Pick of the Week Podcast
Show Notes
A new era unfolds, but much remains the same. Though Josh Flanagan sounds suspiciously like Ryan Haupt this week, Conor Kilpatrick and Paul Montgomery soldier on with a discussion of the first issue of the returning Batman: Black and White anthology series, a host of villainous tie-ins, and some large scale happenings through time and space.
Total Running Time: 01:13:53
Pick of the Week:
00:01:50 – Batman: Black and White #1
Comics:
00:12:19 – Forever Evil #1 (and tie-in issues)
00:22:48 – Infinity #2
00:27:40 – X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 / All-New X-Men #16
00:35:40 – Trillium #2
00:38:28 – The Superior Spider-Man #17
00:40:58 – Satellite Sam #3
00:44:37 – Iron Man #15
Audience Questions:
00:46:55 – DC Comics fan Kevin wants to know where to start with Marvel Comics.
00:54:01 – Patrick from North Carolina wants to know which character is the heroic model for DC’s New 52.
00:58:19 – Alex from California is curious about comics as assigned reading in high schools and colleges.
01:05:50 – Jeff from Bellingham, WA calls in about the end of an era.
Music:
“Still Here”
The Williams Brothers
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Doing the podcast is fun and all, but let's be honest, listening to the 2 of us talk to each other can get repetitive, so we look to you, the iFanboy listeners to participate in the podcast! "How can I get in on the fun?" you may ask yourself, well here's how:
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Please don't forget to leave your name and where you're writing from and each week, we'll pick the best e-mails to include on the podcast!
This was the longest week of my life.
I was just thinking the same thing. Can’t wait to listen to this!
No shit, man! Been looking forward to this ALL week.
Seemed like forever.I appreciate this podcast even more now.
Sundays do seem a little more special now.
I wonder if the tagline in the site footer should change to “How long until Sunday?”
Ditto! This week was like hunting and gathering for good comic book journalism. And the pickings were scarce… Thank Crom The Podcast lives on!
Does anybody have a good recommendation for a comic news site? I’ve been using CBR but I wonder if there are any others I might not know about.
The main ones I’m aware of are The Beat, Bleeding Cool, IGN Comics, Newsarama Comics, and Comic Vine. Probably forgetting something.
I made it too. And I’m still here.
The talk about Spider-Man 2099 made me realize that there are people alive right now (maybe even some of us?) who will likely be alive in 2099.
So much news from the DC bunker this week. To paraphrase the philosopher, you picked a bad week to stop writing. Can’t wait to hear the podcast though.
Having a section to quickly talk about news in the podcast would be a great idea. It would have been great to hear the guys thoughts on the Batwoman controversy this week.
Yeah, I second the request for a news section in the podcast (or, as it is otherwise known, a “how much worse can DC get” section). That would be great.
If something big happens during the week we’ll probably talk about it, but nothing big happened this week other than “more creators left DC because of editorial interference” which at this point isn’t really news. Creators NOT leaving DC? That might be news.
Fair enough, Conor. Your pithy take on DC right now is both sad and true.
I still have the habit of checking this website everyday, several times a day which I cannot break.
For me Sundays are about football(go Giants!)and the iFanboy podcast. When the podcast is ready football goes on my own halftime until the show’s over!
Well one good thing about this new era is that we don’t know what the POTW is until Sunday. So it’ll be a fun guessing game AND we won’t have to hear people complain if he/she doesn’t agree with it.
Seriously, this was the longest week of my life. I need my fix!
Good show guys. Always enjoy it when Ryan fills in.
Is all the time traveling stuff going on this week in Marvel books just a coincidence do you think, or leading up to something involving Infinity?
I’ll have to give Primates a read, thanks for the tip. I actually bought it for my wife who did read it (she’s an Anthro professor), but I never read it myself.
To add to your responses about where to start with Marvel, I wanted to mention that the results of the poll several days ago here on the site had the top five Marvel books, in order, as Daredevil, Thor: God of Thunder, Hawkeye, All-New X-Men, and Young Avengers. There is a nice Daredevil “deluxe” hardcover (12 issues or so) on Amazon. I recently got mine and would recommend.
Did someone say Booksplode? Can you say what it is yet?
I don’t know if the time travel stuff is leading to INFINITY so much as it is fall-out from AGE OF ULTRON, but we’ll see, I guess.
As for the Booksplode, Paul sent out a hint earlier in the week:
http://instagram.com/p/d9wlo2ozW2/#
AHA! Thanks for the hint. Lamely, I’ve never actually read that though I hear it’s superb. Let’s see if I can’t round up the issues or a trade before the booksplosion.
I’m always glad to be asked to fill in. Great to hear that you appreciate it!
In my Japanese studies class in college, we were assigned a book titled Bringing Home the Sushi, which was a compilation of Japanese business manga. It was really interesting. Also, for my class on vision and the human eye, I wrote my final paper on Charles McNider AKA the Golden Age Doctor Mid-Nite. That was a lot of fun as I had to research when knowledge on the eye was known and whether or not McNider’s powers made sense given what was known in 1941. Spoiler: No. It made no sense.
I forgot this in my post below:
At Penn State in about 2004 or so, one 200 or 300-level English class – the title of which I forget – assigned reading was Watchmen, Understanding Comics, and a book on the history of comics, whose name escapes me now.
I was teaching part-time there, but my schedule never synched-up with the instructor of he English class. I would have loved to meet with him or even get my mitts on the course syllabus.
Oh, I’m going to have to track down Bringing Home the Sushi. That sounds fantastic.
@MGriffith I wrote my MA thesis on comics as an educational tool and how the communities that arise around comics (be it creative or critical) foster collaborative learning. There was even a little section on iFanboy circa 2009.
Prax, it’s pretty cheap on Amazon right now. Use iFanboy’s link though. The book is almost 20 years old at this point, so I’m not sure it’s still super relevant, but check it out if you’re interested.
Agreed on the POtW. I’m so glad I decided to get the soft copies of Batman Black and White and not trade-wait.
Quality comic all around.
I am enjoying non-New 52 DC books a lot more than most of the New 52 stuff.
I thought some of the villains issues were fine, but not all that great. (Grodd, Ventriloquist.) The 3D covers have been hit-or-miss for me.
Still, a nice month-long contained event on DC’s part.
Sales are great at my LCS, with every single copy of the villains books selling out by Friday morning.
Forever Evil 1 was a wild ride, but the art was a bit rough in some spots.
Good week for comics, and while the podcast is enjoyable, I really miss the old IFanboy.
’til next Sunday, folks.
End the week with a potw podcast. All is right in the world.
Re:comics in college, it’s becoming much more prevalent. In my field (classics and religious studies) there’s even been two edited volume of scholarly papers – Classics and Comics, edited by George Kovas, and Graven Images: Religion in Comics and Graphic Novels, edited by A. David Lewis. Both are quite good. What I’ve been impressed by is the movement beyond the memoir genre. It used to be that only books like Maus, Blankets, Fun Home, etching.. we’re deemed “appropriate” for the college classroom.p (and occasionally Watchmen and Sandman). But, and I think is has a lot to do with the quality of the independent comic publishers like Image, you’re starting to see a greater variety. In my own courses, I’ve assigned the first trade of Alan Moore’s Promethtea (course on ancient magic, also watched the documentary about Moore), “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” (introductory course on the study of religion, unit on mythology). One of my colleagues taught Pride of Baghdad along side Euripides’ Trojan Women, and another colleague might use The Infinite Horizon in her reception of homer course.
I’m going to check out Ryan’s podcast and Paul’s podcast right after this. . .
Gracias!
I’ve been really wanting to listen to Paul’s podcast but I got realy behind on Breaking Bad, I hope to get caught up this week and then I plan to check it out as well.
Mine is a very different beast than either iFanboy or Fuzzy Typewriter, but I hope you dig it!
I didn’t pick up Black and White. Guess I’m going to have to give it a read.
It’s really, really good. Worth it just to see Samnee and Murphy’s takes on Batman.
Very happy to have the podcast today. like many, I’ve migrated to the iFanbase refugee camp at *Nothing but comics* but there’s no substitute for the best weekly comics podcast out there. lotsa love.
=)
Ghostmann @NBC has a cool site………get comic list details and cool folks.
FOR SURE. Ghostmanns NBC is the next best thing to ifanboy. Thatnk you ghostmann for picking up the toarch and running with it.
A beacon of light in a rather bleak week… a toast to you gentlemen for the best comics podcast around 🙂
I feel like Conner hit just right on the nose about how i feel about infinity. It’s pretty and tries to be grand but the lazy critique i guess is “to much telling not enough showing!” battle of the atom is every reason i don’t read x-men. the art looks great but it’s just not for me. I am sure some x-men fans love it. the promises of Lex Luthor is the thing that going to make me buy forever evil #2.
Missed you guys all week. Great to hear the podcast. (Go Bears!!!)
Excellent show guys! Wait…. I had promised a “fuck” or two so let’s try this again….
Fucking excellent show guys! Nice to have you back (at least for a day)
may be worth mentioning (no I am not this app’s publisher/creator/whatever) for android people https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidserenity.comicshopper Comic Shopper on the google play store since we don’t have a pull list here at ifanboy
I was so close to picking up Batman: Black and White but passed on it, I’ll have to pick it up this week and give it a shot. It was nice to get a little Superior Spider-man on the show this week, I’ve been pretty much loving this book so far and it was realy cool to get a story with Spider-man 2099 this week. I loved Spider-man 2099 and I’ve heard this new story is generating a lot of interest in the character from people who never read it, and they are checking out the trades and back issues which is awesome.
Also, I only had one class in college were comics were part of the reading, five graphic novels were randomly assinged to the class, I can’t remember what all five were but I ended up reading Road to Perdition, which I had not read, and I enjoyed it.
If I were “DC comics fan Kevin,” and I really wanted to get into Marvel as a goal right here and now, I would subscribe to Marvel Unlimited. The monthly cost is low, and you get an all-you-can-eat buffet of books that are a few months old. It would allow Kevin to sample a variety of titles without spending a fortune taste-testing a bunch of stuff he didn’t like. Plus, if you try a book and it makes no sense to you, you can usually browse for the origin or backstory right there in the app.
Ryan Don’t Care.
Should be a new catchphrase.
I want to care. I’m open to caring. Book’s just gotta give me something to care about.
The Infinity stuff that’s being complained about — the telling not showing stuff — is mostly just the part of the comic summarizing the events of the New Avengers/Avengers tie-in issues. I get the sense Hickman was asked to include it for people only reading Infinity. Seriously, check out the Avengers tie-in issues. That’s where the meat of this story is happening while the Infinity issues are just the broad beats of the war. That said, I agree just too damned much is going on in it.
Battle of the Atom on the other hand? I unabashedly love that thing. The X-Office is killing it right now.
As someone who is not a big Marvel guy I’ve really been enjoying the Infinity books and haven’t bothered to pick up any of the other books. Sure sometimes I’m a tad lost but I get the gist and it’s damn pretty.
For anyone looking for a equivalent of the pull list http://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/ is almost a perfect copy of the iFanboy pull list.
THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE that site!
I just started a Manga & Graphic Novels class on Monday and our reading list is:
Understanding Comics
Astro Boy V1 & 2
Good-Bye (Yoshihiro Tatsumi)
Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus V1
Maus I
Sandman: Dream Country
The Best of the Spirit
Wonder Woman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
Watchmen
Wow!
Hey guys just a heads up, for the past week or so I’ve tried listening to both 401 and 402 and haven’t gotten the player to begin or play any audio. I assumed logging in was required but that still isn’t fixing it.
Would love to continue to hear the show! Especially your thoughts on Forever Evil!
Thanks!
We’ll look into it. In the meantime, try the direct download link at the top under DOWNLOAD.
Hey I just tested the players for those two weeks and they worked fine on
– Chrome
– Safari
They didn’t work on
– Firefox
We’ll check on that but for now you might want to try the other browsers if you don’t want to use the direct link that I mentioned above.
Ryan –
If you have to be glib, try not to be interrupt someone who is actually talking about the book in order to be glib. Wait until they’ve finished.
Thanks
Well said.
It seemed as if Ryan doesn’t even like comics.
I hope he is more open minded on his podcast.
He does like comics, just not those particular comics he mentioned. Clearly, he talked about comics that he enjoyed on the rest of the show.
He liked Superior Spider-Man, which doesnt get enough talk for how good it’s been. Slott really is playing the long game on that book.
@spaceghost15:
I completely agree. I’m a huge Spidey-Fan and as much trepidation as I felt anticipating the Superior Era of Spider-Man, I’ve been enjoying every issue. I still can’t wait for Peter’s inevitable return, but I’m having a ton of fun reading Otto-Man’s adventures in the webs while it lasts.
Side Note:
Does anyone else want to read a Wraith solo book co-starring Carlie Cooper? I don’t know how much it would sell, but “DAMN GIRL!” (as Paul would say) I personally would read the heck out of that.
Just got to this today. Not going to lie, I was really disappointed with Ryan’s comportment the last time he guested, where he randomly cut people off and talked himself up about his love of Age of Ultron. And I was even more disappointed with it here. He really seemed annoyed to be there to talk about anything other than the two books he brought up. He also made sure to point out that “no one talks about” the books he brought up to. I don’t know, it came off as very unprofessional. I may have given a little cheer when Paul put Ryan in his place about “not caring about” Infinity. It’s cool to say it once, but to incessantly hammer it home as the only critique is lazy and below the standards of the show.
I can’t wait until new format is hammered out for the podcasts, though I imagine it will take some time.