get over it. You will, Jenny. In time. People do. [00:37:37] Speaker C: I'm not people. [00:37:39] Speaker B: I'm me, Ginny. [00:37:42] Speaker C: And I love you. [00:37:43] Speaker B: I can't turn love on and off like a light. I'll always love you. [00:37:49] Speaker C: I'll always love you. And now, though many a long and lonely month had passed, though I'd gone away, many made a new life, those words were still in my heart. I'll always love you, Rand. I still do. And always Will. Only two people in town had really meant anything to me. Rand, of course, was one and Muriel Hobart was the other. [00:38:19] Speaker A: Ginny, Is it really you? [00:38:21] Speaker B: Yes, it's me. Are you busy? Muriel? I'd like to come over. [00:38:26] Speaker A: Well, I'll be busy later then. [00:38:30] Speaker B: I'll only stay a little while. But I am anxious to see you. [00:38:35] Speaker C: Muriel was the only one who might understand why I'd had to come back, why I had to see Rand again. [00:38:43] Speaker B: I have to find out if there's a chance he might have been wrong about not loving me anymore. Maybe he still does, Muriel, but has too much pride to let me know. [00:38:55] Speaker A: And what about your pride, Ginny? [00:38:57] Speaker C: I have none. [00:38:59] Speaker B: Not anymore. Nothing can stop me from discovering if there's a chance, even a tiny chance, that Rand still cares for me. [00:39:10] Speaker C: Before going to the door, Muriel gazed at me for a long, long moment. [00:39:16] Speaker A: Then, no. Ginny, I can see that nothing will stop you from learning the truth. So you may as well find out now. Hi, honey. [00:39:27] Speaker B: Rand. [00:39:28] Speaker C: If Rand was surprised or dismayed to see me, he hid it beautifully. I couldn't hope to disguise my amazement at discovering that he and Muriel were now sweethearts. I. I'd better go. [00:39:45] Speaker A: Hey, wait a minute. I don't know what brought you back into town, but whatever it was, we ought to celebrate your return. [00:39:54] Speaker C: I looked at him for as long as I dared, and as our eyes met, I saw something that made my heart leap. He wanted me to stay. Suddenly, Muriel broke in, but the warmth in her voice was forced. [00:40:11] Speaker A: Of course, Jenny, we should celebrate your return. Maybe we could double date tomorrow night. But meanwhile, Rand and I have a very private date tonight. Celebrating six months since our first date together. [00:40:31] Speaker C: I left them then, and my evening was long and desolate. But he did want me to stay. So maybe he's only been dating Muriel, hoping to forget me. [00:40:46] Speaker A: Ginny. [00:40:47] Speaker B: Rand. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Oh, Rand, don't say anything. [00:40:51] Speaker C: He held out his arms to me, and it was if the world were welcoming me home again. And a moment later, I was home again. Then I was right to come back. [00:41:08] Speaker B: Oh, darling, you don't love Muriel. [00:41:11] Speaker A: No, Ginny, I don't. [00:41:13] Speaker B: And you still love me. [00:41:16] Speaker A: No, Ginny, I don't. [00:41:18] Speaker B: But if you. If you don't love her. [00:41:23] Speaker A: I don't love either of you. I don't love anyone. And I guess I never have. Romancing you was fun while it lasted. And now, well, I'm a little tired of Muriel anyway. Maybe you and I can be fun again. [00:41:39] Speaker B: Fun. Fun. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Oh. [00:41:43] Speaker C: But my furious hand was caught in midair and all I could do was weep. [00:41:51] Speaker B: I'll tell Muriel. I'll tell her the truth. [00:41:54] Speaker A: She'll never believe you. She loves me too. Just as you did. Just as you still do. Thanks. It's very flattering to know you haven't gotten over me yet. [00:42:07] Speaker C: Bitterly, despairingly, my love turned to hate. All in a moment. I wanted only to hit him. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Go ahead, if it'll make you feel any better. I won't stop you this time. No, Ginny. He isn't worth it. You seemed so anxious to cut our date short to night Rand. So eager to take me home. And your kiss was soso absent minded. I wondered why. So I followed him. And now I know. I guess. I guess I've been a bigger fool than you. Ginny. Come on, I'll drive you home. [00:42:46] Speaker C: We walked away from Rand without a word, Without a look. [00:42:50] Speaker A: He was right, you know. I wouldn't have believed you. Maybe you shouldn't have come back. I'd at least have had a little more happiness if you hadn't. [00:42:58] Speaker B: Till a new girl came along. No, Muriel. [00:43:02] Speaker C: I'm glad I came back. [00:43:05] Speaker B: There'll be tears for you, just as there were for me. But there'll be freedom too. Freedom for each of us to wait for someone who's worth waiting for. Well, that was something. [00:43:22] Speaker A: I'll say. Did you like that? [00:43:25] Speaker B: I sure did. Poor Ginny. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Poor Jenny. [00:43:28] Speaker B: And poor Muriel. [00:43:29] Speaker A: Oh, that Rand's an asshole. [00:43:31] Speaker B: I'll say. [00:43:33] Speaker A: Well, Muriel's a little stuck on herself. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Yeah, well, she's blonde. [00:43:37] Speaker A: Yes. She's got a tiny wasp of a waist. [00:43:40] Speaker B: Yeah, like it's 14 inch waist. [00:43:41] Speaker A: Did you see that panel where she was sitting there tugging at her earring and has her hand on her waist? [00:43:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:46] Speaker A: This is drawn very well actually. [00:43:48] Speaker B: It's beautiful. There's no artist credited for this story. But none. No. Wow. And I'm imagining the eyes remind me of Ross Andrew who drew the metal men. But it couldn't be the same because the metal men were all slanted as if they were drawn by a left handed person on a right handed desk. [00:44:07] Speaker A: I love the movement. Especially when we talked about in the Fighting Devil Dog. [00:44:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:12] Speaker A: How they all seem so static and this. Every single thing has a line. Even the gesture. Like Rand's turned eyebrow. [00:44:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:19] Speaker A: When she's turned everything has this wonderful lines and gesture and movement to it. You feel like you just caught them right in the middle of moving. It's so beautifully drawn. But the plots of course are insipid. [00:44:32] Speaker B: Well, yes, there's that I'd imagine that on the cusp of the sexual revolution, the comics here are being used to reinforce traditional, traditional gender roles, make women think that all they could do is get married. That's not true anymore. [00:44:48] Speaker A: Wait and wait. Wait for the. Right. And then wait for the next one to come along. [00:44:54] Speaker B: Well, I don't know what. [00:44:55] Speaker A: Well, it's. [00:44:56] Speaker B: That really took it out of me. [00:44:57] Speaker A: It's fun, though. It's fun to, you know, sort of act it out. [00:45:00] Speaker B: Yes. So that's our big surprise. [00:45:03] Speaker A: I hope you enjoyed it. Yes, yes, we. We enjoyed it. Let us know what you think. [00:45:07] Speaker B: Yeah, drop us a line. You can find us on social media at GoGoCheckPod, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I haven't been really good about updating the Instagram, but why not? [00:45:18] Speaker A: You're so good with the social medias. [00:45:20] Speaker B: Listen, I have so many things going on, but Facebook and Twitter, I'm all about that. And you can always go directly to our website, checkeredpass, podiant.co. you can download all of our episodes. There's as well as find out a little bit more information about each issue that we're covering. [00:45:38] Speaker A: You know, I was trying to go on the Instagrams last night, and I could not remember my passcode at all because I haven't been on Instagram in probably six months to a year. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Well, you don't like social media things. [00:45:48] Speaker A: I don't. [00:45:49] Speaker B: That's what I'm here for. [00:45:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:45:53] Speaker B: Next week. [00:45:54] Speaker A: What? [00:45:55] Speaker B: Detective comics featuring Batman and Robin. Oh, you know him. [00:46:01] Speaker A: But Robin's back. [00:46:01] Speaker B: Robin's back. [00:46:02] Speaker A: Okay, good. [00:46:03] Speaker B: And who watch Elongated Man? [00:46:06] Speaker A: Like, is he like Plasticman? [00:46:07] Speaker B: Well, yes, essentially. In fact, there's a funny story about that we'll get to next week. [00:46:12] Speaker A: Oh, good. [00:46:13] Speaker B: All right. Buy more comics and we'll see you next week. Bye. [00:46:21] Speaker A: This has got to be faster. [00:46:23] Speaker B: Well, I do edit it. Okay, you're free to take over at any time.