Podcast - Episode 155: Superman and Batman movies

Since there were a couple of news items this past week relating to Superman and Batman movies, we decided to look back at all previous Superman and Batman movies.

I have to make a correction, too. Probably several, but the one I can remember is that I said that the Starfire character on Titans is a prostitute but I don’t think she actually is. I had just heard that, but I can’t find verification anywhere. I can’t find anything that says otherwise, either, but let’s assume that she is not actually a prostitute. Not that there is anything wrong with being a sex worker of any kind, but comic book-based entertainment has a long history of not depicting sex workers in the most…sensitive and respectful light. Anyway, the show still looks very bad.

Here is Michael Kupperman’s Dick Crazy comic, for your enjoyment:

See you next week!

Podcast - Episode 117: Justice League

We saw Justice League! It's the story of a badass woman teaming up with two beautiful teenagers, an impossibly sexy sea man, and Ben Affleck to bring Superman and his chest hair back from the dead. 

We didn't hate it!

Thanks for listening, and you're lucky I was even alive to post this episode because the cover of the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter damn near killed me:

I mean, come on, Hollywood Reporter. You can't just post that without a LOT of warning.

Armie Hammer for Warlock, 2020!

Podcast - Episode 111: Favourite Single Issues (Part 1)

This week we tasked ourselves with each choosing five of our favourite single comic book issues. It was not easy, but between us we have a pretty solid list of ten comics. Because it was so challenging to get it down to so few, we are probably going to make this a recurring episode theme. Maybe monthly? I dunno.

Here are the lists, so you can head to your local shop and hunt them down:

DAVE:

Avengers #154
GI Joe #21
Doom Patrol #19
Tom Strong #1
Eightball #22

Rachelle:

Jonah Hex #50
Captain America (and Bucky) #620
All-Star Superman #5
Wolverine Weapon X #11
Batman Legends of the Dark Knight #125

And here's that very important Jeremy Renner Instagram post:

Dear fans, please do NOT engage with any fakes on social media asking for money or anything else for that matter . Only visit official blue checked sites on social media and my app for contests or offers that never ask for MONEY!!! #fakessuck #dangerousinternet #whensocialmediagoeswrong #shameonscammers #notohackers #notofakes #TWITTER #instagram

A post shared by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Sep 18, 2017 at 8:50pm PDT

Good stuff. 

Alright, we will see you next week! Thanks for listening!

Podcast - Episode 101: Trinity (DC) by Matt Wagner

We are kicking off our Summer Book Club with Matt Wagner's 2003 DC miniseries, Trinity!

First of all, apologies for the lower quality sound this week. We used a room mic and it picks up a lot of things our mics usually don't, like pages flipping. It was an emergency fix to a technical problem that we'll have fixed for next week.

But let's look at Matt Wagner's beautiful versions of Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman

Nice.

Here's grumpy Batman being carried by Superman in his little harness:

And here's that scene from Batman and Grendel that I was talking about. Matt Wagner makes cool choices for scenes where some people might just have a character standing still and talking on the phone:

Enjoy the episode. We'll be back next week to talk about Sexcastle!

I'll leave you with this group picture of the coolest people at D23.

My boy looks so good!

Podcast - Episode 69: Everything is Awful

Well...

...comic books don't seem so important all of a sudden, but we are gonna try to talk about them anyway! It just might be interspersed with some angry statements, confused and bewildered feelings, and barely concealed terror. 

In these troubled times, we turn to superheroes, and Dave has some comic book recommendations if you are looking for inspiration.

Here's that page from All-Star Superman that Dave was describing. Just a perfect summary of everything that Superman is and should be on one page:

And here are the pages where Cap realizes that he needs to stick with America through thick and thin. He takes off that deep-v Nomad suit and puts the much less revealing Captain America suit back on:

And here's a panel from The Avengers 1.1, which came out this past week, where Steve Rogers describes how we all feel:

Oh, and on top of everything else, Sebastian Stan has indeed shaved his beard. We're back to stubble. So consider Beard Watch '16 closed.

Still looks good, though. Still looks real good.

Podcast - Episode 63: Superhero Starting Points

Dave and I run through five characters this week, making recommendations for people who became interested in them through the movies or television, and are looking for good places to start with the comics. These are necessarily the best comics ever written about each character, but they are good, accessible stories that most likely give new fans what they are looking for.

Before we get to that, here is Sean "Wordburglar" Jordan's new music video!

Here are our recommendations:

CAPTAIN AMERICA

The entire Ed Brubaker run, which would be:

1. Winter Soldier
2. Red Menace
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. The Death of Captain America
5. The Man with No Face
6. Road to Reborn/Reborn
7. Two Americas
8. No Escape
9. The Trial of Captain America
10. Prisoner of War
11. Steve Rogers Super Soldier
12. Secret Avengers (Mission to Mars/Eye of the Dragon)
13. Fear Itself
14.  Captain America (relaunch) #1-19
15. Captain America & Bucky (The Life Story of Bucky Barnes/Old Wounds)
16. Winter Soldier solo series (#1-14)

So if you haven't read all of that already, get going! If you need to skip parts, we would suggest skipping Road to Reborn/Reborn. You don't really need to read Secret Avengers, either, but it's good.

Captain America: War and Remembrance by Roger Stern and John Byrne (now collected in an Epic Collection called Dawn's Early Light)

The Avengers: Epic Collection Earth's Mightiest Heroes by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, et al.
This collects the first twenty issues of the original 1960s Avengers comics. It's very fun.

Captain America: Man Out of Time by Mark Waid and Jorge Molina
NOTE: I don't actually like this book all that much. But it is accessible, and gives fans of the movie version of the characters what they are looking for, more or less.

Captain America: the 1940s Newspaper Strip by Karl Kesel
This was collected in a book in 2010. It's out of print, but you can probably track down a copy one way or another. They are all on Marvel Unlimited as well.

Captain America and The Falcon by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and others
This is getting collected into Epic Collections. A few are out now. Mad Bomb is probably the most significant story to come out of this run.

SUPERMAN

The Geoff Johns run, which would be:

1. The Last Son of Krypton
2. Secret Origin
3. Brainiac
4. Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes
5. Escape from Bizarro World

I don't think it really matters what order you read these in, they were all kinda coming out at the same time. Some were dragged out while others filled in the space in between. It was confusing, but these are five great Superman books.

World's Finest by Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude

Birthright by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu
NOTE: neither of us are crazy about this book, but it's good for new readers.

Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Same note as above.

IRON MAN

The Matt Fraction/Salvador Larocca run, which would be:

1. The Five Nightmares
2. World's Most Wanted
3. Stark Disassembled
4. Stark Resilient
5. My Monsters
6. Unfixable
7. Demon
8. Long Way Down
9. The Future

Demon in a Bottle by David Michelinie, Bob Layton and John Romita
Again, we only sort of recommend this. And it's not even a real story arc exactly, but it is collected in a book with this title and if you want to see Tony Stark hit rock bottom, this is for you.

WOLVERINE

Wolverine (1982) by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller
It's kinda weird, but still holds up. Good especially if you're interested in Wolverine's connection to Japan.

Wolverine: Weapon X by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney
We both really love this run. I can't recommend it enough. It's collected into, I believe, three volumes.

Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron and various artists
This is a fantastic run that followed the Schism event, and Wolverine is the headmaster of the new Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The school is staffed by other anti-Cyclops X-Men, including Kitty Pryde, Storm, Ice Man, Beast and more. There are, I think, eight volumes of this. And it's really the last appearance of Wolverine because he's been dead in the comics for awhile.

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Wolverine is a bit of a background player in this one, but I think he's note perfect in the scenes he's in. It's collected into two books.

WONDER WOMAN

Who Is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg and Terry Dodson
Cool series where Diana Prince is a secret agent with gorgeous Dodson art.

Current "Year One" run by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott
Every other issue that is coming out right now is part of the "Year One" storyline and it's great.  

Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette
It's a little weird, but it's an interesting examination of the character with beautiful art.

Wonder Woman run by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang
There are six volumes of this run, and it's pretty great. 

DC's The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
Obviously.