Pick of the Week Podcast
Show Notes
As the year winds down, Conor Kilpatrick, Josh Flanagan, and Paul Montgomery gather to talk the week of comics but to also hand out some year end awards!
Running Time: 01:04:32
Pick of the Week:
00:01:22 – Action Comics #26
Comics:
00:09:16 – Velvet #2
00:13:50 – Inhumanity #1
00:17:38 – Earth 2 #18
00:19:53 – Hellboy in Hell #5
00:26:48 – Indestructible Hulk Annual #1
00:29:48 – Reality Check #4
00:30:52 – Secret Avengers #12
00:32:35 – Young Avengers #13
00:34:13 – Green Arrow #26
The 2013 iFannies:
00:37:15 – The Book of the Year of 2013
00:40:54 – The Best Artist of 2013
00:44:21 – The Best Writer of 2013
00:48:35 – The Best Series of 2013
00:50:25 – The Best Publisher of 2013
Audience Question:
00:55:22 – Paul wants to know about the best and worst forgotten plot lines.
Music:
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
Darlene Love
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Haven’t listened yet but I can already tell that the question is going to be pretty good.
Do you think the sequel to Thor – The Dark World is our best chance to see “God Bomb” on the big screen? The story was a critical success, and putting three Thors into THOR 3 would be clever.
By the time Thor 3 comes, who knows? God Bomb could be amazing but… I think the Cinematic Universe has gone to great strides to not make Asgardians actual deities that the impact of the concept would be more akin to just an ordinary super powerful time bomb, which isn’t as interesting from a story perspective.
Aren’t any of you reading Trillium? This week’s issue was amazing. The writing was so fantastic and well thought-out. Also Swamp Thing and Green Arrow were great this week.
It’s a very tough choice between Image and Marvel, but I think in whatever order they are clearly the right two choices.
Personally I would give it to Marvel simply because I find more of Image’s books to be more “interesting” than actually “great”. Image books are more experimental and take bigger chances but Marvel books have a better overall craft and better consistency I would say. Overall these publishers have had such great years that I can’t wait to see what they do in 2014.
Artist – Chris Samnee
Writer – Jason Aaron (Bendis was a surprising second place here, I still can’t believe how great his X-Men books are)
Book – Daredevil
Shoot, I forgot about Matt Fraction. I think he’s actually my writer of the year.
The Best Artist of 2013 – Fiona Staples (for Saga) because it is a beautiful comic. She astounds me ever time I open her comics.
The Best Writer of 2013 – Brian Michael Bendis (for All-New & Uncanny X-Men). Not going to lie, Bendis is just an amazing writer who I adore. He’s a master of the medium who writes very well for both Issue and Trade consumption. Aaron, Snyder, Vaughn and Fraction were all stellar this year but I found myself saving up issues of Thor, Batman, Saga and Hawkeye to read in a burst/binge. Where as someone like Slott is great in the issue form but his style isn’t as amazing in trades. Bendis’ work on All-New and Uncanny can be read just as well in both issue and trade form, which speaks to his mastery of the art form in today’s market. He is always at the top of my reading stack and he never disappoints.
The Best Series of 2013 – Saga (by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples) just hands down the best. Thor is awesome but something about it just can’t beat the duality of familiarity and oddity that Saga has in spades.
The Best Publisher of 2013 – Image, although second place goes to Marvel. Both companies have really turned themselves around this year and have become quite stupendous. This is in stark contrast to DC which has, honestly, gone down hill this year. It feels like Image and, to a lesser extent Marvel, is the trend setter for the market place. You are either following the Image model or you are stalling out (like DC). Honorable Mention to both IDW and Dark Horse who have done some exciting things this year and really have not received enough props for their contributions. So good on them!
Whats up with the bleep @ 4:35?
He Who Shall Not Be Named.
…or he said “Dave Stewart” and Paul just couldn’t handle it.
It’s a shame you guys aren’t reading Spider-man, because I feel like you’d really enjoy what I’ve called “Entrepreneur Doc Ock”, in which he tries to apply super villain tactics to the task of opening a small business.
On that Green Arrow/avatar of the *blank* discussion. I have to agree with you. Though I am enjoying the revamp of the origin in GA, the Avatar and Ollie’s dad part bothers me a lot. What is with the whole interconnection after the fact thing? Why is it always somebody’s dad or brother or sister who was involved in their origin the whole time without the hero knowing? It’s easy to connect the dots, but it’s harder to undo them. Why are we finding out about Tony Stark’s adoption, Green Arrow’s green arrow, WW’s dad, Batgirl’s brother, Thanos’s son now? I was even board with everything in Court of the Owls (SPOILER) until Dick Grayson was chosen to be a talon for the sake of a couple Nightwing tie-ins, and Batman’s is he, isn’t he brother.
Chosen One stories are played out. It’s somewhat better if it was the plan the whole time– Star Wars, Dune, The Bible, but to offer a family tie-in or secret origin in place of another is attempting to sneak in an “I am your father” moment, and it’s never as impressive. People would not be impressed if “I am your father” happened years later in episode III. Betcha never saw that coming and the force is bacteria.
My writer/artist/series of the year is Matt Kindt on Mind MGMT. His water color art style is (to me) unique and perfectly suited to his stories. His style is simultaneously simple, fluid, and creepy. Mind MGMT is layered enough for multiple re-reads but also engrossing as a quick read. I’m sure someone could objectively argue against it, but it’s my best find (courtesy of ifanboy book of the month) this year.
Can’t argue with the choice of Image. The sheer diversity of their titles makes it seem as though are they are collectively ushering in a new golden age of comics. They just need more Westerns and Romance! I agree with the other commenter on the honorable mention to Dark Horse. They’ve been so consistently strong over the years that I feel as if they get taken for granted.
@ Paul, Connor, Josh: Just curious, during the Publisher of the Year discussions (either in this year or previous years) how much consideration do you give to the ‘big non-big’ houses: Dark Horse, IDW, Boom, ONI, et cetera? Have they ever been Publisher of the Year, or been close to the top?
Thanks again for a great show. I really appreciate you keeping the iFannies alive!
“Just curious, during the Publisher of the Year discussions (either in this year or previous years) how much consideration do you give to the ‘big non-big’ houses: Dark Horse, IDW, Boom, ONI, et cetera? Have they ever been Publisher of the Year, or been close to the top?”
In the past? Sure. In 2011, Archaia Entertainment was a runner-up:
https://ifanboy.com/articles/ifanboys-2011-publisher-of-the-year-dc-comics/
This year the only considerations were Marvel and Image.
Can the iFanny award statue be a golden Fanny Pack? Inside of the fanny pack is an assortment of rusty auto parts–and at least one lego block from a TIE Fighter. A veritable iFanboy Ark of the Covenant.
Gotta agree with the love for Velvet. Two issues in and it’s already one of my favorite titles.
You guys should check out The Sixth Gun over-sized Hardcover Vol. 1 (collecting issues 1-11). It’s HUGE (13.2 x 8.8 inches), beautifully printed and full of extras (concept art, sketches, pitches, illustrations, covers, etc.). It is a must buy for fans of the title or Brian Hurtt’s art and it’s the perfect occasion for everybody else to jump on. It’s a great, great book.
Retail price is USD 60 but it can be found for significantly less on Amazon and the likes (I’m from Europe and I got it for half, shipping included, from Amazon UK).
There is also a limited “Gunslinger” edition (USD 120) which looks insanely beautiful but you can only order it directly from ONI and I can’t afford to import it to Europe (between taxes and shipping it would cost me a fortune).
http://oni-press.myshopify.com/products/the-sixth-gun-hardcover-gunslinger-edition