Pick of the Week Podcast

Pick of the Week #249 – Justice League: Generation Lost #8

Show Notes

Conor Kilpatrick’s gone missing… again, so the conch shell was blown and the intrepid Paul Montgomery joins the fray as Josh Flanagan and Ron Richards discuss the week’s book as well as pressing social issues in the life of a comic fan. It’s one for the ages folks as the levels of passive aggression reach new heights.

Running Time: 01:05:22

Comics:
00:02:20 – Despite a busy Wednesday, Ron was all about Justice League: Generation Lost #8 from Judd Winick and Aaron Lopresti this week.
00:12:03 – Shocking news as Josh drops The Avengers! But Ron really liked The Avengers #4
00:16:11 – But Josh will never drop Invincible and issue #74 delivers again.
00:18:48 – And then Josh dropped Captain America after issue #609! Could it be the over-reaction to a hand injury?
00:23:37 – But man, does Scalped #40 deliver for Josh.
00:25:20 – Paul checks in with his love of Superman in Superman: Secret Origins #6.
00:31:44 – Robert Kirkman has a big week with the launch of Guarding The Globe #1, and despite a bad name, the guys enjoyed it.
00:34:48 – X-Factor #208 is nothing but consistent and Ron is still enjoying it.
00:35:58 – Dracula: Company of Monsters #1 may not have had a ton of Kurt Busiek, but Paul really dug the mashup of vampires and Wall Street.
00:38:44 – Battlefields: Motherland #3 is more of the same with Josh, could the novelty of Battlefields worn off?
00:39:38 – A new arc with Savage Dragon #163 and a great Savage Dragon Twisted Funny as well makes Ron a happy boy.

User Reviews:
00:40:31 – imakereality took our advice and didn’t miss Darkness: Four Horsemen #1.
00:41:44 – StorytellerSJK isn’t falling for the gag of Deadpool: Team Up #890.

E-Mail:
00:43:02 – Elliott from Suisun needs some advice about etiquette around reading comics in a store.
00:45:50 – John from Orangevale is headed to college and needs some advice on making friends and finding a new store.

Voicemail:
00:51:33 – Tony from Wisconsin thinks that the Avengers is too NYC heavy.
00:53:36 – Ian from Wisconsin wants to know what book didn’t work for us.

Giveaway Winners:
00:58:40 – Janna Hansen was the big winner of the amazing Vertigo giveaway package!Β Don’t miss all the other great giveaways!

Brought to You By:
β€’ In Stock Trades – get all your trade paperbacks and hardcovers with amazing savings up to 37%! Β Visit instocktrades.com

Music:
“Forget Who We Are”
Cap’nJazz

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Comments

  1. I was hoping I’d see Wonder Woman in the show notes πŸ™ oh well. Couple things in there I’m curious about.

  2. Great discussion about Superman: Secret Origin. I do think it comes down to how  much you like Superman as to how much the issue – and series – will work for you. If you don’t like Superman then this certainly won’t change your mind but if you do, I really can’t imagine not loving it. After the last few issues of JMS totally not getting Superman (though in an interesting way), it’s just nice to get a comic where the writer clearly gets Superman right down to his core. That Gary Frank is very possibly the greatest Superman artist ever doesn’t hurt matters either.

    Pity that none of you guys got (I assume)  Superman/ Batman. The main story was good with beautiful art but the main attraction was the backups, which were basically like Wednesday Comics at its absolute best – in terms of both story and art. Really wonderful stuff that seems to have been criminally overlooked by most people. 

  3. Oh and that college question was awesome. I love it when you get questions like that.

  4. I toatally agree with Ian, I thought Y: The Last Man was good, and read the first five trades, but just never cared enough to finish it, while I love Ex Machina and I try to read the trades as soon they come out.

  5. Cap’n Jazz! Hoorah!

     

    Were you guys at the Brooklyn show? The reunion shows WERE awesome.

  6. @Suicidalkangarooz

    Agreed. 

  7. which simpsons episode was it?

  8. Thanks, guys for the kind review!  Rachel and I had a blast doing it!

  9. Another week with someone down on their knees ready to blow Kirkman.  Yawn.

  10. Kirkman gets–what?–a pick of the week once a year.

    The favoritism directed towards Kirkman is bordering on inappropriate.

    People are stupid.

  11. Kirkman hasn’t gotten a pick of the week in well over a year. He only has a few (three for Invincible and none for TWD).

  12. No Black Widow love?

  13. I don’t think any iFanboy writers read Black Widow.

  14. Great to hear Ron mispronounce my screen name on a podcast.  Really made my day.

  15. Oh and lest I come off as a total Barnes and Noble freeloader, I do buy trades there, I just don’t like buying the single issues there since they are usually pretty bent.

  16. cap’n jazz!!!!

     

    JL:GL was great, kind of a meh week though.

  17. For the first time in forever I couldn’t get Scalped, I’m still waiting for it in the post now.

    Therefore if you spoil it for me I am going to send you an irrational angry e-mail, 2007 style. 

  18. *awkward silence

  19. Maybe Josh will pick up ‘Black Widow’ next month when Duane Swierczynski takes over?  I’m looking forward to having a new Swierczy book.  (Deadpool books don’t count).

    I really enjoyed this show, and Paul has very nearly talked me into picking up that Dracula book.

  20. There’s Kirkman backlash now? That is hilarious. On the one hand, I praised a book I’ve liked for YEARS, and we gave a lukewarmish review to another.

    Oh yeah, we’re miles up his ass.  You people sometimes…

  21. From now on you aren’t allowed to like or dislike anything.  You must review EVERY book by stating, as unenthusiastically as possible, "I read this".

  22. Wow Cap’n Jazz, Surprised me with that one. I think that and Minor Threat are the only good bands I’ve heard you guys play.  Keep it up!! Less indie pop and more good!!

  23. A few asides.  Capn’Jazz’s cover of "Take on me" is better than the original.

    What recording did your Minor Threat song come from? (Its been awhile and i could be wrong but i think it was "Out of Step") Because its waaay better quality than my discography from the 90’s.  I was hearing things i’d never heard before in your little clip.

    We’re stupid because we like Kirkman books?  Wow, tell us how you feel about the Loeb lovers out there Scorpion.

  24. @scorpion Jesus, bro.  That was all kinds of crazy.

    Also, I thought Josh talked about dropping the Avengers books several weeks ago.  It was spoken about as if this was something new.

  25. Backlash of one guy.

    Read my post again. It was sarcasm directed at that one guy above me.

    Kirkman is easily one of my favorite writers in comics.

    And everyone who likes Kirkman books must be smart.

    Now Loeb . . .

  26. Oh yeah, Invincible was my pick of the week.

    I’m on my knees.

  27. Before listening to this, I had assumed that when I saw "Guarding the Globe" written on some other website that it was simply a typo.  I purchased and read the book and somehow missed that it wasn’t Guardians.  Definitely sounds like someone checked with the trademark office at the last minute and said "whoops, we have to change it."

  28. @scorpion lol. my bad

  29. I always thought Wolfsbane’s name was pronounced Renne. Ron, being the X-Men X-pert, is it in fact pronounced like your name?

  30. @JimmyF1982 – Never trust Ron when it comes to pronunciation.

    Green Lantern Corpse! 

  31. That’s about right.

  32. I’m glad others read Black Widow as well. Ifanboy needs to be enlightened to it’s greatness

  33. Couldn’t even get past the second Preacher Volume–Not really into the Garth Ennis voice he has in all his comics, same reason I don’t like a lot of Millar’s stuff. 

  34. I love the story of how Ron and Josh became friends. How about Josh and Connor or Ron and Connor, and then how all three of you came together. And then fought crime on the west coast.

  35. @drakedangerz admittedly i then turned around and spelled Renee wrong but your response did me quite a laugh.

  36. Her name is meant to be pronounced the same as Rain, btw.

  37. Forget the inappropriate amount of Kirkman love, what is up with you guys liking a majority of comics?  What kind of comic website is this?  Comic readers are supposed to be angry, long suffering pundits who only read comics to comment on how much worse they are now than when they were kids.  If *I* were writing comics right now, I’d totally…hold on, my mom needs to do a load of laundry down here and the basement only has one power outlet.  I’ll get back to this later.

  38. Anyone get the feeling that Josh is the new Scott Hinze?  It occured to me a while ago.  Just the personal level at which creators are attacked or the moodiness of it all, where it’s less about the comic and something else. πŸ˜‰

  39. Does water flow up in your world?

  40. See that response?  That’s Scott Hinzey.  πŸ˜‰ πŸ˜‰

  41. Seriously, your weird little war against me? It’s against the terms of service, because it serves no purpose.  Start your own blog, do whatever you like, but I’m gonna start using my delete button with a lot less consideration of your feelings, because you’re just going after me, and you’re just cluttering up our wonderful community.

  42. @KickAss: Do you think that using an emoticon make your irritating, unwanted and unfunny comments seem good hearted? If anything, they make them seem more creepy.

  43. Chris – also in the terms of service, it says we’ll do the moderating. Please don’t go after the other users. That’s our job.

  44. Great show, guys!

    Also, Wisconsin iFanbase, where are you hiding?  I just moved to Madison.  We should have a tweetup!

  45. Great show, guys.

    Kudos to Josh for–I guess you’d say–"manning up" and dropping Avengers and Cap. I don’t say that to bash those titles, because I think Cap is probably still better than your average book, and I’m still reading Avengers. But I just know that feeling, where you’re toggling for months between dropping a title and hanging onto every little good aspect of it, arguing to yourself about how "it’s getting back on track again". I dropped Cap over a year ago a few months after I started noticing a downturn. I’ve checked back in a few times, and nothing has really grabbed me. But, hey, if a title you dropped really DOES get good again, then you get the awesome binge-reading of getting caught up. Or, as is usually, the case, you can just save that money to buy other comics that you can like without equivication

    I read all of Morrison’s New X-Men and half of Whedon’s Astonishing for free in Borders. It’s how I got back into comics after an eight-year absence: because the comics were there and I could read them for free. I went on to buy both runs, getting many of the trades right there in Borders. For big chains like Borders and B&N, letting the customer read works to their advantage, overall. They have the space, and they have a coffee shop inside, so at least they’re getting money from the browsers that way. I’d always at least buy a coffee while I read, y’know?

  46. I’m a bit conflicted about the whole "Reading in B&N" conundrum. On one hand, I have certainly had days where I’d chill out in a store, whether it be in the chair or on the floor in the Christian book section where no one seems to go, and flip through a book when I had not much else to do on that day. On the other hand, I just heard the news that they are closing the huge Barnes & Noble megastore in Lincoln Center here in NYC, and I can’t help but think that this is partially (not completely, I get that we’re in a bad economy) due to the fact that alot of people just engage in reading in the store without buying anything.

    Like the guys said in the show, the store certainly encourages in-store reading, so you might as well take advantage of that. Just throw them a bone every once in awhile with a purchased book or two.

  47. As Josh says, they have chairs in the store.  They want you to do that.  If you feel guilty, buy a coffee, I’ll bet there is WAY more markup on the food than the books.

  48. Eventually I did buy all the Preacher books.  Although, not from the book store…

    The Lincoln Center location is closing because of rent hikes.  Just buy some stuff, read some other stuff.

  49. Borders is closing within the year.

    Good job, guys. You killed a whole chain.

  50. Yup!  It’s all due to people sitting down and reading books in the store.  You caught us!  If broke-ass people would spend their non-existent money, that chain would be doing *fine*.  Amazon’s got nothing to do with it.

  51. I hope you know I was joking . . .

    But I’m gonna play.

    Oh, people got money. It is just what do they choose to spend it on. Books and music, naw. Expensive electronics like phones and digital music players, yeah. Cars, oh yeah. Home, fuck a mortage on a home that is on average 200K down in price. Why pay that when you can just sit in it rent free for a year or more? Alcohol, cigs, and coffee, definitely.

    Even bums prioritize.

    The end effect is the same with a Borders situation as it is with a digital pirating situation.

    You don’t pay for what you consume.

    Rationalize that. 

  52. You’re right!  That’s why the car companies are doing so well!

    Scorpion, your grasp of economics is exceeded only by your expertise in gender studies.  Well done.

    (Finished now, for real.)

  53. American car companies haven’t been doing well for a decade or more. Nothing new there.

    Drive by an apartment complex sometime and take a gander at the amount of luxury cars.

    You were too afraid to unlearn what you were taught about gender.

    Jab and run, jab and run.

     

  54. And now we’re totally off-topic. Back to comics.

  55. Love Kirkman! That’s right.

  56. who is Scott Hinze?

  57. @Scorpion–Borders being in financial trouble has nothing to do with people sitting around reading for free in stores or not buying enough products. It has to to do with their awful business decisions like taking out outrageous loans they can never pay back and irresponsible over expansion. (At one point there were 5 stores within a 10 mile radius of my house) There are many articles written about what caused the Borders financial mess. 

    Borders has done a great job IMO with selling comics, giving books like Scott Pilgrim and Blackest Night the same treatment as Twilight and Harry Potter with prime table space. The comic and manga sections are always growing every time i go in there and they even have great indy stuff like Essex County and others. They often have a better selection of trades and collections that some of the comic shops in my area. 

  58. It was a fuckin joke!

    I don’t give a shit about Borders (although I do respect their comic section). I don’t care if people read from store opening til store closing. I don’t care if people steal books straight from the store. I don’t care if people illegally download comics.

    I still want a rationale to the you don’t pay for what you consume when you read in a store and don’t buy.

    That I’m interested in how folks justify that while condemning people who illegally download comics.

    Anyone gonna step up to the plate?

    Or is gonna be some more shittalk and run type comments?

  59. The rationale is that the stores are set up to let people do that.  It’s why they have couches and listening stations.  It’s their business model. They get you to pay for coffee that (I imagine) has a ridiculous markup, that way.  If they wanted to make a rule that says ‘don’t read in the store’ and go to the trouble of enforcing it, they’d have the right.  But they don’t because it would drive away their customers.  I think I’m probably hurting the store MORE when the only time I go there is to buy something with a 30% off coupon that they sent me in order to get me into the store to buy other things at full price (which I generally don’t, but it’s their desperate crappy business model).

    Also, there is nothing morally wrong about reading a book you don’t own.  The physical property being sold is THE BOOK.  Temporarily looking at a book that someone else MIGHT want to buy at the same time is in no way analagous to making a digital copy that can be distributed literally to millions of people. 

  60. Thank you.

    So cuz you pay for coffee you can ease back and say it is okay? That’s some rationalizing for sure.

    What about not only making a rule but a law that says "illegal downloading is wrong you are subject to fines" but not enforcing it?

    If I go into Borders read all their single issue comics and not buy any of them isn’t that the same as illlegally downloading those same comics and reading them?

    Selective morality or what we used to call hypocrisy.

  61. The difference is that in the case of Borders, there is no anti-reading in the store policy.  So that’s significant.

    If a physical copy that only one person can hold at a time is exactly the same as an infinitely reproducible digital copy to you, then it’s the same, and there’s no way to talk you out of that.  This is a debate that’s all over the place right now and from my perspective there’s really no reason to go into it further here.

  62. (Come to think of it, there may be some kind of legal implications to Borders letting people read books without buying them, since Borders is in a money-making business, but to my knowledge Borders has no policy against it, and I’ve never heard of a bookstore being sued for that sort of things.  Anybody with actual information on the subject rather than questionable analogies would be welcome!)

  63. The debate hinges on this:

    One individual reads/enjoys/consumes a product in a store and doesn’t pay for it.

    One individual reads/enjoys/consumes a product on their computer and doesn’t pay for it.

    Then cats on here and want to defend the first and condemn the second.

    Why?

    I’m not talking about distribution of illegal digital comics.

    I’m talking about people not paying for things but still consuming them.

    I don’t think my point can be any more focused.

    And as for your first point, just because something is legal doesn’t make it right (and just because something is illegal doesn’t make it wrong).

  64. Scorpion, you’ve made your point (which, as always, is too subtle for me), and I’ve made mine.  Thank you.

  65. ohcaroline, I think you frustrate me as much as I frustrate you.

    You are a master of passive aggression.

  66. Move on now.

  67. who is scott hinze?

    does he work at Borders? 

  68. @ed Ah. I missed you:)

  69. wow, it procastinated and just listened to this episode. The College question was from me and I didn’t realize how it sounded. With the way you guys laughed I almost stopped the podcast right there but you eventually had some ok advice.

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