1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. Find all my work at MJMunoz.com. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,840 This is Red Panda Report, Episode 7, Imitation Panda. Join me as I discuss the thrilling Red 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,540 Panda Adventures Number 7, Red Panda, Dead or Alive, featuring villainous vengeance, 4 00:00:18,540 --> 00:00:29,460 simpering socialites, and a hypnotized hero. Red Panda Adventures Number 7 was published, 5 00:00:29,460 --> 00:00:32,720 actually, I don't know why I thought it was called Red Panda, Dead or Alive, but it's 6 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:38,000 just Dead or Alive. Anyway, it was published April 1st, 2006, written and directed by Greg 7 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:46,920 Taylor, and clearly this is the seventh episode of Red Panda. So, oh, I will share the copy 8 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:54,720 for this, which comes from DecoderRingTheatre.com, your source for adventure, mystery, and comedy. 9 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,880 Someone is on a spree of high-profile robberies throughout the city. Someone wearing a very 10 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:04,560 familiar bright red mask. Can it be true? Has the city's champion turned traitor to 11 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,680 the cause of law and order? Can even Kit Baxter, the flying squirrel, save her friend and mentor 12 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:20,800 once the call has gone out? Red Panda, Dead or Alive. So, anyway, first off, I was a little 13 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:28,000 weird about the fact that this Red Panda clearly has a gang. He clearly uses a Tommy gun, and 14 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,480 yet people believe he is the real Red Panda. I suppose the real Red Panda has operated 15 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:41,920 in such secrecy, in such shadow and myth and rumor that people don't really know who he 16 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:47,220 is, what he's like, or what he's capable of, which I guess the secrecy and the anonymity 17 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:53,680 of the way Red Panda operates is kind of a double-edged sword being used against him, 18 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,960 which is pretty interesting. Let's see, next thing is, so, towards the end of the episode, 19 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,880 or right at the end, O'Malley said to Red Panda when he realized that he was innocent 20 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,820 of being the criminal Red Panda with the Red Panda gang, he said something along the lines 21 00:02:08,820 --> 00:02:14,760 of, someday you'll slip up Red Panda and I'll be there to catch you. Doesn't that make it 22 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:20,960 sound like O'Malley wants Red Panda to be a bad guy? Wants him to be a criminal specifically 23 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:28,040 so that he'll be justified in capturing and catching and prosecuting him? So, that'd be 24 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,200 like going up to any random guy and saying, someday you'll slip up and I'll arrest you 25 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:37,680 for your crimes. Well, why? Why would you say that? And I don't know if that's cops 26 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:45,400 are dumb or what that is, but it just rang really odd in my ears. So, yeah. No me gusto. 27 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:54,000 No me gusto. Anyway, I like the fake Red Panda shtick. I think it's really cool. It's just 28 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,440 a really neat, really fun idea. I mean, it's not totally unique. It's not something that's 29 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,800 never been done. Like, I believe there's a fake shadow in the shadow at some point. And, 30 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:10,080 you know, there's Metal Sonic and whatever. Black Suit Spider-Man or, I don't know, whatever. 31 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,960 And I mean, like after, well, I don't know, was Venom running around looking just like 32 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,720 Spider-Man at some point? I don't know. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Doesn't matter. Doesn't 33 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:24,000 matter. But just, you know, the imposter hero who's actually a villain is a cool, fun idea. 34 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,320 And I like it in the context here. I didn't expect it here. I don't know why. I suppose 35 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,360 because I know all the crazy things Red Panda can do and this phony Red Panda didn't really 36 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,440 do any of them. So, it didn't occur to me that somebody would be able to come in and 37 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,120 imitate him. Although, Nick Diablos, if he wanted to, could impersonate Red Panda. And 38 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,480 that was a thought that just struck me right now. So, I don't know. We'll see if that happens 39 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:45,000 in the future. 40 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,880 Okay, so there was a great line in this episode. I don't know if I'm going to do a best line 41 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:56,040 feature from now on or not. I don't really intend to, but I could. But this one was Christopher 42 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,960 Mott as the phony Red Panda. He was talking about, you know, he was saying this and this 43 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:06,280 and this. And this is a Tommy gun! And then he fires it. That was really cool. Really 44 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:11,280 cool. Very fun. Great, you know, villainous action to keep things exciting and just, I 45 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,160 don't know, it's just, it's ridiculous, but it's so cool. It's cool because it's dumb, 46 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,080 I guess. And that's the way some things are. 47 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:23,280 Okay, Kit's dedication to Red Panda is really cool. I like, I liked it overall. Like, I 48 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:28,400 mean, to me, it's clear that she has feelings for the big guy and, you know, that's at least 49 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,520 part of why she's sticking around. And, I don't know, she's got a weird chip on her 50 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,080 shoulder that I kind of don't like where she's like, oh, you're trying to send me away. You 51 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,320 want me to be safe. You think this is about me wanting my job. I value you too much to 52 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,720 walk away because whatever. I knew there was coming into this and now I'm sticking with 53 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,720 you no matter what. And him being noble and trying to send her away so that she's not 54 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,100 in danger and him talking about his doubts. Like, you know, he's obviously a very capable 55 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:59,880 man who's been able to accomplish a lot, yet he is imperfect. One of his imperfections, 56 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:04,000 one of his flaws, I guess. Maybe it's just a self-doubt. I don't think it's a self-doubt. 57 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,860 I think it's beyond that. You know, I think there's more to it than that, I should say. 58 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:12,920 That he doesn't know that he made the right decision in getting Kit to help him. I mean, 59 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,120 he'd be dead if he didn't have her around to help him at this point. But I guess maybe 60 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:22,320 he's thinking better him dead alone and having never met her never ruined her life than having 61 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:27,560 her with him and then having her life threatened and ruined. So, I like that. I think that's 62 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,520 cool. I think it's noble. I think he's being a real man about it. And, you know, she claps 63 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:37,800 back with her herb stuff. And, you know, your mileage may vary on it. Some people are going 64 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,400 to think it's amazing. It's the best thing ever. It is noble and heroic, because she 65 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,280 wants to put herself on the line for him. And it shows how deep their connection is. 66 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:51,280 And that's really cool. So, I'm not complaining about that. And then Red Panda's secret identity 67 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:57,000 being the real mask. It's a neat idea. I like that he has given his all to being Red Panda. 68 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,240 That's a neat spin on things. I don't know specifically. I guess Batman kind of falls 69 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:06,360 into that. That sort of, that same sort of territory where he really is Batman and Bruce 70 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:12,360 Wayne is just a facade. And, I mean, I like that. Okay. I can't think of where that's 71 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,720 real. The only place I can think of in, or the only thing I can think of from Batman, 72 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,800 because I'm not like a Batman comic book reader, really. I tried to. It didn't work out. We 73 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:28,600 went separate ways. We had different visions. So, anyway, was in Batman Beyond. He at one 74 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,600 point gets, I think it's in Batman Beyond. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Batman Beyond specifically. 75 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:39,040 Bruce ends up getting thrown into a mental facility. And at the end of it, he's saved 76 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,120 because he thinks he's going crazy or people around him think he's going crazy. So, they 77 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,720 put him under conservatorship or whatever, right? Because he's an old man and he's still 78 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,200 tied. No, he's not tied to Wayne Enterprises. He's sort of tied to it socially. But I don't 79 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:56,960 think he has any actual power in the company. He just has like a senior statesman, is that 80 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,720 how they call it? Anyway, whatever. He has clout, but he doesn't have actual power, right? 81 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:06,280 He has no controlling interests, I believe. But anyway, maybe he does some... Doesn't 82 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:10,320 matter. That's not the point. Anyway, the point is that in his head, the voice that 83 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:14,040 sounds just like him, I think it sounds just like him, is calling him Bruce and saying 84 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,960 Bruce this, Bruce that, whatever. And Bruce is confident in his sanity the whole time 85 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,320 and he ends up telling Terry, his Batman in training from Batman Beyond, if you're not 86 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:28,040 familiar with that series, great series, check it out, that that's not what he calls himself 87 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:34,400 in his head. In his subconscious, he's not Bruce Wayne, he's Batman. And there's a comedic 88 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,440 line in there that Terry gives, he says, hey, that's my name. And he says, tell that to 89 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:43,840 my subconscious. And it's very cool. So I guess that was my Kevin Conroy impersonation. 90 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,160 I've never really tried to do one, but if it worked, it worked, and if it didn't, I'm 91 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:52,760 sorry. Anyway, so I thought that was a cool aspect of the story. I thought it was odd 92 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:58,640 that Kid broke the rule of telling Peepers, or Peeper, about her static shoes. You're 93 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,640 not supposed to tell the bad guys about your powers, but whatever. Not a big deal. Just 94 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:07,400 kind of funny. She seems to be a stickler about stuff like that. As far as gadgets are 95 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,480 concerned, Tom Tomorrow used some sort of disguised gizmo to appear to be the Red Panda's 96 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,720 alter ego, which is pretty cool, and he's from the future, so they can do anything, 97 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,960 right? And then Tom Tomorrow has rocket boots. Red Panda and Flying Skrull have static shoes, 98 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:27,440 Tom Tomorrow's got rocket boots. It all works out. It's all in the feet, I guess. So, moving 99 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,960 on from there, villains, not much to say. Golden Claw is the true villain. She's behind 100 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,560 the Red Panda gang. She's orchestrating it all from prison. Apparently she still has 101 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:43,800 control of money and assets. By assets, I mean criminals, people to have do her will. 102 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,720 And through that, through the combination of those two things, money and people, which 103 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:51,240 is all you really need, I guess, she was able to pull off this caper, I guess you would 104 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:56,760 say. And that's pretty cool. That makes her even more formidable, and it's kind of fun 105 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,880 of this person who doesn't have any powers, who's just a great criminal mastermind, can 106 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,280 give Red Panda such trouble. Especially because he doesn't have any powers either. So I guess 107 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:08,840 in that way, they're kind of equally matched, aren't they? I'd never really thought about 108 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:13,680 them before. Because I think of him as a superhero, some gangster doesn't make sense to me. Kind 109 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:17,480 of like, and this is the last tangent I do, I hope, for the episode, there's a guy from 110 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,600 Arrow, from the Arrow TV show, Brick. Big guy, almost bald, real short hair if not bald. 111 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,600 He's a tough guy, he's real strong. As far as I know, he's not a metahuman. They just 112 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,000 call him Brick because he's a tough guy. And somehow, Stephen Amell, which his character's 113 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,240 name, Oliver Queen, is not able to defeat this guy. And nobody else is. It gets even 114 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,160 worse with the dragon guy a couple seasons later, like the last season, last season or 115 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:43,400 second to last season of Arrow. This guy's ridiculously hard to kill, and somehow he's 116 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,640 able to overcome everybody, even though he's just a normal buff Mexican guy. Like, you 117 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:53,080 know, la gente is muy fuerte, but not that strong, man. That's crazy. So, anyway, bug 118 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:58,840 die. Heck out of me. Anyway, I have a couple lore points to talk about, and then I'm going 119 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,920 to close out the episode. So technically, the Red Panda does have a gang, but the public 120 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,940 and police don't know about that. I complained about this whole gang thing throwing away 121 00:10:05,940 --> 00:10:11,720 or giving away that Red Panda's not the guy doing the crimes, but it's there. You'll see 122 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,960 it later. In the books, especially when we get to the books, it'll be there in a much 123 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:21,720 more pronounced way, which is similar to the Shadow. The Shadow in his books, he uses his 124 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,520 agents all the time. You hear about them a lot in the radio show. It's just Margot Lane, 125 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:33,200 but then again, the radio Shadow and the book Shadow are pretty different characters. Okay, 126 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:40,760 next is Tom Tomorrow's a man from the future. I mean, from the future! And he seems to be 127 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:45,400 stuck in the past. That is, the Red Panda's present, and he's the only person we know 128 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:51,400 of who knows who Red Panda is. And I say that because there was that guy who died. Was it 129 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:56,280 Peter? Yeah, Peter. Peter, the guy who was behind Jackrabbit. He had, you know, Red Panda 130 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:01,200 pulled off his mask, revealed his identity to him, then that guy died. And then, you 131 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,720 can assume the people who train Red Panda, but we haven't met any of them, know who Red 132 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:10,600 Panda is. And yeah, so it's Kit and Tom Tomorrow. But then by the end of the episode, Tom forgets 133 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:16,840 because of the post hypnotic suggestion that Red Panda gives him, which is hilarious. Another 134 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,960 thing, the Justice Union has been brought up at least one other time besides this. It 135 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:26,320 was when Red Panda was telling Kit not to quit and not to give up on herself. He said, 136 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,160 if you don't deserve to be a superhero, then none of the Justice Union people do either. 137 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:36,320 And that was, what, Death Dance at Midnight. It was in episode six. So just last episode. 138 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,920 And anyway, they're sort of like an analog to the Justice League and they have a roster 139 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,360 that changes over time because from when they're mentioned and when they're first encountered 140 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,040 to when they're like dealt with more heavily later in later seasons of Red Panda, like 141 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:54,000 years have passed, maybe a decade, if not less than that. So kind of interesting. And 142 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,400 then last thing, Red Panda doesn't allow any other mystery men or superheroes to work in 143 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,840 Toronto, I guess, except Tom Tomorrow. I don't know why you can't stop Tom Tomorrow. Why 144 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,840 he doesn't really bother with him because the guy just like walks into his lair and 145 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,600 kind of bugs him. But then I don't know. After that, he kind of sticks around. I think he 146 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,960 deals with him at least once more. Maybe he just gets involved in stuff later down the 147 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,600 line that I won't spoil for you. But that's interesting. It's funny what a lone wolf he 148 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,800 is, Red Panda that is, but that'll get talked about more in later seasons. So I'm not going 149 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:26,040 to belabor it right now, but I mean, this was a fun episode. We have these socialites. 150 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,080 Oh yeah. I got to deliver on my promise. So we got villainous vengeance, simpering socialites 151 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:38,520 and one other thing. Oh, Hibden-Tyserion. Yeah. So yeah, the socialites, they suck, man. 152 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,080 And you know, I'm not going to get too political, but Taylor is Canadian. So I'm assuming that 153 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,160 means he hates poor, not poor people. He loves poor people and he hates rich people. And 154 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,320 anyway, man, you know, they say never meet your heroes. Maybe you shouldn't follow people 155 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,920 on Twitter who you like as creatives because when their politics come out, it bugs you. 156 00:12:54,920 --> 00:13:01,680 And I'm not saying he's ever said anything specifically communist, but he did do something 157 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,680 that I was very disappointed in when he was talking about regular citizens. Well, never 158 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:09,080 mind. I'm not going to say that. I'm not going to cut it out. I'm not going to edit it because 159 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,120 I'm just not going to do that. But I'm also not going to finish that thought because it 160 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,160 doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to the show. And I will move on because I can tolerate 161 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:21,840 people having different opinions to some extent, even though I believe that certain political 162 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,600 ideologies are quite opposite. Mine are ultimately destructive and deleterious to society as 163 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,920 a whole and will cause the breakdown of it. But I'm not going to stop that by badmouthing 164 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,120 people in my podcast. So I'm just going to build the kind of world I believe we should 165 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:44,240 live in. And you know, good luck to you building something that can never exist or never work. 166 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:50,320 So anyway, goodbye. No, I'm not leaving yet. Anyway, the socialite's like, I appreciate 167 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:54,600 that many people who are in that sort of privileged position do get to the point where they are 168 00:13:54,600 --> 00:14:00,720 so removed from normal society, so removed from the normal life of humanity that they 169 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:06,480 are empty shells of people and they are almost degenerate in their wealth and in their opulence. 170 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:12,740 And it's sad. However, I acknowledge the fact that sometimes the poor people are degenerate 171 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:17,120 in the way they operate because it's a way to cope with the world that they live in. 172 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,600 And I'm not saying that the only right people are middle class people, I guess like me. 173 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:27,040 I'm I'd say I'm lower middle class if not, I don't know, it's complicated. But I do believe 174 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:32,760 in the value of some hard work and I believe mostly in the value of not harming other people 175 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:41,200 and and accountability and responsibility for your sphere of influence and for your 176 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,160 sphere of control. You should do the best you can. You should be moral, not hurt other 177 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:53,680 people. But anyway, I do see like the positivity in showing the ugliness and callousness of 178 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,560 these socialite people and like the niece character who gets threatened in the beginning 179 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,840 at the party that nobody knows what it's actually for. She's a great counterpoint to that because 180 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,480 while she is a socialite, or at least related to socialite, she's not so far gone and not 181 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:10,580 so disconnected that these things don't mean anything to her. Like she's a real person 182 00:15:10,580 --> 00:15:14,520 attached to the real world, unlike these other people around. So anyway, kind of complicated, 183 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,720 kind of funny. Like why would I spend all this time talking about just, you know, this 184 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:24,960 is me. This is me. If you like it, great. And if you don't, sorry, don't listen anymore. 185 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,680 And then the hypnotize hero thing, that's just about Tom Trenor getting hypnotized. 186 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:33,120 And I think that's funny. You know, technically, I could have used that appellation for Kit 187 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:38,760 when she was hypnotized by Nick Diablo's, but I didn't I didn't use it then. I'm following 188 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,880 the Red Panda rule, Red Panda universal rule. I'm trying to use alliteration as much as 189 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:48,280 I possibly can to keep things fun and funky, funky fresh, if you will, to use moral iteration. 190 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:53,440 Oh, it's triple alliteration. But anyway, that is pretty much all I have to say for 191 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:59,000 this episode. Again, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to listening to and then talking 192 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,960 about and sharing the next one with you. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, 193 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:09,040 I go ahead and share those. And that's all I have to say. So without further ado, I ask 194 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:15,080 that you be well. This is MJ signing out. I hope you enjoyed that. Go to MJMunoz.com 195 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:21,520 to leave any questions, comments or other feedback you might have. There you can find 196 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:29,920 all of my analysis, art and fiction. I cover books, tokusatsu, comic books, anime and more. 197 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:34,120 Look around. You're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well. This has been 198 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:41,120 a story over everything production.