Listen to us: Win them.
Oh, man. I would not trade my chance for my wife and I to have a sleepover with our niece for anything, but I look forward to the day when we can do it without me having to replace a few hundred dollars of electronics or visiting the doctor afterward.
All of which is to say: the podcast is here! And it is more or less timely, but the show notes are (as ever?) on the speedy side, the kind of thing that might make you snicker once or twice, and help you figure out which part of our show to avoid…but not much more than that. (Yeah, that brilliant endnoted show note pastiche of Infinite Jest still sounds like a good idea to me, damn it.)
But enough of that. Here’s this:
00:00-3:08: Greetings! Our greetings include talking about greetings so maybe it’s more appropriate to say: meta-greetings! But we get to the comic book talk PDQ (Bach).
3:08-8:05: See? Here we are with Graeme talking about post-WWII era The Spirit, by Will Freakin’ Eisner! Boom! Not even four minutes in and Graeme’s talking about SOME OF THE GREATEST COMICS EVER MADE.
8:05-9:41: Does Graeme compare The Spirit to Judge Dredd? Why, yes, he does! And does he shame Jeff for being behind on reading 2000 A.D.? Oh my yes, he certainly does that as well, by telling us about the stellar-sounding stuff currently going on in those pages.
9:41-21:20: People who’ve heard Jeff try and talk about “what’s in his future but will be your past by the time you listen to it” know that he would make a pretty terrible Time Lord, and here’s another piece of proof: mentioning his and Graeme’s guest appearance on the only movie podcast in the world, Travis Bickle on the Riviera, which he figured would be up by the time this podcast was completed but, uh, is not at all.
Anyway, what is the mysterious reason Jeff brings it up? Listen in and find out! (Hint: it does *not* involve Heat Vision and Jack…even though we end up talking about that a lot in this segment.) But all of it is basically a swerve to talk about The Spirit some more, so don’t be too fooled.
Watch that first page, it’s a doozy.
21:20-47:59: Care to hear about some more recent comics: how about Grayson: Future’s End #1? Wow, what an amazing issue cooked up by Tom King, Tim Seeley and Stephen Mooney! Seriously, if you haven’t picked it up yet, it is a really amazing one-shot that you don’t need to know about the Future’s End weekly series in order to enjoy. (In fact, you really don’t even need to have been following the previous two issues of Grayson.) Graeme calls it an “amazingly finely-structured comic,” and he is not wrong, Whatnauts. He is not wrong. Graeme also walks through some of the other 5YL one-shots, like Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Action, Detective Comics—which is a transition for Jeff to gripe about the ongoing stylistic inconsistencies of Batman Eternal (which has a full spoiler alert on for the most recent two issues since Jeff blabs about one of the big villain reveal), for Graeme to talk about Future’s End, and for both to discuss the joys and pains of weekly superhero titles.
47:59-58:45: Speaking of weekly experiences, Batman characters, and DC—Graeme has seen the pilot for Gotham! The whole thing! And he imparts some of his initial impressions here, which gives us a bit of scoop since Graeme will be recapping this show and Agents of SHIELD for Hollywood Reporter this fall.
YESSSSSSSS.
58:45-1:04:10: Back to comics! Jeff read and very much enjoyed Batman ’66 #14, “The Batrobot Takes Flight/Bat-Villains Unite,” by Jeff Parker, Paul Rivoche, and Craig Brousseau. Yeah, if you want a classic Silver Age DC story with a giant Batman robot involved? This is indeed the comic for you. Jeff is also loving the current digital series of Jiro Kuwata Bat-Manga stories. The Human Ball! (And Professor Gorilla! Which Jeff didn’t mention in the podcast but is telling you here as he’s also fantastic.)
1:04:10-1:12:09: Because Excalibur Comics, Graeme’s local shop, was having a huge sale in celebration of its fortieth anniversary. And because Graeme picked up all the rest of Steve Englehart’s run on Justice League of America and tells us about it. The Secret Origin of the Justice League? The Construct is to Red Tornado as Ultron is to The Vision? Wonder Woman—mind-controlled feminist? All of it proudly proclaims: ENGLEHART
1:12:09-1:38:04: Fun, apologetic, shameless and incisive comics? In that case, it’s well past-time we talked about Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #2 by Tom Scioli and John Barber. Also mentioned as in the same neighborhood, if not more or less under the same roof: Copra by Michel Fiffe; Captain Victory by Casey & Crew; and Nightworld #2 by Adam McGovern and Paolo Leandri; and we talk about Flash Gordon #5 which mixes up the art team for half an issue with surprising results. Also, thanks to Marvel Unlimited, Jeff has read the first issues of Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight which were very good, and the first two issues of She-Hulk by Charles Soule, Javier Pulido and Muntsa Vicente, which is *terrific*. Graeme talks about the second story arc of Ms. Marvel, we discuss the long shadow of the Inhumanity event, and more. Also discussed: Lumberjanes #5 (which Jeff has maybe turned around on); Scooby-Doo Team-Up #6 featuring the Super Friends and the Rainbow Ghosts; and that other fantastic all-ages book, Southern Bastards #4.
1:38:04-1:49:45: Saga #22, read and discussed by both Graeme and Jeff, and the Death-Defying Dr. Mirage, by Jen Van Meter and Roberto De la Torre, which Graeme has read and recommends. For his part, Jeff read and highly recommends Lose #6 by Michael DeForge. And Jeff has just started (still hasn’t finished) Finder: Third World by Carla Speed McNeil (with colors by Jenn Manley Lee and Bill Mudron) which is also pretty damn amazing.
1:49:45-1:59:17: Plug and a contest! PLUG: Graeme is moderating the Judge Dredd panel at Rose City Comic-Con in Portland Oregon, Saturday, September 20th, with guests Douglas Wolk, Arthur Wyatt, and Ulises Farinas. If you are in Portland, Oregon on that day, the Power of Dredd compels you to attend! CONTEST: We really liked “The Russia Shift,” that first arc of The Fuse, the crime procedural by Antony Johnston and Justin Greenwood set on a space station in the near future. We liked it so much that we are giving away a trade paperback collecting that very same arc (see above), and that trade is furthermore signed by aforementioned artist Justin Greenwood. Want to win it? Listen in here to find out how! (Super-thanks to Justin Greenwood, of course, and the ever-awesome Leef Smith of the ever-awesome Mission Comics and Art.
1:59:17-2:04:56: Closing comments! (Part 1) Graeme realizes we haven’t given you any details about our upcoming crossover with Travis Bickle on the Riviera and fills you in on what it was like to record with me and Sean Witzke (the Internet’s most terrifyingly knowledgeable film expert). You should definitely be listening to that podcast if you like movies…but if you like us (and let’s say for the sake of argument that you do) and you like movies, you should definitely give that episode a listen (we will mention it when it goes live, don’t worry!)
2:04:56-end: Also super-worthy of mention—our first $20 patron over at Patreon, Kris Peterson! Check Kris (not Chris) and his buddy Chris (not Kris) as they blog and podcast about comics over at The Gravy Age! He is a good egg, and we promise to do him proud. (And of course, we are grateful to our patrons who are keeping us fired up and productive!) Places to look for us at—iTunes! Stitcher! Twitter! Tumblr, Patreon! (where, as of this count, 77 patrons make this whole thing possible) You are…our Super Friends!
Oh, and here it is below, acting a little bit different from previous entries, but…hopefully you can still right-click and download? And stuff?
In case that doesn’t work, I’m going to take supergodmasterforce’s advice and throw in the link to our RSS feed here. It’s very easy to grab it there, I promise you!
http://theworkingdraft.com/itunesRSS.xml
in fact lemme try it this way as a hyperlink (duh!):
http://theworkingdraft.com/media/podcasts/WaitWhat158.mp3
As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening!
Well, that was brilliantly rntetaining as ever, git got me through the gym no bother (don’t think me virtuous, I’m so hungry now I’ve just ordered pizza and chips).
What a lovely variety of comics discussed. Here’s my tip for Graeme, as a fan of Sholly Fisch and Seventies Superman – run, don’t fly, and grab last week’s Action Comics: Futures End. You’ll like it muchly. Great money-grab cover, too, the lenticular effects are so much better hand last year. If you need further convincing, there’s a review over at my blog – actually, don’t bother, I did minor spoilers.
Do feel free to pop over, though, and see me try to convince people to give JLA 3000 a try – I avoided the big plot spoilers. I can totally see this as a New 52 dig.
http://dangermart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/justice-league-3000-9-review.html
Oh, I’m so jealous of Graeme, getting to discover much of the Englehart JLA run for the first time, it’s such a treat. That first Englehart story – the freeze villains – as the back half of the first double-sized issue, after a story by Cary Bates or someone, was like a bolt from the blue/Marvel Universe. Suddenly the characters came alive.
My favourite was the Secret Origin of the Justice League … I think Darwyn Cooke may have loved it too, in a sweet, homagey way.
Ooooooohhh. I was wondering why Travis Bickle has been so long in gestation. Congratulations on becoming honorary “Bic-Lickers!” I can’t wait to hear this clash of titans.
So far, I can’t figure out how to right click and download, but maybe I’m a fool and am missing something.
Just wanted to paste the RSS link here in the comments for anyone having trouble
http://theworkingdraft.com/itunesRSS.xml
Thanks, sgmf! You inspired me to add that link to the post, as well as do what I should’ve done in the first place and just put in a hyperlink to the podcast directly.
I always wondered what kind of weak-tea-and-mild-smiles people left bland, contextless compliments under posts that don’t create more discussion but I’m old now and it looks like I am exactly those kind of people. This podcast is the best 5 dollars I spend every month. Could not be less excited about Gotham, could not be more excited for more discussions about it.
Ah, this warmed the snapped, shattered wreckage of my heart. Thank you, Sean!
For what it’s worth, I thought DOLLHOUSE s2 was a step above s1 in just about every way (the exception being that s2 had around 75% less Alan Tudyk).
Also, am I the only one that can’t see “The Batrobot Takes Flight/Bat-Villains Unite” without singing it to “Afternoon Delight”?
Oh, holy hell. I would peg the odds of Jeff Parker actually doing that on purpose at somewhere between 68-92%. I should work up the nerve to ask him on Twitter….
So using the cluemaster’s code on the first page did we read what we think we read? Clever great recommendation with this book guys.
Extremely entertaining podcast as always. Although I’m going to have to disagree with Graeme on something but then emphatically agree with him on something else. Jeff, I’m going to leave you alone, since it sounds like you’ve got enough to deal with.
I would argue that the second Ms Marvel “arc” (i.e. issues 6-7) was actually pretty good. Yes, it was a departure from the exemplary first arc, but it served a purpose in integrating Kamala into the larger Marvel Universe, which, y’know, had to happen eventually. I like that they did it with a light touch – the interplay with Wolverine was funny & touching without being forced and heavy-handed. The gradual respect he developed for Kamala was fun to watch and rang true to me. Sure, the supporting cast/normal life stuff was missing and the art wasn’t as good, but to me this was the best case scenario for a sort-of fill-in. I assume they’ll get back to all that. Haven’t read #8 yet, but I’m actually looking forward to Running With Lockjaw – seems rife with potential. It could all fall apart at any time, but I have faith. (Which, if you know me, is saying a lot.)
What I do agree with you about is those Englehart Justice League issues. Looking back, those may actually be some of my favorite comics ever. He just came in and knocked it out of the park. The characterizations where previously there were none… the whole Guardians/Manhunter reveal that we now take for granted… wow. As someone who read those “live” at the time, I gotta tell you it was such a breath of fresh air and totally unexpected. (Though I think that extra page count really helped.) I was not into Marvel at the time (that happened a few years later), so I didn’t get any of the Avengers parallels/Marvel digs, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining. I desperately need to re-read those, but unfortunately they were in the major portion of my collection that I sold off a few years ago. D’oh! And Comixology only has one stinking issue. Please… DC Unlimited, now!
I’ll stop now. Again, keep it up guys. You make exercising fun.
Thanks for recommending Scooby-Doo Team-Up #6. My son loved it.
Waffle Window video? Shut up and take my monthly Patreon upgrade.
And I’ve a friend who just moved to Portland. Hm.
Another beyond spectacular podcast, guys. Thanks for the leads on new old stuff to read (as I tweeted to Jeff: the JLA #140 mentioned features the exotic alien planets of Orinda and Moraga — two towns on my regular bike routes just on the other side of the Oakland hills).
Though I can’t wait until you get to the Bomber Jacket Era of the Avengers. I read ahead, though the more accurate verb would be “skimmed through as quickly as possible because I am an OCD completist who has to say he at least glanced at every page before trying to pretend it didn’t exist”.