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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Drokk! Ep. 14: “I Told You — I’m Not Buyin’ It Anymore!”

Previously on Drokk!: The Wagner/Grant era is over, and now things are in a very strange holding pattern as the strip tries to work out just what it’s going to be, and what things are going to be like, moving forward. We’ve already seen some hints — and, this episode, we get the biggest hint yet, and it’s not even in the Judge Dredd strip.

0:00:00-0:03:23: After a brief pre-credits public service for those in the U.S. with Amazon Prime — really, Future Shock is a fun film — we get things started by introducing the two books we’re covering in this episode: Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 13 and The Dead Man, a non-Dredd strip that’s actually about Judge Dredd after all. You’ll see.

0:03:24-0:21:06: There’s no getting around it, and we don’t even try; Case Files Vol. 13 isn’t great. Jeff has some feelings about why that is, and they revolve around the idea that, now no longer a writing duo, John Wagner and Alan Grant are both suffering from the split. We talk about the difference between their styles, and also pick apart a couple of stories in particular where Grant — by far our least favorite of the two — feels like he’s dropping the ball on what we’re expecting from the strip at this point.

0:21:07-0:43:45: Wagner, meanwhile, has his share of misfires — we’ll get there very soon — but the strongest stories in this collection come from him, and we talk about a couple of them for a bit: “Banana City” and “In The Bath,” the latter of which might be the favorite story of both of us in this book. (For once, we didn’t actually talk about that during the episode.) We discuss Wagner’s strengths as comparative to Grant’s, before touching on some of the failures he offers up in this collection, including something to utterly devoid of a point that Jeff even came up with head canon as to why it exists. (We’re looking at you, “An Elm Street Nightmare.”)

0:43:46-1:05:15: Have you ever thought there were parallels between this era of Judge Dredd and the Star Wars prequels? I hadn’t, until Jeff makes a pretty convincing case on two different occasions, relating to two different stories in this collection — which were published a decade before Episode I reached theaters. Also under discussion: My love for the Cadet Kraken storyline, whether or not John Wagner is writing about the “nature versus nurture” argument and, if so, what side of the argument he’s on, and how “Young Giant” is really all about Judge Dredd and Judge Kraken, really. Oh, and “Letter to Judge Dredd,” a one-off that makes it clear that John Wagner is out to break the strip entirely.

1:05:16-1:15:02: For all that we didn’t love the book, we’re still willing to accept that there’s good stuff to be found, especially in its second half — even if Jeff and I don’t see eye-to-eye on the return of Italian stereotype Maria in the three-part “Cardboard City,” which Jeff compares unfavorably to the work of Robert Kanigher. Really, that’s just mean.

1:15:03-1:15:38: As we say goodbye to the volume, we ask whether it’s Drokk or Dross, and the answer isn’t particularly good, sadly. (It’s also not surprising, considering that we’d just talked shit about the book for an hour.)

1:15:39-1:26:20: Things improve considerably as we turn to The Dead Man, which both of us adored. It’s a Dredd strip in secret, and we talk about the ways in which it succeeds even beyond the last-minute-reveal: How much we love Wagner’s writing (under a pseudonym) and John Ridgeway’s atmospheric artwork, and the ways in which it isn’t a Dredd strip, even though it really is.

1:26:21-1:41:59: The strange thing about The Dead Man is that Wagner is telling the end of a character arc at exactly the same time as he’s telling the start of it, and we talk about what that means, as well as the ways in which this is the kind of formal trickery that can only be done in a comic like 2000 AD, for numerous reasons. Also discussed: Whether Dredd, once reborn, is an arrogant asshole and whether Yassa ends up paying the price for Dredd’s sins in a way that intentionally underscores Dredd’s responsibility.

1:42:00-1:53:47: I revisit the experience of reading The Dead Man in 2000 AD as a kid, and how the surprise felt at the time — unlike Jeff, I really did go into it cold — while also sharing a spoiler for Zenith: Phase III that I… maybe should have given a spoiler warning out for, even though it came out 30 years ago…?

1:53:48-1:57:15: Drokk or Dross, once again, and it’s a lot more favorable than Case Files Vol. 13, thankfully.

1:57:16-2:09:12: For once, Jeff actually read ahead of what we’re talking about, and we talk about just why that is, and then talk about what does lie ahead, and how it connects up the various threads that Wagner has been stringing along for a couple of Case Files volumes by this point, and also pretty much destroys Mega-City One even though we as readers today know that the strip continues for another three decades after that point. Cognitive dissonance, ahoy…!

2:09:13-end: And so we return to the end of things, as we talk about the Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter of things, not to mention the Patreon; we also touch for the briefest of seconds on how strange things are in the world right now, because — well, have you seen the news? Still, things really could be worse, which is kind of what next month’s episode is going to be all about…

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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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Drokk! Ep. 13: “What The Hell – I’ve Bought It So Far!”

Previously on Drokk!: The mega-epic “Oz” changed Judge Dredd forever by bringing about an end to the John Wagner/Alan Grant writing partnership on the strip, and setting up a brave new world where Dredd really dislikes a guy called Jug Mackenzie. I mean, that last bit at least feels very realistic.

0:00:00-0:02:16: After what might be the best cold open any episode of Drokk! has seen or will ever see — I’m not going to explain the context, for fear of ruining it — we quickly introduce ourselves and the fact that we’re talking about Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 12, which features material from 2000 AD progs 571-618, from 1988 and 1989.

0:02:17-0:25:07: It’s a strange volume, and that makes for a strange episode, to be honest; we start by talking about the ways in which the stories in this episode aren’t what we might have expected, judging by the evolution of the strip, which includes Jeff calling this volume Will Elder instead of Will Eisner; I bring up what I see as John Wagner’s new direction for the series, debuting in this volume — with Dredd getting older and starting to have doubts in himself, if not the entire system — and we get to talking about whether or not that feels out of character, before talking about the difference between John Wagner’s stories and Alan Grant’s stories, as seen here.

0:25:08-0:31:19: Is there a theme of writing about mental illness in this volume? We talk about the possibility, as well as couching the discussion in the fact that it would be mental illness as viewed through the same lens as the way the strip at this point deals with race — which is to say, very clumsily and embarrassingly indeed.

0:31:20-0:43:09: Returning to the subject of the disappointment of the volume as a whole — Jeff describes it as “an exercise in delayed gratification,” which is fitting — there’s a suggestion that one running theme is that of chaos, which shows itself both in the narratives themselves and the ways in which Wagner and Grant structure the series. We talk about their individual approaches to writing, and suggest that Wagner is the more ambitious, and darker, writer at least on the evidence of this volume, and touch on the evolution that is demonstrated in this mostly stationary book.

0:43:10-1:06:42: Are Wagner and Grant writing Dredd differently because they see their own longterm prospects as writers differently? We start going into more details about individual stories — “The Sage,” which has amazing Glenn Fabry artwork, as well as “Bat-Mugger” — before distracting ourselves again, as is our wont, with bigger picture stuff, like whether or not there are intentional echoes of earlier material as evolution or simply retreads of greatest hits? Jeff also has a good point about the realistic pace of Dredd’s evolution as a character.

1:06:43-1:18:37: I really like “Bloodline” as a story in this volume, but Jeff’s not convinced, which leads to a discussion about the strip’s attitude towards cloning, Jeff’s attitude towards cloning as a narrative element, Dredd’s complicity in his own commodification, and Dredd’s attitude towards Mega-City One as a whole, and whether or not it’s actually genetic. (It’s a far better story than Jeff’s thinks, I promise.)

1:18:38-1:38:41: What are our top 3 stories in the volume? We each list our choices — “Hitman,” “Bloodline” and either “Full Mental Jacket” or “Twister” for me, while Jeff goes for “Hitman,” the “Night at the Circus” and “Night at the Opera” twofer, and “Crazy Barry, Little Mo” — before talking about “Hitman” some more, especially how much we both love to see Dredd in hospital and how great Jim Baikie’s art is, and then asking whether or not “Crazy Barry, Little Mo” is intended as a sign of just how bad things are in Mega-City One and whether they’re about to get worse. Also discussed: Just how much we dislike the “Coming Soon” teases that have snuck into the strip during this era.

1:38:42-1:53:21: Where does this volume fall in the grand scheme of Dredd to date? Jeff’s not too impressed, and if I’m more kind, it might be because I know what’s lying in wait in the upcoming volumes. We pivot from there to talk about the art in these stories and the European influence on show (to various degrees of obviousness, depending on the individual artists; I see you, Liam Sharp), as well as what Jeff is expecting — or, at least, hoping for — from future volumes, which includes at least one kind of spoiler of what’s to come in the very short term (like, two episodes from now).

1:53:22-end: Before we get there, though, we have to wrap things up with the traditional mentions of our Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon, and tell you all that we’ll be back in a month for Complete Case Files Vol. 13. Until then, as always, thank you for reading and listening along.

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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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Wait, What? – license 2 (b) ill

0:01-17:30: Greetings from Graeme “Horribly Sick” McMillan and Jeff “Mildly Sick” Lester! We are both under the weather, and we apologize in advance if this episode has a few more woozy patches in it than usual. We compare notes about how shitty we’re feeling and why—turns out we’re more sympatico than we thought. Hypochondriacs are invited to skip over this section and our discussion of our ills.

17:30-28:20: Jeff gets a reprieve because Graeme hasn’t been tracking his reading lately—“your savage victory has been postponed for a week or two,” is how he puts it—but he’s still interested to see/hear that list. “Is there sickly news to match our sickly demeanor?” asks Jeff instead. We discuss the announcement of Marvel’s Empyre event, written by Al Ewing and Dan Slott and Valero Schiti. Spinning out from that we talk about Al Ewing’s great cosmic stuff being undone (Galactus Lifebringer), his first issue of Guardians of the Galaxy which Graeme read and enjoyed a lot, and more.

28:20-34:19: One of Jeff’s favorite topics, Marvel Unlimited and what’s being uploaded there, gets brought up in the course of talking about Al’s GotG. In particular: the last couple of weeks have seen very few (and in some cases no) uploads of older books. As MU starts trying to keep up with Marvel’s 100-titles-a-month output, will this be happening more and more? Also discussed: DC Universe’s more measured approach to its weekly upload; and more.

34:19-50:49: Graeme doesn’t have any more Marvel surprises for Jeff, but he is surprised he’s enjoying Bendis’s “Superman outs himself” storyline in Superman as much as he does, and we talk about why. Is this a chance for Jeff to swoop in and complain about Bendis’s plotting? You betcha! But they also talk about what’s good about Bendis, compare him to another wildly successful writer with an arguably equally lackadaisical approach to ending stories, why Bendis might be a better DC writer than a Marvel writer, the need to get a big story going to justify an investment, and more.

50:49-1:00:26: Graeme has read in collection the first twelve issues of The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp, and it is literally his third time through! What has he realized this third time through? “You realize the comics are interesting, and then they go up their own ass *dramatically. It’s not me!” Discussed: how the series was pitched in promotion and whether that’s a feint, a fail, or a swerve; and more.

1:00:26-1:09:06: Speaking of things one should love but do not—Jeff read Venom: The End written by one of his faves, Adam Warren, and drawn by Chamba, with the symbiote becoming the last hope for biolife in the universe. It’s a oneshot that sprawls across all space and time but feels curiously behind the times in a post Powers of X comics landscape. Why does it let Jeff down? And why doesn’t Graeme care? The answers may (but, let’s face it, probably won’t) surprise you! Also discussed: Miles Morales: The End, the secret ingredient that makes “The End” books so zesty, and more.
1:09:06-1:18:24: Jeff might be tapped out, but Graeme has a bunch of stuff he’s read that he wants to talk about. First, he had a chance to read a digital arc of David Roach’s Masters of British Comic Art, which Graeme thought would be profiles of British comic artists, but is in fact a complete history of Brtiish comics featuring hundreds of pages of samples and examples. “It’s fucking amazing,” is Graeme’s summation. Another book recently read and loved by Graeme is Kerry and the Knight of the Forest by the amazingly talented Andi Watson; and Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices & Changed the World – A Graphic Collection from Kazoo Magazine featuring a powerhouse lineup of cartoonists.

1:18:24-1:22:11: On the less successful side of things? The first volume of Faithless by Brian Azzarello and Maria Llovet, where impressive art by Llovet cannot save the story from Azzarello’s Azzarello-ness. Much more successful is The Runaway Princess by Johan Troïanowski, featuring a great joke/storytelling trick along with terrific art and a ton of charm.

1:22:11-1:38:47: Jeff’s turn! From Hoopla, Jeff’s read Red Sonja, Vol. 1: Scorched Earth by Mark Russell, Mirko Colak, and others, wherein the she-devil with a sword becomes a queen with an impossible war to win; from Amazon, via the powers of pre-ordering high, the surprise arrival of Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji by Nobuyuki Fukumoto; and on Comixology, two volumes of Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania by Yukari Takinami.
1:38:47-1:54:31: “What do you think of The Boys news,” Graeme asks Jeff, and then sensibly follows up with, “Do you know The Boys’ news?” Jeff does, but doesn’t necessarily know what to think or how to feel about it. Also discussed: Russ Braun; later era Garth Ennis; SARA by Ennis and Steve Epting; Goodnight Paradise by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli; and much more.

1:54:31-2:09:20: File this under conversational gambits that don’t work: “Hey, Graeme, Bloodshot the movie trailer with Vin Diesel!” But it does lead to us grumpily shit-talking Morbius and Jared Leto; The Joker being nominated for all the Oscars; we take the “two sick people try to cast DC supervillains even as they audibly lose their desire to live” challenge; and more.
2:09:20-2:27:27: Graeme sends us the warning! The two episodes of DC Daily wherein people pitch their DC-based reality show to DC execs have gone live on DC Universe. We will discuss it next episode, so go check it out. (Jeff certainly will!)
2:27:27-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 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 ,wherein your two hosts will hopefully take some time to recuperate! We’ll see you right around February 9th.

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Drokk! Ep. 12: “You Know Your Bullets Can’t Hurt Me!”

Previously on Drokk!: A decade into the comic book career of Mega-City One’s finest lawman, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the writing partnership of John Wagner and Alan Grant is almost without peer — and also that Wagner and Grant are leaning more and more into the idea that the strip is named after someone standing up for a fascistic regime.

0:00:00-0:03:11: As we introduce what we’re covering in this episode, let’s embrace the fact that I get the volume number wrong; it’s actually Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 11, not Volume 12. I knew this would happen when once the episode numbers and the volume numbers got out of sync! Anyway, it’s material from 2000 AD progs 523-570, from 1987 and 1988, with art by a whole host of people, including Cliff Robinson, Steve Dillon, Brett Ewins, Brendan McCarthy, Will Simpson and Jim Baikie.

0:03:12-0:38:59: We immediately dive into things, with Jeff asking what my favorite story in the collection is outside of the two obvious choices, “Revolution” and “Oz.” I talk about my choices, which leads into my grand operating theory for the book, which is that it’s a collection where the Judges are waging a psychological war on the citizens, and are focusing on the optics and propaganda of maintaining power more than anything else. This, in turn, becomes a conversation about whether or not Wagner and Grant were planning future stories in advance, with evidence for and against the idea, and if this means that Dredd really is beginning to evolve in this volume or if I’m imagining it given what follows next. We also get into the difference between Dredd as a strip and the U.S. monthly comic, in the sense of the number of recurring concepts and characters as well as the importance of (admittedly dark) comedy to Dredd as a character and a strip, as well as Jeff’s choice for favorite story, the Judge-gone-wrong “Raggedy Man,” which features perhaps the greatest ending of a Dredd story in some time. All this and the scariness of Judges gone wrong, the importance of brevity, and the secret origin(s) of Garth Ennis. No, really.

0:39:00-0:46:25: Jeff answers the traditional episode-end question about whether or not the volume would serve as a good introduction to new readers early with an uncertainty, and we talk about the power these stories gain from knowing what came before, as well as Wagner and Grant’s ability to write a good stand-alone adventure story.

0:46:26-1:05:23: We turn to “Revolution,” one of the two highlights of the volume. It’s a sequel to “Letter From A Democrat” from Volume 9, and it’s the bluntest story yet in terms of portraying the Judges as the villains of the world pretty unambiguously. We talk about how powerful it is, how bold it is, how depressingly prescient it is, and what it means for the character and the strip as a whole. Spoilers: Jeff and I are very much fans of this story in particular; “it is a masterful achievement” might be a phrase uttered.

1:05:24-1:56:32: And so, to the biggest story in the volume, and its crowning achievement: “Oz,” the first mega-epic in some time, and perhaps one of the best in the series’ four-decade-plus run. Across a meandering 50 minutes, we talk about everything from the influence of earlier mega-epics to just how unimportant Judge Dredd actually is to the story, even though this might be an exceptionally important story in Dredd’s overall development as a character — although that might depend on whether you buy into my reading of the climax more than Jeff does. Also discussed: am I reading too much into the climax of this story and if I am, what is actually happening in it? The differing worldviews of Wagner and Grant and why this story broke up their writing partnership, how “Oz” ties in with, and acts as a culmination of, the larger themes in this volume, Dredd’s love of nuking countries, how dark is too dark for a Dredd story, and the joys of Dredd as a sports comic and Wagner and Grant as sports writers. We cover a lot, but you’d expect that for almost an hour’s worth of conversation.

1:56:33-2:15:34: We drift towards the end in the old traditional way: Me waxing nostalgic about reading Dredd as a kid and not really understanding things, which leads onto a larger discussion about not getting things in comics as kids, as well as a brief mention of various pop culture references to be found in this volume and the evolution in the way Wagner and Grant approach such references in Dredd as a whole. I ask Jeff if he fancies following Chopper into his own series, and Jeff shares his ideas of what becomes of Chopper without having read those stories, and Mr. Lester also coins the new catchphrase of the podcast when he declares whether things are — wait for it — “Drokk or Dross!” Say it with us!

2:15:35-end: Things get wrapped up as we remind everyone about the Twitter, Tumblr, Instragram and Patreon, and let you all know that we’ll be back doing the Drokk! this time next month. (I also apologize for the technical errors that we’ve had lately, but if this post is live, then those are… hopefully behind us…? My fingers are crossed…)

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Wait, What?: Spider-Man Can Watch

00:01-5:34:  Greetings from Graeme “Happy New Year!” McMillan and Jeff “Yes, but is everything okay with Jim Lee?” Lester! Because Jeff is inexplicably concerned about Jim Lee (well, barely explicably), we get right off to talk about comics news and, well, what  the fuck is happening with Jim Lee? [Spoilers: apparently nothing?]
5:34-9:22: And from there, Jeff was curious what Graeme thought of some stuff Dan Didio had been saying.  “What stuff was Dan Didio saying?” asks Graeme, leading Jeff to realize just how little comics news he is reading (and especially retaining)!  Discussed: Bleeding Cool being played about 5G and whether or not that’s the same as DC’s upcoming timeline; more stuff about the timeline.
9:22-39:02: And finally, a bit more traction on the third thing Jeff thought we’d be discussing:  the comic book and graphic novel sales charts for 2019.  Discussed:  exactly that, plus also Graeme being fancy; Wonder Woman #750 and Flash #750; “everything matters” and what that means for DC as opposed to what it’s meant for Marvel; doubling down on the aging problem; sadly, the phrase “Time Trapper goatse” used by Jeff in the middle of some very good theories and extrapolations by Graeme; the Shannon and Dean Hale story in Wonder Woman #750 illustrated by Riley Rossmo that Graeme thinks is silly and great; and more.
39:02-1:00:37:  “Was there anything that surprised you in the 2019 best-selling comics and graphic novels?” ask Jeff of Graeme, and boy it’s a good thing he did!  Discussed: accidental embargo breaking; the list for both dollar share and unit share; the last issue of The Walking Dead and the final volume of The Walking Dead; Jeff not tracking that Walking Dead TV show; our confusion about why the companies appear to be sleeping on Tom Taylor; and more.
1:00:37-1:11:40: Robert Kirkman is launching Fire Power, a title with Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson on Free Comic Book Day.  But before then, they’re dropping a full trade prelude! Discussed: testing the direct market; the connection between Mark Millar, Robert Kirkman, and Brian K. Vaughan; Image titles that haven ’t even finished their own storyline; Project Superpowers; and more.
1:11:40-1:24:27: Speaking of things that don’t really wrap up well (or at all): Graeme read Wolverine: Infinity Watch by Gerry Dugan and Andy MacDonald.  Also discussed: the end of Omega The Unknown; the Three Loves of Galactus; and more.
1:24:27-1:57:01:  Remember an episode or two ago when Jeff mentioned Jason Aaron’s run on Avengers as being comparable to Grant Morrison’s run on JLA, to which Graeme scoffed? Well, get ready for some next level scoffing, as Graeme got on Marvel Unlimited to read the twenty issues currently available of Aaron’s run and then also re-reading Morrison’s JLA.  Also discussed: The War of the Realms; Silver Surfer: Black; and more.

1:57:01-2:17:32: Chris Arrant on Twitter the other day asked which comic books would make excellent stage musical.   (Great thread!)  Jeff replied on Twitter, but Graeme didn’t, so Jeff cornered him here about which comics he’d turn into a stage musical.  Also discussed: I Started a Joke by Jonathan Hickman; and more.
2:17:32-2:27:27:  Super quick comics talk: Jeff has read and then watched V For Vendetta; read two volumes of Darth Vader; the first volume of Dr. Aphra; and the trade of Marvel’s Tie Fighter; Graeme read Don’t Go Without Me by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell which he loved.
2:27:27-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 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!! Vol. 11 of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files! Join us!
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Wait, What? Ep. 285: Best Of End Of

(hey, everyone!  Jeff here!  Welcome to the final episode of 2019!  Since it is the holidays, and since I spent a kind of stupidly long time putting in Amazon affiliate links in our Best Of lists, I hope you won’t mind if I forego the usual gratuitous image-placement between segments and just give you a pared down version of the show notes this time? Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy the ep., and Graeme and I wish you the best for 2020 after giving you the best of 2019!)
0:01-5:03:  Greetings from Graeme “Very Radio” McMillan and Jeff “Coming Up In A Quarter Hour” Lester! There is a brief bit of talk about Batman—well, actually, talk about talk, to be honest, and about Bat Mann—before we actually get things going by talking about the last issue of Watchmen. Well, actually, more like talking about the talk about the last issue of Watchmen?  We’ve apparently decided to very meta for our last episode of 2019, everyone.  We’re sorry.
5:03-59:50:  Actually, since it is the last episode of the year, should we talk about the best books of the year?  (Yep.) Of the decade?  (Nope.)  Although Graeme does talk about the challenges putting together the Best of the Decade for Hollywood Reporter, and Jeff’s challenges in putting together the best of the year.
Aaaaand since Graeme read his full Best of Decade list on the episode, I hope he won’t remind me reprinting it here:
* Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton (Online, 2010-2018)
* Smile (A Dental Drama) by Raina Telegmeier (Scholastic, 2010)
* The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon (Abrams, 2012)
* The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (Image, 2014-2019)
* Giant Days by John Allison, Max Darin and Lissa Treiman (BOOM! Studios, 2015-2019)
* Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano (Viz Media, 2016-2017)
* The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics, 2018)
* Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC, 2017-2018)
* The River at Night by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly, 2019)
* The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis (Drawn & Quarterly, 2019)
And here’s his Honorable Mentions (not Amazon linked because I’m a wastrel):
* Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (Image)
* Thor: God of Thunder, Thor, The Mighty Thor, The Unworthy Thor, King Thor by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic, Russell Dauterman et al. (Marvel)
* The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm, et al. (Marvel)
* What Is Left by Rosemary Valero O’Connell (Short Box)
* The Multiversity by Grant Morrison, Ivan Reis, Frank Quitely et al. (DC)
* Zombo by Al Ewing and Henry Flint (2000 AD/Rebellion)
* My Brother’s Husband by Gengroh Tagame (Viz)
* My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kai Nagata (Seven Seas Entertainment)
* Tokyo Tarareba Girls by Akiko Higashimura (Kodansha USA)
* Berlin by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)
* This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (First Second)
* Oh Joy Sex Toy by Erika Moen, Matthew Nolan et al (Online)
* The Flintstones by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh (DC)
* Judge Dredd by Rob Williams, Henry Flint, et al (2000 AD/Rebellion)
* Relish by Lucy Knisley (First Second).
Also discussed:  how good or bad a year Marvel and DC had and why; the back-half of Tom King’s Batman run and the influence of Alan Moore; the comic book creator of Gladiator from the Imperial Guard; comic book entropy; Incoming! #1; Dan Abnett on Titans; your terrifying future; The Comics Journal’s Best of 2019: and more.
59:50-1:04:45: As for his Best of 2019, Graeme has nine titles?  It’s true, and they are:
1:04:45-1:45:55:  Oh, jeez.  Here we go with Jeff’s absurdly long “Best of 2019” list and his equally absurdly long Honorable Mentions list:
And here’s Jeff’s Honorable Mention list (which, like Graeme’s Honorable mentions for Best of the Decade are not linked, because what’s good for the goose is good for the wastrel):
Assassin Nation;
Avengers;
Batman (2016-);
Batman: Last Knight On Earth (2019);
Batman: Universe (2019-);
Chainsaw Man;
Conan 2099 (2019) / Conan The Barbarian (2019-) / Savage Avengers (2019-);
Daredevil (2019-);
Fantastic Four: Grand Design (2019-);
Golden Kamuy;
Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection: Fight Without Pity;
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun;
My Pink is Overflowing;
Outer Darkness;
Superman Smashes the Klan (2019-);
Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane
Also discussed:  list-making; “cheating” in list compilation; the Tracking Your Reading 2020 Challenge; Jeff’s eyes bleeding while reading old Darth Vader books; all the stuff that’s great about Gillen’s Darth Vader; and then…
1:45:55-2:03:52:  Pivot from Graeme!  “Did you have a good holiday?” Graeme asks.  Discussed; the Merrineum; Jeff’s Xmas week at work; Graeme and Jamaica; The Mandalorian on Disney+; Graeme seeing Cats! (in the theater!); and more.
2:03:52-2:36:04:  Closing Comments? Well…no!  Actually we have one final task of 2019 to handle and that’s an update about us!  No spoilers here, so listen in (if you haven’t already).
2:36:04-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 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! Happy New Year to you and join us for another ep. right around January 12, 2020!
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