So, if you’re one of the three people left one the planet that has yet to see Avatar, I advise you catch up and see our review. If you’ve already seen it, just like everyone else, I hope you enjoy the (belated) thoughts of Ogre, Tuck, Andy and Lawrence on the film in this, our first review from the Beacon Cinema!

We, as geeks, have entered into somewhat of a golden age where a comic book movie can be nominated for an Oscar. Where an actor like Robert Downey Jr. can make a phenomenal comeback in the film industry as a man with a robo-suit used to beat up bad guys. Naturally, but perhaps naively, of me I thought that these movies were introducing the younger generations to the marvelous world of comic books. But here we are – “do they still make comics?” This question weighing on my mind like a bloated Fin Fang Foom after Thanksgiving dinner. He proceeded to tell me that though he liked Batman, he’d never actually read a Batman comic. Not a one. This kid had never read an actual, honest to Krom Batman comic. This is just plain and simply WRONG. I don’t know how else to say it more bluntly than it just being wrong. For a kid who when he’s older will get over the awkwardness of teen-hood and embrace his love of all things geek, I can’t think of anything sadder than not once delving into the gothic world of THE BAT. Not once holding a fresh adventure of the dark knight in your hands, experiencing that ever so finite seven to ten minutes of bliss when you sit down with your latest issue in hand.

Now, I’m not here to give you a list of the top 5 best comics, or the top 20 writers, or the best artists of 2009 or anything like that. I’m simply here to tell about love. About something more than a hobby or some sort of hip new trend. As a man who reads comics and waits patiently for his new issues to arrive, I’m here to tell you about the experience, the heartache, and the love that goes into reading comic books. It’s something that requires patience and time, money and happiness, disappointment and at times frustration. Perhaps I’m being dramatic about a medium that stars a man who flies around in his underpants, but it’s a medium that carries with it such depth in storytelling I dare you to find anywhere else. A single comic book can have a story that spans years or even decades, you may not get to the end of a story for a good chunk of your life. This isn’t something to make you want to never pick up a comic, but something that should make you stand back and admire the diligence of the writer, the loyalty of its readers, and the perfect crafting of a narrative done through pictures and word balloons.

I first started reading comics when I was seven years old, eighteen years of my life, and I appreciated it every single year. Not like a film, novel, or music which you have to cultivate sometimes a certain taste, grow into it, mature with it. Comics have always been something I could dive into, have an adventure, and what was probably the most wonderful is that as time went on comic books seemed to mature with me. Over the years I’ve gone through three comic books stores I’ve called “mine,” been to maybe six or seven conventions, and even written my own comic script, and ironically it took me nearly those 18 years to realize that no matter how much I loved movies, comic books were my passion. It’s the one thing I love more than nearly anything else, the one thing I would do for a living if I could, the one thing that can always always always make me happy when I’m feeling bummed out. These are the feelings I wish kids these days knew about, I want these kids seeing Iron Man to go out and find a comic book store that they can spend even just a few bucks at once a week and maybe open up them up to something they never even knew existed. And apparently don’t.

This one is very special to your Geeks. One of our fans, Tony Lee Thomas, also happens to be an amazing musician. To help us along the dust Oregon Trail, Tony stopped by, performed, and did an interview with us. It was a lot of fun, and it helped get us over the first late night speed bump.

This one is a dozy, True Believers. It’s extremely hard for me to describe the feelings I have for this interview. All I can say on it is this: “I am vengeance. I am the night. I…am…Batman!”

What follows is, in its entirety, one of the most in demand clips from the entire event. It also happens to be one of Tuck’s all-time favorites Please enjoy this, Mollie and Tuck’s interview with Anime Voice Actor, Director and Scholar Crispin Freeman.

The Gift of Dysentery starts with Adam K Music, the musical dynamo and friend of our director, Chris. Please check out, and enjoy, all three segments of Adam’s dynamic performance!

I lied. So sue me, True Believers, I lied. Because this early “Gift of Dysentery” was just too much to much to let wait even a single day longer.

Using our Podcasting System, please enjoy this EXCLUSIVE, high-quality MP3 of “The Ballad of Han Solo,” a song premiered by Tony Lee Thomas on BAD II. You heard it first on during our charity event – now hear it again, and download it for the very first time.

It’s what we do around here at Geeks With Issues. Certainly, there are times that we don’t do the best job – all of our True Believers know how busy to gets for us Geeks, and sometimes we loose track of our content. But we strive, all the time, to bring our audience a fun look into the world of the Geek. We discuss, we travel, we explore, we tease, and we have fun. And from what I’ve heard our audience say about our episodes, you all have fun too, getting your news and commentary in a slightly new way.

As we strive, we are always looking towards our future growth – how we do we get noticed? How to we share our program with more people? All of you do us a huge service in that regard – word of mouth is a powerful tool for spreading our show to new viewers. But there is another, perhaps surprising tool that we use to spread our show: awards.

Now I hear your skepticism, True Believers – how does fishing for recognition and statuettes get the word out about the show? Well, it does only if we’re nominated for one of the top slots. Then, people from all over the web start voting on the categories. And when they don’t recognize a show, they’ll visit it, watch it…and the magic works from there.

I mention all of this in my traditional long-winded way because the 2010 Streamy Awards are coming up, and the Geeks With Issues are hoping for your nominations. If you enjoy our show, and I know you do, please do the following to help spread the good word, and maybe get us the recognition our show has been looking for:

1. Visit http://www.streamys.org/submit/public-submissions/
2. Under “Category,” select whatever category you think GwI fits in. We recomemnt “Best News or Politics Web Series,” as it most closely fits our news/discussion format.
3. Enter our Name, and our URL.
4. Submit, and tell a friend to do the same.

That’s it – super simple. The more nominations we receive, the higher the likelihood that we’ll be recognized for our efforts. So, True Believers, we are once again counting on you. We’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – you people are the best. And I know that, with your continued support, we will continue to Geek On better than all the rest.

Please allow me to help get you on your way, and add Geeks With Issues to your gift list at the same time.

It’s super simple: Just click here, and bookmark the link.

By clicking on the link above, you connect into the Amazon.com Associates Program for Geeks With Issues. From this link, just shop as normal, and make your purchases. You go through no extra effort, and don’t need to pay an extra cent. But for every purchase you make, we earn a small percentage of that purchase (a minimum of 4%). The bigger the purchase, the more we earn. And every cent of that money is spent on website maintenance and promotional materials – we don’t personally profit from the income. All your help goes back into Geeks With Issues, and helps the Geeks (who have been paying for this project for the past two and a half years out of their own pockets) continue serving you, our True Believers.

And for those of you I mentioned previously, who have everything together, as well as to those of you who aren’t holiday shopping online this year – this information isn’t irrelevant to you. This link works year ’round – bookmark it, and use it whenever you go shopping on Amazom.com. You know you’re doing it anyway – give us some help in the process!

In conclusion, for those of you who are using this information to finish up your holiday gift lists keep this in mind: If you’re making your purchases from Amazon, you’ll need to make your orders by these dates to get things on time:

Standard Shipping: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Express Shipping: Monday, December, 21, 2009
Fastest Available Shipping: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 – by 5:30pm

Thank you for your time on this one, and for considering adding this link to your bookmarks. We appreciate it deeply. Geek on, and happy shopping!

GwI’s newest geek, Andy, joins Jen, Tuck and Trevor. Topics in this episode include: Candy Police at the Movie Theater, Talk with a Fake British Accent Day, Twitter vs. Facebook: Battle of the Apps, Flying Ship Casting Necessities, and Steven Segal: Lawman.