Pick of the Week Podcast
Show Notes
With Josh back from Florida, this is an oddly positive show. It was a comic book art cavalcade and a joyful expression of affection for COMICS!™. Did you want facts about songbirds? Good news, wait for it.
Running Time: 01:11:46
Pick of the Week:
00:02:08 – The Green Lantern #5
Comics:
00:11:02 – Justice League #19
00:16:19 – Doomsday Clock #9
00:19:58 – Batman #66
00:27:08 – Conan The Barbarian #4
00:29:52 – Red Sonja #2
00:31:42 – Deadly Class #37
00:34:50 – Green Arrow #5
00:35:54 – Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroy’s Marvel History #1
War Corner:
00:39:16 – Black Hammer ’45 #1
Patron Pick:
00:41:50 – Astro Hustle #1
00:45:08 – Meet The Skrulls #1
Patron Thanks:
00:49:15 – Kyle Windle
00:50:24 – Filippo Dulio
00:51:36 – Kevin Carpenter
00:53:34 – Ethanlj
Audience Question:
00:55:48 – Ken asks for some pre-1986 recommendations.
01:01:50 – Blake wants to know if we have any specific memories and associates with specific comics or comic movies.
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Music:
“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Smashing Pumpkins
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Stellar show guys!
I’m stoked at the caliber of comics DC is putting out right now. Honestly I could give two shits about continuity and the problems DC has surrounding that. I just want well told stories with fantastic art, and we got just that this week!
The Green Lantern #5: excellent pick for book of the week Josh. From the get go of this series Morrison and Sharp have made their intentions clear – to remind us readers why we fell in love with comics in the first place – to escape into worlds that jar our imaginations. And the older we get, the harder that is to do. The Green Lantern has made this 40 something comic book reader feel 14 again.
Justice League #19: you dudes may not care for the current overreaching story arc concerning the Source Wall and Dark Metal, but I’m digging the hell out of the Snyder’s cosmic opus. There is sense of fun mingled in with all the universe ending doom and gloom, something Snyder has perfected in recent years. And yeah, fucking Jorge Jimenez might be the best artist working at DC right now. Beautiful art.
Doomsday Clock #9: talk about slow burn, this series is a text book example of that technique. I have a feeling once it’s all said and done, this series will read much better in a collected form (much like Mr. Miracle). Unlike Snyder’s Justice League story, Johns and Frank’s “crisis” feels heavy and catastrophic for the DC heroes. But the question is, will it matter at all when it’s over? Not sure, but I’m enjoying the ride.
Batman #66: it’s time to question whether or not Tom King is right for this book. There is no way in hell a new, causal reader, that picked up this book at their local Barnes and Noble would know what the fuck is happening. And I’m not sure that is good for a flagship title like Batman. This book should be welcoming to new readers while still delivering drama for long time fans. But at this point, even the long time fans are getting annoyed. Wrap it up King! (But keep Jorge Fornes on art forever!!!!)
Ken, New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez is a beloved run that started in 1980. Swamp Thing by Berni Wrightson is a beautiful thing to behold and everyone should read Alan Moore’s run on Swampy!
Enjoy!
Good answer.
Check out Adventure Comics #431 to 440 for the Fleisher/Aparo take on the Spectre. Super creepy and fun. It’s an often forgotten gem of the Bronze age.
I haven’t even listened yet and am excited/curious to hear how they pronounce “Ethanlj”
Great show! Josh, You’re a Dan Savage fan, right? Have you heard him or his callers discuss ‘vore’? If not it’s worth an urban dictionary check, it adds a really visceral (literally) layer to the vampire planet Vorr. And given Morrison’s areas of interest, occam’s razor says it was named on purpose.
Really fun show this week, guys. As it happens, I did some catching up with a bunch of titles so I also came into this feeling extremely positive about comics right now.
Just in regards to Ken’s question, I think it’s always crucial to keep in mind that comics then were written very differently and usually for very different audiences. There’s often a lot of imagination and bright fun in SIlver Age and Bronze Age comics but they’re also aimed at a much younger audience and are usually more simplistic in terms of characterization and the dialogue and narration tend to be exposition heavy and clunky.
That said, I would echo recommendations for Moore’s brilliant run on Swamp Thing and I would definitely also throw out a recommendation for Steve Gerber’s Howard the Duck, which was genuinely years ahead of its time. Also, a lot of these older comics may not read great but it’s always worth checking out the art of guys like Kirby, Neal Adams, Jose Garcia Lopes and Bernie Wrightson in their prime. Hell, I even absolutely love Infantino’s work on the Flash – at least his earlier, fluid work, rather than when he came back with a much stiffer style later on.
late to reply but for posterity’s sake: The Kurtzman EC war comics were “Two Fisted Tales” & “Frontline Combat” (really if your library has the reprints flip through any old EC collected edition, some stories can get repetitive but the art is always pretty good)
It seems like cheating the question, but there’s plenty of early 80’s indie work that is worth knowing like Chaykin’s “American Flaqg” , Dave Steven’s “The Rocketeer”, Baron/ Steve Rude’s “Nexus”, Mike Kaluta’s “Starstruck” or Barry Windsor Smith’s “Machine Man” (OK that’s a Marvel comic but you get the point)