[HEROIC MUSIC]
Greetings from your astonishing uncanny Pool guy.
- Whoa-- - Name's Pool--
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What is going on here?
Hey, hold it, Deadpool-- hey, I told you--
you cannot host my show.
Everyone's trying to host my show.
DEADPOOL HEAD: You talking to me?
Hey, everybody. I am Paul Scheer.
Welcome to the World's Greatest Book Club.
I'm joined by Steve Wacker and Deadpool here.
Sorry about that, Steve, I didn't mean to, you know,
kind of throw you off there.
That's OK, Paul.
Boy, you really know how to turn me on.
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you, Wade.
DEADPOOL HEAD: Chimichanga!
Steve, we're back.
This is a special.
This is an event-sized episode of our show,
because we're talking about event books.
There's a new event book coming out called "Empyre."
STEVE WACKER: This event gave us a chance to come back big.
The story at its core is simply about one
of our normal kid heroes who's put
in a great position of responsibility
in the wider universe.
Yeah.
But you'll understand this story
through this character, Hulkling,
and what he experiences.
I will be honest and say that sometimes,
I get a little foggy on the Kree and the Skrull and the Cotati--
like, I don't know how they all interplay with each other.
But I was really kind of surprised
at how expansive this world is, but we are still focusing
on a very personal story.
And there are sure to be repercussions
throughout the Marvel world.
I know that there's already repercussions
in the Scheerverse.
You can kind of see-- - Stop hosting your show!
Hey!
Get out of here!
Can I interrupt your show?
Hey, you get out of here!
Already so many multiple Scheers going on.
You can see there's a rift in that space time continuum.
Oh, I have the tiny Scheer from earth 1258.
[SQUEEL]
Hey, don't kill me!
No more Scheer!
PAUL SCHEER: Oh man, you're the worst.
Anyway, I'm so excited for "Empyre."
I think I've been starved for Marvel books,
because we had that little break there.
And now going into a big event, I just feel
like a kid in a candy store.
And I'm excited to have yet another reason to support
my local comic book shop.
But I want to ask you, Steve, how
do I get ready for "Empyre?"
What do I need to know?
STEVE WACKER: Now Paul, I notice you say empire,
and yet it's spelled em-pwhy-er.
We have a very exciting guest on the show today.
I am thrilled to chat with him.
You know him from "The Star Wars Show," or his podcast,
"We Have Concerns."
Please welcome, Anthony Carboni.
Welcome, Anthony.
Thank you, Paul.
It's good to be here.
So Anthony, what was the comic book that made the biggest
impact on you growing up?
What was your origin story in getting into comic books?
ANTHONY CARBONI: [SIGHS]
It was-- it's this weird mishmash in my mind
when I think about how I got into comics
of various Spider-Man-related media.
Right.
My dad was real techie, and so we were one of the first people
in the neighborhood to have a VCR,
but there was like nothing to rent yet.
[LAUGHTER]
And so my childhood was a lot of the "Archies" animated cartoon
and the '60s "Spider-Man."
I think for a lot of people, though,
we got into comics this way-- you know,
through TV, and coming home after school watching cartoons.
And we've been talking a little bit earlier
about these event books.
And we're at the precipice of another Marvel event book.
And I wanted to see if there's any
of that books from your past that you related to.
Oh, this is a big question.
Yeah.
For me, the biggest one my favorite of all time
is "Secret Wars" 2015.
Oh, there it is!
I have a permanent bookmark to the map of battle world
with the list of kingdoms, because I think it's so
funny and so clever and good.
Yeah.
Like I just love Hickman playing
with like all of these things that are archetypal to Marvel.
It's just so clever.
The whole thing is so clever in the way it uses your knowledge
of Marvel as a fan, you know?
STEVE WACKER: Part of what we're responding to
and we read it is the art.
Obviously, a huge part of comic book storytelling.
And you need someone who can draw anything.
And when you have Esad Ribic "Secret Wars" 2015,
it does feel like there's nothing
they can't throw at him that he can't make look amazing.
And you can tell that they had so much fun working together,
too.
And you can always tell where like a writer puts
in things because it's like, oh, they're
going to like drawing this.
Or, like, on this page, just go nuts.
Go nuts means the artist has to spend
a week working on what it took the writer
three seconds to write.
[LAUGHTER]
Make this look really cool.
Yeah, make this look-- it's all in your hands.
But there are so many great details in it.
Like the lifeboat is so visually beautiful.
But isn't there a moment where it's revealed that, like, Miles
Morales has been carrying around a cheeseburger in his pocket
for, like, three weeks?
That's a big question-- of where
was the cheeseburger-sized bulge that Miles was carrying around?
Steve, do you feel like from the Marvel side, you know,
is there any considerations about how
we're going to get to an event or how we build an event?
Is that something that is a part of that process?
A couple of times a year, we have
our creative summits with a good portion of the publishing
creative team.
And we're get ready to launch "Empyre,"
and the seeds for this were planted by Slott and Al Ewing
a couple of years ago.
What I really like about "Empyre right now is that we
have the Avengers and FF--
they're the centerpiece of this event series.
I'm pumped for that.
STEVE WACKER: What Al and Dan definitely
wanted to get away from was making it
a FF versus the Avengers.
You know, you got another story we're friends fight each other
and try to kill each other, much like this show.
[LAUGHTER]
I was asked to choose a weapon when I started the Skype call,
and I thought that was very strange.
Yeah, that's coming up in just a second.
It's going to-- it will be painful.
Steve, do you know anything about "Empyre?"
Like, when "Empyre" finishes, this
is going to have a dramatic effect on the Marvel universe?
It is, yeah.
There are some big changes coming.
And I think where we're in our sweet, sweet spot is when we
at Marvel are a little nervous about how
the fans are going to react.
Like, it's our job to put them through the wringer,
to put them through hell.
I think "Empyre" is not the story at the beginning
that you think it is.
PAUL SCHEER: So Steve, you've been
in all these creative meetings, these summits.
And has there ever been a time where maybe you
heard an idea that didn't really sound good,
but actually turned out to be something that, you know,
everyone was extremely excited about?
Yeah, I mean, look, that happens more often than you'd
think, because there's a difference between an idea
and then when our writers and artists get it in their hands
and start playing with it.
But one that really sticks in my memory
is "The Superior Spider-Man," which
is a storyline we did where Dr. Octopus takes
over the brain of Peter Parker.
And it led to the death of Peter Parker.
And that was not a story that was beloved when Dan Slott
pitched it the very first time.
And we had to go away, work on it, bring it back a few times.
But in the end, I think, you know, that storyline took off.
And I think all these people that worked on this book
are all vindicated, because that was
a very hard story to accept.
Because it was completely changing
the status quo of Spider-Man.
Well that's an example, obviously, of an idea that
wasn't necessarily received well,
but then actually was executed amazingly well.
And I will say, Steve, I need you to talk a little bit
about "Secret Wars II."
What happened there?
What happened in "Secret Wars II?"
ANTHONY CARBONI: Wait, is "Secret Wars II"
where we got disco Beyonder?
Yes, so that's the first time you
see the Beyonder, who's the big bad and "Secret Wars" one,
and it comes down to earth.
And there's an issue of Spider-Man
where the Beyonder turns himself humor
to experience what it's like.
And for the first time-- he has a tingling sensation,
he isn't sure what it is.
So Spider-Man guides him through his bathroom,
and Spider-Man just waiting by the door as the Beyonder,
I assume, urinates for the first time.
That's good, though.
No notes on that.
[LAUGHTER]
I don't know about the rest of it, but that's a great moment.
STEVE WACKER: I don't know, Anthony,
if you've been watching "World's Greatest Book Club with Paul
Scheer" for the last six episodes,
but episode number three, Paul learn the exact same thing
for the very first time.
How does it feel now six months
into being human, Paul Scheer?
Not bad.
I really like the peeing part of it.
That really, honestly, is kind of the highlight.
It really is.
It doesn't get better than that.
You and the Beyonder.
Anthony, it's been so great talking to you
about these books.
I'm excited to see where this "Empyre" series goes.
I'm excited that you are going to be along in this journey,
as well.
But people can find you all over in the social media world.
Also, you have an amazing show on StarWars.com
that I've been a guest on and I love.
And if you are a Star Wars fan, you have to check it out.
It's so great.
Thanks a lot, guys.
This was fun.
And now we're actually going to jettison the two of you
for just a second, because I'm going
to talk to my friend, Jen King.
She owns an amazing comic book store in Texas.
It is called Space Cadets Collection.
It's awesome.
She does great web shows almost every day on Facebook.
Welcome, Jen, to the show.
What's the tone been like in the stores since you've reopened?
Are people a bit more distant?
Are you still able to have this kind of hangout space?
JEN KING: My store is a hugging store,
so if you're open to hugs, you'll
get them when you come in.
And it's just so weird not to have that part of it,
even with my staff.
My staff is just like, Jen, it's been two months, no hugs.
I love that you hug.
This is the first hugging comic book store.
I love this.
Or the first one that I've heard about.
Oh, that's so cool.
And what were you doing during the quarantine
to kind of keep that fan interaction alive?
We do a lot of reaching out via Facebook Live.
We have eight shows a week of either a an hour or two.
Whoa, so talk to me about your program.
What are your-- what are your Facebook shows?
Like, what can people see when they
log on to see you on Facebook?
Well, half of my show is on a network
that I co-own with Jesse James called
The Comic Shopping Network.
And those are all throughout the week.
And then I also have every day in my shop from 3:00 to 5:00,
I do-- it's a personal walk around,
personal shopping with me.
So I will drink through any draw that anybody
wants to dig through.
And it's a lot of fun because, again, it's that face time
that we don't normally get with each other
when we live all over the country.
PAUL SCHEER: Yeah.
Oh, I love this.
All right, so we've been talking about "Empyre"
the entire episode.
Jen, what's your theory?
What do you think is happening?
I always believe that there's a secret agenda
for every Marvel book.
So I've already kind of got my through line for this one.
PAUL SCHEER: Oh.
I think it's very suspicious of a plant-based species that
showing up, right, in the middle of the Renaissance of having
a plant-based island that is the source of everything for many
of our main characters.
So.
PAUL SCHEER: I want to hear more of this theory.
Tell me more your theory, because we can see--
now we can hold you to it.
We have pieces of Krakoa everywhere, right?
And all of Krakoa and everything that's
attached to it, including all of the sister islands,
is completely a together entity.
And I think that is not a mistake that this is happening.
I-- I love it, and I'm already-- oh, you're making
me so excited for it.
All right, before I let you go, I wanted to ask you a question.
Is there a Marvel book, like, one
that you kind of keep on the side
that you'd be like, you know what?
Check out this.
Not many people talk about this one, but check out this one.
Is there any Marvel book that you-- that you have like that?
So I am a huge champion of a series of books
that kind of snuck its way right in front of "Civil War 2"
and "Secret Empire," which was the "Standoff at Pleasant
Hill," which I think is the key to a lot of things
that are going to go forward.
I think Nick Spencer's got a through line with Kobik
that's going to blow our minds.
Jen, this has been absolutely phenomenal chatting with you.
You are awesome, I love your store.
Thank you so much for spending time with us here.
And make sure that you find and follow Space Cadets
Collective-- they are amazing.
And thanks for your time, Jen.
Thank you so much.
Steve, the energy is palpable.
I mean, this is an event episode of this show.
I mean, if-- if there ever was one, I mean,
this is an event right here.
Yeah, this feels like part 36.
I mean, Steve, look--
there are going to be multiple Scheers
in the Scheer multiverse.
I mean, we already saw one of them beginning the show.
I mean, who knows where this will go?
But in the meantime, I want you to make sure that your Marvel
Unlimited app is fired up, it's ready
so you can go check out some of these great books
that tie into this event series.
And make sure you pick up "Empyre" #1,
coming out on July 15 in comic book stores and online.
Also, you can read Jen and Anthony's
picks on Marvel Unlimited or at your local comic book shop.
Steve, see you next time.
I don't know when next time will be, but I'll see you next time.
I assume you'll be where you always are.
OK, Paul.
I miss you.
Thank you.
Can I interrupt your show?