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Since I know Rob and Shag internet-well, I've been following The Fire and Water Podcast weekly since its inception. That was the first time I ever listened to any podcast more than once to that point, and it got me to try many more. Shag actually got his start as a podcasting nuisance on Michael Bailey's Views From The Longbox, which had more than a hundred episodes before I'd ever heard of it. I've listened to it off and on since I first tried it during a Rob Kelley guest appearance. Michael Bailey likes Superman a whole lot, and I don't, so that's part of why I've been a less than faithful listener. Another reason is that Rob and Shag's individual podcast episodes tend to be micro, so if I have anything to add, I can leave comments that pretty well exhaust the subject. View's episodes are more macro, like covering the entire history of the Teen Titans in a couple of hours. I found that this triggered a bad OCD type response from me, like the time I was briefly at a super-boring, low paying, b.s. interim job and spent a day or two there working on a reply to that Titans episode before deciding it was best for everyone involved that I give it up. For my own mental health, and possibly Michael Bailey's, I tend to anonymously, silently cherry pick which Views to download.My irregular listenership means I missed Episode 182 when it went up back in March. Michael Bailey was joined by Andrew Leyland to discuss Superman Official Annual 1983, a British black and white hardcover collection of DC Comics Presents #27 (November, 1980), #28 (December, 1980) & #29 (January, 1981). Not only had I done my own coverage of these issues, but I also teamed up with Anj of Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, who did his own overage of Supergirl vs. Mongul before we both revisited the final chapter. It was fun to get third & fourth opinions on this swell story through the newfangled talkie medium. Michael Bailey and Andrew Leyland also handle some material added to the annual that wasn't related to the main story arc, the little differences between the U.S. and U.K. version, plus they delve into a different annual at the end. Also, they briefly look at Mongul's further career in comics.
Beyond spotlighting the podcast, I also figured I'd leave whatever opinions and factoids I had left on the subject of Mongul battling the Man of Steel, Manhunter from Mars, Maid of Might, the Spectre, and more in the comment section here, where the Alien Atlas' fans can join in...
Goyer got his start writing direct-to-video action movies and Full Moon Entertainment horror flicks. His big break came when he took the surprise hit The Crow and wrote a sequel so dismal that it helped shepherd the burgeoning franchise into DTV hell. Goyer's profile was elevated when he co-wrote the well regarded sci-fi bomb Dark City from a story by director Alex Proyas. This led to his breaking Marvel Comics' streak of terrible screen adaptations with Blade, in which the action/horror writer threw out most of the comic book elements of a D-list character and reworked him into a more palatable action/horror character. Goyer rode Blade through three installments, the last and least well received directed by himself, then milked a little more life out of it with one season of a failed TV translation. Goyer then mashed together a bunch of comic book lifts with a weak third act of his own devising for Batman Begins, which he co-wrote with director Christopher Nolan, and joined by Jonathan Nolan they would continue team-drafting the Dark Knight films. Goyer also offered the opening entry of the non-franchise starter Jumper and sounded the death knell for Ghost Rider's, but that wasn't brought up in polite company while he was being handed the keys to Superman, the Justice League, John Constantine, and Neil Gaiman's Sandman.
Man of Steel was quite the character assassination, and Goyer has already said that negative reaction to Superman would be a springboard for Batman versing him. Calnan, who seems to be mostly versed in the JLA from very recent comics and animation, expressed concern about Superman being a mind-controlled antagonist. While Calnan notes that this was a plot element in Avengers, there's a whole other world of stakes and consequences between it happening to Hawkeye and Superman. Given the damage already done to the character and the heroes coming together under circumstances of suspicion and enormous tragedy, I think a Superman mind-controlled by Lex Luthor or Star Conqueror would be an excellent vehicle for conflict and metacommentary. The nastiness it entails would be right up Goyer's alley. Superman's fight against a malevolent influence to become a truer, purer, more resolute hero could speak to his no longer being a cinematic travesty under Mssrs Singer, Goyer and Snyder.
All these wordy words having been written, the points are mostly moot, because nobody is going to listen to Dan Calnan or myself while David "S" Goyer will keep writing rotten super-hero movies until they stop making money. Don't think I turned on the guy recently, either. The two Blade movies I've seen weren't well written and had third act problems, but were salvaged by Wesley Snipes' commitment to the title role and stylish direction. A lot of people disliked The Dark Knight Rises, but I didn't think much of Batman Begins the one time I was able to stay awake and attentive for its full running time. Goyer isn't a good writer, and as usual his stuff will be filtered through the sensibilities of others, though in this case we get the added dubious instincts of Zack Snyder. All sympathies to Chris Terrio, the screenwriter who is going to either fix this thing or burn with it. I'm fine with Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, and I can deal with Gal Gadot's epic failure to get remotely buff during her gym sentence. I like the upcoming Batman costume and Batmobile better than most that have preceded it. I can overlook a lot, but my gut tells me that Goyer is way out of his comfort zone on these features, my brain tells me he wasn't much to begin with, and my heart isn't in seeing this thing.
My greatest hope and strangest bedfellow is the money men. Since Marvel Studios launched in 2008, they have put out nine movies, the exact same number as Warner Brothers has put out for their DC properties (including Watchmen and The Losers. To date, Marvel Studios have earned $6.375B, averaging $708M per movie, to DC's $3.2B, or $356M per feature. Now there's the heated super-hero versus match that's seriously worth following.
Wednesday Is Any Day For All I Care by Diabolu Frank
Scriptnotes is a podcast where "Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law." 
And then came Goyer, writer of the first Crow sequel, the Nick Fury: Agent of Shield telefilm with David Hasselhoff, all three Blade movies, the Ghost Rider sequel, Man of Steel and co-writer of the Christopher Nolan Batman films. Much hash has been made of his coarse remarks, but I'm in the undesirable position of offering the modest defense that if you listen to the actual audio, it doesn't sound as bad as it does in black and white print.
Beginning at the 20:21 mark, Goyer discusses how it was a bit less of a headache to write four DC movies before Warner Brothers started demanding more Marvel style interconnected continuity. He's written Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and at least worked on Justice League, but he had to be very careful not to talk about them explicitly. He was gracious about how well Marvel Studios had done rolling out their franchises, and noted how Marvel Comics were known for the realism, but until The Winter Soldier made less realistic movies than DC (presumable post-Schumacher.) He alluded to using a different interpretation of Batman for the new shared universe movies rather than the take he co-wrote with the Nolans.
Things didn't get weird until someone pulled the "boot" for She-Hulk, so Goyer and Craig Mazin (writer of two Hangover sequels, two Scary Movie sequels, and Identity Thief) went off on the "chunky" "Slut-Hulk" supposedly created as a sexual fantasy for Hulk fans to vent into. I'm sure the aim was for ribald humor and not gross misogyny, but even the host was skeeved out and threw a shame blanket over the conversation.
After a decent Storm reboot pitch from John August, Goyer made this post relevant to the blog by having to envision the cinematic transition of the Manhunter from Mars. Goyer would not confirm or deny if that had already happened in his currently filming scripts, though he was referred to as a "mainstay of the Justice League." One host (August?) called J'Onn J'Onzz "challenging" while another (Mazin?) kept chanting "overpowered" over other people trying to talk. Goyer asked the studio audience if they'd heard of Martian Manhunter, and when he was met with applause asked how many of them had ever gotten laid. Goyer continued...
