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Yeah, Violator vs Badrock was a bit of a shameless cash grab that didn't really make sense in the context of the Spawn or Youngblood story lines. I agree that this story would have been a lot of fun in the HBO series. It is too bad that the Admonisher made such a splash in this mini-series and then just kind of disappeared into Hell never to be seen again. I know he was an over the top goof ball, but there was something really fun about the character and it seems like they could have done more with him.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 how about this idea. The Admonisher tries to escape hell each time only to lose his ticket out, whether it involves main characters going back and forth through both worlds as he tries to sneak out in various episodes and arcs. (His first day in hell after he loses the Phlebiac Brothers can take inspiration from Spawn #8, where he comes across a fresh batch of souls who just regenerated in hell, unsure if Billy could still be used at this point since Spawn killing him in the comic was the reason he also became a Hellspawn.) Maybe during the series finale he makes it out while unintentionally saving whoever was about to be killed on the other side (armed with a new bone knife or machete, maybe even a makeshift bow and arrow) as he then joins the battle with more ammunition to spare. His new allies would supply it to him, a new set of guns as well since he might decide to abandon them in hell as soon as he ran out of ammo.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 of course during his stay in hell, he would probably bump in the four Phlebiacs once more, who would be more than willing to eviscerate him with minimal results. Maybe when he runs out of ammo they’d say something along the lines of ‘what are you gonna do now, maybe this is when we can see him show off weapons he made from the demons he killed, or some parts of the environment.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 He might even run into the four Phlebiacs, who would be more than willing to eviscerate him, with unsatisfactory results. And when he’s confronted by them as he no longer has ammo, they’d say something along the lines of ‘what’re you gonna do now?’, only for him to show off new weapons he made from the demons he’s killed and Hell’s environment.

@@CornelioLazarus-sg4gx That actually sounds like a pretty fun concept for his character.

Honestly, if you read through all of the Spawning Ground letter columns Todd's ego was kind of always on display. To be fair though, that sort of ego is what led to the formation of Image in the first place and McFarlane Toys so it seems to have served him well in the long run. He's made mistakes, and put his foot in his mouth on more than a few occasions but he's more successful now than he's ever been so I guess he's doing something right.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 I hope two years ago is the worst he could ever do, and maybe he could at least learn and not make anymore more mistakes.

It absolutely is. I was pretty lucky to get my hands on the first printings of the original series when it released, but I only got one or two of each cover. Good luck finding any of the con exclusives of issue #0. Those things are nearly impossible to get your hands on.

Yeah, I was pretty sure there was no part of the Bible that specifically stated that money it's self was evil. More so that people have tendency to be corrupted by geed and the love of money.

Glad I could deliver the goods. I try not to go too long between videos about a series, but now that I've been at it for over 2 years I do sometimes (with 100 plus vids) forget how long it's been since I talked about a title. Don't worry though, I'll always come back to a series at some point or another.

So do I. Glad there are others out there who share my appreciation for Union.

I still love Union to this day. I have the whole series (not that it's all that long) and will make videos about all of them.

Thanks. New video drops every Monday with the next issue of Spawn on the first Monday of every month.

Will do.

No, there's actually a little note from Todd in this issue that states it's from being shot in the face in issue 20. I can't remember exactly, but I don't think any of the Batman cross over has any direct impact on the mainline Spawn story. I'm glad you brought it up though, because I do need to do a video on that crossover at some point.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 Oh... I get that. You did mention the Editor's Note. I had never seen those Houdini issues before.... so I always thought the shoelace in his face was because of the Spawn Batman comic. ;) ;)

Oh, I know Joe was really hands off on those final issues and I agree it's unfortunate. I should have been more clear about that in the video, but I was so shocked that the series was getting an ending I forgot to check out how it was being done. I would have much preferred he had finished the series the way he started it. However, I was also surprised that he even went so far as to wrap it up the way that he did. I had completely lost hope that Battle Chasers would every receive an ending of any kind. It definitely could have been better though. Sadly, this is very often the case with independent comic books. I've seen many great stories fizzle out with bad endings, or even worse, get no ending at all. Every time I find an "indy gem" I always cross my fingers that the creator will be motivated to finish the story, and live long enough to do so.

I found that out a few months after I recorded this episode. I watched the one with Todd, and thought it was pretty good. I need to set aside some time to watch all the others.

I hadn't thought about it until your comment, but yeah he kind of does.

Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it. New uploads every Monday at 12:00 am.

Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it.

Angela is now owned by Marvel, because Neil Gaiman won her in a lawsuit against Todd McFarlane and then sold her to Marvel. All of the original founders worked for Marvel at one point or another, and created some really popular character while they were there. Sadly, they don't see any money from it do to Marvel owning all of the characters outright. It's the unfortunate reality of working for Marvel and DC.

I couldn't agree more. I always try to recommend this series to people whenever I can. They do such a fantastic job incorporating so much Turtle lore from different sources throughout the entire history of the property, and turn it into a really compelling story to boot. I've been subbed to this book since it started, and will continue to keep making vids on the series. It will just be a few months between videos as there are so many different books I want to cover. But, don't worry, the Turtle vids will keep coming.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 awesome I like your other comic book reviews too

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the last 3 issues as of yet. I, like a lot of people, wasn't aware that the series was getting finished this year so I didn't tell my local shop to order the issues for me. Looks like I'll have to buy them online. I share your disappointment that Joe didn't pencil the final 3 issues, but I'm honestly so surprised that he finished the series in the first place I'm willing to count that as a win by itself.

If I remember correctly, Admonisher never shows up again. And I agree. The outcome of Spawn vs Admonisher doesn't really matter. I just felt that if Admonisher was more than a mach for the Phlebiac brothers, that Spawn could have bested them using less power than he gave up to Violator. It was just another of many examples of Violator being untrustable. Always twisting the facts to fit what he wants and such.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 but that's the thing. I actually think spawn wouldn't be a match for the Phlediac brothers. Admonisher is more of a cartoon character with hammer pockets, where spawn has to deal with his reality and the finite of his existence. I mean the bro is after Roosevelt lol.

@@gumbygreens8975 I have to admit, those are fair points. There's also the question of just how "killable" any of the brothers truly are, and even if Spawn "dies" it just means he gets sent back to Hell in service to Malebolgia. In many ways, Admonisher is the only one with anything to lose, but is also the only one without any worries in the whole story.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 after what violator did to his brothers I doubt they care what happens to them. I mean everyone is dumb (honestly every single character),let's be honest. The whole mini series is just a display of art, like todd and his artist were given an outlet to display how badass that world is. The issue is there is no consequence? To the series. Unless... Don't get me wrong this shit is so much fun and I love it!

Glad I could take you on a trip down memory lane. Thanks for taking the time to watch.

Yeah, this issue does mark a distinct change in direction for the story as a whole. Some of it was done well, but other parts seem to have just come out of nowhere.

Absolutely. In fact, it should be out in about 2 weeks from now.

@gumbygreen8975 I thought it was ok, but I do agree it is pretty cool. The Phlebiac Brothers, Violator’s origins(The Birth and the scuffle with his family til the day he met Spawn), The admonisher is pretty hilarious with his first scene and all he did was point his gun from behind without looking. He’s like the kind of character you love to hate, he doesn’t shut up and while you want him to be ended yet you can’t help but laugh when you think about his situation since he later ends trapped up in hell, although it’s more of they’re all trapped in there with him.

Anywhere from 30 min to an hour normally. It really depends on how many times I make a mistake when recording and have to re-shoot that scene. I try my best to keep my editing to a minimum, so rather than edit out mistakes I just try to refrain from making them while recording.

It's very possible. Despite being one of the more recognizable villains of the early years of Spawn, actually doesn't show up that often.

In some ways it has. However, when you read a book like this from 30 years ago and find some of it's content a bit off putting, I think that's ultimately a good thing. It means that we've made some progress in the past few decades. Slow going perhaps, but progress all the same. It serves as somewhat of a record of where we were then vs where we are now, and illustrates that we can change if we're willing to. It's why I try not to judge the social aspects of comics from the past too harshly. Human growth takes time, and it takes longer for some than others, but as long as we can look back and see that growth has happened (even if only in ourselves) it serves as a reminder that we can continue to better ourselves.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 I mean, You have a point, one can even say a team with a woman as leader and more girls than dudes was pretty new for its time, and so was having a lesbian character at all (Despite her being made to appeal to dudes and hooking up with Grudge after getting wasted), but sexualization of minors still is pretty icky. Plus, the fact that the team was mainly made of women to be able to add more fanservice brings to mind Charlie's Angels, which was new for having an all-female cast but that was mainly used to have them go braless on jiggling missions. It had an idea that in theory was new but in practice was pretty objectifying. I'd say that with Gen13 except that even if it was a relatively new thing, it wasn't *that* new and while Charlie's Angels had other things besides Kate Jackson in thight pants, I can't say the same about the book, since Caitlin Fairchild wasn't nothing more besides a curvaceous redhead, Freefall a curvaceous punk and Rainmaker a curvaceous native chick who kissed other curvaceous chicks.

@@Dragon_Moth Oh, there are many things that could have absolutely been done better. Even back in the 90's I found the overt sexualization of all the female characters to be hack. If I remember correctly Roxy and Grunge were the only 2 members who were minors, but even if that's the case, it's still (as you stated) pretty icky. Though, the book has it's bright spots as well. For instance, in this issue Bobby makes some really racially insensitive comments about Sarah's tribe. However, it's not out of hatred of the Apache people, but out of ignorance of their culture and coming to terms with his own emotional scars. He was still learning to deal with his own feelings of jealousy, rejection, and inadequacy when having to face a community that enjoyed all of the things in their lives that he had always wanted for his own. Sarah, despite being angry over what Bobby said about her people, decided to patiently teach Bobby about her culture instead of resorting to aggressively shouting at him. This, in turn, led to Bobby realizing his mistake, apologizing to Sarah for what he said, opening up about his own childhood trauma, and growing as a person. It really does feel like a genuine bonding moment between two people. It's why I find their story to be the best part of this issue despite it being the least "action oriented". This, of course, doesn't excuse the other things you've pointed out. But, I do think it shows that, while Gen 13 was very guilty of a lot of mid 90's comic book tropes that didn't age well, it also had moments of authentic story telling that addressed deeper complex subject matter which made the characters feel more human and relatable. Gen 13 as a book was trying, it just wasn't always succeeding.

😂

Rick and Morty? Lmao no 4 connected L's please haha

Thanks, it's honestly one of my favorite parts about going back and reading these books.

Issue 1 is a little easier to find in good condition these days, and last time I saw it was still reasonably priced. Later issues is where things get really tricky. 150-200 can be pretty tough to find as those were lower print runs. I was really lucky to have some friends who owned comic book stores that were able to get those issues into my hands and help me piece together a full run of the series all the way up to present day.

It's weird, the art work is really high quality in most of this issue. However there are a few pages where it's pretty obvious that Todd was rushing to get finished in time as the level of detail takes a significant drop. I think this was the time when Todd was really starting to realize that he was stretching himself too thin, and couldn't do it all alone any more as issue 15 would be his last as the primary penciler. Thankfully, Greg Capullo was in the right place at the right time, and the transition was pretty seamless between the two.

Thanks for the kind words. Sadly, no I never had the opportunity to get any issues of Deadline. I grew up in a part of the USA that didn't get much in the way of international publications back in the 90's or even today to be honest. It's too bad, as it sounds like interesting publication, and I do like the little bits of Tank Girl that I've been able to read over the years. Though, now that I know of Deadline and what it was about I'll keep an eye out for any issues I may run across at conventions or back in back issue boxes.

@@thecomicbookcommentary6081 oh boy. You are going to love it. Seriously one issue I have has an interview with slowdive a full two page poster of tank girl, and a very interesting and crass letters section. I recall the editor calling someone a ‘retard’ for their comic opinions, talk about an open forum

@@NO-LIVAS Wow, sounds like they weren't pulling any punches in their responses to fans. I'll give Todd credit. Even when he published letters that were critical he always gave a somewhat professional response, and never resorted to name calling or personal insults. At least from what I remember. That interview sounds like an an interesting read, and if there's one thing that I really miss about magazines (comic related or otherwise) it's the posters. Nothing beat the the feeling of buying your favorite mag, and getting the bonus of a sick poster to hang on the wall. It was good times.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for the info Mark. I was unaware of the beef these two had, and I'll have to do some digging to see if I can find some footage or a transcript of the debate.

No problem, that was always the plan.

I couldn't agree more. I loved the stories that Radical was telling. I hope to have a full collection of all their titles one day.

I have a few of their series. Sometimes you'll get lucky and find complete mini series, but most of the time l end up just buying random issues and cross my fingers in hopes that l can find the rest. Some of them had lower print runs than others which can make it difficult to hunt down what you need, but thankfully you can still run across them pretty frequently in dollar boxes due to them not being that old. Happy hunting my friend.

That would make more sense for sure. Which is why I found it so odd that the book specifically stated that almost a million people commuted by ferry each day. It seems logistically impossible to move that many people in that amount of time by boat alone, or that an island city 4 miles off the coast would be economically viable enough to warrant that many commuters in the first place. However, if I'm being honest, it's rediscovering these kind of somewhat illogical plot points that gives me the most joy when reading these books again. You never know what kind of head scratching world building you'll come across.

I honestly feel as though there isn't much worth remembering about this issue. Both of the cyber gangs that were introduced in this issue are killed off immediately never to be referenced again, and none of the events that take place have any real bearing on the over all narrative moving forward. Couple that with Todd seemingly taking a lot of artistic short cuts (like not drawing any backgrounds for about a third of the panels) and all we're left with is what I believe to be a "filler" issue.

No problem. I had honestly forgotten how good a book this was until I reread it for this video. It really is a shame that it didn't last for more than 7 issues. I would have liked to see where this story could have gone with enough time to flesh it out.

I agree. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to find this series when it first started back in 2010. The stories are engaging, and the art is always top notch. I haven't had the chance to read Monster of the Ministry of Hell, but I suspect I'll enjoy it. So far none of these mini-series have let me down. I too wish there was a more regular schedule, but I suspect that Benitez would miss deadlines frequently. I mean the gap between issues 1 and 2 of the original mini-series was 6 months, so I can deal with Joe finishing each series completely before printing to make sure all the issues come out on time.