Dear Watchers: an omniversal comic book podcast

>> Rob: It's my fourth birthday. I wanted a brand new collected edition, but all I got was another lousy episode of Deer Watchers, an omniversal comic book podcast where we do.

>> Guido: We are traveling with stories, world, fictional, real love.

>> Rob: Bir.

>> Guido: We're actually a month late to our four year anniversary.

>> Rob: Seems about right.

>> Guido: But those of you listening, thank you for celebrating our four year anniversary with us because that's what we're about to do with you today.

>> Rob: You and I also never remember our own personal anniversary either, it seems. So it's very fitting that we would just not do anything or do something a month late.

>> Guido: Well, I think we were a little busy, but I did know it was in July that we. That we started and it was July 21st was episode one.

>> Rob: Wow.

>> Guido: And we have a lot to share with you today to celebrate our anniversary.

>> Rob: Well, speaking of being busy, Guido, what's happening in our little section of the multiverse?

>> Guido: Well, first up on our dear Watchers front, if you will, we had a bit of a crossover with our new, friend from the Retro Gamers podcast, Anthony. So it was unusual for you and me because it was a video podcast. So it's like we're coming into the 2020s, I guess.

>> Rob: In fact, I wasn't even wearing a.

>> Guido: Proper shirt, which makes it sound like you were wearing, I don't know what didn. Improper sh.

>> Rob: Shirt on. But then I realized at the last minute we were about to hit record. It was like, oh, shoot, this is a video podcast. I guess I should put something on because you and I are often recording this on a Sunday morning or a Saturday night.

>> Guido: But point being, go check out the Retro Gamers podcast. 400 and something episodes in we got to guest have a wonderful hour and a half conversation about comic book video game adaptations, some of which we've covered on here on our show and some of which we haven't. So go find the retrogramers podcast either wherever you listen to podcast or on YouTube if you want to watch us for an hour.

>> Rob: Exactly.

>> Guido: Yeah. So that's exciting. But that's not all because people who follow all of the things we do know that we also do movie screenings and all sorts of retro activities as, Sleepover Trading Company. And we just took over a video store.

>> Rob: Yes.

>> Guido: It sounds. I don't know what it sounds like. It's's a realurd, but it's 25,000 movies, physical movies that we moved and took over and have a huge project ahead of us in terms of dealing with and sharing with the world. So it's kind of wild.

>> Rob: Well, I think, certainly speaking at least for myself, it was definitely a dream to own and run a video store. So when this opportunity presented itself, we really tried to do everything we possibly could to make it happen. So very exciting. What's really cool about this particular collection is that about half of it is tapes, still VHS tapes. So it's pretty amazing. It really is a time capsule into another era.

>> Guido: So you can follow our progress with that at, sleepover trading sleepovertraing.com or on social media. Sleepover Trading. And I'm sure we'll give you updates here on Deer Watchers. But now back to what we're focused on, which is today our anniversary episode. And, before we dig into our anniversary episode, I, do want to recommend you can go back and listen to our previous anniversary episodes. Because we did so many fun things that I barely remember. Like on episode 54, which was our first anniversary. Cause we used to be weekly. Oh my gosh. And we had so many fellow podcasters and creators on at one time to do a big quiz or episodees 100 or 150, where we broke down some of our favorite what ifs and episodes we'd done before. So we've celebrated anniversaries. Go check them out because they never get stale. They never get old. If you listen to them, you probably forgot it. So go listen to them again. Because I recorded them and I forgot what they are. So.

>> Rob: Yeah. And if you are joining us, for the first time, well, we have three parts of our journey today in every episode. Origins of the Story. Exploring multiversity and pondering possibilities. But it'll be a little different on this one.

>> Guido: And remember, please leave us a five star you and follow us on online at Deerwaters.

>> Rob: And with that, welcome to episode 167. And let's dive right into our first segment for a change. Origins of the Story. Right now, on this very show, you'renna get the answer to all your questions. Our amazing story begins a few years ago. And today our very special question is, what if we, Guido and Rob, were the gods of the omniverse, making our own multiverses?

>> Guido: Yes, yes, we're going to. But first, Origins of the Story. So let's talk about ourselves for a little bit.

>> Rob: We love doing that. Sure.

>> Guido: Not really, but our show. Let's talk about our show. I have some trivia for this first segment, Origins of the Story for of us. For those of our listeners who've been with us from the beginning, this will give you a sense of just how long that journey's been. And for those who are new listeners, this will give you a sense of how much you can go back and explore. Because including bonus episodes and interview episodes, we've had some unnumbered episodes. So we've had over 170 episodes. Even though this is technically 167. That's a lot of episodes.

>> Rob: Yes. Although still quite a ways to go before we get to the retro video game podcast.

>> Guido: It's true. But, they have been operating for twice the amount of time we have, so we're pretty much on par. Our total runtime is 6,859 minutes. So if anyone wants to marathon us from start to finish, it's going to be 114 hours of your life.

>> Rob: Oh, wow.

>> Guido: Five straight days.

>> Rob: Yeah.

>> Guido: People can listen to us talk for five straight days. No sleep. What do you think?

>> Rob: Yeah. So if you're going on a crazy bender and just throw us on driving, get in the car, just drive across the country. Listening does. I love it.

>> Guido: And we haven't done it alone. We have had 25 guests on our show. 25 guests ranging from the creators we've talked to, to our fellow podcasters, to our good friends who show up. We've had 57 episodes that feature guests, so I guess that's like a third ish of our episodes have guests, which is great. And our most frequent guest. Drum roll. Oh, gosh, that sound effect. Elliot has just squeaked by with 12 appearances, whereas Ethan of Make Mine Amalgam, our good friend, has 11. They are neck and neck.

>> Rob: Wow. I think Elliot of Ellia Comic art always thinks he's losing to Ethan, so maybe this will be a surprise. Although. Yeah, I want to see a battle royale between the two of them one day. They have to be on the same episode once. That would be.

>> Guido: It's true. Cause't think. I don't think Ethan was able to join our birthday anniversary game that we had years back. So, in terms of characters, can you guess the characters we have covered the most?

>> Rob: Well, I think the biggies. I'm gonna guess your.

>> Guido: There's just one.

>> Rob: Oh, just one.

>> Guido: One really wins.

>> Rob: Well, lately it feels like it's the Fantastic Four, because I feel like we've talked so much about Fantastic Four.

>> Guido: No, the Fantastic Four are actually fourth.

>> Rob: Oh, well, that's fitting.

>> Guido: No, it's.

>> Rob: It's the X Men. It's got toa be the X Men. Of course, because you program most of our episodes.

>> Guido: We've had apparently over 20 episodes of X Men content, whereas we've had 10 episodes of Spider man content.

>> Rob: There's also a lot of X Men to choose from, so sometimes you can do a, maybe a more X menjacent. Is a Deadpool considered an X Men episode?

>> Guido: You'd have to ask the AI that gathered this data for me. I'm gonna guess no. But then, we have Batman, Superman and Fantastic Four and He man and Josie and the Pussycats. They made the list even though they only had two episodes. But Ethan would would be happy to know.

>> Rob: Yes.

>> Guido: That the AI believes Josie and the Pussycats are important. So that's some facts. We've had a few multi part episodes. Do you remember our longest episode arc?

>> Rob: It's got to be Age of Apocalypsees.

>> Guido: Four parts on Age of Apocalypse. Deep dive. Which is very fitting because it's the anniversary of Age of Apocalypse this fall. The characters are coming back, the world is coming back. So people can go listen to our.

>> Rob: Four parter that helped push X Men into the lead right there. That's four episodes.

>> Guido: That's true, that's true. And our busiest release months found ourselves with five episodes. And those were generally in July for our anniversaries or in October for New York Comic Con. New York Comic Con and Halloweenh Y because we've done lots of horror themed arcs there. So lots of fun trivia about this journey we've been on.

>> Rob: Yeah. And it keeps going.

>> Guido: But this doesn't feel very godlike.

>> Rob: No, it does not feel very godlike. So let's actually get our clay out. Is that what gods do to shape their universes?

>> Guido: If we're creating Wonder Woman, they're creating Wonder Woman.

>> Rob: That we are. So let's start by exploring some multiversity. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and ponder the question, what if. So, Guido, what are we actually doing today for are exploring multiversity?

>> Guido: Well, since we're gods of the Omniverse, what we're doing is just coming up with what ifs that we'd like to see and going a little bit further than like, what if Superman landed in Gotham City? Which we've covered more. A bit of amalgam, mashup kind of thing. What if we took something and put it someplace really different? So we are going to share our three ideas we each had and then we'll select our favorite one.

>> Rob: And we haven't compared notes. No.

>> Guido: This is a surprise.

>> Rob: We have repeat characters or similar scenarios.

>> Guido: Okay, why don't you Start us off.

>> Rob: Okay, so my first one is what if Spider man was actually a tormented half man, half spider in a black and white 1950s horror movie.

>> Guido: And, maybe do you want. So you want this to be a movie or set in that style?

>> Rob: I think set in that style. So it could still be a comic book, but it would be black and white. And of course, maybe at some point. I don't know, Spider Man's whole history, I'm sure he's become an actual mutant spider.

>> Guido: Oh, yes.

>> Rob: Many times.

>> Guido: You know, remember the. This was in the 90s.

>> Rob: Oh, yeah. No, I don't remember that.

>> Guido: There's also a what if that. I can't remember if we covered or not. But there is a what if where he become.

>> Rob: I was always thinking, yes, he is Spider Man. But really only a few of his powers are actual spider, like, right. He can't even do. The most famous thing spiders do is make webs. And Spider man can't even actually make his own webs. So what if we really went like full the fly. And I'm thinking like the original 1950s fly movie with Vincent Price and he becomes that kind of creature. And you have Mary Jane as like the screaming girlfriend, and then Flash Thompson as his buddy who's trying to turn him back. And then I think either he starts getting smaller and smaller like in the original fly movie, or he becomes bigger and bigger like Tarantula or them. Or those classic like.

>> Guido: Or a Kaiju.

>> Rob: Or Kaiju. And all those movies were always about nuclear war, like the effects of radiation. And of course he is bitdten by a radioactive spider. So it kind of makes sense to tie that all in together.

>> Guido: This is the plot of a 1990s what if from. From leden volume two. That's very body horror esque that I guess we didn't cover. Now that I think about. I't even know this, but it's less B movie and more like gritty, dark body horror. So your idea. Your idea is making me think more Kaiju. I think that's the direction.

>> Rob: But I would do it in black and white. I think like a black and white comic, which you don't see too many of it, but really done in that style. It's almost making me think. I think we covered this on the show the Pinky in the Brain. That's set in like the Plan 9 universe.

>> Guido: Something like that, yeah.

>> Rob: So, Guido, what's your first one?

>> Guido: All right, My first one is what if the Muppets were mutants who Kermit assembled at A school for gifted youngsters.

>> Rob: Oh, my gosh, that is so great.

>> Guido: I mean, the Muppets have been transposed so many times to so many stories. So it was sort of a cheap, easy way out to think about that. Because the Muppets have been in Robin Hood, and the Muppets have been in Peter Pan, and the Muppets have been in Christmas Carol, and the Muppets have been in space, and the Muppets have been everywhere. But this was like just sort of waiting, I think, because you've got all the personalities and the quirks, but if you put a little bit of layer on powers on them, like, what would Janice's powers be? I'm dying to know.

>> Rob: So, so would they be correlated with the actual X Men or have their.

>> Guido: I don't think they have to be like one to one, but, I want them to take really close inspiration. So it's not like I don't want to see Kermit rolling around in a wheelchair like being Professor X, but I want him to see. I want to see him fulfill the role of Professor X amongst all of these ragtag gang of mutants. So now that Disney's finally giving the Muppets a little bit of tiny bit of love for their anniversary this year, maybe one day we'll see it, but I doubt it.

>> Rob: Who would maybe their villains be? Would it be a human like in so many of the Muppet movies? It's like Charles Gred or Michael Caine. It's like a human playing. It could be.

>> Guido: Or you've got like Uncle. Uncle Deadly.

>> Rob: Uncle Deadly.

>> Guido: And you've got like all these characters who are not villains.

>> Rob: Or Sam the Statler and War.

>> Guido: Sam the Eaglees.

>> Rob: Well, he a villain. He would be like Boulevard Trask or someone trying to turn things back to normal.

>> Guido: So yeah, I think, I think there's plenty of villains in amongst the characters that we know and love. So I hope it happens. So that's my first pick. All right, what's next?

>> Rob: Okay, so there is a series of horror themed murders happening in Gotham City. People are being killed inspired by famous horror movies. So what if Batman teamed up with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, to solve these murders?

>> Guido: That's fun. Clearly taking inspiration from the incredible stories by David Avalone, who's been on this show, and has written some incredible Elvira books where she's gone around multi verses of movie horror movie worlds. But this is a fun one with the inspired murders. What's an example you were thinking in your mind?

>> Rob: I don't know But I think you could tie it into various characters so you could have a lot of suspects that are the more horror themed suspects in the Batman universe, like the Scarecrow or Clayface, who's an actor. So that could all be tied in. And I think it works well because I was trying to think who could Elvira be part paired with that works to her sensibility, and I think it works that it's not another funny character like her. I think it's good that you're actually putting more with one of the most serious characters we just covered recently, Batman and Wonder Woman. And they're both talking about the fact that neither of them really has a sense of humor. So it would d kind of be.

>> Guido: Fun to put this character totally playoff.

>> Rob: Always quipping with someone who's so serious.

>> Guido: It's probably kind of what we'll see with the Batman, Deadpool, Marvel, D.C. that's coming out in just a few weeks ultimately from now. So that's fun. the murder mystery, though, I was thinking you meant like, someone is like Ghostfacease and killing people and someone is like, using a chainsaw.

>> Rob: Oh, yeah, yeah.

>> Guido: I think that's inspired by that.

>> Rob: But it could be tracked back to each character.

>> Guido: Right. Interesting. All right, so for me, here's a coincidence. Not surprising. What if Elvira traveled to Etheria?

>> Rob: Oh, my gosh.

>> Guido: So that was my second idea. I want to see Elvira getting a little funny with Sheirra making fun of some of the absurd characters. I'm sure she'd have a great time with Bo and Glimmer and Frosta and just making fun of that whole world, but also, like, put them on an actual fantasy adventure. I'd love to see Elvira and Sheira team up for something. So that's my second idea.

>> Rob: Yeah, I love that it's bringing to mind a little bit of the Wonder Woman kind of Sheiv run knockoff that we also just covered Wonder Woman anda.

>> Guido: Star riters in our last episode. It could be that that was in my mind, but I was just also thinking, I love she Ra. what do I want to mash her up with? And it's not like I want to see, like, I don't want to see Sheir Ra as, like, a 1940s noir detective, but I'd like to see Shir Ra's world get sort of, parodied or broken up, bust into a bit. And Elvira would be the right one to do.

>> Rob: And I could see, because it's the Fright Zone, I could see Hordak trying to capture Elvira. Maybe like trying.

>> Guido: Or Shadoweaver brings Elvira through.

>> Rob: Yeah, she's the mistress of the dark, so maybe they think she is their new force captain and they want to get her. But of course, like it's Elviro. She's not actually evil.

>> Guido: Yeah. The only fan fiction I ever wrote in my life was she Ra fanfiction. Maybe I'll write this one too.

>> Rob: I love it. Well, this is the one. I feel like DC would be harder to crossover, but maybe Mattel, I could see it. That actually may be happening. Yeah.

>> Guido: And Alvira'crossing over with DC coming up actually in just a few weeks with Harley Quinn.

>> Rob: O yes, that's true. Of course.

>> Guido: Clearly, Elvira and Dynamite like doing this kind of thing, so maybe they can get Mattel on board. All right, what's your third and final what if?

>> Rob: God, Rob, I am sticking in the world of Batman for this one.

>> Guido: Weird.

>> Rob: And of course we had the Joker movie, which you didn't watch and I didn't really love, but I wanted to explore that character a little further. So this is what if the Joker hosted his own talk show, but it's kind of done in a TV show style. In the style of the Larry Sanders show or Space Ghost. Coast to Coast. So he's the host of the show and then each issue of the comic is a behind the scenes look at him booking the guests and there's problems. And sometimes of course the guest is a hero and he kind of wants to kill them and they are supporting cast or all the other villains who make up the staff of the.

>> Guido: But you don't want a real world show like Space Ghost where like real people are on the show talking to this charer.

>> Rob: That would be fun too if we actually had it as an animated show and had some real people. O, I could see that also.

>> Guido: Yeah.

>> Rob: Kind of a little bit like when Brett Goldstein was guesting on Harley Quinn as well.

>> Guido: Or Earth to Ned.

>> Rob: Oh yeah. Ye.

>> Guido: The very short lived henceson Disney plus series where a puppet alien interviews real celebrities.

>> Rob: Yes, that would be. Yeah. And it's fun. What if your talk show host was also a homicidal mania?

>> Guido: Yeah, you wouldn't know what to expect.

>> Guido: Yeah, that could be fun.

>> Rob: And what's your last one?

>> Guido: All right, my last one of course had to be the X Men and I kind of have two. I couldn't decide, so I'm cheating. What if the X Men were in Days of Our Lives and now that one's not that far as stretch. People always talk about what a soap opera X Men are, but I'm thinking like I want the X Men to be in a 45 minute melodramatic TV, like with that level of production value which is know none.

>> Rob: There's a famous arc on Days of Our Lives, right, Where one of the main characters gets possessed by the devil. And that would have to be Gene here, right?

>> Guido: Totally. But again, it has to keep two like soap opera, daytime soap opera production values. Like it can't, it can't be well done. It's not just like a Marvel show. It's like, no, this is. I'm watching Days of Our Lives soap opera. But it's actually.

>> Rob: It just gets like color contactically.

>> Guido: Exactly. But. But the other show that came to mind is a little less similar, I'd say, to most X Men runs. There's one good X Factor run it's similar to. But then I was thinking, what if the X Men were in Twin Peaks? Oh, so m. That would be another sort of mashup that I could see. Well, it's just you've got the X Men, but they're in this very weird small town where there's lots of secrets and confusing things happening and you've got weird side characters. Like I think just that whole format and structure and the elements of Twin Peaks that so many of us love, but with the X Men characters.

>> Rob: So it is a big cast also. So I can see.

>> Guido: Yeah, it's also kind of so ensemble. Yeah, it's soap opera E, but it's a little more got the dark and mysterious and there's some murder kicking it off. And so either of those television show adaptations would be my what ifs.

>> Rob: It's funny that both, both of us went with a TV show inspired one as well. Like setting a comic book character inside a TV show.

>> Guido: Yeah, well, it makes sense considering all that we've covered are examples of these same formats and structures. So why don't we get to our third segment where we'll decide who whose idea is best?

>> Rob: Well, let's wrap up then with pondering possibilities. Will the future you describe be avertedertederted to Guito on this very special episode? What are we talking about for pondering possibilities?

>> Guido: Well, let's pick the idea of the other persons that we like the most and like. How do we want to see it? What format or who do we want doing it if we have an idea for a creator. So do you want to start us off?

>> Rob: Yeah, I'll start this Off. So I loved all of these. In the Twin Peaks one, I'm almost thinking, wow, you could put like, I'm almost curious, like Batman in Twin Peaks too, or some other characters popping up there. But I think the one I gravitated towards the most was your first one combining the Muppets and the X Men. Because I'm just thinking, yeah, the Muppets are like the X Men that each one of them is so individual. And then you almost have ones that are like Gonzo is kind of IMM mutant already. So I'JUST really love the idea. And they all. Maybe they all live in the theater and here they all live in the new X Mansion. The Muppet Mansion.

>> Guido: Yeah, Muppet Mansion.

>> Rob: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I know. In fact, you've got the M from Unit and the M from Muppet, so I love that. So I don't know, I think I'm really gravitating to that. And I can. Yes, I picture them as adults, but my brain keeps going to Muppet Babies too.

>> Guido: Well, maybe the ex babies are inspiring some of that too.

>> Rob: Yeah, because on the Muppet Babies too, they would also often be like Star wars or Indiana Jones or something like that. So here they're Muppet.

>> Guido: But what format do you want it in? How do you want to consume this new world?

>> Rob: I think it could be a comic book or a TV show, but I think I'd stick with. Well, the Muppets haven't had good luck with TV shows recently. So maybe I'd go then the comic book route.

>> Guido: Maybe this is the secret formula. This is what they were missing all alonge.

>> Rob: I kind of like that. Plus because it gives you the opportunity, you know, puppets are so expensive. So maybe doing it in comic book.

>> Guido: Form would animation easier or an animated.

>> Rob: Animated, yeah, yeah.

>> Guido: M. All right.

>> Rob: What about you? What was of mine?

>> Guido: Elvira and Batman. That's a good team up. It's a good team up. I like the murder mystery aspect. I think it would be funny and fun and a good story. And I think it works best as a comic book. I think it could work best as a six issue miniseries, five issue miniseries or something where you go in and out of these different crimes and the. And Batman, perhaps Batman doesn't know the real world. Inspiration.

>> Rob: Yes.

>> Guido: Right. Because she's the fourth wall breaking character.

>> Rob: I love that.

>> Guido: So he, even though he's the world's greatest detective, he's not able to know how screen works or how Friday the 13th works. She knows all that. But he knows his rogues gallery and is helping figure out which of them it could be. So, yeah, I think it's a great one.

>> Rob: Great opportunity for a lot of jokes right there.

>> Guido: Yeah. So I think that's it. That wraps up our anniversary. This is a minisode to but a numbered one.

>> Rob: It's counting towards.

>> Guido: It's counting toward the final count. And it's here to thank you all for listening to us. These last four years and 170 plus episodes, it's been a pleasure to cover what ifs, multiverses, elseorlds, and a whole lot more is yet to come.

>> Rob: Yes.

>> Guido: So thank you. Dear Watchers, I have been Guido and.

>> Rob: I have been robbed.

>> Guido: And, there is no reading, list because these worlds don't exist yet. But.