When It Was Cool Retro Pop Culture

Psycho changed everything in 1960. Alfred Hitchcock's horror masterpiece reinvented fear cinema. Our Patreon supporters at When It Was Cool have had access to this show for a long time but with the recent plot of Monster: The Ed Gein Story heavily featuring Psycho (based on Ed Gein) this is a great time to remember the horror movie classic.

In 1977 Star Wars debuted in theaters and my pop culture life would never be the same. I was in second grade and went with a friend. It was a true blockbuster with lines around the corner for multiple showings. Life was great. I also read and collected comic books at the time, imagine my little mind being blown when I got issue 1 of Star Wars comics from Marvel off the old spinner rack and discovered scenes and people and who weren't even in the movie! Let's look at issue 1 of Marvel Comics Star Wars!

The second and final of the Steve Reeves' Hercules movies. Similar to the first film, Hercules Unchained is bolstered by a solid opening and closing but again is labored (see what I did there?) by a largely boring and unnecessary middle. Still, Steve Reeves' portrayal of the Greco-Roman mythological hero Hercules is fantastic, and Hercules Unchained even features an appearance by former World Boxing and World Wrestling champion Primo Carnera! Grab your sword and sandals and let's go fight some monsters!

Up from the depths. 30 stories high. Beathing fire. He stands in the sky! Godzilla! Godzilla! Godzilla! Oh, yeah and Godzuki too unfortunatly. Still, in 1978, kids everywhere in the United States sat in front of their TV set with their Shogun Warriors Godzilla toy in hand to thrill to the adventures of the giant Toho monster! Today on First! we look back at the first episode of the Godzilla Saturday morning cartoon show!

Generally speaking, this is my most listened to show of the year, so thank you and strap in. Over the past several months this podcast has focused on many of the people who had not yet made the ballot. That gives me much more latitude on today's show to dive into the people and process of the Hall of Fame, examine the ballot, and on the second half of the show I throw a curveball to the process which makes for a very interesting segment. Also, I am preparing a suggestion for Dave Meltzer about how to handle the pioneer era of wrestling.

I am a sucker for Greco-Roman mythology, so I thought I’d check out the much lauded performance of bodybuilder Steve Reeves in the first of his two appearances as Hercules in the 1958 movie of the same name. Obviously, as far as special effects goes, this movie was seriously limited by it’s era, but I have to say, Steve Reeves made a pretty darn impressive Hercules. The story took an unneeded detour in the middle which drug things down, but overall, this was a pretty solid movie.

Our next episode of First! takes a look back at Godzilla's comic book arrival in the United States in his own Toho licensed comic book series that was actually set directly in the Marvel Universe. In the pages of Godzilla (1977), Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to stop Godzilla from crossing the United States after he comes ashore on the west coast and begins his march east. By the end, he ends up facing The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and others!

Godzilla is a multi-million-dollar intellectual property that has given us many films, toys, and more. Today, When It Was Cool looks back at the first Godzilla movie from 1954, a great blend between a monster and horror movie. The first Godzilla movie stands the test of time.

This week, I have an episode from our new comic book podcast series at When It Was Cool called: First! This podcast series takes a look at first issues, first appearances, and more in comics and comic related pop culture. Today, we travel back to 1983 for one of the wonderful staples of the spinner rack- Alpha Flight! Mutants were soaring in popularity and Marvel had the idea to spin off a super team based in Canada.

This is my first time seeing George Reeves as Superman.  Reeves was the iconic Superman of the 1950s and this movie length feature launched that beloved series.  I didn't think this was very good and compared to the Superman movie serials a few years before fell short.  But apparently it struck a chord in children of the era because it launched one of the most beloved TV series in American history.

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.