iFanboy Video Podcast
iFanboy #156 – Comic Book Voicemail
Show Notes
Members of the iFanbase heeded our call and called into the iFanboy voicemail line. Hear Josh, Conor and Ron answer your questions without any preparation or advanced planning! It’s comic book questions MAYHEM!
- Dana from Seattle, WA wants to which characters would get which rings if Blackest Night had happened in the Marvel Universe.
- Andy from Charlotte, NC wants to know when the last time something in a comic book made the guys mad.
- Stefan from Rancho Cucamonga, CA is annoyed by bold lettering in word balloons.
- Cammy from San Diego, CA wants to know if the guys would read a sequel or a prequel to Watchmen.
- Anonymous from Parts Unknown asks about how to sell a comic book collection.
- Jim from Portland, OR was blown away by Punisher MAX and wants to know if it was ever Pick of the Week and the difference between regular Punisher and Punisher MAX.
- Jackie from Queens, NY wants to know the iFanboy Top Five Artists.
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"This isn’t that show" – Hilarious
Apart from Storm and Cap I don’t really agree with your Marvel ring choices
Red – Punisher
Orange – Kingpin
Yellow – Dr. Doom
Blue – Professor X
Indigo – Kitty Pryde
The artists question is a real tough one! And really interesting. Personally mine would be; Darwyn Cooke, Tim Sale, Michael Lark, John Romita Jr. and Mike Mignola (that ones a bit of a stretch for being current).
@Heroville: I rather like the idea of Spidey being the blue ring, but your dead right about Punisher and Doom 🙂
I don’t think Yellow neccesarily means that the ring wielder is a villain. I believe that Batman would be a yellow lantern if alive and that the Punisher would make a much better fit than Magneto. Great picks all around though.
Artists: Cooke, Guerra, Quitely, Fiumara, Moore.
@Sparkles- I’d love to put Mignola on my list as well.
I think Daredevil would make a fine Green Lantern. Conquering fear has been synonymous with willpower, so I think he fits, although Cap certainly works too. I really don’t think Iron Man is an Orange Lantern. Kingpin might work although some of the best Kingpin stories are where he’s driven by love of all things. and no fear-based characters? how about Marvel’s Scarecrow for starters? I’d also accept Ghost Rider or Mr. Fear.
sadly, I think up-and-comers looking to elevate their position in the industry would be the ones willing to do more Watchmen material, not the top tier guys. the top guys know better, and not to say that up-and-comers don’t, but they’re more willing to go against their gut, somewhat out of necessity.
Really good show, I was so sure Ron would say Marcos Martin is his five artist. Love these voice mail episodes.
Mr. Fear guys it’s RIGHT IN THE NAME!!!
Man, my voice sounds weird on the video show. But thanks for the answer guys!
Maybe I should have been more specific about "top five all time favorite artist" but current artist working, I’m cool with that.
Why not Mr. Fear for a yellow power ring…
Because no one remembers or cares about Mr. Fear?
Some interesting questions this show, especially the one about the bold text (something I’ve pondered on also) and the Marvel Power Rings. Personally, I’d’ve swapped Cap and Spidey and given the yellow ring to the Punisher, but that’s just me and my limited knowledge of Marvel.
That artist question was surprisingly difficult to narrow down for me too. Might as well post my choices here though, it’s not like they’ll be useful anywhere else: Tim Sale, Scott Kolins, Darwyn Cooke, J.H. Williams, Jim Lee.
What made me angry was the teen-aged Tony Stark in Iron Man before the Heroes Return fiasco, and the Thunderbolts "Fight Club" stretch…yuck. And to follow up on Ron’s comment about the X-Men from 94 to now, the characters Maggot and that bone weapons girl, I forget her name but they were painful to read.
Best Comic Voicemail show ever.
LANTERN PICKS
Red: Hulk, Punisher, Wolverine, Namor, Aries, The Sentry, Warpath, X-23, Sunfire.
Blue: Jubilee, Pixie, Hope, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Cypher, Patriot.
Green: Hawkeye, Cyclops, Cable, Nova, Magik.
Yellow: Purpleman, Daredevil, Emma Frost, Mirage/Dani Moonstar, Phobos, Trauma, Darkbeast.
Orange: The Hood, Norman Osborn, Kingpin, Forge, Bishop, Prodigy, Nightthrasher, Vanisher.
Indigo: Gateway, Nightcrawler, Dust, Blindfold.
Violet: Black Cat, Rogue, Storm(goodpick)
ANGER: I’m with Ron. There’s just a shitton of stuff to be mad about in the X-universe. Rereading issues 300-399 are just awful but at the time I thought they were "ok". I also agree with k5blazer about Maggot. He has got to be the worst fucking character in the X-men series, next to Johnny D (who actually looks like he might pose a threat).
WORD BALLOONS: It’s like in the colored texts in Legend of Zelda. It’s just there as a highlight and not really meant to be read aloud anymore.
WATCHMEN: Mark Millar? – Yes. Dan Slott? – Maybe. Manga? – Fuck Yeah!
COMIC SELLING: Never planning on it, which is why I usually hold out until hardcovers and tpb come out for things I like but don’t "HAVE" to read it now.
My TOP 5 artists!: We’ve been talking about this for weeks haven’t we?
– Mark Brooks
– Jimmy Cheung
– Chris Bachalo
– JH Williams
– Paco Medina
I know there’s like 4 more I’m thinking of right now that would have gone on the list but it’s damned hard to remember them all. OH WAIT! *changes list again*
The one that unfortunately got booted
– Ryan Ottley
I wana hear Ron’s story about stealing a silver age comic……
Also, my shop buys back issues for half a penny a pop……
My Top 5 Artists currently working would absolutely have to be, from bottom to top: 5)David Lafuente, 4)Jamie McKelvie, 3)Mike Allred, 2)Frank Quitely, AND # 1)John Cassaday
Also
If I were to interject another Top 5 for Writers currently then those would be: 5)Bryan Lee O’Malley, 4)Warren Ellis, 3)Jason Aaron, 2)Geoff Johns, AND # 1)Brian Michael Bendis
Mr. Fear looks like the Phantasm from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Cool show as usual guys.
Funnily enough, aside for Quietly, my list of favourite artists is identical to Conor’s. My fifth would probably be Stuart Immonen.
Excellent show!
I think the Punisher gets the yellow ring.
CAMMYS COMIC CORNER
Top 5 artist im currently reading would probably be:
Sean Murphy: on Joe the Barbarian
Max Fiumara: When he shows up on ASM
Jock: On detective
Alex Maleev: On Spider-Woman or N
Gabriel Ba: On Umbrella Academy or Daytripper
Alan Moore can bitch and moan all he wants about how he doesn’t want other people to write the characters he created, but no matter what he says, he is still the guy who wrote League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. That means he should shut up.
My Top 4 Artists currently putting out work:
1. Kevin Maguire
2. John Romita, Jr.
3. Darwyn Cooke
4. Alex Maleev
5. Tim Sale
Great show!! I like to add my two cents in on my top 5
1. Darwyn Cooke
2. Micheal Lark
3. Ron Guera
4. Tommy Lee Edwards
5. Jan Duursema
Love to read more contributors top 5 picks
@Mangaman- Phobos is such a perfect Yellow Lantern pick, it was a wonder it wasn’t more obvious.
Hood and Kingpin are guys that want to have their cake and eat it too, so yeah I guess that works for avarice.
Darwyn Cooke
Ryan Sook
Paul Pope
Jesus Saiz
Frank Quietly
Don’t know if Sook is doing much these days, but his work on Arkham Living Hell has been etched into my mind, as Pope’s work on 100% and Year 100. Oddly enough, a lot of those guys are Batman Artists, or at least have fame through Batman, yet I’m not that big of a fan of him…
Ah, geez. Top 5 artists currently dragging a pencil:
-Guy Davis
-Frank Quitely
-Ryan Sook
-Doug Mahnke
-Francis Manapul
-Sean Philips
-Jesus Saiz
-Amanda Conner
-Gary Frank
-Gabriel Rodriguez
Okay, that may have been more than 5.
As someone who wasnt reading comics until right after civil war, what happened in the Captain America and Frontline books that got Conor, and the second caller so upset?
@AlanRob: Captain America was made to feel shame at being out of touch with "real America" because he didn’t know what MySpace was.
I have to agree with Ron on things that have made me angry in comics, but also expand on it in a way you guys touched on. Gwen Stacy is one of the most egregious examples of what I hate in comics: retconning. It seems to happen for one of two reasons, both of which have to do with bad writing. Either the retconning is done just for shock, like Gwen, or it is needed to undo bad writing (like… Gwen…). Retconning almost always makes me feel hollow, like the writer says "Oh, you know that big thing you thought you new about Man X? It’s not true." The narrative device of the character reacting to being lied to can be interesting, but when I feel like I (appropriate bold!) have been lied to, it overwhelms the story and the characters. I don’t relate to Spider-man feeling betrayed anymore. I just feel let down.
Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin is the Platonic ideal of the bad retcon, perfection achieved. Constantly dicking around with Jean Grey annoys me too, and that all goes back to a retcon as well. Dying, in general, is one of the big retcon things. I realize that comics are fantasy, but when you’ve taken the sting out of the worst outcome, death, then where is the suspense? Oh? They killed Batman? He’ll be back. Captain America? He’ll be back. Superman? Jason Todd? Bucky? "Wouldn’t it be cool if…" or "I really want to…" are cop out reasons. The character is dead. Deal with that.
Damn, I miss Valiant Comics. Rai die, and it mattered. Torque died, and it mattered.
(and, breathe!)
@Scoops: And you realize why death mattered iin Valiant, right…?
It helps sell and draws attention. Permanence made Valiant stand out a bit. But death sells in books where you know it won’t be permanent as well. Look at the attention Superman and Cap got.
Killing off characters can be lazy writing. The thing is, bringing characters back already has the problems of killing the character off, it may have been lazy and shocky, but the return is almost always lazier. Not all comic deaths are cheap manipulation, but pretty much every revival is. Jean Grey is a prime example. Her death was a big deal. It was touching and well done. Bringing her back cheapens everything, especially in retrospect — even if Byrne and Claremont had always wanted to do it. How do you read the Dark Phoenix Saga now and get invested in Jean’s death, knowing that she’ll come back, and die, and come back, and die, and come back, and die, ad nauseaum?
Ultimately my point was just that I fell retconning is a symptom of lazy writing, and death is the retcon that so many writers seem to lean on so often.
People keep saying Punisher=Red, but he strikes me as a very calm and calculating character. I know his origin makes someone think about rage, but his current personality in both universes doesn’t seem to be rage-filled.
@Scops: I was going to say that death mattered in Valiant because, relative to Marvel and DC, not many people cared about those characters so they had the freedom to do as they pleased with them.
I have no problem getting emotionally invested in any character’s death because I’ve been reading comics for almost 30 years and I know how these things work. I take the stories as they come right then and there. To me it’s no different than being emotionally invested in a character’s death in a film knowing that the actor is alive and well.
I don’t know why, but I think the voicemail shows are always my favorite, and this was no different. So good.
interesting show guys, great to hear your unscripted thoughts on some things. 🙂
I haven’t been reading comics for long. Maybe 7-8 Years. And I only really got into comic lore and big continuity stuff since a bit after 52.
From what I see, it’s exactly like Conor says, there is no permanace. It goes away within months. Blackest night is interesting now, and it’s grand and it’s great. Ten years from now though, people will remember it as "That story some years ago" like they do Judgment day, or Day of Judgmen, or what have you.
It’s somewhat disheartening in that sense. The things that do stick are when kids and wives and co-stars die, and they’re forgotten, and the things that should matter are repeeled.
What I love about comics is that it’s a shared universe. Superman and Etrigan can have adventures together. Batman can take a ride with Space Cabby to the Casino Planet of Ventura. But the realization that Batman has some short term memory disorder and will just forget that happened, is disapointing. We still get those great stories, like Daredevil: Devil in Block D, or Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War, or Action Comics Brainiac, but well, thing is, as much as I can name great in continuity stories, I can name 10 times that of outside continuity stories.
For every "What ever Happened to the Caped Crusader" I can name a "Kindgom Come" "Red Son" and "Justice League The Nail."
That’s not really fair to those like Bendis, and Brubaker, and Johns who write damn good books in continuity, but when they stop mattering, when they’re so easily forgotten, I feel like I should just stick to Elseword and What if.
Of course, the same time, people in general may forget Blacket Night, but if I enjoyed it, I’ll rememeber it, and maybe that counts for something.
@CalebTheTimeTraveler: It’s really the only thing that counts.
I suppose that’s where it starts to fall apart for me. Messing with the continuity I know just to do your thing as a writer makes it all less fun for me. If you want to make Gwen have sex with the Green Goblin, do it in a What If..? All the history I know says that wouldn’t and couldn’t happen. Telling me it did and that, essentially, all I know about Gwen/Spidey/Goblin is wrong isn’t fun for me. If you want to weave your story into the continuity, do that. Don’t rip out all the stitches you don’t like. If you don’t want to work with continuity, don’t. Write Elseworlds, or What If..? Or create your own book where the hero’s girlfriend sleeps with their friend’s father in a plausible way. Don’t try to backport that situation into a place it doesn’t fit.
And despite all that screed, I love Power Girl, who has one of the most jacked up, messed over backstories in comics. On the other hand, her book pretty much exists outside continuity.
@Scoops: Continuity is never going to work and match up. To try to make it line up will drive you, the reader, crazy and limit the telling of good stories. It’s impossible.
yo Conor did you get that flannel at uniqlo?!
p.s.
favorite artist =
Ryan Ottley
Amanda Conner (new convert thanks to conor)
Steve McNiven
Mike Mignolia/Duncan Fegredo (I just like hellboy, so I’m counting them as one)
AND Jamie Mckelvie (cus he draw girls gud)
My artists: Fabio Moon/Gabriel Ba (Since they’re twins, I’m counting them as one), Mark Buckingham, JH Williams, Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke.
Honorable mention to: Paul Pope, Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, Eric Powell, Tim Sale, Bruce Timm, Jeff Lemire, David Petersen, Jim Rugg, Phil Noto, Jordi Bernet, Sean Phillips, Skottie Young, Jamie McKelvie, Stan Sakai, John Romita Jr., Mike Allred, and a few others I can’t think of.
I liked when Ron attempted to invoke Keynesian economics when talking about selling old comics. I had never considered the possibility that government should use monetary policy to influence the sale of back issues, but I’m intrigued. Obama/Richards 2012!
I can’t believe someone just mentioned Keynes on iFanboy. My worlds are colliding (in a good way).
Give Punisher MAX a try. If you like his War Stories, you should enjoy MAX. You can tell he did alot of research into the conflicts Frank got involved in.
@dukealoops Your check is in the mail. 😉
i can never get over how weird i think i sound. anyway, thanks for answering my voicemail. thinking about doing another one soon
Bendis dialogue: read out loud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPzwgo4ir4
Favorite Artists:
Doug Mahanke
Sean Phillips/Val Staples
Michael Lark
Jock
Gary Frank.
Thanks for talking about my question, guys! Here are the picks I had in mind:
Yellow – Punisher (doesn’t have to be a villain to use fear as a weapon–Batman was chosen by the yellow ring too)
Orange – Norman Osborn
Red – Dr. Doom (he kind of allows his anger at Reed to define him…er, I may mean Ultimate Doom, hard to keep them separate sometimes)
Green – Patriot (of Young Avengers, who initially became a superhero on sheer will alone…well, and MGH, but nobody’s perfect)
Blue – Steve Rogers (as it was put, "You have the ability to inspire great hope" and that’s what he has always done)
Indigo – Sue Richards is my choice as well (thinking of her day shadowing Tony during Civil War in particular, stopping him from drinking and helping him decide to let Happy go)
Violet – Mary Jane (Carol Ferris wasn’t a superhero either, right? And MJ’s sacrifice for Peter definitely gives her the qualifications)
@mangaman — I also thought Purpleman for Yellow, but Phobos is so right I don’t know how it didn’t hit me!
I like it how you guys give Hulk a red ring when ironically there is already a red hulk full of rage.
My ring choices for marvel:
Red is Hulk
Orange is Dr. Doom (not friggin’ Tony Stark! What the hell guys!?)
Yellow is Green Goblin
Green is Wolverine
Blue is Captain America
Indigo is Wasp but she’s dead so, Professor X
Violet is Sue Storm
Rings for Marvel characters:
Green: Hawkeye, Nova, Namor
Red: Hulk(s), Red Skull, Rocket Raccoon
Orange: Kingpin, Justin Hammer
Yellow: Punisher, Dr. Doom, The Sentry
Blue: Captain America, Captain Britain (both Caps)
Indigo: Sue Storm, Pepper Potts
Violet: Ms. Marvel, Maria Hill
Crystal of the Inhumans would also make a great Indigo Lantern.
I give all my old comics to my mom who is a 5th and 6th grade teacher. Many of her students, mostly boys, want my old comics and constantly barrow my trades. She uses them as prizes instead of giving away candy. She has found that its a great way to get younger kids into reading.
Red (rage) – Hulk
Orange (avarice) – Doctor Doom
Yellow (fear) – Punisher
Green (willpower) – Spider-Man
Blue (hope) – Captain America
Indigo (compassion) – Invisible Woman
Violet (love) – Storm
The Phoenix entity/Jean Grey could serve as both Black and White
Top 5 Artists:
Frank Quitely
Art Adams
Frank Cho
Brian Bolland
Tommy Lee Edwards