Drokk! Ep. 30: “Attaboy, Ern! Shovel It Down!”

Previously on Drokk!: 20 years after his creation, Judge Dredd continues to patrol the streets of Mega-City One in a way that readers are comfortable with — the ultra violence, the dark humor, and the social satire wrapped up in sci-fi trappings. But as the strip heads into its third decade, series co-creator John Wagner dares to ask: what if things go slightly awry…?

0:00:00-0:04:29: After a month off for a surprise Baxter Building revival, we’re back and talking about Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 27, a book that both Jeff and I found surprisingly solid and enjoyable. (It covers material from 1997 and 1998, with strips from 2000 AD Prog’s 1053-1083, and Judge Dredd Magazine Vol. 3 #s 34 through 38.) Of course, this being us, we immediately go off topic and Jeff talks briefly about both Adam Driver musical Annette and Fleabag. We are who we are, I guess.

0:04:30-0:23:49: We didn’t get too off-topic, however, and soon find ourselves talking about the possibility that this volume is too steeped in Dredd mythology to be new reader friendly — which might be ironic, considering both that it includes a crossover with Predator, but also that it begins with a retread of a story we’ve seen at least twice before, but done in such a way that it loses the charm and humor that it’s previously displayed. Does “Holiday Special” introduce what Jeff calls “Wagner as scold,” and if so, what does that mean moving forward?

0:23:50-0:51:37: For a volume that we both enjoyed so much, we spend a long time talking about the material that didn’t work for us, especially when it comes to our discussion of “In The Year 2120,” which was almost doomed to failure from the start by nature of being an epilogue to “The Judge Child Quest” and “City of the Damned,” two mega-epics that neither of us remember particularly fondly. Unfortunately, that bad start is compounded by execution that fails to make the most of the story’s central conceit, whether it’s John Wagner failing to sell the idea or artist Jason Brashill being, honestly, too experimental with his layouts and designs for what the story really needs. As proof, we compare it to a far more successful spin on roughly the same idea in the same volume, “Spooks” — although, as Jeff suggests, even that story has some problems of its own, leading to a discussion about whether or not Wagner is failing to nail the right tone people expect from a Judge Dredd comic. (Yes, John Wagner, the guy who created the strip and defined our expectations of it.)

0:51:38-1:15:20: Returning to the idea of Wagner as scold, does this volume mark an increasing blurring of the line between Dredd and Wagner, at least in terms of whether or not the character can be an immoral bastard? Two stories raise that possibility in different ways: “Spawney,” which I enjoyed far more than Jeff — despite a final page reveal that arguably undercuts everything that came before — and ‘Ojay,” a story that is little more than the most thinly veiled primal scream from Wagner about the then-contemporary O.J. Simpson verdict. We talk about both, and the ways in which Wagner arguably fails his creation in different ways with the two. (We also talk about Alex Ronald’s art on the latter story, and one particularly strange artistic decision that, to be honest, I’d still like to see some explanation for.)

1:15:21-1:18:24: In an attempt to keep things moving, we very briefly talk about the other stories in the volume that aren’t disappointing. Despite the fact that we rush through this, I promise: There’s lot of very good material in this particular volume. Really!

1:18:25-1:40:11: Why talk about good stuff when you can talk about a car wreck, though? And so, we arrive at Predator vs. Judge Dredd, which is… not very good at all. It’s a story that doesn’t serve either property well, with the most generic take on both Dredd and the Predator showing up in a story that utterly underwhelms and features some odd narrative decisions, whether it’s having a descendent of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character from the original movie show up, or giving the Predator an ending that makes Jeff so mad, he cites Broforce as a preferable alternative. It’s such a poor showing all round that we make a brief digression into whether or not all Dredd intracompany crossovers are a bad idea for Rico’s more popular brother. (They’re not; the first Batman/Dredd and the later Dredd/Aliens are both great.)

1:40:12-end: We wrap things up by revealing whether this volume is Drokk or Dross — it’s Drokk, honest — and name our favorite stories. (Me: “Bo Peeper,” or the multi-part “Missing,” Jeff’s is “Mrs. Gunderson’s Little Adventure,” and we very briefly talk about both here.) We also look forward to the deluge of John Wagner awaiting us in the next few volumes, Jeff realizes just how he’d finish his dream Dredd story, and we plug the Twitter, Instragram and Patreon, as we always do when we’re bringing things to a close. As always, thanks for reading and listening; next time, I swear, we’ll try to talk more about the good stuff.

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Wait, What?, Ep. 324: Stub Sack

0:01-12:04: Greetings!  It’s been a while so we’re a bit rusty—to keep all of us on our toes, Graeme teases us with talk about Substack (which will then go on to infect the rest of the episode like a fungus, as it turns out) but swerves to talk about the superb Defenders #1 by Al Ewing, Javier Rodríguez and Álrvaro López. As the sportscasters would say: “A superb fake-out by McMillan, and the type of professional razzle-dazzle we’ve come to expect from this longtime podcaster!”
12:04-15:06: Ah, but here, mark our descent: Graeme mentions the behind-the-scenes of a comic being more intriguing than the comic itself, and that does lend itself very well to one component of the raft of Substack news from the last few weeks: James Tynion IV leaving Batman to focus on his own comics, particularly those he’ll be publishing through Substack—in particular, Tynion also offering a newsletter where he will talk candidly about his time on Batman.
15:06-33:35: But we’re a bit reluctant to get into talking about the Substack stuff because we’re aware it’s gonna eat up *a lot* of time, and so: Free Comic Book Day! It just happened, which of course Graeme knew and of course Jeff didn’t. It didn’t seem like it was really on people’s radar? And we talk about why. Unsurprisingly, we also talk about COVID, the “new normal”, traveling cross-country and more.
33:35-1:05:41: Back to Substack talk, and finally fully into it. (Jeff is fixated!). Creators moving to the platform are talking about it as a chance to avoid the many pitfalls of the direct market but…just because those pitfalls aren’t there doesn’t mean there aren’t new pitfalls to replace them. [bonus discussion of a rumor about the status of Hickman on X-Men]. From there, we really do talk about the news of creators like Zdarsky, Tynion, HIckman, Ostertag moving to Substack to publish their comics (and in many cases retiring their twitter accounts), the alleged amounts they might being paid to do so, Substack’s earlier semi-hinky history with paying writers, ethical compromise, and much more!
1:05:41-1:13:36: From the cutting edge news of today to the far flung, long ago history of the end of May, Jeff *finally* saw Bo Burnham’s Inside, which he refers to here as “if David Foster Wallace got to write and direct his version of The Muppet Show.” But that’s not the only reason he brings it up! (Maybe.) Jeff thinks Burnham’s comedy special ties in well to the discussion since it is about, among other things, the extreme difficulty of acting ethically as opposed to acting as if one is acting ethically.
1:13:36-1:21:48: And because we cannot escape the sinkhole of Substack, we also talk about this post which was reposted after the news of Tynion and others signing up with them. Fortunately because it took a while for Jeff to hunt up that post and its author, Graeme has a chance to profess his love for Centaurworld and all of us are all the better for it.
1:21:48-1:28:08: Okay, enough with Substack! (or…is it?) But since it’s been weeks & weeks & weeks since we’ve gabbed, we get a chance to finally discuss The Suicide Squad, currently in theaters and on HBO Max.
1:32:57-1:43:30: Us trying to figure out what the other big news story was puts us right back at—yup!—the corner of Tynion and Batman!

1:43:30-1:45:03: Hey, here’s the news story! Big thanks to Douglas Park for pointing it out (and my apologies for being so scattered in trying to retrieve it that I referred to Douglas using the ultra-vague term “someone”)!
1:45:03-2:01:44: Ah, we’ve hit the “Jeff panics we haven’t really talked enough about comics!” point of the podcast! Graeme has been reading and very much enjoying The Dreaming: Waking Hours by G. Willow Wilson and Nick Robles and how it feels like a smart updating that also captures all the best stuff of Gaiman’s Sandman at its height. And Jeff has been reading vol. 201 of Golgo 13, The epic collection Punisher: Return to Big Nothing; the first three volumes of Those Snow White Notes; Sundome!! Milky Way; and a return to the ultra low-key Steaming Sniper by Marley Caribu (pseudonym for the writer of Old Boy!) and Tadashi Matsumori.
2:01:44-2:08:20: And then Jeff started to badmouth Ed Piskor’s Red Room and accidentally unplugged his whole headset, throwing us into tech chaos for several minutes! Instead, Graeme points out it’s darn near closing time, and *also* points out that Marvel Unlimited has added a bunch of issues that he thinks are from Marvel’s upcoming August 1961 Omnibus! Dive in and get your Patsy Walker and Millie the Model stories while you can!
2:08:20-end:  And so….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.
Next week: Drokk!! Read Judge Dredd: The Complete Casefiles vol. 27 and join us!

 

 

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Wait, What? Ep. 323: Flimmity Flamming About Some Jimmity Jam

0:01-5:40: Greetings!  Jeff is still sick (but getting better)! Graeme is good (despite referring to “the cultural wasteland that is our llives”)! We open with a prophecy of the future—a prophecy that in the near future (August), The Sacred One (Chloe) will return and bring with her the ancient texts as foretold in lore (she and Graeme are gonna talk about all their reality tv watching). PROPHECY!
(But also a little bit of talk between us about Love Island.)
5:40-53:14: Instead of flimmity-flamming about some jimmity jam, we tuck right into talking about comics, recent comics to be more exact, Superman and The Authority #1 by Grant Morrison, Mikel Janin, and Jordie Bellaire, to be as exact as we possibly can! It’s a tight, fun first issue with a lot to unpack, especially with what G-Mo might be saying about their own career and/or the career of his contemporaries. We talk about where and how G-Mo might be doing so; about how Morrison plays with or cares about expectations; the reworking from the premise as a 5G book; about how Morrison has written and handled Superman throughout their career; some comparison/contrast between Morrison’s current standing and Tom King’s; dogs barking in the background; and more.
53:14-59:33: We mentioned Tom King and the online reception to his current work, so it seems more than appropriate for Graeme to talk (in a spoiler-free way about the penultimate issue of Strange Adventures as well as the “ambitious strangeness” of Rorschach; and more.
59:33-1:09:45: Jeff wants to keep this comic train rolling! But for some reason, the next station he wants it to pull into is…Skybound X, the weekly anthology book celebrating ten years of Robert Kirkman making people sell him their IP in return for checks? Jeff sees a potential in the anthology, a woulda-shoulda he wants to talk about, as well as mentioning things he came across in the title such as Tillie Walden doing a series of Clementine Walking Dead OGNs, the return of Assassin Nation, and more.
1:09:45-1:30:42: In other news: Jeff has done a reverse-o and is really liking Matthew Rosenberg’s The Joker Presents A Puzzlebox? But more important to those looking for good work available (currently) only digitally, Jeff wants to extol the virtues of Look Back, a 140 page one-shot (which is a helluva way to undersell the term “graphic novel”) by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. It’s currently available to read over at Shonen Jump *for frickin free* and is extremely excellent. Also discussed: Fist of the North Star by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara; the movie Doberman Cop (based on a manga also by Buronson); the Action 2020 special including the full replica of the banned October 1976 issue; Giant-Size Conan the Barbarian #5 reprinting the team-up of Conan and Elric (under a new Kirby cover); and more.
1:30:42-1:42:07: Graeme has been rereading The New Defenders, the Gargoyle/Valkyrie/Angel/Beast/Cloud/Moondragon incarnation of the team installed by writer J.M. DeMatteis at issue #125 and then taken over by Peter B. Gillis shortly thereafter (with Don Perlin on art throughout). It’s an odd book that goes only even more odd under Gillis and one worth discussing and considering in the context of Marvel at that time.
1:42:07-1:53:45: And of a more modern stripe, Graeme has read both the first two issues (released) and the third (not yet) of Infinite Frontier, the Joshua Williamson scripted/Xermanico drawn “event book that’s not an event book” with an interesting cast, an interesting pitch, and may well need a good collection or reading all in a oner to truly be appreciated. Graeme has also been reading Crime Syndicate by Andy Schmidt, Bryan Hitch, and Kieran McKeown and that’s also a thing we chew over for a bit.
1:53:45-end: Closing Comments!  Or…are they? I guess it depends on how you’d characterize Summer of Soul, currently playing over on Hulu. (Graeme would characterize it as “spectacular!”). And but still: 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.
Next week: Skip week times two! Join us in mid-August for another Wait, What?!
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Baxter Building Ep. 51: “And We WERE Home, But It Was…”

Previously on Baxter Building: Surprise! You thought that we brought this to an end two and a half years ago, but no! Baxter Building is back — for one episode only!

0:00:00-0:03:11: We introduce this episode, and the context behind it; basically, we’re a surprise installment of Shelfdust’s Secritic Invasion summer crossover, where Marvel’s 2008 event is re-examined from today’s hopefully more enlightened perspective. What that means for us in particular is that we’re reading and talking about Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four, a three-issue tie-in that sees the return of a beloved character from the old Baxter Building days. Well, “beloved” might be a little too strong, perhaps…

0:03:12-0:15:16: Before we get to the miniseries, we talk a little about Baxter Building and how it compares to Drokk! — as well as how Dredd fared post Wagner/Grant split, compared with how the Fantastic Four handled the Lee/Kirby break-up. (The latter has “car crash energy,” according to Jeff.) We also talk about how much we miss the Fantastic Four, and how both of us feel about the current Dan Scott run, kind of. (Well, I do, at least.)

0:15:17-0:23:59: Still playing for time, we talk about Secret Invasion as a wider event, and how poorly it reads today. (Not that it read that well the first time around, arguably.) Of note, we touch on the event’s implicit bigotry, and I refer to Ritesh Babu’s essay on Shelfdust, even if I couldn’t remember his last name at the time; go read the piece, it’s a good one.

0:24:00-0:58:29: We finally get to the heart of the matter, and talk about the actual Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four series — and just how bad it actually is. This means that we talk about the (many) failures in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing, and how it compares to the Archie work that arguably made his name, as well as how poorly paced and oddly tension-resistant this series is in particular. Also under discussion: the Negative Zone prison left over from Civil War; how no-one can write convincing children, and why that might not even be possible when it comes to Franklin and Valeria Richards anymore; and the ways in which this series does and doesn’t connect to the core Secret Invasion comic.

0:58:30-1:01:17: Jeff makes a brief case for Bendis’ Secret Invasion inspiring the 2012 Avengers movie, but I’m not buying it.

1:01:18-1:11:11: It’s not just Aguirre-Sacasa who disappoints here; Barry Kitson is the penciller, and we talk about how unexciting his work here is, as well as how many people are inking that work, and the fact that it seems as if no-one involved in this series really seems to want to be making it.

1:11:12-end: As we wrap things up, we ask ourselves the important questions: Did this one three-issue series kill our nostalgia for both Baxter Building and the Fantastic Four? How does nostalgia stand up to a re-read, anyway? And did Pixar’s The Incredibles destroy the Fantastic Four as-was, and create something else in its wake? You know, just a couple of small things. We also discuss Jeff’s health, as well as mention the Patreon, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, as is our wont. We’ll back back next week for a regular Wait, What?, and you’ll be happy to know that Drokk! is back next month as usual, too. Until then: thanks for reading and listening.

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Wait, What? Ep. 322: Sator Squares

0:01-4:27: Greetings!  Remember when talking about the weather was a pleasant form of inoffensive chitchat as opposed to a worried check-in to make sure the other person is safe and not boiled alive? Sadly, even if you do, get ready for the latter as we hear about Graeme’s two weeks in the boiling kettle of the Pacific Northwest!
4:27-18:58: Part of the challenge of the heat is working in it, and it’s especially two weeks when the last two weeks for Graeme have been: his story on Substack, and the announcement (and then un-announcement) of Image Comics intending to publish new issues of Fell by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith. Graeme brings us up to speed on the weirdness in front of—and behind—the scenes!
18:58-31:39: And Jeff has news to report, too! (Although please ignore him saying “showhorn” instead of “shoehorn.” Not quite sure what he was thinking there.). Azuki is a new streaming manga service that offer the latest chapters of officially licensed manga…and for a monthly fee of $4.99, you can get access to the previous chapters. Jeff talks more about it and his cautious hopes for the service.
31:39-37:00: And more news: with Nick Spencer departing, Amazing Spider-Man is bringing back Ben Reilly and the Brand New Day multiple creative teams/high publishing frequency approach with Spider-Man: Beyond, written by head writer Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziegler and Patrick Gleason (who is also doing double duty as artist, along with Sara Pichelli and Michael Dowling (with Art Adams on covers)).
37:00-56:30: Also discussed: the upcoming Avengers storyline World War She-Hulk? With the debut of…The Winter Hulk?! That leads us to talk about hopping off the preview train with a surprisingly long talk about our respective tenures writing preview copy for the Comix Experience newsletter back in the day…worth listening to for Graeme’s hilariously dead-on recreation of an Image solicit.
56:30-1:00:35: Numbers about the state of the comics industry are out at ICv2 and they are a welcome surprise!
1:00:35-1:19:01: But, you know, would a truly healthy comics industry produce Spawn’s Universe #1? And have it apparently sell hundreds of thousands of copies? Graeme reviewed it for Polygon and wants to lure Jeff into talking about it by pretending that Jeff is some kind of expert about the character (or likes Spawn, even) which is…a dicey proposition. Nonetheless, we do talk Spawn’s Universe #1!
1:19:01-1:38:14: What else have we been reading, you may wonder? Graeme talks about reading Steve McManus’s The Mighty One: My Life Inside The Nerve Centre, his memoirs that include editing 2000 A.D. during its golden age. Graeme has also read Geiger by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank and wants to revisit the topic with Jeff—it’s a big of a dog’s breakfast because it takes a while to determine we’ve both read issue #1, Graeme has read a preview of issue #4 (which Jeff hasn’t) while Jeff has read issues #2 and #3 (which Graeme hasn’t). Who says this isn’t the Wait, What? Age of Comic Book Befuddlement?
1:38:14-2:05:30: Jeff has read: The Mystery of The Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel by Ryan North and Derek Charm! Drowning Love by George Asakuara! Please Put Them On, Takamine-san by Yuichi Hiiragi! Can you guess which book Graeme refuses to exist before he does? Also discussed: Tenet, Below Decks, The Lady in the Van, The Kid Detective, and more.
2:05:30-end:  Closing Comments!    Oh, but fortunately some things never change:  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.
Next week: ???
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Wait, What?, Ep. 321 — Smizing With Pride

0:01-8:32: Greetings!  Graeme sounds a bit different here as you’ll probably be able to tell immediately—in fact, maybe you’ll catch on quicker than I did that once again we are being joined by Chloe Maveal, culture editor for NeoText Books and master comics opinion-haver! (But also due to Portland’s heat wave, they’re recording in a different, cooler part of their house than last time.). And we sort of apologize in advance for this episode in that there’s a lot of non-comics content covered in the first hour of this installment. For example, even though we’re talking about Todd McFarlane’s Spawn before the episode’s first two minutes are up, we are talking about Spawn in relationship to human fondue pots. (Also, I can’t believe it but put on the spot, Jeff screws up “imply” and “infer.” Arghhh! This will haunt me for weeks, I guarantee it.). And if that wasn’t enough for you, Chloe’s description of the prime era for Spawn—the nineties—may well leave you reeling. (Or rolling. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, as the case may be.)
8:32-43:01: Hey, buddy—do you like dogs? Well, we sure do! In fact, Jeff just got himself a dog and he’s pretty happy about it. Really happy, in fact! So, you know, up top’s a picture of Jeff’s dog Remy trying to edit this podcast. He’s trying really hard and is such a good boy. Yes, he is! Anyway, if you’re interested in hearing how Jeff got his dog and the emotional rollercoaster he went through doing so, this next thirty-five minutes are for you! Also discussed: Chloe and Graeme’s pets! The secret of Ernie and Gus-Gus!
43:01-:46:04: Many of you remember last time Chloe was on, she and Graeme did a gruesomely good job getting the rest of us intrigued by the reality show, Below Decks. Do they have another trashy recommendation this time around?  The answer may surprise…Jeff?
46:04-1:02:21: Comic news time! (Kinda.) And we spend most of it mulling over the news that Substack has recruited comics writer Nick Spencer to…..? Join us for trying to make sense of the “Step 3: Profit!” maneuver of the 21st Century.
1:02:21-1:26:01: What have we been reading and what do we think of it? Graeme has been reading what he describes as “weird shit again” including collections of Rob Williams’ collections of Dredd and 2000AD material—and in fact he and Chloe both have just finished reading armfuls of John Smith comics (Tyranny Rex, Firekind, Indigo Prime, Revere, Devlin Waugh)—and a bunch of recent X-Men material which leads to us considering what the X-Men books are doing these days (SPOILERS for Planet-Size X-Men). Chloe talks about her read of John Smith’s material and what works for her with it 1:13:42, and Jeff chimes in with what’s he’s been reading lately at 1:21:08. Also discussed: trying to find and revisit Howard Cruse’s Gay Comix, Stuck Rubber Baby, the odd case of Wasteland #6, and more.
1:26:01-1:42:08: Springing out of what Jeff’s been reading is a brief discussion about Geiger issues #2 and #3 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Are they fun comics? Dumb comics? Or just shitty comics? And how exactly does one tell each from each?
1:42:08-2:57:01: After Graeme assigns Jeff some homework for next episode, we dig into this episode’s homework: because this is our Pride episode with our self-describe “two scoops of queer” guest, we decided to re-read the amazing Enigma by Peter Milligan, Duncan Fegredo, and Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh (soon to be released by Dark Horse and Berger Books in a “definitive edition“). We talk about how we first came to read it and when, what it was like to revisit, and Jeff asks Chloe a lot about her recent (excellent) NeoText piece about Enigma, how that tied into this assignment, and how it helped her come out…twice! Settle in, this is a long, long discussion about Enigma, about queerness, and much, much more.
2:57:01-end: Closing Comments!   Oh, but fortunately some things never change:  look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme! Chloe! 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.
Next week: Skip Week! Rest your ears and join us in two weeks for another episode!
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Drokk! Ep. 29: “A Hotdog Run?”

Previously on Drokk!: Mega-City One has been invaded by Dune Sharks — something that seemed a little out of the blue in the last volume of the Case Files, but will have big repercussions this time out. Meanwhile, John Wagner has settled firmly back into being lead writer on 2000 AD’s Dredd, but the Magazine’s revolving line-up of writers is continuing to struggle in finding the right tone…

0:00:00-0:02:31: This time out, we’re talking about Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 26, which covers material from 1997 — namely, 2000 AD Progs 1029-1052, and Judge Dredd Magazine Vol. 3 #s 19 through 33. As we say right from the start, it’s another uneven volume, but that’s not necessarily as bad as it sounds, as we get to soon enough…

0:02:32-0:48:08: Almost immediately, we start talking about the extended storyline that takes up the majority of the 2000 AD episodes, in which Dredd, Demarco and a bunch of cadets go hunting for the origins of the Dune Sharks from the last volume; it’s a storyline that changes the way I look at Dredd as an extended comic strip, and maybe not in a manner that’s necessarily logical; Jeff doesn’t quite agree with my viewpoint, and we talk about that, as well as about the extended storyline as a whole, and what it owes to previous Dredd stories — in particular, “The Judge Child Quest,” “The Cursed Earth,” and “Wilderlands.” (Another unexpected echo that we discuss briefly? 1960s Star Trek.)

We also talk about the ways in which this extended story fails, whether it’s in the unexpected plot hole lampshades seemingly needlessly by a revelation in the story’s climactic arc — one that makes things “practically Chris Claremont-esque,” according to Jeff — or the meandering nature of each individual serial inside the larger story… something not exactly helped by some unfortunate art choices. (Who knew nuclear apocalypse could be so underwhelming?) As we talk about art, I explain my love of Henry Flint, which is likely going to be a recurring theme now that he’s shown up as a semi-regular on the strip. All this and Jeff’s food analogy for reading this book!

0:48:09-1:11:35: It’s not all hunting after Dune Sharks, though; there are a handful of other 2000 AD stories in this volume, and we go through them quickly: “Mad City” is a trifle, but distinguished by a strange Chris Evans (no, not the Marvel actor, this one) connection and some lovely art from Greg Staples, whom we both enjoy; “The Big Hit” is Mark Millar, and therefore terrible; “Lonesome Dave” manages to transcend the pun at the heart of the title thanks to some great John Burns art; and “He Came From Outer Space” has a great opener but otherwise disappoints. We also talk about the value of Dredd that’s just fine (Wagner’s “phoning it is… better than when some of the new guys are trying to bust their ass,” as Jeff puts it), as well as the effect that every episode of Drokk! has on me — and why Jeff should start reading the Case Files a little earlier each month.

1:11:36-1:22:15: If 2000 AD’s Dredd is in reasonably strong shape, the same can’t really be said for the Magazine; as we rush through the majority of the stories there, we sound admittedly pretty dismissive, but I’d argue that we’re being entirely fair. Could the problem be the Meg itself, we ask?

1:22:16-1:52:10: Understandably, we spend a lot of time talking about “Fetish,” the second-longest arc in the book, and the major contribution from the Magazine, as John Smith and Siku team up to create something that’s part-impressive, and part-racist mess. Despite the problems with Siku’s atmospheric-but-lacking-clarity paintings and John Smith’s lyrical-but-“Simba-City”-what-the-fuck-is-that writing — if you think that’s bad, wait until you hear us discuss the closing caption — there are things to appreciate in this near-Mega-epic, not least of which the appearance of Devlin Waugh, who steals the show despite not actually accomplishing anything on a plot level. It’s Jeff’s introduction to the character, and we talk about that briefly, as well as a short discussion about double page spreads and whether or not the (many!) in this storyline are successful.

1:52:11-end: It’s time for that question again: Drokk or Dross? We both plump for the former, and choose our favorite stories — Jeff goes for “Fetish,” and I kind of hedge my bets between “Lonesome Dave,” “Dance of the Spider Queen,” and “Trail of the Man-Eaters,” but what do you expect from someone who was also convinced we’d been recording for 30 minutes or so longer than we actually had? (In my defense, there were technical issues that threw me off.) While talking about our least favorite stories, we also ask a question that I think had been circling all episode: Is 1990s Judge Dredd the most racist yet, and if so, why?

After that, it’s time to wrap things up, look ahead to the next episode, and tell everyone about our Twitter, Instragram — even though I got the URL wrong; it’s waitwhatpod, not waitwhatpodcast — and Patreon. As always, thank you for listening and reading!

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Wait, What? Ep. 320: No Podcast for Old Men

0:01-6:53: Greetings!  As this episode opens, we go from a near-death experience to mocking Neil Gaiman in record time (even for us!). What’s the secret connection between that and Hot Stuff, the Little Devil? And our former president? It’s another episode of WhatAnon theories—they’re better for you than QAnon theories because they’re explicitly made-up and absurd (and have only a quarter of the calories)!
6:53-28:19: Moving on, moving on (nothing to see here, folks, move along): the first three issues of Wasteland dropped of DC Universe Infinite (and on Comixology if you’re tempted and don’t have the service). Yes, the sleeper hit of the late ’80s is here, with stories by John Ostrander and Del Close, more than brilliantly illustrated by David Lloyd, George Freeman, William Messsner-Loebs and Donald Simpson, and we are here to talk about how great it is to revisit these stories again.  Also discussed: Plop!, UK comics anthologies, US comics anthologies, the need for them, and the hidden secret behind the U.S. anthologies arguably more horrifying than the stories themselves.
28:19-37:08: Another thing that dropped on DCUI: Who’s Who Update ’87 #1, a five issue series updating the original Who’s Who. Unsurprisingly, we have fond memories of this as well, and we talk about it, the beloved Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the recently released omnibi of each, and much more.
37:08-40:49: As for something new, it’s also something we’ve discussed before but The Nice House on the Lake #1 by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and Jordie Bellaire has been officially releasedd now, Jeff read it, and wanted to talk some more about it because it’s a stunner.
40:49-1:00:10: Season one of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix ended with a cliffhanger—one we probably won’t see resolved any time soon since Netflix decided not to renew it for season two. Graeme indulges Jeff’s Millarschmertz (my internet’s down but I’m assuming that’s a real term) and discusses what might’ve gone wrong: Graeme thought it looked cheap, Jeff thinks that’s not really a barrier to fans of superhero TV and the problem might’ve been, say, things like The Boys.
1:00:10-1:12:26: Graeme has been a bit tired lately (as opposed to Jeff, who’s just *always* tired) and so has been seeking out unchallenging reading material such as: all of Mark Waid’s Avengers material from 2015; and Mark Waid and Kev Walker’s Doctor Strange; Surgeon Supreme.
1:12:26-1:35:26: Also on the Graeme “Easy Reader” McMillan list? Time Masters! That’s right, the DC series by Bob Wayne, Lewis Shiner, and Art Thibert from thirty years ago. It’s a fun sounding series that harkens back to a different era of the DC Universe with things played entirely too seriiously while also giving a lot of shout-outs to classic DC continuity and connecting with the current (of the time) continuity…which ties in well with what Jeff read on Hoopla this week: Invasion! (Secret No More) collecting the three issue spine to the DC even from the late ’80s, featuring some classic DC stalwarts (Keith Giffen, Bart Sears) and some unique dayplayers (Bill Mantlo, Todd McFarlane). Also discussed: New Guardians, because of course we do.
1:35:26-2:08:42: Trying to talk about something a little more current than comics from 30-plus years—our ongoing struggle recently it seems!—and we talk a bit about the current issue of Immortal Hulk (good!) and the announcement of the next creative team to follow Al Ewing and Joe Bennett (not…as good?). Also discussed—the problem with solicitations giving away too much (or, for the retailers, not enough); a rousing game of “guess the creator’s age”; a discussion of Tim and Ben Truman’s A Man Called Hawken, and Walt Simonson’s Ragnarok and more.
2:08:42-end:  Closing Comments!    Oh, but fortunately some things never change:  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.
Next week: Attention, Citizen!  Read Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files, Volume 26 and join us here for the next installment of….Drokk!!
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Wait, What? Ep. 319: More Crank Than Mank

0:01-22:11: Greetings!  As Graeme McMillan points out, “it’s been for fucking ever!” Or, you know, something like three weeks? We sort of start to catch up on the comic news, but quickly get very sidetracked by talking about the Warner-Discovery merger, which is quite probably a very big deal? (But for those of you who might have missed it, Jeff mentioned the passing of David Anthony Kraft, and was also going to mention that both Jesse Hamm and Kentaro Miura, Berserk‘s creator, have also passed at brutally young ages.). As a result of the merger, there were some very dumb theories that came out of it, and Jeff wonders if earlier dumb “somebody might be buying DC” rumors came out of what would’ve been some sort of asset sizing that would’ve been happening to prep for the merger with Discovery? Graeme shuts that down pretty authoritatively here, as well as discussing what happened to the other publishing media in Warners, the amount of money HBO Max is expected to lose with its “on the service and in the theaters” choice for 2021, the winding path of Marvel Productions, rumors about Disney buying Viacom, and more.
22:11-28:47: Jeff, realizing once again how lucky he is to be able to just ask questions of someone who writes and reads entertainment news stories for a living, asks for an update about #DisneyMustPay, and Graeme’s report is…promising? And also still baffling…but also promising in some ways. And this rapidly transitions back into more historical trivia from Graeme about the differences between Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment, the uncanny parallels in DC and Marvel’s business history, and other amazing tidbits.
28:47-1:08:38: And from there an unexpected question from Graeme for Jeff: “Do you read comics differently in digital than in print?” And although Graeme is actually skewing the question a specific way, I think (literally, “do your eyes work on the page differently?”), Jeff sort of talks at length about the way his digital reading habits have evolved and continue to evolve. Also discussed: Wasteland coming to DC Universe Infinite! An anecdote about Batman/Fortnite; the new movies on HBO Max, and the difference between “new” and “new to you”; Hacks on HBO Max and Army of the Dead on Netflix, James Corden(!), and more.
1:08:38-1:24:22: I’m putting in one of those entirely arbitrary time code stamps because, honestly, there’s no real reason why I should separate out “Graeme talks about the trailers for the Crank movies” from everything else, but it seems like a good enough excuse to throw in one of the trailers since our discussion is semi-solidly in the “trailers so good you don’t need/want to see the movie” camp by this point. Also discussed: Army of the Dead and whether or not Graeme (and the listeners) should watch it; a surprisingly verdant discussion about the career of Geena Davis.
1:24:22-1:34:30: Comics! Yes, we do talk about them eventually! Graeme goes first in our “hey, what are you reading?” discussion and talks in depth about Firekind, the upcoming September release from 2000 AD reprinting the John Smith/Paul Marshall series from 1993; Hershey (mentioned in passing by Graeme), and digs in deep to the joys of the third volume of Lawless (Ashes to Ashes) by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade coming out in August.
1:34:30-1:41:05: Jeff’s turn, and he makes a point to mention that both he and Graeme have been enjoying the current run of Nightwing by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo and Adriano Lucas, and that swerves into Graeme talking about Mariko Tamaki’s current run on Detective Comics and the pleasures to be found therein.
1:41:05-2:09:22: But, anyway! Other stuff Jeff has read—volume 1 of the Brother Voodoo Marvel Masterworks, one of those volumes with some odd editing choices and such a peripatetic selection that you realize Brother Voodoo was never really a thing? (For real, he makes Son of Satan look like Spider-Man by comparison.). Also discussed: Marvel Teamworks Masterworks Vol. 5; the first volume of Boys Run The Riot by Keito Gaku; Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba; Cross Over Vol. 1: Kids Love Chains by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw; Home Sick Pilots Vol. 1: Teenage Pilots; and The Department of Truth Vol. 1: The End of the World by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds; and more.
2:09:22-2:14:51: Graeme has read an advance copy of Douglas Wolk’s All of the Marvels, which sparks a bit of brief discussion about how many comics there are comprising the Marvel Universe.
2:14:51-end: Closing Comments!    Oh, but fortunately some things never change:  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.
Next week: Episode 320!  Join us!
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Drokk! Ep. 28: “What Does It Take To Convince This Thing It’s Dead?”

Previously on Drokk!: John Wagner seems to have returned to greatness, judging by the first half of “The Pit,” a massive storyline that places Dredd in charge of the worst Sector House in Mega-City One, pushing him — and the Dredd strip as a whole — into new areas.

0:00:00-0:01:55: It’s time for a relatively speedy introduction, in which we inform you that we’re covering Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 25 this time around, featuring a lot of 2000 AD and a tiny bit of Judge Dredd Magazine material from 1996 and 1997. It’s… a mixed bag, as we make a point of saying.

0:01:56-0:20:51: Part of the reason that it’s such an uneven volume is the fact that the Megazine material — which is only four stories — is quite so bad. In particular, we go after Marc Wignore’s work, especially the story “One Breath,” which leads us onto a discussion of what kind of 1990s influence is at play in such a narrative disaster. This takes us into a discussion of the artwork we didn’t like in the book — including Jason Brashill, Paul Peart, and Tom Carney’s chin-phobic turn in 2000 AD. Also under discussion: “Control,” and why why neither of us believe that Judge Dredd would stand by, frustrated, in the circumstances that story places him in.

0:20:52-0:32:58: Turning our attention to the 2000 AD material, Jeff confesses which story is “repellent” to him — yes, he uses that word, and yes, he explains why — before we talk about just how great the final half of “The Pit” is, and explain the reason we’re talking about stories from this volume out of order. (Short version: It starts well and then trails off, and we didn’t want to have an episode that ended on such a downer.) That said, at least there’s “The Pack,” which features something Jeff is scared off, and something else that I love. (Spoilers: It’s Henry Flint’s artwork.)

0:32:59-0:48:44: We disagree strongly about “Darkside,” the 2000 AD storyline from John Smith; I’m unconvinced by what I see as an extended exercise in nostalgia and a lot of near-Morrisonian cliches, but Jeff has a grand theory as to why those flaws are sidestepped to create a meta-commentary on the state of fandom and popular culture that is a quarter century ahead of its time. (I remain unconvinced, I admit.) The rare schism when it comes to Dredd!

0:48:45-1:09:16: We double back to a couple of our favorite stories from this volume: “The Pack,” where the lure of flying sharks that eat people and cause shit proves to be irresistible, and “The Pit,” where Wagner seems to be pushing Dredd as a character and as a strip, in interesting directions. Those directions, and what they ultimately become in the future of the strip, are discussed — get ready for the comparison between Wolverine and “Judge Dad” — as is the fact that what feels like an evolutionary step comes to a sudden halt, only to be replaced by a series of episodes that feel almost retrogressive in comparison. Whatever happened to the Judge of Tomorrow?

1:09:17-1:23:24: “Dead Reckoning,” the serial that immediately follows “The Pit,” is a rare misfire for John Wagner in this era. A large part of that, if you’re Jeff and I, is that it’s a story that centers around Judge Death, who is a particularly dull villain that has arguably run out of steam, especially in this era. Jeff is similarly unimpressed with “Death of a Legend,” the one-off that closes out the McGruder storyline once and for all, but I’m more of a fan — in part, as Jeff puts it, because I’m far more sentimental about these kinds of things because I’m Scottish. (Look, he’s not wrong, he even calls me out correctly for loving the many John Lewis Christmas ads!) One of the reasons Jeff doesn’t feel as favorably about it is that he’s less convinced that McGruder is a fully-formed character, making emotional connection and sentiment particularly unearned. He might not be wrong, to be honest.

1:23:25-1:37:29: As we near the end of the episode, it’s time for that very special question: Drokk or Dross? We both come down on the side of Drokk, and have the same choices for our favorite stories in the collection: “The Pit” — and, really, the “Unjudicial Liasons” episodes therein — for our favorite Wagner-written, “The Pack” as a runner-up, and “Darkside” for the best non-Wagner story. Yes, even though I wasn’t really a fan; it’s still better than all of the Magazine material.

1:37:30-end: We wrap things up by briefly looking ahead to the next volume — more air sharks! — and offering the traditional mentions of Instagram, Twitter, and Patreon. As always, thank you for listening and reading; we, and Mega-City One, appreciate it greatly.

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