Wait, What? Ep. 126: More of Everything

Because it is Kirby and because it is...my heart.

Okay, tech problems resolved! (You know, as long as you're talking about our recording problems, and not about how everyone has basically been hacked by the government without their consent for years...) So, behind the jump, show notes for our two-hour plus installment of the Show That Cannot Say Die (Without Skype Cutting Out On It)!

Oh, but before you do, make sure you check out posts by Hibbs and Smitty below -- today is our semi-annual Salute to Content!

Anyway, yeah, embarrassing though it is to admit, I think maybe both Graeme and I using Macs now may have exacerbated some of our recording problems with Skype?  Hopefully, that will no longer be an issue as we're trying a whole new workaround (Audio Hijack Pro of our Facetime calls, in case you're interested).  It's not quite perfect -- I've gotta learn how to adjust my microphone levels before we talk and I pray to God that doesn't mean going through Soundcloud because that shit baffles me -- but it's a start, I guess.

So: show notes!  They are short, in part because we were very focused in our chatty way this week and also because I kinda strained my back moving longboxes this weekend and so I'm loathe to spend too much time sitting in this damn uncomfortable desk chair of mine.

0:00-34:57:  Salutations: yup,  it's the dawning of a brand-new era for Wait, What? as we dump Skype and go with a different recording method.  (To be fair, Skype dumped us first.)  We try to be mercifully brief talking tech shit so we can get down to our first minefield of the podcast discussing (again!) the fourth season of Arrested Development.  Wildly over-caffeinated, Jeff wants to talk about critical reception and how a person's individual critical taste develops and (I guess when you get right down to it) how frustrating it is that all the smart sensible people disagree with him.  Graeme, for his part, is having--if not none, then certainly very little--of Jeff's points, for better and worse. 34:57-1:11:05: Finally! Graeme and Jeff talk about Al Ewing's The Fictional Man!  Unfortunately, it's been long enough for Graeme and Jeff (and Jeff is over-caffeinated) that the opening of our discussion should be listened to *for comedic purposes only*.  There's a tremendous amount of initial flailing about how to describe the book, especially when one of the contributors to the podcast has apparently had a stroke and cannot use his big boy words. 1:11:05-1:24:43:  Comics! We do in fact remember what they are.  Jeff read and enjoyed tremendously Faith Erin Hicks' The Adventures of Superhero Girl, and also dug In the Kitchen With Alain Passard by Christophe Blain.  Thanks to a Whatnaut sharing their digital codes for Daredevil #26 and Superior Spider-Man #10, I read those and boy oh boy were they good. 1:24:43-1:38:45:  By contrast, Graeme has read Age of Ultron #9.  If you listen to it, you can hear Jeff rubbing his hands with glee as Graeme shares his feelings about the book, and Graeme also read Avengers Arena #10, which provides a bit of comparison and contrast with the Catwoman/Justice League controversy.  "Bonus:" Jeff's not-very-good Hellblazer story pitch from around the time the Constantine movie came out. 1:38:45-1:39;21: Intermission! 1:39;21-1:43:53: We are back and, in relatively short order, we contemplate Paul Jenkins and his rather spectacular interview at Bleeding Cool  and, to a lesser extent, his open letter at Comic Book Resources. 1:43:53-2:07:01: Oh, but first before we do, here's the first installment of "Graeme Says It Because You Said It" [working title].  Then it's on to a consideration of what we're currently buying from DC, whether Jeff should once again take the crazy train to Boycottville, more from the Jenkins article, and what have you. 2:07:01-end: Graeme didn't much of a chance to talk about comics he's read this week, so Jeff twists his arm and tries to get some quick opinions from him about Green Lantern, Angel and Faith, and a re-run of Pete Tomasi's Batman and Robin. And then we end the podcast! Without it ending us first!

Chances are good the sucker will be up on iTunes by now, but even if so, you are welcome to get at it with the handy link provided below.  As always, we thank you for listening and we shall return next week with more...of everything.

Wait, What? Ep. 126: More of Everything

How can ya' miss me when you've forgotten who I am?

Ah yes, reviews, I remember those! Been a while, but I think I'm finally back on the weekly-review-train now! ACTION COMICS #7: I know the book's been a little uneven, but the issues that are good are so good that it makes my teeth hurt. I thought this was one of those issues. I'd rather read Morrison doing Superman than almost any other superhero comic by almost any other creator. I'm a little amused, however, that Brainiac is, y'know, the internet. VERY GOOD.

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1: I have little-to-no natural affection for any of these characters (I sort of think the IDEA of the original AoA was more interesting then the actual execution), but I thought this was non-heinous, with some pretty nice art from Roberto De La Torre. What I don't see is how this is an ongoing series, because I can't imagine that (even with the X-Force lead in), there's more than, say, 10k people (by issue 4 or 5) who will want to read about alternate universe version of the X-Men? it's strange to me -- this is the kind of book that Marvel used to make fun of DC about (alternate versions of the same characters), but that Marvel is doing in multiple ways now (Ultimates, Zombies, this) -- this is the kind of thing that led to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, y'know? Anyway, this comic is perfectly OK for the kind of thing it is

AVENGERS ACADEMY #27: This, on the other hand, I thought was terrific -- funny, and real conflict and stakes, and just really being the "legacy" comic in a way that DC has entirely walked away from now with the 52. The "voice" of some of the Runaways is a little off, but over all, I thought this was a fun little romp of a comic, and was VERY GOOD.

AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE #9: If this had come out over the course of 9 months, I think we'd all be talking about what a great comic it was; but, of course, it has been TWENTY months, and the Marvel universe this story began in is kinda different than the one today. Characters live, characters die, and "Young Avengers" is largely thrown away as a concept by the end of this -- which is too bad, because I liked that first incarnation a whole lot. I'm glad Hulkling and Wiccan get their kiss at the end, though. Overall, I'll go with GOOD here, I think.

DEFENDERS #4: I pretty much flat out hated the first three issues -- I'd probably not have disliked it had it been, like, "Magic Man" and "Kung Fu Guy" instead of "Doctor Strange" and "Iron Fist", if you see what I mean? I just don't think that the characterization Fraction tried to graft on here really bore any relationship to past characterizations -- but this issue I kinda liked just fine. The problem is, at $4 a throw, the audience has now made up their minds about whether they like the book or not, and you have to hit the ball right in the first issue... you can't wait until #4. Either way, I can give it a low GOOD, but it's probably too late -- we sold 32 copies of #1, and just a meager 13 of #3.

FAIREST #1: I thought the premise of this FABLES spin-off was "it focuses on the female Fables"? *looks at the cover* Yeah, that's how they're selling it. So... why no female Fables as anything other than furniture here? This is the comics equivalent of the Senate hearing on Contraception, isn't it? Also, I have to say that I think the choice of the flat matte paper was a poor one with fully digital painted art -- it looks muddy and bland, and, frankly, ugly to my eye. Shockingly EH.

GREEN ARROW #7: Ann Nocenti's first issue... and it's just kind of weird, sort of like her later DD run. I mean, I liked it, don't get me wrong, and it's a big step up from the first six issues of this version, but triplet mutant killer seductresses? Mm, dunno. Also: what on the earth could they possible have "twelve of these" be referring to? Did they each lose eight toes, somehow?

Oh, and here's where I'll slot in the rant against the new DC logo. Here's how you know it is an utter and abject failure as a static object: they have to print the words "DC Comics" underneath it so that anyone could POSSIBLY tell that that is what it means. *sigh*

Anyway, Green Arrow #7: A strong OK.

MANHATTAN PROJECTS #1: I thought this was utterly spiffy, with a wonderful Jonathan Hickman high concept (if I tell you it, I'll thoroughly spoil the comic), and some really terrific art from Nick Pitarra. Man, it's kinda like a younger Frank Quitely. Image is on a helluva roll these days, isn't it? VERY GOOD.

NIGHT FORCE #1: Well, it was fairly pretty, but I really had no idea why I should care, or whom I should root for. Much like the original series, when i think about it. EH.

STORMWATCH #7: Paul Jenkins comes in as new writer, and it's a little better, though I'm still not finding the compelling reason for these characters to be together. At least when it was THE AUTHORITY, you got the who "We're smarter than you" Warren Ellisy vibe going for it. Very strongly OK, but not any better than that.

SUPURBIA #1: Ah, if only this hadn't been so strictly mapped to existing archetypes, I might have been more attracted to it, but I don't really need YET ANOTHER pastiche of Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman, I don't think. "The Real Housewives of Superville" is a fun enough pitch, and the execution was at least competent, but this largely feels recycled and warmed over. OK.

SWAMP THING #7: SEVEN ISSUES for the protagonist to actually appear in his own comic, terrific. And yet, I still like it adequately. I really do rather hope that out protagonist and antagonist both manage to defy their expectations -- but I also think that this "rot" plotline just can't go on indefinitely, and may already be outstaying it's welcome. One problem: the big Green Guy is too wicked powerful -- look at the way he routed all of those minions in a single double page spread. I'll just barely give it a low GOOD.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #8: I'm kind of creeped out that the guy on the cover looks very little like the guy actually in the comic book. There's also something boringly predictable about the Aunt May and Uncle Prowler scenes -- now all we need is for Nick Fury to step back in where he left off. When you add that to how Miles' voice is virtually identical to Peter's... well, I'm kind of not feeling this book, sorry. (especially for $4, jebus!) EH.

Right, that's me... what did YOU think?

-B

nu52 - wk 3: Three that pleasently surprised me

Remember what I said last week about sometimes the most interesting stuff in the DCU was sitting at the fringes? Yeah, that.

BLUE BEETLE #1: as far as I am concerned, this is the first "proper" first issue of the entire bunch released so far. It's an origin story. It clearly sets up the protagonist and who he is and what he wants, as well as doing so for at least one antagonist (the suit, itself), AND an entire supporting cast! It made me want to see more when I got to the last page. Yeah, yeah, this was EXCELLENT and exactly what every one of these 52 should have been like: a complete "you've never seen this before" reboot that establishes the character completely on their own -- neither of the two prior versions appear to have "ever happened". That's clear, that's understandable, completely straight forward, and pretty fun. My one quibble is the constant switching between spanish and english -- it doesn't really work on the page for me. But, yeah, really a perfect first issue of a superhero comic. A pleasant surprise for Tony Bedard, a write who has not made me enthusiastic in the past.

CAPTAIN ATOM #1: Basically it is more DOCTOR MANHATTAN: THE COMIC BOOK (which is really kind of funny, considering), but yeah I liked this just fine, too. There's no origin here, we're eight months into his career here, if I'm reading that clock thing correctly, and I'm still not entirely sure the who and the what of everything -- there's the Doctor Megala from the Cary Bates run, but there isn't any General Eiling that I noticed, is he "Captain Adam", then? Or is it something else entirely? I couldn't quite get why the clock did what it did (it wasn't always forward counting), and I don't necessarily feel for the protagonist yet, but yeah it was different in tone and mood and style than anything else in the 52 so far. There was also an intermittent effect (that I'm not 100% sure was intentional?) from Freddie Williams II, where CA himself is the only thing at times that looks "solid" while all the normal people have kind of hazy outlines. If it WAS intentional, then good job and nice counterpoint, but maybe make it a little more explicit. I want to rate this stronger than just GOOD, but I can't quite make the leap to add the "very", but either way I thought it worth a sample, at least.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1: Or what it should really be called: DEADMAN #1. This is only on for six or something? Well, I'm there for this run. It's an interesting piece -- it goes straight back to the original story, but leaves nicely ambiguous what might or might not have happened in the meantime. My reading of the story says probably BRIGHTEST DAY didn't occur for this character, and he's certainly not dating Dove. We've talked before about how, in some ways, these books are a series of of cheap R&D "and here's how this can be a TV show", and DEADMAN scores wonderfully on that front, going straight for a "Quantum Leap meets Medium" (Maybe? I've never seen the latter?) high concept that is wonderfully additive to any story that came before, yet while honoring them as possible any way. Excellent excellent job of threading that particular needle, Paul Jenkins! This was a VERY GOOD comic, I thought.

That's me... what did YOU think?

-B