You can listen to the episode by clicking: Episode 107
Into every generation, there comes a sad sack. A person who lives to make others depressed, down, or discover that their lives are better. They live to serve as a warning to others, cautionary tales that provide guides of what not to do. Today, we will talk about these people.
The first sign that the person you hang with is the reason you are constantly down, is when you notice them talking to themselves in the mirror. While this may be a bad sign, remember that it can always get worse. The mirror could be answering them back.
Another really good sign is that the person does not like to be touched. Now, consent is everything, and no one should be touched against their will. But if you have that friend who punches butterflies when they land on their arm……Just saying. They may have a problem.
Speaking of which, we have the other side. The happy people. The sunny people. The people that will try to bring the sunshine into the grumpy pants rain cloud. This is the yin and yang, the chalk and cheese, the mortar and scotch egg…..maybe not the last one, but you get the idea.
Our dark little rain clouds really do not like people, but they really hate happy people. The brighter the smile, the more galling it is. These people have spent their lives building up walls of dark hate and misery, and then someone walks in with a can of yellow paint. That there spells trouble.
Now we do not condone violence, but we also like to give fair and proper warning to people. Do not try to go and deal with a sad sack by yourself. They are dangerous when out in the wild. They have strong feelings of mistrust and anger….or they are just lonely. Really…I am just making this all up.
Just be careful out there…ok.
You can also subscribe and listen to us on YouTube!
We also have some merchandise over at Redbubble. We have a couple of nifty shirts for sale. https://www.redbubble.com/people/jeffrickpresent/?asc=u
Our show supports the Hero Initiative, Helping Comic Creators in Need. http://www.heroinitiative.org/
Eighties Action by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3703-eighties-action License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Court of the Queen by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3557-court-of-the-queen License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Jeff and Rick Present 
Hey there Jeff and Rick!
I had listened to this episode much earlier than the writing of this reply. Over here where I live, school is concluding so there has been testing, anxiety, frayed nerves for both students and teachers. I get the privilege in coming in to my job wondering if I have another job in the building because there is a substitute shortage in the district.
Onto the content of the episode. I always enjoy Jeff’s musical stylings and this episode was no exception! I had not realized that Oingo Boingo had composed the song Weird Science. That’s a catchy tune! ( It was great to hear fresh Elfman themes in Sam Raimi’s new Dr. Strange picture.) I also agree with your opinion regarding the layout of characters on the cover.
I feel your discussion about this issue lends to my feelings regarding the overall miniseries. Putting aside the story and continuity flubs, the pitch of recovering heroes fascinates me. The execution this book gives has me scratching my head. It feels as if the motivation is merely adrenaline for our support group. As a reader I am all for broadening the net when it comes to superhero stories but (always a but) there feels like an inherent degree of difficulty in pulling a mature themed fights in tights book. Even the more successful reads feel carbon dated when read at a different time. (Some reason I am thinking of Bendis’ Alias story for Marvel’s MAX line. Memories of it feel more about the elation of writing four lettered swear words and Sorkin like banter than anything really substantive.) Maybe my struggle in this read is the incorporation of adult situations into an infantilized medium as Howard Chaykin often opines. I do like your thoughtful discussion regarding the book though. I wonder if wither one of you had an idea, a germ of a story for the cast of Power Pack that’s been typed on a google doc? I admit to entertaining the idea of picking up a story with the siblings a little older, but it has never left past the port of fantasy.
As of this writing you guys got to interview the great artist and letterer Chris Elliopoulos! Looking forward to that in the next few months! He’s been a personal favorite as letterer to me given his long long run lettering Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon title. He also contributed to the back matter with a strip named Desperate Times that was funny. It is cool to see his collaborations with Brad Metzler in the I Am book series in libraries.
Well, going to sign off for now. As always I hope you and your families are healthy and well. Until the next episode!
Jeremy
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Jeremy!
One of the most interesting Danny Elfman music sets is the work that he did on the Eric Bana Incredible Hulk movie. Ang Lee asked him to not sound like an Elfman soundtrack and he took up the challenge and made something that I would not have ever credited to him.
There is something here in the story that could be made great. It is reaching around in the dark looking for it and almost connecting, but it just keeps brushing up against the gossamer threads of it. I think that I like this series in concept better than actualization. Still, glad that I read it. Just wanted it to be better than it was.
Now, as to having a google doc with a Power Pack story germ in it…nope. This doesn’t exist. that said, I do have a mostly fleshed out PP miniseries written in my brain. It is one of many many many brain exercises that I have done on many a sleepless night. My plan is to turn these daydreams into realities at some point of my life, but as of yet they remain flights of fancy.
I just listened to our Chris Elliopoulos interview to proof it after Rick edited it. I call it audio editing and it is the step before release where I catch any problems or edit flubs. Let me give you a spoiler for the interview: It was great! Chris is an amazing and fun guy that I want to talk to way more often. I think that you’ll love listening to it when it comes out.
Talk at you later, and hope life is treating you well.
-Jeff
LikeLike