Wait, What? – Diamond? Not Forever

[Originally, I’d planned to do a parody number about this week’s news based on this song, but some health issues kept it from happening.  Please feel free to watch the opening below and imagine what might’ve been…]

0:01-8:47: Greetings! And an innocent question on Graeme’s part about ads on Skype immediately leads into a discussion about how Jeff makes his money, the Snyder Cut song, the Warner Brothers chain of command, and more deep info on Hollywood from these two ultimate insiders.
8:47-15:39: This sounds like the part where we maybe we start talking about things seriously, and discussing how in the wake of the announced Snyder Cut, peeps like David Ayer are talking about getting The Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad.  Also discussed: The Watchmen cut, The Damon Albarn season of Watchmen; Who Watches The Watchmen (Not Jeff); HBO Max watching problems; and more.
15:39-25:36: And one baby step closer to reality (our terrible, terrible reality!): people are asking Marvel to say something about The Punisher and the appropriation of his skull icon by the police.  Marvel are not saying anything about it, but Gerry Conway will try to get some work about it, and Jeff & Graeme have a continuity argument about the Punisher’s origins (and man Jeff didn’t even get to the first issue of the Mike Baron/Mike Zeck miniseries that comes up with an in-continuity excuse for that dude’s jay walker killing tendencies); and more.
25:36-1:28:33: Graeme officially broke some huge news over at The Hollywood Reporter: DC has cut ties  with Diamond Comic Distributors, requiring all comics retailers after June 15 to order DC books through Lunar Distribution and UCS Comics Distributors for periodicals and Penguin Random House for graphic novels and collected editions.  We talk the facts, the beliefs about what’s happening behind the facts, the retailers’ reactions and, of course, our own healthy dollop of speculation and discussion.  At 32:14, Graeme reads DC’s note to retailers which is as follows:
Dear DC Direct Market Retailer, First and foremost, we hope this finds you safe and well especially during what has been an incredibly challenging year. We are writing today to share with you that DC’s long-standing relationship with Diamond Comic Distributors is coming to a close effective following Diamond’s distribution of product offered on DC’s FOC list of June 1st.
We want to thank Steve Geppi and the great people at Diamond for all the years of service. We recognize that, to many of you, this may seem like a momentous decision. However, we can assure you that this change in DC’s distribution plans has not been made lightly and follows a long period of thought and consideration. The change of direction is in line with DC’s overall strategic vision intended to improve the health of, and strengthen, the Direct Market as well as grow the number of fans who read comics worldwide. In the near term, Diamond will only be fulfilling orders placed through June 1 Final Order Cut-Off and will not solicit the sale of new DC titles further.
To ensure a smooth transition for retailers, DC will suspend Final Order Cut-Off for June 8, making those books available to order on Final Order Cut-Off on June 15. Moving forward, we will continue our distribution relationship with Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors for distribution of periodicals and graphic novels, and Penguin Random House for distribution of graphic novels, worldwide. We believe this new distribution system will bring you world class service using top of the line and modern systems that will provide you the most efficient operational supply chain. DC will continue to look for ways, together with our new partners, to better serve you and the fans to the best of our ability. We remain committed to the Direct Market and look forward to partnering with you to grow your business and to get the best comic books and graphic novels to the fans in the most efficient and seamless manner.
All the best, DC
And for those of you who want to follow along with some of the other quotes we discuss, here’s a link to Heidi’s round-up at The Beat, where Jeff anyway pulls talking points from Todd Allen, Brian Hibbs, Chuck Rozanski, and more.  Also discussed: the cold war shenanigans from Diamond toward DC before DC walked away; why no other publishers have signed up with Lunar or UCS; Diamond being pretty terrible at their job; and much, much, much more in this hour-plus conversation.
1:28:33-1:38:55:  “Have you been reading comics in the midst of all this,”asks Jeff and of course, Graeme, being Graeme, has.  Discussed: Green Lantern: Mosaic; The Shadow by Andy Helfer, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kyle Baker, and Richmond Lewis (big thanks to the mighty Matt Terl!); Hellblazer old and new, and how they’re not the same as John Constantine stories; and more.
1:38:55-1:47:40: As for Jeff, he’s been revisiting World’s End Harem by LINK and Kotaro Shono, the porny manga version of Y: The Last Man on Earth; Outer Darkness/Chew #2; Avengers #33; the first few issues of Scooby-Doo Team Up and the truly impressive issue(s) #83 and #84 featuring just about every gorilla and chimp character in the DC pantheon; The Joker: 80 Years of the Clown Prince of Crime The Deluxe Edition; and more.
1:47:40-1:49:42:  Graeme gives us the head’s up that the latest Rob Williams Judge Dredd storyline is a throwback to the days of classic megaprogs with Dredd facing down The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by heading out on a quest (it sounds great!).
1:49:42-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Read Volume 15 of Judge Dredd: The Complete Casefiles and the first main story in America and Drokk out with us next week!
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Wait, What? — Super Stache

0:01-7:27: Howdy! (And apologies for Call Recorder truncating Graeme’s greeting!)  Hours have become days, days have become weeks, and weeks have become years, so it feels like a long time since we have last spoken and need to spend a few minutes catching up—to the point, in fact, where we have to jump offline to check in.  How is Graeme? How is Jeff?  And you, Whatnaut—how are you?
7:27-18:20:  Okay, we’re back from discussing a thing for Graeme that may not come together and therefore should not be disclosed on air, and moving on to something Graeme is more than eager to talk about:  Adfrian Tomine’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Cartoonist!  It is scheduled for release in July, and it is an autobio comic about being a cartoonist that is, as Graeme memorably puts it, “like Curb Your Enthusiasm starring Adrian Tomine.”  Like we said, Graeme is more than eager to talk about it, but does it sound like Jeff is…less than eager to talk about it?  Why would that be?
18:20-23:34: Jeff has had pretty bad luck with comics the last week or so.  Not like…Uncut Gems levels of bad luck? But, still, yeah,  Pretty bad with some exceptions—and one of those exceptions is the third and final issue of Superman Smashes The Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihuru. Just a stellar wrap-up to the period piece minseries.  And the other good read he had recently also had lovely Gurihuru art;  Spider-Man and Venom: Double Trouble #1, recently available on Marvel Unlimited.
23:34-1:01:01:  But maybe the reason Jeff has had bad luck with comics has a lot—a whole lot—to do with the fact that Jeff has been reading comics starring Morbius, The Living Vampire, the trash fieriest of trash fire characters…and worse he’s been reading the Adventure Into Fear comics from the 70s starring ol’ Morb. How can comics crafted by faves of Jeff like Steve Gerber, Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, Gil Kane, and P. Craig Russel go so horribly wrong?  Listen and learn, true believer, listen and learn. Also discussed: A Don McGregor top five; Rager of Ultron; The Melter; and more.
1:01:01-1:15:09:  So worked is Jeff in his eagerness to define and convey the scope of his frustration that he bungles the title of his next disappointing read, Action Comics Vol. 3: Leviathan Hunt by Brian Michael Bendis and Szymon Kudranski, as Adventure Comics Vol. 3.  (Thanks for catching, Graeme!)  Jeff loves the character interactions but loathes the story machinations and the book’s excerpt of Bendis’s script is just gasoline on top of this very conflicted fire.
1:15:09-1:58:36: By contrast with Jeff’s exasperation with Bendis’s sloppiness, Graeme has some conflicted feeling about the manifestation of what is more or less the exact opposite in Scott Snyder’s run on Justice League, which has just concluded as a lead-in to the upcoming Dark Metal event by Snyder and Greg Capullo.  Bendis had for many years at Marvel built the end of one crossover event into the beginning of the next, such that each event had a little less punch to it with one status quo leading to another more dramatic status quo, and that’s a pretty interesting contrast to what Graeme talks about here after reading Metal, Justice League: No Justice, Justice League Odyssey, and Justice League itself.  Snyder hits all the story points but…do they land?  And, y’know, why or why not? As you might imagine, SPOILERS for the conclusion of Snyder’s run and/or the various minseries and connected series along the way; and for those of you who gambled Jeff would still be second-guessing himself and consequently still screwing up James Tynion IV’s name this late in to Tynion’s career, pick up your winnings at window four!
1:58:36-2:07:06: If you follow the Wait, What? Tumblr, you’ll know Graeme has been reading Armor Wars/Stark Wars, the very enjoyable Iron Man comics by David Michelinei and Bob Layton, and can compare and contrast it with Iron Man, the launching point of the MCU that reworks the Armor Wars/Stark Wars and the Obadiah Stane arc from earlier.  So the movie, in a way Graeme didn’t realize before this rewatch, is written by people who grow up with the same Iron Man comics he grew up with. Also discussed: Armor Wars II, which Graeme accurately describes as “a sequel to a story that never existed.”
2:07:06-2:22:46: And then Graeme skips ahead to read Tom Taylor’s run on Superior Iron Man, followed by Kieron Gillen’s run, Bendis’s run, and Dan Slott’s run. Has Tony been done dirty by writers unable to leave a decent character hook alone?  Or has the influence of Marvel’s marketing department hold more sway in this era of Marvel comics than we normally acknowledge?
2:22:46-2:25:08: Comics news/Musical interlude
2:25:08-2:35:25: More comics news (non-musical version). With added TV and movie recommendations from Graeme!
2:35:25-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Skip week! See you in two hundred years—which is to say, June 7—for our next episode!
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Wait, What? — Looking Forward To It

0:01-4:18: Welcome!  Ever wonder how easily thrown we are when displaced from routine? Well, wonder no more as we spend our opening moments downright flummoxed by Skype.  It says a lot about us that we’re more in our element trying to recall the publication date of a decades-old Andrew Vacchs book than figuring out how the tech we use every day works.
4:18-31:20:  Jeff wants us to move into comics news first and have Graeme break it down for us!  Covered: Diamond’s return date and the two hour livestream with Steve Geppi; Jeff’s modest proposal for two important podcast spinoffs; Steve Geppi’s twitter feed; Marvel’s return to publication and their offbeat choice of returning issues and trades;  and more.
31:20-39:02: Jeff had some things to clarify and expand upon from the previous episode, starting with something he doesn’t remember actually discussing last week (but maybe?):  Hoopla not updating with DC’s trades on day and date the way they have been previously; the appearance of the trade of First Issue Special; Jeff finally reading that *amazing* Dr. Fate one-shot drawn by Walt Simonson (available to read on DC Universe).  Just stunning work.
39:02-45:02:  Also mentioned in our discussion of the First Issue Special trade: a startling discovery Jeff made by going full-McMillan. Also discussed:  Graeme of course managing to out full-McMillan Jeff in the full-McMillan department; Ditko’s Creeper as opposed to Ditko’s and Fleisher’s Creeper;  the young and talented Gerry Conway captured in all his ability and power by the anonymous editor that is….the young and talented Gerry Conway; and more.
45:02-56:02: Jeff revisits last week’s discussion of Wotakoi; Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita. Jeff still loves it, but has a bit of extra context as to its appeal and talks about that here.
56:02-1:23:19: “So Graeme,” Jeff asks, “why did you make me read Absolute Carnage?”  Which is the most generous way possible to discuss the (comparatively) recent Marvel event by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, now collected (and available digitally on Hoopla)?  Discussed: splatterpunk; the Venom mythos; King, Millar, and Cates; the Absolute Carnage trade as an event that gives you no signposts into anything else; and more.
1:23:19-1:34:52:  Something else Graeme made Jeff read: Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle #1 (available to read on Marvel Unlimited), a DC Challenge/Exquisite Corpse style one shot by Jonathan Hickman, Chris Bachalo, Al Ewing, Michael Allred, Greg Smallwood, Chip Zdarsky, Chris Sprouse, Cameron Stewart, Kelly Thompson and many, many (!) more.
1:34:52-1:36:54:  When not assigning books for Jeff to read, Graeme has been reading Tales of the Dark Multiverse (currently available on Hoopla), which has a lot of the earmarks of classic What If? stories (omnipotent observer, worlds where events went differently, bummer endings).  If Jeff sounds distracted during this, it’s because he’s trying to hunt up the collection on Hoopla and wasn’t having the best luck.
1:36:54-2:01:03: Also on Hoopla and also (re-)read by Graeme: the House of X/Powers of X collection by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva and Mark Brooks.  When it first came out, we were super-stoked by this change-up to the X-Men status quo.  And now?
2:01:03-2:11:13:  Also on the re-read pile for Graeme:  Brightest Day, the Geoff Johns/Pete Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/ (and many others) year-long fortnightly event that is an object of curiosity for what it did, what it didn’t do, and where it didn’t go, thanks to Flashpoint and the New 52.
2:11:13-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Judge Dredd The Restricted Files, Vol. 2? Drokk!!
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Wait, What? — Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits

0:01-9:56: Howdy! And, wouldn’t you know it, our opening topic is indeed an inquiry into the nature of the word “Howdy,” before moving on to more important topics like sarcasm which is only the most important topic ever.  And then it’s on to discussions of injuries, suffering, machismo, and cool.
9:56-56:01: Well, of course, if we’re talking about what’s cool, we have to discuss what it’s like to read all the issues of Countdown to Final Crisis, plus the various tie-ins.  I mean, that’s just common sense!  Anyway, since Graeme read them (and Jeff, thank god, did not), we get to hear from it about what it’s like to go down a bad comics hole, and to stay down there for so long. Discussed: the plotlines in Countdown; Countdown as the flip side of our earlier discussion of Dan Didio’s legacy at DC; gibberish; is 52 and Countdown analogous to Secret Wars and Secret Wars II; comic book universe status quos; the latest issues of First Issue Special on DC Universe (Warlord! The Outsiders!); DC’s second silver age; and much more for what is terrifyingly close to an hour?

56:01-1:21:47: Jeff *finally* saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker! But it’s been full four days since dong so—has he really had enough time to absorb it?  By which I mean: does he remember it?  Full-on spoilers for this movie, though if you have a social media account of almost any kind, the movie’s already been spoiled for you already?  That said: SPOILERS.  Discussed: Star Wars, give me those Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, don’t let them end!
1:21:47-1:42:26: What Jeff has read and wants to talk about: Space is Awful: The Ballad of John Dennis #1 by Derek Moreland and Derrick Fleece; Friday #1 by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente; Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Omnibus collection by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson; Cat Shit One by Motofumi Kobayashi; the first three volumes of From The New World by Toru Oikawa from the novel by Yusuke Kishi; Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku by Fujita; 1122 For A Happy Marriage by Peko Watanabe; and more.
1:42:26-2:04:40: Comics news!  Catching us up to speed, Graeme walks us through! The alternate distribution deal of DC! Daily digital content! BINC funding! The mystery of Marvel and the fate of John NEE!  Bonus: NoBrow!
2:04:40-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: More Waiting, and almost assuredly More Whatting!
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Wait, What? — ComicHub, Bub

0:01-01:10:14: Greetings! Welcome to the Wait, What? rollercoaster (of love!).  There is so much going on in the world right now, and so much that has happened in the U.S. comics market in the last week, we should just hop right in and break it all down for you.  Which is to say, we *should* but thanks to a correspondence with Dominic L. Franco, Jeff sat down and power-re-read of a fourteen year old DC event miniseries: Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, and a flotilla of artists, inkers, cover people, colors, and letters.  And we talk about it AT LENGTH. So if you don’t want to hear about a big turning point in the DCU and how it resonates with later work by Johns, you should probably skip ahead an…hour or so?  Discussed: The plot of Infinite Crisis and everything that leads up to it; the modified version of Infinite Crisis released as a trade (and which version is/isn’t available on DC Universe); the Marvel Universe reduction of wonder in the 80s; the New52’s alternate origin point; connections to DC’s Convergence event (complete with its “nightmarish” zero issue); the various characters arcs of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman; what does Geoff Johns believe in, really?  Graeme’s recent re-read of the twelve issue Ion miniseries written by Ron Marz around the time of Johns’ Sinestro War; DC event mad-libs; the good soldier who gets done the dirtiest by Infinite Crisis; and more.

01:10:14-1:35:00: Jeff tries to move on to the comics news as he’s all-too-horribly-aware how long the Infinite Crisis has become, but Graeme is not so easily swayed.  After all, Jeff opened up the whole discussion mentioning his thoughts about Infinite Crisis and a theory about the 1999 Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant movie Notting Hill. So what’s the connection, Graeme wonders?  Here’s your chance to find out discussed.  Discussed: Yesterday; Notting Hil;, the crimes-against-humanity atrocity that is Love, Actually; the other 1999 movie that is basically Notting Hill; and more.
1:35:00-2:08:43: Comic news! it’s time for comic news!  Well, I mean, actually it’s probably well-past time but here it is finally!  Graeme gives us the 411 on what he rightfully described as “a fucking weird week for comics.”  Discussed (although not necessarily in this order):  DC and Marvel not publishing new material digitally (unless, as in DC’s case, it was already scheduled as digital-first material); Diamond announcing, nine days after saying it would not be delivering new product to comic stores, that it has cashflow problems and is unable to pay vendors (nine days!); ComicHub is announced as the savior of the comics industry and will immediately begin distributing digital copies of physically purchased comics (despite Jeff calling it Comics Hub this entire time); DC gave a quarter of a million dollars to retailers in financial support; and Marvel Comics pausing publication of 15-20% of its titles, affecting up to a third of its output.

2:08:43-2:47:53: Unsurprisingly, we segue from the pencil’s down for a third of Marvel’s product to the slowdown and shutdown in other industries, including the ones that continue to pay us (for now).  If you wanted conversation between two friends about the pandemic, what and where it might go from here—both for themselves and for this industry—think of this as a bonus episode jammed onto your comic book podcast.  Plus, an update about where to watch The Prisoner! Plus, a recommendation from Graeme to watch: Mad Max: Fury Road.  And from Jeff: George Romero’s The Crazies.  (Yes, we are very too-on-the-nose these days.)
2:47:53-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: DROKK DROKK DROKK DROKK DROKK DROKK
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Wait, What? – Pencil’s Down

0:01-1:04:41: Greetings! And right from the get-go, we’re off and running as Graeme poses a “hypothetical’ question involving, oh, I don’t know, a P.R. person for a major company in an industry that is facing systemwide disruption that threatens to be cataclysmic. And from there, we dive right into the P.R. release that came out from DC mere hours before we recorded, and from there try to track the rapidly changing status quo for the direct market that includes things like the only comics distributor in the marketplace shutting down, smaller publishers putting their publications on hold, Free Comic Book Day becoming Free Comic Book May becoming Free Comic Book Nothing For Now, and much more. Ready for nearly an hour of analysis, fretting, and “game theory”? (Don’t worry, at no point do we say that.)

1:04:41-1:13:28: Okay, and here is part two of the podcast, and we’re talking about what we’re reading: we start off by talking about the tremendousness that is the current run of The Immortal Hulk. I’m sure you’re not sleeping on this book, but if you are: don’t.

1:13:28-1:18:39: The final volume (28!) of S and M by Mio Murao was finally released on Comixology, and Jeff talks about the final volume, the reading challenges, and the friends we made along the way (and by “friends,” we mean “depraved sex acts that happen as dramatic beats in the midst of a thriller melodrama). It hung around too long, but Jeff would be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate it as its “height.”


1:18:39-1:24:41: Much easier to praise is the first volume of Blissful Land by Ichimon Izumi, a story about a 13 year old doctor’s apprentice in 18th century Tibet surprised with an arranged bride-to-be. Don’t let our digression about horny Dr. Strange stories distract you from a heartwarming, low-stakes manga.

1:24:41-1:32:28: Jeff also read the first three issues of Undiscovered Country, which turns into a jumping off point about reading comics that are perfectly fine that don’t get revisited under normal circumstances. Will that change now that circumstances are pretty god-damn far from normal? It’s a good segue to the things Graeme has been reading starting with the early issues of Legionnaires, featuring some early work by Chris Sprouse. Other relaxing “perfectly fine” old comics Graeme’s been reading on DC Universe and Marvel Unlimited and Jeff mentions being mid-readthrough of the trade of DC’s Wanted: The World’s Most Dangerous Super-Villains (currently available on Hoopla, and popping up weekly on DC Universe).

1:32:28-1:47:38: Jeff and Edi have been fighting the Covid Blues by watching more movies than usual and, hey, why not give you a quick rundown on those? Discussed: Contagion, Knives Out, Robocop, Avenue 5, Judge Dredd contagion comics, Robocop being a Judge Dredd film, and more.


1:47:38-2:01:36: In the least surprising turn of events ever, Graeme has been rereading Justice League: The Detroit Era. What may be surprising is the incredibly candid way Graeme “recommends” these issues. Also discussed: licensed comics not on the streaming services; licensed comics that *are* on the streaming services; Gerard Jones reprints; the After Truth documentary on HBO; the Danny Kaye Show; Breeders and Dev, both on Hulu; and more.

2:01:36-2:12:16: Graeme: “Are you also going nuts in this time of social distancing, Jeff?” Jeff: [gif of T-1000 melting] Good thing to come out of this conversation? A renewed desire to rewatch The Prisoner! (Streaming on Amazon Prime, apparently…)
2:12:16-2:18:37: In conclusion, we’re doing fine. However, Jeff mentions the sympathy (or, as he puts it, “pity and awe”) he has for Graeme who has to monitor the news for his job. Graeme talks a little bit about that, the process, and the wear and tear on his psyche.
2:18:37-end: Closing Comments! Look for us on Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast. (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)

Next week: Another episode!

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Wait, What? — Do You King Moore Glass?

0:01-54:21: Greetings! Crazy, exhausted greetings! Jeff is recovering from a visit from his nieces and Graeme is recovering from 2020, and I have a question for you: did you want our opening pre-comics pleasantries to cover the better part of an hour, but also touch on the coronavirus, infectiousness, self-diagnosed hypochondria, baseless medical speculation, and general feelings of frustration about the world in general and the timing of the cancelation of Emerald City Comic-Con 2020 in particular?  Because if so, I am impressed at the level of heightened awareness on your part about what you want from this podcast!  And also very relieved, because as things turn out… Also discussed: Watching a Pixar movie right where virus testing packages are being dropped via helicopter; accidental quarantines; what your body remembers; a visit to the comic shop turned quasi-nightmarish; and much more.
54:21-1:05:16: And as long as we’re talking about discomfort and pain, let’s talk about DC Universe All-Star Games, DCU’s first original unscripted gaming miniseries starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sam Witwer (among others)! Jeff tries to blame Graeme for making him watch this—despite Graeme  never mentioning anything about it—and tries to describe the experience of watching this “show” for “entertainment.”
1:05:16-1:13:44: Comics? Oh well, if you insist!  Graeme has reread all four phases of Zenith by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell.  FULL ON SPOILERS for a series that is, admittedly, thirty years old, so be warned.  Discussed: Final Crisis connections, underplayed conclusions versus full-fledged melodrama; and more.
1:13:44-1:28:20: Did I say “more”? I meant “Moore”!  After our discussion last time, Graeme sat down and read LOEG: The Tempest by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill! Discussed: Graeme’s impressions about the book and about Moore’s cautious self-positioning in this final work of comics creation.
1:28:20-1:41:26: Because Imaginary Graeme made him, Real Jeff has been reading Justice League of America: The Wedding of the Atom and Jean Loring, which reprints mid-70s comics written by Gerry Conway (among others, although not mentioned yet) and drawn by Arvell M. Jones, Alan Weiss, and others. Discussed: the real Ray Palmer, why comic book writers admire the silver age Atom, the “sweet” spot of why Gerry Conway comics from the 70s are weirdly readable, trying to fold Marvel characterization within DC tropes, and more.
1:41:26-1:47:31: And since he’s a harsh taskmaster, Imaginary Graeme also made Jeff read Adventures of Superman: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Vol. 2, which includes a lot of Elseworlds stuff, a collection of JLGL covers, at least one primo World’s Finest story by Bob Haney.
1:47:31-2:12:51: And on a more modern tip, both Brian Hibbs and Reality Graeme liked and generally recommended Strange Adventures #1, the Tom King/Mitch Gerads/Evan “Doc” Shaner miniseries with Adam Strange looking at heroism, egotism, science fiction, colonialism, and what King himself calls “the bloody gap between the myth and the reality.”  So Jeff read it and, um.  Is this the flip side of this episode’s LOEG: The Tempest discussion? Perhaps.
2:12:51-end: Closing Comments, featuring:  scheduling and info about our next episode in two weeks: it’s a Drokk and we’ll be reading Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 13 and the trade of The Dead Man! (Also, there’s a 50% off sale over at 2000AD Store on Judge Dredd collections until the day after this ep. goes live so that’s worth a look-see for your stockpiling needs!)  it’s a   Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Skip week! And then join us the week after for an all-new Drokk!!
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Wait, What? – Downfall

Shorter than usual show notes, in part because far fewer topics covered. My apologies, but I hope you understand—let’s get to it!
0:01-1:02:01: “How does it feel to be the new publisher of DC Comics?” asks Graeme McMillan of Jeff Lester, and if you’re wondering if that’s a reference of Dan Didio’s removal from DC, give yourself a cigar, and if you think that means we’re going to get into the comic company speculation, appraisal, and possible future ramifications of this very big (and very recent) piece of news, give yourself another cigar!  And then find yourself somewhere quiet and well-ventilated where you can smoke them because we are going to go on about this *for a while*. We start off with an overview of what Graeme’s workday—with Graeme doing the auditory equivalent of Japanese pornography’s blurring out all the overly revealing bits—on the day the music died.  (Hmm, I made two wildly inappropriate comparisons in one sentence—I’d like to think that’s a new record but I know better.)
1:02:01-1:07:53: Yes, and then after that? Jeff has two books up his sleeve that he really wanted to talk about, but first we talked about the “mixed bag” that is Graeme’s comics but he does have a great story about the enduring appeals of old Superman covers from the 70s.
1:07:53-1:12:57: Something else Graeme read and is able to break down in a bit more detail is Noelle Stevenson’s The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir in Pictures, a collection that spans eight years of her life, collecting her autobio comics from Tumblr and expanding upon them. Graeme uses the phrase, “accidentally fearless” which definitely peaks my interest.
1:12:57-1:23:57:  As for Jeff, he wants to talk about Inio Asano’s Downfall, just published in English by Viz.   Is it an autobio confession of a middle-aged mangaka having a midlife crisis? A very wry parody of same? Whatever it happens to be, it’s beautiful to look at, subversive in its execution, and either very darkly humorous or very, very dark.  After you’ve listened to Jeff blab about it, go check out Joe “Jog” McCulloch’s excellent review and overview at TCJ.com.  It sounds like there’s a chance Graeme will read it and we’ll get a chance to discuss it again, so hop on the hype train early and check it out.
1:23:57-1:49:17: The other book is not nearly so new to the stands but what the hey—it is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.  As you may recall, Jeff read the first three issues many years ago and here, thanks to Hoopla, he gets a chance to sit down and read the full six issue series.  And what he finds…may surprise you?  It certainly surprised him! And Graeme!  And maybe Grant Morrison!
1:49:17-1:58:58: You did hear that Mark Waid is the new publisher of Humanoids, right?  We still kinda can’t believe it!
1:58:58-2:00:59: Chris Samnee is great, and his upcoming new book, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, seems like it’ll be super-great!
2:00:59-end:   Closing Comments! We’re not sponsored by Casper, but Graeme’s got a great story about them anyway!  Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Skip week! Rest your ears and your hearts!

 

 

 

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Wait, What? – Breaking My Brain, or Breaking My Heart?

00:01-06:01:  Greetings from Graeme “Whole Day” McMillan and Jeff “Poor Guy” Lester! Graeme is medical emergency adjacent; Jeff is Jeff; nevertheless, we decide to persist in the face of adversity and press on to discuss…attempted murder!!!!

6:01-41:33: Yes, at Graeme’s insistence, Jeff ended up watching the first season of DC Unscripted, the reality show on DC Universe that tracks ten contestants’ attempt to pitch a new reality show for DC Universe.  (Suspiciously meta premise, that.)  We discuss our reactions to the show, the actual winners, 360 activations, slide lines, ringers, and much more.
41:33-50:59: So, yes, after discussing how unlikely it would seem that someone would watch a DC Universe reality show, Graeme comes clean as “genuinely, non-ironically a fan of” Marvel’s Hero Project on Disney+!   So, ya know, what do we know, really?
50:59-58:28: “At a certain point,” Jeff says, “we have to talk about Animal World.” And because Graeme has no idea what Jeff is talking about when he says that, that point becomes immediately after Jeff gets through saying it. Discussed: Animal World, Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji, Unlimited RPS, Deadpool, and much, much more.
58:28-1:23:40: Finally busting out the comics-as-comics talk, we discuss the first nine issues or so of Dan Slott’s run on Fantastic Four, since Jeff finally girded up his loins to read them and…oof.  Discussed: A fascinating piece of pre-FF #1 fanfic concerning Sue and Ben’s relationship (in Fantastic Four #5), the FF as family, the appeal of inoffensive comics, functional families vs. dysfunctional families, and more.
1:23:40-1:52:50:  Remember when we were talking about the reading list Jeff keeps, and Graeme went, “yeah, hey, I should do that,” and then was all, “hey, I did it!” and then was like, “no wait, it’s not complete I’ll read it to you next time?”  THAT TIME IS NOW.  (Jeff also reads his reading list, but more for a comedic contrast than anything.)  Also discussed: Narrative exhaustion, working oneself sick, being young, a thought about old Rockstar Games video games that I don’t think I got to finish?, Jeff watching Graeme’s old cat, Luna, and more.
1:52:50-1:58:56: All the grousing about narrative aside, Jeff really wants to recommend An Invitation From A Crab, a manga from indie Japanese cartoonist Panpanya.  Jeff busts out a lot of great creators—Kafka!, Woodring!, Miyazaki!—in his flailing around trying to convey what’s so great about this collection of stories.  It’s very good!
1:58:56-2:14:59: And Graeme has spent a lot of time, when not reading Birds of Prey comics for work, reading Justice League comics from the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. Tune in for an analysis of the days of Giffen, DeMatteis, Jones, Jurgens, and more. Also discussed:  the discrepancy between one title between runs; mutant orgies; and more.
2:14:59-end:  Closing Comments! Well, it should be but somehow we go directly from giant robots to Bobbie Gentry? Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Drokk!! It’s time for Drokk!!

 

 

 

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