Hey, hey, hey, it's Chaos Queen here, and you're
listening to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hey,
it's Jesse Rass, and do you love comic books?
Do you have opinions about comic books? Do you
like hearing opinions on said comic books? Then
you need to make the great escape, and it's a
small leap into another world. We call the Pull
Bag, and you'll only find it here on the GCRN.
otherwise known as the Geek Cast Radio Network.
You've just jumped inside the pull bag. Join
TFG1 Mike and the rest of the comic crew here
at the GCRN as they make their great escape into
comics. From DC, Marvel, and Image to IDW, Boom
Studios, and Xenoscope, we have everything right
here. We cover things like Transformers, He -Man,
Super Heroes, TMNT, and Radiant Black. Yeah,
we have all that and so much more. It's all inside
the pull bag here on the geek cast radio network.
So without further ado, it's time to talk about
the comics we're reading right now here inside
the pull bag, because this is going to be episode
580 of the pull bag. That's right, folks. You
are here in a live recording of the pull bag.
I'm of course, TF2 and Mike. From the Geekcast
Radio Network, you are here live with me, and
unfortunately the pullback listeners don't get
to see all this junk that the video viewers are
going to be seeing. How about a Cybertronic Spree
patch? A Cybertronic Spree Ravage booklet? So
there's that. This came in the mail the other
day, so I gotta watch this. Love this series
with Christian Slater. Can't believe this complete
series is only two discs. That was crazy. My
favorite film from 1993, and no, it's not Jurassic
Park. Airborne. So there's that. And then we
get into the comics in which begins my journey.
Oh, wait, I gotta go back over here to Facebook
because it is the pull bag and I need to get
this. Come in, come in, go back, go back, scroll,
scroll, scroll. You ever just realize, folks,
that half your time online is just scrolling
the doom scroll of life? Alright, so, comics,
folks. The only physical comic books I could
find... in my closet, unfortunately, because
I don't, like... All this stuff back here, all
this, it's Funko Pops. It's toys. It's all that
stuff. It's not actual things. It's not books.
It's not DVDs. It's action figures, or inaction
figures, technically. But anyway, all the stuff
that the people on camera can see, it's toys.
All of the comic books that I could find that
are in my closet, I wanted to find other ones
that I know I have, like the Radiant Black issue
number 10, which was the Blacklight issue, the
first Blacklight issue that Radiant Black ever
did. I actually, in the process of pulling out
these comics that you'll see here in a minute,
I found my Radiant Black box. When they originally
did the Radiant Black box, I could have brought
out the Radiant Black bath bomb that they originally
did. Not doing that, but I do still have my Radiant
Black bath... Radiant Black box from when they
did that. So, yeah. The comics that I found that
I pulled out. The double -size issue 1 and 2
that they originally put out for... Go beyond
the Gotham, you know, DC Black Label. Batman
Beyond the White Knight. This is the showcase
edition number one. This, I forgot, this is issues
one and two of Batman Beyond the White Knight.
Because I kept looking for issue two. I'm like,
where is issue two? Where is issue two? Why am
I missing? It's... Both issue one and two in
this one issue. I forgot about that. That is
so freaking cool to me. I love Sean Gordon Murphy's
Beyond His White Knight Universe. Love that stuff.
Absolutely love it. We've covered it on the pull
bag before. It's in past episodes. I'm trying
to think. Come on, brain work. I want to say
it's... Oh, what episode number is that without
me having to look it up on the schedule? I want
to say it's episodes 317 and 318 of the pullback.
I could be wrong. I'm most likely wrong in that.
But I have never gotten to cover Beyond the White
Knight yet. I don't think I ever started this.
I'm pretty sure I haven't. So gotta cover this
at some point. So we got the first two issues
in this showcase edition. And then I thought
I got I'm gonna have to look inside the ear because
I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if I got like spoofed
or Something. Because, like, I thought, I didn't
realize this was a regular cover or what, but
when I walked into my local comic shop here in
town, when I walked into the Danger Room here
in Anderson, Indiana, and they gave me the Batgirl
cover, I was like, okay, I'm in love. Look at
this, folks. This is just amazing. Just amazing.
Absolutely love this. This is one of the best
covers ever. So, yeah, absolutely love, love,
love, love it. And then the other comics I was
able to pull out of the closet at the time, I
think there were more of these. I could be wrong,
but my buddy Ryan Drost. He's doing a new one.
I think they just finished up, but Stealth Hammer.
My buddy Ryan Drost did this series called Stealth
Hammer, so I have his first two issues. So I
got that for this one, and I have the second
issue here for this one. And there's a bunch
of postcards and stuff in the back for both of
these, actually. If I can turn around. Both of
them have postcards in the back, so I absolutely
love that. I believe we covered the first series
on the podcast. Obviously, he's doing the second
series now. And, yeah, then we have Livio Ramondelli's
Pencil to Color. So this is Livio Remendelli's
Pencil to Color, and this is all of his covers.
This is showing you how he makes his covers for
his Transformers and I believe his other stuff,
his creator -owned stuff. Sorry, Livio, I'm blanking
on the title at the time. And, of course, everybody
in here is like, or everybody watching this after
the fact of this not being a live video anymore,
Mike, you moron, just take it out of the thing.
Of course, that's what I would do. Is it mostly
his Transformers stuff? What is the name of his...
Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Livio. Yeah, it's pretty
much his Transformers work. Pencil to color.
Why can't I think of his creator -owned stuff?
But yes, it is very much his... I love that series.
Why can't I think of it? We covered it. Hahi
Prime and I covered it on the podcast. Watch,
I bet you I can remember the dang... And yes,
I know this bag is... The board's fine. The bag
is failing. Why can't I think of the dang...
I don't know. Anyway. And then my buddy Tony
Wolf. Good old Tony Wolf. Green point of view.
And other stories. Memoir Tales from the Wolf.
I've got his book. So those are the actual comic
books that I have physical copies of currently.
I do more digital comics. I have so many. Comixology.
And yes, I still call it Comixology even though
it's called Kindle Comics now. But anyway, The
Pull Bag, March 5th, 2013. Now, The Pull Bag
actually has goings -back almost a year prior,
because in 2012, Steve Megatron and I did a little
miniseries on Geekcast Radio. Geekcast Radio
is the flagship show of the Geekcast Radio network,
geekcastradio .com. We did the Death of the Family
Batman New 52 issues 13 to 17. We covered those
on Geekcast Radio as episodes. At the end of
that run, Steve was like, okay, we can't have
this permeate Geekcast Radio. If you want to
cover comics, we need to put it somewhere. We
need to do something with it. I was like, okay.
Sure. What do you want to do? You want to create
a podcast? What? What are we doing with it? He
said, well, let's think of stuff. Let's advertise
stuff. Let's figure something out. So this is
what I wrote up last year for the 12th anniversary
on Facebook. I'm going to read this verbatim,
and yes, I'm reading from my phone. This is why
I had my phone out on Facebook earlier. 13 years
ago today, March 5th, 2013, Steve Phillips VO,
a .k .a. Steve Phillips and I, launched The Pullback,
only on the Geekcast Radio Network. Thank you
for all the arts and all the podcasts over the
years and everything else in between, Steve.
13 years and 579 episodes later. Here we are.
And I go on to say here is episode triple zero
at the time, the introduction. 13 years ago,
and neither of us knew which one of us was going
to take the lead on this show. It turns out it
was me, TFG1 Mike, from the Geekcast Radio Network.
My goals with the pullback were always to not
be predictable, to not be the same old podcast
that covers The Dark Knight Returns just because.
I have no issues towards the story or the art,
but the legacy, like, oh my god, you're not a
comic book podcast unless you cover it. Right.
Uh -huh. Uh -huh. And I still, to this day, don't
think we've ever covered The Dark Knight Returns.
Maybe one of these days. Thank you, Michael Powers,
for coming up with the name of the podcast. So,
we went through names upon names upon names.
Steve went through art upon art. At one point,
it was going to be called The Pull List. Because
you go into the comic workshop and you have...
a pull list and you know you tell them what you
want and they pull it and they add it to your
pull list and that's the list you have and you
can always go in there and change it and everything
else and whatever you can take things off you
can add things to it and yada yada yada so it
was going to be called tpl at one point well
after doing massive amounts of research and that's
the other thing folks research your podcast name
check itunes apple podcasts but itunes apple
podcasts whatever same thing check spotify check
youtube check google check everywhere on the
internet that you can and be sure to hydrate
be sure that your podcast name is Nothing like
any other name out there. Also, be sure to trademark
it, copyright it, whatever you need to do, so
that it is yours. So anyway, we couldn't use
the pull list because it was too similar to another
title. We were having trouble and we were just
posting all over social media, hey, what's a
good title for this comic podcast? We want it
to sound cool. We want it to be this. We want
it to be that. We want it to be an acronym. And
our good buddy, BoothNinja81, a .k .a. Michael
Powers, was like, what about the pull bag? The
pull bag? Oh, yeah. Because you can jump inside
the pull bag today. A light bulb went off in
my head. And I literally, I've been six foot
one practically my entire adult life. I've been
somewhere between 300 and almost 500 pounds my
entire adult life. So I'm a bigger guy, obviously.
I do count as obese, obviously. But literally
when he said the pull bag. What you just saw
me do with, oh, jump inside the pull bag today.
I literally ran around my apartment in circles.
I jumped up out of my chair when I read what
he said. And I was like, huh. I was saying it
over and over and over. I wrote out every single
permutation of how I could say it on the podcast.
So thank you so much, Michael Powers, for that.
I wanted TPB to have a different edge to it.
I wanted it to stay modern at the time in 2013,
to discuss the comics we were reading at the
time, whilst also allowing ourselves to dive
deep into the past. I did this with Back Issue
Classics. Anything before the year 2000 was under
Back Issue Classics. At the time, I also wanted
an interview series. I and others who helped
me came up with, at the time, 25 questions about
how our podcast guests got into and out of reading
comic books. I called it Origins in Comic Reading,
folks. This is how GCRN Origins started. It started
with the pull bag. With Origins in comic reading.
And now, in 2026, we have Origins in comic reading.
We have Origins in all things Transformers. We
have Origins everywhere. We have television Origins.
We have... podcast origins, we have toy cast
origins, we have origins all over the place with
GCRN. It all started with The Pull Bag. To this
day, that series is still going strong, and back
in 2019, we rounded it up, we rounded up the
questions to 30 instead of 25. We've covered
our favorite characters, we've covered comics
from DC, Marvel, IDW, Image, and more. Batman,
Iron Man, Nightwing, Batgirl, Spider -Man, Superman,
Transformers, Jem, TMNT, and so many more. 579
episodes is more than that in actual comic issues.
We used to go issue by issue, then I started
waiting for the trades, because I wanted the
whole story all at once. Thank you to anyone
who has ever listened to the show. To many friends,
guests, and co -hosts. So many friends, guests,
and co -hosts to thank. Kendra Hale, Jesse Raz,
Benji Richards, Bethany Kessler, Ryan Drost of
Star Joes, Jonathan and Maggie Schaefer -Hames,
John M. Wilson. One in 1 ,000 comics! Whoa! You'll
have to check that episode out, folks, and learn
all about that one. Dave McIlvenny, Edward Hale.
Carter Mann, Mike O'Sullivan, Kevin Thompson,
Michael Bailey, Shag Matthews, Delvin Williams,
Donovan Morgan Grant, Brad and Lisa from Comic
Book Couples Counseling, Comic Book Couples Counseling,
that one time in 2018 I was live at Jay's Comics
in Grayslake, Illinois, what an adventure that
was, and so many more. Thank you to all of you
for everything. And so many more to thank. But
rest assured, you all are amazing. From listening
to and being on the podcast and so much more,
what a journey this has been. 579 episodes. Just
21 to go to reach 600. And oh boy, y 'all will
not believe I have. The plan I have for 600.
Some might already know of these plans. I've
been plotting this since 2022. Remember, folks,
to always make your greatest scape into comics.
I can't thank everyone enough. So, yeah. 579
episodes. This is episode 580. I have moved the
TMNT coverage that Joe Reed and I are going to
do down the line. We'll get to it when we get
to it. I want to get back into this podcast.
It's been a year or so since I've been able to
do anything with it. And I miss being able to
do stuff with it. This episode is going to have
a very special podcast art. Steve Megatron made
me a template where I can pick my favorite six
covers over the last 13 years of covering comics.
So if you're listening to this on any of the
podcatching clients you choose to use, Apple,
Spotify, whatever it is, you will get that podcast
art. Or if you're listening on geekcastradio
.com, You'll get that podcast art. But yeah,
I love comics. I love being able to read comics.
For the last almost three years, even though
I haven't been doing stuff with the pull bag,
I've been doing stuff with my buddy Jesse. Uh,
and our other friend, Ryan, Ryan, um, uh, the
uneven flow. I mentioned Ryan Merkley earlier.
Same guy, Ryan, the uneven flow Merkley, my buddy,
Jesse matrix prime and Ryan. We've been doing
Jesse's podcast, uh, another comic review. We've
been doing that almost three years this coming
June, and we've been covering the entire Energon
Universe comics from Skybound, Image Comics slash
Skybound Entertainment. So it's all Transformers,
G .I. Joe, Void Rivals. So I have been doing
comic book podcasting, I just haven't been doing
it here inside the pull bag, because Joe Reed
and I, another... quote -unquote claim to fame
that the pull bag has is that January 22nd 2014
the pull bag published IDW publishing Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles volume 1 we published that
podcast where Joe Reed and I reviewed that comic
book trade paperback and when Joe got me to read
that I opened it And I come from the Ninja Turtles
side of things, where it's the cartoon, so it's
the multicolor. It's the, oh, chaos. You put
all my turtles over there on the table, and I
have a giant wall of Transformers right here,
so I can't easily reach them. So, anyway, if
you ever watch the 1987 cartoon, all the bandanas
that they wear over their eyes, over their foreheads
and stuff, They're multicolored, so Leonardo
is blue, Donatello is purple, Raphael is red,
Michelangelo is orange. In the original comic
books that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created,
all of the bandanas are red. So when Joe Reed
suggested that I read this comic book from IDW
Publishing in 2014, even though IDW had the license
since 2011, Uh, when we got to the point of reading
this in 2014, I got the trade paperbacks for
volumes one, two, three, and four to prepare
for the podcast here for the pull bag. I read
the first like six pages or whatever, the first
page of, of the volume, a full stop. And I messaged
my buddy Joe and I'm like, dude, red bandanas.
Really? Full stop. That's all I said. He messages
me back and says, dude, it's worth it. Keep going.
I'm like, okay. But if you so much as... And
obviously, this didn't come across through in
text and my sound effects didn't come across
through in text. But, and here we are. 2026.
Well, we did get to cover the Armageddon game
opening moves last year. We're almost to the
end of the original IDW Publishing TMNT run.
We've covered almost everything in the main run.
That main run ran from 2011 to 2025? 150 issues?
But because between my arm surgery last year...
God, I can't even see this. Between this surgery
I had last August and between Joe's life stuff
he's got going on, we've had to postpone the
rest of the turtle stuff. So I'm moving it around
so that way the podcast can continue. That's
the whole point of this whole story. So now that
I've moved the turtle stuff around and postponed
it for later, I now have to create a whole new
schedule between episode 581 to 600 because the
plans for 600 to 690, well, let's just say they
involve a certain DC Comics character. Where
he might be a Gray Sun, and he might be a Nightwing,
and I don't know if they're going to work, because
it's all... It's going to require a lot of...
time, love, and tenderness. I can't just believe
I made a Michael Bolton joke. Anyway, so... And
Steve is going to kill me if I do it, but oh
well. As long as the artwork is different every
time, it doesn't matter. Anyway, yeah, so 580
episodes, folks. We are here. This is the 580th
episode for you people listening to the podcast.
For you lovely people watching the live stream,
thank you so much for watching it. I'm sorry
the first 11 and a half minutes were boring as
hell. But yeah, so that's, I think that's going
to do it. No ad break this time for the podcast
listeners. Usually I will put in an ad break
when I'm doing my podcast editing. So you lovely
video viewers, you are kind of getting an inside
baseball look at how I'm publishing or how I'm
doing the, like, normally I would just come on
here and talk. But at the beginning of this,
when I did start the podcast thing, I did do
the whole, hey, I'm TF2 and Mike and you're listening
to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So there's that.
So, yeah, to end the podcast portion of the video
segment, I will say thank you for listening to
The Pull Bag. You can reach us on all the social
media stuff. We're on Twitter. We're on Facebook
and all that good stuff. Check us out. Be sure
to visit geekcastradio .com for all your podcasting
needs from me and my friends and make your great
escape into comics and read comics today. Thanks
for listening as always, folks, and I will catch
you next time. 122, 122 and an eight? 122 and
an eight. Terrific. Where the heck is 122 and
an eight? You're standing on it, dude. Just slip
it down here. Give me that. Hey, this is the
10. The tab's 13. You're two minutes late, dude.
Ah, come on. I couldn't find a place. Wise men
say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full
price for late pizza. Alright folks, I know this
episode was a little unconventional because,
well, it was originally a YouTube livestream,
but there you go. 13 years of the pull bag once
again. Huge thanks to Steve Megatron, the co
-creator of the Geekcast Radio Network, with
me, my best friend in the world, for allowing
me to go on this crazy 579 episode, 580 episode
journey, and all that awesome stuff. I've been
TFG1Mike, and yeah, here's to more. We got new
episodes coming up. I have pushed back the TMNT
coverage. We will get to it. We will always get
to it. Joe Reed and I will definitely do so,
but we got a bunch of stuff coming up here inside
the pull bag. We got 20 episodes to 600. 600
will hit this year in 2026. So thank you, folks,
for listening. As always, we've got plenty more
where this came from. We got 20 episodes to go
to 600. So make your greatest skit in the comics
and jump inside the pull bag today. Catch you
next time. Now, I love s'mores as much as the
next guy, but I'm fresh out of marshmallows.
What do you say we call it a night? You've just
heard the latest episode of The Pullback, the
GCRN's first comic review and discussion podcast.
There are several ways to get in touch with us
and leave feedback for the show. You can visit
the website geekcastradio .com where you can
comment on the episode and all of our different
podcasts. You can rate and leave a review for
the show on iTunes. Be sure to leave us feedback.
Become a fan of us on Facebook, facebook .com
slash The Pullback. Send us an email, feedback
at geekcastradio .com. Follow us on Twitter at
ThePullBag and at GeekCastRadio. So until next
time, make your great escape into comics and
unleash the geek in you.