Episode 47 - Alias Redband, Not All Marriage Problems Can be Solved by Ice Cream

Kadiah and I chat about the new Alias series and then get Ice Cream

Next week, Intro to Junji Ito 

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Comic Books Beyond would like to thank:  The Crew of the Talking Comics Podcast, Brandon McNulty, Lisa and Brad from Comic Book Couples Counseling, Alex Jaffe, Jeremy Whitley, Jimmy Gaspero and John Klein III of Shadow and Flame with Magik Podcast. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Hey everybody, welcome to the Comic Books Beyond Podcast. On the show, we aim to demystify comics and help new readers find their way in. I'm your host Vic, and I am here with my co-host and wife Codia Bear. Hey honey, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

I'm pretty good. I'm excited to talk about some Jessica Jones today.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

So this is uh Codia's like third time on this whole month. Uh I think you're on every episode except for one this month. And didn't we have a ton of fun talking about Daredevil? Because we're, you know, we we definitely recorded that Daredevil episode that's going up before this one.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Oh yeah, 100%. We absolutely did.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Yeah, we we absolutely recorded that one already. So you should definitely go back like two weeks ago and listen to that one, also the episode before on the Monsters and Monstrous uh episode, and uh, you know, and big make sure to tune in next week because hopefully you'll be there as well. So what are we talking about today?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Well, we're talking about Jessica Jones. I have no idea what run this is or anything, I just know it's alias.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

This is the new uh alias redband series. Jessica Jones, I believe it's just called Alias Redband. Uh, this would be like the third or fourth volume of Jessica Jones. Like the um the accounting on that is a little weird. The original series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, and that was called Alias. Then there was a series, I think, called Pulse, which was is one of the fictional papers from the Marvel uh U, and I think she was prominently in that. I didn't read all of that. Then there was Bendis' follow-up that was just called Jessica Jones, which uh I read most of it. I don't think I ever finished that one. Then there was, I don't know the order on these. Then Kelly Thompson did another Jessica Jones series, which I believe was digital only. Uh I'm assuming that's on the app. I haven't found it yet. And the only other one I know of is uh called The Variants with art by, I believe, Phil Noto, and written by one of your favorites, Gail Simone. Yep. So that one is that's your little Jessica Jones history. Uh for this book. This came out uh just last month, and the newest issue, I believe, comes out April 15th. Those two should be on the stands. Unfortunately, I don't even know if there's a digital option. This is a red band series. Uh, do you know what the red band uh series is, Hun? No, I don't. It's the more adult series, so they don't bleep out the cursing and they might show a boob and some extra extra gore in these.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Gotcha. X-rated.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Uh would you give this an X-rating? Would you give this an NC17?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

NC17.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Would you give this an R? You would give this an R. Yes. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

There's the murdered bodies.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, those are a little dark, I guess. Um, but like you hear the word shit twice, and I think that's the extent of the cursing. So, like, there's there this one, I think um, you could have honestly gotten away with as a standard Marvel comic. Like, I and I don't think anyone would have been too mad if as long as they bleeped out those literal two words. So, yeah, that's what the current state of Marvel is. Redband series don't go to the app. Like, I don't even think you can get a digital code of them. Uh, there wasn't one in my um copy. So that is actually something worth owning physically. All right, so I'll do credits on this one and then we'll get into the story proper. Uh, so this was written by Sam Humphreys, the art is by Geraldo Borges, the color art is by Arthur Hessel Hesselli, the letterer is VC's Corey Pettit, the cover art is by David Mack, whom I really enjoy. The designer is Carlos Lau. The associate editor is Sydney Stubbs, editor is Alana Smith, and the editor-in-chief is still currently Stevie Sabolski. Justin Jones is created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael uh Gidows, I believe it's pronounced. I'm not entirely sure. So uh this uh is again only available in uh singles right now. The uh only way you can get it is just by going to your local comic store. I I I truly couldn't find even a digital purchase of this, but I don't really check all those, so I just did a quick scan and I couldn't find one. So the reason we're picking this one is we both really enjoy Jessica Jones. Uh so we we the reason we pick this is we're both big fans of the Jessica Jones TV show. I'm a huge fan of uh pretty much all the comics. There's only a few I hadn't read. I just actually found out about the Kelly Thompson series, so uh that I will definitely be diving into as soon as I have some time. Uh and you know, this is only available in singles, so it is something that I think it's one of the few things that you can the that really you should be going to the comic store to pick up. It's like this and Martian Manhunter are the two things I would say you need a physical copy of. It's it's rare, I even say that. So, do you have any thoughts on your history with Jessica Jones?

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Um, well, she is my favorite character of the Netflix Marvel shows. Uh in that little universe there. She's my favorite. Uh, she also has uh Kingpin is good, but I think Kilgrave is a better villain.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Oh, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

But yeah, no, I just I enjoy her.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Um, do you want to give your uh little plot recap? And do we have any disclaimers on this one by any chance?

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Um, no, nothing that I can think of. Yeah, dead bodies.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Yeah, like you said, there's some dead bodies, there's two curse words, but no nudity, there's no like really foul language, nothing too crazy. Uh that I think you just your late lay person would relate to. There might be a situation that might be stressful if you're uh rich. Fair. Uh I'll let you do your plot recap and then I'll do my plot recap. We try to keep spoilers as light as possible, but you know, we're talking about an issue, so if you want nothing spoiled, now's your chance to drop off.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Uh Jessica shows up after one month uh to her temporarily closed office. She and a paparazzi that's tailing her discover her neighbors were murdered. The paparazzi runs a story that she's illegally investigating the murders, and we learn uh Jessica had to lose her PI license so her husband, Luke Cage, could run for mayor. Uh they argue, Luke forbidding Jessica to investigate. After that argument, she goes to a bar where she meets Typhoid Mary, Kingpin's wife, who gives her information on the murders and promises to help her if she investigates with them. The issue ends with a flash forward to a month later where she's being questioned in the courtroom about her involvement in investigating the murders.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

That was a really good recap. I'm gonna give mine just uh just so I can have mine. Jessica Jones is going to uh back to her office to pick up her kid's narwhal toy because of course she would. It's a narwhal toy I would have to go back to. She sees something worth investigating, a private photographer, uh, photographs her uh taking a being at a crime scene, and this is used as a political weapon against her and her husband. Her husband is the acting mayor of New York. Uh, her husband is Luke Cage. Uh, the main crux of this issue is that Typhoid Mary convinces her to investigate further. The end alludes to that the series will follow the fallout and the ramifications of uh that interaction and her investigation. So, what'd you think of this issue?

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Sorry, um, there's some good and bad. Um, I don't think there's anything too bad, but just stuff that if I'm being picky about, I would maybe think about changing.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

So why don't we start with what you liked about it and then you can go into what you changed about it?

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Um, I just like Jessica as a character. I like that she has like a I don't give a fuck attitude. Uh I tend to like characters that I feel like I could embody more, and Jessica's someone I wish I could be a little bit more like.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Now, uh, is that because you want me to be as attractive as Luke Cage or no comment. I get it. Don't worry. It's all good.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

I I It'd be cool if you were bulletproof like him.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

I really don't want to ever test that theory, so I guess it's true.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

I guess we don't know you're bullet you're not bulletproof.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

I'm going to assume I'm not. I've been stung by a bee before, and I've definitely punctured my hand as soon as recently as last week. So I'm gonna assume a bullet would probably also pass through. I'm not a uh what is that, an oomlick or ooblik? The cornstarch slurry thing you showed me.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

I don't I don't think yeah, I don't I don't think I'm an ooblick. Um, so what else did do you have any other things you liked, or did you want to go into crit some criticisms?

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Um I liked that it's a story with the more grounded superhumans, like the ones that don't have ridiculous powers. I always find that a little more interesting. Like in Thunderbolts, they made the joke, oh, all you do is punch and kick.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Well, who said that in Thunderbolts? I really I really liked Thunderbolts, I just don't remember that one.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

I can't remember who said it, but it might have been Florence Pugh's character, but I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

So any other any any criticisms you want to give? You said there was a couple things you uh didn't connect with here or that stood out to you.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

It's not that I didn't connect with, it's just the question you usually ask is, is the story good on its own? It's kind of a no because it's just setup. There's no like there's no self-contained story because there's no resolution or anything. It's just to be intriguing.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

So let's change the question again then. Is this a good story setup?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

It's a good story setup, yeah. It makes me interested.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

But just on its own, this is solidly like a prologue. This is like an overture to the entire what what I imagine the series is. I think this is gonna be a five-issue series total.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah. I think in the overall story, it's going to be a very decent setup, depending on how the books go. But I think it did its job in what it's supposed to do and setting up.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Cool. Uh, do you have any other criticisms there besides, you know, just the fact that this is clearly just a setup issue, and maybe this one part of a story isn't exactly worth five to six bucks or whatever I paid for it.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

It just made me really sad to see an argument that was so mean.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, I got a lot of thoughts on that. That that's like actually one of my discussion-y things. Um I'll give you my thoughts and then we can go to the rest of the stuff we wanted to say.

unknown 11:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

My thoughts are kind of similar to yours. So I I liked this issue a lot. Uh, I think it's a solid setup. Uh, the like midpoint argument, you know, I have I have some feelings on that one because it's a trope I like, but also used in a way that's a little pushed past my normal boundaries of what I like about that trope. The trope being uh when two characters are arguing and they're both kind of making good points. But in this case, I think there's a um I think one party acted a little less good than they could have.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Before we go too farther into discussion questions, how do you feel about the character introductions in this? Because I think overall the the uh writer did a really good job, you know, compressing histories at for at least the sake of the story, where um I kind of knew what everybody need to need is needs to know. And I don't know, um I know a little bit about Typhoid Mary. Uh I don't um I haven't read the original stuff with her, though. She was created by uh Ann Nachinti in uh her run on Daredevil in the very late 80s, um, or maybe it was mid-80s to 90s, somewhere. It was it was like around issue 240.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

In my mind, Typhoid Mary um should have a superpower where she spreads pestilence around. And if that's not it, I don't like the name.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

So I actually don't know if she spreads pestilence. The uh stuff I know from know her from uh during Brian Bendis' run on uh Daredevil, uh, she was able to light people on fire. I actually don't know if she can spread pestilence, and I assume she could, but again, haven't read a ton of typhoid Mary.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

I'm just saying that's what Typhoid Mary means. So if that's not what she does, it's false advertising.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Fair enough. So did you have uh besides Jess, do you have any other characters in this that stood out to you?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

I like how Luke handled the argument. I feel like he was trying to do as good as he could have, even if he might not have been right about everything.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Do you do you have a discussion question that you wanted to go into, or do you want to just jump into mine that I've already alluded to?

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Um, we'll jump into yours. I couldn't really think of anything.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Okay, sure. So uh my big question for this issue, and I've already said I I like the trope of two characters arguing, but neither of them is super wrong. Like when they're both making good solid points, that's a real good representation of what healthy argument is. I don't necessarily think this is a healthy argument because I think Luke is in the wrong here, but I also feel he feels like he was put in a position by running for mayor and he needs to do this. My my big question is do you do you think Jess's actions here are overall justifiable? Because like she doesn't handle it the most maturely either, but I think she handles it better than Luke does. Uh, do you do you think her actions are justifiable here? And or maybe just want to give me your thoughts on the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

It's hard for me to say justifiable because one thing that's really important to me is how you treat other people. So this person who you love, you would just petty say you hate them. That gives me the ick.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

No, was it Jess who said she hated Luke?

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

I don't think Luke's in the right, but I also don't think Jessica's totally in the right. Like it's a big ask to ask anyone to, you know, give up your career for another person. And like Luke is kind of backed in a wall because he's kind of right with what people are going to do, but I don't I don't like that Jessica says she hates him and hasn't in you know, said the whole divorce joke, that was over the line. But on the same token, just him asking her more or less, you need to temporarily give up who you are for me. It's kind of like it kind of feels like trad wifey territory.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

I guess maybe you're right a little bit. But I look at it as if you wanted something like to run for mayor where you could actually make a big difference in doing something and you could support us. I guess because I'm not so tied into what I do for work, even though I have a job that's nice and helps people, it's not a it's not my reason for being. So for me, because I don't think any job would ever be that for me. For that reason, it would be more easy for me to side with Luke and be like, you know what? Yeah, I could sacrifice that. It's not hard for me. Yep, but this is where I said I have to be a little bit more like Jessica's.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

So in in in a way, so me asking you to give up a job is one thing. Me asking you to give up your identity, you would probably have more of an issue with that.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, yeah, that's probably true. Yeah, that that but I guess for me, it's just there's nothing that's one thing that is my identity, at least in my mind. I'm sure there's things that identify me, absolutely, but I don't think that there's like one thing that if you took it away, I would be like, oh my god, I can't be anymore.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Like, like my main concern with this is just that uh it's it's it's a lose-lose situation on both sides, and neither one of them handles it super well. Um, like I Oh yeah, I agree. Like, I I I put myself in the situation where like I think I just have a different of opinion of you where if you were to say, like, hey, I'm gonna do this thing, and you need to not um, you know, do things that you've done your whole life because it makes me look bad, I might have some issues with that. We also don't know, you know, the full extent of their relationship. Like, I think me and you have talked about the motorcycle analogy with us. Like, you would never stop ask me to stop riding motorcycles if I was a motorcycle person before we met. I am not a motorcycle person. But if I decided, hey, I want to start riding motorcycles, you might have issues with that because I'm dangerous, because that's a really dangerous thing. Also, I'm an idiot and probably would get hurt on a motorcycle.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

So I didn't remember what you were referring to because you referred to it as the motorcycle problem. Because when I remember us talking about it, we were talking about being a stripper.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

I don't remember uh the stripper con conversation, but I believe like what is is this uh you'd be okay with me being a stripper if I was a stripper before we were dating? But if I wanted to start okay, so it's the same idea, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Uh my my whole I'm pretty like we had that conversation not too long ago.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I totally believe you, but we have a lot of conversations, and I I remember about 40% of them. So it's just kind of like whenever one party asks another to not do something about them, that actually gives me the ick more than saying I hate you. Like that gives me the ick too. Don't get me wrong. I don't think either one of them are justifiable. I think I'm just more on Jusca's side just for the fact of you know, Luke is asking her to give up something major, even if it is for semi-good reasons.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yeah. I don't know. I realize this when I listen to my re-listen of Project Hail Mary. I feel like I'm just self-sacrifice would be easy for me because in Project Hail Mary, I would have gone on if if I was him and had no ties to anything, like I didn't have you, like if you didn't exist, I would absolutely go up and save humanity.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Uh, you know, that's very noble of you, and I can firmly say uh I would tell them to fuck off. But yeah, no, that that it's my life. You don't get to just ask me to sacrifice myself. It's I'm I am sacrificial to a point, not where it comes to jumping on a s on a bed of swords, and I probably wouldn't meet a cool roctopus. But if there was a good enough reason, probably probably, but the I I I assuming there's maybe one, but if I have I don't know, maybe I just would have a warp sense of reality at that point. All right, so do we have uh anything else to say about this specific issue?

SPEAKER_00 19:22

No.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I think we both overall liked this. Uh the argument scene just kind of made us upset, and that might make some people more upset if you are in that specific position. But I think it's you know a good conversation that they were just both very heated about. Um, I think they both acted like jerks, but you know, I I I'm slightly more on Jessica's side here. Do you ultimately have a side on either one you come out on?

SPEAKER_00 19:49

It's hard for me because initially I was kind of on Luke's side, because in my head it's not a big ask. But when I phrase it, when you phrased it to me like her identity, not just her job, I guess I understand her a little bit more. I think I'm just on the side of there's no right answer for them and it sucks.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yep, you can often often be put into a catch-22 position and it just sucks. And so I think we've said our piece on this issue. Uh, so would you recommend this issue?

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah, I think if you like the idea of the character of Jessica Jones, it seems like it's going to get into a really good story. So it has me interested in continuing.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Does it have you interested in reading any of the old stuff?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah, definitely. I've I kind of already wanted to, and then reading this, I'd be like just getting more of it would be cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Cool. Yeah, I mean, the the original Ilias series is uh some of the most perfect comics that exist. I I love that series top to bottom. Uh the Marvel Netflix show, season one more or less adapts the entire run. Uh it's so it's just a more stretched-out version of that. It's probably not even that stretched out, to be honest. It's just uh, you know, that's all they had. And I think seasons two and three are kind of just made up for the show. So uh with that, I think uh, you know, it's this is a series I do recommend. I recommend pretty much all the Jessica Jones stuff. You will have to hunt it down because it's a pain in the ass to find. Like you can probably buy it digitally through the Comixology app, but I never recommend that. Uh you might be able to find this on Comixology. I just refuse to even look at that website, to be honest with you. Um, do you want to give a new reader-friendly recommendation or rating on this one?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

I think it's a two. I know very little about Jessica Jones, and I was able to follow along, but I think if you have someone who's completely new to comics, um, some things might be a little lost, like knowing who Luke Cage is and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yep, I'm kind of right there with you. This is like a 1.52. The the the good comment I want to give on the writing here, uh aside from the fact that we debated one scene. For like 15 minutes. He did a great job introducing the characters and compressing the history. Like we knew Luke and Jess were married. We knew they have a kid, presumably together, and she used to be a private investigator. Her husband used to be, or is currently the mayor. And there's a person named Typhoid Mary whom is the Kingpin's uh wife and is unhinged as fuck. And they did a solid setup. So I I think I I'm gonna give this a two just because I I because I agree with you. I was able to follow this story no problem. And I'm not up to date on all the Jessica Jones stuff, but I've read most of it. Um, I would say that you can just tell there's a lot of stuff that happened and that might scare some people off, but it really shouldn't. Like on the new reader-friendly scale, if we ever give something a five, by all means jump right into it, read it. But it's just kind of a scale of what your confusion levels are going to be and any other content we want to bring up. And how about your quality and recommendations? What's your what do you recommend this quality-wise?

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Well, quality, um, good quality. I don't know the radius scale.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Cool. Uh, so right now I'm just using the standard one to five. I really want to change that. I don't like the quality scale the way it is. Um, I'm giving this one a four point five on the quality scale, but and it mostly has to do like that 0.5 mostly has to do with uh that scene bummed me out.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

And also, it's just set up, it is not like a standalone story on its own. So that's where I'm deducting points. So, do you have any? Do you want to give it a rating based on one to five?

SPEAKER_00 23:45

I'm gonna give it a four because I don't like copying out and using 0.5s.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Fair enough. She's calling me out, guys. All right, so um, as far as recommendations for the creative team on this one, I actually don't have a ton for anyone. Uh Sam Humphries did a few issues in Nightwing and some Green Lantern that I read. Uh, I don't remember much of either, to be honest with you. Uh, he's not a bad writer. In fact, I think this is some solid writing. Uh, as far as the artist, I just I'm not familiar with his art at all. Uh, I did think the art in this was really nice. Did you do you have any comments on the art?

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yeah, I think um it was pretty good. There were some places where I kind of found it hard to follow the dialogue. It was on like the two-page spreads where you went on both pages left to right. That kind of messed me up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

I didn't personally have any issues with there, but like I do have that issue with some books sometimes. If you want something that would just fit a similar vibe of this, besides the original alias series or the follow-up by Brian Michael Bendis, I would really recommend checking out anything by uh Ed Brewbaker and Sean Phillips. I'm currently going through uh all their work right now. I just finished up Criminal and the same vibe exists for that. So that that would be my recommendation outside of Jessica Jones or these creators if you just want a similar vibe that is pretty well available. Is the is the kittens being okay?

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah, they're playing Pandora sleeping with her paw covering her nose.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Oh, I wish I was posting video so we could capture it and and and you know put that on the internet, but we can't. Uh so next week we are going to be, I guess we can announce this now, because by the time this goes up, that episode should be recorded. And I'll just edit this out otherwise. Um, so the end of the month special is gonna be uh Jeff Lemere and Greg Smallwood's run on Moon Knight, issues one through 14. The whole podcast crew should be here, uh Beef Garnet and Mike, in addition to Codia and myself. So that'll be a fun one. Goddy, do you have any closing thoughts, statements, positive messages for anyone?

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Um I can say if you haven't seen the first season of the Jessica Jones Netflix show, you should. It's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yep, Jessica Jones 1 and Daredevil season one and three are the best things that came out of Marvel Netflix.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Ma, do you how do how can people get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I'm most active on Insta or uh no most active on TikTok, um, at Katia Bear. And I do go on Instagram sometimes. All my socials are pretty much at Katia Bear. So any place I'm at, Blue Sky, yeah, those are those are really the only places I'm active on.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Awesome. Well, uh, I am at Comic Books Beyond pretty much everything. Blue Sky, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. This one actually might make um YouTube. I'm not entirely sure. Maybe we'll put it up. With all that, everyone, you know, if you would like to leave us a reading or review, we ask for honest rating and reviews only on the show. We would happily read something nice you say, any any feedback you provide us, we'll happily read that on the air. Uh, maybe we'll make Katia do it because her voice is better than mine.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Um not true.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Well, anyway, do you want to get out of here and maybe go get ice cream and hot dogs?

SPEAKER_00 27:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Okay. Our our dinner was very light. Like uh neither of us have eaten enough food today. It's it's it's a real problem when you're trying to eat healthier. You tend to overcorrect, and now I have to go go get ice cream because I don't want to. I I I I have to put ice cream in my body.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Yeah, we have to get ice cream. Legal little thousand calories still.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Oh, yeah, seriously, you need ice cream. Holy shit. Yeah, I have like 200 more than you, so we're yeah. Hey everybody, uh, kind of bad news here. Um, so the uh this episode's gonna be fine. Next episode is going to be a little different than what we're used to. Um, so the other night our all our hosts got together, Mike Beef, Garnet, and Katia, my wife, uh, and I, and we recorded our moon night episode. Uh, unfortunately, we had some connection issues with one of the hosts, and their audio is unusable, which unfortunately makes the entire episode more or less unusable in its current state. So