How Did This Get Made?

Last Looks: John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars w/ Ed Brubaker

November 7, 2025

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  • Listeners provided several corrections and theories regarding *Ghosts of Mars*, including clarification on the 'breathers' technology and a satanic panic interpretation of the film's themes. 
  • Guest Ed Brubaker, a John Carpenter fan, expressed that *Ghosts of Mars* is one of Carpenter's more re-watchable films from that era, despite its flaws. 
  • Ed Brubaker discussed adapting his *Criminal* graphic novel series for Amazon, noting the intense rewriting process in television and how his new book, *The Knives*, reflects his experiences in Hollywood. 
  • Ed Brubaker is adapting his *Reckless* series into a movie for Amazon, starring Sebastian Stan, and he discussed the unique challenges of collecting and republishing the film essays previously exclusive to single issues of his comics. 
  • The discussion touched upon the *Parker* adaptations, noting that Shane Black's *Play Dirty* felt like a blend of Richard Stark's character and Shane Black's signature style, and that Mark Wahlberg's stoic portrayal was a good fit for the character, unlike Robert Downey Jr. who might have been too eager to be liked. 
  • The hosts announced the next movie for *How Did This Get Made?* will be the 1993 teen horror rom-com *My Boyfriend's Back*, which Rotten Tomatoes rated poorly at 13%. 

Segments

Podcast Opening and Ads
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode opens with ads for Claude AI and Paramount Plus, setting the stage for analyzing a movie.
  • Summary: The first few minutes are dedicated to advertisements for Claude AI and Paramount Plus, followed by a teaser for the episode’s content, including a discussion with Ed Brubaker.
Corrections on Ghosts of Mars
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(00:05:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Listeners corrected details about the film, including the function of the ‘breathers’ and the nature of the Martian infection.
  • Summary: The ‘Corrections and Omissions’ segment addresses listener feedback on Ghosts of Mars. Topics include the clarification that breathers were collar-mounted devices, not goggles, and the debate over whether the antagonists were ghosts or an infection. The segment concludes with the announcement of CNU2007 as the winner for revealing the existence of a Big Daddy Mars trading card.
Ed Brubaker on John Carpenter
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(00:20:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Ed Brubaker considers Ghosts of Mars a fun, re-watchable Carpenter film, despite its flaws, and notes the lack of light touch in the performances.
  • Summary: Ed Brubaker joins the show and discusses his appreciation for Ghosts of Mars, contrasting it favorably with Carpenter’s Vampires. They discuss the film’s themes, the weird editing choices, and the overly tough performances from the cast, including Ice Cube.
Adapting Criminal for Amazon
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(00:33:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Brubaker detailed his experience as showrunner for the Criminal adaptation, highlighting the collaborative but often frustrating rewriting process in TV.
  • Summary: The conversation shifts to Brubaker’s work adapting his Criminal graphic novels for Amazon. He discusses receiving notes from Shane Black, the Kafka-esque nature of becoming a TV writer, and the realization that post-production involves massive restructuring of the initial script.
Authorship and Hollywood Evil
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(00:46:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Brubaker explained that his work focuses on character-driven stories subverting genre tropes, and he enjoys excavating the ’true evil of this town’ (Hollywood).
  • Summary: Brubaker reflects on what makes his work unique—using genre tropes to tell grounded, character-driven stories. He contrasts this with how Hollywood often tries to sanitize or genericize his concepts, as seen in the plot of his new book, The Knives.
Jason’s Role in Criminal
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(00:52:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Jason was revealed to have participated in reshoots for the Criminal TV series.
  • Summary: The hosts joke about Jason’s involvement in the Criminal universe, referencing the complex scheduling required for reshoots due to actor availability, which involved shooting seven days’ worth of material in three days.
Comics and Age Appropriateness
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(00:59:08)
  • Key Takeaway: The speaker discusses the difficulty of determining age appropriateness for comics, citing an incident where a child was sent home from school over monster imagery.
  • Summary: The speakers discuss whether a comic book is ‘all-ages,’ noting the presence of swearing. A story is shared about a friend’s children who were interested in the comics, but one child was sent home from school due to the monsters, suggesting they might be too young.
Uncle Ed’s Poop T-Shirts
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(00:59:44)
  • Key Takeaway: The speaker recounts a humorous story about giving nieces custom ‘poop’ t-shirts restricted to home use, which one niece still snuck into school.
  • Summary: The speaker shifts to a story about giving nieces custom-made t-shirts that only said ‘poop’ on them, with strict instructions they were only for home use. One 10-year-old snuck one into school and got in trouble, which the speaker found ‘juicy’ and indicative of being a ‘classic uncle show.’
Praise for Reckless PI Series
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(01:00:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The host praises Ed Brubaker’s ‘Reckless’ series as pulpy, concise PI stories set in the 1980s, featuring a Vietnam vet running a movie theater.
  • Summary: The host shouts out the ‘Reckless’ books, describing them as pulpy, quick-read PI stories (‘case of the week’) that are more concise than his ‘Criminal’ stories. The setting (1980s, Vietnam vet running a movie theater in LA) is highlighted as the ‘sweet spot’ for middle-aged guys.
Reckless Adaptation and Back Matter
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(01:02:07)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Reckless’ series is being adapted into a movie for Amazon starring Sebastian Stan, and the discussion pivots to the valuable movie essays found in Brubaker’s single-issue comics.
  • Summary: The speaker mentions that he and a friend are adapting ‘Reckless’ as a movie for Amazon with Sebastian Stan attached. This leads to a discussion about the back matter in Brubaker’s single issues, specifically the essays about films that the host keeps a list of for recommendations.
Collecting Comic Back Matter
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(01:03:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Collecting the essays for a printed collection is difficult due to rights issues with various contributors, some of whom are now deceased.
  • Summary: The host asks where the film essays live now, noting Brubaker kept them in single issues to incentivize sales. Brubaker explains that collecting them would require getting permissions from multiple writers (some deceased), making a printed collection legally complicated, though he considered putting them online.
Impact of Comic Back Matter
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(01:05:33)
  • Key Takeaway: An essay in a comic led directly to Criterion releasing a film and hiring the illustrator, demonstrating the unexpected cultural impact of the back matter.
  • Summary: Brubaker recounts how an essay by Patton Oswalt about the film Blast of Silence led to Criterion hiring Sean Phillips to illustrate the opening sequence, resulting in Criterion releasing the movie. This highlights the community-building aspect of the single-issue extras.
Giant-Sized Criminal One-Shot
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(01:06:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Brubaker is releasing a print-only, comic store exclusive 48-page one-shot called ‘Giant-Sized Criminal Number One’ to reward local stores.
  • Summary: To bring back the community feel, Brubaker announces ‘Giant-Sized Criminal Number One,’ a 48-page print-only comic exclusive to comic stores to incentivize support for local shops. He also mentions delaying digital releases of hardbacks to encourage physical ownership.
Criminal RPG Module Extra
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(01:07:24)
  • Key Takeaway: The new one-shot includes a bonus feature: a ‘Criminal’ tabletop RPG module written by Kieran Gillen and illustrated by Sean Phillips.
  • Summary: The 48-page special includes extras, such as a ‘Criminal’ RPG module written by Kieran Gillen and illustrated by Sean Phillips, allowing fans to play a game set in that world.
Parker Adaptations and Darwin Cook
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(01:08:16)
  • Key Takeaway: The discussion moves to Darwin Cook’s large-format adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels, which Brubaker helped champion, noting Cook’s tragic passing.
  • Summary: The host brings up the large-format ‘Martini editions’ of the Parker books adapted by Darwin Cook. Brubaker explains his involvement in the PR and how he and Sean oversaw the second edition after Darwin’s sudden death, including writing a tribute Grofeld story.
Play Dirty and Parker Portrayal
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(01:10:14)
  • Key Takeaway: The recent film Play Dirty is an adaptation of Parker books, but critics misunderstood the character, wanting him to be likable when he should be a stoic asshole.
  • Summary: The conversation turns to Shane Black’s movie Play Dirty, which mixes elements of Parker and Grofeld stories. Brubaker praises Wahlberg’s stoic portrayal of Parker, noting that critics often miss the point by wanting Parker to be likable or talk about his feelings, which Lee Marvin captured well.
Next Movie Announcement
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(01:13:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The next movie for the main podcast is the 1993 teen horror rom-com My Boyfriend’s Back, which has a very low Rotten Tomatoes score.
  • Summary: The hosts wrap up the interview segment and announce the next movie: the 1993 Teen Horror Rom-com My Boyfriend’s Back, starring Andrew Lowry and Tracy Lind, noting its 13% Rotten Tomatoes score and that Jason and June love it.