Ahh, nostalgia. I used to love that cover....and I know I should crop out that border. But.

Hey, Internet! My apologies in advance--things are rushed, except maybe a little more so! My Monday schedule changed around a bit so it's gonna be a rush on my part to make sure they still happen before Tuesday morning.

All of which is to say: join me after the jump for some very hasty show notes, yes?

00:00-4:07: Opening comments! Greetings, statements, insinuations. But before the paint has even started to dry on our work-related complaints…comics! 4:07-13:54: First off, Pretty Deadly. Recorded just a few hours before "Rip-Up-A-Copy-of-Pretty-DeadlyGate," we talk about our mixed feelings about this new Image title by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios. We talk westerns, manga, prologues, emotional investment, narrative baiting and switching, and other keen topics. 13:54-27:58: It’s a blurry line, since we’re still unpacking reactions to Pretty Deadly, but around here is where we also work in discussion of the second book in the week’s trifecta from Image’s Portland Mafia, Velvet #1 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Included in the discussion: LeCarre, Bond, Val from Nick Fury, Paul Gulacy, Sandbaggers, Story X becoming Story Y, etc. 27:58-46:57: And finally, we work in the third book, Sex Criminals #2 by Fraction and Zdarsky. In the mix: amazing colors, fantastic jokes, problematic jokes, sales figures, sex skittishness, and what have you. 46:57-56:39: The first Justice League of America hardcover—Graeme has seen it, read it, and has some very good questions about it. Also discussed: the Fortress of Solitude trade, the Death of the Family trade, the draw of missing issues, things of that nature. 56:39-1:14:30: And Jeff has things to say about the Cross Manage one-shot that just ran in Shonen Jump Weekly digital. What did a huge fan of KAITO’s high-school lacrosse fantasy think of the strip’s return? Also mentioned: romance (of course), New Girl, Castle, Bones, and Deadwood. 1:14:30-1:27:33: And this kind of crazy talk leads around to an overdue discussion about the DC policy that their heroes can’t have happy romantic relationships. Included in the discussion: the many stages of Spider-Man; Earth One and the New 52; someone jumping up and down on Superman’s brain and causing him to get divorced; and the possible marital status of Iron Man. 1:27:33-1:35:05: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark over in Iron Man! We spoil the ending, and talk about the story’s big swerve, narrative v. marketing, the Superman and Wonder Woman relationship (uh, somehow?) and a few additional things thrown in there I don't quite remember at the moment. 1:35:05-1:43:15: Graeme has a rant about the Agents of SHIELD TV show. Jeff wants to hear it! Here’s the segment where we figure out how to make that happen. There’s a slight tech glitch, but it doesn’t stop us from talking about the Military-Industrial Complex and Hollywood…and Marvel Entertainment, in particular. This was recorded right around the time of the Captain America: Winter Soldier trailer which was an interesting compare/contrast. 1:43:15-end: “Speaking of Mighty Marvel Self-Critique…” Graeme also walks us through Marvel: Now What? Jeff tries to make up for his sour mood by talking about how much he’s still enjoying Yakitate!! Japan and the most excellent poop joke in Volume 8. We also end up complaining about Agents of SHIELD some more. Fortunately, Jeff thinks to ask Graeme about Halloween and this leads to a lively anecdote about “Galoshin’,” a list of costumes Graeme has worn, and we each pick comic book costumes for the other to wear. IN THE COMMENTS: give us your picks for our Halloween costumes. Best choices will be shamefacedly and resolutely ignored.

Itunes has been alerted, but the podcast should be below. The stupid file came out stupidly big so I tried to compress it. Hopefully, it's still audible (it's probably still stupidly big, I fear.)

Wait, What? Ep. 138: Gone Galoshing

Next week: is a skip week! We will be back in two weeks!

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....)