Pick of the Week Podcast

Pick of the Week #469 – Batman/Superman #18

Show Notes

Two men, a somewhat middling week of comics, Arby’s, Elias Koteas, and more are in store for you dear listener. With Conor Kilpatrick away “working”, Paul Montgomery and Josh Flanagan make with the deep comics talk, with all the flourish you’re used to, and only moderate off-topic diversions.  It turns out another artist needs to just stop it. Find out who! Finally, you never use the phone!

Running Time: 01:03:41

Pick of the Week:
00:02:26 – Batman/Superman #18

FullSizeRenderComics:
00:11:50 – Rumble #2
00:18:33 – All-New X-Men #35
00:22:43 – Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #3
00:29:05 – Rocket Raccoon #7
00:34:46 – The Wicked + The Divine #7
00:37:34 – Reyn #1
00:40:03 – Moon Knight #11
00:43:18 – The Kitchen #3

Audience Questions:
00:48:33 – Bryan wants to know what Paul thinks of wrestler CM Punk writing comics.
00:50:47 – Adam from Indiana asks about the idea of “ennui” in comics, in one way or another.
00:55:24 – Jason is confused, and likes the B.E.T. That’s it.

Music:
“Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check”
Busta Rhymes

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Comments

  1. It’s a homunculus/golem/McGuffin.
    Got it.

    Nothing wrong with a straightforward well written smart Pak story.
    Not everything needs to be a 15 part story with 10 lbs of existenz in a 5 lbs bag.

    Jeph loeb killed the Ultimate universe when he wrote Ultimatum 5 years ago.

  2. I’d throw up the Weeping Gorrilla from Promethea as great comic embodiment of ennui

  3. The Kandorian woman at the end of BM/SM is the friend Supergirl mentions earlier in the issue. Check the hair.

  4. Full disclosure, that question was me laying bait for Conor to elaborate on his “Batman ennui” he mentioned (last?) podcast. Maybe shoulda phrased it ‘yo, what’s the deal with your Batman ennui?’ But now I’m glad it was vague and weird enough that you could answer sans Conor.

    I’ll throw out Asterios Polyp for a book that evokes ennui pretty successfully.

    “Comic books are the status quo with the illusion of change.” Nice, I’m committing that to memory.

  5. Didn’t care for the politically correct meta with Paul’s opening comments about Reyn. His Oh Comics! co-host’s hyper awareness of race and gender in comics turned me off to that podcast after just two shows. Please don’t let it infect iFanboy.

    Before I get flamed, for my money G.Willow Wilson was the best writer in 2014, and Fiona Staples was the best artist. Could care less about the plumbing or color of the creators or characters. “It’s the story-telling, stupid.”

  6. Being politically correct is just another way of phrasing “being respectful of others,” and I commend Paul on his opening comments abut Reyn #1 It sounds like I may need to start listening to Oh Comics podcast! Demanding and seeing representations of Black people, people of color, women, members of the LGBT community, etc., in media isn’t pandering. The world isn’t all white, and stories shouldn’t be either. Being a Black man, I’m aware of my ethnicity EVERY day – it isn’t “hyper-awareness” it’s just reality. Of course I want great stories too, still everyone deserves to see non-stereotypical and complex reflections of themselves in their favorite medium. The “I don’t see color” and similar ridiculous sentiments just means diversity doesn’t matter. It does.

    • There is a real risk in being ‘hyper-aware’ or the connotation of ‘politically correct’ where it becomes a kind of conversational currency. When this happens it isn’t as much about respect as it becomes about them and a promotion of their own identity and ideals. About the commentator and not the issue.
      Especially when said commentator isn’t a member of minority group and truly doesn’t understand any real part of that spectrum of being.
      I believe the ‘white knight’ syndrome that you see so often in comics is based out of a real desire to be a good person and promote unity but I think that said people fail to see how often it ironically becomes a selfish endeavor.

    • rodfa02 – I have no quarrel with those who want to see (and feel) diversity in comics. Let the creators know you want it, and support them when they give it.

      But that is a separate issue from, in my opinion, judging the work. I tune in to iFanboy because I trust their judgment and it guides my purchasing decisions. There are plenty of podcasts that discuss comics “meta” and the creative process (Viscardi’s is a good one). I don’t come to iFanboy for that (although I do like how the listener emails are fair game, and the annual relationship episode is fun).

      That is just me personally. Also, it’s not just race and color. I also don’t care which creator has the best tweets, signs the most autographs at conventions, political leanings, etc. I am sure a lot of them are really swell people, and some are a-holes.

      But the work has to stand on its own two legs. For me, it is first, last, and always, the story.

      Coincidentally, I am currently re-reading Oliver Twist. Am I happy about the Fagin (“the Jew”) character? No, but historically it is what it is…and still a great novel.

    • rodfa- Also not to go too far off the reservation, but you might find some of Chomsky’s essays on political correctness thought provoking.

  7. A particularly topical and recent article on being ‘pc’
    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/not-a-very-pc-thing-to-say.html

  8. @JewishMarksman Again, as I stated in my earlier comment, I love well told stories too – and you can most definitely have that with diverse writers, artists, editors, characters, etc. Having diverse representation and creating a well told story are not mutually exclusive concepts.

    • Rodfa- Again, I don’t disagree.

      But neither diversity nor political correctness matter to me in a story, and certainly not in a creator. One can like Ms. Marvel, and also comics with radical Islamic terrorists as the bad guys. One (Jewish like me) can like Bendis’ work and Dickens’.

      Look–if Paul had made his comment in a vacuum I probably wouldn’t have noticed or cared much. It was more that his Oh Comics! co-host explicitly revealed that she was “hyper-sensitive” (those might have been her exact words?) to race and ethnicity in comics and injected it into much of her commentary. So I get it…for some people that is a “thing” now they want in comics. So great, let the Oh Comics! folks do their thing over there, and my preference is that iFanboy stay on its own path and leave the p.c. meta out of the analysis.

      I don’t mean to criticize your choices or tastes in comics review shows like iFanboy. We just like different things, that’s all. By all means, try Oh Comics! and support Paul (no sarcasm intended).

    • It’s something that I noticed because it’s a rarity in that particular genre. And I know many people who are looking for choices like that. When evaluating a new book, I do think about potential audience and elements different friends or strangers who might listen to the show would value, in order to help inform their reading choices.

      Anyway, this week is my last show, so no worries. Except for any future episodes I may guest on, where I’ll continue to remark on the things I find worth remarking upon.

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