Wait, What? Ep. 135.75: Mistake, Misspake

If nothing else, all of this has put me on the fast track to buying Swimming to Cambodia on DVD.

Hey, everybody: we were supposed to podcast, Graeme and I, after I returned from New York but since things didn't quite come together <<shoots withering look at my Internet connection>>, it didn't quite come together.  So I thought I'd give it a go at trying the solocast thing that Graeme did so well and so charmingly.

Anyway, it's longer, it's rougher, and it raises more questions than it answers (questions like: why did I think I liked this guy? and: who do we have to pay to make sure this never happens again?).  But hopefully it'll tide you over until Graeme and I can again form the strange Voltronesque entity that is this podcast.

It's on iTunes!  It's right here below!  It mentions Kirby & Copra & Momofuku Noodle Bar & Brad Pitt & Sex Criminals & sandwiches & albinos!  I apologize for it here and now, but hope it helps kill some time and/or brings amusement and/or can be used to torment the unsuspecting.

We thank you for your patience and patronage.  And by 'we,' I mean, 'I thank you for your patience and patronage.'  Dear God, do I thank you.

Wait, What? Ep. 135.75: Mistake, Misspake

Wait, What? Ep. 131: Linkpocalypse

Motofumi Kobayashi's Cat Shit One: Another great reason to love comics.

Yes, okay! As always, I have nothing clever to say in this space, but unlike always, I'm not going to waste your time saying it. I've got show notes with images! Links! Prizes! (There are no prizes!) Torrid confessions! (There probably will not be any torrid confessions.)

After the jump: Show Note Machine...Go!

0:00-25:22: Bemoaning the fact that we're not nearly as organized as other podcasts, Graeme makes a prediction about we'll be talking about this episode as a way of introducing this episode to listeners. This allows me to retool a favorite aphorism here in the show notes:  "If you want to make God laugh, introduce a podcast." It leads right into our first order of business:  talking about the latest crazy developments in DC's 3-D cover event.  If you've already read Hibbs' post about this already, you'll be a step ahead of most of the points Jeff makes here, although he does bring his own unique tin foil hat spin to the situation.  Also covered, the recent decision in Kirby v. Marvel,  what it means to "hamburger a muffin" and the opening of a  new Salt & Straw right near Graeme. Verily, this is the Mighty Wait, What? Age of Golden Epicureanism! 25:22-34:07:  Also on a non-comics tip, Stephen Colbert and Bryan Cranston, which famous people we've been compared to, the Adult BMI guidelines, Tarder Sauce, and more. 34:07-45:37:  Todd McFarlane, Len Wein and Gerry Conway discussing sexism and comic books! which we discuss without the context provided by some later tweets made by Conway.  And who is…. the Billy Joel of comics?  Find out here, along with a torrid confession from Jeff!  (Oh, okay, so there was one of those, after all.  Huh.) 45:37-58:05: And in this week's installment of "Welcome to Jeff's Big Basket of Sour Grapes," Jeff talks about a Twitter exchange between Rob Liefeld and Erik Larsen and their consideration of comic book criticism.  Graeme, trying to bring the sense, just ends up bouncing the ball of generosity off Jeff's ungenerous blockhead for an impressively long time. 58:05-1:04:00:  Also, under discussion, Mark Millar's comments about rape.  You probably can imagine our reaction to that one but...maybe not? 1:04:00-1:21:40: And now it's time to talk about some comics we've read -- a little bit about AvX  (and the kindness and generosity of the Whatnauts), but also a lot about the genius that is Rogue Trooper and Cat Shit One. This leads to our we-might-as-well-make-it-official-and-call-it-weekly discussion about 2000 A.D., which in turn leads to discussion about comic book covers, which in turn leads to Velvet by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, 1:21:40-1:26:08: Jack Kirby's In The Days Of The Mob! It is available! It is…not cheap!  Not cheap at all! 1:26:08-1:27:21: Copra Compendium (which I can't say aloud without thinking of Weird Al-esque lyrics set to "Copacabana" which is probably why I probably called it Copra Companion half the time) Vol. 2!  Jeff loves this like burning, worries that Graeme may not.  But either way, there is so much lovely stuff, including  the panel shown below and discussed in this podcast:

1:27:21-1:31:33:  That inspires Graeme to talk about Lynn Varley, Trevor Von Eeden, and the Kickstarter the latter is running with Don McGregor for Sabre: The Early Future Years. 1:31:33-1:34:12:  Graeme has read Cartozia Tales, the shared fantasy universe featuring some outstanding work by Jen Vaughn, Jon Lewis, Dylan Horrocks, and more. 1:34:12-1:38:34: Trilium #1 by Jeff Lemire. We've both read it.  We both discuss it. 1:38:34-1:41:55: Jeff fumbles and bumbles through some display problems to try and convey how much he digs Jaco the Galactic Patrolman by Akira Toriyama, as well as Toriyama's brilliantly dopey pre-Dragonball series, Dr. Slump.  One of the panels Jeff discusses super-briefly is this one:

1:41:55-1:45:04: The first collection of Talon from DC!  Did Graeme like it almost as much as Jeff likes Toriyama…or even more than Jeff likes Toriyama?  Tune in and find out. 1:45:04-1:52:08: The final volume of Bakuman is out, which is very bittersweet for Jeff.  Despite the frustrations with how Viz has handled publication of this manga (and the generally anticlimactic nature of the last volume), man of man, Jeff is going to miss that series. 1:52:08-end: Closing comments! Graeme makes it sound like we won't be back next week but we will!  (I think.)

See, look at all that. Links! Images! Torrid confessions. (Well, a torrid confession.)  Nice, eh?  So you should go hear it!  It is on iTunes -- eventually -- and it is here for your convenience:

Wait, What? Ep. 131: Linkpocalypse

As always, we thank you for listening and hope you enjoy!  (Now if you excuse me, I have a new chapter of Jaco The Galactic Patrolman to go read....)

Wait, What? Ep. 124: Stare Trek

The return of Vegan Viking! Courtesy of the brilliant Gar Berner

Yes, Vegan Viking (thanks to the supremely talented and kind Gar Berner) is back, and so are Graeme and I, with a close-to-two-hour episode filled with funny book kvetching and show notes right after the jump. Join us, won't you?

0:00-12:21:  Salutations!  Graeme is sick and jet-lagged, having returned from his first visit to Scotland in five years.  Jeff, with his eyes on the prize, presses him for comic book and comic book store-related details.  Names dropped:  Plan B Comics and Forbidden Planet of Glasgow, Comixology as it aids and abets all-ages storytelling, and Grant Morrison. 12:21-27:01:  From there, we get to a discussion of the new Man of Steel trailer, and whether or not All-Star Superman is going to be the best fit for the upcoming movie..which leads to a difference of opinion about Morrison's villains, camp vs. melodrama, etc. All I can say is: look out for that surprise edit! 27:01-33:08:  Which brings around to Batman Inc. #11, by Chris Burnham and Jorge Lucas.  It's fun!  But is it the right time and place in the series to have fun, though? 33:08-49:07: And on the subject of potential Batman-related fun, we ponder the upcoming Batman Inc. Special, the writing talent of Dan Didio, and comics that are fun or "fun."  Jeff's example of how fun can fall short?  Green Team #1…although he's quick to mention how he is not quite in comics' tractor beam recently.  He's underwhelmed by Batman and Robin #20, for instance, although it did lead to an interesting discussion in the Lester/Berton household recounted here. 49:07-57:26:  By contrast, Graeme read Monkeybrain's Subatomic Party Girls by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims, and Erica Henderson, and loved it.  (By contrast, El Grumpus merely liked it.)  It certainly was better than Twelve Reasons to Die #1, which Jeff very much wanted to like but very much did not. 57:26-1:20:09:  Hey, everybody!  Graeme has stopped reading Age of Ultron, while Jeff thought he was still reading it so we could moan about it.  So his attempts to get Graeme to talk about it by dragging in the excellent essay by Colin Smith about the issue over at Too Busy Thinking About My Comics (now on sabbatical, which is entirely understandable but also a bit of  bummer).  We do contrast AoU with Flashpoint, Age of Apocalypse, Avengers vs. X-Men, and other events.  All of which leads up to.... 1:20:09-1:21:06: Intermission Two! 1:21:06-1:40:30:  Star Trek Into Darkness!  Spoilers! (Although we tried not to!) Bitchiness! (Although we tried not to be!) Another story involving Jeff's wife! And the curse of…sleep spoilers! 1:40:30-1:47:30: Then as the clock is running out, Jeff talks--all too horribly briefly--about the comic excellence that is Michel Fiffe's Copra (and the Copra Compendium published by the mensches at Bergen Street Comics) and Ant Comic by Michael De Forge (which is currently online and which I cannot recommend highly enough.  (Fun fact/full disclosure: the cartoonist Jeff spends an absurd amount of time trying to remember the full name of, is Rory Hayes.) 1:47:30-end: Running out of time, Graeme and Jeff begin discussing Al Ewing's novel, The Fictional Man.  Sadly, it ends up being a discussion we have to punt to the next podcast but we do drop a toe in about all the many things the book has to offer.

And that's it until next week, when we'll have ep. 125 ready for you along with far less illness and jet-lag.  (Although seeing as I'm writing this while utterly under the weather, and feeling like I have a bubble with a razor blade inside trapped in my throat,  really we can only guarantee a lack of jet lag.)  While the uploading end of the Internet has been very, very slow over at mi casa, the latest ep should be on iTunes very, very shortly.  And of course it's also available for your delectation below:

Wait, What? Ep. 124: Stare Trek

As always, we hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!