Pick of the Week Podcast

Pick of the Week #320 – Animal Man #6

Show Notes

We don’t seem to remember why, but this weeks comics are highlighted by the ALL TOM Feedback section towards the end of the show. Because we’re crazy like that. Plain and simple. So crazy that in this edition we celebrate the use of a double negative. Plus, a comparison of a comic creator to a legendary punk band.

Total Running Time: 01:00:53

Pick of the Week:
00:01:20 – It may have been a fill in issue, but Ron loved Animal Man #6.

Comics:
00:11:07 – Yes it has the trappings of a low level crossover, but Josh really dug Venom #13.
00:15:15 – It’s hard to argue the quality of creators on Dark Horse Presents #8 and Ron really likes this anthology.
00:18:46 – Shocking news from Josh while discussing Brubaker and Guice’s leadoff issue of Winter Soldier #1.
00:21:41 – Uncanny X-Force #21 almost proves that these comics are just being made for Ron specifically.
00:29:08 – Invincible #88 finally delivers on the hint of a new Invincible on the horizon.
00:31:04 – Conor found himself liking where Justice League International #6 ended up with the story.
00:32:31 – Creative use of time and narration on Avengers: X-Sanction #3. This series can’t end fast enough for Ron.
00:34:58 – Josh praises the ending of Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #4 as a little bit of comic book joy.
00:36:46 – Action Comics #6 lost Ron and Josh, and, unsurprisingly, not Conor.

User Reviews:
00:40:34 – The Top 5 Community Picks of the Week.
00:41:38 – Parri had some complaints but is enjoying Fatale #2.
00:43:50 – closetsquirrel is celebrating the recent rise in quality in  X-Factor #231. 

E-Mail:
00:46:35 – Tom counts down the “Top Toms” in comics.
00:50:15 – Tom wants to know about good baseball and sports comics.

Voicemail:
00:56:09 – Tom is calling just to check in.

Brought to You By:
Graphicly – Over 5,000 digital comics for you to enjoy on the web, your phone or tablet! Now with Image Comics!

Music:
“The Unsinkable Fats Domino”
Guided By Voices

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Comments

  1. Can you please do a special edition podcast on Chronicle?
    Pretty please with sugar on top?

  2. Action comics has been meh im with josh and ron. I dropped it after issue 4

  3. Black Tom Cassidy

  4. I’m so glad Ron said Tom DeFalco!

  5. Not appearing for me on iTunes.

  6. Regarding Brian Wood’s The Massive, I do believe it will be regular series starting this summer. DHP is doing a 3-part story to give people a taste.

  7. Tom Hardy plays Bane?

  8. I haven’t had a chance to listen yet but I am surprised not to see Swamp Thing mentioned in the show notes. Thoughts, feelings and comments, iFan-boiiiis?

    • It was pretty good. Suffered from not having Paquette on art.

    • I too was surprised that Swamp Thing wasn’t mentioned.

      @conor – ‘Suffered from not having Paquette on art’?

      Suffered?… I admit Paquette’s art has been outstanding, but to say the issue ‘suffered’ because of Marco Rudy seems a bit snobbish and dismissive.

    • @Kmanifesto: I’m not sure how. I liked the issue less than I normally like issues when Paquette draws it.

    • @Conor – I understand it was an opinion and that you consider Swamp Thing #6 ‘damaged goods’ in Paquette’s absence. I guess I was taken aback that Marco Rudy wasn’t recognized or given a ‘tip of the hat’ for his fill-in this week.

      Perhaps I’m dealing with fragile sensibilities here, but who better to fill-in for Paquette and not miss a beat with layouts/art than Marco Rudy?

    • @Kmanifesto: Who said “damaged goods”? I gave the issue four stars. I probably would have given it five with Paquette because, while Rudy does a fine job on fill-ins, I prefer the book with Paquette’s art.

    • @Conor – You used the word ‘suffer’ in your feelings toward the book – perhaps it was a flippant use of the word. If not, I don’t think it was unreasonable to suggest that you considered Swamp Thing #6 ‘damaged goods’.

      I’ll just file this under “Semantics”

    • @Kmanifesto: Except that you put the phrase damaged goods in quotation marks which implies that I said that somewhere and completely misconstrues what I said. It’s not semantics. it’s you twisting what I said to mean something else.

      It’s easier and safer in a discussion to refer to the words that I people actually use rather than apply your own incorrect meanings to what they say.

    • @Conor – There’s no giant leap being made here. I’m just following your statement out to it’s logical conclusion. Using the word ‘suffer’ implies a disadvantage…are damaged goods not at a disadvantage to normal goods?

      After my initial statement, you responded, “I liked the issue less than I normally like issues when Paquette draws it.” That statement has a totally different meaning than saying the book, ‘Suffered from not having Paquette on art”.

    • @Kmanifesto: It’s actually exactly the same thing.

    • @Conor – Then we do agree that if something suffers from the ideal then by definition, it is considered damaged goods.

      By your own words you considered Swamp Thing #6 ‘less than’ which implies an inferior product. Are damaged goods not an inferior product?

      The Good Ship Semantics has taken a hit to it’s hull…should we grab our life-jackets now?

  9. I don’t want to hear another review of X-Sanction on the podcast. I haven’t listened to this one just yet, but i think that Ron mentioned both of the previous issues on the pod. I know it will be fun hearing him dis the book, but I’d much rather hear about another title that’s great or another one to avoid. Just my 2 cents. Love the podcast!

  10. One more notable comic-book character named Tom: Tom Evans, the original Captain Canuck.

  11. Just a point that it sounds like you guys arent aware of from the conversation – do you realise 75% of Animal Man #5 was a fill-in artist as well? Some guy named Steve Pugh.

  12. Oh the tomfoolery!

  13. You guys forgot to mention legendary inker Tom Palmer.

    For a comics character, there’s Hal Jordan sidekick Tom Kalamaku.

  14. @Josh –

    Your Brubaker disillusionment reminds me of something I went through years ago with Chris Claremont. Many many years ago, he was chugging along on all cylinders writing the X-Men and Spider-Woman. He was being praised for his work and the buzz around him that solidified his reputation as “The X-Men Writer” was really strengthened at that time.

    Then Marvel released Bizarre Adventures #25 which featured two Claremont stories, one featuring a new character named Lady Daemon and another story featuring The Daughters of the Dragon from the Iron Fist series. I always remember this issue because it featured every Claremont trope he would ever use regarding his strong female characters all in one neat package. And I hated it. At the same time, the X-Men storyline was going on where Arcade and Doctor Doom were battling the X-Men, and he had Storm going through the same tropes as the characters in the Bizarre Adventures stories. Three different characters all going through the same story, all three characters using the same words and phrases, and it was only the way they were drawn that seemed to change. Ugh.

    I just decided I had enough. I continued to collect X-Men because of the Dave Cockrum artwork. Plus issues then were still only $.50 so it was cheaper than it is nowadays to stick with a book.

    Still, listening to you rant in this show, I could totally understand.

  15. If you don’t mind crossing the pond there’s a lot of good sports manga. Baseball has Touch and Cross Game. For boxing, Hajime no Ippo and Ring ni Kakero. And for basketball, Real. Was the soccer manga Captain Tsubasa, Ron?

  16. Didn’t see the parallel to the main plot in “Tights” ?

    Superhero puts costume on for the first time in a long time, gets ass thoroughly handed to him…perhaps?

  17. This was a god podcast, I am glad about the discussion with the Dark Horse Presents. I have found that I like these issues, but I always have to weigh them with my budget. If these were download issues with a lower price point(I’m assuming becuse of print cost and thing), these would be on my radar. I have bought buy them when I have the moneyin the past, because I like the anthology kind format, it’s like reading short stories. It just is out of my price range right now, if a bunch of books (2-3) fall out of favor, I will probably start to add this to my pull list.

  18. After reading the last two issues of Action Comics, I went back to issue 4 because I couldn’t remember how the first arc wrapped up. Guess what? It didn’t. There’s a caption at the end saying that that story picks back up in issue #7. Issues 5 & 6 were a story arc titled “Rocket Song Interlude.”

    Knowing this made me enjoy 5 &6 much more because I understand the reasoning: they needed some fill in issues, and they wanted to connect it to the first arc in someway. Superman finds his space ship in issue #3 and is presumably coming back for it when the story picks back up. 5 & 6 cover a time travel plot to steal the ship before he can come back. It provided a loose connection to the first arc, let them retell the fall of Krypton, introduce the Legion, and introduce future Superman which is probably a good thing sense they plan on ending the story of past Superman at some point.

    The good news is that anyone who was enjoying the first four issues should be able to get back to enjoying the title with issue 7. Hopefully, not a lot of people drop the book in the meantime.

  19. Conor sounds vaguely like he was phoning in from the Phantom zone.

  20. The iFanboy Legion bashing always annoys me. Have to say that the current Legion books aren’t that great, but I get the feeling that these guys just don’t like the concept of the Legion in any shape or form.

  21. If that sports guy is ok with Manga; theres alot of sports mangas, Eyeshield 21, Overdrive, Ippo etc etc etc etc.

  22. In regards to the second Tom’s email I do not know a lot of American Comics about sports but I do know there are tons of Japanese Manga’s about the subject. Some can be a bit more realistic while others have more “flare” to them with special moves and what not. I know some manga has be licensed to be sold in America so if you can find them, check them out. If they have not been licensed for some reason if you look around online you can find fan translations online to read.

    Cross Game: Baseball
    One Outs: Baseball
    Eyeshield 21: American Football
    Giant Killing: Soccer (Football if your international)
    Area no Kishi: Soccer (Football if your international)
    Hajime No Ippo: Boxxing
    Prince Of Tennis: Tennis
    Slam Dunk: Basketball

  23. inazume eleven is a manga/anime about soccer, i believe.

  24. Jeff Lemire’s Ghost Stories is a pretty darn good hockey sport comic.

  25. Hey im unable to download this atm, can anyone be kind enough to check if its a problem with the server or just on my end?

  26. Tommy Tudbury – “The Great and Powerful Turtle” of Wildcards™ fame is, perhaps, the ultimate Tom.

  27. 11.03am aest and no podcast. I’m starting to get concerned for the iFanboys. If anything happened to them I don’ t know what I would do

  28. You guys forgot Tom Tom the Robot Man, from Jack Staff. That’s two Toms. TWO!

  29. “Its Social Distortion!” YES! seriously i spit up Dr. Pepper when i heard that…cause i know exactly what you mean. Its always sad when formerly awesome things just start to repeat the formula instead of bowing out gracefully.

    I feel the same way about Action….for the past few issues i’ve been feeling like i’ve missed an issue. Yeah i think i got lost too.

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