When It Was Cool Retro Pop Culture
When It Was Cool reviews, remembers, and celebrates the toys, music, action figures, television, movies, and popular culture of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Super Friends, Comic Books, Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, My Little Pony, Alice in Wonderland, books, Six Million Dollar Man, Godzilla, video games, and all things retro.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 111
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Batman and Robin (1949) Serial Movie Review
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 …
First! Captain America Issue 1 (1941)
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 Go…
Superman (1948) Serial Movie Review
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 cre…
Captain America (1944) Serial Film Review
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 …
House of Frankenstein (1944) Retro Movie Review
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!
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Son of Dracula (1943) Movie Review
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…
Death of Hulk Hogan (2025) Podcast Special
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. H…
Batman (1943) Serial Movie Review
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. Th…
Superman (2025) Movie Review Podcast
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 l…
Superman Mad Scientist (1941) Cartoon Review
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 …
The Wolf Man (1941) Retro Movie Review
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 ho…
Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) Retro Serial Review
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.
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Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) Movie Review Podcast
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 fi…
Green Hornet (1940) Retro Movie Review
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 …
Captain America: Brave New World (2025) Movie Review Podcast
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 t…
Long Form History of Wrestling Podcast - June 1985 - Action Figures, AWA, Hulk Hogan, More!
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 …
G.I. Joe The Cartoons
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 l…
Son of Frankenstein (1939) Movie Review
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 be…
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Movie Review
Many believe this is the greatest of the classic monster movies and who am I do disagree? Bride of Frankenstein was a 1935 classic and sequel to the excellent Frankenstein. Join pop culture historian…
G.I. Joe: The Comics
One of my favorite aspects of the G.I. Joe franchise were the Marvel comic book series. G.I. Joe had other comic book runs dating as far back as the Golden Age of comics, but it was the 1980s G.I. Jo…