Pick of the Week Podcast

Pick of the Week #436 – Action Comics #31

Show Notes

With their milestone 1,000th iTunes review achieved, iFanboy shakes up the roster! Now that Josh Flanagan has retired (not really), incumbent iFanboy Jeff Cannata joins Conor Kilpatrick and Paul Montgomery for his very first show! It’s also as good a time as any to discuss the massive wave of new comic book properties heading to television next season!

Running Time: 01:05:05

Pick of the Week:
00:02:07 – Action Comics #31

AC-Cv31-ds-536d0833441c56-56813193-f1d57Comics:
00:10:24 – Superman / Wonder Woman #8
00:16:35 – Starlight #3
00:21:25 – Afterlife with Archie #5
00:26:35 – Avengers Undercover #4
00:32:33 – Hellboy in Hell #6
00:35:16 – Fantastic Four #4
00:36:48 – Stray Bullets: Killers #3

Fall TV Preview:
00:43:00 – Reactions to the surge of new and continuing comic book shows on TV, including Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham, Constantine, Agent Carter, The Flash and more.

Music:
“The Wire”
HAIM

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Comments

  1. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    When can we expect to see Powers and Scalped on T.V.?

  2. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    Thanks, Paul. I should have known if you didn’t cover it then it wouldn’t be showing up anytime soon.

  3. My potw was Walking Dead #127. This issue totally changes everything. A fresh new direction.

    ANd JESUS There are sooo many Comic book shows coming out.

    I counted and there are total of 18 comic book shows that are going to be on air my 2015. INFUCKINSANE!!!

    • Walking Dead was enjoyable this time. It was due for a big shift because it was boring the hell out of me with issue after issue of just talk during most of the All Out War arc.

  4. Paul, how far are you in the Stray Bullets omnibus? I picked it up after I read the first issue of Killers and it’s definitely interesting seeing certain things, like finding out that Spanish Scott is a reoccurring character. I like the whole one-shot/vignette thing that’s going on with all the issues, but it’s also fun seeing common threads show up.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      Seven issues maybe? Eight? Trying to savor it.

    • Savor it and don’t let em’ bully you Paul. You’re far enough to know what this book is, and I can’t imagine anyone who has read the earlier issues would have the kind of criticisms your co-hosts voiced. I mean, they’re not wrong and it may just not be their thing but I’m always thinking “This book has always been that way” or “This character was established a long time ago” to the criticisms of the book. That said, I’m always a little surprised Conor doesn’t dig it given his his history of love for crime fiction.

  5. My pick of the week is between Starlight and Shutter. They’re actually fairly comparable as they’re both basically fun adventure comics but the thing I love most about Shutter is how much it embraces the imaginative possibilities of the comic book form, while still giving us a compelling lead character. And, man, is is it an astonishingly beautiful book to look at. My only real complaint is that like the first issue, it feels very short. As for Starlight, I am still simply amazed at how much I am loving a Mark Millar book. Sure, the art helps but you can’t look past the consistently impressive writing that showcases all of Millar’s strengths and absolutely none of his weaknesses.

    Also, did anyone read the United States of Murder Inc? I found it to be a huge improvement over both Scarlet and (the very ironically titled) Brilliant as Oeming and Bendis simply mesh together so very well. Admittedly, I did find that I occasionally had trouble following some of Oeming’s storytelling but I’m not sure if that’s my fault or his. Either way though, it was a nice, meaty story with a number of interesting hooks that has me eagerly looking forward to the next issue (whenever that happens to come out) and, aside for those occasional storytelling issues, it has some very striking Oeming art as well. I haven’t got a proper handle on the characters yet but considering how much time was spent on world building and setting up a number of intriguing storylines, I can forgive that for now. Who knows what its future holds but that was a very strong first issue that I can easily recommend to fans of either creator – and most especially fans of both creators working together.

    • Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

      It was so good @Ilash. Thank you for telling me to check it out. Oeming’s color palette is stark and kooky. I think he and Bendis design the best splash pages in the biz. I thought the image of the Twin Towers at the end was provocative because they looked like giant stacks of banknotes and that made me gasp. Fans of Goodfellas should read this new series because it’s got power violence and betrayal.

  6. Cannata, FTW!

  7. It’s 1000 REVIEWS when Josh resigns over the payola scandal. And the current count is only around 700. So to quote Josh quoting Office Space…Jeff Cannata gonna work here anymore!

    I’ll start worrying about over-saturation if the movies and shows start being low quality productions. Right now it seems like the quality control’s pretty good, even if I don’t personally enjoy every show.

    Speaking of not enjoying…I’ve watched every episode of Arrow, and while I think the writing on the show is great, the acting style often seems soap-opera-ish. The frequent, overly-dramatic conversations are painful to watch. Too much exaggerated breathing and clenched-teeth talk. The worst offenders are the entire Lance family, followed by Felicity and Ollie. I do like the Queen ladies (they seem like they could be mother/daughter in real life) and Diggle, Slade, and Roy are usually good as well.

    When we first heard about Gotham, wasn’t it explicitly stated that there would be no Bruce Wayne? Last November on Fatman on Batman, Kevin and Paul Dini laid out this crazy ad-libbed story-line about how they’d do the Gotham show if they were in charge. And several months later, Gotham seems an awful lot like that show they made up. Curse you Kevin Smith, I wanted Gotham Central, not Batman Muppet Babies!

    In terms of prequels, I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of Smallville being an example of how it can work. It was clearly an “alternate reality” to the comics or Donner films, so it didn’t impinge on those media. I would like to think that Gotham will take the same route. It should be so different that it’s clearly a separate reality from the comics continuity. As with Arrow and the island (or BTAS and Harley), I would have no problem if certain cool aspects of the show made its way into the comics. But I doubt that the class-clown who is beaten by Bruce in the school talent show and then has an accident with the bleach in the janitors’ closet will ever become the official Joker in the comics. But I could be wrong…I’ve got no pony in this horse.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      I believe they said “No Batman” not “No Bruce Wayne” but I could be wrong.

    • I can’t imagine they would have said “No Bruce Wayne.”

    • That makes sense. My initial understanding was that the show would mostly be focused on Gordon, and that seemed really appealing. Maybe that’s still the case, I don’t know. Even if there’s a lot of time spent on young Bruce, it might still be good. The vibe I got from the trailer wasn’t great, but that’s almost meaningless at this point.

  8. I’m not too worried about a Joker origin being told in The New 52 to beat Fox to the punch because despite all conventional wisdom and my defeated sighs of “how long can this last?” I don’t think The New 52 or this “Gotham” show can ruin a character who, much like his greatest foe, has endured for so long and proven their malleability and seamless variation across media.

    I had almost completely forgotten “Origin” happened until Dog showed up in Aaron’s “Wolverine & The X-Men”, so unless this show is like “Walking Dead” big I doubt anything that happens therein will have any lasting effect… The worst you’ll see will be reminiscent of the folks who still maintain the Joker killed Batman’s parents because they watched Batman ’89’ and that’s their only experience with the character…

    • Yeah, I thought of BATMAN and that particular Joker origin story a few hours after we recorded. On the other hand, DC Comics had Clark Kent and Lois Lane get married in the comics because it was about to happen on LOIS & CLARK, and that was a total throwaway show by the time that aired. Anything is possible.

      But I wouldn’t say I’m worried, more concerned. I’m touchy when it comes to The Joker.

    • I am worried they will give Joker a back story that eludes to him being joker-like pre whatever accident made him full on Joker. Kind of like what they did in BATMAN.

  9. Curious that the majority of the shows are not female character leads. Female leads seem to be faring very well for sci-fi and spy shows the past few years (e.g. Fringe, Nikita, Alias, etc.) so I would have thought we’d be seeing more of that pattern. Personally I am finding the female heroes and villains on Arrow far more interesting and nuanced than anything going on with the male characters (same feelings about Agents of Shield). Not that Agent Carter was the best choice, but it could have the most potential.

  10. Conor, not sure if you’d heard or not, but it sounds as if Agents of SHIELD is getting the AMC / Walking Dead treatment where the season will be split into two and Agent Carter will be played between the split.

  11. It seems weird to me to make Action comics a pick of the week when its part of a bigger storyline that none of you are enjoying or maybe not even all reading.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      Except that’s not true. Conor’s enjoying it. And that’s literally the only pre-requisite for him naming it the Pick.

    • If you listened to the first ten minutes of the show and are confused as to why it was the Pick of the Week, then I don’t know what to tell you. I thought things were pretty clear.

      Also, there doesn’t need to be a consensus about the Pick. Recently Josh chose a book that I really don’t like as the Pick of the Week. But who cares? It was his week and not mine.

    • Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

      Darrell, how are things on the streets of New York? Are the city’s comic shops withstanding the encroaching tide of digital publishing? I like it when you call in to the podcast.

  12. Kind of off topic, but after watching the Gotham trailer I got to thinking. I really enjoyed Bryan Cranston’s voice work as Gordon in the Batman: Year One animated feature. How cool would it be to see him play Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming Batman/Superman film? I know it won’t happen but still…

    • I think that Year One animated movie was overrated. The voice acting (including Cranston) just wasn’t for me. The guy who did Bruce/Batman was just so flat. Every movie since has taken this approach with the flat and detached Batman and I don’t like it.

  13. In regards to Agent Carter. I hope they bring in all that cool Howling Commando tech from the last few episodes of Agents of SHIELD. That’s a no brainer in my book.

  14. Never trust a man that doesn’t like Muppet Babies.

  15. Really enjoyed the discussion this week! Jeff would be a great addition.

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