You can listen to the episode by clicking: Episode 140
Let’s talk about bridges. Being based in Portland, Jeff and Rick see them a lot. To give you an idea, there is a bridge pedal that occurs in the city and you can travel over nine different bridges over the Willamette river…and that is not all of them. We are talking 23 miles of biking awesomeness.
Rick has a special love for three types of bridges. The Ribbon Flotation Bridge, the Bailey Bridge, and the MGB Bridge. He learned to construct these bridges when he was in the Army. It was neat and he had fun learning how to do this hard work. He also got to drive really awesome vehicles.
Jeff really loves to build bridges out of Lego. He and his daughter spend hours upon hours building cute little bridges with red and blue bricks. But never yellow. Yellow is for the devil.
The longest bridge in the world is called the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge. It stretches out for 102 miles and is in China. I mention this only because Rick has never been China. So he has never been on that bridge, and is therefore very sad.
Rick’s favorite bridge may be the bridge that he jumped off of the first time he bungee jumped. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was a nice solid bridge. But, money was paid and his youth was not going to be wasted, so off he jumped. he had fun.
Jeff has stated that his favorite bridges are those on star-ships. While those are neat with all of their flashing lights and alarms and inexplicable steam pipes, it is not really the answer we were looking for. I do not think he studied properly.
Todd Bridges was an actor on Diff’rent Strokes. But that is also not the answer we were looking for.
Needless to say, we are phoning this page in. It may be midnight when I am doing this, so you get what you get.
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Jeff and Rick Present 
Hello friends!
I enjoyed this episode of your show. You both hold my attention with the adjacent adolescent adventures in spite of the plate spinning involved on this title.
I pinpointed why I have never warmed up to Jonathan Hickman. It all feels a bit too much and cute in it’s clever design. When you both talk about the excess characters and it could have been Dragon Man or Alex, the thought clicked with me. For the grief I read online regarding Grant Morrison’s writing, Hickman’s stories always feel like “I can do that! But better!” It also may be a realization as I get older where there should be no reason to over complicate a format. The art should convey a lot of what you are wanting to telegraph. This goes to a statement legendary cartoonist Howard Chaykin has said ,that the story is service to the art and not the other way around. So, the art should tell the story without a single word put up.
All this preamble to say I now really wish there would be a miniseries of Power Pack as adults in space. Imaginauts to steal a title from a previous Fantastic Four run by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo. Have the family expand on some of the fun science things and meet other races. Family dynamics could continue while aboard Friday. This is my self reminder to order a copy of Jeremy Whitley’s Future Foundation title.
It’s been a struggle starting back to school amid a horrible heat wave. I’ve read from my email that your area has been oven like as well. My comic shop Books With Pictures has had to close early because of the excessive heat. I hope you guys and your families are safe and in good health.
Until next time, I remain,
Jeremy
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Hi Jeremy!
Glad you are still liking what we are doing and having your attention held in spite of our drifting format. It’s been nice holding with the FF and the FF for a while. I think we will be moving to Avenger’s Academy in the nearish future.
I can see how Hickman’s spreading/contracting storytelling technique is not for everyone. I like it, but you really need to be able to read a mass of it in one sitting for that to be something other than frustrating. He brings a lot to the table all at once and then keeps bringing and bringing. I have seen him end many a branch with a cull where characters die off. Heck, he’s even done it here with Johnny, the Reeds and… some other characters we will talk about in the future. That said, if a death is off screen is it really a death? Looking at you Johnny! Okay, fine. He died…a bunch…but here he is again.
Power Pack is one of those fun groups where you can have stories of them at any age and it would work. Want them as kids? Do it, people will be happy. Want them as adult space explorers? Do that as well, ’cause who knows how old they are supposed to be! Put those stories in the same book? DO IT!! Just start the tail with “Then” or “Later” or something and it’s all good to me.
Jeremy Whitley’s Future Foundation title was a fine read. Nothing earth shaking, but it also wasn’t given the chance to be. Cancelled before the first issue even came out? Ouch. Hard to grow from that.
School started here this week, and we immediately got a message saying that the AC was out in my daughter’s part of the building. Not a great start, but not terrible as the temps had dropped to a much more manageable level from what we had recently been having. 106 degree days used to not be the norm in these parts. When I was a kid, we might…MIGHT…get a three day run of about 100. But those were the exception and not the rule. Hope things cool/cooled off for you and made work a bit easier for you.
Health wise, my family is great. I came down with COVID two days after they left for a camping trip so they have extended their vacation while I sit around the house taking care of the cat and healing up. They get to come back tomorrow though, so that will be nice…except for my responsibilities catching back up to me. It’s been nice having some quiet TV time to myself, but I think I would have rather them be here and me not having gotten sick.
Hope life is good. And if it is, I hope it stays that way. Later!
-Jeff
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So yeah, big cosmic story, questionable artwork, yadda-yadda-yadda, let’s cut to the important part being HOW CAN CARRIE BE ONLY 6 YEARS FROM GOING TO COLLEGE?! And yes, I say that with my own twins starting college THIS MONTH! AUGH!!!!!
Honestly, thanks for the good time as always, my Pack-Men.
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Tim,
Let’s get the comic stuff out of the way so that we can focus on what’s important. Here we go…comics comics comics.
Now to the important part. Carrie being 6 years from college? NO! The fact that my daughter is now in the first grade!?!?! YES!!! How did this happen!? She was just a kindergartener, and before that she didn’t even go to school!?!?! Before that she was just a baby. A BABY!!! She was a little Dragon Man and now she’s not! What is happening to me!?!?!?
I saw the picked school post you had a bit ago. Blows my mind man. They nearby or far away? Going to be a big difference no matter what. Hope the house doesn’t feel too weird with them out of it. They will still be around though, and this gives them a chance to grow.
Glad we can provide some good times for you, my friend. Miss ya!
-Jeff
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One is 3 hours away, the other 7 hours driving but the trip is averaging 10 hrs, so AUGH! Oh little Aurora becoming a lil person. Curse you, passage of time! Miss you too, my Pack-Men!
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Ugh, they picked different schools…that will make it tricky for a lot of different things. On the plus side, they are supposed to be out gaining their independence and this will help with that. Bet they will do great, and I am guessing that they will be coming home for visits and the like.
That passage of time is a bear, isn’t it?
Later days buddy.
-Jeff
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