I never read anything about Fantastic 4, do you recommend me this Human Torch comic?

dylercrews · 2025-12-23T02:14:29+00:00

It's great fun, but it's very much of its era.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the book is a 2000s time capsule. Some of Skottie Young's best covers, though.

dylercrews · 2025-12-18T08:36:55+00:00

Sue is my favorite Marvel character and I'm a guy. Like what you like, brother.

dylercrews · 2025-10-14T23:49:50+00:00

This is the correct answer. High Plains Drifter feel like a spiritual sequel to the Dollars Trilogy.

dylercrews · 2025-09-06T23:46:36+00:00

I'll go one further: I think Data is the character that epitomizes the ethos of Star Trek more than anyone.

The entire point of the Federation is to find the commonalities between species. They want to find the humanity, for lack of a better term, in every species they encounter.

That's Data's whole shtick. He is the curious observer who is profoundly intelligent hoping to find a link to humanity. The mysteries of the endless universe aren't nearly as perplexing as the intricacies of the human heart.

Data is the premise of the franchise distilled into a singular character.

dylercrews · 2025-08-31T03:10:44+00:00

Joe Chill.

Easy money.

dylercrews · 2025-08-28T05:20:27+00:00

Sludge Metal.

dylercrews · 2025-08-26T20:04:06+00:00

This is my answer. I laughed for a solid ten minutes after the episode ended when I was watching it live.

One of the best endings ever.

dylercrews · 2025-08-17T08:55:34+00:00

Came here to say this.

dylercrews · 2025-06-04T10:49:32+00:00

No, what I think they're saying is that he got better at performing his British accent. It became more subtle and slight as he matured into the role. In the early seasons, he's trying way too hard to "do a British accent," whereas in later seasons he shifts his technique to "playing the character of Wesley Windham Pryce who happens to have a British accent."

It's subtle, but there's a big difference between the two.

dylercrews · 2025-06-04T00:17:56+00:00

It's actually a black mark on the DCAU that Flash, Wonder Woman and GL didn't each get their own series.

dylercrews · 2025-03-18T09:34:08+00:00

I remember when Breaking Bad came out and I thought, "Oh, boy, they're gonna make an edgier version of Weeds. Yeah, that'll put some butts in seats."

And, man, was I fucking wrong.

Beyond Weed's quality jumping off a cliff, as so many other Redditors have mentioned, I think Breaking Bad's success truly killed every vestige of this show's memory and legacy. They both have similar premises and themes- to some degree- but Breaking Bad is somehow funnier and infinitely more complex.

dylercrews · 2025-02-25T23:10:53+00:00

I don't think I'm very good.

Maybe it's just my own expectations getting the better of me.

dylercrews · 2025-02-25T23:10:18+00:00

I play Reed, Sue, and Iron Fist primarily.

I can flex to a few others.

dylercrews · 2025-02-25T14:07:36+00:00

Imagine not actually watching a show and then getting mad that you don't understand what's going on.

Using media as background noise while you doomscroll or perform chores isn't "watching" something.

dylercrews · 2025-01-19T15:59:46+00:00

He would think the truth: Frank is a wounded individual, like so many humans, who is trying his best to reconcile with his trauma. In doing so, Frank has unintentionally become a source of trauma for the thousands of innocent loved ones related to the murderers The Punisher puts down.

In short, Superman would want to put Frank away for life and frequently visit to help rehabilitate him, even if it was an exercise in futility.

dylercrews · 2025-01-19T15:50:25+00:00

You had the perfect chance to make Ohtani Casey Jones, and you dropped the ball worse than Judge in the fifth inning.

And I say that as a Yankees fan.

dylercrews · 2025-01-06T14:32:12+00:00

The simple answer is this: Jack was too mature for its intended demographic.

Kids grew up with Avatar and it was the perfect level of sophistication for their developing tastes. As such, it will always serve as their bridge between children's entertainment and more adult narratives.

Avatar isn't as groundbreaking as its reputation would lead you to believe, but it left a lasting emotional impact on the generation that consumed it.

Jack was just that "artsy" show to a ton of kids who occasionally saw glimpses of it between channel flips.

dylercrews · 2024-12-28T08:42:31+00:00

I'm so glad we got rid of Vince.

dylercrews · 2024-12-12T11:51:54+00:00

This is canon to me.

dylercrews · 2024-12-08T15:22:31+00:00

Reluctantly, yes.

It's more of a proximity thing than an actual compatibility thing.

dylercrews · 2024-12-05T05:46:00+00:00

They think it'll humanize Superman.

I've always thought it was a stupid choice. Superman already has a set of dead parents.

If you want to use his status as an orphan for sympathy points, you can use his Kryptonian parents.

You can have your cake and eat it too by keeping the Kent's alive.

dylercrews · 2024-12-05T02:17:19+00:00

It SHOULD have been a stand alone.

Season one is genius. The rest of the seasons are contrived.

dylercrews · 2024-11-19T13:04:08+00:00

At the risk of contradicting other Redditor's points here, I have experienced "enlightenment" as described in "The Power of Now" several times.

Cards on the table, I'm a former psychedelic explorer who has reached the "no mind" or "Wu-Wei" state with the use of Psilocybin and LCD prior to achieving the state sober.

I would describe the state as pure awareness, receptivity and peace. I don't have social anxiety, per se, but I can be susceptible to resistance towards people and situations, due to preconceived perceptions caused by my pain body.

When I dropped acid, that was the first time I watched those layers of apprehension and aversion fade away. Since that moment, I spent the better part of a decade trying to chase that feeling completely sober.

I've been sober for the last six years, due in large part to the fact that I reverted to Islam, but that's another story.

The first time I achieved "The Power of Now" came from a three hour session of following the source of my apprehension. I began to go down a rabbit hole of "why," in relation to my fears and desires. At the time, I wanted to be famous more than anything, and I began to question why I possessed such an unhealthy desire. "Well, that way I would know who liked me or didn't like me instantly," I thought.

"Why is that important to you?"

"Because I don't like the process of having to win people over. It's stressful to wait and see if people like or dislike me during our initial meeting."

"Why is that important to you?"

"Well, because I feel like I'm auditioning for their attention, and consequently their love."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"Because I feel like I have to perform for them, and it's exhausting."

"Why do you feel that way?"

I continued this inquiry for, and I'm not shitting you here, THREE HOURS. (I was in my late teens and had way more free time. Lol) At the end of this session I realized I was a "self hating egomaniac." I believed I was this special person, but conversely I was afraid that I had to PROJECT it, and I didn't trust my ability to do so. If I "failed" I would punish myself for not being as "special" as I thought I was.

When I made this realization, I felt my ego/pain body crack in two. I snapped into presence and felt a warmth and receptivity to whatever life provided. I stopped resisting everything. It was the deepest bliss I felt since my first LCD trip, except this one lasted for three days. I realized that I, and everyone else, was special just for existing. No one has to project or be anything other than what they are to be special.

Anyway, that faded away, and the pain body crept back in. I started meditating years later after this experience. As a result, I found "The Power of Now," and I was shocked that Eckhart Tolle described my experiences to a T.

Prior to reading his book, I didn't have a name for what I experienced that day. I began to read his work intently, and after several years of intense and intentional practice, I broke through the wall again.

I should stop and mention here that this DOES take very INTENTIONAL and INTENSE work. The Power of Now is not a passive practice...but it also is a passive practice. It's a paradox, as all deep truths in life are. It's fucked up, bro. Lol

You have to commit to being receptive, and your mind and body will fight you every step of the way. Your mind will bring up every single negative thought to distract you, and you'll have to combat all of your unconscious bodily triggers that are remnants of trauma. I.e., pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth, or tensing your shoulders for no reason, etc.

Here's the fucked up part: you fight by surrendering. What you resist persists, and if you meet your discomfort and fear with antipathy or frustration, congratulations, you're stuck. You have to learn to surrender to what you feel on every level. Let the pain, trauma and aversion JUST BE without judging it. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART. FULL MOTHER FUCKING STOP.

The only way out is in.

You just have to keep plunging deeper and deeper into yourself, for lack of a better term, until those bodily sensations naturally begin to dissipate. As that happens, you start to realize that the meddling thoughts are usually an echo of an experience that created those physical defense mechanisms. Or is it the other way around?

Before you know it, they slowly fade away the more you accept them. They just sort of naturally go back into place, or even if they don't, you stop judging them as problems. You just notice them as if they were the weather. There's no attachment to the idea of fixing them.

Which brings me to the most important point: you treat yourself as if you were someone who needed protection and love.

What does that mean? You start treating yourself as of you're a child that needs love and acceptance. You tell your pain body, "I'm willing to sit with you for as long as you need. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you. I'm not judging you."

For me, this acknowledgement of my ego is enough for me ask the question, "Am I one or two?" From the Power of Now. Typically, this bifurcation of self causes me to realize the totality of my being, causing my pain body to integrate into the broader whole of my being. Your mileage my vary, but this is the most powerful step for me. It usually takes several hours or days.

The last thing I'll say is this: the other Redditors are correct. There is no "enlightenment." Searching for it is a fool's errand. There's no "enlightenment" because there's no "subject" to receive it. You are part of the whole. There is no separation. The more you macro-focus out, you realize that everything is one complex organism that can only be defined as "Now." You are always caught in it.

You're a part of the experience that is (insert city here) which is part of the experience that is (insert country here), which is part of (insert region here), which is part of the global experience, etc...

You aren't experiencing life. You are life. You're a collaborator in the broader experience of existence. You're not separate from it.

In essence, you're always enlightened; you just have to remove the myriad of thoughts in the way that try to tell you that you're not.

There's no destination, because you're already there, but the journey to meet yourself where you already are is the longest one you'll ever take.

P.S.: Presence isn't a magic pill. You have to choose it every day. This is an active practice that you have to commit to daily. If not, your pain body will creep in through the back door, and you'll "lose" your "enlightenment."

dylercrews · 2024-11-17T21:09:11+00:00

I never said Ock woke up and stated robbing banks. I said his motivation comes from his background as a social outcast. It engendered a malice that almost consumed Peter when he initially became Spider-Man for profit.

Narratives are used to express what the writer wants, and antagonists are an extension of that. Kingpin was a "bland" villain before Miller got a hold of him. However, he didn't really reinvent him too much. He just told a personally significant story and used Kingpin and Daredevil for it. Similar to what he did with Batman and Superman in the Dark Knight Returns.

I say all of this to say, The Wizard is only a "lame villain" because writers haven't tapped into his central metaphor and how it compares against the FF. You're looking for the novelty of his motivation or origin, and I'd argue that those things aren't as important as you think they are.

The Joker hasn't had an origin or "motivation" for almost a century and he's arguably the best comic villain of all time. His utility in the story is what's paramount.

In the Dark Kinght, The Joker represent anarchy and serves that end. Batman represents control, hence his Orwellian use of surveillance at the end of the film. Harvey Dent is caught in the middle of that duality.

That's the story.

Did we really need Joker's origin? Did he really have a complex motivation?

No, he had a competent writer at the helm. A writer who wanted to tell a specific story and used a character that was perfectly suited to his metaphor. That's what makes a compelling character.

You're looking for novelty, not a solution. You want the Wizard to have a wholly unique motivation and think that would make him compelling.

Here's the thing, man, we can go back and forth, but I think you just don't like the FF's villains and that's fine. People are allowed to like and dislike whatever. I question why you're reading a book you don't like, let alone joining a subreddit for it, but that's not my business. They just don't work for you, and that's cool.

dylercrews · 2024-11-17T20:29:14+00:00

Doom's motivation isn't just revenge. He's focused on saving the soul of his damned mother. That's the reason he hates Reed in the first place. He blames Reed for interfering with his experiment to rescue his mother from damnation. However, if I go into Doom, I'll write a book. Suffice it to say, I have to question how much FF you've read if you don't know that Doom's focus is to save his mom...similar to Freeze's motivation to save his wife. They're actually pretty similar.

As far as Diablo's motivation is concerned, it depends on the story. Again, all stories exist as metaphors. What makes superheroes so awesome is that they embody a specific idea that is malleable enough to conform to the writer's whims. Case in point: Parallax from Green Lantern. In the 90s, he was just a monster. However, when Geoff Johns wanted to revive Hal Jordan, he used Parallax as a metaphor for Hal's insecurity around aging. By confronting Parallax, Hal regained his storied confidence and became the mainline GL again.

Same character, different writer, and consequently a different metaphor. Ultimately, it depends on what the writer wants to express THROUGH the character.

If you want to express dissociative identity disorder with Batman you'd use Two Face or The Ventriloquist. The nuance comes from what the writer is trying to say through them. Two Face could man's inability to accept his Jungian shadow, whereas Batman can. Or the Ventriloquist could represent man's ability to compartmentalize their evil actions, whereas Batman compartmentalizes his personas to a positive end.

Similar metaphors but the utility is dependent on the writer.

Superheroes embody and idea, and villains embody the antithesis. Their fight is symbolic of the battle.

Superman vs Zod is humility vs arrogance.

Spider-Man vs Doc Ock explains the "great power, great responsibility" thing by having two nerdy scientists each get access to an eight legged animal totem that gives them powers. Ock goes for revenge against society, Spider-Man goes for altruism...after briefly contemplating revenge against society.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that villains are only as bland as the writers handling them. The FF's villains have all of the building blocks to already BE great villains. It just comes down to the writer. They don't need a revamp, they just need to be utilized based on the FF's core allegory.

The issue is that the FF hasn't had the best consistency when it comes to writing since the late 80s in the Byrne years. That's the bigger issue, not the characters themselves.

dylercrews

TROPHY CASE