Pick of the Week Podcast
Show Notes
Things get awkward on many levels this week. Let’s just leave it at that, okay? Look! Wednesday Comics #1! Moving on…
Running Time: 01:04:00
Pick of the Week:
00:01:50 – Wednesday Comics #1 was a delight to read and an easy Pick of the Week for Ron.
Comics:
00:16:45 – Josh is excited to have movement towards Blackest Night with Green Lantern #43.
00:19:58 – The madness continues in X-Men Forever #3.
00:23:52 – G.I. Joe Origins #5 was fun for Josh and Conor.
00:26:31 – B.P.R.D.: 1947 #1 hit it on all levels for Josh.
00:29:46 – Hey Matt Fraction! It’s Dark X-Men #1! Where’s our money!?
00:30:00 – X-Men Legacy #226 continues the contrived, forced Utopia storyline and annoyed Ron.
00:31:12 – Jeter Sucks! But The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36 was great!
00:33:52 – Green Arrow/Black Canary #22 has got some great Mike Norton/Bill Sienkiewicz art.
00:34:34 – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly #1 was a surprisingly good book for Josh and Conor.
User Reviews:
00:34:19 – robbydzwonar was pretty meh about Batman #688.
00:37:05 – SilverAgeTom (not Tim) like the art but not the story of North 40 #1.
Book of the Month:
00:38:49 – Ron reviews This is a Souvenir: The Songs of Spearmint and Shirley Lee.
E-Mail:
00:45:25 – Chris from Grand Forks, MI needs to return a defective trade.
00:46:51 – Sam from Philly wants more horizontal comics.
Voicemail:
00:49:39 – Mike wants to know where to start with Green Lantern.
00:52:15 – Jeff R. from Ohio is curious about The Watcher.
• Don’t forget to hear the latest Talksplode with Jon Arcudi, writer of Wednesday Comics and B.P.R.D.:1947
• And go listen to the second Murmur podcast all about music!
• Be sure to visit the iFanboy Store to become an iFanboy Member or get the limited edition Power/Responsibility T-Shirt while they last!
Music:
“I Wanna”
Matt & Kim
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Matt & Kim! Nice!
Interested in hearing the review of X-Men Forever. Does anyone know how that’s selling?
Would that "sidescroller" issue of MadMan count as a "horizontal comic"?
I too was disappointed by Wonder Woman. It felt as if they wrote out a 22 page story and then remembered they only 16 pages to work with and just went with it still. Also the price didn’t bother me once I had it in front of me. It’s not cheap, gray newsprint where ink is smearing everywhere; it’s not bad paper and the experience of folding it and leaning back on my couch and reading it was just nice. I wouldn’t mind a four month run of these popping up every so often.
I’m interested in listening to this podcast, period. Too bad the shit don’t ever work, two weeks in a row now. Come on guys, I appreciate you mentioning my reviews and such, but I wish there was some way to listen to it.
If it’s the distributior people’s fought, then get a new one. No offense, but those guys are fucking with you status like that. I would hate to hear about my favorite podcast losing core listeners.
Well I’ll check to see if iTunes will let me download it but I doubt it. Isn’t there any other way to access it?
well, I just click on the little play arrow |:
@robby: It’s working fine for everyone else, it seems. I just tested the players and iTunes and everything is working normally. Sounds like something on your end this week.
We offer a money back guarantee.
Good show, guys.
By the way, my vote for most worthless recent appearance of the Watcher was at the Black Panther and Storm wedding. That entire storyline was unbelievably forced, but it was the extremely forced appearance of the Watcher where I stopped reading that book. I kept feeling like the writer was saying “the Black Panther is really important. Trust me, he’s important. Don’t believe me? See what I can do. I can make Storm fall all over herself, wanting to marry him. Who cares if it makes sense? I’m the writer, so I control what makes sense. Still don’t think he’s important? I’ll just make the Watcher show up at the wedding! See, I’m a writer, so I can make the Black Panther important, whether he really is or not.” I hate that kind of crap.
to change the subject for a while, i love Matt and Kim. i describe their music as happy teeth and smiles…. and it doesn’t hurt that Kim as insanely attractive. They’re from new york. right? Josh, Conor ever seen them?
anyhow, i thought Josh was really "on" is this episode. Very very Funny.
I’ll have to go back to the store to get B.P.R.D. 1947, i had on idea Ba and Moon were doing that book
Good work, fellas.
Thanks for taking my voicemail, guys. Shockingly, my question was much more coherent than I feared.
Oh, and the more that Ron can talk about X-MEN FOREVER, the better. As was said by others, I have no desire to read the thing but enjoy listening to Ron talk about it.
Interested in hearing your answers about defective trades. I’ve bought a number of collected editions in the last few weeks that have fallen apart very quickly. Including my "I Kill Giants" trade which is keeping me from reading it.
@JeffR – Agreed on X-men Forever. It is always nice to hear one of the guys in their wheelhouse.
Great to hear Arthur from maine again! I just wonder how Eddie vedder is going finding back issues of secret wars 2 and rom spaceknight?
Arthur from Maine veered very close to Aussie accent territory in the opening, but awesome comeback. I want me some cod now.
Wednesday Comics is the best time I’ve had reading a comics in a LONG time. Even Batman and Robin pales in comparison to the talent brought to the table here. I am surprised nobody mentioned Lee Bermejo by name. Artwise I think that was probably my second favorite next to Quinones on Green Lantern, but everything was so close I couldn’t really choose. I also bit the bullet and bought two so I could wallpaper my room with the artwork with one.
Also, I thought the Wonder Woman strip was fine. I can understand the aversion to cramming all that into their one page, but the art itself was really nice, even if it was small.
Ron sounds kind of angry advertising the iFanboy membership. "We’ll GIVE you a comic book!"
Oh, and I’m waiting for the flood of "dirty things on the couch" comments. Awkward.
How is the Utopia storyline forced or contrived? Better yet, has Ron been reading Uncanny or just skimming through?. Just asking. I hate that I sound like an ass now. Sorry.
If anything the Prop X plot has been a slow burn since Uncanny #504 (and the rest of that arc), with Utopia being the logical high point.
504.
Being vaguely aware of Dark Reign and reading the UXM Annual #2 would also ‘clue’ most people into Norman’s involvement in the story. All very logical, and well-timed. Maybe Ron is just in too big a hurry to read all the books that come out, and has consistenly missed every single Prop X referrence?
Conspiracy!
I am one of them who has no idea what was going on in the begging there. Am I a loser?
If you are, it has nothing to do with the show. But, a long, long time ago, when it was revealed that the new Aquaman was from Maine, I (who am from Maine) started doing what he’d sound like, because I believe Kurt Busiek wrote the accent in the dialog. We just haven’t brought the character back in a while.
It’s extremely funny. Trust us.
Conor that groan you make towards the end of the X-Men Forever segment….that killed me 🙂
Also, apparently the "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" review takes place EXACTLY the same time as the robby "Batman" review. How hilarious would it be if true? 🙂
Yeah, I’d definitely download a bi-weekly podcast of Ron talking about X-Men Forever.
I too am not quite sure, though, why he says that the Utopia storyline is forced. I have a lot of logical problems with what’s happening with the story: I do not believe anti-mutant crime and hysteria could possibly RISE when there are 99% fewer mutants; when there’s only like 180 mutants left, I do not believe anti-mutant forces, many of whom have murdered in the past, would seek to persecute mutants through protesting and bureaucracy instead of outright systematic murder…But all that stuff has indeed been developed throughout Fraction’s run. I think the storyline is contrived in the sense of been-there-done-that, but it definitely isn’t "random" or out-of-the-blue, which is how I think Ron’s characterizing it. If anything, it was nonsensical and out-of-the-blue for Fraction to start down this road twelve months ago–but it isn’t all of a sudden senseless NOW once we get to "Utopia" . The crossover is actually the logical extension of a storyline that, in the beginning, was based on illogical premises. That’s how I read it. But maybe I’m misunderstanding what Ron’s said. Personally–sidenote–I think the stuff with Magneto should have been developed more in the past year. To me that’s more interesting than the 53rd scene about how Scott is okay about admitting that he finds Emma sexually desirable.
Good show, guys. Thank you.
"In the end it says like "The End" " is a brilliant line.
Also The Holiday isn’t good, but it has a great surprise appearance – not the stupid several seconds cameo, but one of the main actors, who happens to be the best actor in this movie.
Am I the only one who skipped the Wonderwoman story in Wednesday comics? It was a confusing mess.
Also, that suicide panel from GL made me noticed that DC has dropped the CCA stamp from their DCU books. When did they do that?
OH man! Maine Aquaman, how he has been missed. Hard to believe "One year later" was that long ago. I want an audio show of Arthur from Maine, Free Loading Black Panther, and Office Team Leader Red Skull (I feel I’m forgetting a character, but not sure who)
The way mutants have been portrayed in the Marvel Universe has never been a model of consistency or logic. Like anything else in comics, writers bring their own interpretation — and, moreso than many things in comics, that interpretation is going to be based on a particular interpretation of mutant-human relations as a sociopolitical metaphor. I can certainly see the viewpoint of people who dismiss the whole thing as silly and don’t want to mess with it, but I also think Fraction’s worldview on this since he’s been writing the books is pretty clear and uncompromising. And the way the mutants are interacting with ‘Dark Reign’ in the Utopia storyline feels to me like a logical and indeed almost inevitable consequence of what’s been set up over the last year. Nobody has to like it, but "contrived" seems like an unwarranted criticism (except in the sense that any fiction about a misunderstood minority with superpowers, some of whom run around in spandex costumes is contrived).
Your mileage may vary :).
Would an iFanboy t-shirt that says "I heart Arthur from Maine" violate DC’s trademark?
I thought Wednesday Comics had more misses than hits. BPRD was really good though.
Has Conor ever entertained the idea of dressing up as The Watcher for Halloween? That would be fantastic.
I also have a defective copy of The Roberts. I thought it was the only one, but I guess not. Sadly, I bought it at a second hand bookstore, so I can’t return it to my LCS. But now its probably a collector’s item, so I should get it CGC graded. 😛
I love when the show can make me laugh out loud in the first 30 seconds. Brilliant.
If anything else, can we get a "Gahd, I love the taste of a good cahd" shirt?
@ jurassicalien: I believe it should be “middle management Red Skull”, rather than “office leader Red Skull.” Big distinction in the world of office politics.
It is indeed Middle Management Red Skull.
Where in the hell are those cost reports Zola?!?!
@josh: ohh, thanks for the history, and the show doesn’t help my loserness, it makes it more dominant and hard to control
I had the opposite reaction to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I thought the art was only ok (sometimes great, but sometimes the storytelling left me re-reading sections to figure out what happened or who was who)
My biggest problem were the deaths. I think Death is a serious thing in the original movie, or at least the idea of the oppressed or innocent soldiers being killed…the way this book had all those people massacred off panel in one frame seemed really false to me, Leone would have dwelt on a massacre like that and shown the horror, not just glossed over it as merely a way to establish the "evil" of these Frenchmen. And having the Man with no Name gun down dead th edefeated gang manner seemed out of character to me. He is "the good", so he usually needs a provocation (it can be the tiniest) to gun down someone who’s given up.
I’m dropping this, I think, after reading the entire earlier Dynamite Man With No Name. Just really off key to what I expected, plus where were the Bad and the Ugly?!
As someone from Boston, I’m totally not offended by the Amazing Spider-Man annual. It was wikkid pissa! Also, they got the geography of Boston exactly right. I’m with Ron, in that I’m annoyed when a book is supposed to take place in a real place, but they get all the landmarks wrong. This issue was fantastic.
And, yea, Jetuh sucks.
@Urthona – I wouldn’t say that death was serious in the movie, but it was used to establish the bad guy as sadistic, and to show that the good guy is good – like when he gives the dying soldier a smoke. You can say that the bridge scene deals with death, but I’m not so sure. I’m not sure they blew up the bridge because they felt for the soldiers, but maybe that’s what made (spoilers) blondie shoot Tuco’s rope in the end and letting him live, or maybe it was used just to show that Tuco isn’t bad – that and the scene with his brother.
Frank Espinosa’s Rocketo is an example of a book that’s printed horizontally. It’s a beautiful book. Check it out: http://www.frankespinosa.com/
Dark X-Men still isn’t an ongoing, right?
Thanks for answering my voicemail. But in my defense I did search the site and couldn’t find this article you speak of. And Conor? That "dirty things on the couch" comment was a little creepy.
Thank you for the return of Arthur from Maine. I needed a smile and a laugh after finding out that one of my idiot roommates tossed out $80 worth of hallucingens I was saving for vacation.
@DorianP – http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/Green_Lantern__Where_Do_I_Start_
Ron vs The Xmen — PLEASE RON! PLEASE!
@OhCaroline: I hope not. Dark X-Men sucks.
iFanboy has to stop making me wait all day for my Pick Of The Week podcast on Sundays!! I swear they don’t post it until 11:00PM sometimes.
@robbydzwonar: That’s only true if you live in Europe.
I like the idea of a futile jester that Ron accidentally mentions at the beginning. could be a good joker-esque villain.