When It Was Cool Retro Pop Culture

Aquaman issue one was not the first appearance of Aquaman. Aquaman had a limited run in the Golden Age, but this was his debut in the Silver Age of comics and his first ever solo title. A multi-part story featuring Aquaman, Aqualad, and others against some Fire Troll. Join me for the second episode of First! covering first issues, first episodes, first appearances, and more! Now, let's go talk to the fishes for a minute.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) was the sequel to the 1948 Superman serial and used the original actors in their roles again. This time, however, the villain is a good one- Lex Luthor! We take a look at Lex Luthor's first time appearing in a live action series and, in my opinion, this is the best Luthor to-date! Atom Man... not so much.

Today the When It Was Cool special podcast takes a look back at the 1949 follow up to the previously reviewed 1943 The Batman. This serial was titled simply "Batman and Robin" and was a much better story with significantly worse costuming. There were some hilarious blunders along the way and once again Robin is old enough to be your dad but let's take a look at this much less racist Batman as he takes on the masked Wizard! Be sure to also check out the accompanying article at WhenItWasCool.com

The debut of the new First! podcast series. This series takes a look back at first issues, first appearances, and pop culture firsts contained in comic books. We will be looking at comics from the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, and Modern Age of comics. Today we look back to one of the earliest patriotic heroes and the most successful of them all- Captain America! Today, Captain America has multiple movie appearances including in the successful Marvel Avengers franchise, but all started out in 1941 with Captain America punching a certain real life historical bad guy right in the face!

Superman is a 1948 15-part Columbia Pictures film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn (billed on-screen only by his character's name, Superman; but credited as Kirk Alyn on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. It was the first live-action appearance of Superman on film.[1] The serial was directed by Thomas Carr (who later directed many early episodes of the Adventures of Superman television series[1]) and Spencer Gordon Bennet, produced by Sam Katzman, and shot in and around Los Angeles, California. It was originally screened at movie matinées, and after the first three scene-setting chapters, every episode ends in a cliffhanger. The Superman-in-flight scenes are animations, in part due to the small production budget.

Captain America is a 1944 Republic black-and-white 15-chapter serial film loosely based on the Timely Comics (now Marvel Comics) character Captain America. It was the last Republic serial made about a superhero. It also has the distinction of being the most expensive serial that Republic ever made. It stands as the first theatrical release connected to a Marvel character. The film was re-released in 1953, and it was released in Turkey in popular before the release of the original comics, Turkish Captain America films was also produced such as 1968 film Binbaşı Tayfun and 1973 film 3 Dev Adam. It was the first live-action rendition of a Marvel character.

A great Universal monsters horror film from 1944! House of Frankenstein features Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man in action with and against each other! A fine and fun horror movie! Check out our Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/wiwcool

There's a new Dracula in town kids. Following the classic Bela Lugosi led classic, Universal Pictures came back with two (sort of) sequels- Daughter of Dracula and Son of Dracula. We take a look at Son of Dracula that apparently doesn't feature the son of Dracula at all. Nope, it's the count himself and he is played by Lon Chaney, Jr. this time with Bela Lugosi nowhere to be found. This time Dracula comes to the U.S. looking for fresh blood but he's not looking for a bride... a bride is looking for him! Listen in as Karl from When It Was Cool reviews Son of Dracula!

Join pro wrestling historian and author Karl Stern as he talks about the complicated history and legacy of pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who passed away on July 24, 2025, at his home in Florida. Hulk Hogan, who began his pro wrestling career in the late 1970s, became one of the most famous pro wrestlers in history and a major pop culture star as well. From his movies to his reality show, Hulk Hogan was one of the biggest media stars pro wrestling ever produced.

Oh boy... you win some and you lose some. While Adventures of Captain Marvel from Republic Films was a real winner the same cannot be said for the racist and silly 1943 Columbia Film The Batman. The casting was beyond terrible and there were few good qualities about this 15-part serial. The costuming was fine but today we meet a Batman who never wins a fight, a Robin that was at least twice too old, and dialog meant to offend probably everyone. This film did introduce The Bat's Cave to Batman lore and just wait until you hear about the amazing special effect that accompanied the Batmobile! Be sure to also read the article on the main When It Was Cool website for photos and more! Be sure to check out our Patreon page here.

Yesterday, I went to see James Gunn's new Superman movie starring David Corenswet. What should I expect? The dark, grim, and joylessness of the Snyderverse? Nope. This movie was a lot of fun with a lot of excitement. It has been criticized in the media as being too 'woke' or political, but I didn't see it that way. This was not a great movie but was a very good one and a promising start to the new (and hopefully improved) DC cinematic universe!

The Fleischer Superman cartoons in the 1940s were extraordinarily groundbreaking at the time and are still looked back on as one of the greatest animated series ever. On this episode, Karl from When It Was Cool looks back at this epic piece of retro pop culture! Be sure to check out our Patreon page here.

This week our retro movie review continues looking back at the 1941 Universal horror classic The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney, Jr. While this is perhaps my least favorite of the Universal Pictures horror classics it did lay down the lore for much of what we know as the werewolf mythology. The movie does have its good points also and today host Karl from When It Was Cool talks The Wolf Man (1941).

This episode takes a look back at the 1941 Republic Movie serial on Captain Marvel (Shazam) which is considered one of the best of the old-time movie serials. Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/wiwcool

Once again it is Friday the 13th so, of course, we have a Friday the 13th movie review! Part VII: The New Blood (1988) features the first appearance of Kane Hodder as Jason Vorhees who also sets a filming record in this movie for the longest legit stunt fire scene up to that date. There is a new cast of victims for Jason to prey upon, but the same tired formula continues in this very predictable movie leading to future changes. Did you know this movie was supposed to be Carrie verses Jason? It was also supposed to be Freddy verses Jason too but that was pushed down the road a few years. Let's talk about it. Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/posts/131392189

On this When It Was Cool Patreon special I review a movie condensed from the 1940 Green Hornet film serial. Green Hornet and the Lone Ranger exist inside the same fictional universe, in fact, later cannon has Green Hornet as the great nephew of the Lone Ranger. Keye Luke who later played BIind Master Po in Kung Fu is Kato in this series. Karl Stern talks you through this often-overlooked corner of the superhero universe.

I have sadly sworn off the MCU for some time now. None of the offerings in recent years have appealed to me but when Captain America: Brave New World showed up on Disney Plus I decided to give it a try. Featuring the debut of Harrison Ford's Red Hulk character, could this be the movie that brings me back into the Marvel Universe? Not so fast. Join me while I try to find a ray of hope inside this flawed super hero movie.

My podcast today takes a detailed look back at June 1985 in pro wrestling history. The text is taken from my book DragonKingKarl's 1984-1985 Pro Wrestling Omnibus. In June 1985 pro wrestling's first action figures become available, a set of AWA action figures by Remco toy company and WWF figures by LJN. In addition to that, Sgt. Slaughter sort of wins a title in the AWA, there is finally some life in Jim Crockett Promotions because of Magnum TA, and Japan is red hot! Check out the extended version on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/posts/130634871

Today I wrap up my three-part series on the appeal of one of my favorite pop-culture properties: G.I. Joe. Previously, I have taken a look at both the action figures and the comic books and today I look at the multiple cartoon series that have featured G.I. Joe since the mid-1980s including the favorably remembered Sunbow series and the less favorably remembered DIC series, plus more!

When It Was Cool Dark looks back at 1939's Universal Monster movie Son of Frankenstein where the son of the original Dr. Frankenstein comes to claim his family estate and discovers The Monster has been saved by Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi of Dracula fame) and is being used as a weapon against Ygor's enemies. Karl and Tonya (from When It Was Cool website) discuss the movie and the changes in macabre films over the years and what are the modern equivalents of this type cinema.