I'm pretty excited to say that I just completed the asset transfer agreement, and we'll be taking over San Francisco's Comic Outpost as of 12/16/13. It only took me 24 years to do it, but finally Comix Experience will have a second store!
-B
The Delight that was Tony Daniels' Detective Comics. From issue #1.
THANKSGIVING! CHRISTMAS! NEW YEAR'S! THE TERROR NEVER ENDS!
Actually, it's not really that bad, but all these holidays and holiday related get-togethers are keeping us very, very busy. So! After the show notes, please join us for two hours of desperate comics blabbity-blab and the show notes dedicated to same!
So...right, then. Where were we? Ah, yes...
00:00-16:29: We are off and running, with a weirdo greeting, an equally weirdo response about the news of the death of Nelson Mandela, before moving on to discuss the Wonder Woman casting, so recently announced: what did we think? Our answers will surprise you! Unless you figured our answers were gong to be a rambling, incomplete personal anecdote from Jeff and a disagreement between Jeff and Graeme about box office earnings, in which case you can pick up your winnings at Window Seven. (One day, I'll tire of the "people gambling about when Jeff and Graeme bring up a specific topic they seem obsessed on" joke, but that day is, I fear, a long, long way off.) 16:29-20:26: Graeme has been rereading the Villains Month issues to supplement his reading of Forever Evil, and schools Jeff on DC’s event. 20:26-45:42: A transition from the DC event to the Comixology Cyber-Monday sale of New 52 trades: what first volumes trades of the New 52 would Graeme have bought? Which ones did Jeff buy? Why did Jeff use “what” for one of those questions and “which” for the other? Why so many rhetorical questions? Whyyyyy? Also discussed in this segment: a ton of Batman talk, and a long, shameful admission from Jeff about his love for Tony Daniel’s Detective Comics, the tragedy that is Hawkman, whether the awful is preferable to the competent, Jeff’s comics capriciousness this week, Rogues Rebellion by Brian Bucellato and Scott Hepburn, Suicide Squad by Matt Kindt and Patrick Zircher, and more! 45:42-1:12:14: From there we get to Letter 44 from Charles Soule by Alberto Alburquerque, Morning Glories by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma, the Lost school of storytelling, epic stories vs. small stories, the awesome Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart. Also discussed: Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern, what’s going on with the upcoming Inhumans series?, and more! (About Forever Evil.) 1:12:14-1:34:24: And this actually leads us quite nicely into a discussion of the Hunger Games movies—the first two films, the books by Suzanne Collins, storytelling, how they tie into Marvel movies exposition, this terrific review by Peter Rosenthal, and more. 1:34:24-1:57:11: The Spider-Man 2 trailer: worth talking about briefly? We think so? The draw of Marvel characters as cinematic, as opposed to comic book, characters, the secret of Crocodile Dundee 2, and a very funny throwaway joke from Flight of the Conchords (Season One, of course!). Also, Jeff finally talks about the Wonder Woman casting, there is a surprisingly robust squabble where we end up yelling about the Hemsworth brothers, not letting the Internet cast movies, and... 1:57:11-end: Closing comments! A reminder that we will be off, yet again, next week…so remember to listen to Graeme and I argue about the Hemsworth brothers at least twice more!
Pretty snazzy, am I right? Over two hours of comic book podcasting insanity -- actually, I don't think it's cool to talk about insanity as a value-added bonus, so maybe we should say "over two hours of comic book podcasting neuroses"...and really it's less than a minute and a half more than two hours, so... I kinda feel like maybe I should just leave it at snazzy, I guess.
Nonetheless! It's on iTunes, and it is here for you as well:
Wait, What? Ep. 141: Tomorrow's Controversies Today!
As always, we thank you for listening and hope you enjoy!!
Things are building up to the week before Christmas boom with lots of great books hitting the street this week, notably Darwyn Cooke's latest Parker adaptation, "Slayground." There are so many things to like this week that you should stop sitting there thinking about clicking the cut and do it already!
12 REASONS TO DIE #5 (OF 6) A PLUS X #15 ABE SAPIEN #8 ADVENTURE TIME CANDY CAPERS #6 (OF 6) ALEX + ADA #2 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700.2 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700.3 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #16 ARMY OF DARKNESS VS HACK SLASH #4 (OF 6) ASTRO CITY #7 AVENGERS AI #7.INH BATGIRL #26 BATMAN #26 (ZERO YEAR) BATMAN BLACK & WHITE #4 (OF 6) BATMAN LIL GOTHAM #9 BETTIE PAGE IN DANGER HOLIDAY SPECIAL CABLE AND X-FORCE #17 CAPTAIN AMERICA #14 CATACLYSM ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #2 (OF 3) CATACLYSM ULTIMATES #2 (OF 3) CHEW #38 CLOWN FATALE #2 (OF 4) COFFIN HILL #3 (MR) CONAN PEOPLE O/T BLACK CIRCLE #3 (OF 4) CONSTANTINE #9 (EVIL) DANGER GIRL THE CHASE #4 (OF 4) DARKNESS #116 DAY MEN #2 DEAD BODY ROAD #1 (OF 6) DEATH SENTENCE #3 (OF 6) DOC SAVAGE #1 DRUMHELLAR (PREVIOUSLY STRANGEWAYS) #2 EERIE COMICS #4 EMERALD CITY OF OZ #5 (OF 5) FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS #6 FOREVER EVIL ARKHAM WAR #3 (OF 6) GEORGE RR MARTIN SKIN TRADE #4 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #26 HALO ESCALATION #1 HARBINGER #19 ORDERALL FRIEDMAN VAR HARBINGER #19 REG EVANS HAUNTED HORROR #8 INDESTRUCTIBLE #1 INHUMANITY AWAKENING #1 (OF 2) INVINCIBLE #107 JUSTICE LEAGUE #25 (EVIL) JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #1 (RES) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #10 (EVIL) KATANA #10 KINGS WATCH #3 (OF 5) KRAMPUS #1 LAZARUS #5 LEGENDS DARK KNIGHT 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #1 LIFE WITH ARCHIE #33 LUNITA #1 (OF 4) MANIFEST DESTINY #2 MARVEL KNIGHTS HULK #1 (OF 4) MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #3 SYU MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #21 SYU MARVELS CA FIRST AVENGER ADAPTATION #2 (OF 2) MAXX MAXXIMIZED #2 MEGA MAN #32 MEMORY COLLECTORS #2 (OF 3) MIGHTY AVENGERS #4.INH NIGHTWING #26 NOVA #11 INF OTHER DEAD #4 (OF 6) PATHFINDER #12 POWERPUFF GIRLS #4 PROTECTORS INC #2 PROTOCOL ORPHANS #2 (OF 4) REGULAR SHOW SKIPS #2 (OF 6) ROCKETEER SPIRIT PULP FRICTION #4 (OF 4) SATELLITE SAM #5 SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #40 SHAOLIN COWBOY #3 SHERLOCK HOLMES MORIARTY LIVES #1 (OF 5) SIXTH GUN #36 SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 ALIEN #1 (OF 4) SONS OF ANARCHY #4 (OF 6) SPONGEBOB COMICS #27 STAR TREK ANNUAL 2013 STAR WARS #12 2013 ONGOING SUICIDE SQUAD #26 (EVIL) SUPERBOY #26 SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN NOW #6 SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #3 THREE #3 THUNDERBOLTS #19 INF UBER #8 UNCANNY #5 UNCANNY X-MEN #15.INH UNITY #2 WALKING DEAD #118 WOLVERINE #12 WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #39 WOLVERINE MAX #14 (MR) WORLDS FINEST #18 WRAITH WELCOME TO CHRISTMASLAND #2 (OF 7) X #8 X-FILES CLASSICS HUNDRED PENNY PRESS ED #1 X-FILES SEASON 10 #7
Books/Mags/Things ABE SAPIEN TP VOL 03 DARK TERRIBLE NEW RACE MAN ADVENTURE TIME EYE CANDY HC VOL 01 AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION TP FINAL THREAT BUZZ GN CROSSED TP VOL 07 DEADPOOL BY DANIEL WAY COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 02 DOCTOR MIDNITE TP NEW PTG DOCTOR WHO BOOKAZINE #3 THE DOCTORS DOCTOR WHO SERIES 2 HC GIRL WHO WAITED BOY WHO LIVED ESSENTIAL HULK TP VOL 07 G FAN #104 GODLAND FINALE IMMORTAL IRON FIST COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01 MICHAEL AVON OEMINGS VICTORIES TP VOL 02 TRANSHUMAN MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 06 POLARITY TP VOL 01 POWERPUFF GIRLS CLASSICS TP VOL 02 POWER UP RICHARD STARKS PARKER SLAYGROUND HC SHELTERED TP VOL 01 SNAPSHOT TP SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS HC VOL 03 END OF DAYS (N52) SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 02 BULLETPROOF (N52) THANOS TP INFINITY ABYSS NEW PTG THUMBPRINT BY JOE HILL HC THUNDER AGENTS CLASSICS TP VOL 02 TMNT 25TH ANNIVERSARY HC WATSON AND HOLMES TP VOL 01 STUDY IN BLACK YOUNG JUSTICE TP VOL 04 INVASION
I hope all our American friends had a smashing Thanksgiving! Managed to sneak another holiday in there before Christmas again, I see. Couldn't wait a few weeks for some Turkey. America, we are going to have to work on your delayed gratification! Maybe in the New Year, eh? Along with that membership to the gym. No, I have no idea what I'm on about. Here are some words about comics I managed to dash off before being swallowed by the pre-Christmas maelstrom. Sorry about the lack of images but, y'know, time and all that hot jazz. Anyway, this...
All Star Western #25 Artist Moritat Writers Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray Colour Mike Atiyeh Letters Rob Leigh Cover by Howard Porter Jonah Hex created by Tony DeZuniga and John Albano DC Comic, $3.99 (2013)
I’m not saying the driving conceit of this series is low hanging fruit but its rind is a gnat’s fart from brushing the tips of the grass. It’s Jonah Hex in the DC Now! While it was a fair joke to have Jonah show up and be more inclusive of difference than the modern populace stewing around him it wasn’t a joke that had much legs. A better joke would have been having Jonah show up and be distastefully offensive to everyone. (But that would require having some nuts left in your sack). Every month Jonah could have wandered around displaying levels of racism, homophobia and misogyny toxic to normal people. Hell, he could even have worked in comics. (Oh, too soon?) Anyway, now it’s just Jonah mamboing about and bumping into DC Universe characters. Like a Bob Haney comic but with none of the energy, inventiveness or flair. So, not much like a Bob Haney comic then. More of a Gerry Conway comic. It isn’t well written; something happens; something else happens; then it ends. Despite the fact Jonah is in the 21st Century, meets John Constantine, fights (well that’s gilding the lily, they move about a bit in an aggressive fashion) a demon and then Swamp Thing shows up it is all curiously unengaging. If it were any more pedestrianly written it would come with a free pair of shoes. Which means, as is more often than commonly acknowledged, the art has to carry most of the load. Luckily, Moritat has many strengths, mostly in figure work, architecture, faces and textures. Not so much panel to panel flow or action. There was a bit an issue or two ago where some guy in a car looked to be spoiling a fun run but in fact he was killing people by the shed load. The impact was somewhat diluted. And the same is true here with Moritat tasked with a battle in the desert which, well, he muffs. Even so Moritat just about carries this comic, but it isn’t really a Jonah Hex comic anymore than Hex was a Jonah Hex comic. All Star Western is EH!
THE WAKE #5 (of 10) Artist Sean Murphy Writer Scott Snyder Colour Matt Hollingsworth Letters Jared K. Fletcher The Wake created by Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy DC Comics, $3.99 (2013)
Fair warning: turn away now because I don't think this comic is very good. The urgency of any notionally exciting action is continually being spuffed away by the creaky and derivative narrative joltingly halting while someone delivers a big old furball of exposition. Said text dump consisting of a lightly tweaked wikipedia entry in a laughably unconvincing attempt to lend the ridiculous events occurring some kind of gravitas. In old legends floods are mentioned sometimes so, uh, yeah. And the people hawking this stuff up are just, well, it’s a good job they are all so memorably portrayed by Sean Murphy because otherwise they might as well just have stickers on their heads (Spunky Lady, Sciency Man, Troubled Mom). Murphy gives them all engaging visual presences (it doesn’t hurt that one of them looks like Harlan Ellison and another Ditko and Lee’s elderly Vulture). In fact it’s wholly to Sean Murphy’s credit that I’ve stuck this badly written dross out thus far. With his incredible ability to convey mind swamping discrepancies of scale; to lend the quieter moments as much weight as the flashier bits together with his endearing tendency to draw people with beards as though their face is a mass of scar tissue, Sean Murphy is the only real reason to turn up.
Anyway, at this point the series takes a break and I’ll not be rejoining it. Apparently when it resumes all the good stuff starts. Which seems a bit late really. Since the good stuff seems to consist of the umptyumpteenth iteration of a Drowned! World!, and one where there’s enough technological infrastructure to produce cutting edge swimwear at that, I think I’ll be popping off, thanks. Oh, and let there be no doubt all the failures here are the writer’s (“Oh we’re all doomed! Luckily I have a secret submarine armed with ridiculous weapons I failed to mention before.” Oh, do fuck off. Do! ) This is exemplified by a piss poor text piece at the back which is so repetitive and badly written it’s just depressing. So, I’ll see you on something else Sean Murphy. As for Scott Snyder, well, everyone meet the new Steve Niles, same as the old Steve Niles. The Wake is EH!
Batman ’66 #5 Art by Ruben Procopio, Colleen Coover Written by Jeff Parker Colours by Matthew Wilson, Colleen Coover Lettered by Wes Abbott Cover by Michael & Laura Allred Batman created by Bob Kane DC Comics, $3.99 (2013)
While DC’s bold new creative direction of frantic barrel scraping is largely of little interest to me…everyone has a chink in their armour and my chink is shaped like the ‘60s Batman TV series. Personally, I believe the only reason God has still not scoured his finest creation of the plague of humanity is His/Her/It’s remembrance that the ‘60s Batman TV show existed. I like it is what I’m saying there. And I have always liked it. Even during those tedious decades when acknowledgement of the frivolous magic that was the ‘60s Batman TV Show provoked spittle flecked aneurysms in fandom. Finally I have been vindicated by DC’s creative bankruptcy! Batman is Bat-back! It’s like that time your family realised Uncle Larry was a lot wealthier than everyone thought and suddenly became oh-so-accepting of the fact he was a man who preferred the company of men and started inviting him to Thanksgiving again. While the art on every story here is wonderful and captures the ungainly physicality of the cast in action beautifully what most impressed was the writing. Writing wise it’s all about catching the voices; the lovely honey roasted burnish of those hammy, oh so hammy, voices. Although mine ears may be festooned with the hairs of age it sounds to me, well, it sounds to me like Jeff Parker couldn’t have done a better job if the voices were running around in straightjackets and he was armed with a butterfly net. Jeff Parker’s come along way from selling chickens by the roadside. Good on you, Jeff Parker. But this is a joint success with every hand working towards the creation of ridiculous, hilarious, entertaining and wonderful comics. Batman ’66 is VERY GOOD! Sure now and so it is, Boy Wonder!
Zero #3 Illustrated by Matteus Santolouco Written by Ales Kot Coloured by Jordi Bellaire lettered by Clayton Cowles Designed by Tom Muller Zero created by Ales Kot Image Comics, $2.99 (2013)
It didn’t look good. The comic starts off with that terrible style of dialogue that seeks to be arch, smart, worldy and profane but just comes off like how kids think grown-ups might talk if grown-ups were, like, not totes super-lame all the time but, you know, somehow got it together sometimes to be all, whoa, cool and shit, maybe, uh, nice tats, my man, ha, no, your mom, ha ha ha ha, no, really, your mom. As a reluctant eldster I can assure you that never, not once, on the very many occasions on which it has occurred have I failed to punch someone who greeted me with “Hey, cock-stippler, see ya still got a face like a racist’s taint!”, or, you know, whatever. I mean. It’s not really conducive to productive communication, is what I’m saying there. So, the dialogue here’s great if you like that Ellis-y “I know you are, but what am I?” playground mode of chat. Hell, don’t get me wrong, it’s still okay even if you don’t. After all, this is comics where a guy (not this guy, another guy) whose dialogue is nothing more than the literary equivalent of water-injected meat can be compared to a Pulitzer winning playwright. No, my point is it set my teeth on edge and the likelihood of enjoying the following comic was low.
And yet enjoy it I did. And very much so.
(Which is supposed to indicate how good the comic was, how it won me over after my knee-jerk initial negative reaction. A reaction which was wholly on me and not on anyone involved on the comic. Just making that clear.)
Because after the writer has had his c-word and eaten it the dialogue calms down. Then we’re off to the races as the creative team throw a fizzy confection of ideas and helter skelter paced events into your face like, er, a glass of innovation laced with a soupcon of emotional impact. Or birds, a handful of garish birds singing a swetly sad song thrown in your face. Or something else, pick something. Everybody on these pages pulls their weight and the success of the resultant package is a group success. A success resting on Bellaire’s palette shifts from warm party colours which threaten to push into the red spectrum of violence to the icy blues which foreshadow the chill of the denouement; Santolouco’s clarity of staging, elegance of scene setting and crisply sudden violence; even Cowle’s letters which get to hold centre stage unadorned for a whole page and leave the reader feeling not in the slightest shortchanged. All these are brought together to serve the writer’s fun, fast and slightly experimental ideas. I stress this; Zero is not one of those Shit’n’Glitter comics that seek to distract you with pointlessly ostentatious storytelling devices from the hollowness within them. No, Zero is a collaborative success. Zero is good comics. Zero is VERY GOOD!
Shaolin Cowboy #2 Story and Art Geoff Darrow Colours Dave Stewart Letters, back cover, design Pete Doherty Shaolin Cowboy created by Geoff Darrow Dark Horse Comics, $3.99 (2013)
COMICS!!!! And unrepentantly so. EXCELLENT!
This week could be characterized as the "eye of the storm." With holidays surrounding us, a lot of the best books every month have shifted around some to accommodate, but we still get some great things in what is an otherwise small week. Garth Ennis' post apocalyptic story of house pets, "Rover Red Charlie," debuts this week, along with Brubaker and Epting's second issue of "Velvet." If those don't interest you than follow the cut and see what you do have to be excited about! ABSOLUTION HAPPY KITTY SPECIAL #1 ACTION COMICS #26 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700.1 AMAZING X-MEN #2 ARCHIE #650 REG CVR ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #246 AVENGERS ANNUAL 2013 #1 BATMAN SUPERMAN #6 BATWING #26 BURN THE ORPHANAGE BORN TO LOSE #2 CVR A GRACE CARBON GREY VOL 3 #1 (OF 2) CATACLYSM ULTIMATES LAST STAND #2 (OF 5) CATALYST COMIX #6 (OF 9) DAREDEVIL DARK NIGHTS #7 (OF 8) DEADPOOL #20 DEADWORLD RESTORATION #1 (OF 4) DETECTIVE COMICS #26 DOCTOR WHO VOL 3 #16 EARTH 2 #18 ELEPHANTMEN #52 FAIREST #21 FANTOMEX MAX #3 (OF 4) FEARLESS DEFENDERS #12 FOX #2 GARFIELD #20 GOD IS DEAD #4 GOD IS DEAD #4 ICONIC CVR GREAT PACIFIC #12 GREEN ARROW #26 GREEN LANTERN #26 GRINDHOUSE DOORS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT #3 (OF 8) GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #9 INF HELLBOY IN HELL #5 HEROBEAR & THE KID INHERITANCE #5 (OF 5) HINTERKIND #3 INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK ANNUAL #1 INHUMANITY #1 IRON MAN #19 JUDGE DREDD #14 JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS #6 JUPITERS LEGACY STUDIO ED #1 LEGENDS OF RED SONJA #2 (OF 5) LONGSHOT SAVES MARVEL UNIVERSE #3 (OF 4) LOONEY TUNES #216 LORDS OF MARS #5 (OF 6) MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #3 (OF 5) MARVEL KNIGHTS X-MEN #2 (OF 5) MICHAEL AVON OEMINGS VICTORIES #7 MOUSE GUARD LEGENDS O/T GUARD VOL 2 #4 MOVEMENT #7 NOIR #2 OCCULTIST #3 (OF 5) PAINKILLER JANE PRICE OF FREEDOM #2 (OF 4) PROPHET #41 QUANTUM & WOODY #6 REGULAR SHOW #7 ROBOCOP LAST STAND #5 (OF 8) ROVER RED CHARLIE #1 (OF 6) SECRET AVENGERS #12 INF SHADOW NOW #3 (OF 6) SHADOWMAN #13 SIX GUN GORILLA #6 (OF 6) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #255 SPAWN #238 STAR TREK KHAN #3 (OF 5) STAR WARS #4 (OF 8) LUCAS DRAFT STORMWATCH #26 SUICIDE RISK #8 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #23 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP #7 NOW SWAMP THING #26 TERMINATOR SALVATION FINAL BATTLE #1 (OF 12) THE LONE RANGER #20 THINK TANK #11 TMNT VILLAIN MICROSERIES #8 SHREDDER TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #24 DARK CYBERTRON PART 4 TRILLIUM #5 (OF 8) TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #14 (EVIL) TRIPLE HELIX #3 (OF 4) VELVET #2 X-MEN LEGACY #21 YOUNG AVENGERS #13
Books/Mags/Things ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 02 PIXEL PRINCESSES ARCHER & ARMSTRONG TP VOL 03 FAR FARAWAY ARTISTS AUTHORS THINKERS DIRECTORS HC AVENGERS ENEMY WITHIN TP BLACK IS THE COLOR GN BRICKJOURNAL #26 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #3 COUCH TAG HC DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FORGOTTEN REALMS TP FEVER RIDGE MACARTHUR JUNGLE WAR TP VOL 01 GHOSTED TP VOL 01 GIRL GENIUS TP VOL 05 CLOCKWORK PRINCESS (NEW PTG) MINIATURE JESUS TP SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING TP BOOK 05 STAR LORD WORLDS ON BRINK STORM DOGS TP VOL 01 THOR BY WALTER SIMONSON TP VOL 03 VAMPS TRAMPS & BEAUTIES PINUP ART OF GREG HILDEBRANDT SC
It's Tom Scioli's American Barbarian family at a feast--that's pretty Thanksgiving-y, right?
Yes, and hello! Maybe not as late as usual, but probably twice as rushed as I managed to survive Thanksgiving #1 last week and now have to start packing and planning for Thanksgiving #2 this week.
So: behind the jump, show notes of a somewhat speedy kind and the actual podcast itself. Join us, will you not?
00:00-13:36: This is the third time we’ve recorded together in a week, so we are a bit punchy and Graeme is very busy! Initial topics covered under the "holy cow Graeme is so busy" rubric: CGI werewolves vs. practical effects werewolves, how scary Dr. Who should be, Fakesgiving, Batsgiving, Guy Fieri Tex Wasabi, and more. 13:36-28:02: Returning to the subject of Batsgiving -- what’s up with that? Jeff asks Graeme. Stephanie Brown, Catwoman’s butt, genetically designed DC artists, Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years, the challenge of weekly comics, and more. 28:02-34:12: Comics we’ve read! Scooby-Doo Team Up #1 by Sholly Fisch and Dario Brizuela! (Yes, this is a book we both read.) 34:12-39:12: Harley Quinn #0 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Connor, and a slew of artists. Also discussed: Deadpool, Ambush Bug, humor in superhero books, redrawn page confusion, and more… 39:12-42:09: Batwoman issue #25 by Marc Andreyko with art by Trevor McCarthy, Andrea Mutti, Pat Olliffe and(!) Jim Fern. Discussed: putting your best foot forward, making trite things triter, speedily padding out your show notes entries with inessential list items. 42:09-46:45: Sex Criminals #3 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky. Discussed: Jeff being wrong, Jeff being terrible, humor in non-superhero books, top ten tips to a ineffable, non-flabby butt, more tips for list-padding, etc. 46:45-54:53: Time for Graeme’s Agents of SHIELD update—Update! it’s still terrible! Also mentioned: Heroes, X-Files, fantasy TV flashes in the pan, etc. 54:53-1:00:24: Afterlife with Archie #2 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla! With a bonus Gray Morrow black & white story that felt like actually felt like a generous bonus. Interestingly, despite the lesbianism and implied incest, we discussed neither, nor did Jeff mention the nagging feeling he had that he was reading brilliantly repurposed Glee fanfic, nor did we talk about the importance of discussing all the things that could have been discussed but weren't when trying to make one look like one's giving others their money's worth with regard to show notes, etc. 1:00:24-1:01:23: American Barbarian by Tom Scioli! Yes, we’ve raved about this book before but Jeff is raving about it again since, in an uncommon display of reverse serialization, Scioli is offering digital issues of the webcomic-turned-graphic-novel at .99 on Comixology. 1:01:23-1:10:36: Avengers: Endless Wartime by Warren Ellis and Mike McKone. Graeme read it, Jeff did not and his narrative strategies for show notes puffery has run out. Perhaps he should try pulling a card from the online Oblique Strategies deck! Hmmm, the strategy is "What wouldn't you do?" And so the second half of U2's career is explained. 1:10:36-1:18:33: Essential Captain America Vol. 7 by various and assorted. And a possibly crazy plan is possibly maybe hatched! Seriously, I should sit down and figure out if it's even doable, this thing we came up with. It seems pretty crazy. 1:18:33-end: Closing comments! Corrections and Amendments! A bit of shilling for Jeff’s book (with the best stuff done by Graeme, unsurprisingly)! Another link to our guest appearance on House to Astonish! And best wishes to you for a happy Thanksgiving, while acknowledging we will not be back next week!
Well, there we have it. That was smartly put together and annotated, wasn't it?
Episode is live (or liveish) on iTunes, and also available right here, by gum:
Wait, What? Ep. 140: THX-1138 GIVING
As always, we hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!
Big, BIG, week of comics! It even has some our favorites like SAGA and Pretty Deadly making an appearance along side the debut of Black Science from Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera. There are so many books that I am sure you will like something down there, just click that cut like you do!
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #7 ALL NEW X-MEN #19 ALL STAR WESTERN #25 AQUAMAN #25 ARTIFACTS #32 AVENGERS ARENA #18 AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #21 INF BART SIMPSON COMICS #87 BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #25 BEDLAM #10 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #218 BEWARE THE BATMAN #2 BLACK SCIENCE #1 BUCK ROGERS IN 25TH CENTURY #3 (OF 4) CATACLYSM ULTIMATE X-MEN #1 (OF 3) CATWOMAN #25 (ZERO YEAR) CONAN PEOPLE O/T BLACK CIRCLE #2 (OF 4) CROSSED BADLANDS #42 DAMIAN SON OF BATMAN #2 (OF 4) DAMSELS #11 DANGER GIRL THE CHASE #3 (OF 4) DARK SHADOWS #23 DEADPOOL ANNUAL #1 DOCTOR WHO VOL 3 #15 FERALS #18 FF #14 FIVE GHOSTS #7 FLASH #25 (ZERO YEAR) FOREVER EVIL ARGUS #2 (OF 6) GHOSTBUSTERS #10 GODZILLA RULERS OF THE EARTH #6 GOON #44 GREEN TEAM TEEN TRILLIONAIRES #6 HALF PAST DANGER #6 (OF 6) HAWKEYE #14 INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #16 INFINITY #6 (OF 6) INFINITY HEIST #3 (OF 4) INFINITY HUNT #4 (OF 4) INF ITTY BITTY HELLBOY #4 (OF 5) JUDGE DREDD #13 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #25 (EVIL) KICK-ASS 3 #5 (OF 8) KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #203 LARFLEEZE #5 LETTER 44 #2 MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #20 SYU MASSIVE #17 MAXX MAXXIMIZED #1 MIND MGMT #17 MORNING GLORIES #35 MR PEABODY & SHERMAN #1 (OF 4) NEVER ENDING #1 (OF 3) NEW AVENGERS #12 INF POWERPUFF GIRLS #3 POWERS BUREAU #8 PRETTY DEADLY #2 RAT QUEENS #3 RED LANTERNS #25 REVIVAL #15 ROBERT E HOWARDS SAVAGE SWORD #6 SAGA #16 SANDMAN OVERTURE #1 SPECIAL EDITION SAVAGE WOLVERINE #12 SCARLET SPIDER #24 SHADOW #20 SIDEKICK #4 SLEDGEHAMMER 44 LIGHTNING WAR #1 (OF 3) SONIC UNIVERSE #58 STAR TREK ONGOING #27 STAR WARS LEGACY II #9 SUPERIOR CARNAGE #5 (OF 5) SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #22 SUPERMAN #25 TALON #13 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #83 TEEN TITANS #25 (EVIL) THIEF OF THIEVES #18 THUNDER AGENTS #4 TMNT ONGOING #28 TOM STRONG AND THE PLANET OF PERIL #5 (OF 6) TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE #23 DARK CYBERTRON PART 3 UNCANNY AVENGERS #14 UNCANNY X-FORCE #14 WALKING DEAD #117 WARLORD OF MARS #30 WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #38 WOLVERINE AND X-MEN ANNUAL #1 INF X-FILES SEASON 10 #6 ZOMBIE WAR #2 (OF 2)
Books/Mags/Things 100 BULLETS HC BOOK 05 BATMAN & ROBIN HC VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52) BATMAN & ROBIN TP VOL 02 PEARL (N52) BATMAN INCORPORATED HC VOL 02 GOTHAMS MOST WANTED (N52) BATMAN INCORPORATED VOL 01 DEMON STAR (N52) BEST OF COMIX BOOK WHEN MARVEL WENT UNDERGROUND HC BLEEDING COOL MAGAZINE #7 BOYS DEFINITIVE EDITION HC VOL 06 BPRD VAMPIRE TP FANTASTIC VOYAGE OF LADY ROZENBILT HC GAMBIT TP VOL 03 KING OF THIEVES GIRL GENIUS TP VOL 04 CIRCUS OF DREAMS (NEW PTG) GIRL GENIUS TP VOL 12 SEIGE OF MECHANICSBURG GREEN ARROW TP VOL 01 HUNTERS MOON GREEN HORNET YEAR ONE OMNIBUS TP GRENDEL OMNIBUS TP VOL 04 PRIME HOUSE OF GOLD & BONES TP JOKER CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME TP LAVENDER MENACE TALES OF QUEER VILLAINY GN LOIS LANE A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC MISTER X EVICTION TP NEXUS OMNIBUS TP VOL 04 POLAR CAME FROM THE COLD HC PREVIEWS #303 DECEMBER 2013 SEX TP VOL 01 SUMMER OF HARD SHADOW 1941 HITLERS ASTROLOGER HC SIGNAL TO NOISE HC SIXTH GUN DLX HC VOL 01 SONIC UNIVERSE TP VOL 06 TREASURE TEAM TANGO SPAWN ORIGINS DLX ED HC VOL 04 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 03 NO ESCAPE SUPERMAN A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC
Konichiwa! What follows is almost Zen like in the purity of its pointlessness. Unless…unless you are one of the three living people who have not already read these old manga comics. Comics which are now available again in a new series of petite omnibooks. So someone must not have read them, right? C’mon, throw me a rope here!
Anyway, this…
If you have never read any of the manga comics and are a bit trembly about starting then this one’s for you! Because cards on the table; fox in the henhouse; monkey in the nunnery; I know sweet FA about the manga comics. When it comes to the manga comics I’m not your man. Gah! So, given my impressive indolence when it comes to the appreciation of other cultures I just read these as comics. Just opened ‘em up and read ‘em. Treated ‘em like comics, see. Crazy.
LONE WOLF AND CUB OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 Art by Goseki Kojima Written by Kazu Koike Translation by Dana Lewis Lettering by Digital Chameleon Lone Wolf and Cub created by Goseki Kojima & Kazu Koike Dark Horse comics, $19.99 (2013)
Hey, as far as I can tell (and I may tell a lie, inadvertently) these comics originally appeared in 1970, as indeed did I. Bouncing Buddhas, these comics are as old as I am! Luckily they seem to have aged somewhat more gracefully. Unlike Lone Wolf & Cub I was not originally created by Goseki Kojima & Kazuo Koike and serialised in Weekly Manga Action Magazine, nor did I form the basis of a television series and a string of successful films before being reprinted in English by FIRST! comics in 1990 and, following FIRST’s demise (but no demise in the thirst for these comics) thereafter by Dark Horse Comics. This is Dark Horse’s second third (thanks, Ben Lipman!) go round at the material. This iteration is digest sized but impressively girthed. It’s a thick little brick of a book is what it is. This edition of Omnibus Vol.1 ends with Half Mat, One Mat, a Fistful of Rice in case anyone with an incomplete collection of the previous volumes wanted to know when to hop on board.
At the back of the book there are some author bios from which I cravenly cribbed the previous factual bits and a glossary of terms pertinent to the Edo period Japanese setting. Initially you’ll be flicking to this glossary every time you meet an unfamiliar word but you’ll soon get caught up in the flow of the narrative stream and your insecurity will erode to nothing as you use context to impose meaning; much as you do with your native language. English, I ‘m talking about English there, in the case of our American friends. Look, I don’t want the elbow patches and chalk dust connotations of a glossary to put anyone off; it’s useful and a nice touch but you’ll be too busy reading some 700 pages of great comics to bother with it, or as the experts would have it: 700 pages of great manga.
Don’t worry about the words and the possibility of babel-jabber. In fact the translation by Dana Lewis reads smoother than a lot of English speaking comics writers’ work. Since the top names in US comics write like they learned English via correspondence course (and a lot of the lessons went missing in the post) I’m not sure who this reflects best on. The only jarring note is struck when sometimes the speech of the peasantry mimics that familiar from Westerns; this may sit oddly atop the images of Edo period Japan (“Consarn that dangdurned Emperor!”) but the genres have enough surface similarities to make this decision explicable. And it does create a clear divide between the scrofulous ones and their betters (who aren’t; they never are). On reflection this contrast between the earthier utterances of the proles and the formal rigidity of their masters nicely reinforces the divides. It’s such a good translation that it enables the quiet genius of the original writing to shine. Lone Wolf & Cub does many things but one of the things it does best is present a portrait of a repressive society and all the unhealthy sexuality and violence roiling beneath the social constrictions. The storytelling is remarkably convincing in its period detail although, full disclosure, I am neither Japanese nor a historian; so the fact that there aren’t any car chases and no one checks their wristwatch is the only level of historical accuracy I can vouch for.
I hear that all reviews must now contain some words about the art. So, yeah, let’s do that. Sadly I have sod all reference for Japanese art except for that Great Wave by Hokusai I had on a calendar once and a picture of a lady with a squid I saw in The Guardian the other week; one that was altogether too rude by half. Luckily for all of us inadequately prepared reviewers Lone Wolf and Cub has a built in entry point for palettes moulded by the North American comics tradition. The sentient reader will note that the cover to this first volume is by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. This dynamic duo provided the initial run of covers for the FIRST reprints (followed by Bill Sienkiewicz and then, I believe, Matt Wagner. Pedigree stuff there, kids). The art of Miller and Varley’s Ronin (DC Comics, 1984) had been cheerfully blatant about showcasing its debt to the work of Goseki Kojima and Miller had vocally championed Lone Wolf and Cub in interviews at the time. Miller’s stylistic lifts are revealed to even my uninformed eye at certain points in this volume (the straw of hats, motion lines forming figures, etc and etc) and nowhere are these lifts more apparent than in the graveyard scene which closes out this book. That’s how good Goseki Kojima is here; Frank Miller took a leg up from him to reach his pinnacle.
And make no mistake Goseki Kojima is damned good here. The world the series inhabits is concretely defined with clear demarcations between the austere human constructs and the lush natural sweep of the land itself; the similar socio-economic demarcations between the folk populating the book are also succinctly sketched. So much so that one who knows less than zero about Edo period Japan grasps instantly and easily a wealth of information about what was seconds ago unknown and alien. And then there’s the action. The savagery of which, with its barrage of brutality and people coming apart like mud in heavy rain, is never in doubt. The violence in Lone Wolf and Cub is awful in exactly the right way.
Lone Wolf & Cub is, I guess, primarily about Fathers and Sons. It can’t help but be about Fathers and Sons because when you are an itinerant assassin for hire saddled with a son, every day is Bring Your Child To Work Day. Usually comics about Fathers and Sons continue the bad rap Dads have. This very comic might be about how bad this dad is too, it’s hard to tell; it’s open to interpretation. He clearly loves his son and this love is reciprocated. Lone Wolf so loves his cub in fact that he is taking him to Hell with him. Sometimes you can love too much. Obviously Social Services might have something to say about having the kid feign drowning to lure an enemy into an unarmed swim or riding his dad’s back in a swordfight with a mirror strapped to his head in order to provide a surprise advantage.
But there aren’t any Social Services, or indeed any form of supportive infrastructure for those less fortunate. Which is odd because everybody here is paying taxes, some people are paying so much tax it is killing them. And you pick this up as you go along; Lone Wolf and Cub is really quite political. But it is so in a very gentle way. The squalor of the peasantry, the machinations of their betters (who aren't; they never are. It bears repeating) and the way a whole Society can be its own worst enemy are powerfully but subtly conveyed by every page. But never, ever, in a dull, dry or dreary way. All that smart stuff is smuggled in under cover of a series of chapters that hop from genre to genre with no sign of sweat or effort. There's a chapter with the grubby brio of High Plains Drifter but set in a spa town; an episode recalling nothing less than Inspector Morse; an excursion into religious symbolism; a prison break revenge saga cum murder mystery; never a dull moment is what, I'm saying.
Lone Wolf & Cub is truly humbling in its mastery of comics and the heights of entertainment it reaches. It's from the past and another country and they really do things differently there. For the duration of Lone Wolf and Cub it’s hard not to think that they do things better.
Sometimes Lone Wolf & Cub is still as a pond; sometimes Lone Wolf & Club dances like the fire. But Lone Wolf & Cub is always EXCELLENT! Because Lone Wolf And Cub is always – COMICS!!! (or MANGA!!!)
(I’m worried about the kid though.)
HUH? With thanks to the always-excellent Miguel Corti.
Yes, we have returned! And as always, I am late, behind, and addled. Nonetheless, join me after the jump for show notes and our latest episode, won't you?
quick! quick! quick! SHOOOOOOOW NOOOOOOOOOOTES!
00:00-5:18: Opening comments! Mutual flattery in the course of technological anxiety. A quick recap of what we lost in the fire (and by ‘fire,’ we mean ‘hard drive crash’). 5:18-14:49: What comics have we read in the last week? Graeme’s answer is much more impressive than Jeff’s. (But Jeff’s excuses are *much* more extensive than Graeme’s!) We discuss Torpedo Vol. 1 by Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Jordi Bernet, and Alex Toth; and a discussion of Terry Austin’s inking (one of us is Team Austin, and some are not). 14:49-41:52: Quasi-related: Graeme has an observation about Mike Wieringo’s art that leads us down the branching pathway of influence and a discussion about artists who are ubiquitous vs. artists whose influence are ubiquitous. Mentioned in detail and/or passing: MIke Golden, Dan Jurgens, Jim Steranko, John Byrne, Jim Lee, Geoff Darrow, Sal Buscema, Jack Kirby, Paul Pope, Joe Sinnott, et al. (Also, we recover a repressed memory from our lost episode about Al Milgrom!) 41:52-53:34: Talking about Mike Golden’s Batman Special leads to us talking about comics Graeme has picked up in languages he can’t read, and Jeff’s shameful inability to get into same. Mentioned: Projekt X, Dylan Dog, friend of the podcast Miguel Corti, Barbarella, Floyd Farland: Citizen of the Future, and Dave Eggers. 53:34-1:20:53: We talk about the recent Dr. Who minisode ’The Night of the Doctor,’ not just because it came out the morning we recorded this, but also because it was pretty keen. Also discussed: Stephen Moffat, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, farce, Jeff’s theory about Glory and Galactus, the first episode of the final season of Misfits. 1:20:53-1:24:22: Brendan McCarthy—old news (I guess?) but the news coverage of some of his posts broke while we were recording the lost episode so we hadn’t discussed it and finally get around to it now. Jeff tries to craft a mission statement out of the whole situation which leads to… 1:24:22-end: The startling interstellar podcasting crossover Jeff didn’t even know was happening! (Well, he knew, he just didn’t really know when it was.) If you must listen to only one dumb American lost in a sea of discreet British communications, make it this one! (And then check us out talking with the brilliant and hilarious Al Kennedy and Paul O’Brien over at House to Astonish.) Yes, this episode is kind of like our prologue issue to the Avengers-Defenders War. Actually, since our prologue has come out after our appearance on House to Astonish, I guess it's like a more recent Marvel crossover event in that regard, Infinity or something.
So, yeah. You can find us on iTunes soon if not right this very minute, but we are also below, right here:
And also check us out over at House to Astonish! And also be advised there is a 50/50 chance we might have a two week break since Jeff has two Thanksgivings to handle this year. (On the other hand, we might have an ep. next week and then a skip after that -- please stay tuned...)
Hope you are as glad to have us back as we are to be back! And as always, thank you for listening!
Alongside returning favorite Sex Criminals, the wait is finally over for the collection of Eric Stephenson's Nowhere Men. Plus so, so much more for the comics hungry masses, if you would just click the cut!
100 BULLETS BROTHER LONO #6 (OF 8) A PLUS X #14 A VOICE IN THE DARK #1 ADVENTURE TIME #22 AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #2 ANIMAL MAN #25 ATOMIC ROBO SAVAGE SWORD OF DR DINOSAUR #3 (OF 5) AVENGERS #23 INF AVENGERS AI #6 BATMAN 66 #5 BATMAN AND TWO FACE #25 BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #4 BATWOMAN #25 BEN 10 #1 BIRDS OF PREY #25 (ZERO YEAR) BLOODSHOT & HARD CORPS #16 BPRD HELL ON EARTH #113 BRAVEST WARRIORS #14 BUZZKILL #3 (OF 4) CABLE AND X-FORCE #16 CATACLYSM ULTIMATES #1 (OF 3) CLONE #12 CONAN THE BARBARIAN #22 DAREDEVIL #33 DARK HORSE PRESENTS #30 DEXTER #5 (OF 5) DOCTOR WHO PRISONERS OF TIME #12 (OF 12) ETERNAL WARRIOR #3 FABLES #135 (MR) FANTASTIC FOUR #14 FOREVER EVIL ROGUES REBELLION #2 (OF 6) GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #25 HARLEY QUINN #0 INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #15 JENNIFER BLOOD #33 KISS ME SATAN #3 (OF 5) LONGSHOT SAVES MARVEL UNIVERSE #2 (OF 4) MEGA MAN #31 MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #13 MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS #6 PATHFINDER SPECIAL #1 RACHEL RISING #21 RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #25 (ZERO YEAR) RED SONJA #5 REGULAR SHOW #6 SAMURAI JACK #2 SAVAGE DRAGON #192 SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #1 SECRET AVENGERS #11 INF SEX CRIMINALS #3 SHADOW #19 SHELTERED #5 SIMPSONS WINTER WINGDING #8 STAR WARS DAWN O/T JEDI FORCE WAR #1 (OF 5) STITCHED #17 STRAIN THE FALL #5 SUPERGIRL #25 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP #6 NOW THUNDERBOLTS #18 INF TMNT NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURES #5 TODD THE UGLIEST KID ON EARTH #7 TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #23 DARK CYBERTRON PART 2 TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #5 UNCANNY X-MEN #14 WAKE #5 (OF 10) WARLORD OF MARS #29 WASTELAND #50 WOLVERINE MAX #13 WONDER WOMAN #25 X-MEN #7 X-MEN LEGACY #20 X-O MANOWAR #19 YOUNG AVENGERS #12 ZERO #3
Books/Mags/Things A PLUS X TP VOL 02 EQUALS AMAZING ACME NOVELTY DATEBOOK HC VOL 01 10TH ANNIV PTG BACK ISSUE #69 BALTIMORE HC VOL 03 PASSING STRANGER & STORIES BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS HC VOL 03 EMPEROR PENGUIN (N52) BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS TP VOL 02 SCARE TACTICS (N52) BEN 10 CLASSICS TP VOL 01 BEN HERE BEFORE BERSERK TP VOL 37 DOOMSDAY.1 TP DRAW #26 FAIREST IN ALL THE LAND HC FIFTH BEATLE THE BRIAN EPSTEIN STORY HC FIFTH ESSENCE HC PT 01 DREAMING GALAXY JUDGE DREDD COMPLETE CASE FILES TP VOL 21 JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #341 KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 42 LAST CHRISTMAS HC MARS ATTACKS THE HUMAN CONDITION TP NOWHERE MEN TP VOL 01 FATES WORSE THAN DEATH PRETTY IN INK WOMEN CARTOONISTS 1896-2013 SC RING OF THE SEVEN WORLDS HC SNAPSHOTS SC SO I SURVIVED ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE & ALL I GOT WAS PODCAST TP STAR WARS LEGACY II TP VOL 01 PRISONER O/T FLOATING WORLD SUPERMAN ADVENTURES THE MAN OF STEEL TP TAKIO 2 GN HC UNCANNY X-FORCE TP VOL 02 TORN AND FRAYED VIOLENT CASES HC WORLDS FINEST TP VOL 02 HUNT AND BE HUNTED (N52) X-MEN TP SKINNING OF SOULS X-MEN TP VOL 01 PRIMER
Fantagraphics' kickstarter, and how OGNs are a terrible terrible business model. Read it on CBR, and you may comment here if you like.
-B
I hear tell Gentle Jeff’s taken his hard drive into the bath again or something. Sigh, that boy! For once I’ve got something to plug that Skip Week Gap. As ever on these occasions I write about whatever I want knowing you won’t mind because you are all so lovely! And you are aren’t you? Weesss ooo arrrr! This time out I write about a British author who is in no danger of being called “Chuckles” anytime soon. One David Peace whose new novel, Red or Dead (VERY GOOD!) came out recently so I didn’t actually read anything else until it was done. It took some reading as well. He’s not the easiest read in the library, this David Peace guy. I was going to go on about that new one but I’m still cogitating. In the meantime let’s take Kylie’s tiny hand and step back in time to the books that made his name. Or not. Free Will, right? Anyway, this...
I say, did I ever tell you that David Peace once had the pleasure of meeting me. Oh wait, that’s later. For now let’s begin at the beginning. Traditional and shit, innit.
In the year of Our Lord 1967 a child was born of human love. This child, this future author, this David Peace, grew up in Ossett which is in West Yorkshire, Great Britain. Until 1974 West Yorkshire traded under the name of The West Riding of Yorkshire. Don’t worry about why; I just looked it up and unless you’re having trouble sleeping I wouldn’t stress over shifts in regional demarcation or naming. No, the important things to take away this far in are ‘1974’ and ‘West Riding’. Now, for our International viewers tuning in let me just explain that while Great Britain may well be smaller than the great state of Texas it is rich in regional divisions and distinctions. And, Boy Howdy, are folk proud of those. Particularly Yorkshire people, or ‘puddings’ as they prefer to be known. Yorkshire folk have a weird kind of self-deprecating arrogance; we’re better than everyone else but that’s no great shakes because everyone else is a bit shit to start off with. A bit like that. Now, I can’t prove it but I understand Keith Waterhouse (1929 – 1999; wrote Billy Liar etc.) used to tell a joke about a Yorkshireman who died and upon approaching The Pearly Gates was greeted by St Peter with the words; “Welcome to Heaven. You won’t like it.” That’s Yorkshire folk right there. And it might explain why David Peace’s books are so driven to refute the stance of noted philosopher Belinda Carlisle and posit that, rather than Heaven, it is in fact Hell which is a place on earth. And David Peace’s Hell is a Hell built by men. (And Margaret Thatcher.)
Peace got right on men’s case with his debut novel Nineteen Seventy Four (1999). Nineteen Seventy Four (as well as being painful to type out) is set in 2036 A.D. on the planet Bagwash. No, Nineteen Seventy Four is set in 1974 A.D. and is set mostly in The West Riding of Yorkshire and is all about the Evil that men do. Nineteen Seventy Four would prove to be the first in a four book cycle later termed The Red Riding Quartet, in much the same way as James Ellroy’s Black Dahlia (1987; VERY GOOD!) would mark the start of the L.A. Quartet. And, yes, of course The Demon Dog is here snuffling at our collective crotches already because Nineteen Seventy Four is pretty much the work of Yorkshire’s James Ellroy. Of course James Ellroy had already been happening for some years so Peace gets to cut the shit and his style starts at White Jazz (1992; EXCELLENT!). Nineteen Seventy Four is a pitch perfect balancing act of genre thrills and literary skills. That’s proper reviewing shit that last sentence is.
Nineteen Seventy Seven (2000) seems like a bit of a step backwards. This is where, I think, David Peace decided he aspired to be more than Yorkshire’s James Ellroy. Unfortunately he seems to have decided this after writing Nineteen Seventy Seven which reads like the work of someone stepping fully into the shadow of James Ellroy. Everything after Nineteen Seventy Seven reads like someone trying to shake off James Ellroy’s shadow. While Nineteen Seventy Seven is essential to the Quartet in that it continues and develops the themes and introduces a couple of characters of pivotal importance, it’s a bit trad, Dad. There’s a reason the 2009 TV adaptation of The Red Riding Quartet skipped Nineteen Seventy Seven is what I’m saying. However, if there’s a reason that same adaptation has an egregiously uplifting ending I am not party to it. In its defence it does have Sean Bean clad in a nasty sweater shouting about shopping centres so it’s not all bad. With Nineteen Seventy Seven it looked like David Peace had struck lucky with Nineteen Seventy Four and was just(!) going to be a pretty good genre author.
With the twin triumphs of Nineteen Eighty (2001) and Nineteen Eighty Three (2002) David Peace dragged this assumption into an abandoned lock up garage and danced on its head until his boots looked covered in jam. With Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty Three David Peace swiftly sidled into Serious Fiction and there he sullenly squats still. Because with Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty Three it became apparent that Peace was lifting the carpet of British History, clawing past the soiled and stained underlay, rooting down through the foundations and finally shattering the sewer pipe that ran beneath everything all along. This is England, says The Red Riding Quartet and this, this is how England fell. When misogyny, racism and homophobia are institutionalised, when misogyny, racism and homophobia are unquestioned, when misogyny, racism and homophobia are acceptable what, then, is unacceptable? And at the end of all this, at the end of four tubby books touted as serial killer thrillers, as police procedurals, as crime fiction the answer comes back. At the end of four fat bricks of almost unremitting foulness conveyed in repetitious and emaciated prose pressed into literary frameworks of increasing subtlety and complexity the answer comes back. And the answer is, nothing. Nothing is unacceptable. As long as there’s money in it for someone.
Fair warning for sweet souls; these are hard books to read. No, they are not easy books to read. From their unforgiving (relentless in its repetition) prose style to the draining focus on the sordid (relentless in its denial of light), no, these are not easy books to read. But they are worth reading. They are worth the effort. They will, I think, reward you if you make it out the other end. Start at the beginning. Start at Nineteen Seventy Four and see how it goes. The Red Riding Quartet is not easy because it is a portrait of a land insane. My land. And here my land is like an ulcerous cur tearing out its own stomach to bite the pain away. All of which flowery guff is just to say David Peace is EXCELLENT!
Welcome to David Peace. Welcome to Hell. You’ll like it.
BONUS: When David Met James!
Postscript: In Which I Light Up David Peace’s Life
It would have been 2007, I guess, as Tokyo Year Zero was the book David Peace was promoting at the time. I read in The Guardian (it has a good book section on Saturdays) that his promotional duties were to bring him to Sheffield. Having just relocated Sheffield was now practically on my doorstep. So it would have been rude not to go. As it turned out it was rude to go, but still. Perhaps our lives had merely been prelude as fickle Fate moved us both , the talented and modest writer and also David Peace, towards this ultimate showdown, this fateful face-off, conducted near the “New This Week” shelf in Waterstones, Sheffield. It was towards the end of dinner time creeping into the afternoon, I remember that. So I barged into the Sheffield branch of Waterstones my mind aflame with excitement at the prospect of exchanging words with a man whose words I had spent so much money on. Perhaps I would lean in just a little bit too closely and gather his scent in my nostrils to savour later at my leisure. I was expecting crowds; I was expecting bedlam; I was expecting droves; I was not expecting the shop to be practically empty. Wrong-footed and discombobulated I cast my gaze around the place; all the people I could see were a smartly dressed lady stood by a man sat at a table. So, I asked the lady if she knew where David Peace was and the lady inclined her hand to indicate the man at her side. I had not recognised him because he was wearing glasses and all I had to go on was a close cropped author photo that made him look like something off the cover of GQ.
So, now I’m flummoxed by the lack of crowds and, on top of that, I’ve just failed to recognise the very man I came to meet. Also, I was expecting some time to get my head in order, compose my silly self, practice my lines and all that. But, no, it’s clear that any second now David Peace (DAVID PEACE!) is going to politely raise himself up from his chair and extend his hand and I’ll have to say something and ohgodineedtimetoprepareitsalltoosuddentootoosuddennnurrrhhhh
“Hi!”, said David Peace, politely raising himself up from his chair and extending his hand. Was it the very hand that had written all those words, all those words I had read, those very words I had come to thank him for? Perhaps it was that hand. That very hand indeed.
“O!”, I said.
“O! I thought there’d be LOADS of people!”, I said.
And we all stood there.
In the silence.
The silence of loads of people not being there.
The silence suddenly as loud as thunder.
And we all stood there.
In the silence.
The silence of loads of people still not being there.
The silence that ended only when, with a face as red as a freshly smacked arse, I passed him my book. I muttered a quick thanks for all the books and for signing that book right there and fled. Out. Out into the street. Out onto the street where I leaned against a supporting pillar and swore like a sailor under my breath. And scant seconds later I saw David Peace emerge with his shoulder bag swinging and literary minder in tow. And that was the last time I ever did see David Peace. Scampering towards Sheffield city centre, receding into the distance and approaching the future in which he would write Occupied City (2009) and Red or Dead (2013) and I would go on to write a load of old crap; sometimes about whatever caught my fancy but mostly about - COMICS!!!!
David Peace – A Bibliography
Nineteen Seventy-Four (1999) VERY GOOD!
Nineteen Seventy-Seven (2000) GOOD!
Nineteen Eighty (2001) EXCELLENT!
Nineteen Eighty-Three (2002) EXCELLENT!
GB84 (2004) EXCELLENT!
The Damned Utd (2006) VERY GOOD!
Tokyo Year Zero (2007) VERY GOOD!
Occupied City (2009) GOOD!
Red or Dead (2013) VERY GOOD!
Hello, Whatnauts! As you can perhaps glean from the title of the post and the image and/or the tag, and/or the tracks of my tears, there won't be a podcast this week due to the most heinous of failures--hard drive failure. I tried to back up my external hard drive *for the first time ever* after recording what was a truly great podcast with Graeme.
Believe me, when I tell you: it was quite a thing. Part of it was the fact we took some controversial stands. We compared Sandman: Overture to Pretty Deadly, with Pretty Deadly being preferred in some matters. We talked about the Fantagraphics Kickstarter -- about which I was especially vexed -- and I think finally nailed our discomfort with crowdfunding.
Since it was November and I was letting myself read Marvel books from the library, we discussed the oddness that is Guardians of Galaxy: The Power of Starhawk, with much bending of the knee at the work of Mr. Steve Gerber an an analysis of how aspects of the work are oddly prescient about fan culture today. Graeme, who'd actually read a lot of books in prep (including a ton of Green Hornet issues we never got around to discussing), listened to me rave about Akira Toriyama's Cowa!, Four Color Fear, and other titles. We discussed DC's move to New York; Marvel's TV four-fer with Netflix; Jeph Loeb: Threat or Menace? with regards to the TV shows he's worked on; and there was a long discussion of the beautifully written, gorgeously drawn Bad Houses by Sara Ryan and Carla Speed McNeil that Jeff both loved and had a lot of things to wring his hands over. And Graeme and I had a fight about Supergirl statues and DC promotional DVDs that was both heated and hilarious.
In short, it was a pretty darn good podcast that I am going insist--for now and forevermore--was out very, very best podcast and now it is lost to us forever. It's like Hemingway's Suitcase, except I also lost what would've been the entirety of the Wait, What podcast if they weren't all uploaded to our server. As it is, the chance of me putting together a mega-edit of Graeme saying "Spectacular!" are even closer to zero than they were before.
So I am sorry, listeners -- we did our duty and tech failed us. Maybe one day we can do a Kickstarter to get the data recovered -- the estimate I got from this one service was that it would cost between $500 and $1400 -- but for now all we can do is apologize. (And in my case, buy a new hard drive. And rebuild my iTunes music library (which may not be that hard since I have iTunes Match, maybe?)
We will record this week so there will be an ep next week...unless something goes desperately wrong AGAIN.
As always, thank you for your patience in these matters, and Graeme and I hope you are doing well.
Big week! Some regular contenders for best comic of the week, such as Manhattan Projects and Astro City, plus the first collection of Bandette from Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover makes it's way to print after being a hit digitally. Plus tons of other things that will make your heart stop with joy after the cut!
12 REASONS TO DIE #4 (OF 6) A1 #6 ABE SAPIEN #7 ADVENTURE TIME CANDY CAPERS #5 (OF 6) ALL NEW X-MEN #18 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #15 ASTRO CITY #6 AVENGERS ARENA #17 BATGIRL #25 (ZERO YEAR) BATMAN #25 (ZERO YEAR) BATMAN LIL GOTHAM #8 BETTIE PAGE IN DANGER #10 BLOODHOUND CROWBAR MEDICINE #2 (OF 5) BOUNCE #7 CAPTAIN AMERICA LIVING LEGEND #3 (OF 4) CATACLYSM ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 (OF 3) CLOWN FATALE #1 (OF 4) CODENAME ACTION #3 (OF 6) COFFIN HILL #2 CONSTANTINE #8 CROSSED BADLANDS #41 DEADPOOL #19 DOCTOR WHO PRISONERS OF TIME #11 (OF 12) FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS #5 FEARLESS DEFENDERS #11 INF FOREVER EVIL ARKHAM WAR #2 (OF 6) GARTH ENNIS RED TEAM #6 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #25 (ZERO YEAR) HARBINGER #18 REG WALSH HEROBEAR & THE KID 2013 ANNUAL #1 HEROBEAR & THE KID INHERITANCE #4 (OF 5) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9 (EVIL) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICAS VIBE #9 KATANA #9 MANHATTAN PROJECTS #16 MANIFEST DESTINY #1 MARS ATTACKS JUDGE DREDD #3 (OF 4) MARVEL KNIGHTS X-MEN #1 (OF 5) MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #2 SYU MISS FURY #7 CVR A TAN MY LITTLE PONY ART GALLERY MY LITTLE PONY MICRO SERIES #9 SPIKE NIGHTWING #25 (ZERO YEAR) OTHER DEAD #3 (OF 6) PATHFINDER #11 PROTOCOL ORPHANS #1 (OF 4) ROCKET GIRL #2 ROCKETEER SPIRIT PULP FRICTION #3 (OF 4) SAVAGE WOLVERINE #11 SHADOW GREEN HORNET DARK NIGHTS #5 (OF 5) SHAOLIN COWBOY #2 SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 #19 SONS OF ANARCHY #3 (OF 6) SPONGEBOB COMICS #26 STAR TREK KHAN #2 (OF 5) STAR WARS #11 2013 ONGOING SUICIDE SQUAD #25 (EVIL) SUPERBOY #25 SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN NOW #5 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #21 SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #2 THOR GOD OF THUNDER #15 THREE #2 TMNT COLOR CLASSICS SERIES 2 #1 TRIPLE HELIX #2 (OF 4) UMBRAL #1 UNITY #1 WALKING DEAD #116 (MR) WOLVERINE #11 WORLDS FINEST #17 WRAITH WELCOME TO CHRISTMASLAND #1 (OF 5) X #7 (MR) X-MEN GOLD #1
Books/Mags/Things ADVENTURE TIME SUGARY SHORTS HC VOL 01 AKANEIRO HC AL QAEDAS SUPER SECRET WEAPON GN ANYTHING THAT LOVES GN AQUAMAN HC VOL 03 THRONE OF ATLANTIS (N52) AQUAMAN TP VOL 02 THE OTHERS (N52) ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS HC ATOMIC SHEEP GN BANDETTE HC VOL 01 PRESTO FETISH GRAB BAG GN GOLD POLLEN AND OTHER STORIES HC HAUNTED HORROR HC HIP HOP FAMILY TREE GN INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US HC VOL 01 LAVENDER MENACE TALES OF QUEER VILLAINY GN LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 03 MANARA EROTICA HC VOL 03 BUTTERSCOTCH OLD CITY BLUES GN VOL 02 OTHER STORIES AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON GN PARASITE DR SUZUNE GN VOL 01 (OF 5) PEANUTS EVERY SUNDAY HC 1952 - 1955 RED SONJA TP VOL 12 SWORDS AGAINST JADE KINGDOM SABERTOOTH SWORDSMAN HC SCOTT PILGRIM COLOR HC VOL 04 (OF 6) SHERLOCK HOLMES TP VOL 02 LIVERPOOL DEMON STAR TREK ONGOING TP VOL 06 AFTER DARKNESS STAR TREK STARDATE COLL HC VOL 01 SWAMP THING TP VOL 03 ROTWORLD THE GREEN KINGDOM (N52) TERMINATOR BURNING EARTH TP THOR SUNLIGHT AND SHADOWS TP TMNT VILLAIN MICROSERIES TP VOL 01 US ROGUE TROOPER TALES OF NU EARTH GN VOL 02 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR WOLVERINE TP SABRETOOTH REBORN
So, the nights are drawing in and we've had a full dance card over here what with begging sweets from strangers, burning effigies and firing explosives into the sky. Inbetween all that I read some comics and wrote about them. I did it as and when, so I've just put this together now from scraps and I can't even remember writing most of it. Hopefully you won't remember reading it. Anyway, this...
SATELLITE SAM #4 Art by Howard Victor Chaykin Written by Matt Fraction Lettering & Logo by Ken Bruzenak Digital Production by Jed Dougherty Cover Colour by Jesus Arbutov Designed by Drew Gill Edited by Thomas K (still no relation) Satellite Sam created by Howard Victor Chaykin and Matt Fraction Image Comics, $3.50 (2013)
While on a rare physical manifestation to my LCS recently (I’ve been travelling; not for work just to throw the FBI off my trail) I asked what the response to this series was and my LCS owner said, “Weeeeeeeeell, people don’t hate this as much as his other stuff.” Hilariously, he meant Howard Victor Chaykin rather than Matt Fraction. Matt Fraction! The man who does more Tumbling than The Flying Graysons after the shots rang out! Try the veal! Apparently SATELLITE SAM is an on-going not, as I thought, a limited series; explains much this does. Mostly it explains the total lack of focus and failure of any of the narrative threads to engage my attention on anything other than a, “Oooooh, research!”, level. I guess there’s some free-form vamping jazz-scatting shabbeey-doo-waaa going on writing wise. That would explain much but it wouldn’t excuse any of it.
There’s a lot of, sigh, craft here but it’s not paying off for me. Maybe too much craft? Or maybe too much showing off. Showboating should come after you nail the basics, I’m thinking. But I’m not a writer so. Y’know…Basically Fraction’s comics remind me of a puppy that can walk on its back legs or do that creepy shake hands thing but still has a tendency to leave a surprise behind the sofa when no one’s looking. He’s a mixed bag is what I’m saying.
Take the gusset sequence last issue...please! That took up some major page real estate and you could almost hear his neck pop as he inclined his head (modestly, always modestly) for applause. But, c’mon, I need an Editor, stat! That sequence could have been halved (just keep the pages of the people at the table; give your readers some credit!) to double the comic effect (strictly speaking doubling zero is still zero but...). Hmmm, and yet, and yet then the world would have been denied HVC’s gusset panel. Who would deny HVC his gussets? I pity the man who gets between HVC and his gussets. I’m referring there to the last issue because I can’t remember what happened in this issue. Well, I can, but it seems like everything that happened in this issue had already happened at least once in the previous issues. Sure, sure, I hear the cries, this comic may be as exciting as watching cardboard swell in the rain but look at that craft! Craft, yeah, great. Craft’s a foundation you build on it’s not the finished product. Mind you, I’m not a writer so, y’know…Anyhow, with SATELLITE SAM Fraction attempts a faux Chaykin, which is cheeky because that’s Mrs Chaykin’s job. A bit of blue there to extend my demographic appeal. Kids like filth, right? It’s kind of a Howard Victor Chaykin comic; if Howard Victor Chaykin had never left his house. It’s not exactly riveting is what I’m saying there. Still, Fraction obviously butters Chaykin’s parsnips well because the art here is quite, quite lovely. Oh, and The Bruise is slumming it here as plain Ken Bruzenak but he’s still inventive as all get out. I really like his ‘invisible’ balloons and his subtle doubling on the loudspeaker chat from last issue. Or was it this issue? Wait, is every issue of SATELLITE SAM the same but with the pages in a different order? Yes, there’s still a tendency for HVC’s art to include character-float and counter-intuitive levels of detail in crowd scenes but he seems pretty engaged with this stuff. Far more than I am in fact; so SATELLITE SAM just gets GOOD!
PRETTY DEADLY #1 Art & Cover by Emma Rios Script by Kelly Sue deConnick Colours by Jordie Bellaire Letters by Clayton Cowles Edits by Sigrid Ellis Image Comics, $3.50 (2013) Pretty Deadly created by Emma Rios & kelly Sue DeConnick
And it is. Pretty, that is. Probably not deadly though. Unless you roll it up and jam it down your throat, or maybe set fire to it and jump in a vat of gasoline, or maybe…you’d have to try hard is what I’m getting at there. I liked this and I mostly liked it for the visual aspect. Here I’m including the whole art/colours/letters synery thang, because it all worked together real sweetly. Ayup, a really quite visually impressively thing this comic was. I enjoyed many things about the visuals but the following floated to the top of my air filled head: the visual distinction with which Emma Rios defined the characters; the clear differentiation of textures, again by Rios but also Jordie Bellaire; the fact that there was not a little Colin Wilson about it all (altho’ the main debt is to that Paul Pope/Nathan Fox shabby energy thang) ; the hot pink of bullet trails in the desert dark which would be Bellaire alone; the fact that the Rios' whores looked like normal women with bodies subject to gravity; the tricksy but comprehensible page layouts, probably DeConnick and Rios; the variations within the lettering from Clayton Cowles and the attention and care with which the purposefully varied and distinct colour palettes were applied throughout by Bellaire. It was good stuff.
That good in fact that I barely noticed it was called upon to illustrate what were basically standard genre scenes bolted together with the kind of mysterious supernatural vagueness that arises when you go out of your way to avoid clearly explaining anything. It’s the kind of comic which has the title character appear on the last page and I'm guessing it's also the kind that won’t actually have got around to setting the premise in place until the fifth issue. Note to comic book writers: people don’t live forever, so get a fucking move on. The writing’s not bad but it is very (very) concerned that you notice it. That whole kid at the back of the stage trying to attract its parent’s attention thing. Oh, fret not, I certainly noticed the writing but mostly because it teetered precariously on the precipice of preciousness. Luckily the fantastically evocative and atmospheric art managed to prevent the whimsy from becoming too cloying. Had I not warmed to the visuals quite so readily reading this this would have been akin to choking on Turkish Delight. At points it made Caitlin R Kiernan read like Helen Zahavi. It’s just not a style I warm to, is what I’m saying there. That doesn’t make it an invalid style or the writing itself bad in and of itself (that’s important; I should maybe mention that). There’s some back matter but since I’m not really one for all that simultaneously self-abnegating/self mythologising (you have to fail to succeed! You have to fall to fly! You have to die to live! You have to poo to eat! Marvel at the sparkle on the diamond of my life! I mean share in my enjoyment of the sparkle on the diamond of my life! Share! Well, after you’ve paid £3.99, soul sister, soul brother!!) stuff today’s comic scribes peddle we’ll move swiftly on. I give this VERY GOOD! If you get through life pretending it's a movie and you're the star you can probably go up a grade. Hey, whatever gets you through this vale of shite.
BUCK ROGERS#2 Art and Script by Howard Victor Chaykin Colours by Jesus Arbuto Lettering by Kenneth Bruzenak Pin-up (p.22) by Jed Dougherty Buck Rogers created by Philip Francis Nowlan Hermes Press, $3.99 (2013)
In which amends are made for the first issue omission and Ken Bruzenak not only gets credited as letterer but is credited as Kenneth Bruzenak! Ooh-la-la! Kenneth, yet! I do so hope Kenneth lettered with his pinky stuck out and all gussied up in his tux and spats; this being a formal shindig donchew know! Kenneth’s lettering here is still bubbly and fun because no matter how shiny his shoes – he’s still The Bruise! Oh, and Jesus Arbuto steadfastly continues to colour this like he’s got peyote on a drip; which works just great in this madhouse of a future setting. You will recall that the last issue of BUCK ROGERS was pretty good but this issue is actually even better. There’s always humour in a Howard Victor Chaykin comic but he’s rarely embraced the comedic so blatantly as he does here. Successfully too I might add; I know I laughed several times. When Buck displayed his pragmatism by avoiding detection with a brutal act of unkindness I laughed like I had a flip top head.
So there’s verbal sparring, comedic bickering, and some dark, dark laffs too as HVC confronts the racism of this world he has built, and basically tells everyone to knock that shit off. Humour not for humour’s sake but humour with a purpose. Visually it’s still Alimony Age Chaykin, so you know if you like that. And I know you don’t. Luckily I like it enough for all of us! The real standout is his breackneck don’t-sweat-the-details pacing and bracing wit. There’s even a slight “kids, today!” subtext that pays off with a man weeping to music anybody reading this would have to Google. BUCK ROGERS is funny, serious and, hey, got the sun in my eye here, cough, whisper it: moving. That’s not a bad range to cover in a book about a man in jodhpurs with a jet pack. Boy, I don’t know who this young turk Howard Victor Chaykin is but I sure like the cut of his jib! Kenneth too! Hell, Jesus is pretty good on this comic as well. There's a sentence my Sunday School teachers never thought I'd write! This issue takes BUCK ROGERS up to VERY GOOD! But you knew that because you’re already buying it, right! Whoa, that cleared the room.
And remember: we can tear each other apart but God help the fool who tears up - COMICS!!!
The big books this week are the third volume of Manhattan Projects from Hickman and Maria M. from Gilbert Hernandez. There are plenty of other excellent things to feed your eyes this week, though, after the cut!
68 HALLOWED GROUND ONE SHOT ABSOLUTION RUBICON #5 ACTION COMICS #25 (ZERO YEAR) ALEX + ADA #1 ALL CRIME #2 (OF 3) AMAZING X-MEN #1 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #245 ARMY OF DARKNESS VS HACK SLASH #3 (OF 6) BALLISTIC #3 (OF 5) BALTIMORE INFERNAL TRAIN #3 (OF 3) BATMAN BLACK & WHITE #3 (OF 6) BATMAN SUPERMAN #5 BATWING #25 (ZERO YEAR) CAPTAIN AMERICA #13 CAPTAIN MARVEL #17 CATACLYSM ULTIMATES LAST STAND #1 (OF 5) CATALYST COMIX #5 (OF 9) DAREDEVIL DARK NIGHTS #6 (OF 8) DARK SHADOWS #22 DETECTIVE COMICS #25 (ZERO YEAR) DOCTOR WHO PRISONERS OF TIME #10 (OF 12) DRUMHELLAR (PREVIOUSLY STRANGEWAYS) #1 EARTH 2 #17 EAST OF WEST #7 EMERALD CITY OF OZ #4 (OF 5) FANTOMEX MAX #2 (OF 4) FATALE #18 FOREVER EVIL #3 (OF 7) GARFIELD #19 GHOSTBUSTERS #9 GHOSTED #5 GOD IS DEAD #3 (OF 6) GREEN ARROW #25 (ZERO YEAR) GREEN LANTERN #25 GRINDHOUSE DOORS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT #2 (OF 8) HINTERKIND #2 (MR) HIT #3 (OF 4) IRON MAN #18 JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS #5 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #202 LAST ZOMBIE #5 (OF 5) THE END LEGENDS OF RED SONJA #1 (OF 5) LONGSHOT SAVES MARVEL UNIVERSE #1 (OF 4) LORDS OF MARS #4 (OF 6) MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #2 (OF 5) MARVEL UNIVERSE HULK AGENTS OF SMASH #2 (OF 4) MARVELS CA FIRST AVENGER ADAPTATION #1 (OF 2) MICHAEL AVON OEMINGS VICTORIES #6 MIGHTY AVENGERS #3 INF MORNING GLORIES #34 MOVEMENT #6 OCCULTIST #2 (OF 5) PAINKILLER JANE PRICE OF FREEDOM #1 (OF 4) PROTECTORS INC #1 QUANTUM & WOODY #5 REALITY CHECK #3 REGULAR SHOW #5 REGULAR SHOW SKIPS #1 (OF 6) ROBOCOP LAST STAND #4 (OF 8) ROGUES #5 SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #39 SHADOW NOW #2 (OF 6) SHADOWMAN #12 SPAWN #237 STAR WARS #3 (OF 8) LUCAS DRAFT STEAM ENGINES OF OZ #3 STORMWATCH #25 SUICIDE RISK #7 SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #4 SWAMP THING #25 TEN GRAND #5 THE LONE RANGER #19 TRANSFORMERS DARK CYBERTRON #1 TRILLIUM #4 (OF 8) TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #13 UBER #7 X-MEN LEGACY #19
Books/Mags/Things ALL-STAR WESTERN TP VOL 03 BLACK DIAMOND PROBABILITY (N52) BATMAN NIGHT OF THE OWLS TP (N52) CALIGULA TP VOL 02 DJANGO UNCHAINED HC FRACTION TP NEW ED HAWKEYE HC VOL 01 HEAVY METAL #265 INCREDIBLE CUTENESS OF BEING TP JEFF SMITH BONE GREAT COW RACE ARTIST ED HC JUDAS COIN TP JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA HC VOL 01 (N52) MAD MAGAZINE #524 MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 03 MARIA M HC NARUTO TP VOL 63 OZ ROAD TO OZ GN TP PLANTS VS ZOMBIES HC LAWNMAGEDDON POKEMON ADVENTURES TP VOL 19 QUANTUM & WOODY TP VOL 01 WORLDS WORST SHIELD ORIGINS TP THANOS TP REDEMPTION UNCANNY X-MEN PREM HC VOL 02 BROKEN
So... Sandman: Overture?
I was pretty excited when I heard that Neil Gaiman would be returning to Sandman -- Comix Experience has a history with the book, after all -- but I'm also not at all afraid to say I was a smidge nervous. The last few comics Neil has written have been.... well, they were certainly technically fine (he's a pretty good writer, after all), but they also felt a bit bloodless, and appeared like they had more originated from someone asking Neil to write something than a story that Neil had passionately originated from his own mind and heart.
(There's nothing wrong with that -- that's how most comics are created; but seldom, I think, is that how the best comics are created)
Then there's also the whole "aging act" thing -- you know, how you just love a band or a story or a character or some other thing, but how going back to it isn't nearly as good as you remembered that band was (or, even worse, sometimes, that it is really terrific, but it is just different enough that the mainstream pretty much ignores it. For example, I really liked Rush's last two albums, but I don't think that any of the "classic rock" stations in the Bay Area really ever played a single track from them, despite playing "Tom Sawyer" 6 times a day.... or Jeff Beck's last record, or... well, you get the point, I guess), and then you start to wonder how much you liked the original in the first place? (you fickle fickle fan)
So, I'm pretty happy to say that I thought Neil's return to Sandman with "Sandman: Overture" was simply terrific -- it had just enough classic strains of what we liked about it before, melded with a writer pretty much at his peak, and with what appears to be a pretty intriguing new twist to go with it.
Yes, there are bits that are going to seem very familiar: "There is a book. A book filled with everything that has every happened, everything that ever will happen. It is heavy, and leather, and chained to his wrist." and so on. You can't stray so far from what worked, after all, and the characters are who they are -- and because this is a prequel you at least think you know where all of the pieces have to come out. But Sandman has always been about stories, and I'd argue that seldom were there a lot of surprises once things were set in place in Sandman because stories have rules -- could "the Kindly Ones" have really gone any other way, from a plot perspective?
But that's from us who loved this with a spoon 25 years (!!) ago -- I think if this is your first time reading this world and these characters, I think you're really going to see why we fell in love all the way back then, because there is an incredible cosmology being formed here (And, actually, "Overture" might solve the problem I always had with starting new readers at v1 -- I always thought "A Doll's House" was the much much better entry point, because there weren't any more bits about how much the Martian Manhunter loved Oreos or whatever, that so dates the first story arc)
But, yeah, for those of us who already were fans, if you're a lapsed comics reader, I entirely think it is worth your while to come back to Sandman -- especially as a periodical reading experience.
In fact, there's a specific physical thing that happens here in the serialized comic book (I've been led to believe that the reason it wasn't described in the solicitations was that Neil wanted it to be a surprise for the reader, so I won't say more than that -- because it was a lovely surprise!) that I strongly believe will be mediocre at best in a collected edition -- and downright dire in a digital version. This first issue at least is very much meant to be a comic book, if you ask me.
If you are a lapsed reader somehow reading this review, I'd like to urge you to try and start up a conversation with the person behind the counter of your local comics store, and ask them about what is happening in comics right now that that's on the same level as Sandman. Because there really is a lot of wonderful contemporary comics out there that you will delight to discover -- the first one I'll give you for free is "Saga" by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples -- my deepest hope would be this brings back many readers from "back in the day" and reintroduces you to the general resplendent wonder that is comic books.
I didn't say anything yet about the art, and that there is because I really don't have the words. This is the work of J.H. Williams III's career -- and given all of the awesome astonishing comics he has drawn before, that's saying a lot. Stunningly, epically beautiful where the page is at least as important as the panel. Brother can draw.
There are a few weaknesses, sure -- the house ads are a bit jarring when they come; and if you didn't like Sandman back then (and there were many people who didn't), this probably won't change your mind -- about half the issue had a certain level of "read this before" to it (though the verses change), but all of that was extremely minor to me. I thought this was truly EXCELLENT work, and I'm kind of proud to have it on my shelf.
What did you think?
-B
I know I promised Prophet but take a few minutes to watch and I guarantee heart growth commensurate to The Grinch on Christmas. Anywho, The Best Damn Band in The Land made their Oscar case a little early this year by delivering a Hollywood extravaganza at halftime of the Penn State game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNe0ZUD19EE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
The trauma of Man of Steel is that for a second I FULLY expected Superman to fly through that building of band members and shatter it into hundreds of falling / uniformed pieces / corpses.
I should have known that a flipping marching band would be able to better see the soul of a creation than those who've made careers out of exploiting someone else's better ideas.
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!
This is the big one, everybody. As if a new issue of SAGA was not enough, we get to see Neil Gaiman return with Sandman: Overture. Each of those books alone is enough to anchor a week, together they are unstoppable. There are lots of other books this week worth checking out after the cut!
1 FOR 1 BALTIMORE PLAGUE SHIPS A DISTANT SOIL #42 ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #2 ADVENTURE TIME 2013 SPOOOKTACULAR #1 AQUAMAN ANNUAL #1 ARCANE SECRETS #2 (OF 3) ARCHIE #649 ASH & THE ARMY OF DARKNESS #1 ASTOUNDING VILLAIN HOUSE ONE SHOT AVENGERS #22 INF AVENGERS AI #5 BLOOD BROTHERS #3 (OF 3) CAPTAIN AMERICA LIVING LEGEND #2 (OF 4) CATACLYSM #0.1 CLIVE BARKER NEXT TESTAMENT #5 (OF 12) CROSSED BADLANDS #40 DAMIAN SON OF BATMAN #1 (OF 4) DANGER GIRL THE CHASE #2 (OF 4) DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL #4 (OF 4) DEATH SENTENCE #2 (OF 6) EDGAR ALLAN POES THE RAVEN & RED DEATH ONE SHOT FARLAINE THE GOBLIN #2 FERALS #17 (MR) FIVE GHOSTS #6 FOREVER EVIL ARGUS #1 (OF 6) FOX #1 GAME OF THRONES #17 (MR) GODZILLA RULERS OF THE EARTH #5 GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2 GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #8 INF HEROBEAR & THE KID 2013 ANNUAL #1 INFINITY #5 (OF 6) ITTY BITTY HELLBOY #3 (OF 3) KICK-ASS 3 #4 (OF 8) KING CONAN HOUR O/T DRAGON #6 (OF 6) MY LITTLE PONY 2013 ANNUAL MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #12 NIGHTWING ANNUAL #1 POWERPUFF GIRLS #2 PROPHET #40 PUNISHER TRIAL OF PUNISHER #2 (OF 2) SAGA #15 SANDMAN OVERTURE #1 (OF 6) SCARLET SPIDER #23 SEX #8 (MR) SHADOW YEAR ONE #6 (OF 10) SIMPSONS ILLUSTRATED #8 SKYWARD #4 SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 SPECIAL #3 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #254 STAR WARS DARK TIMES SPARK REMAINS #4 (OF 5) STUFF ABOUT SEX (ONE SHOT) SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #20 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM UP SPECIAL #1 SWAMP THING ANNUAL #2 TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #2 THOR CROWN OF FOOLS #1 THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY 2013 #3 TMNT ONGOING #27 TMNT VILLAIN MICROSERIES #7 BEBOP & ROCKSTEADY ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #33 UNCANNY X-FORCE #13 VERTIGO RESURRECTED THE EXTREMIST #1 NEW PTG (MR) WILD BLUE YONDER #3 (OF 5) WITCHBLADE #170 X-MEN BATTLE OF ATOM #2 (OF 2) BOA
Books/Mags/Things AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 06 SEARCH PART 3 BAD HOUSES TP BATGIRL TP VOL 02 KNIGHTFALL DESCENDS (N52) BATMAN HC VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52) BLACK BUTLER TP VOL 15 CABLE AND X-FORCE TP VOL 02 DEAD OR ALIVE CHRONICLES OF CONAN TP VOL 25 EXODUS COMPLETE CRUMB COMICS TP VOL 06 CREST WAVE DC COMICS ONE MILLION OMNIBUS HC DEADSHOT BEGINNINGS TP DIA DE LOS MUERTOS TP EC ARCHIVES TALES FROM THE CRYPT HC VOL 04 ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #42 INHUMANS TP BY RIGHT OF BIRTH JSA LIBERTY FILES THE WHISTLING SKULL TP LAST OF US TP AMERICAN DREAMS MARA TP PLANETOID TP VOL 01 PREVIEWS #302 NOVEMBER 2013 SAMURAI JACK CLASSICS TP VOL 01 STEVE DITKO ARCHIVES HC VOL 04 IMPOSSIBLE TALES SUPERMAN ADVENTURES THE MAN OF STEEL TP SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL BELIEVE TP THOR VS THANOS TP ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES TP DISASSEMBLED UZUMAKI 3-IN-1 DLX ED HC WOLVERINE AND X-MEN BY JASON AARON TP VOL 07
As always, what do YOU think?
