LeaguePodcast Presents: The Alfred Letters Vol. 1
Vol. 1 Part 1
Welcome to The Alfred Letters
To spare you pain.
and I exchange letters from across town. Subscribe to Dursin’s Dungeon to get Dursin’s reply later this week. (of course, we will also link the letters here and in The Dungeon.)Folks, welcome to LeaguePodcast Presents: The Alfred Letters.
Listen to us on Spotify below or by heading to leaguepodcast.com. The Vampire Council and CurbCast will return!
(Part 1: You Are Here), (Part 2: Dursin’s Dungeon) (Part 3) (Part 4 -The End?)
Dear Matt
,Strangely, I’ve had pen pals, and pals (of which you are top-level, A+), but, never have I written you a letter.
And yet, we both do (have?) Substack, and I find that I learn a lot about you as a person from your writing, appreciating your perspective on things and turning me on to movies that may have passed me by or that I should revisit. “Thanks, To You”, as they say.
I don’t know what the theme of my Substack is, but it’s a kind of self-help mixed with productivity and Batman and poems and me struggling with the passage of time, and I have more Substack drafts than actual posts facing the public.
Time was, I was writing 2-3 one-thousand word columns about comics a week. We were very active in podcasting, going to movies and panels, and living the Wednesday Warrior life. Lately, creatively, I have been absorbing rather than creating, and I have been thinking that my approach to the always-on social media creation in front of cameras and microphones would be to purposely take it down a notch with that kind of thing. I’m choosing to pivot my broken brain back to good habits about writing, maybe reading more, going outside more, and taking more breaks at work.
I’m not going offline, but I am kind of going offline. I'm just putting my headspace out there. But this letter is not all about me, and my selfish desire to just write more. I honestly have questions. About pop culture stuff, about life, about our Life-CAST (that’s when you get an iced tea without ice and I get a Frappuccino, we sit on a park bench—who does that?—and we say things we can’t really say to anyone else—not because our topics are controversial—but because no one cares! Mics off, just a simple Life-CAST!)
Incidentally, I often think before sending out a Substack - “Does anyone really need this?” and then I send it anyway because they most certainly don’t.
We’re asking each other questions, and I’ve called this The Alfred Letters. Is it Rachel’s letter that Alfred tells Bruce about in The Dark Knight Rises?
Is it another, sort of Scott Snyder Alfred Letter that probably happened once? Maybe! I like Batman, you like the Joker! If these are The Alfred Letters, what could that mean? Anything! Maybe a Batman ‘66 ‘lost episode’ title!
I’m going to put the shovel away and stop burying the lede. Here’s my question. This letter is a predictable comic book and pop culture movie question. But one day I might ask you something like, “What’s the hardest punch you ever took... from a lady?”
This is what they call a ‘softball question’.
What makes The Dark Knight a great movie beyond the amazing performance of Heath Ledger? I mean, so many things, but what about the Joker as a villain and his motivations, which make for great drama beyond a regular comic book movie?
🤖 AI Assist here, just for context: The year 2008 marked a significant turning point for superhero films, as it saw the release of several highly successful and influential movies in the genre. Here are some notable superhero films from 2008: Iron Man: Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Iron Man was the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It received critical acclaim for its fresh take on the character, impressive visual effects, and charismatic performance by Downey Jr. The Dark Knight: Directed by Christopher Nolan and featuring Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as the Joker, The Dark Knight is widely regarded as one of the best superhero films ever made. Ledger's portrayal of the Joker earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The Incredible Hulk: Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk was another entry in the MCU. Although it received mixed reviews, it helped lay the foundation for the interconnected Marvel film universe. These three films, in particular, had a significant impact on the superhero genre and laid the groundwork for the successful franchises and shared universes we see in today's cinematic landscape. 🤖
Before I wrote this letter, I coincidentally just watched these movies. That’s a lie because I saw Batman Begins, but The Dark Knight is next. Funny how some of the Nolan movies tip their hats to Batman ‘66 sometimes, with the ‘antidotes’, water supply, big bombs, etc.
Yours,
Clay N. Ferno, Here!
PART 2:
