0:01-23:08: Greetings from Graeme “Burp!” McMillan and Jeff “Saliva!” Lester, where your two faithful podcasters are here at your service, despite problems with taxes, and talking, and breathing. Thanks to tax prep, we look back at the state of digital affairs for Jeff’s library with talk about the amazing month of March and April 2018; do a quick review of the state of comic streaming services we use and what’s changed about them; more singing of the praises of Hoopla (for comics, anyway); whether Jeff should get the DC Universe app, and more.
23:08-35:50: From there, a sort of strange left turn: the new redband trailer for Hellboy resurfaces a tweet from B.P.R.D. and Hellboyverse writer John Arcudi. Did Arcudi leave Hellboy and B.P.R.D. (and Guy Davis leave comics altogether) based on how they were handled and/or (un)compensated in relation to this? The Magic Eightball says “All Signs Point To ‘Comics Will Break Your Heart.’” Also discusssed: reaction to the original trailer; reaction to rough cuts of the film; Vague Recollections of Forgotten Dinner Parties; the filmography of Neil Marshall; the strangeness of having people hype things that don’t seem like what they’re hyping; and more.
35:50-53:52: The Hellboy thing may leave a bad taste in your mouth if you’re a B.P.R.D. fan, but Jeff’s not really into it or Hellboy. He is, of course, alternately appalled, guilty about, and mystified by the Wikipedia summary of Doomsday Clock, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank taking the Watchmen characters into the DCU. Graeme has read issue #9 of the book (not out until later this week so Graeme does superhuman work in trying to avoid spoilers of any kind) and we discuss what’s come before, what might be coming next, and what Johns is trying to say (apart from “back up the money truck”).
53:52-1:01:51: And from our discussion about narrative jumps, Jeff goes on to mention the first five issues of Exorsisters by the talented team of Ian Boothby and Gisele LaGace. Jeff is heavily in the tank for these two, so what did he think of the book? The answer may surprise you…or at least baffle you? (Jeff is clearly baffled, as you’ll hear.) Jeff summarizes the book, talks about its charms, and entreats Graeme to read the issues so we can talk about it more.
1:01:51-1:04:57: Jeff’s got a throughline in mind as he transitions from Exorsisters to Action Comics #1008 by Brian Michael Bendis and the terrific Steve Epting. (Jeff really didn’t talk about it here, but man does Epting’s stuff look gorgeous on the DC characters!) That throughline, fortunately or unfortunately, tiptoes around Crabby Jeff and tries to hew close to the path of Diplomatic Jeff. (There’s also an all-too-brief shoutout to Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy, which is still flat-out excellent.)
1:04:57-1:53:43: Part of why Epting and Noda get short-shrift is Graeme chimes in with his experience about catching up on Tom King’s Batman, which Graeme hadn’t read since September. There’s been some grumbling about the pacing and storytelling choices King has made with the title since issue #50—do those grumblings have merit for someone reading all those issues in a oner? (1er?) Also discussed: Heroes in Crisis #6; subtext becoming text; the futility of a work-for-hire creator as embodied in a work-for-hire creation; Batman RIP; Mortal Kombat and common ground; movie violence in the ‘80s; and, quite obviously, us back to circling around Doomsday Clock again (ha, “circling!”)
1:40:15-1:53:43: Graeme still hasn’t seen Aquaman! But that may well be rectified *very* soon, thank goodness. And Jeff re-saw Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and has a lot of thoughts about, many of which are informed by…Natalie Nourigat’s I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation? Really? Warning: big ol’ spoilers for the movie and in-depth descriptions so take a pass if you haven’t yet seen this (really excellent) film.
1:53:43-2:05:35: Graeme has picked up a bunch of old 80 pg. dollar Superman Family comics, describes ‘em for our delight, and sings the praises of low-stakes/no-stakes comics.
2:05:35-2:20:21: As for Jeff and the old comics routine, thanks to the wonderful David Wolkin, Jeff has read issue #131 of Dark Horse Presents from 1998, and issues #1 and #2 of Nightmares from Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, and Don McGregor, published by Eclipse all the way back in 1985!
2:20:21-2:37:33: News? Well, maybe there’s some somewhere, but the only stuff we can think of worth mentioning is, as Graeme rightly points out, everyone should check out the trio of speeches given at ComicsPro by ex-DC Marketing Director Bob Wayne, and retailers Brian Hibbs and Joe Field. And there’s also a bit of a lazy roundup of stories, or maybe as much roundup as a week that includes “Marvel Meow.”
2:37:33-end: Closing comments! Look for us on Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Matt! 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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