Roqoo Depot

Podcasts in Review

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

Assembly of Geeks: “Movies The Ruin Childhoods” kicks off with Amy’s report from Paleyfest including stuff on Outlander, Flash, Arrow and Tron. As an aside, I’m kinda surprised by how apathetic they were toward Tron: Legacy. Scott hasn’t seen it, Jeff didn’t like it, and Amy is the only one who did enjoy it. I, on the other hand, really enjoyed the new Tron. Beyond that, they also talk about Guardians of the Galaxy and Groot’s aversion to dancing in front of Drax, Agent Carter comments about the future, J.J. Abrams’ comments, the 20 new books for Journey To Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Aftermath, and the female Ghostbuster movie. Their main discussion is on whether movies can ruin your childhood and the use of phrase as of late, which is an interesting topic. They also touch on whether or not we’re heading for a superhero burnout.

“Our Very Own Marvel Civil War” starts off with a discussion of Pixels and the recently released trailer before heading into a March Madness tournament discussion for Marvel characters. They start out with a bunch of character, have them face off against each other, then each hosts/guest says which one should win. Whoever gets the most votes proceeds to the next round until there’s an ultimate victor. I have to be honest, it runs a bit long. At first it was neat, but as it dragged on, the discussion struggled to keep my interest. I think it might have worked better as a smaller segment spread out over several episodes rather than doing it all at once.

“Fish’s End, Leia’s Story & Supergirl’s Costume” begins with some discussion on the new Avengers trailer, the Groot comic, and thoughts on Gotham and Toy Story 4. Then they have guest Jenna Busch on to talk about Princess Leia #1, and guests Andy Behbakht (The Flash Podcast) and Rebecca Johnson (Supergirl Radio) to talk and speculate about The Flash television show and the upcoming Supergirl show. I didn’t enjoy this episode as much. For starters, Princess Leia #1 was one of the worst Star Wars comics I’ve read in a while so there was a disconnect there. That in turn wasn’t helped too much by their next guests as I haven’t watched The Flash. Wasn’t a whole lot for me to connect with on this episode. However, if you enjoyed Princess Leia #1 and are a fan of The Flash, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Drinks & Geeks Season 1 Review is kind of an offshoot of Assembly of Geeks as Scott talks with Amy Ratcliffe (Full of Sith), Dan Zehr (Coffee With Kenobi) and Pete Morrison (Rebels Report) about Star Wars Rebels season one. They talk about what they felt going into the show, how they felt once the season ended, their favorite characters, their favorite episodes, Ahsoka’s return and more. Really nice episode with a lot of opinions from some great guests all zeroing in a single topic. Good one for Rebels fans.

Coffee With Kenobi: Episode #33 has some discussion of Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, then Laird Malamed provides some audio from his experience at the RunDisney Star Wars Half-Marathon. It’s interesting because the audio is live, him going through the line, running in the race, and talking to fellow participants. Afterwards The Bearded Trio provides a quick interview with John Coppinger who talks about Star Wars and films. Dan and Cory touch on some book news then they have an excellent conversation with Bonnie Burton which takes up most of the episode and is a lot of fun. She sheds some light on how Star Wars approaches social media, explains why C-3PO is the most annoying character, and a whole host of other subjects. Definitely a good one to check out.

Rebels Reactions with Freddie Prinze Jr. is my pick of the week. In this episode, Dan and Cory talk with Freddie Prinze Jr., the voice of Kanan, as they cover Star Wars Rebels season one. First off, Freddie is a great storyteller, and it’s just fun to sit back and listen to him talk about Star Wars. He provides some excellent observations, covers the progression of Kanan as a character, the trials he’s faced, and even teases some things for season two. For instance, Sabine and Zeb’s backstories will be revealed, there will be more cameos, more trials for Kanan, and Vader will be scary again. If you’re a fan of Star Wars Rebels, this is one episode you have to listen to.

EndorCast: is a brand new podcast hosted by three members of the Rebel Legion. Their first episode is an introduction to the hosts and what they hope to accomplish with the podcast, such as costuming tips and ideas, however they also talk some about Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, their costume plans, and J.J. Abrams continuing on as an executive producer with Star Wars. It’s a short episode but it shows they have potential. Good mix of hosts, good audio, and some nice Endor sound bytes.

Fictional Frontiers: Episode 314 starts off with an interview with author John Jackson Miller who talks about his latest book Star Trek: Next Generation: Takedown. John talks Star Wars vs Star Trek, the differences in the franchises, the differences between the original series and Next Generation, where Riker and Picard are now, how Takedown is his best reviewed novel yet, and how his writing has changed. It’s an excellent interview and well worth checking out for John Jackson Miller fans.

Fly Casual: Episode 30 has some coverage of Indiana Comic Con, discussion and speculation of the Rogue One news, they talk about Lords of the Sith and the LGBT character, Harrison Ford’s plane crash, Untitled Book 4, toy news including a Sabine variant, an Ahsoka/Vader mission series pack, and the digital releases.

Episode 31 oddly enough kicks off with a discussion of smells before they review Star Wars Rebels “Fire Across the Galaxy”. Then they cover rumors for the second trailer, Rogue One rumors, Billy Dee Williams rumors for Episode VIII, Sarah Michelle Gellar rumors for who’ll she’ll be in Star Wars Rebels, and some The Force Awakens rumors which I tuned out on. As usual, both episodes were fun and entertaining.

ForceCast: Special with Celebration Artists Karen Hallion & Chris Dee is a great set of interviews conducted by Spencer Brinkerhoff as he talks to the artist about the ideas behind their pieces, their processes, and how they got started. Karen shares some fun Disneyland stories and Chris talks about a group that makes Mandalorian armor out of metal.

Special with Celebration Artists Matt Busch & Shea Standefer is another great set of interviews done by Spencer. Matt talks about what goes into a picture, the challenges of working on projects, the movie project he’s working on, the idea behind his print and the significance of the Holiday Special. Shea shares some Celebration Europe stories, talks about how artwork is used on clothing, what it’s like being used as a reference character for Star Wars art, the idea behind her piece, loving the design of Mandalorian armor, her fandom of comic art, the inspiration of Adam Hughes, the pressure of getting Fett right, and using perspective to put the viewer in the action.

Special with Celebration Artists Russell Walks & Stephen Hayford covers more artists and more prints. This time artist Russell Walks talks about how he wound up doing a novelization cover image for the three films if they’d come out in 1947, how long the project took (200 to 250 hours), choosing the characters and finding reference photos. Then Stephen Hayford changes gears by talking about building dioramas, going from hand cutting to laser cutting, working in 1:18 scale, the drawbacks of 3D printers, his photojournalism background, customizing action figures, and more. Just like the others, it’s a great set of interviews.

Geek Out Loud: Episode 127 has some listener feedback, then jumps to the “Pass the Corn” segment with Erich as they talk Mad Max, The Last Dragon, Police Academy, Red October, Pretty Woman and Tommy Boy. Teresa stops by to talk “This Is Madness”, then Daniel from Indy, Erich and other guests join Steve for a big Star Wars discussion covering lots of topics for an entertaining conversation.

My Star Wars Story: Episode 9 features author John Jackson Miller. Now if you need any proof that John likes to talk, look no further. John answers the first question in 50 minutes, which is funny because he jokes about it and pretty much tells his entire Star Wars story right off the bat. From from spoiling all the movies for himself and writing his own comics at a very young age, to playing D&D and being a Marvel zombie, he covers the gamut. He talks about a Lando story pitch that’s never seen the light of day, and how comics have played such an important part in his life. It’s a great episode and there’s extra audio after the end credits.

Rock Out Loud: All Time Faves or Also For Lip episode is a surprise as Kristin and Steve show their true feelings and the music they really love like Nsync, Britney Spears and Taylor Swift…or I could just come clean and tell you it’s their April Fools episode. Seriously, I knew going in, but they go all the way and keep it serious. Still, I cannot forgive them for the Taylor Swift song as it turned into an ear worm and plagued me all week long. Listen at your own risk :)

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 72 starts with some Star Wars Celebration Anaheim news, then kicks over into their interview with Victoria Sampson who talks about her long history in film with ADR work and shares a bunch of cool stories about Return of the Jedi and other films that she worked on. Then they have guest Bryn MacK­in­non on as they cover some more Celebration tips. From advice on lines, autographs, cosplaying and restaurants, the cover a nice range of topics. For the Victoria Sampson interview along, this one’s worth a listen, plus they have some bonus audio out there for that interview so be sure to check it out too.

Star Wars Bookworms: Episode 38 is hosted by Aaron and Kay as they skip the reviews and instead cover a lot of recent Star Wars topics. They talk about Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, Rogue One, listener feedback, the Princess Leia comic, the Heir to the Jedi novel and other recent books, they touch on Dark Disciple and Aftermath, the 20 new books we’ll be getting this fall, who might do The Force Awakens novelization, and more. This was actually a nice change up from the reviews as there’s been a lot of news lately and plenty to discuss. Good episode for the Star Wars book lovers out there.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.