Ep 4: "Gotham Villains"
Alright. And hack. Welcome, everybody. It is 8 o'clock EST, 5 o'clock my time because I'm a weird Arizonian and time doesn't make any sense here. I am Tay.
Jenn:I'm Jen.
Tay:And, welcome.
Jenn:So we are the, we're the United States Department of Nerds from the We Know We Hear You Podcast And if you guys haven't checked out our first episode, this is a perfect place for all nerds from all walks of life that can come, hang out, learn, and share. Enjoy our intro.
Tay:Welcome back, everybody. Thanks. Kevin. I'm sorry, Calvin.
Jenn:So, they will
Tay:be doing our shots as per usual. So we're going to go ahead and give a shot, to DFPN's own, Kately because he's gone through a lot right now. So the shot goes out to you and to the rest of the USDN also for helping me out while I've been kind of in and out of things, because I have my kiddo here from Belgium. So, I will be doing a shot out of my Hollywood class. I am taking a shot of what is this?
Tay:This is, peach crown.
Jenn:Peach crown. Oh. What do you got? I'm doing my rum. I got my raspberry rum.
Tay:It's literally a handle.
Jenn:Cheers to you, Gailey.
Tay:Alright. Cheers.
Jenn:Alrighty.
Tay:Oh, man. It hurts. Yeah.
Jenn:It burns a little bit. You good?
Tay:Yeah. I'm great. I got water.
Jenn:Alright. So, we wanna open up today's episode 4 of the queen of New Year's. One of my very favorite quotes from Robin Williams. Please remember all that you're only given one little spark of madness. Don't ever lose it.
Jenn:Love that quote. Put that on my wall but I think this quote is actually finance we explore the Gotham Villains so last time we talked to you guys we were talking about the heroes so talking about the villains seems just appropriate. I actually I don't know about you, but I actually had a little bit more fun with the villains.
Tay:Oh, for sure. Like, I totally no. But, like, I totally like, like, my brain, I guess, is on, like, the the villain side just because they're, like we'll get into it later, but, like, they're just so relatable. It's weird. You know?
Jenn:He's a better villain, I think, when you, like, know where they're coming from. So anyhow and I think our fans for voting through the poll guiding us through kind of choosing which villains to talk about and just remember at USDN that we are for the people by the people okay so just remember that a lot of the information that we are presenting is just skimming the surface just kind of going over highlights of characters and things that they didn't part of their abilities, things like that. If we went on all the endless rabbit holes that there are, this podcast would probably be like infinite. Like it would never end. There's so many different rabbit holes and things that we can talk about.
Jenn:I agree. DC villains are so much cool than the heroes. It's 100%. Yeah. Aidy
Tay:said it's the best, man. Like, they they really are relatable, like, villains.
Jenn:They really are. Alright. Hey. Who do we have personally?
Tay:Alright. Our first one is the porta vowels. So, this is going to be the first villain that we're gonna be talking about, part of the, villains episode. So, the core vowels first appeared in Batman volume 2, number 1 in 2011. And who are they?
Tay:So they're in a, arrow oh, this word is always hard. Sorry.
Jenn:A secret society. Always.
Tay:Yeah. No. It's fine. No. It's really just a word.
Tay:But it's a secret society, which is years old, that has immense power and influences the embedded culture and the architecture that's in the Gotham City. So the first thing that we're gonna talk about is the origin. So the myth of the Court of Owls is older, and it's older than, like, Gotham City itself. The court splintered off from the tribe of Judas. So who's the tribe of Judas?
Tay:They were a cult that worshiped a, cosmic bat deity known as bar Barbados. That was, like, weird. Definitely, like, a loophole and, rabbit hole there. Right? But to continue on, the court ruled Gotham from the shadows harvesting, a rare metal, and it was called, electrum Mhmm.
Tay:Which, made the the chemical, dinos I don't know exactly how to spell pronounce that, and I'm sorry. I totally butchered that. Diamysium?
Jenn:Yeah. Yeah. Diamon Museum.
Tay:Diamon Museum. And it was also as this, Facebook user, said that the first time that I heard about the court vowels just like them was actually from the Gotham TV series. So same here. Barbados? No.
Tay:I know. I know. I know. Barbados.
Jenn:Barbados. Barbados. Maybe that's where the bat's from. He's from
Tay:Barbados. The Virimi Island? Yeah. No. So the court used this chemical to engineer, the talons.
Tay:And the talons are a legion of superhero assassins that they use to eliminate their enemies, and they groom them from, like, a very young age.
Jenn:Of course.
Tay:So the talons are so brutal. They they like to kill people, and this is, like, their favorite way to kill people is by dragging them into the sewers and then, like, giving them drugged water because, obviously, you have to drink water. Right? Photographing them and then, like, having the entire actual, like, court of, spectator members, like, watching this happen. And then, the Talons will mercy kill, like, the person.
Tay:But this is after the the, the victim is dragged into the sewers, drugged, and, like, walking around this ginormous mace because sewers are maces. And this is, like, super brutal.
Jenn:That's weird.
Tay:So the court members get dressed in white owls and, like, white owl masks. And, they often hid owls in their clothing or architecture, around, like, the actual city, to reference their operation.
Jenn:Mhmm.
Tay:So this is passed from generation to generation in the form of a nursery rhyme, which I'm gonna go ahead and read off for y'all. They wear the court of owls that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from the shadowy perch behind graphite and lime. They watch you at your hell or hearth your hearth, and they watch you in your bed. Speak not a whisper word of them or they'll send the talon for your head. Super cool.
Tay:I thought it was super dope. So,
Jenn:like see it.
Tay:Yeah. It was, like, it was really cool to, like, research them, and I was just, like, I had a lot of fun with this. So Alan Wayne had his own part of that, and part of the Court of Owls. So the Court of Owls and, Wayne, Alan Wayne, had an agreement that his business would build architecture in the city, but would have, like, secret hideouts for the court to do their mischievous in. And it would often be on the 13th floor, hence the superstition.
Tay:Yeah. So cool. So then, so I wanted to say, like, who Alan actually was. So Alan Wayne is the great great great, no. Sorry.
Tay:Great great grandfather of Bruce Wayne. He's the firstborn generation in Gotham. So, Alan found out about the actual plan that the court of Owls had, and this drove him insane because he was like trying to tell people on the streets and trying to get the word out there and nobody would listen to him. And, eventually, the court obviously heard about this and hence the nursery rhyme. They dragged him into a manhole, like, one of the manhole covers that are, like, on the street.
Tay:And they tortured him in the labyrinth of sewers, and then murdered him by, like, several stab wounds. But this was, like, never actually, like, known that it was the Court of Owls. So, like, it was just kinda like we knew, but, like, nobody really talked about it because they didn't wanna die. So the threat of Bruce Wayne, is the next topic that we're gonna talk about. So, Bruce returns to Gotham after creating Batman Incorporated.
Tay:And while home, he uses his wealth and influence to, revitalize this. So that means, like, he had this whole plan for the city, and he, like, talked about it. So his announcement, of this plan was interrupted, when he hears commissioner Gordon receive a call about a mysterious murder. So Bruce dons the bat suit. Right?
Tay:And then he arrives on the scene. He's like, what's up, Batman?
Jenn:And and he meets up with Harvey Bullock. Just like that.
Tay:Just like that. No shit. That's exactly what happened.
Jenn:So Batman. Oh, Batman.
Tay:But, anyway, he arrived at the scene, and, there's a John Doe. Right? And that's on the ground, with multiple, like, antique throwing knives, like, in the image of an owl, like, thrown on his body. Super dope. Super dope.
Tay:And then Batman, like, finds skin underneath the dude's fingernails.
Jenn:So
Tay:then he so Batman sends the cells to Alfred for DNA recognition, but it's still on the scene because he's got, like, you know, his back gadgets and they're doing the things, the cool science things. I'm not a science person. Science things. Science. And while waiting for the results from Alfred, Bruce finds a secret message on the wall proclaiming that Bruce Wayne will die tomorrow.
Jenn:Can I ask you something? Absolutely. Go. If you're in secret society, why leave a calling card of Alice at the scene of crime?
Tay:That way so in my mind, it's like the Joker. Right? He leaves his, like, the Joker card. Right? It's just to instill that fear that they're still here and still doing things.
Jenn:Gotcha.
Tay:That's that's me?
Jenn:Me? That's April?
Tay:That's my take. That's my hot take. Taste hot take.
Jenn:Hot take. Okay. It was like, then I'm gonna think about it, and then according to the nursery line, right, I'm done for. I'm like, it's self serving. It's it's.
Tay:Yeah. So Alfred calls back, with the DNA results through the alum Illuminati of DC. Yes.
Jenn:I was just gonna ask you that. I'm like, they're throwing off some Illuminati vibes. Mhmm. And I totally agree.
Tay:Yeah. Straight up. They did. So Alfred calls back with the DNA results and, the potential killers, like, DNA, actually was a perfect match for Dick Grayson. Do you know who that is?
Tay:Yeah. It's Robin.
Jenn:It's Robin. What is it, Minnie?
Tay:So the attack of the talent is what I'm gonna cover next. So Bruce discussed that the owl exist, and or sorry. He was, like, told that the owls, like, the court of owls existed, but he was like, like, I'm not gonna believe that. I'm not going to entertain this, secret Illuminati society. Like, that's not for me.
Tay:That's cool, but nah. So during a meeting that he had with Lincoln March, he was warned by Lincoln that there was an ancient evil that had come to Gotham that was awakened by these new plans that Bruce had, like, was showing was promoting. While this meeting was going on, a talent burst through, like, the window and stabs Bruce. It's like, ah,
Jenn:stabs him. Rude. Rude. Where where where where
Tay:where yeah. Just total staff.
Jenn:Invite you. Go away.
Tay:So it wasn't through a window. It was through an elevator. But a window would have been cooler.
Jenn:I wish they would. Right. But that's how that's how it's lazy. He's watching this. He's in the elevator.
Tay:It's like, I don't want glass shards in myself. I'm good. I'll just take the elevator.
Jenn:It burns. You know, I get it.
Tay:Yeah. So a talent burst through the elevator. He came from the elevator and, like, burst through, kills 2 security guards on his way and then plunges a knife, into Lincoln's chest. And then he turns and then he stabs Bruce, multiple times. You know, multiple stabs.
Tay:And then, Bruce gets, an arm around Talon's, like, neck to try to, like, choke him, but it doesn't work. He's just, like, sitting there, like, like, I'm gonna choke you, but it doesn't work. So the talent throws Bruce, like, out a window. Here's your window, your window moment. So he throws Bruce out of a window, of the old wing tower.
Tay:I'm sorry. AD just did something weird. I don't know what he just did. Did he he didn't message me. We're good.
Tay:Alright. So, shoot. Where am I? Okay. Yeah.
Tay:So, he threw him out of the window at the old Wayne Tower and then jumped after him. Mhmm. Like and then the talent, like, said, like, that he loves killing Wayne's. And that was, like, our throwback, like, our callback to Alan Wayne, if you guys remember. But Bruce catches our gargoyle on his way down and shakes off the talon, and then the talon, like, falls on the street below.
Tay:The EMTs were, like, there to go pick up the dead body, what they thought was a dead body. But a short time after they had picked him up, the Talon, like, his body came back to life. And, the Talon, like, killed the people that were there, and disposed of them. And then this led to the notion that, like, talents are immortal.
Jenn:Or, like,
Tay:where they're, like, showed that talents are immortal because they're, like, super badass. So first
Jenn:your factor you're talking about?
Tay:I'm sorry. What?
Jenn:It kinda increases that fear factor you were talking about.
Tay:Exactly. Yeah. So, like, the only reason that there are talents is because of court of vowels. And you see, like, the court of vowels, like, insignia everywhere, and then you see a random Talon, like, stabbing people. So
Jenn:for
Tay:sure, like, there's that fear that's there. So Bruce, who is still Batman at this time, ends up searching for, like, answers on how the town found his way up through, like, Wayne Tower. And he came through a or, like, he came onto a group that was a u Ukrainian, group that called themselves the Whisper Gang. Gang gang. It's but now yeah.
Tay:So they're they're called the Whisper Gang. And, cool. So that like, Bruce as Batman. Right? So Batman, beat them all up and demanded to know, like, how Talon was, how he had gotten there, because the gang had controlled a section of, rail lines.
Tay:That was, like, the only possible route for them to get into the building. So after nearly escaping one of the court's ancient bay bases, Bruce exumes the body of his old ancestor, Alan Wayne. Wayne was suspected to have been killed by the court. Like we had talked about as he like led up to his death And then the court of owls, like, found out about this. And then, Bruce, like, finds his way into the tunnel system to where Alan's body was found.
Tay:And then a talent appears and, like, pounces, Smear. Pounces on them. So Oh. And then, the next thing that we're talking about is now the labyrinth. So the talent held Bruce's captive, through the giant maze, like their favorite way to kill, right?
Tay:So they were drugging him, left him no food, and, Bruce started having, like, terrible disturbing hallucinations. Mhmm. So, he's, like, walking along and he's looking for a way to escape. He finds this, tile that's, like, loose, and he rips it out and then, like, drops down into it. And it's a it's a room that's, like, filled with pictures of Batman.
Tay:So he starts screaming. I'm not listening. I'm not listening to you, while the talent is, like, slowly, walking up to him and, like, impaling him with a sword. So now Bruce is, like, crawling on the floor, bleeding. Allen looks up at the court to, like, see what they want to do for, like, how he how they want him to die.
Tay:The youngest member, Alan, like, hurt him more. So the, assassin produces, or proceeds, sorry, to beat up Bruce and then finally kicked him through a wall, like, just kicks him through a wall. At this point, he like, Bruce was, like, contemplating just, like, giving up, just it's like subcoming to his feet and just, like, leaving it all, like, fuck it. Just kill me. Like, I'm I'm done.
Tay:But then he looks up and he sees a portrait of Alan Wayne with a terror expression in his eyes. And this fills Bruce with, like, rage and, like, anger. And Bruce leaps to his feet, and now the talents are, like, amused with this rage, and walk up to end him. But, like, Bruce charges the talent and beats him, like, up, like, around the labyrinth and then leave the talon unconscious. So then, Bruce escapes from the explosion that he had created, and then he drops into a river.
Tay:And then the, the court of owls, end up actually disposing of the talents since, like, it would never psychologically recover from being beaten by Batman because that shit was crazy.
Jenn:Pride, Willow. Pride. I get it.
Tay:What is the devil? So then one of the leaders, hit that range. One of the leaders turned to the room filled with talons, in caskets, and then ordered them to wake up to start this war against Batman. So there was, like, a bunch of caskets, and there was talons inside of them, and they're just like, it's time to go. And they all were like
Jenn:so yeah.
Tay:Yeah. So Batman, the night of owls comic. This is a bat family crossover event with the Court of Owls. I didn't really go into that one because I couldn't really find much data. Also, rabbit hole.
Tay:Right? So the members of the Court of Owls, you have the judge of the Owls, that's the ruling figurehead of the cult. And then you have, Joseph Powers. He's the owner of Powers Hotel. Maria Powers, who's the wife of Joseph Powers.
Tay:She's the high, wealthy, high ranking member of the Court of Owls who operated the Powers Hotel. You have John Wycliffe or Cliff. He's the grand master of the court, and then Lincoln March, who was in the, meeting with Bruce Wayne and warning him about the talent, which he refused to listen to. But, Lincoln March, actually ended up becoming owl man. And this was due to his belief that he was the long lost son of Thomas and Martha Wayne, who is Bruce Wayne's, like, parents.
Tay:And then you have Sebastian Clark who's the former grand master who is superseded by John Wycliffe. So media that you can see the Court of Owls in is the film. You have, Batman versus Robin, television, the Gotham series, like we alluded to prior, and then also the Harley Quinn series. In the video games, you have Batman, Arkham Origins, and then you also have Gotham Knights. Couple of trivia little things that I found that I found were interesting was the creator and writer, Scott Snyder, states that the inspiration of the owl is from the silver age character, oil man, which is an alternate, like, evil version of Batman, who came from Earth 3.
Jenn:That's that's where my brain went to. I'm like, it's like a man from the watchmen. Like, is it a stand
Tay:I've actually never seen the watchmen, so I don't know. But, I'm sure there's a bunch of, like, research out there that we can do and get back to you, Adi. Sorry, but I have an answer for you right now this second. And the first appearance was in Batman volume 2. However, there are, like, super, like, different hints and Easter eggs, right, throughout their existence in the, detective comics, and the miniseries of Batman, the gates of Gotham.
Tay:And there's a whole talent series. So if you have, like, questions or wonder about, like, anything like that, there is a whole series out there comic wise for you to check out.
Jenn:Enjoy. For you. For you. It's all for you. K.
Jenn:Have fun. So I wanted to talk a little bit about Hush. Now I know I don't think Hush won in the pools, but no I think Hush did win. Maybe it was poison ivy. Anyways, I wanted to talk about Hush and I'm kind of dedicating this review to our buddy Kaitley.
Jenn:I know we're taking shots and doing all sorts of things but you know Kaley's one of those people I've known for a long time and I know how much this character meant to you to talk about so I'm gonna talk about him just for you.
Tay:Okay. Just
Jenn:for you my friend. Alright. So the character Hush, he first appeared in the Batman comic number 069. There's 609. Sorry.
Jenn:In January of 2003. It was a 12 issue storyline, titled Batman Hush. So Hush's real name is Thomas or Tommy Elliott. I'll go kind of in between using Tommy and Elliot when I talk about him. So some of his abilities is he has this genius, genius intellect.
Jenn:He's a skilled surgeon. He's an adept marksman And he has this incredible, like, hand to hand combat skill that he can actually even hold his own to back in. What digest that a little bit. You're like, I don't know.
Tay:I don't, but I'll I'll I'll digress.
Jenn:I don't know what. So Tommy, a k hush, was the childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. They would play together and Tommy always seemed to outmaneuver Bruce. Surprising him being like the awesome tactician it's kind of believed that Tommy was like the dark mirror image of Bruce, so Bruce really enjoyed like spending time with his parents whereas Tommy didn't he had a very abusive and like alcoholic father and his mother came from poverty and did little to nothing to help Tony.
Tay:Damn.
Jenn:I know she lost, she lost points right there. She was actually willing to endure the abuse towards her and Tommy just in order to keep her lavish lifestyle. And she actually went so far as to make Tommy memorize like quotes from, like, Aristotle and, like, war strategy in order to better defend himself and kind of, like, learn to strategically maneuver his father, like, his abusive wrath. Mhmm. So kind of give you an idea of some of the things that he like learned as a quote from Aristotle is it is a mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Jenn:That's also interesting. I started like, I went down a rabbit hole of, like, using some Aristotle stuff and also come. That's that's a show on that for a little bit. Interesting. Anyways
Tay:I'd love to actually hear about
Jenn:that later, but, yeah, continue. Right. So Tommy never forgave her for this for pretty much not offending him. Yeah. And Thomas Wayne versus father actually, you know, he he would actually look after both the boys from time to time and he actually took them, to Metropolis.
Jenn:He had a business trip and he took them with him and he told the boys to hey stay in the hotel room while I'm at this meeting we'll go out later. You got 2 young boys, do you think they're gonna listen? I don't know that. Exactly, I have young boys and I'm like sure we will peace and see these. So they snuck out and they actually witnessed, the green lantern battling with, like, a nemesis.
Tay:That's dope.
Jenn:Yeah. How often do you see that? I mean, especially like a cosmic power, like the green lantern. Now this had an impact on Tommy. So Tommy got the idea at a young age of 10, mind you, my oldest is 10.
Jenn:So I was like, oh, watch after this. He decided to try to kill his parents. He decided
Tay:Like, with serial killers though, like, aren't you, like or killers in general, aren't you supposed to, like, kill pets or animals first? He, like, he did the whole leap.
Jenn:Girl, he skipped that. He didn't go baby steps, like, I'm gonna kill my pet hamster to like the neighbor's cat he like jumped like mom dad gotta go that's wild. I'll tell you why. So he, he got the brake lines of their car. So his dad died instantly, but his mom lived.
Jenn:And can I tell you who saved her life? Please. What? Thomas Wayne. Yeah.
Jenn:So Thomas Wayne as you remember, Bruce's dad had this expert, like, surgical skills. So Tommy actually blamed the Waynes, mainly Bruce, for his mother's riding.
Tay:But why Bruce? That doesn't make any sense.
Jenn:That's his dad. I don't know. He's 10. Like, I don't Okay. It's your fault.
Jenn:It's all your fault. Yeah. His friends are video games. Like, I get it. I don't know.
Jenn:So his mother survives. So Tommy, so Tommy, so Tommy survives and his his mom survives. So Thomas went on to meet doctor Jonathan Crane. Do you remember who doctor Jonathan Crane is?
Tay:I don't. I don't. I'm sorry.
Jenn:It's okay. It's scarecrow. Oh, okay. Scarecrow. So he went to this like a summer camp that's which kids have their own summer camps too And he violently lashed out at other boys in the summer camp for teasing him and calling him a mama's boy.
Jenn:Now I'm not really sure what violently waxed out means, but man, they scooped him up and took him to a psych psych facility. So that's an extreme. So Doctor. Crane is like talking to him and quickly realizes that, Tommy has some sociopathic tendencies So instead of keeping him and treating him, he releases him. And As an experiment?
Tay:Is he, like, experimenting and, like, watching him?
Jenn:So later on, you find out that his intention is to be his mentor.
Tay:Oh. Yeah. I know. Crazy recognizes crazy. I get it.
Jenn:I get it. He's like, go ahead. You're good. I'll I'll see you later. Like We'll
Tay:see you Heather again soon.
Jenn:Yeah. Facebook. Add me on Facebook. I'll talk to you later. So some of the things that the so I'll give you a little bit of background on Crush how he kind of like came to be.
Jenn:Some things about his character is that he manipulates other villains such as Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, many others, and to helping him destroy Batman. Kinda give you some examples. He adopted like 6 members of the bat family, including, that woman in Nightwing. And wake up. Yeah.
Jenn:I was like, how do you pull that off? He did. See, that's the scary thing about villains who are smart. You know how to like plan things kind of like play long game. Yeah.
Jenn:To me they're more terrifying because you don't know what they have cooking. I mean Right.
Tay:Because they have a strategy, and they have, like, their backdoor ways of doing things. So, like, they might show one thing, but they actually have, like, other intentions. It's like Bane. Bane had that, like, all the time.
Jenn:Yeah.
Tay:Sorry.
Jenn:That's what Hush did. So they wake up in Hush's lair and find that he gave them a serum that paralyzes their vocal cords so essentially they they can't talk they can't plan any ways of escape or anything. It sounds like Crane's part of the military healthcare. True that. That's true.
Jenn:Yo. There's a 800 milligram Motrin. Call me tomorrow, maybe.
Tay:It's Ibuprofen it's always Ibuprofen.
Jenn:So Hush's plan was that he was going to harvest bat woman and night wings organs in the black market and sell them. He didn't sell them. He even had a buyer all lined up. Damn. Ew.
Jenn:Like, that's can you imagine?
Tay:Like No. No. I'd rather be dead, like, and have my organs harvested.
Jenn:Like, I
Tay:don't need to see that actually happen.
Jenn:I'm just kidding. So the other stuff that he did is that he invented a virus that would actually affect immunity, the killer cock, even more so than he was, and then he also had his face that was surgically altered to look like Batman from Bruce Wayne. That's so weird. Yeah. So weird.
Jenn:And this was actually in order to steal his identity, which he later found out that this would only work on people who didn't actually know Bruce.
Tay:As Batman? Yeah. Yeah.
Jenn:Yeah. It would only, you know, work on people that didn't actually know him. I think one of the things I read too about Harsh is that, the way he got his nickname was Doctor. Kramer, Scarecrow, when he sing the Hush Little Baby song during a lot of his meetings.
Tay:Nope. That's weird. Not only that.
Jenn:That's pretty rad. There may be more stories to how he got his name but I guess that one stuck for some weird reason but yeah, would sing like the hush little baby song and he imagined he's like, that's it. That's my name. It's creepy.
Tay:Oh my god. Have you seen, I can't remember what the show is called, but it's about Candy, Montgomery, and it's on HBO. Do you have HBO Max?
Jenn:Yeah.
Tay:Okay. I'm gonna have to send that to you later, but there is, like, a whole thing where she's, like, like, psychologically, like, goes to a psychologist, and they go, like, into her mind and there's a reason why she, like, brutally murders somebody. But, yeah, I'll get that to you.
Jenn:Oh, one
Tay:thing cannot remember the name of it, but I'll give it to you.
Jenn:It's later. Alright. Oh, there's one thing since you brought up HBO Max. So I watched the HBO Max Batman Hush animated movie and it was good but I'm gonna spoil the ending so if you guys haven't seen it mute me spoilers so at the very end of the have you seen it?
Tay:No. I haven't.
Jenn:It's not the very end. They they reveal that Hush is actually the ruler which Oh. Isn't is not true. Like, in in the movie thomas elliott is killed and I'm sitting there watching it you know what I've read up on things with Hush and I'm like oh well he's just faking it it's you know it's fine I'm a solid will come back later he doesn't he's actually dead I'm like, was in who's hush? And then and then it's like the like, it's me.
Jenn:And I'm like, no. It's not. I'm like, that's not right. That's you're not hush. Damn.
Jenn:Not bad. Okay. That's not that's not harsh.
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:Yeah.
Tay:So, actually, to answer this question real quick, so somebody asked us if we're fans of how the were portrayed in the show Gotham. Honestly, I was, just because of how creepy and mysterious they had the white masks. They, kind of were just there. They didn't have, like, a they weren't, like, out and showing themselves, like, out. But, yeah, like, I like how they were portrayed in the series Gotham.
Tay:I don't think you've seen Gotham. Right?
Jenn:I'm following your lead. I'm just like
Tay:Yeah. So I did enjoy it. Like, let us know in the comments, like, if you did enjoy how, the core vowels were, like, presented in the show Gotham, if you ever did see it, because we definitely would like to know your contributions and your thoughts. But sorry. Continue.
Jenn:Always. No. That was it. Like, sometimes the, the animated shows on HBO. I mean, either way, the stories are good, like, even if there's, like, changes like that, but I was disappointed in particular with with that one.
Jenn:And I think when we talked about the red hood before, like, there's a lot of things in that. So it was not right, but I could go on a really long rant about Hollywood and how they change things just to
Tay:Hence my Hollywood shot class.
Jenn:That's why
Tay:I I did a shot out of him.
Jenn:Hollywood. You're shit right. There's plenty of sources to that.
Tay:Yeah. Alright. So to go into our next villain, are you ready?
Jenn:I am. Absolutely.
Tay:Sweet. So I'm gonna be talking about mister Freeze, who is one of my favorite villains, like, knowing his background, which I will 100% tell y'all about. But, like, he is one of my favorite, villains in the DC Universe just because of how relatable his backstory is. So, fun fact is he has 2 first appearances, and I will explain why. 2.
Jenn:He's not that easy.
Tay:He's he's one man, but he's got 2 you know, it's it's different. But, so he's got, 2 first appearances. So his first appearance as mister 0, came from Batman 121, and that was in 1959. So you might be thinking, mister 0 you said mister 0? I thought we're talking about mister Freeze, and I'll get to that in a second.
Tay:So is it firstly, appearance as mister Freeze came from the Detective Comics number, 37 3. So 373. And this was in 1968. Hey, Deontay. Yes.
Tay:Victor Freeze. That's who we're talking about. So, Victor Fries. It's spelled out as Fries, but it's pronounced freeze. Had a hobby of freezing animals.
Tay:So remember how we were talking about how you start with animals? It's like a super red flag.
Jenn:Cat. But, you know, you said It's
Tay:a red flag. Don't fuck with it. So, he had a hobby of freezing animals, to preserve them so he could so that they could continue to exist in the future. So cute, but really weird. So we just wanted them to, like, continue to live into the future.
Tay:And this was just because he, like, wanted, like, society to continue, and he wanted things to just continue. But due to this, he sent his parents did the right thing and then sent him to a very strict boarding school, where Victor becomes depressed too though. So it's not the best.
Jenn:For free.
Tay:Yeah. But if you're ever depressed, you know, there are things out there for you like therapists and people to talk to. But while he was here, he actually met Nora, who's the love of his life. So it wasn't all bad. Their happiness, however, was short lived because, Nora was diagnosed with a fatal disease.
Tay:Prior to, like, her being diagnosed, so they, like, met each other, fell in love, got married, and then she got diagnosed, which is why it was very short lived. And then, Victor tries to save her by using, cryogenic technology. So the experiment, however, like, went wrong, and the equipment malfunctioned. And this consumes him and the lab in an explosion of ice. So my brain immediately when I was reading this, and I immediately pictured Doc Ock from Spider Man.
Tay:So, like, the Marvel, like, the similarities here. This is where I kind of, like, thought of the 2 because Doc Oc had his, whole, like, lab explode in, like, fire. So fire and ice. I thought that was interesting.
Jenn:Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones. Yes. It's a ice explosion.
Tay:An ice explosion as AD said. Yeah. Dante, we're just out here, doing our thing. Thanks for the shout out and asking us what's up. So, Victor actually ends up surviving.
Tay:However, he could only live in sub zero temperatures. Nora, not so much. She did not do so well in this experiment.
Jenn:I mean, women are perpetually close. I mean, I get it.
Tay:We are cold blooded, but we're not. But we are It's it's a whole thing. We're always cold. Always in your jacket.
Jenn:I'm wearing sweatpants.
Tay:I would get up, but I'm sitting in, like, in a long chair. I don't know how everything would happen if I did actually stand up. Like, everything question. So, Victor ends up constructing a suit, to, like, let him survive for the time being while he, like, tries to provide for Nora who he, like, froze. Right?
Tay:So he began robbing banks as mister 0, which is why he had 2 origins. This is his mister 0 side to get money. And as mister 0, he uses cryo technology to create a gun that fires a beam, freezes any target within its rage. Nora gave me the cold shoulder. Stop it.
Tay:He needed that cold hard cash. Yo.
Jenn:Oh my gosh.
Tay:Oh my gosh. EJ, I feel like this is EJ conference right now.
Jenn:I was I was holding back. Maybe I shouldn't.
Tay:It's definitely.
Jenn:Was he playing ice ice baby when he dropped your pink?
Tay:Oh my god. So instead of the snap, it was a cold snap. Anyway, cold captain keeps with his cold gun. Stop it. Oh, man.
Tay:Alright. Let me catch my breath. Okay. So he's using cryotechnology to freeze everything in his path with this gun that he had created. They dropped the ball with mister Freeze and Goff.
Tay:They did, and they straight up did. So, mister 0 actually fakes his death, and Gotham City actually believes that he's dead. So this is the death of mister 0. Victor rearranges his costume and then returns as mister Freeze. So now this is the introduction of mister Freeze.
Tay:So one ends, the other begins. So freeze freezes. So, Victor freeze, freezes. Everyone that's in the courtroom, while he talks to, somebody named calculator and convinces him to join the secret society of super villains. If that's not a mouthful to say, I don't know what it is.
Tay:But Victor, fashions a sub zero machine, in exchange of the use of the Lazarus pit, which if you know about the Lazarus pit, definitely check out our first, other episode, episode 3, where we talked extensively about what the Lazarus pit actually really is and what it does. AD says damn that's cold. So, Victor Freeze attempts to restore Nora to life, without having like, without waiting for the, adjustment of the pool chemicals. Nora returns to to life, as a lazra and escapes. Yeah.
Tay:If any of you seen Parks and Rec, you'll understand AD's reference about the pit. He fell in in the pit. So, Nora comes back to life, but she blames her husband, and estranges herself from him and, like, runs off. So this isn't at all what he had expected and, not exactly great. Victor is not declared insane, but he is put in Arkham because he is caught.
Tay:But the reason why he's put into Arkham is because it's the only facility that can accommodate his requirements for the refrigerated cell. Damn girl, that's called so heart of the hush, is something that I wanted to cover. And since you didn't really talk about it, I would like to talk about it. And this actually goes about hush. It's cool.
Tay:Cool. Cool. Cool. So Thomas Elliot, who is Hush, damn, she got a icebox, where her heart used to be. Why no one got to deal like that?
Tay:Do you expect that if you were frozen and then came back to life in a pit that you would be completely fine, sir? I would love to know this as your wife. I would love to know these answers. Mhmm. But, anyway, Hush returns to Gotham and is, planning an attack on the dark night.
Tay:Killing any colonel, criminals who threatened Bruce, but this was Hush actually wants to break into Selena Kyle's home, who is Catwoman.
Jenn:Mhmm. Episode 3. My goodness, my girl. The callback. Miss, my girl.
Tay:Yeah. So, Hush breaks into Selena Kyle's home and removes her heart. So you remember how you were talking about the organ, removal and stuff that he was trying to do? Mhmm. It's exactly what that is.
Tay:And then he abandoned her in the, Sacred Heart Convalescence home, where she is trapped on life support. Hush says this is, that this was with equipment that that was helping, like, keep Selena alive was actually created by Victor in exchange for money. And then Victor is the main villain the battle of the cowl, one shot commissioner, Gordon. So, the new 52, mister Freeze, completed a compound that he used by the that was used by the court of owls, to real, revive their talents, which is why they're immortal. And it was revealed that Nora was not actually in fact his wife, but that Victor had never met her.
Tay:But he was just obsessed about her. And that was, like, a whole, like, different, like, comic. Right? And the reason why he was, like, obsessed with her and how he, like, had met her was that he had, like, met her while she was in the division of Wayne Enterprises, like, chronogenically frozen. Sorry.
Jenn:Words are hard. Words are hard.
Tay:Yeah. So his powers. He has sub zero, psychology. So accidentally frozen to his bone, has transformed him to be a cold blooded mutant, that actually kept him, like, he's always below 0. Cold adaptation.
Tay:This is where his, skin cells, like, became storage units of the cold to help his body chemistry to be more chilled. This allowed him to, become entirely immune and adapted to subzero temperatures.
Jenn:Mhmm. He
Tay:has decelerated aging. So his age progression has been significantly slowed due to the suspend suspended oh, god. Suspended animation state. His thermomiesis, anything on his sin on his skin, comes into contact will actually freeze.
Jenn:Please. Wait.
Tay:He's a whole kidnapper? Yeah. So yeah. He's yeah. And the new 52 pretty much just becomes a kidnapper.
Tay:Yeah. He has toxic immunity. He is immune to most toxins, bacteria, and, viruses due to his state of, frozenness. So his different abilities that he has is he has genius level intellect. He is a brilliant, like, scientific genius, with the mind for invention.
Tay:And this is how he, invents, like, all the things that he does invent is because he is skilled in, physics, engineering, genetics, computer science, chemistry, and medical science. He's kind of a nerd like us.
Jenn:Love it.
Tay:Cryogenics is another one of his abilities. Victor is able to build a chronic life support machine for Catwoman when she gets her heart removed, and was capable of inventing a variety of, cryotech, for Nora's cc 2,000, cryogenic chamber, to extensive arrays of cryogenic, weapons and armor. He is, very brilliant in the medical science like we talked about. He researched on pathology and neuroscience, for Nora neurosile neurological illness.
Jenn:Mhmm.
Tay:And specialization in cryogenics was, successfully, proven thesis on immortality through suspended animation through, like, his, aging. Mhmm. This also preserved his wife in a frozen state and to delay her illness until he couldn't find a cure, which, like, was really cute to me. Yeah.
Jenn:I think you saw that movie. I mean, I don't like to talk about those particular movies, but you saw that in the movie. Yes. Yeah.
Tay:So the equipment, the cryogenic suit, so he has a superhuman strength and durability. It has 2 variants. One that protected him from the bomb attack, but his helmet was, like, significantly damaged. So then he created a new armor to make the second one the second variant, and that was less heavy, but capable of withstanding a gunshot and explosives. The weapons that he has is the freeze gun that we had talked about that creates a gust of cold that approaches, absolute zero temperatures.
Tay:The 0 the gun is capable of creating a cold force and impression their opponents in a cocoon of ice.
Jenn:So do you think he he got that from Gru, or do you think Gru got that from him?
Tay:Gru.
Jenn:Off from Despicable Me. You know, he's always a free Skype.
Tay:I definitely think that Guru got that from him. Thank you for explaining that.
Jenn:Because you he's always, like, tell me
Tay:as soon as you said it, and I was like, oh, no. I know exactly what you're talking about.
Jenn:But sorry. Hold on. Sorry. My brain goes in weird direction.
Tay:No. It's all good. Because I was like, who's Gru? I was, like, trying to, like, in the DC Universe, and I was like, did I miss somebody? And then as soon as he said it, I was like, oh, yeah.
Tay:No. It's definitely, Guru got it from him in in my expertise of opinion.
Jenn:He got that. He got that.
Tay:So the different media, that you can see him in is the Batman and, Robin, film and the Lego movie, The Lego Batman movie. Sorry. Not just the Lego movie. Lego Batman movie. The, in TV, he has the 19 sixties Batman, the new adventures of Batman, DC animated universe, the Batman Batman, the Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, and Gotham.
Tay:As we had talked about, he is in the Gotham series. Not really suggesting that you watch that for them. Yeah. And he is don't watch the movie.
Jenn:It is not good. The
Tay:are Adi, are you talking about the Batman and Robin? Let me know if you're talking about Batman and Robin. Are you talking about the Lego Batman movie? Which one are you talking about? Oh, he's talking about the Batniks.
Tay:Yeah. That's the Batman and Robin.
Jenn:Okay. But I I
Tay:didn't wanna talk about it, but it
Jenn:was Besides the first two Batman movies that Tim Burton did, I pretended they didn't exist until Christopher Nolan took over and made the dark knight. But but when Arnold Schwarzenegger was mister Freeze, let me tell you, I I am such a sucker for the cheesy dad jokes that the those movies made. I'm like the is it like the 9 like the nineties and stuff?
Tay:You know what? You do you, girl. You do you.
Jenn:I live for those. I'm sorry. They're the best. When he was, like, mister freeze and all the jokes he would, like, one liners, and I'm just, like, they just had me rolling. I'm like, oh my gosh.
Jenn:You would. And You would.
Tay:Which is why you like creditors so much. That's Probably.
Jenn:Okay. I love this.
Tay:I get it now. I get it.
Jenn:I grew up on that stuff. It's, like, it's the best.
Tay:Adi is not a sucker for dad jokes, and that is a level of terribleness.
Jenn:To each their own. To each their own. But I
Tay:make dad jokes occasionally, and he just, like, stares at me. And I'm cracking up laughing at my own joke. And he is the dad, but it does not matter. Does Eric at least make that joke?
Jenn:No. I make the dad jokes. Okay. My husband, like, our husbands need to hang out because I make the dad joke and Eric just cuts me and tells me it's gonna be okay.
Tay:Oh my god. They're the same.
Jenn:Because I love it. They're the same. I will be crying and Eric's like, what's wrong with you? And I'm like, I don't know. You're very mean.
Jenn:I'm like, I'm sorry. Genders. I love it. You're the best. Yeah.
Jenn:I think I think as far as, like, with that movie, I to me, like, mister freeze, like, I I love that character in that movie. Like, it I I think that's great. I mean, screw the rest of the movie, but as far as I can imagine, I was I love I love mister Freeze. I don't need it. Girl, I even bought a snowflake necklace because I'm like, I haven't used to freeze.
Jenn:I have a snowflake necklace for the longest time. I probably It
Tay:wasn't because of frozen? You can tell us. It's okay.
Jenn:Man, that was, like, 20 years later. Okay. Dating myself a little bit. Anyway No. It's okay.
Jenn:You.
Tay:We've both seen it, and it's, you know, it's okay. So different video games that mister Freeze is in is your, Lego Batman, the video game, Batman Arkham series, the DC Universe online, Batman, Evil Within, and Gotham Knights. So a couple little trivia, that I threw in there is that, only like, mister Freeze is the only Batman supervillain that appeared in the Batman versus predator story. That's a little rabbit hole. Yep.
Tay:And then more than 30 years after his creation, mister Freeze had little to no, backstory. And this was, and was, like, a little more than a, minor gimmick like supervillain. When introduced into the DC animated universe, they gave him a new sympathetic backstory, introducing his wife, Nora, and a great moral complexity, to his character's colds, like, stoic demeanor, coupled with a barely resistance, like, fury, much like Batman himself. And this, like, just really, like, stuck with the fans as me. Like, I
Jenn:didn't know him
Tay:before without his backstory, but, like, I definitely think that, like, when he got his backstory, it was it was cool to to see that. But I digress. That's mister Freeze.
Jenn:Like I said, I loved the makeup, the costume, all the special effects mister Freeze in the movie. Most pretty much anything I like. Anyways, alright. So, Harley Quinn. So I knew when we did the pool, Harley Quinn scored really high and she was made quite popular I know some people were fans of hers before the movie, but I think when they meet suicide squad, she kind of, like, blew up and so, like, yeah.
Jenn:You saw, like, every girl wanting to be her for, like, Halloween and everything. And, well, there you go. And I thought the people that were fans of the movie, do they really know how the concept of Harley Quinn came about?
Tay:Probably not.
Jenn:Oh. Let me let me let me tell you something. Please educate us, Jen. Let me educate you because I learned something, and I was like, you know, let let me tell you about Harley Quinn. Okay?
Jenn:So her very first appearance was in Batman, the animated series. Wasn't even a comic. It was an animated series back in 1992. Now this was the cartoon I watched growing up. I love the Batman and the answer even.
Tay:It is. I'm watching it now
Jenn:as an adult, and it's still fire. You can go back and watch it. Like, it's great. I love it. It's on Max.
Jenn:Yeah. Yeah. That's honestly, it's one of the reasons why I keep HBO Max. Like, I I love, like, the the DC animated stuff on there. It's great.
Jenn:Except for the harsh part, kinda pissed me off. And this so the creation of Harley Quinn is credited to Paul Beeney, and it came from him from the mind of Arlene Sorkin who actually voiced Harley Quinn in the series. Who is Arlene Sorkin? Let me tell you. She was an actress on the days of our lives.
Tay:Is that the soap opera?
Jenn:Girl, I yes. I had flashbacks, and I had to watch that shit with my grandma. She's like, I gotta watch my stories, dude. I was like Fuck. Me hear your stories, and then she puts on a soap opera, and I was like, oh god.
Tay:Make it stop.
Jenn:Stop. And then watch cartoon plays. So grandma's watching the days run. So that's actually how I knew who this woman was as the world turned on.
Tay:Oh, man.
Jenn:So she's an actress on days of our lives. And she's playing a character, Felipe? That sounds about right. Jones, who is basically the show's comic relief. And out of sheer boredom, she's always suggesting things to the show's producers.
Jenn:Okay?
Tay:Oh, like in real life. Got it.
Jenn:Yeah. Sorry. In in real life, she's she's suggesting things to the show's producers. So she just recently watched The Princess Bride.
Tay:Love that movie. It still holds up to this day.
Jenn:Side note, did you see the Deadpool when he's talking to Fred Savage?
Tay:No. You
Jenn:haven't? Oh, no. You gotta watch it. It's not Fred Savage and Deadpool's trying to tell him a story. Okay.
Jenn:You gotta watch it. Alright. Sorry. Watch that. It's funny.
Jenn:Okay. So she goes and she watches the princess bride classic movie love that and she got the idea of doing like this fairy tale dream sequence on the days of our lives where she acts like a court jester. She like roller skates into like the throne room. She's doing all sorts of things to like make the royals laugh and everything. So little information.
Jenn:So, Paul, Gainey, and Sorkin are friends. They're friends from college. So she gives him this VHS tape that has like all of her favorite moments from Views of Our Lives. And he finally watches it in like 1991 and he's writing this unaired animated series Batman. Okay.
Jenn:And he's really right. And he's really struggling to come up with a female character and he's he's having a really hard time. So he watches it.
Tay:He was on writer's block.
Jenn:I get it. Like, writer's block is like horrible. Like, your brain like, your like, it's yeah. It sucks. So so he watches that, so he decides to start researching.
Jenn:So he researches based on the costume that she wore, like, what does a herlican wear? Like what's their traditional outfit? And then he got his lead cartoons to like draw a different female character which he didn't quite capture what Deanie was like envisioning
Tay:Mhmm.
Jenn:But that's essentially where you get, Crowley's, like, red and black, like, full, like, body jumpsuit with, like, playing card diamonds and, like, the work of cuffs and that, like, the double pronged hat and all that stuff. So it comes from that. It comes from, like, a traditional like, probably kind of like thing.
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:So now the character is made. His writer block's gone. So he asked Sorkin to actually voice the character. That's super dope. Right?
Jenn:That's what I thought. I thought that was freaking awesome. So she's she's in the studio and she's trying to, like, record this voice and she's like, you know what? I'm just gonna use my own voice. And this is high, like, really nasally, like, sing song voice with a little bit of, like, Brooklyn, like, inflection in it, which is her natural, like, speaking voice.
Jenn:So she just talked. Oh. That's the way she sounds nice.
Tay:That is terrifying. Girl, I always
Jenn:went back and watched it. I was like, is that how she, like, talks like every week? It is. Ew. It actually is.
Jenn:You know?
Tay:So wait. Since you've seen Days of Our Lives, like, did she talk like that in Days of Our Lives?
Jenn:A little bit. Yeah. Okay. I'm very high and easily. Okay.
Jenn:Yeah. And, like, I usually think of, like, Richard Marx singer, like, like, like, nasally. Yeah. So she's, like, very high, very nasally from talking. So, so this was kind of weird how your character kind of came to life like an animated series.
Jenn:So that's forward to, like, 1994. So DC asked Dini and one of the graphic artist Tim that originally drew her to create a single issue comic that would reveal Harley's origin story.
Tay:Oh, I like that.
Jenn:That was this trend a lot. Like, you you have a character that comes in and they're like, oh, well damn people like this character let's give him a background story let's give him an origin story so I think that's great. And in this small issue comic it would reveal that Harley was once the Joker's psychiatrist and that's where I think it was titled Mad Love was created and it showed how like Harleen Quinzel was her name before she became Harley Quinn was this very like mild mannered. She's a she's a gymnast.
Tay:She was sane. She was all the way there.
Jenn:I mean, I know.
Tay:To the most part.
Jenn:Yeah. For the most part. Before she decided to come, like, the Joker's, like, sidekick, basically.
Tay:Mhmm. Man, loved it. Makes you do some weird things.
Jenn:And, like I said, although I I do like the Harley Quinn and, like, The Suicide Squad, I just I feel like people It doesn't hit the same
Tay:as, like, watching the animated series. Like, it there's definitely, like, 2 different. It's like I'm sorry to go off on a tangent a little bit. But have you ever heard, like, Maroon 5? Like, songs about Jane, and then now they're new
Jenn:stuff? Yeah.
Tay:It's, like, good. And then what now people wanna hear, but not, like, what, I guess, old people would wanna hear. I don't know. I love songs about Jane, but I cannot listen to their new stuff.
Jenn:No. I get it. The there's something that's just lost. This is not the same. Like, Harley Quinn is actually really smart like it even shows like when she like helps the joker torture the red hood.
Jenn:Like, she helps torture him. Like, she uses her degree in psychology. Like, yeah, she's insane, but to me, she, like, she meant that way because of the joker. Like, she loves him, like, that much. She's crazy.
Jenn:She's crazy about him.
Tay:You know? Danny wants to know, is there an actual animated, like, series? Like, her own series of Harley Quinn? I know that there's, like, a live action, I think, one, but, is there a animated series?
Jenn:I don't know if there's an animated series. I know there's a lot of, like, DC stuff that she's in, and she may be, like, the title character in that particular episode. I don't know if she's, like, actually, like, has no issue.
Tay:So Jeff actually said that, to answer this question, yes. Harley actually has her own animated series, and it's also one with, Poison Ivy, as her lesbian lover. Jeff, is that on, it's like, what is that on? Is that on Max?
Jenn:It's on Max.
Tay:Okay. He said, yeah. It's on Max.
Jenn:Okay. Yeah. I think we're doing team. I'm on my room 5.
Tay:Yeah.
Jenn:So Song
Tay:Contest ring complete fire, and then they had their now stuff is, like, full on pop. It's not the great stuff, but, yeah, Deontay is saying that HBO Max is where, Harley Quinn has her own animated, like, show. It
Jenn:he used to have Max. Your DC
Tay:It it really does. I'm gonna tell you what that that show is called as soon as we get off here. And, with the it's got, Elizabeth Olsen in it. Wanda.
Jenn:Room 5 is, like, room 55 now. No. He says, I don't mean I don't know, dude. He just lost it somewhere. I know we're talking about we're talking about this.
Tay:No. It's it's all good. Like, we nerd out about a lot of things, and this is one of the things. It's music. I'm sorry, but you're gonna hear stuff about music.
Jenn:There's, like, so many bands out there. Like, you like their first few albums, and then, like, they start turning other stuff out, and you're like, I don't really like Sugar.
Tay:The song Sugar literally makes me wanna punch a hole in a wall. Like, it is so annoying.
Jenn:I get it. Like, I'm one of those people I'm like, oh, it's not so weird of new album. Let me listen to it. I'm like, what the hell? Like, I didn't even spend $20 back in the alright.
Jenn:Where are my old people at? Where we used to spend $20 on a new CD for, for, like, one song that you loved that was on the radio and the rest of it was fucking garbage? How about when they, like who remembers that? Man, I love Napster and, like, Bearshare and Limewire. Limewire.
Tay:That's what I used growing up. I mean, I may or may not have used it. I cannot confirm
Jenn:nor did it. And they're, like, all pissed off. Like, who's singing from me? I'm, like, stop making one good song, and the rest of the album is absolute garbage.
Tay:Literally songs about Jane, that entire album. I'm telling you that entire album is fire. It's so fire.
Jenn:They used it all up. They used it all up in one
Tay:The next one after that wasn't wasn't bad. That's the wake up call one. They had, like, I can't remember what a couple of the other songs were, but that it was it was not a bad album. But then the one after that, I think
Jenn:He just
Tay:hands all over. That was Mick Jagger, and it wasn't it just kept on.
Jenn:Yeah. He got, he sold out a little bit for me. Like, all my favorite bands, they've kinda stayed the same throughout the decades, and I like them because they are who they are. Mhmm. Yeah.
Jenn:Anyways, sorry. No. No. I've attended.
Tay:Sorry.
Jenn:No. You're good. It needed to be talked about. It did. You're needed to be rant and ratings.
Jenn:Yeah. Deontay said
Tay:The the show is called Love and Death. Okay. So that's the HBO show that, I was talking about with Candy Montgomery. Super great on Max. You need to watch it.
Tay:Love and death.
Jenn:Okay.
Tay:So the reason why we wanted to talk about Harley Quinn was definitely about, like we had we had our graphic designer come on and do an interview with us. Gigi. Haven't seen it. Yeah. Gigi is amazing.
Tay:Gigi. And if you haven't seen that interview, definitely recommend it. But in that interview, she actually disclosed to us that her favorite villain was Harley Quinn. So we decided that we had to show Harley Quinn some love, and we wanted to talk about her. So we did.
Tay:I'm sorry for the people that voted that didn't vote for Harley Quinn, like, as much as the others, but, definitely wanted to show Harley Quinn some love. Also, the first live action was actually not with, Margo Robinson or sorry. Whatever her name is. The the girl that plays Barbie. It's Barbie.
Tay:Barbie. Barbie was not the first person to play, Harley Quinn. Yeah. Margot Robbie. Sorry.
Tay:Not Robinson. Robbie. Sorry. There it's brain. So the actual first live action, AD is making fun of me.
Tay:First of all, no notes going in this raw. Sorry. So, anyway, the yeah. Thank you, Beatles. So the first live action was actually done by, Maria Sarah.
Tay:So if any of you have seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, that's mhmm. Yeah. So the main female, character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, actually, was the first person to play Harley Quinn as a live action role in 2002 in a series called birds of prey. And this isn't to be confused with the movie, birds of prey. But, also, an interesting fact about this show is that you had, Mark, shoot, Luke Skywalker.
Tay:What is his actual name?
Jenn:Mark Hamill.
Tay:Thank you. Mark Hamill. So Mark Hamill was actually the one to, voice, Joker in the animated series. But also in this series, he actually voiced it, but somebody else actually faced it. It wasn't actually his face.
Tay:So if you go on IMDB, you will see Mark, Hamill as a actual actor in the show, but he actually wasn't the one to actually show his face. It was some other random dude that I didn't care to actually say what his name was. Anyway.
Jenn:Anyways, about yeah. Mark Hill, gosh, man. He's been voicing the Joker for, like, the longest time. Like, he's, like okay. So good.
Jenn:I know. He's just
Tay:I love him as Luke Skywalker and the the the first three. We we're not gonna talk about the other ones. We're not gonna talk about those movies. Right. Absolutely not.
Jenn:Okay.
Tay:But
Jenn:No problem. Right? Okay. It's
Tay:To digress. To digress.
Jenn:Okay. So
Tay:Who's our final guest?
Jenn:Or I'm even with the rules. I know. Hey. I'm sorry about the rules, but I wanna talk about poison ivy. So poison ivy, my friends, I like her a lot.
Jenn:I have my reasons. We're not gonna talk about the movies. I like them with
Tay:You like as poison I mean, just as the her costume, her makeup and
Jenn:It was okay. Okay. Okay. It was alright. Hey.
Jenn:You know? But she didn't capture like Poison Ivy like I don't know just it's one of those things where it's just something missing you know and I had such a hard time with those Batman movies just cause they were just a little too goofy for me. Mhmm. Like, we we started getting kinda goofy with your sequels, you kinda lose me and, yeah, plant stuff. I hate like plants.
Jenn:I don't know what plants. I'm
Tay:nasty. Only plants are dead.
Jenn:So let's talk about poisoning. So Pamela Lillian Ivesy is her name for reals. Okay. Her first appearance was in Batman issue 181 in June of 1966. She's up there in a little bit.
Jenn:Yeah.
Tay:Okay. Okay.
Jenn:Yeah. I'm telling you. So she's a misanthropic botanist and biochemist who is empowered by an interplanetary force known as the green. Oh. Green gonna getcha.
Tay:Okay. Alright.
Jenn:So some of her abilities is she has a poisonous touch, she has enhanced physical abilities, and she has supernatural power over plant life.
Tay:What is enhanced physical abilities? Is she strong?
Jenn:She's strong.
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:She works out.
Tay:She works out. She
Jenn:I work out. The interesting thing about her is that she dances like this really fine line between being like this eco terrorist, She doesn't skip leg day.
Tay:Oh my god. Girl, look at that body. Oh, she worked out.
Jenn:Right now. I can't tell you. So she now. She dances. She's sick.
Jenn:Shut up, baby. She she dances this fine line between, like, being an eco terrier terrace and then being this champion of, like, mother nature. So she kinda goes back and forth. So, she is at first persuaded by Marc LeGrande. So this is like a pre crisis scenario.
Jenn:Okay?
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:And to assisting him with the theft of an Egyptian artifact containing ancient herbs. Oh, good good. So this is kind of like where her origin story she's got like 2 origin stories. Okay. Not quite like mr.
Jenn:Freeze. Okay. So she would fear he feared that she would implicate him in this theft and he poisons her with these ancient herbs and that's, she survives and that's how she kind of like becomes poison ivy. She has like this natural immunity to like all like natural toxins and like diseases. So Yeah.
Jenn:Then the
Tay:hashtag to plant mom.
Jenn:Pet mom. She has, like, little potted plant. She's like It's Aquai. It's my aloe vera plant.
Tay:Girl, those things are amazing.
Jenn:So her origin story was revised. With a lot of other origin stories during the crisis on infinite earths.
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:And and this is where DC rewrote a lot of their, like, origin stories and, like, their continuity and stuff is what it is. So in this particular story, she grows up wealthy. They're all wealthy. What the heck?
Tay:Not mister Freeze. Mister Freeze's Robin banks for that money. Right. K. Got
Jenn:I wish I was both and had issues. Now I'm a superhero with superpowers. Anyways, so she grows up wealthy and she has like these emotionally distant parents and she goes to study at this, advanced bioretical biochemistry where she's seduced by her professor. Now his name is doctor Jason Woodrue. Keep that in the back of your mind, Felida.
Jenn:So her professor injects her with poisons and toxins as an experiment and when she gets it causes her to transform. What a bitch. Why would you do that? Like, she did it willingly. She's like, shit.
Jenn:Like, why? Like, you know
Tay:She's not like, pop it.
Jenn:It's right. And it, like, causes her to, like, nearly die twice and it drives her, like, insane, which I can I can understand that? Nearly dying. Yeah. I kinda lose my shit a little bit.
Jenn:Same. So, fast forward I'm gonna talk about her criminal career. Okay so she threatens to release some suffocating scores, her own suffocating scores into the Arab Gotham City unless they meet her demands in Batman stops her and sends her Arkham. Now since Batman did this she becomes obsessed with him like in a bad way, I'm going
Tay:to kill you. Yeah.
Jenn:It turns out that Batman is the only person who she can't control. Like, he's got, like, such strong will, like, strong focus, like, she can't control him. And as in the movie, McVernan, she does have a, like, a leutthotoxin in her lips that she can literally kill somebody by kissing him.
Tay:Oh. That
Jenn:much is a reflection of, yeah, like, the comics and everything.
Tay:He isn't redheads. Is she actually a redhead in the comics? Yeah. Okay.
Jenn:Yeah. She's got, like, a sticky little vine outfit and everything. She's she's like, he's anti gardening. He's like, just let it go. He's more than rocks.
Jenn:And so Okay. So another issue is, she says that she started a life of crime in order to like have the sufficient funds in order to find somewhere where she can be alone with her plants and away from humanity. So apparently, she was not near to her trust fund. Be able to see this Ginger. Well, she might be a serious Ginger, who knows?
Jenn:And she does eventually leave to a desert island in the Caribbean.
Tay:Oh, I'm gonna get that tan.
Jenn:Yeah. Maybe it's near Barbados for sure. She transforms the desert island that's essentially like this wasteland into what what was described as being almost like a number of eaten it's like lush and beautiful there's plants everywhere She's happy and content there until somebody comes along and just destroys it.
Tay:Oh, no.
Jenn:Why would you do that? I know. What are the plans to do to you? Rude. Rude.
Jenn:So and it's actually this American owned corporation that's testing weapon system and kind of in their defense they thought the island was still deserted wasteland. They didn't really think much of it. Obviously, they weren't looking at satellite imagery as they probably would have seen.
Tay:Or scout it. Literally just go scout.
Jenn:Or scout it.
Tay:A little boat.
Jenn:Things change, Maron. Things change. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So she leaves that desert island, it's destroyed now, and she returns to gotham seeking revenge now now batman catches her where she can, punish all of those irresponsible.
Jenn:I think she gets almost all of them. So Batman catches her and she's like oh okay so she goes to Arkham Asylum and she receives a message through the flowers. I'm not really sure if it's like a text message and petals or exactly how long she gets these messages. Maybe it's like her own thing. It's just like the flower petals.
Tay:He loves me. He loves me now. He says he's go to the ball.
Jenn:So, so it's actually Floronic Man. That's a tough tough villain name.
Tay:Yep.
Jenn:Floronic Man.
Tay:Floronic.
Jenn:So you remember that name I told you to remember? Jason. We drew. Yeah. What was her?
Jenn:Jason We drew. It's her old professor who contacted her. He has become Solana Command.
Tay:Did he inject himself too?
Jenn:Wait. Because that's not so he sent for her and wants a small portion of her DNA. Her DNA. So that he can create a child. Now at this point, he's actually completely a plant except for except for his brain.
Tay:He's like little shop of horrors the, like, talking plant. The I want
Jenn:your blood. Trying to envision it. I was I was envisioning I don't know. I was envisioning more of a tree, but I think it was a little shuffle. Like, Audrey too.
Jenn:He could be like an Audrey too or something. Yeah. Oops. Sorry. Never really know.
Jenn:No. My brain went there too when I was, like, researching this. I'm like, well, what's he, like, what is it? What what is that thing? So, he floods his streets of Gotham with a high grade marijuana in order to create a rural economy.
Jenn:Those run on hemp, and their offspring will control it. I don't really see the problem here. Like, what? You're threatening me with this? That's cool.
Jenn:Good. Then everybody just learns they're on meat stalkers and nobody really cares what he's doing. Alright. So now is where there is an earthquake that happens in. Right?
Tay:Okay.
Jenn:So Gotham City is destroyed by an earthquake. Now she takes control of a park there, Robinson Park, and she turns it into like a a tropical paradise. She just has a knack for this. She's like, I don't know. She goes and she's just, I'm gonna make it pretty.
Jenn:I love it. I'm gonna make it pretty. She's like, I'm just gonna create this little sanctuary. And she ends up taking in like 16 orphan children. I know it's so good And then she cared for them.
Jenn:Now here comes play face.
Tay:This motherfucker.
Jenn:That's what I said, this motherfucker. So he he has this idea. He tries to make a bargain with her. He says the bargain is, is for her to grow produce and have the kids, the orphans, harvest it and sell it to the highest bidder because when this earthquake happens in Gotham it's just like mass chaos so many things are destroyed there's not enough food Ridiculous. And just so she denies him and Clayface, I said, I'm like, no.
Jenn:I'm good. So play face ends up trapping her and her orphans under the park lake and he's feeding her salt, which as well as not good for plants, he's not giving her water, he's walking her from the sun like weakening her, like, exponentially.
Tay:That's wild. Why would
Jenn:you do that? Yeah. I'm like, that's not really a good way to, convince a girl to let you go out on a date with you. Like, fine. I'm just gonna torture you.
Jenn:Stick you on your ground, get yourself in. So here comes Batman, he comes and rescues her, frees her and she kills Clayface herself. Good. Right. Good.
Jenn:She kills him, like, a lot. Like, she makes some fertilizer for her plants.
Tay:She eats for her.
Jenn:Oh, Mike, he kills him so hard. He's fertilizer for her plants. Like, I don't think is gonna come around again after that. I'm not sure if he does, but damn. It's about this time, that Poison Ivy finds Harley Quinn.
Jenn:And Harley Quinn had almost been murdered by the Joker, and Ivy nurses are back to health and like since then they've become like best friends and partners in crime and I think I think other people have, like, mentioned, like, they're even, like, lesbian lovers at, like, one point. Like, they have, like, a really close bond. You know? And then there's there's other story lines that I read that were, poison ivy actually dies because thinking the suspect, like, she wants to die because she feels like her powers are hurting the orphan children she was trying to raise. And, she's she actually seeks Batman out to help her, like, help her, like, turn human again.
Jenn:But, hush, you know, all people. I, like, convinced this year and, like, don't do that. Like, take the serum to, like, restore her powers. And she she takes it and then she dies in the process.
Tay:Oh my god. Oh my god.
Jenn:Right. What? I guess in the the last, like, image in the comic strip it shows, like, her grave is covered by Ivy. Oh, so she's alive. She's not actually dead.
Jenn:I know. So what a year later, you see her again. And she's at full strength, and she has, like, even more control over the the floor than she she did before. Like, it's vastly increased. It's almost, like, on par with, like, Swamp Thing and then, like, her Jason withdrew into a Sonic man.
Jenn:Like, she's on par with, like, their powers. Not really sure what hush gave her. Yeah. He tripped and drank around up. No.
Jenn:Actually, the opposite. Probably, like, miracle grow or something. He's like, here. Drink this. But, Batman discovers that she's been feeding people such as, like, her henchmen and, like, other people that she feels that are, like, incompetent or, like, lovers that she's kinda, like, grown tired of, to this giant plant that is named the Harvest.
Jenn:So the Harvest is this like nice of like this huge plant and what it does is that it it slowly digests people. Ew. I know. Kinda reminds me of that huge worm off of Star Wars that you digest for, like, some years.
Tay:That or Nope. Because they actually show, like, in the movie Nope that it was, like, a giant, like, weird cloud thing that, like, sucked up people and digest them. You could actually watch it.
Jenn:Yeah. No. I watched it. It was very Yeah. No.
Jenn:I watched it. I was just like Mhmm. That's disturbing. Alright. Yeah.
Jenn:But the thing was that this particular plant was her victims souls would merge with the plant and it ended up creating like the monster harvest like before it was supposed to be a plant but then when their souls really being digested it would merge with them and it created like something that was like sentient And then Harvest actually ends up trying to seek revenge on Ivy. Yeah. But
Tay:Even though she was eating it? Like
Jenn:It's probably because it was, like, prisoner, you created me, and then you made me do your dirty work. It's like, maybe the people tasted bad. Like, maybe
Tay:they didn't wash themselves they were sweaty like can
Jenn:you wash my I mean I wash my vegetables for I eat them like maybe that was the thing like I didn't like eating like polyester or something but Batman forded it Sounds a little information about about poison ivy, you know, I liked her a lot. You wanna talk a little bit about her? Alright. Alright. To get parts, miss Tay.
Tay:So we are at the closer of the evening. We are at the final shots and thoughts. We're partying over here. So, we wanna thank everybody for tuning in to our 4th episode. It was super great to have all of you guys commenting and engaging, and having our, you know, our producer, Jeff, over here helping us out with that, animated series.
Tay:Super appreciated. They always helping us out. We love it here. So, watch the page of the USDN, for updates on our 5th episode, which, drumroll, please, We are doing Harry Potter. Harry Potter?
Tay:So, you know, I'm doing a little Ravenclaw
Jenn:because I'm a Ravenclaw.
Tay:But, anyway, so, we will be doing, Harry Potter's heroes and villains, as our 5th and 6th episode. And then also watch the, page for the USDN episode 2 coming to y'all next
Jenn:weekend in
Tay:7 days. So, that will be on August 19th at 9 PM, EST. So just an hour after we started for this one, where we'll continue to explore the predator and alien franchise. Super excited about that for that universe. We will also come out with more of our interview series, so stay tuned for that.
Tay:We don't really know what's happening next, but there might be something at the end of this month. Just stay tuned. You might get some more content coming to you real soon. And this is where we're gonna highlight the comic books and cosplay communities, plus much more. We also wanna point out that if you're a Patreon member, which you'll have the links in our, Linktree, You'll have an exclusive to the episode by episode breakdown for that Asoka.
Tay:So if you watched our wrap up secret invasions, party, this is gonna be an episode by episode, wrap up, only for our Patreon members, though. However, just go ahead and stay do stay tuned for those dates. But fear not, we did see your guys' poll, and we will be giving you a end of the season, wrap up party that it will be on Facebook and Twitch, live for all of you just like you're watching here, for our US and family. So thank you guys for staying tuned for all of that. And also a special thank you goes out to the DFPN podcast group for all the love and support that you guys have given us.
Tay:It really means a lot to us, and it goes a long way. And today, we wanna leave you guys with a quote from the brilliant mind who blessed you with the world of laughter and happiness, Pee Wee Herman. So and that it goes like this. I just, I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different. It's, not that it's good, not that it's bad, but that it's alright.
Tay:I'm just trying to tell kids to have a good time and encourage them to be creative and question things. Again, that was from Pee Wee Herman, who did depart us, this year, who is, Paul Rubens. And that you, ladies and gentlemen, is USDN approved. See you.
