Trentus Magnus Punches Reality

In this week's ball-freezing episode, Magnus dips a toe into a couple of Superman issues from the Byrne Age. The common misconception about stories from this vintage of Superman's career is that there was never a two-part story taking place in a single Superman title because of the triangle numbering system. Au contraire! Karl Kesel kicks off the beginning of Stuart Immonen's run on Adventures of Superman with an oft-overlooked two-part Christmas story featuring heroes, villains, Christmas, split personalities and angry girl bands of the indie rock persuasion (or some such) than you can shake a stick at! If that isn't enough of a selling point for you, and if you just love some click-bait, "You won't believe what Magnus thinks of the Riot Grrrls!" Still not enough? Well, this week there's finally to reach down, stretch the ol' mail sack open nice and wide and review praise and adoration is contributed by you lowly beggars. Even so, you miscreants who haven't paid due homage to your leader shouldn't feel left

In this week's ball-rocking episode, Magnus feels like talking about absolutely nothing. Before poor Tom Panarese has even realized what's happened, he finds himself roped into long, meandering discussions about music, the art of the mix, how rock music fans have a strange habit of reflecting their band of choice's personality traits and other minutiae. For the click bait-fixated, "Magnus said *WHAT* about Eddie Van Halen?!" Because of the endless cascade of guitar solos and concert memories this week, there's just no time for Magnus to soak up adoration from the teeming hordes of unwashed masses. Notwithstanding though, you lowly beggars and miscreants shouldn't feel left out. You commoners and simpletons are always welcome to pay your pathetic attempt at tribute to Magnus. DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing, able and eager to accept bribes to present your meager missives to your wise leader. The email address to use is excellency@trentusmagnus.com, whereupon your leader might consider thinking about the

Two down, eight to go. In this week's ball-flogging episode, Magnus winds up his long, fond look back at the second season of Smallville in the last of two back-to-back Smallville episodes leading up to the epic, epic, EPIC 100th episode. This week, the spotlight falls on Visitor (a decent but not great episode), Precipice (featuring Clark's first brush with honest law enforcement), Witness (featuring Clark's first efforts to avoid honest law enforcement), Accelerate (where there doesn't have to be a rational explanation for all this), Calling (where Dr. Walden deserves a hand) and Exodus (where Clark "meets" his biological father). Subplots are concluded, characters (or what's left of them) are analyzed, future spoilers are only at most hinted at and the whole son of an enchilada weighs in at a compact hour and a half of undiluted Epic. Because of the amount of multi-layered analysis this week, there's just no opportunity to soak up adoration from the teeming masses. Notwithstanding though, you lowly beggars

In this week's ball-drugging episode, Magnus starts wrapping up his fond look back at the second season of Smallville in the first of two back-to-back Smallville episodes leading up to the epic, epic, EPIC 100th episode. This week, the spotlight falls on Suspect (a new cinematic benchmark for the show), Rush (wherein Magnus reveals a hitherto undisclosed comic book connection), Prodigal (there's some behind the scenes shenanigans that complicated the major plot point of this show and Fever (everything else has a parenthetical statement with it so this one should too). After that, in a segment all by itself, comes Rosetta, which was when His Excellency gave up the pretense and became a Smallville fan for life. Subplots are weighed, characters are analyzed, future spoilers are avoided and the whole burrito clocks in at a very efficient 76 minutes of undiluted Awesome. Because of the amount of discussion this week about all manner of character development and unappreciated comic book influences, there's simply n

In this week's ball-bootlegging episode, Magnus is joined by Chris "Not Guilty, Your Honor" Honeywell for another entry in the Big Book Report. This week, the Big Book Reporters take wander aimlessly through red light districts teeming with hookers, drug dealers, smugglers, gun-runners, pornographers, bootleggers and jaywalkers. And this is not to mention what happened after they finally started recording this episode about the DC/Paradox Press Big Book of Vice! Yes indeed, this much undiluted Awesome is only legal in four states (and yours isn't one of them, unfortunately) so listener discretion is advised. In fact, it's blatantly advocated in this case. Because this episode simply isn't for the faint of heart. If you suffer from high blood pressure, low blood pressure, withdrawal symptoms of any kind, diabetes, miscellaneous and sundry STD's, gout or chronic tardiness, you may want to find something a little less chiseled and manly to listen to. Surely there's a Brony podcast out there for you somewhere. Be

In this week's ball-zapping episode, Magnus is joined by J. David Weter (but you can call him "Dave") for a fond look back at the pure, unadulterated, undiluted awesomeness that is Flash- Born to Run from Flash #62-#65, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Greg Larocque. Not to worry, whatever the story lacks in visual flair is more than made up for by Waid bringing the badass as Wally recounts his first several adventures not only as a speedster but, more importantly, as the Flash's sidekick. Like a great boxer, Weter bobs, weaves, distracts, floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee as he never makes the comment you'd expect him to make. His kickassitude is exceeded only by His Excellency's rugged, bare-chested manliness. Weter is also singlehandedly responsible for this show's sheer existence as he was the only one of the two co-host's with a working podcast recorder. For those given to click-bait teases, "Weter said *WHAT* about Greg Larocque?" Because of the amount of discussion about absolutely n

In this week's ball-trampling episode, Magnus is joined by Chris Honeywell for an impromptu discussion. Actually, it's warm up for the Big Book Report- Vice episode coming soon to a podcast feed near you. Basically Honeywell and His Excellency gabbed about technology, Big Media, music and Honey-Do lists. And a wonderful time was had by all. There's a reason this episode was never officially announced on the Trentus Magnus Facebook page. For those given to click-bait teases, "You won't believe what Honeywell said about Christian music!" Because of the amount of discussion about absolutely nothing this week, there's no opportunity to soak up adoration from the teeming masses. Notwithstanding though, you lowly beggars and miscreants shouldn't feel left out. You commoners and peasants are always welcome to pay your pathetic attempt at tribute to Magnus. DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing, able and eager to accept bribes to present your missives to His Excellency for review. The email address to use is excelle

In this week's ball-depowering episode, Magnus was in a Byrne Age Superman mood and decided to geek out over two of the better issues from John Byrne's era: Adventures of Superman #440 and Superman #19. In these glory days, there were only two Superman-centric titles coming out each month to Byrne, Jerry Ordway and the other talents leading Superman into Post-Crisis glory knew they had to make with the awesome every single month. The end result is one of the all-time greatest yet sadly most-underappreciated eras of Superman's entire publishing history. On the rare occasion that most snooterati jerkface hipsters deign to notice Superman's existence, Doomsday invariably comes up... and it's high time those fecal-spewing misanthropes sat down, shut up and learned from their betters. To get back on the subject though, what's so amazing about these specific issues? Nothing. They simply carry on the well-established trend of awesomeness in Superman comics, month in and month out. All due respect to the triangle num

In this week's ball-gassing episode, Magnus felt like reading a crapload of Spider-Man comics. Actually, nothing much new there. That's been going on for months now. But the difference this time around is the historical nature of the issues in question. Yes, it would be fair to say that Amazing Spider-Man #39-#40 and #121-#122 are of considerable historical input. And, as it happens, very influential on the live action films we've seen up to now. So there's that. But most of all, this is a treasured continuation of His Excellency's downtime before things. Get. Real. Because it won't be long now before episode #100 comes along. And shortly after that Magnus will embark upon what amounts to a year a of six episode miniseries about miscellaneous and sundry themes, topics, storylines and other stuff. Enjoy it while you can, people. For those easily tricked by click-bait teases, "You won't believe what Magnus said about Norman Osborne!" Because of the amount of discussion about the ol' funny books this week, there

In this week's ball-shattering episode, Magnus puts Rite of Passage from Detective Comics #618-#621 and Identity Crisis (not that one) from Batman #455-#457 under the microscope. These two classic stories written by Alan Grant, pencilled by Norm Breyfogle and inked by Steve Mitchell served as the final lap in Tim Drake's journey toward becoming Batman's sidekick. In the process, Magnus waxes nostalgic over how much these stories meant as a wee ol' comic book collector in training. What ensues is seven issues of character-driven awesomeness with one brand new villain, one very old villain, awesome art and engaging characters. For those of you who regularly fall for click-bait tactics "Here are five things Magnus used to cherish about Batman comics. #3 will make you smile." After it's all over, Magnus stretches open the sack of mail once again to accept fawning praise from his loyal subjects. What more do you need to hear? Start listening now, lest a deranged voodoo witch doctor kidnap you. You lowly beggars an

In this week's ball-biting episode, Magnus continues the downtime by flipping through the first bunch of issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, the opening salvo of Marvel's Ultimate line and also the gateway for Brian Michael Bendis into Spider-Man's world and Mark Bagley's gateway *BACK* into Spider-Man's world. What ensues is seven issues of... well, something. Good? Bad? A Lady Gaga video? There's absolutely positively only *ONE* way to know for sure. And that's by listening! For those of you who regularly fall for click-bait tactics "Magnus said *WHAT* about Stan Lee?!" Leading off all this though is a nice, tantalizing preview of coming attractions... most of which aren't actually coming soon after all because His Excellency reorganized the schedule long after recording this segment. So hmm. But rest assured, at one point all of that stuff was very much the plan. Just not anymore so much. So what else is there to say? Start listening now! Or else a genetically-engineered spider will chew up your balls. Unfortun

In this week's ball-smashing-with-a-nine-iron episode, Magnus once again yammers on at great (some would say unnecessary) length about Dichotic, Skinwalker, Visage and Insurgence from Smallville's second season. Watch Jonathan Taylor-Thomas split in two! Thrill to a Kawache girl turning into a werewolf (if that's your thing)! Witness Clark almost leap a tall building with a single bound! Crucial characters are introduced, sublime subplots are carried forward and a well-regarded second season episode is manifestly a sequel to a first season episode. All this, and Magnus once again pulls the ol' mailbag open nice and wide. So what are you waiting for? Start listening right now! Otherwise Tina Greer might beat you silly with a baseball bat. You lowly beggars and miscreants shouldn't feel left out. You commoners and peasants are always welcome to pay your pathetic attempt at tribute to Magnus. DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing, able and eager to accept bribes to present your missives to His Excellency for re

In this week's ball-stealing adventure, Magnus is once joined by Chris Honeywell, recently out on parole, for another entry in the Big Book Report. The duo take a look back at the Big Book of Little Criminals... which provides a nice opportunity for Big Book Reporters to take a fond and maybe not-so-fond look back at various scumbags, miscreants and general lowlifes they've known over the years. And it ain't pretty either. Because of the SIZE of comic discussion this around, there's no real opportunity for Magnus to whip out the ol' mailsack and stretch it open nice and wide. But even so, you lowly beggars and miscreants shouldn't feel left out. You commoners and peasants are always welcome to pay your pathetic attempt at tribute to Magnus. DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing, able and eager to accept bribes to present your missives to His Excellency for review. The email address to use is excellency@trentusmagnus.com, whereupon your leader might consider thinking about the possibility of potentially discu

In this week's ball-reprogramming adventure, Magnus is joined by the Conway Twitty of podcasting, J. David Weter (but you can call him "Dave") to shoot the bull about Spider-Man & Batman- Disordered Minds written by jovial J.M. DeMatteis and illustrated by mellow Mark Bagley. A first for Trentus Magnus Punches Reality (in that inter-company crossovers have never been discussed on this show before), His Excellency and J. David Weter (but you can call him "Dave") pore through every last detail of the comic and also find the time to shoot the bull about Daredevil a little bit. As ever with Spider-Man, he wins and loses, loves and loses, fights and loses, tries to stay calm and loses, reaches out for friendship with Batman and loses, and pretty much does a lot of losing in this story. But he punches the Joker in the face and lives to tell the tale. So that's something. Because of the length, width and girth of comic talk this week, there's no time for Magnus to stretch the mailsack. But even so, you lowly beg

In this latest ball-strangling episode, Magnus reads Amazing Spider-Man #298-#300 for the very first time. Or maybe the first time in a long time. Who can tell? This legendary trio of issues written by David Michelinie and illustrated by Todd McFarlane, for better or for worse, introduce a major new character to the Spider-Mythos. Unlike subsequent appearances though, this mystery character is actually a pretty interesting and compelling character in this story. Subsequent comics would not be so kind to him. As for Spider-Man, he once again wins and loses, loves and loses, fights and loses, tries to stay calm and loses and pretty much does a lot of losing in this story. But he hangs out with Aunt May a few times. So there's that. Once the comic talk has run its course, Magnus pulls a gaping hole into the mailsack so that you beggars can trip over each other to heap praise upon His Excellency's excellence. But you other lowly commoners and peasants shouldn't feel left out. Yes, the great, filthy, unwashed mass

This latest ball-drowning episode finds His Excellency Magnus taking a long, fond and nostalgic look back at Batman- Going Sane, a four part story from Legends of the Dark Knight #65-#68 geniusly written by JM DeMatteis, masterfully illustrated by Joe Staton and imaginatively lettered by Willie Schubert. The pitch is simple enough: What if the Joker wins? What follows is a journey through darkness and insanity that Apocalypse Now can only dream of. This story is so awesome that a strong argument can be made that mass audiences *STILL* haven't recovered from it. Certainly the Joker has it. Take your Death of the Family silliness outside; nobody cares. Going Sane is what the Joker is *ALL* about. The common rabble aren't left out of the fun either! Nope. This week His Excellency stretches the ol' mail sack once again so that the lowly peasants can pay their great leader the honor which he is due. Even so, the rest of you simple commoners are welcome to kiss His Excellency's ring of greatness too. DiManzocorp in

In this latest ball-webbing episode, Magnus is still kicking back and enjoying the downtime before a crapload of miniseries and megaseries start up by taking a fond, if slightly sarcastic, look back at Amazing Spider-Man #31-#33 by Surfing Stan Lee and Pyschosomatic Steve Ditko, a little classic called If This Be My Destiny. Spider-Man wins and loses, loves and loses, fights and loses, tries to stay calm and loses. In short, he does a lot of losing in this storyline, and His Excellency is there every step of the way to chronicle the journey. Once all that's over, Magnus stretches the gaping hole in the mailsack so that the simpletons and fools can jockey for position to heap praise upon His Excellency's splendor. You other lowly halfwits and commoners, you great, filthy, unwashed masses are welcome to pay your pathetic attempt at tribute to Magnus as well. DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing and able to accept bribes to present your missives to His Excellency. The email address to use is excellency@trentus

In this latest ball-yanking episode, Magnus continues his downtime before things get crazygonuts by Legends of the Dark Knight #11-#15 by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy. Or, as it's more commonly known, Batman- Prey. If this seems like unusual subject matter for this show, keep in mind that Batman's 75th anniversary is over so the moratorium on the character has ended as well. This is a classic yet unsung Batman story that nobody except Magnus seems to remember, which means it's well worth talking about. His Excellency rationally analyzes some parts of the story, geeks out over others and generally a good time is had by all. Test-audiences were rendered blind over this episode's epic splendor so listener discretion is not only advised but actively encouraged. Once all that's over, Magnus opens up the ol' mailsack so that the peasants can compete with each other to heap fawning praise on the ground upon which their leader walks. Notwithstanding all the time spent letting the unwashed masses pay their humble tribu

In this latest ball-twisting episode, Magnus enjoys the downtime by rereading some of the few truly enjoyable Spider-Man comics from the mid-90's. The Untold Tales of Spider-Man was an unexpected oasis in the Clone Saga wilderness. So what effect did Untold Tales have on His Excellency's budding Spider-Fandom? The answer is not what you think Once it's all over, Magnus reacts to Views from the Longbox Episode 188: Legion Talk. So important is that episode of Views that the awesomeness of it cannot be contained to just one episode of Bailey's fine show. The click-bait fiends amongst us probably expected "Magnus said *WHAT* about Paul Levitz?!" but not everything should cater to Buzzfeed's lowest common denominator marketing gimmicks. Because of all the comic talk and Views from the Longbox reaction, there's no time for His Excellency to accept homage from his listening audience of serfs this week. Notwithstanding, paying tribute to His Excellency's awesomeness is never discouraged so you peasants with ideas fo

In this latest ball-poisoning episode, Magnus once again takes a look back at Smallville, this time discussing the episodes Nocturne, Redux, Lineage and Ryan from season 2. The characters alternately get blasts from the past, discover surprising secrets about family and, at points, say goodbye to friends way too soon. All that and Magnus clues you plebes in on the sowing of seeds for Clark's character trajectory this season. Once it's all over, His Excellency takes a fond look back at his own magnificence in podcasting during 2014. The voluminous quantity of highs, the only low (which was itself a fluke, very brief and the perfect storm of factors utterly beyond His Excellency's control). The click-bait suckers in the crowd might have wanted the above to say "I can't believe who Magnus smack-talked in the second half!" but not everything belongs on Buzzfeed. Most things don't, in fact. Because of all the character study and the recognition of his grandeur, Magnus has no time for you plebes to pay tribute to y