“I, for one, welcome our feline overlords.”
Okay, so this may well be a bit on the hasty side shownotes-wise (I won’t ever bore you with it, but let’s just say I’ve spend over three hours chatting with tech support in the last few days) but on the plus side: OUR FIRST NEW PODCAST OF 2015! Featuring a great giveaway! Lots of chatter! And maybe possibly the bitchiest Graeme and Jeff have been to each other to date? Check out the notes below, fire up the podcast (remember, we provide just the link itself in the first comment to this post if you don’t want to mess with the RSS feed or the player above), and dive in!
00:00-3:39: Happy New Year Greetings! And, of course, apologies—apologies for not being able to successfully wish one another a happy new year. “Start as you mean to go on,” as Graeme puts it. If I were Graeme, I’d make it a point to explain that when we recorded this, we were both pretty knackered by the week and so therefore a wee bit on the crotchety side…but I’m not Graeme! So I’m going to totally leave you in the dark about it. You’ll never know!
3:39-27:38: This podcast is being recorded on the day of Image Expo 2015 and we have some things to say on the subject: Graeme made a list of all the projects announced at previous Image Expos that still haven’t come out yet (including two from 2012); Jeff kind of just wants to talk about Sandman Overture #4; Graeme wants to correct Jeff about when Sandman Overture first came out; J.H. Williams III’s playlist; the problems with shipping irregularly and perhaps even regularly; bimonthly vs. monthly for six months followed by a break; context after a break; Graeme vs. the third Hobbit movie; feeling weird about the fourth Casanova series that is almost out; our new mantra for 2015: “whatever schedule is whatever schedule” and more.
27:38-29:16: Still part of the above conversation but I’m pulling this section out because we talk a bit about (a) our podcasting schedule for 2015; and (b) how, in February, Jeff is going to screw up our podcasting schedule for 2015.
29:16-42:23: Back to comic scheduling! Would we rather have bimonthly books, or monthly with a break? Which would we rather lose, our hearing or our sight? If we had to choose between having no legs or no arms, which would we choose? Also, less loaded topics: pull lists, the second season of The Wrong Mans; spoiler via TV recap; back to Sandman Overture #4 again; a HORRIFYING PUN; Captain Victory #4; etc.
42:23-56:25: Superman #37 by Geoff Johns and John Romita, Jr. Jeff is pretty annoyed by it and wants Graeme to explain to him (SPOILERS, by which I mean that Jeff describes the entire issue to Graeme): why can’t people tell good Superman stories anymore? (You know, as long as you ignore the people who are?) Why is a Superman story so much harder to tell than, say, a Batman story? Discussed: Superman’s new power (!?) (and, as long as we’re at it, #%$&* as well); Peter Tomasi on Superman/Wonder Woman; and then:
56:25-58:07: Another section pulled out here for your attention: we are super-grateful we have passed the $500 mark; it is an honor and a delight and a humbling experience, and we are especially grateful to the generosity of Audrey the cat, who helped put us over the $500 mark. All hail Empress Audrey! See her above, sitting so regally next to some Legion comics!
58:07-1:04:05: Back to the comic talk! Jeff has read Wonder Woman #37 by Meredith and David Finch and has a theory about it that Graeme does not agree with. [SPOILERS about the issue, obvs.]
1:04:05-1:11:48: There are other things we should be talking about! Such as the Image Expo! Remember, that we started talking about an hour ago? And books Graeme’s looking forward to?
1:11:48-1:18:04: Segue! Pivot! Parkour! Now we’re talking about The Ant Man trailer. Listen to Graeme not so discreetly mock Jeff for basically liking it! (To be fair, Graeme appears to be far from alone in thinking it a very dull trailer. Far from alone.)
1:18:04-1:39:18: Pivot! Transition! Parkour! Top Shelf being bought by IDW! Graeme has some thoughts! Jeff has maybe two thoughts! (Three, if you count, “Is Graeme eating chocolate right now?”) Also discussed: those liquidation sales; direct market consolidation; grinders; is Graeme eating chocolate right now; Alan Moore writing Ghostbusters; Neoconicon; and more.
1:39:18-1:47:38: So which companies should buy out which other companies in the direct market? We brainstorm!
1:47:38-2:17:00: It’s time for that part of the podcast where Jeff realizes he’s never going to get a chance to talk about all those damn comics he read and so just starts blurting out titles and hasty impressions. So: Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier #2 and #3 by Ales Kot and Marcos Rudi! Men of Wrath #1-4 by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney! Batman Eternal #36 and #38-40 by a lot of people! Wild’s End #4 by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard! The Humans #1-3 by Keenan Marshall Keller and Tom Neeley! ODY-C #2 by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward! By contrast, Graeme has been reading: Memetic by James Tynion IV (and sorry, James Tynion IV for always calling you James Tyrion IV—it’s the Star Trek fan in me) and Eryk Donovan! Sleepy Hollow by oh my god this Entertainment Weekly link is taking forever to load! the collected Casanova (the first thing) by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon! 2000 A.D. by lots of people! And so: Jeff has also read The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson! (by the way, doesn’t a second Inhumans title seem kinda insane?) Scooby-Doo Team Up #8 by Sholly Fisch and Scott Jeralds! Outcast #6 by Robert Kirkman, Paul Azaceta, and some fantastic coloring by Elizabeth Breitweiser! Deathstroke #3 by Tony Daniel, Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea! Flash Gordon #7 by Jeff Parker, Evan “Doc” Shaner and Jordie Bellaire! Shaft #1 by David Walker, Bilquis Evely, and Daniela Miwa! Star Trek-Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive by Scott and David Tipton, Rachael Stott and Charlie Kirchoff! Abigail and the Snowman #1 by Roger Langridge! McBain #1 by various (thanks, Bongo!)! Lady Killer #1 by Joelle Jones, Jamie S. Rich, and Laura Allred! They’re Not Like Us #1 by Eric Stephenson, Simon Gane, and Jordie Bellaire! (Autmnlands) Tooth & Claw #1 & #2 by Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey and Jordie Bellaire!
2:17:00-2:18:34: And here’s a transition to the final part of our podcast where we give away stuff.
2:18:34-2:25:21: And now here’s where we return to give away stuff: four copies of IDW’s Rogue Trooper: Last Man Standing, one of them signed by writer and Whatnaut Brian Ruckley! Jeff ended up digging the four issue mini by Ruckley and artist Alberto Ponticelli, so we are delighted to give these away to four lucky listeners. Listen to the rules and enter to win!
2:25:21-end: Closing comments! Things we will be doing in the coming year, things we should be doing, and a head’s up to read those first dozen issues of the Fantastic Four since the next episode of our podcast, dropping January 19, is an exclusive look at exactly that. And then:
Gravity’s Tote Bag! Places to look for us at—Stitcher! Itunes! Twitter! Tumblr! And, of course, on Patreon where, as of this count, 94 patrons are keeping us groovy and making this whole thing possible.
(p.s. Hail Empress Audrey.)
Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy!
Take this, brother. May it serve you well:
http://theworkingdraft.com/media/podcasts/WaitWhat167.mp3
Here’s the thing.
Wait. No. I mean — shit! I fucked up our break schedule after all. It’s three weeks in January, one week off, one week back, another week off, then back again. I think. Calendars confuse me.
(This is still my vote for the weirdest both of us have been doing an episode yet.)
I TOLD YOU (he says, even though technically he didn’t.)
You kind of did, though. I’m putting it down to the utter oddness of the recording. (Whatnauts! Jeff and I were completely normal on either side of the recording! You wouldn’t believe it from the podcast itself, but it’s true!)
BTW, Audrey told me she’d like you guys to read the first year and change of LSH v4 and talk about it at some point. =)
So noted!
Oh man, I would be so on board for that.
That image has my two favorite subjects on the planet. What’s the fuzzy Legionnaire’s name?
Shoot, I thought I replied to this ages ago. Sorry, Neil!
It’s Audrey.
I’m with Neil. Cat photo and the “Five Years Later…” Legion? It’s like you can see into my dreams, Jeff and Graeme.
I’m a huge Sandman fan and I would never give someone the Overture issues as an introduction to the series or to comics in general. There are a lot of Easter Eggs for long-time readers, but there’s a lot of new stuff buried in there. A lot of very weird new stuff that is absolutely gorgeous to look at but very dense to get through.
Much as I love Rogue Trooper, I already have the stories so here’s my entry for the competition:
I’d call Jeff: “Muh-humbles” and out his chip on my food.
I’d call Graeme: “Cleanse” and put his chip on my colon.
zing! And you’re entered.
I lol’d at the John Romita Jr. “flying T-squares” comment. He does the same thing in Captain America: Dimension Z. In the script, Arnim Zola’s second-in-command is a living, talking transportation system for his army of mutates. In the penciled pages, that character is a floating bed sheet with a cartoon frowny face.
The Big Two should confine Romita to street-level books, where the characters and settings have factual counterparts, and he’s beholden to drawing them accurately. If the script calls for an alien spaceship or a magic castle, he’ll draw whatever requires the least amount of work.
“Graeme made a list of all the projects announced at previous Image Expos that still haven’t come out yet (including two from 2012)”
Is this list online somewhere?
I think when talking about comics shipping haphazardly you left out one of (?) the most successful: Hellboy! I’m not sure even Dark Horse knows for sure when the next issue of that series is going to come out.
As for companies that could be bought by someone else, I’d be curious about someone buying SLG.
Humanoids! I believe only Lucha Libre was published from Image.
And Devil’s Due only published….I am Legion and the Zombies that Ate the World? Did they even publish I am Legion? Their site only lists Zombies as coming out from them.
And you say that the 2000ad reprints were a “ridiculous failure”, but they’ve continued publishing books in that size since then, so they’ve clearly had some success (and looking at them now, the books DC/2000AD published were ugly, the later trade dress has been a lot nicer).
And not letting me use your catchphrase of the episode for the Rogue Trooper competition is clearly unfair. Graeme is Hear’s The Thing, an Electro-sonic Ear that can broadcast information about comic books directly into Rogue Trooper’s mind.
Great episode. You lads didn’t seem any weirder than usual, mind. You’re not weird, you’re just you. Which is great.
I did find it a hoot that Graeme only now notices his ‘Here’s the thing’ thing. As I said on Twitter, it’s at least a year since I left a comment suggesting you change the name of the show to ‘Presenting Ben Grimm’. First time I’ve ever been too subtle for someone!
Much as I loved the 5YL Legion, if you’re ever doing the LSH I vote for the first five years of their original Adventure Comics run. So much oddness as Hamilton, Forte and co build an entire universe.
You were indeed entirely too subtle, Martin: I remember the comment but didn’t fully get it until you explained it here. Pretty damn funny in that context…
Come up with one for me and you’re entered, Matthew!
The only other one I can think of is really general. The Wait, Watch? A clock that constantly forgets to tell you that you’re running over time…
I wonder if the dourness of the recent Marvel trailers is the higher ups at Marvel putting their foot down and saying, “Guardians of the Galaxy was fun and all, be we want to reassure you that we are serious about making a mature series of movies with a canon and inter-connectivity that you can take seriously.”