I love, love, love that lonely little "beep."

Man, the holiday season, amirite? Emerging from the primordial swamp of Black Friday, Cyber-Monday, Fat Tuesday and Sexting Sunday, it's the show notes for Wait, What? Ep. 108...right behind the jump!

0:00-6:15: Here we go! Graeme is in a seasonal mood; Jeff is having tech problems again (the very expensive microphone he picked up? Had to be sent back and repaired under warranty). But we are both existential crisis free! And if you're upset that there aren't any new episodes of "Let's Complain About Our Deadlines and Schedules" podcast, this is the five minutes for you. 6:15-19:16: Here's a dirty secret: I don't usually edit a lot of our on-line talk out but this season I thought I'd try to give all of you the gift of brevity. There was actually a ten minute conversation about the Angus T. Jones and the Two and a Half Men controversy that I decided to cut just….uh, I dunno? It had a natural flow to it but it also seemed a little digressive--even by our notoriously loose standards. So I just cut (clumsily) in to the next "celebrities--what were they thinking?" story we talked about--the recent controversy with James Gunn. (Our conversation took place just a few hours before his issued apology.) Do you guys have a preference about this kind of thing? Would you rather hear our conversations unfold naturally, or would you just prefer we try to keep the podcast focused on the pertinent parts? Let us know in the comments… 19:16-35:04: Anyway, from there, we segue smoothly into talking about whether or not comics culture is inherently misogynistic or not. Appropriately enough for such a broad topic (uh, pun is not intended there), we cover a lot of ground, talking about Journey Into Mystery and Red She-Hulk, the first issue of Bleeding Cool Magazine, and more. 35:04-35:26:INTERMISSION ONE 35:26-42:40: All-New X-Men #2. Graeme has read it; Jeff has not. So join us as Mr. Former fills in Mr. Latter on the story, the art, and the overall not-as-terribleness of the first issue. 42:40-59:22: Jeff, oddly enough, has read Avengers #34 and New Avengers #34, Bendis' last issues and gets to turn the tables on Mr. Former. It leads into a discussion about whether the art is serving the storytelling in Marvel's current books with books like Indestructible Hulk #1 by Mark Waid and Leinil Yu. 59:22-1:14:40: Captain America #1 by Rick Remender and John Romita, Jr.: read by both, viewed skeptically by both (though more by one of us than the other). For bonus points, we compare and contrast with Uncanny Avengers #2, and then sort of compare and contrast similar-seeming storylines running through the universe. Coincidence? Too much influence of one creator on another? Not enough? 1:14:40-1:18:01: Also reviewed at the same time, FF #1 by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred by Mr. McMillan. 1:18:01-1:28:22: Amazing Spider-Man #698 by Dan Slott and Richard Elson is also discussed and *fully spoiled* by Graeme and Jeff. Let the listener beware! 1:28:22-1:34:20: Iron Man #2 by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land, wherein Graeme coins the term "Greg Land face." Can we see a cure for Greg Land face in our lifetime? Also, bonus points to Graeme for the unexpected shout out to Jack Kirby's Silver Star. God bless you, Graeme McMillan. 1:34:20-1:35:40: INTERMISSION TWO 1:35:40-1:48:45: Although Jeff wants to maneuver Graeme back into waters into which poor Graeme does not want to go--Grant Morrison's annotations about Alan Moore's opinions on Grant Morrison--we settle instead for discussing Batman Incorporated #5 by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham. What can we say? Sometimes we choose peace instead of war. That said, Jeff thinks there may be some really interesting subtext in the issue but isn't quite sure where. Come, puzzle it out with us, won't you? 1:48:45-1:52:39: Also under discussion, because Jeff is wayyyyyy behind the times, a discussion of Action Comics #14 by G-Moz and Rags Morales. 1:52:39-1:59:27: Flash #14! And then some stuff about Judge Dredd because that's what we do these days: talk about Judge Dredd. 1:59:27-2:02:30: Hey Angel & Faith #16 is a book Graeme was impressed with. Jeff drags the full spoilers out of Graeme so forewarned--do not listen unless you've read the issue (or, like Jeff, kinda don't care). 2:02:30-2:07:33: And continuing in the "Let Us Now Praise Non-Big Two Comics" section, Jeff really, really liked Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #1 and Multiple Warheads #2. Alas, because Graeme had read also read Multiple Warheads, we spend the vast majority of the time talking about that very fine comic and Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #1 unfortunately gets short shrift by comparison. But they're both great! 2:07:33-2:23:02: Also, a book we both read and decide to chew the fat about: Masks #1 by Chris Roberson and Alex Ross. For those of you who play that drinking game where you do a shot every time Jeff gets some little detail utterly wrong, prepared to get snockered. 2:23:02-2:24:20: Though he doesn't go through them in anything like detail, Jeff read ten volumes of Hikaru No Go (vols. 7-17) and totally loved it. That was some very enjoyable manga right there. 2:24:20-end: A super-super-super-short discussion about Shonen Jump Alpha going day and date with some stories in 2013. 2000AD online is also mentioned, as is Jeff's wont these days. And then we are out of there…for another week.

This is a thing that is already out there, people, already haunting the diaphanous underworld that is iTunes. But, of course, you are more than likely to gather around the seance table, join hands, and perform the secret spell of conjuration below:

Wait, What? Ep. 108: Frightful

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

They had me at "Kpow!": Gil Kane Atom slugs Gil Kane Green Lantern, from Justice League of America #200.

And so it's that time again, O Mighty Whatnauts. Join us behind the jump for show notes and kvetching, 'kay?

So, first things first: sorry for the bad run of luck we've been having vis-a-vis technical difficulties. Graeme starts out the podcast echo-y as all hell but fortunately it gets much better about half an hour through...because we have to stop the call and start again.

In fact, at one point after Graeme and I had been talking for ninety minutes or so, Skype just up and died on me in a way that--unlike other times--caused the recording program to crash out as well, making it look like we'd only have a half-hour podcast, talking about little more than detox diets, Marvel sales strategies, and how Graeme's library system is so much better than my library system. Thank goodness, I found the temp file and was able to find instructions on the Internet on how to make it editable. So, you know... hooray for the Internet! It'd be nice if something other than hard liquor could now make my hands stop trembling but...eh. What are you gonna do?

And on that note of melancholic resignation...show notes!

0:00-7:00: Greetings! Also, because apparently we don't use Twitter properly: what did we just have for lunch? Because Jeff is doing an elimination diet and Graeme has had experience with those. Yes, this is about as far from Waffle Talk as we can get, alas.

7:00-14:31: Superior Spider-Man! Graeme has an update for Jeff as what might be going on there with that upcoming event. Is Dan Slott giving us the Spider-Man comic readers want? The comic he wants? Both? Neither?

14:31-29:50: Then we discuss Marvel's current sales. It is probably pretty easy to figure out how we got from the previous topic to this one. Because Jeff had yet to purchase Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story we didn't spend the whole podcast talking about the book, but Graeme does tell me a little bit about the book. We manage to once again work in a mention of Sean's amazing Tumblr, Graeme uses the word "spectacular" and Matt Fraction gets mentioned--so please check those boxes off your Wait, What? bingo board.

29:50-37:56: New comics! Which is to say: old comics! Yes, Jeff was a little strapped for cash last week and so tried to live life the Graeme McMillons way...by checking books out of the library. Because it is not Graeme's magical Portland library, Jeff's picks are a little more off the beaten path but worthy of discussion anyway. First up: Empire State by Jason Shiga. Also, Jeff exhorts Graeme to check out superstar-in-the-making Jason Shiga in Derek Kirk Kim's Youtube comedy series about struggling cartoonists, Mythomania. See Jason Shiga before he becomes Judd Apatow'snext superstar!

37:56-39:39: And then....tech disaster! We end up having to break off the call to get Skype to behave.

39:39-47:32: Back to books! Jeff sums up his feelings on Empire State before moving on to 120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors, a book so impressive Graeme didn't recognize the name despite having actually read it. (To be honest, Jeff isn't so crazy about it, either.) If the idea of a cartoonist traveling cross-country to be befriended by strangers and fans, Jeff recommends the similar-but-far-superior Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen (the title of which Jeff, in true Jeff-like fashion, reverses when he discusses it).

47:32-58:39: Saving the best for last, Jeff discusses Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. He didn't read it quite far enough to have a very solid understanding of the game Go (I say that we know it here in the States as Othello which is utterly wrong) but actually liked it quite a lot. (Now that he's three volumes in, he can say he likes it even more! And that Go is not Othello.) We talk about how this is exactly the kind of educational but addictive comics that manga can do so well.

58:39-1:12:01: Also in the old stuff that is awesome category, Jeff discovers the first two issues of Ostrander and McDonnell's Suicide Squad are on Comixology (first issue is ninety-nine cents!) and re-reads them for the first time in almost thirty years. Somehow, despite there being eleven panels on the page, these are widescreen comics before widescreen comics were invented. Also read by Jeff on Graeme's recommendation Justice League of America Annual #2 with the formation of Justice League Detroit, as well as issues #107 and #108 of JLA featuring the return of the Freedom Fighters. And Graeme makes JLA #200 sound pretty damn great as well. (See above for proof.)

1:12:01-1:22:04: Comixology...Submit! It's not some crazed BDSM fad that's sweeping the nation, it's the new program coming from Comixology that allows people to get their own self-published books on Comixology (for a 50% cut of the proceeds). Is it a good deal, especially considering the very quiet launch of Hunt Emerson's app of his own material.

1:22:04-1:37:02: Jeff had an uncomfortable moment with Uncanny Avengers #1 on Comixology, but Graeme, having read it, apparently had even more. We also discuss Fraction's Iron Man which is now coming to an end, and which we both admit we want to see where it goes. And Graeme also has two great bits of semi-related behind-the-scenes Marvel info, courtesy of Sean Howe's book.

1:37:02-end: Graeme tries to make Jeff guess which book he recently read and enjoyed? [Hint: it's really not the book you would expect. Certainly, Jeff didn't.] And which book he also read but cannot discuss? [You can probably figure this one out.] As is our wont, we also talk related sales figures and the like until Jeff, weakened and famished, convinces Graeme to issue his mystical cry to end the podcast. One step closer to Ragnarok!

The show should have already popped up on your RSS feed of choice or made its appearance felt in the luminiferous ether that is iTunes...but you can also gather friends around a table, conduct a little seance, and conjure it here, should the spirits move you:

Wait, What? Ep. 103: Churls on Film

And, as always, we hope you enjoy!