Podcast - Episode 108: The Valiant (Valiant) by Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt and Paolo Rivera

Dave and I celebrated my 37th birthday by going to see The Inhumans in IMAX. It was...something. We talk a lot about that in this episode, but we also talk about The Valiant, by the all-star creative team of Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt and Paolo Rivera.

We also talk quite a bit about the final issue of Marvel's Secret Empire, which, in the grand tradition of superhero comic book events, was confusing and kind of a letdown. But we still really enjoyed the event overall.

Here's that panel of Bucky, um, communicating(?) with Steve:

I mean, that is laugh-out-loud funny.

And then!

*sniff!* You did it, guys. You did it!

Here's what I was talking about when I said Scarlet Witch's boobs looked weird on the cover of Uncanny Avengers this week:

Weird, right? I stared at that forever. Longer than I usually stare at tits, anyway. She just looks uncomfortable. Get a bra that fits, Wanda!

Anyway. Next week we're talking about Young Avengers by Alan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. I'm looking forward to some teen angst!

I'm off to check out Ninjak, Eternal Warrior, and Bloodshot comics!

Podcast - Episode 72: Superhero Romance!

This week we are talking about SUPERHERO ROMANCE!!!! Would it have made more sense to wait until February for this topic? Probably! Do I pretty much want to talk about superhero romances all the time? Yes.

Oh, superhero romance. 

Before we get to that, here is that tweet of mine that went viral for whatever reason:

I feel like there's a disconnect between Chris Evans and his fans. pic.twitter.com/IjLKpb6xcv

— Rachelle Goguen (@rachellegoguen) December 2, 2016

Again, I want to clarify: the original tweet by @Glamourizes is poetry. I love it.

Oh! And you can follow Living Between Wednesdays on Twitter now!

Here is the Omaze contest where you and three friends can be trapped in an escape room in Boston with Chris Evans.

If I win he is never getting out of that room.

Alright! On to the romance!

Here is the final page in the the sad and epic love story of Black Widow and Winter Soldier. The evil Red Room assassin, Leo Novokov, made sure Natasha would never remember her romance with poor ol' Bucky:

Bucky's life is extremely good.

The depressing icing on the sadness cake is that Bucky refuses to even let SHIELD try to help restore that part of her memories because "She's better off without me." UGH! Bucky!!!!

Here's my girl Catwoman getting some late night action from Batman. I love how she handles him. And I super love that whip around the neck as she leads him down the stairs:

Flame emoji.

And here's my favourite Captain America love interest...BERNIE!!!

That's my girl!

Damn! Right off the bat she's laying it on thick! I love this woman.

"One what?"   "A crush on Josh!"

Bernie!!!!

This is seriously the most comfortable I've seen him with a woman. But it might be because they are talking about classic Hollywood movies:

I picture Steve doing a bang-on Bacall impression here.

And here are a couple of panels from Captain America #289, when Bernie fantasizes about being BERNIE AMERICA!!!

Side note: it is very difficult to Google "Bernie America" these days if you want this result.

I see no difference here between regular Steve Rogers and this version of him.

And let's end it on this recent screengrab from my Avengers Academy game, which is extremely relevant:

Podcast - Episode 71: Favourite Comic Book Creative Teams

This week on the podcast we list some of our all-time favourite comic book creative teams! Because, just like Dave and me, sometimes it takes two awesome people coming together to create magic.

I should mention that we are aware that the Buckaroo Banzai news is now irrelevant now that Kevin Smith has removed himself from the project. That happened right after we recorded this episode.

Oh, and also, I can now confirm that it's Jeff Le-MEER, not Jeff Le-MYER, so I have been wrong all these years. Also, he is very nice.

Do I have anything to link to this week? Not really. 

Here's the link to that little Mark Waid/Chris Samnee interview about Black Widow and Winter Soldier, I guess.

Um...

Here's a picture of Sebastian Stan at a spin class?

This sounded like a good idea and then it was. 😉. Thank you @constantlyevolving_nadiazaki @innerseries_nadiazaki for 2 hours of hell. 😂 #fitness #workout #spin #yoga #tonight.

A photo posted by Don Saladino (@donsaladino) on Nov 29, 2016 at 4:43pm PST

Oh, to be on that bike behind him.

(Oh, to be that bike? Nah. That's weird.)

Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Episode 65: A Visit from Wordburglar!

It's Wednesday! Coming off a Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada, and we are joined by our friend Sean "Wordburglar" Jordan. It's an episode so jam packed with geeking out that we don't even really have a topic!

We talk about so many things! Here are some helpful references!

Here's the article about Stan Lee's plan to end racial tension in America.

Here's an account (and here is a video) of what Peter David said at NYCC about the Romani people. And here is his follow-up blog post where he, uh, regrets(?) what he said?

Here is the trailer for the Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe series, which is a real thing that is happening:

Here is a picture of Gideon, which, yes, is an important reference image for this episode:

Enjoy! And check out Sean's new video for Channel Halifax, and check out the single on vinyl!

The Future's so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades When I Read Previews

I know the ISB has dissecting Previews covered, but I did at least five spit-takes reading this month's catalogue, so I had to write about it. It's full of crazy crap, as well as lots of stuff that I'm super stoked about. It's a rollercoaster ride of emotion.

First off, the cover:

Nope, those are not stautes. They're not busts, or action figures. These are photos of heads pasted onto the bottom half of busts. I know the July 2010 release means there's many months of sculpting time ahead, and believe me, I'm excited to see a little cold-cast plaster version of Vampire Bill. But seriously. Maybe wait until you have something substantial before you put it on the front cover? Even if it is the back front cover.

Who photoshopped this? Me? My cat? Actually, if Scrapperton did this, good job. But to anyone else, for shame.

I like how this is written like a newspaper headline; "Local Lad Krueger Makes Good in Neighbourhood Nightmares." This whole little piece of copy just rules. God, I'm seriously jealous. Writing for Previews is the best job in the universe. Especially making up the titles for those t-shirts.

Good lord, Marvel. This is some Krusty the Clown level merchandising. Do you have a sick mother in the hospital who desperately needs you to pay for an operation? Or do you have, say, a serious smack habit?

Hurray! Vertigo is making a figure of my favourite chocolate bar-loving, antler-headed cutie pie! A lil' Sweet Tooth to put on my bed side table!

OH. NO.

Ziggy is read by more than 75 million people every day. No joke here. Just a fact.

 

A phrase never spoken by anyone at LBW:

 

RASL #7? In February? So we've had like, one issue this year, but now THREE will come out in the next three months?

Riiiiiight. Maybe scientists will also discover that cheeseburgers are the best food for weight loss. And I'll inherit a cheeseburger factory. Jeff Smith, I love you. That's why your lies hurt me so.

BUT, you know what's exciting? Raina Telgemeier's comic about braces. And the first issue of the new Demo series!!! So awesome. In my head, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan are BFFs who live together in a big comic-themed house and get into wacky, comics-related high jinx together. Could be true. You don't know.

See? A lot of ups and downs here. Well, until next month, Previews. Maybe in January you'll have learned not to put Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose on the same page as a bunch of kids comics. But don't go changin' just to suit me, Previews.

Wednesday Interview: Jeff Lemire

Ontario-based cartoonist Jeff Lemire is the award-winning creator of the Essex County Trilogy (Tales From the Farm, Ghost Stories and The Country Nurse) and Lost Dogs. Essex County, Lemire's beautiful story about hockey, family, and rural Ontario life, is being collected into a hardcover edition later this year.

Despite his affinity for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jeff Lemire is one of my favourite comic creators right now. I love his distinctive thick-lined artwork and his ability to create powerful emotions using very quiet storytelling (I have cried real tears while reading his books). Lemire was recently drafted to the big leagues, with an all-new hardcover book, The Nobody, being released by Vertigo today. He will also be writing and drawing a new ongoing series for Vertigo starting in September called Sweet Tooth. I did a little interview with Jeff to find out more.

Can you describe what The Nobody is about in your own words?

The Nobody takes the protagonist from HG Wells' The Invisible Man novel and reimagines him in a modern small fishing village. It's about paranoia and rural clausterphobia and how outsiders are drawn together.

The Essex County trilogy was, I think, an amazing accomplishment. The storytelling was beautiful, and I actually had tears in my eyes when I finished reading the second book. Is The Nobody going to be a major departure from the Essex County series, or do you think there will be elements that readers will recognize from your previous work?

After finishing with Essex County I needed to try something new. Those books were obviously deeply personal, and drew from a lot of my own life.  I wanted to do something a bit darker, a bit pulpier and a bit more genre-based. So, in a way The Nobody is almost the flipside of what I was exploring in Essex County.  While those books looked at what pulls rural communities together, while The Nobody looks at what can tear them apart. But, having said that it still has the same earmarks and storytelling style of EC.

A lot of your work, including your upcoming Vertigo projects, is set in small towns or rural areas. What is it about these settings that appeals to you?

I just think that 99% of movies and comics are set in New York or a New York-like big city. There are so many others stories to be told, so why not explore smaller town and bring other perspectives to the table. Also, on a visual level open fields are easier to draw than buildings. (kidding)

One of my favourite things about Essex County is how Canadian it is. I know that your upcoming series, Sweet Tooth, is set in America, but it has a Canadian look to it, if that makes sense. How important do you think it is for Canadian creators to tell Canadian stories?

Very important. This is a rich and beautiful country full of diversity and character. I love mining it for my stories. Plus, I write and draw what I see and know. And both Vertigo books are not officially set in Canada, but unofficially they are to me. Sweet Tooth starts off in Nebraska. I chose that because it looks the most like southwestern Ontario.

I am really looking forward to reading your ongoing series, Sweet Tooth. Is this the first time you have told a story in serialized issues?

Yes it is, it was a challenge to try and maintain my style and voice and still cram it into 22 page chunks, but I think I've made the transition successfully.

I am guessing, given where you are from, that you are a Maple Leafs fan. Does that make it hard to get up in the morning?

It makes it very, very hard. But I have hope, because without hope you're just a Senators fan.