Episode 8: Let's Genocide the Transformers

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.   This is it, folks, the end of the road. We're picking up the pieces and moving on from Visionaries, but not before we talk about the original Marvel comic series (spoiler, it was canceled before they finished), the IDW Transformers Vs. Visionaries miniseries, and, of course, the toys the series was made to sell in the first place.   We recorded this episode in person so I've left it largely unedited to preserve the energy, so enjoy a whole bunch of awkward hemming and hawing.  

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.    We've been off the clock for about six months now, but we're back with the penultimate podcast, covering episode twelve, Honor Among Thieves – a mile a minute mish-mash of new monsters, magicks, and humiliation kinks – and the series finale, episode thirteen, Dawn of the Sun Imps, which poses the important question: "what if there were a bunch of annoying little guys running around?"   This isn't the end though, fellow prisoners of the Wizard Jail. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a final wrap-up, recorded in-person, in windy midtown Chicago.  

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.  Podcast number six covers episodes ten, The Trail of Three Wizards, the second best episode of the entire series, and episode eleven, Sorcery Squared, which begs the question: is Cryotek the best Visionary? Join Gabe and Patrick as they contemplate cocaine addiction, shit monsters, and medieval music.

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Podcast number five covers episodes eight, Power of the Wise, one of the funnier episodes, and episode nine, Thorn of Unicorn, Claw of Dragon, which is basically about magical COVID. Gabe and Patrick visit the AO3 archive to see if there's any Visionaries fanfic out there (spoiler: there is) and contemplate the physics of Rocket League and the private lives of wood nymphs.

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Podcast number four covers episodes six, Lion Hung, and episode seven, The Overthrow of Merklynn, which is, quite possibly, the best episode in the entire series. Gabe and Patrick talk about the Animorph rules, problematic age gaps, the Rambo franchise, and Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend (there's a connection, I swear).

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Podcast number three is all about episodes four, The Price of Freedom and episode three, Feryl Steps Out. We are now free of the three-part series pilot and seeing what Visionaries is all about. Gabe and Patrick talk about the morality of robot slavery, the logistics of a land-based pirate ship in an era with no technology, and wonder again if the Spectral Knights may actually be bad people.

Welcome back to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Podcast number two is all about episodes two, The Dark Hand of Treachery, and episode three, Quest for the Dragon's Eye. This will round up what is basically a three-part series pilot. Gabe and Patrick talk about the worthlessness of the Power of Wisdom, the differences between good and bad jokes in children's media, and, of course, the show's kinky obsession with boot-licking.  

Welcome to Wizard Jail – a limited run series from Director's Club, Tracks of the Damned, and 96 Greers podcast co-host Patrick Ripoll and Genre Grinder creator Gabe Powers where they talk about, what else, but the 1987 syndicated cartoon series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Why would they do this? Well, in classic mad scientist fashion, they were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to question whether they should. And now, there's nothing to stop it. Will this be the dawning of a new Age of Magic or did not enough people watch this show when it originally aired, thus relegating this podcast to the same obscure fate?    In episode one (of, let's say, somewhere between seven and nine), our courageous Spectral Knights talk about the genesis of the series, its cast & crew, and the first of the 13 episodes that made it to air.