Episode 137 - DC Super Powers with Rick Lee James
There's nothing more important to developing creativity than play, so let's look at the toys that featured the Man of Steel. In particular, back in thew 80s, DC put out a line that distilled the raw power of their characters into figures that punched and kicked without the need for buttons or levers! That's right, Case and Jmike are joined by guest Rick Lee James (https://www.rickleejames.com/) to discuss the venerable DC Super Powers line!
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts • Google Podcasts • Spotify • iHeartRADIO • Stitcher • RSS
Overview
In the latest episode of the podcast, hosts Case Aiken and JMike Folson welcome guest Rick Lee James for an engaging discussion about the impact of action figures on childhood perceptions of superheroes, particularly focusing on toys from the Superpowers line of the late 70s and early 80s. The episode delves into the cultural influence of various superhero toy lines, including Power Rangers and Transformers, while examining the design and action features of iconic vehicles like the Batmobile and Supermobile. The hosts explore the evolution of toy designs, the crossover between toys and media tie-ins, and how characters like Cyborg emerged from the Superpowers cartoon. Rick shares insights into his music career and current role as a hospital chaplain, along with social media details for fans. The meeting concludes with plans for future episodes and an action item to research additional Superpowers memorabilia.
Notes
Introduction and Toy Discussion(00:00 - 10:30)
● Hosts Case Aiken and J. Mike Fson introduce the podcast and guest Rick Lee James
● Discussion about the importance of action figures in shaping childhood perceptions of superheroes
● Rick shares his experience with Superpowers toys from the late 70s/early 80s
● Toys as a source of creativity and early fan fiction for children
● Mention of He-Man's origin from unused Conan the Barbarian toy molds
Superhero Toy Lines and Media Influence(10:30 - 19:32)
● Discussion of Power Rangers, Transformers, and Superman merchandise
● Death and Return of Superman toy line from early 90s mentioned
● Batman animated series influence on toy production
● Superpowers toy line features discussed, including action features for each character
● Detailed list of Superpowers characters and their action features
Toy Design and Cultural Impact(19:32 - 31:12)
● Comparison between original Superpowers line and new McFarlane toys
● Discussion of vehicles in both toy lines, including Supermobile and Batmobile
● Mention of Jose Louis Garcia Lopez's influence on toy design
● Impact of Superpowers cartoon on future DC storylines, including Cyborg's inclusion in Justice League
● Robot Chicken's use of Superpowers toys in their sketches
McFarlane Toys and Vehicle Features(31:14 - 39:21)
● Detailed discussion of McFarlane's new Superpowers toy line
● Focus on vehicle toys having action features while figures do not
● Comparison of original and new Supermobile, Batmobile, and Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet
● Discussion of comic accuracy in new toy designs
Superpowers Media Tie-ins(39:21 - 46:52)
● VHS tapes featuring Superman, Aquaman, Batman, and Superboy mentioned
● Discussion of Superboy's prevalence in media despite lack of dedicated toy
● Mention of Justice League of America Skyscraper Caper board game
● Ubiquity of Superpowers merchandise in the 1980s
Wrap-up and Guest Information(46:52 - 57:40)
● Rick shares his Superman Twitter account and music career
● Discussion of Rick's current work as a hospital chaplain
● Hosts share their contact information and upcoming content
● Mention of YouTube channel and Dungeons & Dragons videos
● Closing remarks and podcast information
Transcription
00:00
Rick
Listeners won't see this, but I can describe it a little bit like, oh.
00:03
Case
My God, the invisible jet from Wonder Woman.
00:05
Rick
Yeah. And so you've got like this hook that comes down, so. So its power is like you can nab criminals and then it like snatches them back up real quick in there and it looks, you know, comic authentic to the invisible dead or, you know, what you would see in the cartoon. I guess that's kind of.
00:24
Case
Or what you don't see.
00:27
Rick
That's exactly.
00:46
Case
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Men of Steel podcast. I'm Case Aiken and as always, I am joined by my co host, JMike Folson.
00:53
Jmike
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the show.
00:57
Case
J. Mike, how many points of articulation do you think the human body has?
01:03
Jmike
We're not in school anymore. How am I supposed to know this?
01:07
Case
I mean, it's a trick question. It kind of depends on who's manufacturing it. If it's McFarlane, it could be way more than if it's something else. But that's sort of the off the cuff lead in for us having a conversation about the toys. This is an audio format show and so it's kind of a difficult scenario to be like, let's talk about every single aspect of the. The toys without doing a huge deep dive into history. Because we want to have a visual component to the show.
01:35
Jmike
Just gotta use your imagination.
01:39
Case
But we want to talk about the toys. And so to have that conversation, we are joined by Rick Lee James. Oh, hey, Rick. How's it going?
01:47
Rick
I'm good. Good to be here with you guys tonight. I'm so really excited to be able to talk about this.
01:52
Case
Yeah, Rick, you do a bunch of stuff. What's the quick version of where can people find you outside?
01:57
Rick
Rickleejames.com is probably the easiest place. Everything that I do is located on that website. So it's just my name, Rick Lee James. Just make sure you put Lee between Rick and James or you'll get a whole other person for sure. Because Rick James was a whole other guy.
02:13
Case
Yes. It's funny because you brought that up off mic and now I can't help but have just a certain articulation to how I would approach saying your name now. Certainly a certain, shall we say, suffix to it all.
02:31
Rick
That's right. That's right. It's nothing I haven't heard a thousand times. So that's okay.
02:37
Case
Yeah, no, but it's great that we're having you on because we connected on, I believe it was Twitter, where We are just Superman enthusiasts and happened to connect and wanted to talk about something Superman. And you brought up the toys. And I was like, yeah, you know what? We haven't really had a conversation about the toys. But, you know, when I was a kid, it meant a lot to me to have, like, action figures for the characters. And I remember seeing the commercials and being really into the action figures that I didn't own at the time and. And having that sort of shape my opinions about, like, what Superman was, you know, like, for example. So I'm a child of the 80s. I was born 1984. So late 80s, early 90s toys are sort of like my, like, real target demo right there.
03:24
Case
And the Superman toy line at the time was based on the. The late 80s cartoon series, which featured the. The contrivance of Lex Luthor having the kryptonite ring. And so that always was, like, a thing I remembered about Lex Luthor, even though that's really only a window of, like, four years in the comics where that was, like, the deal for the character. So it's just, like, funny how, like, how much the toys of your youth imprint on you. Just, like, core details about characters, for sure.
03:56
Rick
Yeah. Well, it's interesting you would say that, because I think probably the superpowers toys, I'm a little older. I was born in 77, so I was like, right in. In the exact perfect age for the Superpowers toys when they were coming out. And I think I probably learned about the superheroes from the toy line first. I mean, I watched Super Friends, which led into the. The Superpowers, Galactic Guardians, you know, cartoon and all that. But, yeah, I think a lot of, you know, later on becoming a comic reader, I was surprised to find out, you know, things that. Because. Because really, I think a lot of what I had about the heroes was imagination, which we're kind of using tonight, you know, people listening to the audio form of this podcast. So I. I really. Because I have a son now.
04:42
Rick
My son's 11 years old, and he's not as interested in toys as he used to be. But we kind of came through this whole phase for him where his imagination really came alive with toys and didn't matter what it was. And so he got to begin making stories up in his head. So in some ways, I think toys are kind of the beginning of our own, you know, like, personal fan fiction with heroes and things like that. Yeah, we go all over the place.
05:05
Case
With no, absolutely like that. That's one of the reasons why I thought it was so Important that we do this conversation. Like, I so strongly remember being. Being a kid and, like, having these contrived scenarios where with my action figures that were my. You know, like you said, it's first fan fiction. It's your. It's your first, like, exercise in writing, in story construction and doing the things that would become, you know, for me, playwriting or screenwriting or dungeon mastering for D and D or anything like that, you know, like, but. But for. For anyone, like, it's the. The opening font of creativity, and that kind of play is so important.
05:43
Rick
Yeah, certainly, I. I agree with you wholeheartedly. And in fact, I. I can remember I loved the toys so much as a child when I actually saw some of the toys that were made then show up on the cartoon after. I think. I think the toys sometimes came first, and then the cartoons came later. And then it was like, oh, I need to adjust my. I need to adjust my playing now based upon what I'm seeing in the cartoon. You know, it's coming out. So it's.
06:10
Case
Well, yeah, I mean, we're all coming up Reagan era, so, yes, the toys coming first is very much the case for all of us here. Yeah, no, I mean, that is kind of the animal there. I mean, my entry into superhero fiction, I've talked about this before is Mighty Mouse, but then also he man and He Man. If you want to talk about a character that's like, the toys came first, there he is.
06:37
Rick
We've got listeners can't see it, but I'm holding up he man the toy in my hand right now.
06:42
Case
So it's so wonderful seeing those classic. Exactly. Stock body form for He Man. This is just an aside. And I'm not sure if this is Apocrypha or just. Or like an actual fun trivia bit, but supposedly the reason why he man became a thing, period, is because they had basically the mold created for a Conan the Barbarian toy line that didn't take off.
07:07
Jmike
Really.
07:08
Case
That was a tie into the movies and that thus they transformed it along with like, oh, and we also have this, like, random, like, action toy, you know, like, machine toy stuff. Like the he man toy line is like, perfectly designed to be like, yeah, we're gonna combine barbarians with also, like, super technology. Like it's GI Joe plus Conan the Barbarian. And like, supposedly that's actually what happened behind the scenes, is that they just had that shit. But. And they just were like, oh, well, we can just repaint this figure, call it a new character.
07:37
Jmike
No one will ever know.
07:38
Rick
Yeah, I think you're right. We've got quite a few Masters of the Universe things around the house, too. And I remember watching a documentary that was very much about that and kind of how they were doing this Conan line. It's fascinating the way these things come about, for sure, because they don't always. I'm kind of fascinated by, like, the way that the toys or, you know, sometimes the shows will influence the comics, and then the other way around, too, because they all. They all kind of work together. It's hard to have a canon unless you think of, like, all of them kind of working together, whether it be the old radio show Superman or the TV show. And I think always there was this influence that they were kind of grabbing ideas and working them all together, for sure.
08:20
Rick
So it's fascinating to me the whole way it came together. And I'm trying to look as I'm standing here, just because I know I have around here somewhere the DC Comics Presents comic where Superman and he man show up together, you know, which is a whole other.
08:32
Case
Oh, nice.
08:34
Rick
But I don't think I have it out nearby me right now. I have a. Would have grabbed it just for inspiration.
08:39
Case
Well, again, if this was a visual medium, then I would be like, yes, let's go get it. But in this scenario, we should probably continue on, but I think that's fair. And I think we need to have at least a moment where we acknowledge how much of heroic fiction is motivated by the action figures. We've talked about Power Rangers on the show. We talked about Transformers on the show. You know, talk. You know, talk about, like, action figure focused media. That is a byproduct of all that. And we talk about it with Superman in terms of the whole. DC makes more money selling Superman T shirts than it does selling Superman comic books. Like, the comic books, in a certain sense, Wag the Dog. But the Dog is the merchandise line, and the toys are an extension of that. And you can.
09:27
Case
You can definitely see that the. They are making big pushes into cultural relevance every time that there's, like, a serious toy line that pops up. Like, for me, I remember really distinctly in the early 90s, like, all the death and Return of Superman toys being a big thing.
09:44
Rick
Yes.
09:45
Case
You know, I so desperately wanted the Superboy figure because I was so into Superboy as a character. And I got Steel, and Steel was really cool. But, like, you know, like, there were all these figures that were like this, like, snapshot, because this was a moment where they were really trying to push Superman because, you know, it was A big marketing push. Like, that's. That was the whole nature of it all. J. Mike, we glossed over your history with, like, toys, and I'm just, like, kind of curious, like, do you have, like, a standout Superman toy that you first remember, or do you have, like, any particular, like, association with, like, action figures in general, but especially Superman ones?
10:23
Jmike
So how much younger am I than you? Like, four years, I think. Three or four years, I think.
10:28
Case
So. I was 84.
10:29
Jmike
Oh, 88. Yeah. Four years, okay.
10:30
Case
Yeah. Yeah.
10:32
Jmike
I would have been right around the time that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was, like, kicking off, like, right around that time after school and everything, and the kids were out in the playground with their giant dragon zords and things. But I'm trying to think, like, when did I get. When did I start seeing Superman action figures? Around, I think, right around the time that the Animated Series popped up, I guess.
10:59
Case
Yeah. Which.
10:59
Jmike
Which, yeah, that was 96.
11:01
Case
Much longer. Yeah, that's not that much longer after Power Rangers right there.
11:04
Jmike
No.
11:05
Case
And. And I was gonna say, like, that's another, like, moment where, like, there were, like, a lot of, like, tie in action figures, you know, like, there's a direct line of Batman, the movie to Batman Returns having its debacle in terms of, like, toys that they were able to put out there. Like, Jesus Christ. Talking about superpowers line. The superpowers line Penguin figure is the one that they had to release when they did the Batman Returns figures because the Batman Returns Penguin was too fucking scary, so they couldn't use that figure. And so they just repackaged the one that from the. Again, getting back to the superpowers line. The one from that line which is very much like The Burgess Meredith, like, 60s Penguin, like, kind of style.
11:52
Rick
I always want to call him the Hostess Fruit Pies Penguin, because, you know, they had all those ads back in the day, and it was. It was that Penguin that would always show up in the ads, you know, which he works perfect for Hostess fruit pies or whatever it was the Hostess was advertising because he looks like he eats a lot of Hostess, you know, so that works great, but, yeah, excellent. Yeah. The toys get used and reused in the models several different times from that superpowers line in many different iterations.
12:21
Case
Well, but then what I was saying is, like, then there's, like, a direct line in terms of the toy sales, like, pushing actual action figure lines, like, so. And that being related to additional media. So like, from the toys of Batman Returns. So, like, Batman Returns, for example, is the Source material for Batman, the Animated Series. Like, you know, we had the two Tim Burton ones and that's why there is like vague design similarities. Obviously they shift them for like Catwoman, for example, like why she's a blonde in the cartoon. Like, is all directly like going back to the Batman Returns, like, tie in to it all. It was like launching directly in the wake of it.
13:02
Case
And like, you see a toy line coming off of that and the combined success of the toys and the show is why we get a Superman line of show that has its own toy line stuff. And like, there's definitely toyetic elements of the 90s animated Superman show. You know, like he's got a rocket ship and he's got all the different suits. Like, sure, there's practical reasons in the show, but like that's a toy thing, right? You know?
13:29
Rick
Yeah. Well, they didn't have the justice jogger, though, that superpowers had. I still wonder about that one still to this day. Are you familiar with the Justice Jogger from the superpowers line? See that?
13:42
Case
The justice jogger?
13:43
Rick
No, the justice jogger. If you ever look up the picture sometime, I have no idea what they were trying to do with it, or it almost looks like some kind of a Star Wars Walker character or something. But you could put Superman inside of it and on the box, you'll still see him from time to time. When I'm at Comic Con or something, I will see the Justice Jogger when you find it. But if you ever look up a picture of it, you'll just be like, what in the world?
14:10
Jmike
Yeah, I'm looking at it now. Yeah.
14:12
Rick
Yeah, it's crazy. Like, what in the world is a Justice Jogger? So, yeah, it's a fun one to look at though. And it probably goes for a lot of money. I haven't looked them up on ebay or anything, but I have a feeling because there were a lot of made. They probably go for a pretty penny.
14:31
Case
Oh, wow. Yeah. No, it's wild. The, the. The toy line there. All right, so let's actually like focus a little bit in on the superpowers toy line because you brought it up and I immediately was like, yeah, that makes sense as like the good one to talk about. It's. It's arguably the most famous line of superhero toys that have ever come out. Like just, you know, as opposed to being like the tie in toy to a thing. Like it was a line of toys. And you mentioned earlier the cartoon spinoff and thank you. Because that's also an area that we're going to have to, like, talk about, because, like, that's a big reminder for me.
15:04
Case
But, like, the Super Powers toy line has that name for a very specific reason, which is that the decision was to have the action figures all do a thing. To, like, have a thing that represents the superpower. And rather than have it be like, here's a switch or a pull string or something like that, there is a physical motion you can make on them that will cause them to do an effect. So, like, in Superman's case, squeeze his legs, and his arms will, like, go up and down to punch.
15:34
Rick
Yeah, I'm holding him right now. Listeners can't see it, but mine still works where you squeeze Superman's legs and his arms. It looks like. Kind of looks like he's jogging, actually, for sure. But, yeah, very much. They all have these powers. That's one thing that.
15:49
Case
Talk about a Justice jogger right there.
15:51
Rick
That's right. That's right. And that's one thing I kind of miss about the new line of superpowers that McCrellin's come out with, which are pretty great in some ways, but they don't have any sort of action that I'm aware of unless it's, like, really hidden. And no one's ever talked about it.
16:06
Case
Because I. Oh, they don't. That's lame. I. No, like, what's the point of, like, putting out a new superpowers line if they don't have the superpowers part?
16:13
Rick
Yeah. Well, my understanding was that McFarland grew up with the toys, too, and that he was. You know, aside from knowing he could make money from it was. You know, there's a real nostalgia there for. For the toys that they had. I don't know if it's just too complicated to make them. I don't. I'm not sure of any McFarlane toys that come to mind that have any sort of action like that. Maybe there are some, and I'm not aware, but I guess that's just not a McFarland thing in the way that he makes the toys. I think they're much more. I think that the original Superpowers line was definitely for play. That's why, like, people who are mine at my age who, you know, I'm on the. I'm on the back end of the 40s now. Justice jogging to 50, but.
16:57
Rick
But the toys then were really made to be playable. You know, those powers that each of them have, whether. Whether it was Superman and Batman Having their. I think Batman had a very similar one. I've got him here. I can't remember.
17:10
Case
Yeah, his was a bat punch.
17:12
Rick
Yeah, that punch. Yeah, the one that I have doesn't. It's kind of lost his punch. So he's not. Not quite doing the. The thing he did at one time, but still, you know, very cool. I'm not sure what kind of mechanisms inside. You can probably fix them at some point, because I can. I've got it in my hand. The Batman, when I can still feel the. The mechanics, like moving inside when I move the arm and stuff. But they definitely put some thought into, like, what to do. I know Robin had a karate chop. You know that when you squeeze his legs together. But. And. And Brainiac's power was his arm would break off when you would squeeze it. Because they were like, the worst main toys ever. I rarely ever see a Brainiac that doesn't have a broken arm.
17:55
Rick
Mine, like, immediately when I took it out of the box as a kid, I remember, oh, now he's gonna fight Superman. So I'd go to make him kick Superman, and his arm just broke right off. And so.
18:05
Case
Well, we should note that the Brainiac design is the George Perez, like, skeletal robot version of the character, which is cool. It's like a snapshot in history. Same with the Lex Luthor being the green battle armor version of the character who also had a punch ability. We should just read down the list real quickly of at least, like, series one. Aquaman was a deep sea kick. Batman was a bat punch. Brainiac was a computer kick. The Flash was lightning legs, which I'm assuming is a kick. Green Lantern was ring thrust, which I'm assuming is the punch. Hawkman was flight wings, which I believe was like squeeze legs and wings flap. I think was the deal on that one. The Joker was madcap mallet, which I think he had, like, a hammer that he could swing with it.
18:50
Case
And so it's like the punches coming down. Lex Luthor was nuclear punch. The Penguin was umbrella arm, which I'm gonna guess was coming down, but with the umbrella instead of a hammer. Robin, Dick Grayson was karate chop, which again, is going to be the same motion as, like, coming up and down. Superman is just punch. That's like how Wikipedia has enlisted. Not super punch or anything, just punch. And Wonder Woman is deflector bracelets, which I believe is the two arms going up and down. Oh. Oh, it is going across.
19:18
Rick
It's. It's.
19:19
Case
Oh, that's pretty cool.
19:20
Rick
It does. She does actually cross Arms. Yeah. So.
19:23
Case
Oh, that's cool.
19:24
Rick
Yeah.
19:25
Case
That must be similar then to, like, in the series, too. Like, Darkseid has, quote, unquote, a raging motion when you activate him. Yeah, but, yeah, I mean, like, it's. It's a cool gimmick that, like, you. You do a thing to them and they do, like, something that's like kind of in. In, you know, character. For the. For the character.
19:44
Rick
Yeah, yeah, it was. They were very. They were very cool in that respect. They. They didn't have as many points of, like, articulation as they do today. But again, I think that's. That's part of the. The beauty of the toy leaving a lot to the imagination. I. I don't even remember when I was a kid, if I can remember back that far. I don't remember the. The superpower being like, the big selling point for me that they had, other than it was just like, oh, man, I love these heroes, so they're so great, but, man, they. They did. They did a lot of great toys. There must be something about that era of toys too, because to this day, it still seems like people that had them, you know, they're either really clung on to them or they tried to.
20:29
Rick
To get them back again or, you know, a lot of their. And it might be even just some of the artwork itself, because Jose Louis Garcia Lopez, praise be his name, as we often say. You know, I think he designed most of them too, so a lot of the art just became very iconic from that as well. So.
20:45
Case
Yeah, well, and that makes sense because he was doing a lot of, like, the official artwork for, like the dc, like, in house official artwork for all the characters was him.
20:55
Rick
Yeah, very much so. I kind of lost the train of thought I was going with. So. Yeah, anyway, they. Yeah, they were. They were really an interesting toy line, though, in that I'm kind of fascinated about how, like, they came about from the cartoon, too, because I think the cartoon going all the way back to, what was it, the late 70s with the Super Friends cartoon, I think it all just continued in one to the next because, you know, I've got all these seasons on dvd, and so I've tried to, like, watch them in order over the years just to see, like, the progression and the art gets better as it goes along. And I'm. I'm almost certain now I can't remember for sure.
21:35
Rick
I'm almost certain my first experience probably was, like, watching Super Friends reruns or something during the week or on a Saturday morning, and I got really excited when I would see, you know, in my mind at that age, I probably couldn't have articulated that like, oh, this, the art's getting better and it's looking more like the comments and things. But there was definitely a point in that overlap when it was just exciting to see all of them kind of matching up together. I don't know that was always the case. Like, if you've ever been to someplace that has a lot of Superman, specifically memorabilia and things. If you go to like the.
22:14
Rick
In Metropolis, Illinois, I don't know if any of you have ever been there before, but the museum they have there, it's amazing to see kind of the history of everything involving Superman. And a lot of times the toys didn't really look a lot like what you were seeing in the comics or a lot like what you were seeing on the TV show other than they just had the. Yes. And a different suit. But there were so many different lines. But I, I almost think maybe the Superpowers line was one of the first ones they did that. That did have the sculpt and the mold to them that made them look like they were kind of coming out of the comics or coming out of the TV show.
22:51
Rick
And maybe that's why they just filled the imagination of so many kids at that time to where still we'll look back and everybody kind of has their own Superman that like for them, they look back and go like, oh, that's Superman. And for me that era from, from like the 80s superpowers land. That's kind of what I always think of when I think of like my Superman and my preferred the kind of era that I like.
23:15
Case
Yeah, well, and that makes a ton of sense considering like when this line came out, like this is smack dab in the midst of like really iconic stuff going on for the characters. Like this is coming out like 84 to 86. So that is matching up pretty well with like really big moments in DC Comics. Like I've seen ads for that. Like, like I'm. If this wasn't in the actual issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths, these were in like all the Crisis tie ins. The ads for the Superpower lines were all over during like hugely influential like periods with like artists and writers just working on all cylinders to both wrap up the classic era of DC Comics and launch the new era. So you see really definitive versions of the characters.
24:09
Case
I can't talk about Ultraman, for example, the evil Superman from Earth 3, without talking about the way he Dies in crisis and him having such a wonderful send off in. That is such a moment of. Yeah, no, that is what you expect of the evil Superman in a world ending. Cris. It was the definitive moment for that character. And this toy line, like again is. Here's a snapshot of this like really like iconic era for the books.
24:40
Rick
Yeah, yeah, you're right. I've actually got one of those comments in my hands right now that has the Superpowers ad on the back of it. And it didn't actually occur to me until you just mentioned this because the. The Lex Luthor power suit that he has actually that I. Somewhere around here I've got a comic where that first appears and we see that. I think he was on the planet Lexor or something. And I think it must have come out before the Superpowers toy line did. But it's interesting when you look at like the ads that are on the back of the comic books, you actually see a cartoon image of Lex Luthor being punched by a toy version of Superman. So.
25:18
Case
Right.
25:18
Rick
It really is like, you know, the comic being or the toy leaping into the comic or the vice versa. I'm not sure exactly how. Yeah, that's supposed to work, but it is, it's very interesting the way the planning that would have to go into that in the marketing. I think now we have toys all the time, you know, that it seems like if somebody appears in one issue, they make a toy of it anymore. But it was a lot.
25:41
Case
Or at least a pop figure.
25:42
Rick
Yeah, at least a pop figure or something for sure. But. But back then I think it was much more rare to find things like that. So it is kind of cool to get to see that kind of pop off the page. So much so that I remember having like. Trauma is probably not the right word, but reading like Crisis on Infinite Earth and not realizing like, oh man, people are dying in this. Like, heroes are Flash. What happened to Flash? You know, like, sorry if I spoiled that for anybody from, you know, 40 years ago or whatever. But no, it's okay.
26:12
Case
Jeff Johns reverse spoiled it, so it's fine.
26:15
Rick
But yeah, it was really shocking kind of, you know, like to read the comics and some of the high stakes that they had in that era, but they're kind of looking like the superpowers figures. So it was an interesting introduction to like, real stakes for me because I don't even think they were allowed to like, say on the cartoon, whatever the rules were for broadcasting at that time. Children's Shows, I don't think they were allowed to punch each other or nobody could, like, really get hurt or anything. So it's. It's kind of fascinating to me that the cartoons were kind of, like, interesting because it seemed like they would take a lot of the drama out because there couldn't really be stakes. So when something would actually happen in those shows, I. I can remember playing with the toys.
27:02
Rick
Just my kid imagination coming back to me right now. So seeing some of those, like, dangerous things in the comics and kind of being introduced to that as a kid and like, playing that out kind of with the toys a little bit, it's. It's kind of a. To me, an interesting look at human development and kind of how we. How we grow and how we deal with things that we're experiencing maybe in the world. And I wonder if. If that isn't always the case with children. I think. I think play is kind of the serious business of childhood, you know, where we're working out how the world works. And I feel fortunate to have kind of grown up in an era where Superman was admired by children and heroes who. Who were not anti heroes.
27:48
Rick
And I haven't really got anything against anti heroes, but. But the heroes I learned about from this era, from these toys, from those comics at that time, even the show, were people who were actually good people who wanted to do good in the world. They weren't doing it begrudgingly. They weren't sad about it. It was a very, you know, it was a very real thing that, like, you know, good guys did this. And it wasn't like their strength wasn't. Wasn't that they had strength. Their strength was that they had strength and they used it for good. Which, you know, kind of, to me, to this day, as an adult, hopefully values that. That I have. I think some of that probably formed, you know, from. From those early days in childhood playing with these toys.
28:29
Jmike
Crazy how that's such a unknown concept these days that good people like to do good things for other people.
28:36
Case
Yeah, well, definitely true, but. But I want to focus on the. The play aspect there. You know, I think that were saying that toys is like, such an avenue for creativity and for storytelling and for, like, cinematography to a certain degree. Like, think this is not the super powers toy line cartoon spin off, but, like, think about Challenge of the Super Friends with, like, the Legion of Doom. Think about the stakes that were presented in that when you have this, like, rival organization with Bizarro and Solomon Grundy and, like, you know, like, all These, like, heavy hitters in it. Like, the concept that you could, like, put out there is a, you know, a truly menacing, you know, rivalry or, like, that.
29:19
Case
That could be like, this impressive physical display, and it leaves it to the kids when they're home with the toys to, like, actually, like, act out the. The actual, like, real, like, matchup between Superman and Bizarro. It's not a, like, a thing that's, like, highlighted in the cartoons and that continues on into the Superpowers line.
29:35
Case
But I do super want to agree with you that, like, the art style gets so much better, but you can see that it's a continuity of the Super Friends show and, like, when it was, like, in syndication, like, for me, in syndication on Cartoon Network, early in the Cartoon Network, like, period, when they had, like, all the Hanna Barbera stuff but didn't have, like, any of their own, like, original programming blocks yet, or, like, stuff that they had, like, really, like, got that was, like, you know, foreign releases or anything like that. Like, when Cartoon Network was just like, we've got the Hanna Barbera back catalog. Here you go. Like, for me, that. That was my introduction to the Super Friends stuff, and the ones I loved the most was the Superpowers cartoon.
30:11
Case
And I have to bring this little detail up, which is that. J. Mike, do you understand the importance of the Superpowers cartoon for a serious thing that we talk about on this show?
30:23
Jmike
To be fair, this is the first time I'm actually hearing about this cartoon.
30:27
Case
Okay.
30:27
Jmike
Because when I saw it, I was like, oh, snap. This is. It's what I was going to say it. Super Friends. It's a Super Friends cartoon. And I was like, wait, Superpowers. I was like, what? They look like? And I was like, wait, Cyborg.
30:38
Case
Yes. Thank you for. You have locked on to the exact detail that I was about to bring up.
30:43
Jmike
I'm sorry, Rick. I have a beef with Cyborg for a number of reasons.
30:47
Case
You ever wondered why Cyborg was put on the Justice League in the new 52?
30:54
Jmike
I'm having a. I'm pretty sure it's because of this.
30:56
Case
Oh, hey, remember one time, because of this. It is 100% because this is. Is the era that Geoff Johns loves to hearken back to. And guess who was dictating some of the lineup changes?
31:10
Jmike
Oh, Geoff Johns.
31:10
Rick
Yep.
31:13
Jmike
Oh, great. Awesome.
31:15
Case
And this is an area where, like, the. The beef is real because in. In the Superpowers cartoon, Cyborg and Firestorm were like, the two young heroes that Blake just joined to be, like, the, you know, the audience, surrogate characters. Like, we're viewing the world through these two, like, younger heroes around these, like, much more established characters. It's so head scratching that they decided to make Cyborg a founder of the Justice League. But it all comes back to this because this is that era that Geoff Johns has, like, sees as being like the classic Justice League. And this is.
31:52
Jmike
Oh, my gosh.
31:53
Case
Exactly. Exactly. So I just wanted to make sure that were clear about the stakes involved in what we're talking about today.
31:59
Jmike
Day. Well, I saw. I was looking at. I was. While Rick was talking, I was like, these. I feel like this was just like a. A Super Friends spin off. And I was like, wait, no, Robin's here too. And like firestorm. And I was like, oh, five wargs here too. Oh, my God. Interesting. Very interesting. Cool. Well, this is where he got it from. Yep.
32:26
Rick
Okay, now I know, and I'm pretty certain, too, that was my introduction to Cyborg, because I. I think I probably thought as a kid that they made him up for the cartoon and not. Not realizing, you know, Teen Titan orders and stuff. I just don't think I had read the Teen Titan comics at the time when the. The Superpowers Galactic Guardians cartoon was on. That's the official title of it.
32:51
Case
Yeah. I mean, to be fair, that wouldn't be the first time. I mean, like, the Superpowers or. Pardon me, the Super Friends cartoon is infamous for the number of characters that they invented or slightly, like, shaved off the serial numbers and then like, you know, made Black Lightning, Black Vulcan, like those kind of situations.
33:11
Rick
Yeah, yeah. What on earth? Why was he Black Vulcan instead of. That's just kind of.
33:16
Case
That's a rights issue.
33:18
Rick
Is it Star Trek now with Black Vulcan and all that? So it's interesting. But yeah. And then. And then it was interesting, too, that, like, you know, in some ways, I think it was a Super Friends spin off too. I mean, it was kind of like the continuation with. With better art in the cartoon, in some ways at least much more. It was much more like comic books, you know, whenever you would read of that era. And I can remember a few that originally I think only were in Super Friends. Like, was. Was it Samurai? I think was. Was one of them who was.
33:53
Case
Yeah, Samurai was a. Sorry, an El Diablo, I think was the other one or something.
33:58
Rick
Yeah, I don't. I don't know if they ever actually had that toy made, but yeah, he was one that they made in the cartoon. And then there was, like you said already Black Balkan and Who was the Native American chief. Yeah, Apache Chief. That's right.
34:13
Case
Yeah. Well, and, like, the way, sadly, for me to, like, keep them all straight in my head is that the Justice League Unlimited had the parody team that Cadmus created.
34:23
Jmike
Yeah.
34:23
Case
Yeah. That was, like the Wonder Twins parodies. It was. Was Moonshadow, I think, was what they called the. The Apache Chief. Like, parody in that. Yeah. Wind Dragon was the samurai one. And then I forget what the El Diablo one was. I'm blanking on some of the details. But anyway, it is funny, like, how those, like, elements have, like, lived on.
34:48
Rick
Yeah. And I think that they're, like, getting into the McFarlane toy line. I wouldn't be surprised, because it seems like they're just making versions of every superhero iteration you could think of. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing some of those kind of obscure characters that, you know, only made an appearance in the cartoon start coming in the Superpowers, the new superpowers land that McFarlane has been doing, because I think. I think that's kind of his goal is to make heroes that they intended to make. But then toy sales dropped off, and then they just kind of discontinued the line. But. But I. What's kind of strange to me about, like, McFarlane characters, though, is they. And some of them kind of look like the original Superpowers line, and then some of them are just completely different and modern era.
35:38
Case
Well, I'm, like, looking at the list right now, and they've got, like, the Batman who laughs and the Batman of Zur in R. You know, you've got Kilowog in here. You definitely got, like, some. Some strange choices, or at least just as Lord's Superman.
35:55
Rick
Yeah.
35:55
Case
You know, so, like, there's certainly, like, outside influences like creeping in Tim Drake, Thomas Wayne version of Batman. So, you know, plenty of variations in there. It's not just a release of all the classic lines, which is interesting, but at the same time, I'm mad to find out that they don't goddamn do the action part. Like, that was the thing.
36:18
Rick
Yeah. It was a little disappointing when I opened the box on the first one. Although some things are, like, really cool about them. The. The one thing I really like that, like, I feel like they did some corrections on some of them because I've got, again, you're not going to see this at home. It's. It's just for my visualization for myself, but I'm. I'm holding in my hands both the original Superman and Supermobile from the. The Superpowers kenner line. And I also have the Superman and supermobile from the McFarland line. And the supermobile from the original kenner one doesn't look a lot like the one that was in the comics, you know, that has the. Which. Which is honestly kind of. Kind of goofy and cool at the same time. It has those fists, you know, I. I love it.
37:04
Case
Like listeners, he's. He's articulating the. The punching fists of the supermobile. And yeah, it is great. It's got the bubble dome seat for Superman to, like, get into. It was so comics authentic.
37:17
Rick
Yeah. Which I. I think that's really cool that, like, I feel like they got a second chance to go back and like, oh, no. The comics at the time actually had this supermobile that would. You can't. You know, the. If memory serves in the comments that it showed up when I think he was fighting Amazo and that's why he needed the supermobile. It seems like Amazo had taken, like, Superman's powers. So the supermobile actually could hold kryptonite in its fist, you know, so it could. It could take on Amazo Superman's power. So that's. That's why he needed the protection of the ship. But I think things are pretty neat like that. It's like, hey, we didn't quite get this as kids and we wanted it.
37:56
Rick
I almost feel like that's what McFarland's doing is like, I always wanted this toy and it never got made. So doggone it, I'm gonna make it now.
38:03
Case
Yeah.
38:03
Rick
So. So what. What I feel like the difference is the vehicles have really cool, like, superpowers. So you've got the. The Superman one that has the. The punching action. And then you also have. Again, listeners won't see this, but I can describe it a little bit like the.
38:21
Case
Oh, my God, it's the invisible chat from Wonder Woman. Yeah.
38:24
Rick
And so you've got like this hook that comes down. So. So its power is like you can. You can nab criminals and then it like snatches them back up real quick in there. And it looks, you know, comic authentic to the invisible dead. Or, you know, what you would see in the cartoon. I guess that's kind of.
38:42
Case
Or what you don't see.
38:45
Rick
That's exactly. But. But it is interesting me that the. The. The vehicles are the things with the superpowers in this line. I can't get that back where it goes. But then you have even like, thing which looks kind of goofy at first, but it's one of My favorite toys is like, their whirly bat that they just made, which they, you know, that was an old Batman thing. They had a whirly bat in the town. The whirly bat has the action, you know, like, makes the propeller go and you can fit, you know, whatever superhero you want in there. I've got the. The black Batman from the line in mine right now, and then there's a couple others. I don't have all of them, but the new. The new Batmobile that they do reminds me a lot of the.
39:28
Rick
The first superpowers when it has things like the battering ram that pushes out. Oh, yeah. And then I. I've got the. You know, it kind of looks like the. The superpowers cartoon and line Batmobile, but for you guys to see, here's the original one right here with Batman and Robin in it, and here's the new one. So they are similar. They have different functions, but. Yeah, I don't know why they chose to do that, but I think the. The vehicles are kind of like, the best part of the new line, for sure. And. And why they got the action and the superpowers and the figures didn't, I don't know. But that seems to be what they did with them, for sure.
40:09
Case
That's so fascinating. Like, the. Those vehicles are so cool. Like, they're awesome. Yeah.
40:16
Rick
Yeah. Even, you know, my. My wife, who really doesn't even care about the toys and stuff, she looks at these and. And, you know, my son and I'll go up and share. Look what this toy does. And she's like, wow, that's really, you know, that's awesome. So.
40:29
Case
Yeah.
40:30
Rick
Yeah.
40:31
Case
Oh, listeners like these have been. This is such a cool Batmobile, such a cool invisible jet, and such a cool supermobile. It's wild that is such a juxtaposition with, like, then, like, while the figures are cool, like, you know, it's just like, kind of like a bummer that they removed what I am sure is, like, the most prone to failure part of, like, the superpowers figures, which is the action component. Like, you know, you talked about how, like, the. That the Batman. You can really tell what it does necessarily. Yeah, and that's fair. Like, you know, if. If you want to have figures that don't have that and then, like, the. The larger vehicle stuff, like, are probably less prone to failure, if I had to guess. Like, so maybe that's where they try to make up for it.
41:12
Rick
Could be.
41:12
Case
I don't know. It's like, it's Just interesting that they have such cool ones. And then, like, again, it's cool. It's cool that you can get, like, a superpower style Deathstroke. It's cool that you can get Wally west or Thomas Wayne or, you know, any of these characters in the. You know, in this style, you know, you can get Justice Lord Superman with a removable cape.
41:30
Rick
Yeah, it's true. I. I do like that they went the. The cloth route with the capes on the outfits, because they. A lot of modern ones don't do that. They kind of have the hard plastic, and they still went with the original way that they did. I. I think Penguin might have been one of the only ones that didn't have, like, it wasn't exactly a tape that Penguin had, but the original, like, Penguin character has, like, the. The tails on his suit that. Yeah, they didn't flap around. And Joker kind of had that too, where it was kind of like the hard plastic. But the capes themselves in the original line and the new one are a lot alike, which I like that part of. For sure.
42:15
Case
Yeah. It's certainly very cool stuff. Very fun stuff. I am looking at the list of what McFarlane has put out versus the original, and now I'm like, oh, there was a Shazam One. I might have to go digging into ebay for that one. It has a thunder punch and a removable cape.
42:34
Rick
I had the Shazam. As a kid. Actually. I had almost all of them. I think the only one I didn't have was Cyborg and maybe one other, because they just made so few, like a lot of kids, you know, I think I sold mine in a garage sale for, you know, 50 cents or something. And now I look at. Look back, and I'm like, that Shazam. Cost, you know, 300 bucks. I can't believe I. I let that one go. But this Shazam. Was very cool.
42:58
Jmike
I'm laughing now because I'm like, I feel like I've seen these characters before somewhere. And I'm like, oh, wait, I know exactly where I've seen a lot of these things. Robot Chicken.
43:07
Case
Oh, yeah.
43:08
Rick
Oh, yeah.
43:09
Case
Oh, thank you for bringing that up, because that is an area that we have to talk about as well.
43:13
Jmike
Oh, right. That's why we've seen a lot of these. These characters before or the action figures before.
43:18
Case
Yeah, no, we. We have to talk about that. So. So, yeah. So Robot. Robot Chicken, which listeners. I'm. I hope you're familiar with. If you're not familiar with, not to be like, oh, God, you have to go check this out. But Robot Chicken is a long running sketch comedy show on Adult Swim where they use claymation figures that often are either the original toys from specifically, like, Seth Green's era, like his childhood era, or they're modeled to look like it. And so every time they do superhero stuff, they tend to do the super powers line on that show. So, yeah, it's super familiar in that regard.
43:56
Rick
And the Migo characters, too. They use. They use Migo characters a lot too. But yeah, those shows are great. The specials that they do, hilarious.
44:06
Case
Yeah, yeah. So that's. That's definitely a fun one right there. Sorry. Now I'm on ebay looking Captain Marvel superpowers figure.
44:15
Jmike
Don't do it, Case. Save yourself.
44:19
Case
All right. That's not what we should be doing right now. Anyway, so getting back to the toys. Yeah, I feel like we've covered a lot about it and I don't know. J. Max, was there anything else that you wanted to sort of discuss in relation to the superpowers line?
44:38
Jmike
No, except that these things tend to be really expensive. Like Rick said, you tend to be like, oh, you're like, oh, well, maybe I'll find something on ebay, you know, something from my childhood. And you're like, you open up the page, it's like, oh, $350.
44:52
Rick
Yeah.
44:52
Jmike
Okay. And that's like the baseline price. Like, some of these can go for almost a thousand. You're like, oh, wow, that's a lot of money.
45:05
Case
Yeah.
45:08
Jmike
You're still looking up Shazam Things, are you?
45:10
Case
I am sorry. I can't help it. It's really cool.
45:14
Jmike
Yeah, he's been hooked.
45:17
Case
Yeah, Rick. So I love Superman, but I will say that the Shazam. Captain Marvel is my all time favorite comic book character.
45:23
Rick
It is. No, hey, that's all right. It's a good one. So I. I think. I think you should go for the one that is special to you, is the one that's the best one all the time, so. Well, I. I had a couple more things that came to mind about.
45:38
Case
Oh, yeah, by all means.
45:40
Rick
It was interesting to me too, that they have. And I have a couple things here again just for my. So I don't forget, but I'll. I'll show you on camera, but I've got like these four VHS tapes that super powers came out with at the time when I was a kid. And like, there's a Superman one that they had. There's an Aquaman one, there's a Batman one, and then there's Super Boy, which is interesting that they had a Superboy superpowers that didn't have, like, a Superboy toy at all. So it was interesting, like, their choice for doing that.
46:08
Case
Well, the Superboy toys, you just hold the Superman one just a little bit further away from you.
46:12
Rick
That's right. He's just. Just a little bit smaller. But, like, the cartoons they featured there were not. I don't believe. I haven't watched them in a while, but I don't think they were the Super Friends line at all. I think there were ones from, like, way back when, like, maybe the 50s and 60s cartoons and then some.
46:28
Case
Well, there was the 60s New Adventures of Superman, which I believe had the Superboy cartoon line as. As well as part of that, man. We, our friends over at Digging for Kryptonite. Anthony Desiato over there is currently doing, like, a deep dive into, like, Superboy lore. And I'm so fascinated by, you know, like, to. To ride along on that experience. And we'll have to do it at some point because, like, the. The ingrained in, like, entrenched mythology of Superboy in, like, the. The marketing and. And like, the. It's so fascinating just, like, how many Superboy shows there have been. Counting Smallville, but, like, how many Superboy shows there have been, you know, like, this is. This is just like Superman when he was young. We're. We're gonna just do a TV show that. We're gonna do a cartoon of that.
47:12
Case
We're gonna do a live action of that. Like, we're gonna just keep doing this, like, same basic concept. It's just so fascinating that, like, how, like, impactful that character was to the point that it, like, continued to, like, even. Even in spin off material that didn't actually have a figure for him. They were like, yeah, we'll use Superboy in it.
47:30
Rick
That's right. That's for sure. Well, and it kind of was. I think the concept they were originally wanting to go for with. With, like, Batman beyond was, I think Tim. Bruce Tim, Not Tim. Bruce. Bruce Tim. I think they even said when they approached him about the idea is they wanted, like, basically, Bat Boy, you know, like, can you show us Batman when he was a boy? And. And they were like, I don't know if that works exactly right. So. So Superboy has definitely been one of those characters and all the iterations for sure, that has. Has lasted a long time. And then I. I just have one other thing I wanted to show you. I enjoyed your episode where you did the. I Think it was the Calling Superman game.
48:09
Case
Yeah, yeah.
48:10
Rick
Which is, that's kind of like one of my things I'd love to have someday, but I can never find a reasonably price copy because they're pretty expensive when you find them. And then I wouldn't want to open them up and play them. But they also had a Superpowers board game that.
48:24
Case
Oh, nice.
48:26
Rick
And they had the, it's called the Justice League of America Skyscraper Caper. And it's a three dimensional game actually. It takes some work to get it built because it has all these like cardboard pieces and things. But then they had little plastic figures inside of each of the superpowers, or not all of them, but several of the main superpowers characters. And so you played like this, these different sized skyscrapers basically. And the game was you had to knock your opponent off the buildings by, you know, rolling the exact amount of right spaces and things. But that was another thing that as a kid I really enjoyed all the tie ins that came along with the toys. It's in some ways like the snake eating its tail with all the merchandise, the toys, the games and everything.
49:10
Rick
You don't know where one starts and the other begins. But that was just another really big part. And yeah, so it kind of, there was just a lot of different iterations and not even to mention like the coloring books and things like that, pencil toppers and watches. I mean it was so huge. It just seems like it was ubiquitous back when I was a little kid that superpowers was everywhere.
49:29
Case
Yeah. Again, like the toy line itself was like extremely popular and like to the point where it's pushing out the show and not the other way around and where like the action figures are used again, Robot Chicken, where we are getting, we're seeing those ads and like remembering them because they just hit right at the like the perfect time for like these big moments in comic books, you know. Again, like, it's coming. Like, I don't know what ads are being published in the original issues of Watchmen. I've only owned trades of Watchmen. But like, it wouldn't be out of the question for Superpowers like ad to be on the back cover of one of the issues of Watchmen, like just because of like when the window of time that these, that this toy line was being advertised in D.C. Stuff was when D.C.
50:16
Case
Was putting out some fucking bangers out there.
50:21
Rick
Yeah.
50:22
Case
So it has an impact on the culture. And you know, again, I'm really Glad that we had a chance to talk about this. Rick, thank you for bringing this topic on.
50:31
Rick
Well, thank you. My goodness, I've been looking forward to this because I just never get a chance to talk about Superman and superpowers and stuff with people. I'm always doing other things in my day job and my wife loves me, but it's just not something we talk about that much. So this is really fun to get to hang out with you guys and just express my love for all things Superman and superheroes.
50:54
Case
Yeah, man, you mentioned your day job and you've got other stuff going on. So where can people find you, follow you? Like what. What should people know about you? And, and what have you got to plug?
51:04
Rick
Yeah, well, I actually run a, a Superman Twitter account. You can just look up Superman always. And I just started doing that one for fun probably a couple years ago and literally I just post things about Superman. I think it's under like technically Rick Lee James four, the number four, if you have trouble finding it. But that's, you know, where me, we met online and I, I literally just, it's kind of like the one happy place on Twitter that I enjoy going to. There's not really. If there's anybody fighting, they're just fighting about, you know, like Superman related things. Not necessarily like real world politics or anything. So I enjoy that. So you can find me there. I'm also a musician. I'm a part of the Grammys Recording Academy, so I'm a singer and songwriter.
51:47
Rick
For many years I kind of did that as my, my day job. But lately I'm, I'm still doing that somewhat, but just really less than I used to. That especially since the pandemic hit a few years back, which that kind of changed everything in the world in a lot of ways, how we do things for sure. But I actually work in my day job as a hospital chaplain now, believe it or not, and find it to be really fulfilling work. Sitting with people, hearing their stories and just trying to walk with them to very different difficult days.
52:18
Rick
So I'm kind of, I'm very interested in a lot of different things, but that's been some of the most fulfilling and dare I say even heroic work I think I've ever done sometimes being with people and some of the very difficult moments and also, and some very great joys too. I get to be there in good things too. You don't always think about that side in hospital work. But if anybody wants to know more about me, what I do. Or even listen to my music on Spotify or Apple Music or YouTube. RickleJames.com is my website and I'd love to. To just, you know, if somebody can send me an email or a tweet or whatever, I'd love to. To meet up. And anybody ever wants to talk about superheroes or Superman. I've got tons of comics.
53:03
Rick
I've been a comic book guy for many years, as long as I can remember. So thank you for. I mean, honestly, really, thank you for having me on tonight because this has just been so much fun for me to just kind of nerd out and enjoy myself. Bring me happiness.
53:18
Case
Well, hey, we'll have to have you back to talk about, like, a comic or something else, but this was a good like. Yeah, we'll talk about the fucking toys.
53:27
Rick
Yeah, Yeah. I have loved it. Thank you so much. This is so much fun.
53:33
Case
Excellent. Excellent. Well, again, people should look up all the stuff you've got going on. Again, your Twitter account is how we connected in the first place. And yeah, I agree. This is why I kind of hate what's happening to Twitter right now, which is that what I had cultivated into a world of positivity for myself, which was my comics. Twitter has eroded somewhat in the recent years as management has made people not want to be on Twitter as much as they used to, which is probably a healthy thing. But at the same time, I miss my comics. Twitter.
54:07
Rick
I agree.
54:10
Case
But your account has been one of the nice bright spots in the more recent times, and I do very much appreciate that. In the meantime, JMike, where can people find you and follow you?
54:20
Jmike
Oh, gosh. On Twitter, mike101, I occasionally respond to all cases, diatribes and things, and I try to respond with funny memes and GIFs occasionally.
54:31
Case
Yeah, well, you do a great job. Your gif game is always on point.
54:36
Rick
I try.
54:38
Case
But if they want to get in touch with us or with me directly, you should check out our Discord server. We've got one for certain POV which you can find links in our show notes or all over our website. It's a great time and we're all hanging out there. Me more than J. Mike. But J. Mike will respond if you're at him.
54:58
Jmike
You're calling me out here?
54:59
Case
Yes, I am. I am. Meanwhile, you can come at me, bro on most of the platforms with the signs a Sakin. Except for Instagram, where I am hanging on to my aim screen name from high school for dear life, where you can find me@quetzalcoatl5 because I was pretentious and also did not care if you had trouble spelling it because I was dumb. So find me there. But also find the stuff that we're working on our YouTube channel. The certain POV media YouTube account has grown in leaps and bounds and a lot of that has been stuff that I've been putting on there. So we've got the we've got our full podcast episodes on there as well as my Superman Analogs video.
55:39
Case
And recently I have actually like jumped into doing Dungeons and Dragon videos, specifically talking about the revisions in the 2024 New Players Handbook and what that means for the old subclasses that we saw in all of the various books that have been published in the last decade of Dungeons and Dragons. So check out those videos. I just put up the third one today as of us recording this, which is on the Barbarian and they had some really fun subclasses to talk about. So. But after you check out all the other great shows on our networks, shows like Fun and Games with Matt and Jeff. Matt, our former editor, and Jeff are also former editor, do a great show talking about video games. So check that out. Check out their side Quest series and then circle back to the feed here for our next show.
56:25
Case
But until then, stay Super Man.
56:36
Jmike
Men of Steel is a Certain POV production. Our hosts are J. Mike Folson and Case Aiken. The show is edited by Sofia Ricciardi, our logo is by Chris Bautista and episode art is by Case Aiken. Our theme is by Jeff Moonan.
56:57
Case
Video games are a unique medium. They can tell stories, immerse us in strange, fantastic worlds, blur the very boundaries of our reality. But at the end of the day, video games are fun. Whatever fun is to you. I'm Jeff Moonan. And I am Matt, AKA Stormageddon. And on Fun and Games we talk about the history, trends and community of video games. It's a celebration of all the games we play and all the fun we find within them. And there's so many more games out there, so we hope you'll share in that conversation with us. Fun and Games Podcast with Matt and Jeff find us on certainpov.com or wherever you get your podcasts and happy gaming cpov certainpov.com.