Pick of the Week Podcast

Pick of the Week #534 – Howard the Duck #7

Show Notes

With Josh Flanagan out flying the friendly skies, it’s up to Conor Kilpatrick and Ron Richards to talk about the week that was in comics, a week that was anchored by a grumpy talking duck!

Running Time: 00:58:45

Pick of the Week:
00:01:29 – Howard the Duck #7

Comics:Howard the Duck_7
00:09:50 – Black Widow #3
00:14:36 – Empress #2
00:18:13 – Unfollow #7
00:21:59 – Scarlet Witch #6
00:26:12 – Alpha King #1
00:29:17 – Superman: The Coming of the Supermen #4
00:32:37 – Thunderbolts #1

Star Wars Corner:
00:36:14 – Star Wars: Poe Dameron #2
00:39:55 – Droids #1

Audience Questions:
00:41:58 – Colton from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada grabbed some comics as he was escaping the wild fire. What would iFanboy grab if a fire was coming?
00:48:17 – Joe from Pittsburgh, PA wants to know if price is ever a factor in the Pick of the Week.
00:50:47 – Lukas from Neulengbach, Austria thinks that maybe DC Comics needs its own “Marvel Knights”.

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Music:
“Drive It Like You Stole It”
Sing Street

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Comments

  1. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Brandy/Canon

    “Near as I can recall, I traded it for a ten-carat chrysopaz and three bottles of good brandy about five years ago on Commenor.”
    ―A line of dialogue from Han Solo exclusively found in the novelization of A New Hope

    Brandy was first mentioned within the Star Wars universe in the novelization of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was written by Alan Dean Foster and released in 1976. The line referring to the beverage is not included in the film, and as it conflicts with the script from a scene in the film it is not considered canon. The drink was however confirmed to be canon when it was mentioned in the novel Aftermath, which was written by Chuck Wendig and released in 2015.

    Brandy was a type of alcoholic beverage. After the Imperial Governor of Haidoral Prime, Everi Chalis, surrendered herself to the Alliance to Restore the Republic’s Sixty-First Mobile Infantry in order to defect, she presented the senior staff of the company with a bottle of brandy and figs produced locally on Haidoral Prime. To prove the drink was not poisoned she took a swig herself, directly from the bottle, after which the Rebels shared the drink between themselves as they discussed how Chalis might be an asset to the Alliance. Before the bottle was finished, Chalis knocked it from a table to the floor when she leaned swiftly across to whisper in the ear of Captain Micha Evon, commanding officer of the company. Jogan fruit brandy was a type of brandy made using jogan fruit which the ex-Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus attempted to order at the Alcazar cantina on the planet Akiva shortly before the Battle of Akiva; however, the establishment did not stock such fancy drinks.

    Also the Expanded Universe is no longer Canon but here are all of the Legends appearances of Brandy:

    Star Wars: The Old Republic
    Star Wars: The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 3
    The Old Republic: Annihilation
    Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
    Darth Plagueis
    Cloak of Deception (Mentioned only)
    Darth Maul: Saboteur
    A Cularin Presence
    MidWorld
    HNNsmall Greyshade Proposes Gambling as Revenue—HoloNet News Vol. 531 52 (content now unavailable; backup links 1 2 on Archive.org) (Mentioned only)
    The Cestus Deception
    The Clone Wars: Wild Space
    SWInsider “Hondo Ohnaka’s Not-So-Big Score”—Star Wars Insider 144
    Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
    Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novelization (Mentioned only)
    Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Mentioned only)
    The Force Unleashed novel
    Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu (Mentioned only)
    Shadow Games
    Rebel Dawn
    Rookies: No Turning Back (Mentioned only)
    Death Star
    SWInsider “Constant Spirit”—Star Wars Insider 145
    Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel (Mentioned only)
    Scoundrels
    Honor Among Thieves
    SWAJsmall “A Certain Point of View”—Star Wars Adventure Journal 8
    Star Wars: Empire: The Wrong Side of the War
    Star Wars Galaxies
    Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine
    SWGsmall “A Credit for Your Thoughts”—Star Wars Gamer 2
    Taster’s Choice: The Tale of Jabba’s Chef
    Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand
    SWAJsmall “The Farrimmer Cafe”—Star Wars Adventure Journal 11
    Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
    X-Wing: Rogue Squadron (First appearance)
    X-Wing: Wedge’s Gamble
    X-Wing: The Bacta War
    X-Wing: Wraith Squadron
    X-Wing: Iron Fist
    X-Wing: Solo Command
    Tatooine Ghost
    X-Wing: Isard’s Revenge
    I, Jedi
    Planet of Twilight
    Before the Storm
    Assault at Selonia
    The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey (Mentioned only)
    The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream (Mentioned only)
    The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Mentioned only)
    The New Jedi Order: The Final Prophecy
    The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force
    Legacy of the Force: Betrayal (Mentioned only)
    Legacy of the Force: Fury
    Legacy of the Force: Revelation
    Fate of the Jedi: Omen
    Fate of the Jedi: Ascension
    X-Wing: Mercy Kill
    Star Wars: Legacy: Indomitable (Mentioned only)

    • And it was dumb every time!

    • Back in the early nineties, I purchased a book of Lando stories titled “The Lando Calrissian Adventures”. It was a weird read, mostly because it used typical Earth euphemisms (i.e. “can’t teach an old dog new tricks”) and lacked SW universe references (i.e. “scruffy looking nerf-herder”).

      Years later, I learned that it was originally written as a non-SW sci-fi book. The publisher had simply added an overlay of SW characters and ships to take advantage of the then-boom in SW printed material.

      So whenever I see a lazy usage of Earth terminology like “brandy”, it takes me back to a place where the authors are largely ignorant of the finer points of the SWU, and may in fact not have SW in mind at all while writing the material.

    • @Kmonk – I still have my *Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu,* which was one of the stories in that early nineties Lando omnibus. If that, too, was pre-written as a non-SW / generic fantasy story, then I will begin to cry now.

  2. Does that song feel like “Maneater” to anyone else?

    • Only that matters is that it’s an absolute jam, and has been playing in my head since I listened to the podcast yesterday.

    • It’s from Sing Street, which is a super charming Irish film by the writer/ director of Once. All the songs are 80s pastiches so that makes sense.

  3. 1) Would LOVE to see Indiana Jones with MCU Cap. Red Skull’s “digging for trinkets in the desert” line is a great opening, and it could just be a one-arc story that’s part of a larger ongoing. Can you imagine Indy and Dugan and their hat issues?

    2) On the Marvel Knights/DC idea, isn’t that sort of what Gerard Way’s imprint is supposed to be? If not, and DC wanted a “Knights” line, what characters? What would be the connective thematic thread between them? The Knights were more street level, but DC doesn’t really have those outside of Gotham, so what would you have? And what characters are ready for the kind of creative jolt that Daredevil got?

    • @BC1: “And what characters are ready for the kind of creative jolt that Daredevil got?”

      At DC? Pretty much all of them.

    • OK, so pick 2 or 3 that are thematically similar. Not the Trinity or anyone else who is a Justice League biggie. Do you stick with the Knights concept of street level? That could include Green Arrow, Black Canary, maybe Huntress (separate from the Gotham crew). Or the mystic/horror route – Zatanna, the Demon, Dr. Fate, maybe Deadman.

      The big question is would DC give someone the level of creative control that Quesada and Palmiotti had over Marvel Knights? The Gerard Way imprint will be a great test balloon for this type of autonomy. Otherwise, if DC editorial starts mucking with it and forcing crossovers and plot direction changes and so on, we’ll be right back to where we started.

    • @BC1: You’re taking the “Knights” thing too literally. When we were talking about it on the show, none of us were meaning, “DC should allow an outside studio to revamp their street level characters” that’s just what Marvel happened to do at the time. We were talking bigger picture: “would DC allow a third party studio to come in and help creatively revamp their line, and in this fictional world where they would allow such a thing, which studio would we want to come in?” We weren’t limiting it to a certain character type because, quite frankly, DC needs all the help it can get across the whole line.

      Now, if you want me to play the game, if I was in charge I’d have Millarworld revamp Superman. Give his studio four Superman books and a blank slate to play with for a year. That would be the most beneficial to DC Comics and comics as a whole.

      As for Young Animal, I’m not sure what Gerard Way will be doing can be compared to what Quesada and Palmiotti did with Marvel Knights. The characters that Way will be working with are not of the same stature as a Daredevil or a Punisher. If Young Animal blows the doors off of Doom Patrol and Shade the Changing Man/Girl it’s not really the same as doing that for Aquaman or Green Arrow in terms of affecting the industry. DC Editorial can safely give that “weird little corner” of DC Comics to Gerard Way without setting any precedents or bruising any egos.

      Now, if Young Animal creatively blows the doors off and generates unprecedented sales numbers, perhaps the powers that be would consider giving the DCU “the Marvel Knights treatment,” but it seems unlikely.

  4. I’m just as upset by the Brandy thing as Ron, but I have to disagree with him over the issue of Han speaking of Hell. I always figured that we as the spectators were seeing these characters speaking their own language but it was being translated for us to understand in English and with that he says Hell, but in whatever language they were speaking to each other that the majority of the people in the Star Wars universe speak, he mentioned whatever concept of Hell exists there and while he didn’t say the word Hell to them for us we heard the word Hell so that we could understand it.

  5. Did either of you read Cinema Purgatorio or Renato Jones? I’m guessing both didn’t make much of an impact if you did, but I’d still like to hear you guys’ thoughts on them, regardless.

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  7. Avatar photo stingpin">stingpin (@deconcomics) says:

    Ron — I totally agree with you about the art in THUNDERBOLTS #1. The figures were a bit on the rough and crude side. Looked a bit too amateurish for Marvel/DC art.

    However, I liked the story better than you did. I didn’t read Pleasant Hill, but didn’t feel in the dark. Zub did a decent job on the exposition, I thought, to help me understand the situation, but it didn’t leave much room for an actual story to develop. It ain’t Alan Moore, but I’m willing to buy #2 to see where this story is going.

  8. Just found out of the passing of Darwyn Cooke. I know he was a friend to the guys and always made time for podcasts, interviews and whatnot. Never forget that video where he drew on Glenn (I think thats his name) for a tattoo.
    Super talented with some iconic images on the New Frontier series. An artist whose unique depiction will be sorely missed in comics. Sad day

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