0:01-7:27: Howdy! (And apologies for Call Recorder truncating Graeme’s greeting!)  Hours have become days, days have become weeks, and weeks have become years, so it feels like a long time since we have last spoken and need to spend a few minutes catching up—to the point, in fact, where we have to jump offline to check in.  How is Graeme? How is Jeff?  And you, Whatnaut—how are you?
7:27-18:20:  Okay, we’re back from discussing a thing for Graeme that may not come together and therefore should not be disclosed on air, and moving on to something Graeme is more than eager to talk about:  Adfrian Tomine’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Cartoonist!  It is scheduled for release in July, and it is an autobio comic about being a cartoonist that is, as Graeme memorably puts it, “like Curb Your Enthusiasm starring Adrian Tomine.”  Like we said, Graeme is more than eager to talk about it, but does it sound like Jeff is…less than eager to talk about it?  Why would that be?
18:20-23:34: Jeff has had pretty bad luck with comics the last week or so.  Not like…Uncut Gems levels of bad luck? But, still, yeah,  Pretty bad with some exceptions—and one of those exceptions is the third and final issue of Superman Smashes The Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihuru. Just a stellar wrap-up to the period piece minseries.  And the other good read he had recently also had lovely Gurihuru art;  Spider-Man and Venom: Double Trouble #1, recently available on Marvel Unlimited.
23:34-1:01:01:  But maybe the reason Jeff has had bad luck with comics has a lot—a whole lot—to do with the fact that Jeff has been reading comics starring Morbius, The Living Vampire, the trash fieriest of trash fire characters…and worse he’s been reading the Adventure Into Fear comics from the 70s starring ol’ Morb. How can comics crafted by faves of Jeff like Steve Gerber, Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, Gil Kane, and P. Craig Russel go so horribly wrong?  Listen and learn, true believer, listen and learn. Also discussed: A Don McGregor top five; Rager of Ultron; The Melter; and more.
1:01:01-1:15:09:  So worked is Jeff in his eagerness to define and convey the scope of his frustration that he bungles the title of his next disappointing read, Action Comics Vol. 3: Leviathan Hunt by Brian Michael Bendis and Szymon Kudranski, as Adventure Comics Vol. 3.  (Thanks for catching, Graeme!)  Jeff loves the character interactions but loathes the story machinations and the book’s excerpt of Bendis’s script is just gasoline on top of this very conflicted fire.
1:15:09-1:58:36: By contrast with Jeff’s exasperation with Bendis’s sloppiness, Graeme has some conflicted feeling about the manifestation of what is more or less the exact opposite in Scott Snyder’s run on Justice League, which has just concluded as a lead-in to the upcoming Dark Metal event by Snyder and Greg Capullo.  Bendis had for many years at Marvel built the end of one crossover event into the beginning of the next, such that each event had a little less punch to it with one status quo leading to another more dramatic status quo, and that’s a pretty interesting contrast to what Graeme talks about here after reading Metal, Justice League: No Justice, Justice League Odyssey, and Justice League itself.  Snyder hits all the story points but…do they land?  And, y’know, why or why not? As you might imagine, SPOILERS for the conclusion of Snyder’s run and/or the various minseries and connected series along the way; and for those of you who gambled Jeff would still be second-guessing himself and consequently still screwing up James Tynion IV’s name this late in to Tynion’s career, pick up your winnings at window four!
1:58:36-2:07:06: If you follow the Wait, What? Tumblr, you’ll know Graeme has been reading Armor Wars/Stark Wars, the very enjoyable Iron Man comics by David Michelinei and Bob Layton, and can compare and contrast it with Iron Man, the launching point of the MCU that reworks the Armor Wars/Stark Wars and the Obadiah Stane arc from earlier.  So the movie, in a way Graeme didn’t realize before this rewatch, is written by people who grow up with the same Iron Man comics he grew up with. Also discussed: Armor Wars II, which Graeme accurately describes as “a sequel to a story that never existed.”
2:07:06-2:22:46: And then Graeme skips ahead to read Tom Taylor’s run on Superior Iron Man, followed by Kieron Gillen’s run, Bendis’s run, and Dan Slott’s run. Has Tony been done dirty by writers unable to leave a decent character hook alone?  Or has the influence of Marvel’s marketing department hold more sway in this era of Marvel comics than we normally acknowledge?
2:22:46-2:25:08: Comics news/Musical interlude
2:25:08-2:35:25: More comics news (non-musical version). With added TV and movie recommendations from Graeme!
2:35:25-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and JeffTumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Skip week! See you in two hundred years—which is to say, June 7—for our next episode!
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0:01-4:18: Welcome!  Ever wonder how easily thrown we are when displaced from routine? Well, wonder no more as we spend our opening moments downright flummoxed by Skype.  It says a lot about us that we’re more in our element trying to recall the publication date of a decades-old Andrew Vacchs book than figuring out how the tech we use every day works.
4:18-31:20:  Jeff wants us to move into comics news first and have Graeme break it down for us!  Covered: Diamond’s return date and the two hour livestream with Steve Geppi; Jeff’s modest proposal for two important podcast spinoffs; Steve Geppi’s twitter feed; Marvel’s return to publication and their offbeat choice of returning issues and trades;  and more.
31:20-39:02: Jeff had some things to clarify and expand upon from the previous episode, starting with something he doesn’t remember actually discussing last week (but maybe?):  Hoopla not updating with DC’s trades on day and date the way they have been previously; the appearance of the trade of First Issue Special; Jeff finally reading that *amazing* Dr. Fate one-shot drawn by Walt Simonson (available to read on DC Universe).  Just stunning work.
39:02-45:02:  Also mentioned in our discussion of the First Issue Special trade: a startling discovery Jeff made by going full-McMillan. Also discussed:  Graeme of course managing to out full-McMillan Jeff in the full-McMillan department; Ditko’s Creeper as opposed to Ditko’s and Fleisher’s Creeper;  the young and talented Gerry Conway captured in all his ability and power by the anonymous editor that is….the young and talented Gerry Conway; and more.
45:02-56:02: Jeff revisits last week’s discussion of Wotakoi; Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita. Jeff still loves it, but has a bit of extra context as to its appeal and talks about that here.
56:02-1:23:19: “So Graeme,” Jeff asks, “why did you make me read Absolute Carnage?”  Which is the most generous way possible to discuss the (comparatively) recent Marvel event by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, now collected (and available digitally on Hoopla)?  Discussed: splatterpunk; the Venom mythos; King, Millar, and Cates; the Absolute Carnage trade as an event that gives you no signposts into anything else; and more.
1:23:19-1:34:52:  Something else Graeme made Jeff read: Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle #1 (available to read on Marvel Unlimited), a DC Challenge/Exquisite Corpse style one shot by Jonathan Hickman, Chris Bachalo, Al Ewing, Michael Allred, Greg Smallwood, Chip Zdarsky, Chris Sprouse, Cameron Stewart, Kelly Thompson and many, many (!) more.
1:34:52-1:36:54:  When not assigning books for Jeff to read, Graeme has been reading Tales of the Dark Multiverse (currently available on Hoopla), which has a lot of the earmarks of classic What If? stories (omnipotent observer, worlds where events went differently, bummer endings).  If Jeff sounds distracted during this, it’s because he’s trying to hunt up the collection on Hoopla and wasn’t having the best luck.
1:36:54-2:01:03: Also on Hoopla and also (re-)read by Graeme: the House of X/Powers of X collection by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva and Mark Brooks.  When it first came out, we were super-stoked by this change-up to the X-Men status quo.  And now?
2:01:03-2:11:13:  Also on the re-read pile for Graeme:  Brightest Day, the Geoff Johns/Pete Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/ (and many others) year-long fortnightly event that is an object of curiosity for what it did, what it didn’t do, and where it didn’t go, thanks to Flashpoint and the New 52.
2:11:13-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and JeffTumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: Judge Dredd The Restricted Files, Vol. 2? Drokk!!
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0:01-9:56: Howdy! And, wouldn’t you know it, our opening topic is indeed an inquiry into the nature of the word “Howdy,” before moving on to more important topics like sarcasm which is only the most important topic ever.  And then it’s on to discussions of injuries, suffering, machismo, and cool.
9:56-56:01: Well, of course, if we’re talking about what’s cool, we have to discuss what it’s like to read all the issues of Countdown to Final Crisis, plus the various tie-ins.  I mean, that’s just common sense!  Anyway, since Graeme read them (and Jeff, thank god, did not), we get to hear from it about what it’s like to go down a bad comics hole, and to stay down there for so long. Discussed: the plotlines in Countdown; Countdown as the flip side of our earlier discussion of Dan Didio’s legacy at DC; gibberish; is 52 and Countdown analogous to Secret Wars and Secret Wars II; comic book universe status quos; the latest issues of First Issue Special on DC Universe (Warlord! The Outsiders!); DC’s second silver age; and much more for what is terrifyingly close to an hour?

56:01-1:21:47: Jeff *finally* saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker! But it’s been full four days since dong so—has he really had enough time to absorb it?  By which I mean: does he remember it?  Full-on spoilers for this movie, though if you have a social media account of almost any kind, the movie’s already been spoiled for you already?  That said: SPOILERS.  Discussed: Star Wars, give me those Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, don’t let them end!
1:21:47-1:42:26: What Jeff has read and wants to talk about: Space is Awful: The Ballad of John Dennis #1 by Derek Moreland and Derrick Fleece; Friday #1 by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente; Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Omnibus collection by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson; Cat Shit One by Motofumi Kobayashi; the first three volumes of From The New World by Toru Oikawa from the novel by Yusuke Kishi; Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku by Fujita; 1122 For A Happy Marriage by Peko Watanabe; and more.
1:42:26-2:04:40: Comics news!  Catching us up to speed, Graeme walks us through! The alternate distribution deal of DC! Daily digital content! BINC funding! The mystery of Marvel and the fate of John NEE!  Bonus: NoBrow!
2:04:40-end:  Closing Comments! Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and JeffTumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including Dominic L. Franco, and Empress Audrey, Queen of the Galaxy, to whom we are especially grateful for her continuing support of this podcast.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week: More Waiting, and almost assuredly More Whatting!
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0:01-01:10:14: Greetings! Welcome to the Wait, What? rollercoaster (of love!).  There is so much going on in the world right now, and so much that has happened in the U.S. comics market in the last week, we should just hop right in and break it all down for you.  Which is to say, we *should* but thanks to a correspondence with Dominic L. Franco, Jeff sat down and power-re-read of a fourteen year old DC event miniseries: Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, and a flotilla of artists, inkers, cover people, colors, and letters.  And we talk about it AT LENGTH. So if you don’t want to hear about a big turning point in the DCU and how it resonates with later work by Johns, you should probably skip ahead an…hour or so?  Discussed: The plot of Infinite Crisis and everything that leads up to it; the modified version of Infinite Crisis released as a trade (and which version is/isn’t available on DC Universe); the Marvel Universe reduction of wonder in the 80s; the New52’s alternate origin point; connections to DC’s Convergence event (complete with its “nightmarish” zero issue); the various characters arcs of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman; what does Geoff Johns believe in, really?  Graeme’s recent re-read of the twelve issue Ion miniseries written by Ron Marz around the time of Johns’ Sinestro War; DC event mad-libs; the good soldier who gets done the dirtiest by Infinite Crisis; and more.

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

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