Wait, What? – Downfall

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

 

 

 

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Wait, What?, Ep. 284: CCXP, K Thx Bye

0:01-02:19:  Greetings from Graeme “Master of Time and Space” McMillan and Jeff “Insert Suggestion Here” Lester! Because it’s been three (or four!) weeks since our last podcast, we really do make it a point to speed through the small talk and get to…

02:19-1:07:39: CCXP!  Also known as Comic-Con Experience São Paolo!  Also known as the comic convention that might’ve ruined Graeme for all North American comic shows!  Pull up a chair and sit back as Graeme gives a very complete overview of the show he attended at the beginning of December in Brazil.  It’s a very complete overview of a fantastic show, and gives us opportunity to discuss what makes it such a successful show, what American shows can learn from it (and if they will)!  Also discussed: the 20+ minute Kevin Feige Experience; the rapture of Money Heist and the multimedia presentations; the Frank Quitely panel; whether cons “for” fans might be different from cons “for” pros; the joys of last minute and long-distance travel; going to war with Disney; freelancing duties while traveling; and much, much more in this hour-plus discussion.
1:07:39-1:33:03: Speaking of Graeme’s freelancing work, he’s been tasked with preparing both Best of the Year and Best of the Decade lists.  In doing so, he realized there was a fatal shortcoming on his decade list—no manga!  So he asked on Twitter for recommendations, checked a lot of stuff out, and these are his reactions to what he’s read.  Discussed:  Delicious in Dungeon; Tokyo Tarareba Girls; One Piece; Goodnight Punpun; and more!
1:33:03-1:52:13: From manga of the decade to American comics from last week:  we both read Dark Knight: The Golden Child by Frank Miller, Rafael Grampá, and Jordie Bellaire (Jeff doing so after Graeme said good things about it on Twitter) and we both want to rave about it here.  It’s a….surprising book for a lot of reasons that we unpack here. Discussed: Kirby, Mantlo, mugged liberals, and much more.
1:52:13-2:04:05: “I’m not going to say a lot about Doomsday Clock #12,” announces Graeme “Tease” McMillan, “but I am going to say this…”  Don’t worry, it’s spoiler-free, but it is a tantalizing set of impressions from Graeme.  Also discussed: the difference  between Watchmen the HBO series (also spoiler-free in our discussion) and Doomsday Clock; and more.
2:04:05-2:13:53: “You know, Graeme,” Jeff sez, “the really sad thing is we can’t just talk for six hours.”  Really, Jeff?  REALLY? Well, anyway, here are some of the things we talk about talking about if we had the time to talk about them: CBR meets the outsourcing content mill; Brian Bendis’s Superman issue called “Truth” about Superman revealing his identity, and the Superman issue called “Truth” about Superman revealing his identity that happened all the way back in, uh, 2015; The Wonder Twins: Activate collection by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne; and more.
2:13:53-end:   Closing Comments!!  Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including 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!! Join us next week as we discuss Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 10!
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Wait, What?: The Schedule Alert (2019)

Hey, everyone.  Don’t be fooled–this isn’t an episode.  It’s just seventeen minutes of Graeme and Jeff talking about when we will next be podcasting and the reason for the delay.  (Hint: international travel is involved.)  I mean, I hope it’s amusing…because goodness knows it goes on long enough?  And it even touches on comics news and other things…but it’s more of an amuse bouche at best, rather than one of our usual super-sized meals.

As we say in the non-episode, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving if that’s a holiday you celebrate, and look for us on December 15th!

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Wait, What?, Ep. 282: Soup or Town

0:01-7:55:  Greetings from Graeme “Finger Guns” McMillan and Jeff “Were We Facetiming” Lester! Let us paint a picture for you—a picture painted of words—so you know where we’re at when we record that (because wanting you to know that is apparently where Graeme is at).
7:55-54:26: What could be even better than DC’s next big event, The Year of the Villain?  Could it be…a dream Jeff had one feverish night for DC’s next big event? It probably couldn’t, but Jeff makes Graeme listen to it anyway, and we talk about Year of the Villain, the nature of crossover events, truffle oil, opt-in events, the upcoming Superman reveal, an excellent point by the ever-awesome Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Naomi, whether or not secret identities are out of favor, some of the details emerging from DC’s upcoming timeline, and much more.
54:26-1:15:13: Moving out of our discussion about DC and how to handle having characters age out, Graeme answers one of the burning questions on Jeff’s mind (no, really): what the hell happened to the New52 Superman?  Also discussed:  Forever Evil, postcreditsequenceitis (not one of Prince’s later albums, although it does look like that, doesn’t it?), Spider-Man: Far From Home, the sequel for Into The Spider-Verse and Jeff’s half-assed pitch for it; the terror that is Marvel’s Spider-Verse collection; and more.
1:15:13-1:36:45: Would you believe all of Jeff’s thoughts about secret identities came out of reading a bunch of manga—namely, Shuichi Shigeno’s Initial D?  Strange, but true!  Jeff was really impressed with a lot of the structure of this car racing manga and grew to love an unconventional art style.  Here, Jeff definitely goes on at almost comedic length about a series he’s only eight volumes in.
1:36:45-1:44:53: And on the end of the spectrum, Graeme has been reading a lot of Nicolai Dante, a 2000AD series that he openly admits doesn’t work for him.  “The art’s nice, but the writing’s overlooked,” sez Graeme after reading three volumes of the material.  Discussed: Rogue Trooper, Chris Claremont, and “cringe” as an adjective.
1:44:53-2:13:17: To top things off, Graeme’s just purchased two classic late era Kirby comics:  Destroyer Duck #1 by Steve Gerber, Jack Kirby and Alfred Alcala; and 2001: A Space Odyssey #5 by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.  Join us as Graeme walks us through these two amazing books with a lot of savage and incisive things to say about the company and industry where Kirby (and Gerber!) made his name.  Also discussed: the next Frankenstein Comic Swap; the Secret Origin of Lightray (!) by Gerry Conway (!!) and Don Newton; Supertown/Soup Or Town and the appearance of either in Grant Morrison’s JLA; Adventure Comics #460; Tom Taylor’s excellent handling of Green Arrow in Deceased and more.
2:13:17-2:25:18: Closing comments? Well, kinda—we talk very briefly about Batman Annual #4; the pain of passing on Fantastic Four: Grand Design by Tom Scioli; the upcoming John Constantine: Hellblazer book by Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell; and a possible mystery surrounding the first issue of Joe Hill’s Basket Full of Heads #1. (Thanks, Graeme!)  And then…
2:25:18-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!)  But does Graeme jam in even a few more last minute recommendations?  Maybe!
Next week: W,W?, 283 4 u!
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Wait, What?, Ep. 281: Wild Dog 2020

0:01-7:17:  Greetings from Graeme “Are You Sure?” McMillan and Jeff “She’ll Be Fine, She’ll Be fine!” Lester! Edi took a tumble, Graeme has been under the weather, and we are not even sure we want to talk about comic books?  So what do we do, then?
7:17-28:07: Well, why not talk about Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw? It’s kind of like a comic book and, like many a comic book, neither Graeme nor Jeff have seen it!  So it’s got to be a great topic for conversation, yeah?  How about Joker, that seems a little more on topic, right? Even if we haven’t seen that either?  Also discussed: budgeting and The Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass; budgeting and comics purchasing database number crunching; X-Men: Grand Design; and more.
28:07-1:00:28:  “You know, Graeme,” ever-obsessive Jeff asks, “what are you obsessive about? It’s clear I’m an obsessive hoardy mess but I don’t necessarily know if we’ve talked about, what are the things that you feel uncomfortably obsessive or sweatily compulsive about?”  Discussed: work, food, training yourself off of things, heroin (metaphorical), friendship, upgrading phones, FOMO, X-Men #1, Superman Smashes The Klan #1, failing Marc Singer (sorry Marc!) for not crediting his point in our comments on air, Giant Days, obligation, and MUCH more.
1:00:28-1:17:33:  Way back when, Graeme had mentioned Matt Singer’s new book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular: The Definitive Comic Art Collection. And he had a point or two to make about it, so we return to more typical Wait, What? ground for a bit.  To make it even more on point, Jeff wishes that people writing these mass market character overviews got the chance to curate on streaming services like DC Universe or Marvel Unlimited.  (To be fair, Marvel Unlimited actually does something like this already, but only using their own editors and creators.)  Also discussed: Disney+, Enigma being reissued (finally!) by Dark Horse; BizarroTV; and more.
1:17:33-1:33:38:  Speaking of DC Universe and their TV show offerings, we assume you know about the contest they’re holding where the winner will create a DC Universe unscripted/reality show? We can’t enter, but you can! So listen closely as we try—mostly unsuccessfully, it should be admitted—to come up with winning pitches you can use! Discussed: Booster Gold 2020, Space Cabby 2020, Night Force 2020, Who’s Going To Be The Next Phantom Stranger (2020), and more.
1:33:38-1:47:32:  “Hey, you know who’s still alive?” asks Jeff semi-rhetorically.  “Don Perlin is still alive!”  And how does Jeff know that you might ask?  Well, therein lies a story…and a whole lot of talking about Werewolf By Night and Moon Knight.

1:47:32-1:55:46: Dipping our toes in the water of current comics news in the mildest way possible:  good on Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, and Guiseppe Camuncoli for the preorders on Undiscovered Country #1!  Also discussed: SAGA—where is it?  Also, Jeff tries to ask about something about perennial (or strong) sellers for books that only ran about 30 issues and…somehow the question doesn’t quite connect with Graeme, apparently? Hey, it happens!
1:55:46-2:11:53: Back on our bullshit (well, Jeff’s bullshit is probably more accurate) as Graeme returns to The Pitch Zone to suggest some great DC styled reality shows!  Discussed: the Legion of Superheroes 2020 reality show and (here’s the Graeme genius in action) the Legion of Substitute Superheroes reality show.   Challengers Of The Unknown 2020! Challengers Of The Known 2020!  The CW shows and their special effects budgets (2019?), and more!
2:11:53-end: Closing comments!  Look for us on  Stitcher! Itunes! Instagram! Twitter together and separately: Graeme and Jeff! Tumblr, and  on Patreon where a wonderful group of people make this all possible, including 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!! Grab your copy of The Complete Judge Dredd Case Files, vol. 9 and join us!
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Wait, What?, Ep: 280: A Comic That Happened

 

0:01-6:31:  Greetings from Graeme “Burping” McMillan and Jeff “Probably Talking” Lester! It’s been a couple of weeks so we’re starting off slow(er than usual).  For example:  did you know Graeme rewatched Rocketman?  Could you have guessed Jeff would have some opinions about Rocketman?
6:31-19:21: Since Graeme admitted watching Rocketman on his flight back from New York Comic-Con, and Jeff, being an equal and opposite member of a comic book podcast, feels compelled to ask:  how was the flight?  (Just kidding, he asked about NYCC.)  Discussed:  NYCC, particularly from the point of view of an overworked entertainment industry reporter.
19:21-29:36: Arguably the big story to come out of NYCC is the news about DC’s timeline that came out at the DC Nation panel.  Graeme covers how that came about, and also touches on the other news stories to come out of the Con (such as Iron Man 2020, G. Willow Wilson taking over The Dreaming, Ruins of Ravencroft, etc.)
29:36-1:01:13: At a certain point, we segue from people being disappointed at how there weren’t more new X-titles announced at NYCC to talking about the end of House of X/Powers of X.  Spoilers?  Well, yes, I think that would be fair to assume…
1:01:13-1:13:08:  The Green Lantern also wrapped up its first season around the same time as HoxPox with issue #12, and Jeff was curious if Graeme had read it.  How the hell is a lovely book with an amazing artist and a superstar writer something so easily summed up by Graeme as “yeah, that’s a comic that happened?”  Also discussed: what happened to the spectrum lantern corps?
1:13:08-1:19:28:  How worried should we be when Jeff starts “worrying” about a comic writer? (It doesn’t always turn out well for Jeff, if nothing else!) Here, he worries about Geoff Johns’ legacy at DC?  Is it being ignored? Actively erased?  Discussed: Doomsday Clock and is it not a big deal anymore for DC?  And what does Siri think about it?
1:19:28-1:30:57: Speaking of Doomsday Clock, those of you interested in reading it without buying it *but* wanting to be legal and legit may want to check out Hoopla, where the first collection hit more or less on day of release.  And although this is the point where you think Jeff is mentioning this as a recommendation for more Whatnauts to look into Hoopla—and it is!—it is also a segue so that Jeff can talk about the Heroes In Crisis collection which he just read, in part based on Graeme’s recent post about it, and wishes to “discuss” it with Graeme (“discuss” apparently being code for “fight about”?)
1:30:57-1:40:41: “DC is all over the place,” Jeff declares, “I’m not paying really attention to Marvel except when they put Conan in something…which means I’m going to be paying a lot more attention to Marvel because apparently they’re putting Conan in everything.”  This leads Graeme to start talking about how Marvel has something for everyone considering they’re currently publishing 125 titles, but walking that back to point out Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl are getting canceled.  But at the same time they’ve announced deals with Scholastic for middle grade books.  They appear to be really upping the amount of titles they publish while at the same time narrowing the range of what they publish.  Also discussed: what is on Jeff’s comic subscription list?
1:40:41-1:45:53: Part of why we’re talking about Jeff’s sub list is because Jeff is trying *really* hard to put himself on a budget and how that works when it comes to comic books.  In theory, considering he subscribes to Marvel Unlimited, DC Universe, Comixology Unlimited, and has access to Hoopla, how hard does he really have to work to read good comics without spending any (more) money?  (Part of why this comes up is Jeff has been power-bingeing Giant Days off CU and *loving* it.)
1:45:53-1:54:33: And! Just as Jeff is bingeing Comixology Unlimited with Giant Days because of Graeme’s continued recommendations of it, Graeme read the first trade of Outer Darkness on Hoopla because of Jeff’s recommendation!
1:54:33-2:08:29: “I just love old Star Trek comics,” Graeme admits, before going on to talk about two very different graphic novels (different from Star Trek comics, anyway): Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, and The Hard Tomorrow by the mighty Eleanor Davis. Also discussed:  our pending top ten lists for 2019.
2:08:29-2:15:19: A discussion of what we’ve read recently on digital pivots away  from Jeff being unable to tell time (Major X #1 came out six months ago?) to, as Graeme brilliantly puts it, the “‘Rob Liefeld threatens to sue Marvel’ part of the news cycle.”  As tempting as it was to cut the “Graeme scrolls through Rob’s Twitter feed while complaining he can’t find the tweet” and save it for what doubtlessly would’ve become a coveted Patreon extra, we decided instead to just boil it down to its richest parts for everyone.  Take that, late stage capitalism!
2:15:19-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: Episode 281!!
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Wait, What?, Ep. 279: Truthers

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Hey, everyone—Jeff here.  My apologies for show notes on the truncated side of things this time around:  as alluded to in this ep., I’m kinda running around in all directions this week (hence the video above) for good reasons I hope to explain one day (before the end of the year?).  For now, I hope you’ll be able to get by on the shownotes below and your just-about-weekly dose of Graeme and me fussin’ and feudin’ comic book style!

0:01-13:49:  Greetings from Graeme “Sound of The Underground” McMillan and Jeff “Coasting” Lester! We’ve had a day, and Graeme has had a week, a week filled with situations like the one he goes on to describe involving some very good thoughts about working hard, and some very silly interjections from Jeff.
13:49-27:29:  Because we were engaging in some gossipy bitchery, Jeff felt compelled to mention how much he enjoyed Mr. Sinister in the latest issue of Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva and Marte Gracia. And Jeff also enjoyed Gwenpool Strikes Back #2 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, Jesus Aburtov, and Batman #78 by Tom King, Clay Mann, and Tomeu Morey. There may or may not be spoilers for the City of Bane storyline, depending on how things go? And there’s definitely discussion about whether DC will have a reboot, and where it’ll come from.
27:29-35:29:  Remember last week’s discussion of Doomsday Clock?  It’s back, kinda, because Graeme re-read the first eleven issues of Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Brad Anderson.  Also discussed: landing the ending; how many copies of Watchmen Graeme owns; and more.
35:29-42:19:  To prove that we are lovers as well as haters, Jeff asks Graeme about Graeme’s tweet asking what Marvel and DC books are being slept on:

And there was also this lovely little thread by Gail Simone on Twitter re: 25 great things about being a comics professional:

42:19-51:07:  As long as we’re  talking about the good shit, both Jeff and Graeme read the five issue run on Mars Attacks by Kyle Starks, Chris Schweitzer, and Liz Trice Schweitzer.  Starks has said that this storyline is one of the best things he’s done and we’re compelled to second that. Jeff compares and contrasts it with Mars Attacks Popeye from a few years back with *tremendous* Popeye art by Terry Beatty.
51:07-57:09: Thanks to the tweets of the talented Sarah Horrocks, Jeff was turned on to the first issue of Ryuko by Eldo Yoshimizu.  Graeme likes what he sees from the previews, and Jeff loved the brio of the art and the expressionistic storytelling. Great stuff.
57:09-1:12:23: And speaking of great stuff, holy cow, Batman Universe #3 by Brian Michael Bendis, Nick Derington, and Dave Stewart.  The cartooning, the coloring, and the fun of BMB’s scripting of this makes this one of our DC faves.
1:12:23-1:17:07: Another book Jeff has all the feels for:  volume 2 of Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey by Akiko Higashimura, which was just released in English by Seven Seas.  Higashimura is better known as the creator of the popular Princess Jellyfish but the first two volumes rocked Jeff’s world and as he says here and elsewhere is fantastic reading for anyone who’s tried to become an artist.
1:17:07-1:20:18:  Graeme re-read the first two issues of  SFSX (Safe Sex) by Tina Horn and Michael Dowling, the book that was supposed to be launched as part of Vertigo’s legendary Last Wave but is now coming out soon from Image.  Graeme definitely recommends not just the book on the first issue alone as the one-two punch is part of what sold him, as did Tina Horn’s straight-up awesomeness and the fact that, as he puts it, “it feels like a book that needs to be out there.”
1:20:18-1:32:50: And Jeff is going to mention that he digs the second volume of romance novel turned manga, Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray and Yusaku Komiyama. He also talks about Star Wars in a Japanese context and how nicely Komiyama’s adaptation fits into that.  We also talk about the current crop of American Star Wars comics, and Kieron Gillen’s recent run with Salvador Larroca there.
1:32:50-2:05:00: Speaking of Marvel and licensed properties, Graeme has a question for Jeff—why is Marvel doing a Conan/Moon Knight event, called Serpent War.  (With Solomon Kane! And Dark Agnes!  And also…Dark Agnes?)  But in order to dig into that, we look briefly at the recent sales figures and trends in the marketplace.  Pick a side in the battle between Dear Justice League Truthers vs. Conan Truthers, cue up Pump Up The Volume, and wade into the melee!
2:05:00-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, but join us in two weeks for Drokk!!
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Wait, What?, Ep. 278: Empress Audrey Mask!

0:01-7:58:  Greetings from Graeme “It’s Not Fucking Sweltering” McMillan and Jeff “Eschew Hyperbole” Lester!  It’s been a while so even after we stop talking about the weather, we have questions—important questions!—to answer about the song Wooly Bully, pillow talk (though not in the way that term’s traditionally used), visual cues, and….
7:58-39:18: Doomsday Clock!  Issue #11 is out, and while it’s too soon to discuss the limited series with any degree of finality, it is perhaps time for Graeme to talk about the arc of the series, the trend of issues #10 and #11, and some reflection on Watchmen and the career of one Geoff “Ozymandias” Johns.  Kick off your shoes and settle in to your chair because this’ll take a while.  (Though not nearly as long as the times between issues of Doomsday Clock.)
39:18-55:53: Pivoting: Tox Jox Blox HoxPox!  Checking in about the weekly Jonathan Hickman x-event, we admit we are both….exhausted?  We talk scheduling, characterization, the strengths of Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva (on House of X and Powers of X, respectively, the charms of Avengers: No Surrender, and books that we don’t read immediately and those we do.
55:53-1:12:41: Talking about pacing ourselves, we briefly discuss the stuff Graeme’s just recently caughtt up on and that leads in to a quick (spoiler-free!) chat about the upcoming issue of Batman by Tom King and Clay Mann and then really digging into the latest issue of The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp.  Graeme had wandered away from the book and wandered back to see the lead-in to the upcoming Green Lantern: Blackstars book.  Jeff, who is hanging on to interest in the book by his fingernails wants to talk about, among other things, why?  Why is Morrison doing what he’s choosing to do with this book?
1:12:41-1:30:14: Relatedly, a superhero book we are both loving is the current run of Daredevil. Jeff just read Daredevil: Know Fear, the trade collecting the first five issues by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, and Sunny Gho. Jeff thinks it’s a great book for fans of the Netflix show, and Graeme thinks it’s just a great book, period.  Also discussed: Tom Taylor on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man; Savage Avengers #5; Infinity Wars; and more.
1:30:14-1:41:23: Another book Jeff has greatly enjoyed—and without a superhero in sight—is My Pink is Overflowing by Yuki Minnou about a cafe waitress who needs to be loved and the uptight, scowly manager with whom she comes to an agreement.  Some day Jeff will come up with a better description of volume 1 than “less of a story and more the equivalent of two nervous dogs trying to sniff each other’s butts for 300 pages,” but that day is not today.  (Spoilers for vol. 3!  Not that the plot is really the point of My Pink Is Overflowing.)  Also discussed: Vinland Saga, manga vs. anime, and more.
1:41:23-1:52:04: The anime angle gives Jeff a chance to ask Graeme about what he’s watching these days.  Discussed:  Million Pound Menu, No Offence, the most current season of The Great British Baking Show which inspired this delightful thread by CalamityJon:

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1:52:04-2:02:27: As for what Graeme has been reading, he’s been reading a lot of prep stuff for work (though he’s quite enjoyed them).  Stuff like: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh; Sparrowhawk by Delilah Dawson, Matias Basla, and Rebecca Nalty; The Magicians: Alice’s Story by Lilah Sturges, Lev Grossman, and Pius Bak; The Blue Road: A Fable of Migration by Wayde Compton and April dela Noche Milne; The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by Koren Shadmi; Battle Stations, the first volume in the upcoming Hugo Pratt War Picture Library series; the book design of The Batman Who Laughs; and more.
2:02:27-2:14:17: And, saving the best (?) for last (?), Graeme read Spawn #300!  Discussed: SPAWN!; Graeme teasing us about an hour long interview he conducted with Todd McFarlane; and more.
2:14:17-end: Closing comments?  Kind of!  I mean, sure, after we diss Gus Van Sant, news about The Joker gets the Golden Lion Award. And, well, okay, we also have to mention the mayor of Rio de Janeiro wanting to ban The Avengers: Children’s Crusade; and then finally… 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.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week:  Episode 279! Join us, won’t you?
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Wait, What?, Ep. 276: HoxPox Rox, Clox 2 Tox Jox

 

0:01-10:36:  Greetings from Graeme “Derry Girls” McMillan and Jeff “New Mic, Old Mac” Lester!  We hope you like our occasional forays into non-comic book talk, because that is definitely how we start out episode 276!  Like the smoothest of stones, we skip from Keyser Soze to Derry Girls to Hobbs & Shaw to one of your hosts moving to artisanal cobwebs in under two minutes.
10:36-22:26: But, hey, we do swerve back to comic news before too long, as we discuss a pretty interesting tidbit recently come to light:  Rob Liefeld doesn’t own the rights to Youngblood!  Weird, right?  And yet somehow true?  Also discussed: buying Comico, licensing Amazing Heroes, and more.
22:26-25:01: Back to Hobbs & Shaw!  Did you know Drew Pearce, who wrote No Heroics and Iron Man 3, also wrote H&S?  That’s pretty cool right?
25:01-1:03:59: But since neither of us have seen Hobbs & Shaw, Jeff goes on to talk about Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood.  No spoilers, sorta?  (Depending on how well you know Tarantino films, we probably give away by what you can infer from our discussion.)  We talk about this problematic movie from this problematic auteur and Jeff’s thoughts and feelings about the movie being (surprise!) troubled (and probably problematic).  Also discussed:  Tarantino movies; feet; ER and X-Files; Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Joss Whedon’s new series, The Nevers; and Neil Gaiman’s work for Marvel.
1:03:59-1:18:49:  Speaking of which, guess what Graeme just reread this last week?  No joke, it’s The Eternals by Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr.!  As you know, bagging on Neil Gaiman is like catnip for Jeff, but Graeme manages to get some good points in there.  Discussed;  the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and where The Eternals might help or hinder that; and more.
1:18:49-1:22:39:  Hey, that Powers of X #1 came out this week from Jonathan Hickman and R. B. Silva and it sure was something, wasn’t it?  We talk about how ambitious and crazy and impressive it was, and what ends up exciting comics readers, Paul O’Brien doing annotations for House of X and Powers of X (yay!!!); and more.
1:22:39-1:29:26: Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo is out and Jeff is digging on it.  But is he reading Justice League?  And if not, why?
1:29:26-1:44:51: Two hits and then a stunning miss:  The Green Lantern Annual #1 by Grant Morrison and Giuseppe Camuncoli. It’s not our cup of tea, in no small part because it’s terrible.
1:44:51-1:52:28: We circle back to Powers of X #1 because, as we were saying earlier, it sure was something!  We talk more about what that something is, and we debate whether or not we can really talk full-on spoilers or not?  Graeme talks a few things that may or may not be spoilers, depending on how things turn out.  We kick in with this at theory at 1:49:01 and it only lasts for a few minutes and is really just spoilery theories, I guess?
1:52:28-1:56:46:  Also impossible to  spoil is Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, a very goofy little book by Shingo Honda about the trials and tribulations of working in the manga section of a Japanese bookstore and dealing with, among other things, westerners needing help finding their disquieting manga selections?
1:56:46-2:03:37: One of the ongoing joys of DC Universe for Jeff is that more often than not every week they upload an issue of Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #9, featuring Pat Boone.
2:03:37-2:07:44: Speaking of DCUniverse, Jeff has *finally* checked out Doom Patrol right?  Well, wrong.  Here more about his self-defeating TV choices.  We also have a fast update about Graeme’s read of The Boys and how it reflects on the TV show.
2:07:44-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.  (Also, don’t forget about Spotify!)
Next week:  STEVE ENGLEHART
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