Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case Files #28: Madame Xanadu

Look! It’s an iconic hero!  No, it’s not Wonder Woman!

Once upon a time, many moons ago, the Gabbing Geeks held their first Watercooler discussion to talk about iconic characters who hadn’t gotten a movie yet or had one in development.  Jenny, for some reason, chose Madame Xanadu.

Now, I don’t know how Jenny defines “iconic”.  I would define it as a character that is so recognizable that even people outside the fan group recognize the character.  Superman is an iconic hero.  So is Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman.  Iron Man probably is thanks to Robert Downey Jr.  Other characters may be recognizable to people who are fans of comics in general, but not necessarily of the character itself.  Aquaman, the Flash, and Captain America probably all fit that group.

But Madame Xanadu?  Well, Jenny had offered to fill in a Misplaced Hero file during my vacation for this character, so Jenny believed that Madame Xanadu is somehow both misplaced and iconic…

Which is she?  Check after the cut.

Trailer Time: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Did you enjoy The Maze Runner?

I didn’t…mostly because I haven’t seen it.  It could have been a fine movie.  I’m not judging because I can’t.  Ask Jenny.  She got to a preview and couldn’t stop quaking about it.  She liked it.

OK, there’s a sequel coming.  See the trailer behind the cut.  Hey, Littlefinger’s in there being all Littlefingerish!  That must be worth something.

Podcast Reation: The “Do I Really Wanna Go There?” Edition

Technically, I haven’t done a whole reaction-to-Watson article yet. That will not change today.

This week on the podcast, the podcast was late and I did not get to listen to it until Monday.  My non-geek wife wanted to spend the extended holiday weekend down the Jersey shore, which is not that much like that awful MTV show depicted it to be.  We go to a nice, working class vacation town, whereas that show was filmed in a place my wife has been calling “Sleezeside” since well before anyone with a stupid nickname, no discernible talent, and a camera crew ever stepped foot in the place.

But, my parents’ tiny house down there has terrible internet connections, so while I was able to download the podcast, listening to it while trying to do stuff with the missus wasn’t in the bag, and there was a good chance any attempt to post anything here would have been a disaster when the connection cut in the middle of the write up.  So, I gave the show a listen this morning and now, well, now I need to react because it is my (self appointed) job.

In fact, my parents’ unreliable wi-fi connection there means I am a bit behind on my DCAU rewatch and don’t know if Jimmy and I will get through our required three episode discussion before the week is out.

What will I react to?  The fact I probably would have lost that trivia game badly, too?  Or something else?

Podcast Reaction: The Pixar Edition

On the podcast this week, the guys and Jenny discussed digital stuff, mostly digital animation.

And let me say, for the record, that though I am the only Gabbing Geek regular who had absolutely nothing to do with Ryan’s Fallen…it was a good read.  Check it out.

But now, let’s talk about Pixar and the most messed-up List of Truth yet…

Podcast Reaction: The Ryan Edition

Ryan likes this movie.

I’ve been doing podcast reactions for a while now, even before I got tapped to write for this site.  In that time, I have picked on Jenny and Watson quite a bit.  Why not?  Jenny is three ducks in a woman suit who doesn’t know who Max von Sydow is despite his memorable roles in both The Exorcist and Flash Gordon–leading to my theory that someone is finally continuing Flash Gordon‘s “To be continued” tag when Ming the Merciless is revealed to be the bad guy in Star Wars Episode VII.  Watson just has that one picture that makes it rather easy.  Heck, it doesn’t matter what other pictures I use, that picture will be the one that appears on Facebook for any article I write and use it for.

But aside from pointing out just how much Ryan likes the awful, awful Krull, I don’t pick on him that much.

I’m not going to pick on him now, because this post is an intervention.

Podcast Reaction: I (Don’t Really) Love The 80s Edition

Let’s try not to read too much into Ronald Reagan sharing a drink with Cobra Commander in this image.

This week on the podcast, the guys and Jenny discussed the 80s.

Now, if I have a reputation around here, and I might, it may include how I am not much into nostalgia.  That was, like, my biggest barrier to really enjoying Ready Player One.  The big problem with nostalgia, I feel, is that it elevates stuff that maybe doesn’t deserve it.  I have no problem loving things from my childhood that hold up, but these things should be good in their own right, not good because I thought they were awesome when I was 8.

Podcast Reaction: The Black Widow And Boba Fett Edition

From this angle, I have no idea why she is so popular with various men.

This week on the podcast, Jenny and the guys discussed grievances and Age of Ultron.  Now, in the private editorial meeting that came about between the recording of the podcast and my ability to listen to the podcast, Jenny expressed hopes I would not be too hard on her.

Never fear, Jenny.  No matter how much quacking is going on, I think you may be more right than wrong this week.

This week.

Some SPOILERS after the cut.

Podcast Reaction: The Pre-Avengers 2 Edition

The real hero of the movie will be the guy with the vacuum cleaner.

This week on the podcast, Jenny and the guys were discussing nothing but the Avengers.  They had spelling contests, some weird thing that involved guessing obscure Avengers heroes, and for some reason Madame Xanadu, and some running bit about Nick Fury being much more awesome that he’s been depicted to be up to this point.

Yeah, I think I’m with Jenny on that one.  Nick isn’t really an Avenger.

On Supehero Media And Tone

Netflix recently dropped the first of five superhero series for its subscribers to enjoy.  Daredevil is quite good, though to be honest as of this typing I’ve only seen the first five or so episodes.  Charlie Cox makes a good superhero.  Vincent D’Onofrio is an excellent Kingpin.  There was much rejoicing.

Now, I’m not here to review the series.  Better reviewers than I have or will do so, and I have other things to do.  Instead, I want to discuss tone and how it applies to superheroes on TV and to a lesser extent in the movies.

X-Files Returns To Fox

Not in cartoon form this time.

We here at Gabbing Geek pride ourselves on covering breaking geek news as it comes out.  But, near as I can make out, no one here has seen fit to post how The X-Files is returning for a 6 episode stint to the Fox network with original stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

How did we miss this?  Well, I have my theories.