Nerd Culture Podcast

During our honeymoon I realised that I would need to purchase the final batch of comics for our coverage of DC’s new 52 for when we got back and, being in New Zealand I obviously couldn’t make it to my local store!

So we scoured Auckland for a comic store and was directed to Heroes for Sale at 277 Karangahape Road (or K Road as the locals call it).

Upon entering we were immediately impressed by the layout. Clean and easy on the eye, as well as well spaced, with a place for everything. Not only did they have single issue comics and trades (including an impressive selection of local comic creator works), but they also had a great range of action figures/collectables, board games and role playing supplements as well. The staff, who we later learned were the owners, were obviously very busy sorting that weeks standing orders but still took the time to greet us warmly and offer assistance. I expressed my desire to purchase all of that weeks batch of DC’s new 52. They took my name and offered to call me if they could accommodate me. Sure enough not long after they called with the news that I could indeed purchase all of the titles. I really appreciated this because, although this wasn’t stated, I definitely got the feeling that some strings were pulled in order to fulfill this order and that they may have missed out on getting their own copies in order to ensure I had mine. Excellent customer service.

When I returned to the store I had a great chat with the one of the owners, Stu (who with his wife Sue have been running the store together for 17 years), on various topics ranging from the state of the comics industry, the results from the new 52 event, and the Nerd Culture website/podcast. Interestingly enough, Stu said that DC’s target audience of 13-22 year olds in his area couldn’t afford single issues and it was actually older people like 18-25 that have been drawn in by the new 52 event, as well as the spate of superhero themed movies out recently. He also stated that Justice League was his favourite title up to that point, but he also liked Animal Man. He also gave me the address of a comic store in Wellington (but unfortunately our experience there was the complete opposite of this one). I could have stayed and chatted with Stu for a bit longer but I could see that he was starting to get quite busy so I said my goodbyes and left.

So, if you are in Auckland and in need of a comic fix then head to Heroes for Sale. I cannot praise them enough, you can’t go wrong. And tell ’em Nerd Culture Podcast sent ya!

For further info check out their website – http://www.heroes4sale.co.nz/

Some photos of the store:

Hi All!

As you can probably guess from the latest posts (Episode #9 & DC’s new 52 Audio post) Crystal and I have returned from our honeymoon and are back in action on the site and podcast.

Thanks to Richo and Luke for their contributions during our absence, some great stuff there.

Thanks to everyone who left us congratulation messages 🙂

If I beg my lovely wife I might even be able to post some photos, so wish me luck.

And now, back to our regular scheduling!

Welcome to our final audio review for the New 52, covering the last week of releases.

It’s been a massive undertaking but I’ve really enjoyed analyzing all of the titles and judging them on the virtues as stand alone comics, but also as brand new #1 introductions to the characters and their new universe.

There have been some hits (Batman, Animal Man, All Star Western), some misses (Dark Knight, Blackhawks, Hawk & Dove), and some utter rubbish (Catwoman, Red Hood, Voodoo), but overall a decent bunch of titles.

What is more important is the stab in the arm this event has given the industry. As of this writing, Justice League #1 is on its 3rd printing and some of the other titles have exceeded 200,000 copies. Something almost unheard of for a long time.

As before, this is the unedited version of our coverage from the podcast, featuring the opinions of the entire crew that had to be cut from podcast to reduce its length.

Due to the long length of the recording I have split it into 2 parts for your convenience.

After listening to the review, how about leaving a Comment or send send us an email at feedback@nerdculturepodcast.com? We would love to read your opinions, especially now that we’ve finished.

Track 1 – Audio Length: 58 mins

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Track 2 – Audio Length: 57 mins

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Episode #9 features:

Popcorn Junkie: John Carpenter’s Starman

From the Racks: DC Comic’s the New 52 part #3

Also featuring Coming Soon, and the winner of our Competition to win the Killing Joke & Arkham Asylum trades!

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METROPOLIS
Released: 1927
Director: Fritz Lang
Written by: Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

First, a little background before we get to the review:

The history of the film print of Metropolis is a fascinating story in its own right. The original cut of the movie was 153 minutes long, but was edited down for release outside Germany. Some felt the movie’s original running time was too long, but the controversial themes of the movie also ensured that some edits were performed to alter or obscure the message of the original.

Over time, this constant re-editing saw much of the original footage lost, seemingly forever. In 1984, music producer Giorgio Moroder released an 80-minute version of the movie, adding a new (and entirely inappropriate) contemporary pop soundtrack. While unsatisfying, Moroder’s version did manage to bring the movie back into the public eye and fuelled the efforts of others to try and restore it to its original glory.

These efforts resulted in the release of a restored 124 minute version of the movie in 2001. This version restored the original orchestral soundtrack and used still shots and narrative captions to fill in the missing scenes. While far more satisfying than Moroder’s version, the movie still felt incomplete. It seemed like this would be the most fans would ever see of Lang’s visionary movie.

In 2008, however, a 16mm copy of the original film was discovered at the Museo del Cine in Argentina. This version was over 20 minutes longer than the 2001 release. In New Zealand, another print of the movie was found to contain 11 scenes missing from than the Argentinean version. These two prints were used to create the most complete version of the movie available.

This new version runs at 145 minutes, with narrative captions inserted to describe the missing 8 minutes of story. While still not complete, and with the new footage cropped from the original 35mm print, this restored version of the movie adds new subplots and increased tension and suspense in several key scenes.
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