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Post by Huw on Sept 24, 2014 10:33:04 GMT -5
Issue #152: Gotham Review, Forum Questions and MorePodcast StreamDownload Directly From iTunesFeedburner LinkOn this week’s show, the regular gang are joined in the second half of the show by Courtney Key who discusses the first episode of Gotham. Thoughts are non-spoilery for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet, so tune in and see what they think of that. After that, Courtney leaves and then some listener questions from the forums are answered. Lightning Round: Original Sin, Storm #2, Daredevil #8, The Returning, Cloaks #1, Low, Sirens #1, All-New X-Factor #14, Wonder Woman #140-141, Batman & Robin: Future’s End, Uncanny X-Men #26, All-New X-Men #32. Books of the Week: Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Witches #1, Thor God of Thunder #25, Copperhead #1, Hexed #1, Edge of Spider-Verse #1-2, Superior Spider-Man #33, Multiversity, Sensation Comics #2.  Annnnnnnnnnd… we say it on the show, but just in case you missed it, the Talking Comics crew on Twitter are: Bobby: @bobbyshortle Stephanie: hellocookieSteve: @dead_anchoress And Bob’s email is bobreyer@talkingcomicbooks.com
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Post by courtneyk on Sept 24, 2014 10:49:46 GMT -5
Slightly terrified to listen back to my bit of the podcast, ha ha!
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John D.
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Posts: 81 
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Post by John D. on Sept 24, 2014 14:31:43 GMT -5
Slightly terrified to listen back to my bit of the podcast, ha ha! Don't be terrified. You did great! While I enjoyed everyone's discussion of Gotham, I suppose I'm in the minority when I say I thought the pilot episode was a hot mess. You all mentioned the lack of subtly on the show and for me that was the biggest deterrent. I feel like most superhero-related TV shows and movies include content that will appease both comics readers and non-readers, but Gotham was designed just for the latter. Maybe this show was focus tested and those cheesy lines of dialogue about Edward and his "riddles" or Oswald's maligned nickname being "penguin" were geared toward an audience that couldn't connect with those characters otherwise. But it felt like Gotham For Dummies. Hey look, that girl likes to drink milk and feed cats, so she must be Catwoman! And this little girl is named Ivy and hangs around a lot of plants, so guess who she's supposed to be! It felt way too hokey for something that could have been a serious crime drama set in Gotham. Also, no spoilers, but the end conversation that Gordon and Bruce Wayne have was terrible. You don't tell an eight-year-old boy the thing that Gordon did. Rookie mistake I suppose? Sorry for the bit of ranting, but I found the first episode to just be awful. Seeing people give it a pass makes me wonder what everyone will think of the show once stuff like Agents of Shield, Arrow, and The Flash start up again. I think Gotham is going to quickly fall to the wayside the way it's going now. But it could get better and I hope it does, of course. I just felt compelled to share a different opinion. |
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Post by pacino on Sept 24, 2014 14:53:16 GMT -5
Gordon did a lot of rookie mistakes. I'm assuming that's the point.
Alfred was very, very cold.
I liked Catwoman. I love Donal Logue but his lines were terrible, which isn't his fault.
I also struggled to enjoy it. I'll give it a few more eps and then drop it if I'm not feeling it. If I hear good things down the line, then I'll go back and re-evaluate.
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John D.
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Posts: 81
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Post by John D. on Sept 24, 2014 19:45:37 GMT -5
Gordon did a lot of rookie mistakes. I'm assuming that's the point. That could be the case, but at the same time, his very first scene involved him commanding pretty much the entire GCPD while calming the situation between a criminal and a cop. For a second I honestly thought he was Commissioner already. The show was a bit clunky in his introduction as a "rookie" cop fresh off the bus. So that moment at the end didn't feel as much like a "rookie mistake" to me but an honest attempt by the writers to give Bruce Wayne information that he needs for when he comes Batman. I think there was a better way to do that and the show didn't do it in a convincing manner. Why not have young Bruce find out the truth toward the end of the season and use that as the impetus for deciding to "become the Bat"? That way, there could be a little mistrust between Bruce and Gordon (for not telling him the truth right away) and Gordon could potentially have an arc where he redeems himself to the future Batman. The writers seem to have sealed the Batman/Gordon relationship in one episode. I know I'm being overly harsh on one episode of a TV show but again, I don't think it was very good. Like you, pacino, I'm going to give this a few more episodes because characters like Penguin and Bullock worked for me, but I have a feeling the fears that the hosts of the show talked about are going to be realized. |
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lumpkin
Fearless Defender
Posts: 32
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Post by lumpkin on Sept 24, 2014 23:09:20 GMT -5
Slightly terrified to listen back to my bit of the podcast, ha ha! you did great ! perfect  |
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Post by IncredibleD on Sept 24, 2014 23:44:59 GMT -5
Great show as always, guys!
Hearing Stephanie talk about Copperhead on the show was the best thing ever, and had me laughing so hard!Wasn't interested in that book before, but i'll definitely pick it now.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2014 0:03:39 GMT -5
Everybody had been mentioning that thy don't care about Bruce and that we've been there and done that. But this is the one part of Bruce's life we haven't seen. It always goes from "parents were shot" to "I'm going off to become Batman" and I think it's interesting we get to see the middle part now. How does child Bruce and even teenager Bruce deal with it? What little moments of him trying to play detective will we get. I like the idea of him an Selina knowing each other as children too.
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Post by pacino on Sept 25, 2014 7:30:23 GMT -5
Great show as always, guys! Hearing Stephanie talk about Copperhead on the show was the best thing ever, and had me laughing so hard!Wasn't interested in that book before, but i'll definitely pick it now. I didn't think anything of the book prior to it being released but I picked it up on a whim when I had some store credit and it was terrific. Added it to my pull. Space westerns are fun. I liked the subtlety of how they created the world. |
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Post by hellocookie on Sept 25, 2014 16:05:26 GMT -5
Great show as always, guys! Hearing Stephanie talk about Copperhead on the show was the best thing ever, and had me laughing so hard!Wasn't interested in that book before, but i'll definitely pick it now. Bahahahaha I'm so glad you're going to check it out based on my ridiculous review of it. It's honestly really interesting (and shit). |
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Post by sammiecassell on Sept 26, 2014 7:24:14 GMT -5
Whew, I have to say I'm a little concerned for the lack of love for Gotham. Am I the only person around who can just watch a show or movie and just be entertained? Yea, there are some problems (can't remember the last time I saw a perfect show), yes there was some cheesiness (anyone seen and loved Batman '66?? Anyone?). I know the movies and the original tv show, haven't read any Batmn until recently and that's Scott Snyder's stuff. I liked the feel, I liked the ideas. I agree that the performances were the best part (the Selena actress with her "cat" movements was tremendous & Cobblepot may steal the show) but at the end of the day, my concern and my reason for continuing to watch is "am I entertained"? And I was. I'm afraid that, as a society, we're suffering from the "American Idol effect", we've become overly critical of everything and it's hindering our ability to just enjoy stuff.
Remember folks, there are people out there who know next to nothing about Batman, they need a little back story and a little of an origin story. AND, everything can't be "new & fresh" or boggled down by 75 years of continuity. Look at it as an "Elseworlds" look at Batman and enjoy. My biggest concern is ,just like some of y'all, I hope they don't try to humanize the villains (Penguin is off to a good start by NOT doing that). That, to me, would be the thing that turns me off, but I'll give this show a big thumbs up.
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John D.
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Posts: 81
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Post by John D. on Sept 26, 2014 8:22:09 GMT -5
Whew, I have to say I'm a little concerned for the lack of love for Gotham. Am I the only person around who can just watch a show or movie and just be entertained? Yea, there are some problems (can't remember the last time I saw a perfect show), yes there was some cheesiness (anyone seen and loved Batman '66?? Anyone?). I know the movies and the original tv show, haven't read any Batmn until recently and that's Scott Snyder's stuff. I liked the feel, I liked the ideas. I agree that the performances were the best part (the Selena actress with her "cat" movements was tremendous & Cobblepot may steal the show) but at the end of the day, my concern and my reason for continuing to watch is "am I entertained"? And I was. I'm afraid that, as a society, we're suffering from the "American Idol effect", we've become overly critical of everything and it's hindering our ability to just enjoy stuff. Remember folks, there are people out there who know next to nothing about Batman, they need a little back story and a little of an origin story. AND, everything can't be "new & fresh" or boggled down by 75 years of continuity. Look at it as an "Elseworlds" look at Batman and enjoy. My biggest concern is ,just like some of y'all, I hope they don't try to humanize the villains (Penguin is off to a good start by NOT doing that). That, to me, would be the thing that turns me off, but I'll give this show a big thumbs up. Don't be concerned. As I said in my post above, I think I'm in the minority as most of the people I've talked to that both read comics and don't know Batman outside of the movies seem to dig the show. That being said, I don't think there's anything wrong with being critical. As you talked about the dangers of "American Idol effect," there's also this reflexive reaction from people when something they like is not liked by everyone to just say, "shut your brain off and enjoy it." Which is just as counterintuitive to me as being overly critical of everything. I think you need criticism every now and again because without it, everything is great and at that point, nothing is truly great. If your primary reason for watching Gotham is to be entertained and you were, that's awesome. Keep watching. Hell, I love Arrow and I know that show has many, many faults, but it entertains me on a weekly basis enough that those faults don't bother me. Gotham didn't entertain me and in order to understand why (since, as I said, I'm in the minority it seems), I have to be critical because just saying, "I didn't like it" isn't going to help in any kind of discussion. |
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Post by courtneyk on Sept 26, 2014 9:49:49 GMT -5
Whew, I have to say I'm a little concerned for the lack of love for Gotham. Am I the only person around who can just watch a show or movie and just be entertained? Yea, there are some problems (can't remember the last time I saw a perfect show), yes there was some cheesiness (anyone seen and loved Batman '66?? Anyone?). I know the movies and the original tv show, haven't read any Batmn until recently and that's Scott Snyder's stuff. I liked the feel, I liked the ideas. I agree that the performances were the best part (the Selena actress with her "cat" movements was tremendous & Cobblepot may steal the show) but at the end of the day, my concern and my reason for continuing to watch is "am I entertained"? And I was. I'm afraid that, as a society, we're suffering from the "American Idol effect", we've become overly critical of everything and it's hindering our ability to just enjoy stuff. Remember folks, there are people out there who know next to nothing about Batman, they need a little back story and a little of an origin story. AND, everything can't be "new & fresh" or boggled down by 75 years of continuity. Look at it as an "Elseworlds" look at Batman and enjoy. My biggest concern is ,just like some of y'all, I hope they don't try to humanize the villains (Penguin is off to a good start by NOT doing that). That, to me, would be the thing that turns me off, but I'll give this show a big thumbs up. I liked it! Which is good, since I've sort of signed up to watch a full season of it. |
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Post by theboogieman on Sept 26, 2014 16:23:32 GMT -5
Thanks for answering my question on the show guys! The detail and thought that Bob, and rest of you guys also, put into your answers was excellent. I really like how you guys interact with your fans so much.
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Post by sammiecassell on Sept 26, 2014 20:27:54 GMT -5
Whew, I have to say I'm a little concerned for the lack of love for Gotham. Am I the only person around who can just watch a show or movie and just be entertained? Yea, there are some problems (can't remember the last time I saw a perfect show), yes there was some cheesiness (anyone seen and loved Batman '66?? Anyone?). I know the movies and the original tv show, haven't read any Batmn until recently and that's Scott Snyder's stuff. I liked the feel, I liked the ideas. I agree that the performances were the best part (the Selena actress with her "cat" movements was tremendous & Cobblepot may steal the show) but at the end of the day, my concern and my reason for continuing to watch is "am I entertained"? And I was. I'm afraid that, as a society, we're suffering from the "American Idol effect", we've become overly critical of everything and it's hindering our ability to just enjoy stuff. Remember folks, there are people out there who know next to nothing about Batman, they need a little back story and a little of an origin story. AND, everything can't be "new & fresh" or boggled down by 75 years of continuity. Look at it as an "Elseworlds" look at Batman and enjoy. My biggest concern is ,just like some of y'all, I hope they don't try to humanize the villains (Penguin is off to a good start by NOT doing that). That, to me, would be the thing that turns me off, but I'll give this show a big thumbs up. Don't be concerned. As I said in my post above, I think I'm in the minority as most of the people I've talked to that both read comics and don't know Batman outside of the movies seem to dig the show. That being said, I don't think there's anything wrong with being critical. As you talked about the dangers of "American Idol effect," there's also this reflexive reaction from people when something they like is not liked by everyone to just say, "shut your brain off and enjoy it." Which is just as counterintuitive to me as being overly critical of everything. I think you need criticism every now and again because without it, everything is great and at that point, nothing is truly great. If your primary reason for watching Gotham is to be entertained and you were, that's awesome. Keep watching. Hell, I love Arrow and I know that show has many, many faults, but it entertains me on a weekly basis enough that those faults don't bother me. Gotham didn't entertain me and in order to understand why (since, as I said, I'm in the minority it seems), I have to be critical because just saying, "I didn't like it" isn't going to help in any kind of discussion. Aha, you are correct, sometimes my inner curmudgeon jumps out and speaks before he thinks lol. I came at the topic from my point of view, but tv, like any other art form, is a matter of taste. A tip of my hat to you, discussion breeds education. |
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