The brilliant new podcast Pods & Ends – “the junk drawer of pop culture” – asked me to write a piece for them about Spider-Man movies. Hot dog! I excitedly agreed and I think you should excitedly read this. In the post, I reflect nostaligically on everything from this Spidey movie whose name I cannot find no matter how hard I try from the ’80s up to and including the MIND-BLOWINGLY AMAZING Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I was honored to write for this great show and would love you to check it out.
You can listen to Pods & Ends here and you should also follow them on Twitter @pne_pod because they are way awesome people.
Um…did you click to see more from the homepage instead of just clicking over to the piece? Okay, I want to reward your investment so here’s the link to my piece again and here’s a random fact about me – for years I was terrified of dogs because of the demon dogs in Ghostbusters (1984). Yikes! Those things messed with my head. Also, here’s a bonus picture from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse! (Did you think I was going to show a picture of the demon dogs from Ghostbusters? Heck no! Why would I do that to myself?!? Nope, it’s Spider-Ham, Spider-Woman, SP//dr, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), and Spider-Man Noir all the way.)
I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO, SO, SOOOOOO MUCH!!! / Photo Credit – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
My Comic Relief 
Great post! You’ve made me want to see Into the Spider-Verse!
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Thank you! It was a really fun movie. I keep looking for reasons to go see it again :). The latest was last weekend when one of my best friends was seeing it with his kids for the first time. He asked if I wanted to go and I couldn’t say “YES” fast enough!
OH! This has nothing to do with ‘Spider-Verse’ specifically but more comic books in general. I’ve been trying to write a post about the intimidation factor of jumping into comic books as a newbie. It’s something a lot of people mention when they’re visiting here but something, understandably, I have trouble writing from given my history with the genre. I know we’ve talked about it a lot and you discuss it at times on your site too. Would you ever be interested in doing a guest post about that? Looking at your own growing experience with comics and the intimidation factor, even as someone who loves to read, of jumping into to the world of comics? Don’t feel pressured to say “yes”! There’s no rush to decide and certainly no rush to write anything either. No pressure at all :). But I think it would be a helpful piece for readers.
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I wish I had someone who wanted to see it with me! I don’t know why, but I feel like movies are more fun if you’re not watching them alone. Even though you aren’t necessarily talking to them while watching the movie so I suppose their presence shouldn’t matter so much.
I was already writing something similar, haha. So I can definitely send you a guest post. Do you have an email on your blog? I just see the contact form.
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Your friends have no idea what they’re missing! My brother’s girlfriend (for example) isn’t big on superhero movies or the movies in general. She sees like three movies in the theatre a year. But she LOVED ‘Into the Spider-Verse’! She wanted to go back and see it again the next day which is unheard of for her.
I’d agree that the movies are more fun with someone too. I mean I LOVE going to the movies so I go to a lot of them alone – sometimes I want to and sometimes I don’t know anyone who wants to see it with me or no one else is free when I am. Generally it doesn’t bother me. But there’s something about being able to whisper comments during the film to one another and then immediately discuss it afterwards that feels intrinsic to the special ritual of going to the movies. It’s especially nice to have that for movies you’re really excited to see. If we lived close we could go see it together and then write an epic blog crossover where we discuss it!
And my email is mmiller@mpslakers.com but if you’re already writing this post I don’t want to steal your idea for my site! I’d feel bad! However, I will be linking to it a lot I’m sure :).
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Haha! Yes! If I ever end up in your area, we should see a superhero movie! In the meantime, I’m revising my guest post so hopefully it will be ready sometime next week, for whenever you want to post it.
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As I’m often a bit slow on the comment replies, your guest post is being read here AS WE SPEAK. And it’s amazing and I appreciate it! Thank you :).
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Wooh! So exciting! And don’t worry. Sometimes I get so many comments I accidentally end up skipping over some when I try to answer them all.
Then I feel bad. Is it too late to reply six months later when you find a comment you didn’t reply to? Or is it then just awkward?
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Can it be both? Because the same thing happens to me! Or I’ll read it at work, plan to reply, and then never remember too BUT it’s no longer “new” so I overlook it when I’m checking notifications. But I think a late reply may always be awkward (to a degree) but it doesn’t always have to be too late to jump back into the conversation. Secretly I hope people will expect it and just think, “This reply is two and a half weeks late…hahaha, classic Michael” and then they’ll find it endearing :).
But I used to drive myself crazy trying to answer every comment as soon as it came up. Now I get to them when I can be in a place to enjoy reading and replying. This approach sometimes puts me in those awkward moments where it’s super late or I accidentally overlook something but, awkwardness or not, I enjoy my life and comment discussions much more this way. So I think it’s worth it.
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I kind of like when people don’t respond immediately because it means I don’t have to be as prompt, either. There seems to be increased expectation (in general, not specifically in blogging) that people are online all day and I’m not. Nor do I want to be. I work very hard to not be connected 24/7 and I don’t want to feel pressured about it.
I knew a grad student who told me their advisor yelled at them for not answering emails the same day. Um…sometimes you get busy? You have family emergencies? You aren’t in town? Three business days used to be the general rule and now we’re down to thinking it’s odd if people don’t answer within hours.
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I couldn’t agree more. Years ago there was a ‘Calvin & Hobbes’ comic strip where Calvin’s dad lamented how technology wasn’t saving us any time but just increasing the pressure for output. And he was right! I had to put a line in all my syllabi clearly stating I won’t check email after 5:00pm or before 8:00am on weekdays nor will I check it after 3:00pm on Saturdays or at all on Sundays. The expectation – on the part of students and parents – that I was always on and replying, as you said, within hours was ridiculous. It wasn’t healthy for my mind, body, or soul. Like you said, I’ve no desire to be connected to a computer or my phone all the time. LIFE is always happening around us and I am not comfortable missing the majority of it staring at a screen.
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