Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 83 is brought to you by … well, by tardiness. Tardiness is something generally I have lots of patience for, considering how often I’m guilty of it. But when it comes to getting episodes of PTG uploaded and available for you guys to listen to at the very LEAST before the next show airs … well, I don’t give myself a whole lot of slack. Which is why I hereby apologize to you, our fans, for getting this episode out to you so late. The news headlines in this episode are so old and stale they might as well have been from 2009, and the reviews of Dollhouse and Marvel Comics‘ initial issues of Siege and Siege: Embedded so out of date that they don’t even need spoiler warnings at this point. But other than THAT, it’s still a pretty good hour and I hope you enjoy it.

In all seriousness, lots of changes for me personally are resulting in having to change the routine in which I get these podcasts available to you. Rest assured, I’ll be making every effort to get stuff out in a more timely manner from here on out. At the very least, you’ll be getting content from this past weekend on time, because they’re very good (and somewhat longer than usual) episodes thanks to the presence of “The Man” from Slacker and the Man in studio for the live broadcast. Check back later in the week to catch those, both in raw form (w/ video) and in podcast form.

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 50 is brought to you by 300, which you will be reminded of endlessly while watching Gamer should you choose to do so. Yes, Gerard Butler is playing an ENTIRELY different character possessed of an entirely different type of charisma, brooding and silent versus regal and defiant, but every time he speaks, it’s tough not to hear King Leonidas, regardless of the words themselves. OR you may be reminded of Crank and Crank 2: High Voltage, since those are the signature directorial works to date for the directors of Gamer, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Hopefully you’ll be reminded of a movie you enjoyed or still enjoy, and thus the experience of watching Gamer might be lifted somewhat. Believe it or not, the movie’s premise is pretty cerebral, and the future world it depicts is viciously satirical. Neveldine and Taylor were the screenwriters here, as well, and they seemed to have had a point and an agenda, which come off as much more important to get across than the film’s paper-thin plot and one-note characters carried along by that plot. What we get–a frenetic, exhausting mess of explosions, chases, and scenes featuring creepy internet clichés in place of believable characters–is presented with gleefully gratuitous exuberance that will leave you on the edge of your seat for all the wrong reasons. Makes me wonder what the result might have been if the script might have found its way into the hands of, say, Ridley Scott or Oliver Stone. Ah, well. Listen to the podcast for more on that.

From the title of this entry, it’s pretty obvious we spend some time in this episode talking about the Disney-Marvel deal that was the talk of Geekdom and beyond for most of last week. Also in this hour, top independent comic picks from last week, including Buck Rogers #3 and The Boys #34 from Dynamite Entertainment and Incognito #6 from Icon (not pictured above). Yeah, yeah, Icon isn’t an independent, it’s a Marvel imprint, but its world is in no way connected to what goes on in mainstream Marvel, so its close enough.

Yup, I’m a dumbass. (Note that when something GOOD happens here at PTG, it is written up in the blog with the ‘royal’ WE. But when something bad happens, it’s all on me. Thus it has been, thus it shall ever be.)

Many thank-yous to those who attended the live broadcast of PTG last Saturday night, and to Mad Mario for his great segment recommending great DLC for console systems that’s out there for purchase through NXE for XBOX players or Playstation Network for PS3 users. It was a great hour, and I lament that I can’t bring it to you downloaders because, well, because I didn’t hit the record button until the break between Hour 1 and Hour 2. Stop by the Prime Time Geek Message Board over at http://somacow.net/forum and feel free to make fun of me for the flub. Might just be the motivation I need to not make the same mental mistake again.

That said, Episode 15, Hour 2 of Prime Time Geek has MUCH for your listening pleasure as well. Our special guest on the phone, Shawn Schinault of Bad Apple Comics, had great things to say about the new Marvel MAX title “Destroyer”, written by Robert Kirkman (Marvel Zombies 1 & 2, Invincible, The Walking Dead) and illustrated by Cory Walker (Invincible), as well as a number of titles on his recommended reading shelf at the store, including trade paperback compilations of Marvel MAX’s Alias, Invincible Iron Man, Daredevil-Lady Bullseye, Pt. 1, and a few others that you’ll have to stop into the S. Orange Blossom Trail store to check out. Talking comics with Shawn was great fun and we hope to have him back on the show soon to provide more reviews and recommendations.

Speaking of the South Orange Blossom Trail store, the Car Meet co-sponsored by Lollicup to promote the new film Fast and Furious was a great success in terms of traffic to the store, so thanks to everyone who came out with their cars to be a part of the show. And a special thank you to everyone who took part in the video PTG shot while out there that day, particularly Mike Garcia, who earlier in the day took 1st Prize at the 25th Annual All British Car Show at Mead Gardens out in Winter Park. His MINI Cooper S is truly a delight to check out for car enthusiasts and gamers alike, considering the XBOX 360 system he’s got built into the trunk of the car! Keep checking back here at http://primetimegeek.com for the interview with Mike about his car, as well as all the other great footage we got from the day.

I began Hour 2 with a clip from Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home, thinking I would have a chance to talk about that film’s blu-ray release (along with the other “Original Crew” films and Season One of the Original Series) on May 12th, but alas, the time got away from me and I didn’t get to it. This clip loses a little something when you can’t SEE what’s happening, but Bones’ line about “the bureaucratic mentality” and Kirk’s “Let’s see what she’s got,” are well worth it. And even though we only got to see it for about 5 seconds, that was always my favorite Enterprise bridge–the gleaming white with blue chairs and glossy black control surfaces. One of my biggest gripes about Trek V (and I have MANY) was the Enterprise bridge redesign for that film. Bleagh.

Hour 2 features some praise for Marvel’s resident evil genius, Brian Michael Bendis, as he weaves a deliciously wicked web for the ‘real’ heroes of the Marvel U to find themselves out of, complicated mightily by Norman Osborn’s team of ‘Avengers’, currently starring in their own Avengers book, Dark Avengers. Bendis must simply be having a blast writing this, taking all the ‘wrongness’ of villains pretending to be good guys that he worked so well in Thunderbolts and kicking it up a notch with villains pretending to be our favorite good guys, good guys like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel, and dressing up once-and-soon-to-be-nutcase-again Norman Osborn in Iron Man armor painted like the American flag. So, SO wrong, and yet still SO entertaining.

Due to confusion over the different time slot for Episode 9, JC did not make his planned appearance, so the second block focused on more upcoming DC fodder, with particular emphasis on Battle For the Cowl. My one fear about this book is the length of time they’re going to drag things out with Dick Grayson resisting taking on the mantle of the Bat, the mantle everyone ELSE whose opinion matters KNOWS is one only he is deserving of. Others involved in the storyline, most notably Jason Todd, will certainly disagree with that conclusion, and will no doubt step up to fill Batman’s cape and cowl before Dick can get over his reservations, or at least that’s how it would go in a very conventional, predictable, boring kind of way. Please, Tony Daniel: surprise us.

The hour wraps some talking up of MegaCon this upcoming weekend and the BSG after-action report on “Deadlock”, last Friday night’s rather lackluster entry into Season 4.5. Easily the weakest of this half-season’s episodes, it serves the purpose of moving pieces into place for the final run of four episodes, as well as showing us something surprising. Before, while Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) was alive and in the fleet, before her death on New Caprica, it always seemed like there was NOTHING redeeming about her character, and she just served to bring out the worst in Saul (Michael Hogan). Now we see the truth: Saul and Ellen bring out the worst in EACH OTHER–it wasn’t all Ellen after all. On the Basestar in “No Exit”, Ellen is thoughtful, intelligent, maternal, sympathetic. Get her onboard Galactica and with Saul and she’s the bitchy, spiteful, manipulative harpy we were happy to see poisoned at the start of Season 3.

Yeah, it REALLY sucks to be Iron Man right now. And dammit, I always said Cyclops should have stuck to redheads.

I can’t even begin to verbalize how wrong THIS image is. And Wolverine’s kid has claws, Daddy’s costume, AND Daddy issues. Wonderful.

Loki’s machinations continue, and Venom BECOMES Spidey (To which poor Peter says, “Wait, WHAT?!”)

Well … wow.

It’s clear that Marvel, and in particular Brian Michael Bendis, is going to enjoy making us say over and over again “Oh, that’s just WRONG!” in the days and months to come. I’ve already been saying it about Hank Pym taking on the superhero name of his DEAD wife while teaming up with the robot he BUILT and programmed with his DEAD wife’s personality. But “New” Cap kneeling to the Iron Patriot a.k.a. Norman Osborn? Emma Frost going back to her evil ways and screwing over Cyclops and the X-Men? Loki getting the last laugh over Thor (this has already begun, as of last week’s EPIC Thor #600)?

DC Comics has some monumental events coming up this year, as well, but with all this going on for Joe Quesada and co. across the street, Marvel’s grip on market share in the comics industry, like Osborn’s now-iron grip over control of the Marvel Universe, is going to be tough to break.

Many thanks to Jevon Phillips and The Hero Complex for posting these!

In Hour 2 of PTG Episode 5, the Marvel Comics spotlight falls on the “Dark Reign” titles and where that storyline is heading, Podgnosticastor JC Martinez talks gaming hardware and what gamers want and are spending on, even in this down economy, and Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 rolls on, with things getting worse as only they can on BSG. Reviews of each new BSG episode will be a part of Hour 2 from now until the end of the series, and what a ride THAT promises to be, but be aware, SPOILER ALERT should be on in case you haven’t watched the episode yet!

All that, plus the usual internal monologue, chat room commentary, and fun with sound clips that makes up every episode of Prime Time Geek. Brownie points to whoever can identify the quote that starts the podcast WITHOUT looking on the wiki … And thanks to AlienFreak for the suggestion for a Spoiler Alert sound drop–watch for that in next week’s episode.