Category Archives: Comics

Orphan Black & Cloning in Fiction

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This week we talk about Orphan Black! Earl and Brent discuss this underrated Canadian sci-fi thriller series, and its star Tatiana Maslany, as well as the prospect of cloning and all its ramifications. They also bring up cloning in other fiction like in Star Wars, Clone High, and Multiplicity. And somehow they veer off from Jurassic Park to Power Rangers and Human Centipede. (Spoilers for season 1 of the show.)

Guests:
Brent Peckham – “The C-Word”

Supplementary notes:
Orphan Black – Series Trailer
VFX Reel / Extended Version (Note: Spoiler-heavy reel.)
Russian scientists: We have a “high chance” of cloning a wooly mammoth

Audio notes: (1hr. runtime)
0:01:20 – Intro to Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany, VFX effects, and fave clone
0:16:50 – Supporting characters, being unlikeable but sympathetic, and the season villain
0:22:55 – Season 1, Kira, cloning & ownership, and science in real world vs. show
0:33:55 – BBC America, Canadian shows, and the state of Canadian television
0:38:30 – Other takes on cloning like Multiplicity, Clone High, and Star Wars
0:45:45 – Jurassic Park & cloning in real world, and other favourite cloning fiction
0:55:20 – Season 2 expectations, and Brent slaughters the podcast outro

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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2013 in Review

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2013

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No lists or best of the best choices here, just pure old-fashioned rambling and nonsense in our own 2013 in Review episode! The original team of Earl, Brent Peckham, and Tony [redacted] are back to talk about the things they checked out and didn’t get to talk about in previous episodes. They get into everything from Out of the Furnace, to Final Fantasy 14, to Paul Walker’s untimely demise, to Aziz Ansari’s latest special, and to Justified, among many others. Along the way, Earl gets tipsy, Brent reveals he’s extremely old, and Tony stays quiet about some of his current endeavours.

Guests:
Brent Peckham
“Well we’re off to a great start” Tony

Audio notes: (1hr. 18min. runtime)
0:01:50 – Orphan Black, Sharknado, Out of the Furnace, Homefront, Beyonce, and Frozen
0:15:00 – Netflix, The Bletchley Circle, House of Cards, Amazon Prime, and Alpha House
0:22:00 – Elysium, Neill Blomkamp, Duncan Jones, 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen, & Oscars
0:31:30 – Luther, Idris Elba, Nathan For You, Aziz Ansari, and stand-up specials
0:41:45 – Games, Final Fantasy, Beyond Two Souls, No Man’s Sky, Ready Player One, GTAV, & Persona 5
1:01:55 – Paul Walker and Fast & Furious franchise
1:05:35 – FX in January, and Justified
1:06:50 – 2014, Interstellar, Jupiter Ascending, 22 Jump Street, Captain America, and Marvel films

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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Thor: The Dark World / Ender’s Game

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Today we’ve got an unintended double feature for you all – Thor: The Dark World and Ender’s Game! Brent Peckham is back once again to talk about both films, one after the other, as well as touch on the preview of the new Captain America. We discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe, love triangles, the Orson Scott Card controversy, and adapting from original material. We also pick up on the weird similarities between the films and other things in pop culture, and ponder on whether libraries still exist. The enemy’s gate is down, so head on over and check out the episode!

Guests:
Brent Peckham

Supplementary notes:
PBS Idea Channel – How is Seeing Enders Game a Political Action?

Audio notes: (1hr. 6min. runtime)
0:02:00 – Thor, Captain America, and The Winter Soldier preview
0:06:55 – Thor: The Dark World, Game of Thrones, and being light and funny
0:14:35 – Characters, Greek mythology, love triangles, and daddy issues
0:23:00 – Comparing Loki and Malekith as antagonists, costume design, and Jane Foster
0:24:55 – Harmonic convergence, Portal, and Animatrix’s Beyond
0:27:15 – Post-credits sequences, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
0:35:10 – Ender’s Game, novel vs. film, compression of time and plot, and dark undertones
0:44:20 – Battle School, tactics, mind games, playing games and simulators
0:48:35 – Orson Scott Card controversy, personal prerogative, Gavin Hood, and novel’s acclaim
0:55:40 – Casting, Bean’s character arc, Ben Kingsley and his accent, and set & costume design
1:00:35 – “John Carter syndrome”, adaptations influenced by things influenced by the source material
1:03:20 – Final thoughts, libraries and encyclopaedias, and Brent’s life recommendation

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The Walking Dead

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In time for Halloween, this episode is all about The Walking Dead! The comic’s recently done its 100th issue, the TV series is back on the air, and the video game’s just posted a trailer for its new season, so it’s a perfect time to talk about the whole franchise. Earl brings Brent back to talk about the zombie post-apocalyptic series, its growing popularity, critique its writing and characters, and how the games deal with the illusion of choice. And somehow, Brent manages to compare the show to Burn Notice. Board up the windows and shamble over to that play button! (Spoilers up to Issue #48, Season 3 of the TV series, and Season 1, minus DLC, of the game.)

Guests:
Brent Peckham

Supplementary notes:
The Walking Dead Game – Season 1 Trailer
The Walking Dead – Season 1 TV Trailer
Bioshock Infinite baptism controversy

Audio notes: (1hr. 6min. runtime)
02:05 – Intro to the franchise and its popularity
17:05 – The Walking Dead video game
25:05 – (Spoilers start here.) Treatment of female characters, and writing
33:50 – Differences between comics and show
35:55 – The game, illusion of choice, and the Season 1 ending
45:15 – Comparing with The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite
52:50 – Nebulous crossovers, and does the series go too far?
59:55 – Connecting with the characters

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Adaptations

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All Kinds of Philler: Based on the musical based on the film based on the book based on the podcast! This episode is all about Adaptations, which means comic books turned into shows, toys turned into movies, books turned into plays, and so on. Earl chats with Andrew on some recent examples of adaptations good and bad, what changes in translating between media, and nitpick on their favourite shows and films. They also discuss a bit of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing, Mortal Kombat, Transformers, and even Pokemon. Minor spoilers throughout, and major spoilers in the Walking Dead section, so fair warning.

Guests:
Andrew Lawrence

Audio notes: (1hr. 7min. runtime)
00:40 – Batman vs. Iron Man vs. Great Gatsby
04:00 – Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing & 10 Things I Hate About You
13:05 – Multiple adaptations, Speed Racer & Jonny Quest
20:30 – Adapting between media, Mortal Kombat & X-Men
30:00 – Changes in adaptations & The Walking Dead
43:35 – Comic book TV shows, Agents of SHIELD & Smallville
52:20 – Toy properties, The Lego Movie & Transformers
58:40 – Movie premiere swag & Pokemon
63:40 – Andrew’s Playlist: Final Fantasy 8

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Follow us (@AKOPPodcast or @phillerworks) or email us at akop@phillerworks.com!

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