Pick of the Week Podcast
Show Notes
Two jamokes go at it again, and luckily, they are given the greatest collection of names of letter writers we’ve yet experienced. Also, big talk about the big things in comics, with the pick being a big book from the big company. Also, all the books are ending.
Running Time: 00:58:44
Pick of the Week:
00:02:21 – Secret Wars #1
Comics:
00:12:00 – Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions #1
00:14:54 – Afterlife with Archie #8
00:19:10 – Hulk #16
00:22:50 – The Punisher #18
00:25:12 – Rocket Raccoon #11
00:27:22 – Wolf Moon #6 / The Names #9
00:29:44 – Inhuman Annual #1
Audience Questions:
00:32:25 – Cleon wonders if the end is near for the blockbuster comic event. (It isn’t.)
00:37:36 – Edward G. wants to know if Convergence and Secret Wars might be the last straw for a long time reader.
00:41:30 – Peter is facing an existential crisis about the never-ending nature of Marvel and DC comics.
00:50:16 – Hubert won’t have fill-in artists! He won’t stand for it!
Music:
“Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
Geto Boys
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Great discussion at the end there, guys. For me, I have reached a place where I stick mostly with creator-owned comics but I still love superheroes so I will pick up the odd Big 2 titles that actually feel like something special. I would absolutely go for something like Multiversity, for example, but most monthly superhero comics just strike me as suffering from a mix of mediocrity, continuity porn, editorial meddling and, ultimately, a sense that they never really go anywhere and that any plot or character progressions are ultimately going to be reset before too long. Between DC’s junking all of Wally West’s character development and that terrible Batwoman debacle around her marriage, I just came to the decision, after reading superhero comics regularly since 1992, that enough was really enough. And I couldn’t be happier for it.
Things never change in super hero comics?
Well- maybe more or less that is true, but the ‘Nu’ 52 feels pretty different.
And not in a great way. I think that very fact that Marvel has never tried a reboot before and looking at how badly it can go with DC’s recent endeavor- concern about the new Marvel is justified.
Here’s an analogy- your favorite restaurant is starting to feel a bit stale. You love the place and it has a great menu but it’s been the same for awhile. So instead of introducing a few new dishes to add some new flavour and balance the traditional they raise the building to the ground and build subway on the spot.
Marvel is not rebooting. In fact I’d be willing to bet money that when all is said and done that we are left with a earth that is pretty close to the 616 earth we have now with a few changes and some Ultimate characters thrown in. We already know continuity is not being erased.
How do we know that?
Because they have stated it is not a reboot, and none of their continuity is being erased, multiple times.
They also said they are not tailoring the Marvel univers to match the cinematic universe, but look around. Nick Fury is black, Phil Coulson is in continuity, Costumes all reflect the screen counterparts, FF is cancelled….
Each of these things is fine, kid walks into a comics store, he wants something recognizable, yadda yadda yadda, I get it. But you can’t always take editorial at their word. If you read issue 1 of Secret Wars, the universe flat out ended, so I don’t see it sure looks like continuity is ripe for a change.
DC also said, the New 52 wouldn’t be a reboot, but stll they’ve erased all I liked about the old DCU (Ollie Queen, Jack Knight, Hellblazer). (It still hurts, I must say. I can’t seem to make my peace with it …)
By the way, great podcast!!! It seems like the two remaining IFanboys haven’t lost any Esprit, which is great.
DC New 52 was always supposed to be a reboot, don’t think I ever heard them say it wasn’t. And yes some things have been changed like Nick Fury to be more like on screen, but more has remained the same. The FF was cancelled, but as it turns out a lot of titles are going on hiatus and we don’t even know what the line-up is going to look like after SW. And Dr Doom and Reed Richards are and have been a big part of whats going forward, so the whole Marvel disowning FF and X-Men has oviously not been true. I mean how many X-titles are there? And after SW I guarantee there will still be more X-titles then Inhuman titles. And the universe looked like it ended, but tomorrow issue two comes out and it will have all the same characters we have been following all these years in it. On Free Comic Book Day we got a preview of All New Avengers, and it was our 616 characters along with Miles. So pretty much everything we know shows it’s not going to be a reboot.
Well, here’s an example for DC denying its “rebootiness”: “This is not a reboot, it’s a launch.” (http://www.newsarama.com/7920-dc-releases-new-the-new-52-info-answers-to-retailers.html)
Inhuman continues into the “Inhumans :Attilan Rising (Secret Wars)” mini-series written by Soule, but I’m not sure on the artist. After that it’s “Uncanny Inhumans” #1 picking up from that McNiven #0 issue awhile back. I gotta thank Josh for getting me into this Inhuman series…
Rock!
Marvel says a lot of things lately and does something different.
We don’t know what Marvel will look like after SW so everyone can ‘guarantee’ whatever they want but
this is a chance for the company to flat out bring their comic line in step with the movie characters.
I’m going to ‘bet’ that this event has bigger changes in store than you think.
I absolutely loved Secret Wars #1.
I feel it’s easier to love however if you actually know what’s going on, rather than jumping right into it.
For instance if you just open Secret Wars #1 you’ll be wondering why exactly is Earth 616 being attacked by a fleet from the Ultimate Universe without understanding the role evil mastermind Reed Richards from the ultimate universe or Thanos and Namor etc… played to bring this pre-emptive attack about.
You’re also missing out on what’s going with Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom’s efforts to stop the incursions. Or why Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are nowhere to be seen while this catastrophe is going on (hint: it’s not good news on their end).
But yeah, for me I feel may also be comparing the first issue of Secret Wars vs the first issue of Convergence… the latter of which I really, really did not like.
Secret Wars #1 to me was fantastic, but I really can’t begin to guess where they go from there.
Oh, I also agree that Cyclops’s character transition/arc/evolution or what have you has not been going well for a very long time. But that’s just a personal pet peeve. I miss my old X-men.
I think the Edward G. reference was to Edward G. Robinson!
You are thinking correctly.
M’Yeah!
Secret Wars #1 was bad-ass plain and simple.
I thought Secret Wars #1 was pretty mediocre. Like Josh riffed on during the podcast, this issue was filled with a bunch of characters who are either other versions of characters I’d prefer to see, or characters I do know, but who are just acting weird. What surprised me the most, though, was how much this issue/event ripped off Crisis on Infinite Earths – a story from 30 years ago (!) and yet even the brilliant Marvel braintrust apparently can’t improve upon it, or doesn’t want to. I kept thinking to myself “Is there really only one way to do this kind of thing? Aren’t Marvel and Hickman kind of embarrassed to be copying Crisis so blatantly?” So yeah. I finished issue #1 with a mighty MEH.
Secret Wars #2, however… awesome!! Now THIS is original – and fascinating. I am so glad that I re-fi’ed my home to have the money to read this event, because now it looks like it’ll be a great ride.
Looking forward to what the Ifanboy guys have to say about Secret Wars #2. Cause I think the people who enjoyed the book were right to be excited over this series 🙂
Secret Wars 2 – man this book was a trudge. This is what three years of Hickman has been leading up to?
Game of Thrones?
So many inconsistencies you just have to throw everything out the window and then you have to ask yourself but what about ‘Hickman’s long game’ The truth is there isn’t one. There never is he just improvs until he gets bored then starts again. This is Marvel 1602- AoA and original SW mashed up.
Sounds awesome right? It isn’t, this book left me with too many but- huh- but whaaa? moments and the dialogue is laborious.
Dr. Doom is great but the- Because Doom explanation is super tired.
Issue #2 of Secret Wars was off the hook.This event was worth all the hype so far.Who doesn’t love an all powerful Dr. Doom ruling the world with an iron fist?
#2 was amazing!
I’ve been feeling burned out of new Marvel and DC for a while now so I get where Edward and Peter are coming from. To fill the void, I’m going back to delving into old runs I haven’t before. I’ve grabbed a bunch of Golden Age Superman stuff, Silver Age Wonder Woman, and years and years of Fantastic Four and Avengers. Buying old stuff and reprints tends to be a better bang for my buck too. $5 for a single issue? That’s insane. There’s plenty of old stuff that I can get into for a better price. So that’s where my head is at.
Yes, I feel your event fatigue.
Never before have I been reading so few new comics in favor of older ones (6 months to 6 decades old). The ludicrous digital price point for new titles is my main reason. Plus, I’ve discovered that my local library carries a TON of recent and older trades. So between that and sale-waiting on comiXology, I have been saving a huge pile of money this year alone. But I do miss being more current. Oh well. #firstworldproblems
I must be really dumb because I have read the first 3 Secret Wars now and still don’t understand what is going on. Granted the only Marvel I read regularly is Ms.Marvel and Deadpool stuff. I also read A-Force #1 which was pretty good but I still don’t understand these battle worlds and where Doom became a god? I guess I should just stick with Image and DC stuff.