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This week we take a look back into Batman's family tree with the 50s era film noir inspired mini series, Gotham City: Year One, by Tom King and Phil Hester!

Plus learn about some of the more strange and bizarre fan theories out there about everyone's favorite Caped Crusader!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#phil hester #slam bradley #gotham city #film noir #detective #batman #tom king #theory

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Your wish is granted! We are reviewing 8 Billion Genies by Charles Soule & Ryan Browne which will be a future television show on Amazon Prime!

Plus find out what The Last Comic Shop Podcast gang would wish for if they could change one thing about comics!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#ryan browne #eight billion genies #charles soule #daredevil #star wars #wishes #comics #review #amazon prime #amazon prime video #image comics #genies #wish #change #post apocalyptic

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Top 5 Unreleased Disney Infinity Figures

As a lover of all things old and forgotten, you can find me more likely puttering around with old Commodore 64 games than the latest on the PS5 or taking deep dives into some obscure 1930s Black and White horror movie than watching the Cabin in the Woods.

And although sometimes those choices are out of the fact that I'm trying to bring attention to some sort of lost gem buried in the sands of time, other times, it's just simply because I still love something old and I don't want to let go of it.

As I've said often, I hate goodbyes and endings. Maybe if I continue to talk about something, it will be as if it never went away.

Case in point with the topic of today's blog which really isn't super old in the grand scheme of the universe, but enough of old news that many may scratch their heads and ponder as to why the hell I'm still going on about it.

It's the Disney Infinity series of games and more importantly some of the playsets and figures that were slated to be released prior to the game series being shut down.

Almost a decade after Disney officially abruptly and some may say tragically cancelled the series amidst a cloud of questionable decision making, I still think it was one of the best game franchises to come out of the toy to game model, and they had only begun to scratch the surface of what the game was capable of if they had only gotten the chance to continue.

I mean if the movie Wreck It Ralph Breaks the Internet proved anything with their "Disney World" segment, its that the idea of all the various portions of the Disney universe all interacting with each other in some sort of shared playground is an incredible one. I mean I was immediately reminded of Disney Infinity when I was watching the part where Vanellope has to escape from Storm Troopers and seeks refuge with the Disney Princesses. That could have totally been a level in the game! What a wasted opportunity!

In any case, for a lot of us fans of the game, the harshest news was that there were tons of really great characters and concepts in various stages of development at Avalanche, who designed the game, when the Disney execs pulled the plug. And over the years, a lot of those designs and ideas got leaked out on to the internet by one source or another to give us all tantalizing glimpses of what could have been even if the game had been allowed to go on for even one more year.

So with today's blog, I'm going to highlight my personal top 5 concepts from this game universe that never got to see the light of day. I mean I still play this game with my kids regularly even many years after its demise, so they definitely could have gotten a couple more bucks out of me had they just allowed these figures to make their way on to the shelves.

Plus, they would have been a damn sight better than the final figures we eventually did get. Sure, the Mad Hatter and Alice were worthy additions, but the Time figure?!?

C'mon, we got screwed out of some of the figures below for this joker?!? That's just a travesty of justice! Look at this shmuck! He's almost saying to you:

"Hey! You know I suck as a figure! Meh! Don't care! On to clog up some bargain bin at your local Wal-mart!"

No wonder the Disney Execs thought this product sucked if these were the figures they were putting out! Anyways, on with the list...

5. Baze Malbus from Rogue One

Let me begin by saying that I really did love the Star Wars aspects of Disney Infinity. I mean that's where the game really picked up I feel. Now some will say it was Disney Infinity 3's focus on better action and fighting mechanics than the previous games, but I think that the inclusion of the Star Wars universe and the impact of that can not be denied.

From not only bringing in all of those wonderful characters from Star Wars movies past and present, but then packaging it in such a way so that you had both the ability to have space battles and the standard ground combat, allowed the game to grow up in some ways and make it accessible to the masses that were just interested in playing decent video games with a lot of adventure. I for one was in that boat. The previous Disney Infinity games felt unpolished, like they were focusing on the wrong things, like incomplete sandbox play instead of making engaging traditional video games similar to the style of the Lego Games.

But the Star Wars games again changed all that, and I was as a result looking forward to more play sets from the Galaxy Far Far Away.

Now it's not as if I was a huge fan of the character of Baze Malbus from Rogue One. I mean he was alright in a Sancho Panza way. But I put him on this list because of what he represented: The possibility of a Rogue One Playset, and a bunch of additional characters from that film.

We could have got this character, maybe a Jyn Erso figure with the playset itself, and of course that snarky insult machine in KY-SO, was also in the pre-production phase. Yep, that would have been something to see for sure.

Instead we got a Finding Dory playset to finish out the series. Not that I've got anything against that particular film, but I'd take more Star Wars adventures over fish any day.  

4. Goofy

As my token non Marvel or Star Wars entry on this list, I wanted it to be special. I mean there were a lot of straight up Disney characters that Infinity had plans for release. Some of them got so close like Peter Pan, that for a little while there were bootleg versions of him circulating around on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

Not to mention they were going to release a Moana playset with Moana and Maui figures, and that got so far into production some players swear they have found the one of the islands that would have been used in the actual game. But for this entry, I thought I'd pick the one that was pretty much criminal that they didn't get around to releasing.

That is the almighty Goof himself.

Yes, the fact that they let this core member of Disney's Sensational Six not see the light of day and join the likes of Mickey, Minnie and Donald is to say it bluntly...goofy. Yes, goofy, stupid, poor decision making, call it what you will, the simple fact is regardless of what you want to say about any other part of Disney's empire, these 6 characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy are the bedrock upon the entire rest of the House of Mouse is built. They are Disney's flagship characters, and they should have been some of the first figures out of the gates, not the last.

Sure, I guess if you were some wise ass executive that had some 10 year plan for the game and part of this plan was to slowly release these characters in some sick perverted way to tease lifelong fans into following along blindly in anticipation, not releasing Goofy until like 3 or 4 years after launch would be following this strategy to a tee.

But see where this strategy got you? An incomplete mess.

And for some fans, they would argue that Goofy was really the missing component. Maybe you could have gotten by without Daisy or Pluto, but miss at least getting a Goofy by mere months, is frustrating beyond measure.

3. Dr. Strange

With our first of the Marvel Super Hero figures we got shafted out of at the last moment, here's a glance at the could have been super awesome Sorcerer Supreme figure, Dr. Stephen Strange.

Yes, finally Cumberbitches the world over could have flocked to their Gamestops in droves just for a chance to own this figure which was obviously set to hit store shelves around the time the Doctor Strange movie came out in October of 2016.

That means that sincerely we missed this figure by about 6 months, and that's a damn shame.

Even if the line had been allowed to continue through the end of that year, we could have been able to secure this final great figure to add an already impressive collection of characters from the House of Ideas. And the real crying shame of it was the fact that if the figure had been released we could have finally got some more decent Master of the Mystic Arts action in a video game.

There are so few that feature this OG of the Orb of Agamotto, that the major ones that spring to mind only include Contest of Champions, Marvel Super Heroes, and the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance. In both of those games I couldn't wait to get Dr. Strange, simply because it's not often you get to play as him that its a real treat when you do.

Plus, he's got such an interesting power set visually, that it's practically made for video games. Not only that but with this figure there would have been a chance to see the release of maybe some cool mystic arts style items for the Toy Box or Free Play. Maybe a Cloak of Levitation item for any of your heroes to wear and fly around with?

Or maybe some neat Dark Dimension environmental pieces so you can build a really trippy side scrolling course for you and your friends to tackle. Besides, haven't you always wanted to see a battle royal between Dr. Strange and the Sorcerer's Apprentice version of Mickey?

We already had the Mickey toy so delivering the goods with Strange would have allowed us all to mix it up with some truly epic magical mayhem all the while allowing Disney to laugh themselves all the way to the bank. I mean these Marvel characters with the following of fan boys out there were just cash on the vine. It's a real shame they passed on that...

2. Hera Syndulla

Back with another wasted opportunity to give us more solid Star Wars characters, our number 2 entry is simply a crime against collectors that need to have things complete as well as females that were sorely underrepresented in both the Marvel and Star Wars lines.

From the TV series Star Wars: Rebels, there were only 5 non droid main characters that made up that family of freedom fighters. And of those 5, only one did not get their own Infinity Character. Or should I say, they would have gotten their own if the line had just been allowed to finish out the 2016 selections.

And the biggest shame of it was that this character was one of the most important. She's the matriarch of that space group everywhere just as important as the patriarch, Kanan Jarrus. I'm talking about Hera Syndulla, Captain of the Ghost and eventual Rebel General. A core member of that entire part of the franchise, her figure should be able to fight side by side with the rest of major heroes, all of which got toys made, including Ahsoka.

Plus, in an Easter Egg to Star Wars: Rogue One, Hera and the Ghost take part in the Battle of Scarif where the Rebels steal the Death Star Plans, so she could have easily been incorporated into any playset created surrounding that movie. Plus again, perhaps as an add on related to this figure we could have finally got a Ghost spaceship vehicle to use during some of those space fights throughout the game.

How cool would that have been to see the Falcon and the Ghost battling Tie Fighters in an Asteroid Field. However, the most important part would have been to give us another female character just to play around with for God's Sake.

I mean my daughter loves playing the Star Wars portions of this game but unlike her brother who has tons of male characters to pick from, she has just 4 in Rey, Leia, Sabine, and Asoaka. Adding even one more female would have taken some steps to give female gamers more choices in terms of characters of their own sex, which could have brought some more gamers into the tent as it were.

1. Spider Gwen

Finally, we get to the number one entry on this list.

A character that in some ways takes what I said about the lack of females in the Star Wars line and how this game should have been given a chance to correct that and really drives the point home by showing that there was a segment of the game that was even worse.

Yes, I'm talking about the Marvel Universe portion who was represented by a whopping 2 characters out of the nearly 20+ figures. Yep, if you were a female that wanted to play as a charter of your own sex during any of the Marvel portions of this game, you could have either played as Black Widow or Gamora. That's it!

No Scarlet Witch despite them making a Vision figure, no Wasp despite them making a Ant-Man figure, and these were both characters that made appearances in the MCU Movies so it wasn't like they didn't have public exposure. It boggles the mind!

However again, the developers at Avalanche did have an absolutely great figure in the pipes that although wouldn't have completely cured that gaping difference, would have definitely been well received among the game community as well as given younger female players a real bell ringer in terms of a character they could connect and role play through.

Yep, I'm talking about Spider Gwen aka Ghost Spider aka whatever you want to call her as long as you call her one of my daughter Johanna's favorite comic characters.

Alas like so many on this list, we were given the shaft at the very last minute and Spider Gwen which a lot of reports said should have the very next Marvel hero to be released before the game shut down. And what a cool figure it would have been! They really spent some time developing her as something special with that chimney style stack of bricks for the base, a bit of artistic flair with the design which was a first for this series.

And that's why she tops my list. She would have been super popular, beefed up the female presence in the game, and would have doubled as a really nice mini statue for your desk. Plus it would have been awesome to do some two player web swinging with the Spider-man figure.

Just think of that for a bit...

#disney #disney infinity #unreleased #top 5 #video games #star wars #marvel #goofy #hera syndulla #doctor strange #spider gwen #cancelled video games #Youtube

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Get ready for the upcoming Comic Con season with an interview with the wonderful Paul Cornell, writer of the recent Ahoy Comics release "Con & On" (with artist Marika Cresta) all about the history of one of the world's most famous Comic Book Conventions!

Plus we pick Paul's brain about this work on Doctor Who, Captain Britain and MI-13, and who exactly killed the Loch Ness Monster?!?

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

Interview Guest: Paul Cornell (Doctor Who, Captain Britain, Con & On); Website

#paul cornell #interview #comic con #ahoy comics #marika cresta #doctor who #loch ness monster #captain britain #podcast

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We interviewed the writer! Now we review the series! That's right! It's the Last Comic Shop Podcast review of the recent Unstoppable Doom Patrol series from Dennis Culver & Chris Burnham!

Plus we take a look at the top movies, music and comics from May 2023 when the series first debuted in comic shops everywhere!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts:  JA Scott & Mikey Wood

Guest Panelist: George from Shortbox Summary (@shortboxsummary)

Subscribe to Shortbox Summary here: https://www.shortboxsummary.com

#doom patrol #dc comics #robot man #negative man #elastigirl #crazy jane #niles caulder #chris burham #review #dennis culver

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The Merry Marvel "March" Society concludes this week as we suit up with the symbiotes to tackle the mid 90s crossover epic, Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage by JM DeMatteis, Mark Bagley, Tom DeFalco & more!

Plus a preview of our upcoming Movie "May"hem where we pair comics with movie adaptations. Up first, Venom: Let There Be Carnage starring Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson.

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#woody harrelson #jm dematteis #mark bagley #tom defalco #venom: let there be carnage #Tom Hardy #maximum carnage #Spider-Man #movies #venom #carnage #marvel #movie #crossover #90s

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The Merry Marvel "March" Society continues this week as we go cosmic with the 5 issue mini series "Silver Surfer Black" by Donny Cotes and Tradd Moore!

Plus find out who will be selected for the Last Comic Shop Podcast's "Top 5 Favorite Marvel Characters of All Time!"

  Host: Andy Larson 

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#silver surfer #donny cotes #tradd moore #galactus #ego #knull #venom #marvel #comics #space #cosmic #guardians of the galaxy #podcast #top 5 #doctor doom #xmen #spiderman

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The Merry Marvel March Society month continues with the triumphant return of one of Marvel's classic cyborg superheros, ROM: The Space Knight! We got the first 12 issues of this Bronze age series by Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema!

Plus we list some of the amazing finds and secret treasures from decades of comic book store "Buck Bin" diving!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith, JA Scott, & Mikey Wood

#Rom #rom the spaceknight #Marvel #80s #parker brothers #toys #hasbro #licensed comics #bill mantlo #sal buscema #dollar comics #buck bin #science fiction

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It's the start of all Marvel books at the Last Comic Shop Podcast with our Merry Marvel "March" Society this month!

And what better series to kick things off, but the newest incarnation of the series that started the "Marvel Age" with The Fantastic Four written by Ryan North with art by Alex Ross, Iban Coello, Ivan Fiorelli & more!  

First 13 issues, kids! Settle in!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

Guest Panelist: George from Shortbox Summary (@shortboxsummary)

Subscribe to Shortbox Summary here: https://www.shortboxsummary.com

#ryan north #alex ross #marvel #fantasticfour #ibancoello #ivan fiorelli #podcast #fantastic four #mister fantastic #sue storm #doctor doom #human torch #the thing

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It's time to tackle one of the most famous comic strips in the entire world with the legendary Charles Schulz's Peanuts!

We've got every daily and Sunday strip from both 1965-1966 on this week's episode! Good Grief!!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith, JA Scott, & Ethan Larson

#comic strips #comics #charles schulz #peanuts #charlie brown #linus #lucy #peppermint patty #snoopy #woodstock #newspapers #60s #1960s #cartoon

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It's another "Super" week at the Last Comic Shop and we are proving that by taking flight with another review of a comic series featuring The Man of Steel! It's "Superman: Supercorp" a trade collecting the first several issues of the 2023 relaunch of the title by Josh Williamson, Jamal Campbell and others out of DC Comics "Dawn of DC" initiative!

Plus we deliver a fact filled trivia game all about Krypton's most famous son for all of our listeners to play along with!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#superman #trivia #supercorp #lex luthor #lois lane #josh williamson #jamal campbell #dawn of dc #man of steel #dc comics #podcast

[blackangusandy]

Celebrate the rich history of Romance comic books with our review of one of the first graphic novels in history! Yes, its the 1950s Golden Age classic "It Rhymes with Lust" by Arnold Drake & Matt Baker

Plus we play another round of our classic comic book related games "Scenarios" where we dare to ask questions like "Which super hero would be the best at being an alcohol spokesman?"

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith, JA Scott, Ethan Larson, & Nicole Larson

#Matt Baker #Arnold Drake #Good girl art #film noir #graphic novel #romance comics #romance #1950s #trivia games #fun #valentines day #soap opera #doom patrol #golden age #comics #podcast #radio play

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Those Mighty mutants take center stage again at the Shop as we go "Down Under" to cover the Outback era of the Uncanny X-men! That's right, it's issues #229-251 of the classic 80s series featuring Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, and a slew of other creators!  

Plus we talk about other Marvel comic book characters we personally wish we could get into but for some reason continue to elude us!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#xmen #psylocke #colossus #wolverine #storm #rogue #havok #longshot #dazzler #outback x-men #outback #Marc Silvestri #chris claremont #inferno #madelyne pryor #80s #marvel

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The Last Comic Shop Podcast tackles one of the all time greats of comic books this week as we review the first volume of the legendary "The Sandman" series by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, and more!

Plus we list some of the most widely acclaimed comic book related TV shows and movies out there what we haven't personally got to watch yet!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith, JA Scott, & Mikey Wood

#the sandman #sandman #DC comics #vertigo #sam keith #mike dringenberg #death #the endless #netflix #tv show #movie #comics #podcast #review #neil gaiman

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The Year of Chad has some holiday leftovers for all our fans as the Last Comic Shop takes a look at one of host, Chad Smith's favorite creators in Rob Liefeld! We'll be reviewing his recently wrapped up series, Deadpool: Badder Blood, with Chad Bowers on script!

Plus we talk about other comic book creators we would pick up series just because they are attached to the project!!

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott

#rob liefeld #deadpool #x force #wolverine #cable #marvel comics #podcast #comics #comic books #90s #chad bowers

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Saddle up, Partners! The Last Comic Shop Podcast is reviewing one of the greatest comic book cowboys of all time this week with the first volume of Lucky Luke by Morris!

Plus we take a look at the list of the All Time top selling comic book collections, single issues, and magazines! Does your favorite series make the list??

Host: Andy Larson

Co Hosts: Chad Smith, Ethan Larson, & Mikey Wood

#lucky luke #jolly jumper #western #cowboy #toy story #woody #bullseye #morris #french #european #best selling #comics #comic book #outlaw #podcast

[blackangusandy]

Spoiler free Quick Hit Review of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 by Jonathan Hickman & Marco Checchetto

#comics #ultimate spiderman #jonathan hickman #marco Checchetto #spiderman #peter parker #mary jane watson #married #spoiler free #review