DS 742: Review of Fantomestein

you're listening to the digital strips podcast the first and best web comics podcast on the planet

and the only phantom to still play an organ and wear a mask because it's somehow more emo than

rocking a guitar and wearing socks with your flip-flops i am your host and i am just happy

to finally be noticed i am jason the midnight cartooner sigler with me as always he is so

sorry he ever suggested reanimating a corpse for companionship i guess it's time to go back to

tinder no no fire back

you

he is steve the geek shitting okay

frankenstein unable to use tinder because of the fire emoji is your best intro ever

well done sir well done apologies to the writers guild of america i apologize i wrote that joke

and i'm very proud of it solidarity and striking but yeah hey they wanted us to be with them in

strike they would have hired us a long time ago there you go that's we we didn't apply either so

but now we're scammed yeah i don't i don't know if that's true but um we are talking about a comic

that is uh does a feature uh frankenstein ish ish it's it's a it's an amalgam it's kind of a mashup

of of at least two different classic stories if not more uh monster mash up

okay good job i don't want to be a scab too

you don't being a scab is a bad thing right

you don't want to be a scab in any sense of the word

um but the comic we're talking about and i believe i'll get this pronunciation right is

phantom stein probably like phantom and frankenstein basically so it's brought to us by

becca duke and

you

this is the story of frankenstein meets phantom of the opera i think i basically have that correct

yeah yeah that's i was gonna throw it to you for like a description of the comic but i think that's

basically it like we even get like not the exact same characters but it's yeah it's it's an

interesting mashup because i i guess i would never think of mashing two stories like that

two classic stories that you know most people know at least some aspect of especially frankenstein

um together and making a different story out of it but it it kind of successfully does that

it's it's it's hard to follow i will say that i i i found myself lost multiple times of like

okay which character is this who are we talking about why are are we in a uh um uh not throwback

uh flashback or this current time or is this actually the story or are they reading a book

and we're just seeing it's yeah

you

i will say that while i might have been confused by that the artwork is never confused it is

gorgeous i love the art style of this comic it is great for this both of these styles of stories

kind of kind of gothic and yeah they're both gothic romances that they're both stories told

in you know victorian europe the stories actually go together very well and when i first found it and

i read the the about him like okay that that's kind of a a wonky combination but then i'm like

no maybe this is peanut butter and chocolate let's let's give this a shot and yeah i i i agree the

art style really pulls the two together and it is fun so we get yeah aspects of of christine

who is i'm pretty sure the name of the character the female character in phantom of the opera

yeah yeah yeah did you not grow up listening to that musical score

um i mean i mean i'm kind of jealous but you're not sure but you're you're not sure but i'm kind of

doggy i'm kind of jealous dude you weren't you weren't you weren't you you weren't you weren't

not i was introduced to it once uh me and my wife met because she is all about show tunes but

especially family opera is like one of her favorites so i i heard it after that point

so i i was pretty sure having absorbed so much of it through osmosis as i have

that christine was the right name but i didn't check with her either so so that is correct

all right so is this character raul is that a new character that is created for this comic do you

know or is this also included in the family opera so that there is the the the boyfriend the yeah

the same role i can't remember if his name is raul here's the thing that dude's not important

and he's not worth remembering so the whole point literally the whole point of phantom the opera is

the phantom and then there's part can it be can it be christine because the whole thing it's a

stalker story so you got to care about the stalker the stocky but the i don't know the the the himbo

dumbo

who cares about him i think he just exists to be the antagonist basically right which is not

raul in this case raul as you said is is made to be forgettable like he's he's just so shocked

that christine even remembers his name one day it's like what yeah well i mean that's who i am

yeah that guy is the main is not the because phantom in the opera is weird like do you are

we supposed to root for the phantom no probably not because he's he's a bad dude but

i mean the the the human love interest the non-phantom guy he's kind of like the hero

but also boo who cares about you you don't have a scarred up face you're not interesting

so here's where i was confused it's probably just me i'm sure you'll get it immediately and

you'll laugh at me as you always do the phantom character and the frankenstein

frankenstein's monster those are are they different characters are they the same

they're different right

wait wait the frankenstein is the phantom

frankenstein monster is the frankenstein's monster is the phantom yes okay but that i i

i thought so but there's i don't know there's a certain way it was drawn or something or maybe

the scene i it seemed like they were different so okay that that makes more sense yeah this this is

i think one of the weaknesses of this comic is that it does assume that you know both stories

and that you're you're you're following along with the conceit

so i don't know how you could read this update to update but given its update schedule i don't

think many people did that uh this is a comic where there was a ton of updates a long time ago

and then they've just barely started updating again and that's fine i mean like you you get

it out as you you get it out but that that would make it confusing to read as you went but yeah so

they're the same character and we kind of jump around in time a little bit which is it feels

very it feels like a play this whole thing feels like a play or a musical

which is what it's supposed to be because it takes place in the theater and you know theater

is a big part of it and yeah i i think it i think it worked but like i said i i i know both these

stories very well and i'm making a lot of assumptions so yeah that's that that was me

too so i was like okay so i fairly quickly in reading it i realized okay i see what they're

doing here this is this story and this story comes to me and i'm like okay i'm gonna read this story

and i'm like okay i'm gonna read this story and i'm like okay i'm gonna read this story and i'm like

and make a new story out of it and i the artwork definitely got me through a lot of the i'm not sure

what's going on here but it sure is pretty and i've i've read plenty of comics like that uh in

the past where it's like i mean i get what you're going for and i get the story you're trying to

tell but really it's the artwork that is that is singing right here and i won't say that's always

the case with this comic because there are some interesting moments uh i i do think it's it's

interesting and sad that you know the monster is created and just instantly like shunned like the

frankenstein dr frankenstein or whoever it is in this story uh says like why did i do this why did

i search for companionship this way i shouldn't have done this and so he just shuns the creature

and says that well i'm done with you it's like well but what about me what am i gonna do like

i'm just so sad you created me and i'm instantly sad like i should be angry because that's what

frankenstein's monster

usually is but in this case i'm just super sad it's like so what i do well i put on a mask and

i'll go torture this girl in this play setting so i'm gonna run away and join the theater

like everybody else unloved by their dad exactly and i mean it works for some of them so maybe it'll

work here in this case but yeah it's it's really interesting because it is a mash-up of two things

would necessarily go together but i think uh becca does a really good job of putting them

together i think there could be maybe a little bit stronger maybe connective tissue to to lead

from that this is clearly this character going into this part of the story because you you are

doing with dealing with two stories and trying to meld them is is tough and certain there's

certain times when it was just like oh okay so somebody's reading a book about frankenstein's

while they're also playing out the phantom in real life it was like oh no no they're actually

both as you said that you clarified you know they're both together like there's this is all

one world and that wasn't always completely clear to me so i think that could maybe be

yeah it could stronger it could deal it could do it it could benefit from some editor's notes or

something like that just kind of tie it together and they might have been in the uh the under

comments i didn't read those because i never do

your comic should be your your comic but i like i said i i think if you

grok onto what what each one represents uh i it's fine i will say that uh this is unrelated to

anything and definitely not the comic's fault but my own dyslexia kind of bit me again because

there's the character the persian but i read that as the parisian i'm like why are they calling him

the parisian they're all parisians this takes place in paris that seems really really like an

thing to do

you you're the parisian we're all parisians but no it's persian i just can't read good

it's like having a gi joe character the american wait what yeah pretty much what are you which one

which way you're talking about um yeah that that that is definitely a you thing but i also

understand it so i'm sorry that happened to you it's the person so um and again those are characters

that are not parisian but they're not parisian and they're not parisian and they're not parisian and

And I don't know, are they in one story or the other?

Or are they created for this one?

It's, you know, beneficial, I think, to create new characters for this story.

So you have something that you own.

It is yours.

And it's like, oh, these characters are going to bridge the two worlds.

And this is how they do it.

Versus, oh, this is the archetype for this character.

And this is this one.

And, of course, this has to be this character.

So when does that character come into play?

Oh, here they are.

You knew they'd be coming.

So I don't know the Persian.

I don't know Raul and his dad.

I felt really bad for Raul.

Not that you don't feel bad enough for him.

But for his dad, like, screaming at him, grabbing him and screaming.

You aren't going to cry, are you?

Have I ever given you cause to cry?

It's like, what if you have to scream that at a child?

You've probably screwed up somewhere.

As they're crying and you scream at them, have I ever given you a reason to cry?

You messed up.

So, I want to keep reading more of this.

I want to see where the story goes.

I kind of want to, I probably have to explain a lot of it to my wife before I could, like, show it to her.

But she's a Phantom fan.

She should know more than you.

Well, yeah, but, like, it's a mashup of that and Frankenstein.

I'm sure she understands Frankenstein enough to know that he's this creepy dead guy.

Yes.

Also true.

So, and she's also seen Young Frankenstein, so she knows, you know, that level of Frankenstein.

Oh, good.

Then she'll be fine.

Hey, there is some of it in there.

He's an emo, I would call him an emo monster.

He's more of a, yeah, he's just a grunter with a fun sense of humor before he gets a new brain at the end.

Yeah.

Sorry, I'm just recounting the, this is our rewatch podcast for Young Frankenstein.

We watch Young Frankenstein talk about it.

Oh, man, that would be fun.

Yeah, yeah.

But what's also fun is reading this comic.

And it's also dark and gothic and spooky and a little too ethereal for its own good at times.

And you have to kind of bring it back down to earth to get back to the story and keep moving through the story beats.

But it's gorgeous.

I love the art style.

And I have professed many times that I would read.

Anything that has a gorgeous art that I probably can't quite understand.

And so this is right up my alley.

And I think it'll be up yours, too.

So go check out this interesting mashup of two stories in Phantomstein.

And that will do it for this episode of Digital Strips.

I have a programming note to mention here.

Looks like for the time being, Digital Strips is probably going to go on hiatus.

I had some things come up in our lives.

And right now, the time required for this podcast every single week is just not there.

And so, yeah, we're going to be saying goodbye for a little bit.

Not totally certain when or if it will return.

We're looking at things.

And I would definitely like to return for at least one goodbye send-off episode, if nothing else.

But for the time being.

being uh yeah we'll we'll stop with the updates and i mean if you are looking for web comics to

read might i suggest the 740 some episodes before this where we talk about and other people talk

about many different web comics many of which are still running um but we won't tell you which is

which until you go listen decide you want to hear it or decide you want to read it and then you go

check it out and it's been dead for two years yes yes that's but we don't blame ourselves for

that that's that's just the the happenstance of web comics and live updates to everything but

yeah so just wanted to mention that and uh let you know we appreciate all the listeners and all

the creators who have uh helped us and and and given us words of encouragement and i've provided

these amazing works for us to talk about

for all these years it's been uh an amazing journey again uh you know hopefully this isn't

goodbye and there will be at least another official one but just want to say that it has been

a joy to to watch over this podcast and to look at all these comics and to do it

here with my brother from another mother brother from another coast what would that be

my my boast from another coast no i can think of something better than that

you

whatever it might be co-host from the other coast come on okay that man that was right there it was

on the t and i just said no i don't want to hit the t mother i want to hit this hard to hit ball

i'm gonna throw it in the air i'm gonna look dope oh my god that was me as a kid just throwing that

wiffle ball up and hitting missing it every time my dad had to be watching from the window and

just thinking oh i really hope my other son is better at sports

this is this is gonna be a real frankenstein's monster

and i don't even know what that means this one's a real raul if you know what i'm saying

uh could not be more of a raul thank you very much for tying it back to the the current web

comic so uh yeah we'll we'll be back with you and and talk at least one more time about uh the

future and the wonderful medium of the future of the future of the future of the future of the future of the

web comics but we thank you for listening and yeah that's hopefully it's not goodbye yet but

yeah we really

sunrise sunset all things come to an end and this might not be but we are going to play it by ear

and we appreciate your ears up to this point absolutely if you have any comments about

anything we talked about in this episode or suggestions for

future episodes if those should happen you can find us on twitter the show is at digital strips

i personally am at the jason sigler i personally am at idahovo or if you prefer you can head on

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and we give special thanks to chime and adam tell for our music which is from their song

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these two chuckleheads who've never met in real life but we give each other plenty of reasons to

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the podcast platform out there if those platforms allow for reviews we really appreciate the five

star reviews those are the only ones that matter to the algorithm and we all are slave to the

algorithm but until next time which i hope there will be for digital strips i am jason the midnight

cartooner sigler i will always be steve the geek shinny thank you very much for joining us we'll

see you in the fourth panel where for whatever reason we just won't shut up

fourth panel till i die yes this is where we fight this is where they die

i'll write that as an epitaph on my on my uh headstone when people are like what the hell's

a fourth panel it's not a reference to oh he used to i think he used to read comic what are comics

uh well it's a whole thing i'll tell you about later you never tell them because who cares

that's what it's like to be buried as a raul

at least you died as you lived a real raul if you know what i'm saying

that'll be you tossing one dead flower on my grave he died as he lived real raul this one

you know what i'm talking about no you don't oh okay you should listen to the podcast it was

sorry that was a call back to a podcast that we haven't done for 20 years

hi i'm steve

the way we never met sorry about your grandpa i'm just here to pick up his skull we have an

adventure to go on call back to another show i can't tell anymore it all bleeds together

it's the steve and jason cinematic universe

stop