Podcast - Episode 53: Wilson

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Week three of the book club and we are talking about Wilson by Daniel Clowes! Because we can't talk about super heroes all the time!

We do talk about super heroes a lot in this episode, though. We read a whole lot of comics that we discuss, including Sam Wilson Captain America #11, Batman #2, Superman #1, Justice League #1, The Fix #4, Green Arrow #2, Green Lanterns #2 and more!

We also talk about the statue of (Steve Rogers) Captain America that is going to be installed in Brooklyn to commemorate the character's 75th anniversary (and, um, 5th year of being from Brooklyn). You can read more about that here. Here is the image of the concept for the statue:

"I'm just a kid from Brooklyn." Alright. Whatever. Fine.

But just imagine a statue based on Kirby's art in the Lower East Side. Right? Right?

Anyway.

Here's that hilarious "candid" photo of true, real, authentic, unstaged love from Taylor Swift's Fouth of July party:

Ryan Reynolds in that photo is my favourite thing.

And here's that Tom Holland selfie from the set of Spider-Man:

I'm gonna keep this post short because I am writing it way in advance before I leave for NYC.  I recommend listening to the Daniel Clowes interview on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron. And please do read (or re-read) Batman: Hush for next week because we have so much to say about it. We are very excited to talk about this one.

Podcast - Episode 52: Spider-Man - The Original Clone Saga

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It's week two of our book club! This week I read about 500 pages of Spider-Man. Dave had an earlier collection of this story that was under 200 pages. We should have communicated better.

This week we discuss Gerry Conway and Ross Andru's Clone Saga Spider-Man story from the mid-1970s. It's one of Dave's favourites and I had never read it before!

Before that we talk about how great Steve Rogers Captain America #2 is (and about how insane all the hate that's being hurled at Nick Spencer is). 

Speaking of insane, you can read the absolutely bonkers article about this comic that was posted on Paste Magazine's site here. As I say in the podcast, it's not only crazy because it STATES AS FACT that Marvel did something that would be impossible (completely change and re-write/draw/print a comic in like three weeks), it's also crazy because it suggests that Marvel, a very large entertainment company, would change a comic that QUICKLY SOLD OUT because a loud minority on the internet completely misunderstood it. It also ignores the content of this second issue, which is basically a very detailed outline showing how everything that has happened in all of the comics Spencer has been writing for most of a year now had led to this moment. It's just nuts.

Paste did post an apology, sort of, but man. Too little too late.

Anyway. I am so tired of defending this clearly awesome comic.

You can purchase and download that Year of Marvels Infinite comic about Winter Solider by Chuck Wendig and Juanan Ramirez here. I've seen the whole thing screen grabbed on Tumblr as well, because Tumblr is a lawless hellscape.

The comic is full of good stuff, like, um, this:

And this very hot WWII flashback version of Steve Rogers:

And who wants to see some creepy Captain America and Winter Soldier plush toys?

I think it's really funny that Steve's nose is so much larger than Bucky's. Attention to detail!

Here are some of the panels of the Clone Saga that we discuss. I apologize for the poor quality of these images. You're just gonna have to buy the book to see the beautiful art in all it's glory!

Here's that quiet scene on campus that Dave was talking about:

And here is the scene of J.J.J. clicking his heels together and then falling down:

Here's what Dave was talking about when he said Ross Andru draws crazy so well:

I forgot to mention this in the episode, but I was really impressed with Scorpion's costume-packing skills:

So cute!

And speaking of costumes, here's the one I became completely obsessed with: The Jackal!

Here is Prof Warren tearing his mask off:

Like...come on. That costume is insane.

Anyway. Ross Andru's art is amazing.

That's it for this week! Next week Dave and I talk about Wilspn, by Daniel Clowes! Not as many super villains in that one, if I remember correctly. Less clones, probably?

Podcast - Episode 49: Fandom, Fanfic and Friends!

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Dave is away this week so I have invited a couple of Twitter friends to join me on this episode. I talk to Rebecca in England and Jacqui in Philadelphia, two super hero fans who I have only talked to via Twitter up to this point. It was fun talking to them! We talk about all sorts of things: fandom, fan fiction, inclusion in comics and film casting, Sebastian Stan, Bucky, The Winter Soldier...

Hey, Dave might actually listen to this week's episode (and last week's) because he's not on them! He hates listening to his own voice! Unlike me! I ONLY want to listen to my own voice!

Speaking of self-indulgence, I use my old band's music for the transitions throughout this episode. But honestly that's more because I don't understand how copyright laws work for music in podcast episodes, and I am reasonably sure my former bandmates/current best friends won't sue me.

It was really nice talking to both Rebecca and Jacqui this week. It's nice to be reminded that you can meet really nice people on social media, not just loud jerks. 

Jacqui has a podcast too! It's called Digging Diversely and you can check it out here!

Oh, and she mentions a recent incident where some girls approached a random stranger in NYC to get help with their scavenger hunt, and it turned out to be Sebastian Stan. You can see the details/photo of that here:

Jacqui did not mention how CRAZY HOT Sebastian looked in the photo. I guess it kinda goes without saying.

I just want to say a few more words about fanfic here, because I didn't really get into my own reasons for liking it too much. 

Here are some reasons I like fanfic in general:

  1. It can be a useful way to add in "deleted scenes" to canon stories that you already love;
  2. It gives writers a place to practice their craft and gives them a supportive audience;
  3. It allows fans to explore characters beyond what you see on the screen/page;
  4. It brings all sorts of new ideas about characters and story details to the table;
  5. It adds inclusive characters to films/shows/books where there may not have been any before.

Here are some reasons I like "slash" fic in particular:

  1. It's hot;
  2. The fan community is a safe space where you are almost definitely not going to find a straight dude ruining everything;
  3. I am boy crazy and why have one hot man in your erotica when you can have two?;
  4. It's erotic entertainment created largely by women that you can consume anywhere, and you don't have to worry about real people being exploited or hurt for your enjoyment;
  5. Sometimes (often) it just makes more sense than the hetero romance the studios/publishers are trying to sell us.

So, yeah. There it is. I love it. If you see me at a coffee shop reading something on my iPad, DON'T bother me.

Thanks again to my guests. Next week Dave will be back for our 50th episode!!!!

Podcast - Episode 48: Controversial Comics with Cal Johnston

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Comics have a long, proud history of dropping crazy stories on their readers. Some of these created a bit of a stir at the time. Sometimes that stir moved beyond the comic fandom and into mainstream media. And sometimes a comic that didn't cause much controversy at the time...just doesn't age well.

Dave is away this week but I was lucky enough to be joined by Cal Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures comic shops here in Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Strange Adventures are amazing comic book shops, and Cal is an awesome guy. I do owe a lot of my love of comics to Cal and Dave and the welcoming nature of Strange Adventures. Cal is very enthusiastic about comics, and shares his love of them in many awesome ways, from being incredibly generous on Free Comic Book Day, to organizing and financing DCAF, a free one-day comic fest that happens in Dartmouth every August. He has also helped the careers of several cartoonists, and is the cornerstone of the local comic scene here. Cal rules!

As I mention on this podcast, if you would like to learn more about Cal and his stores, you should listen to him on Sean Jordan's podcast, Weekend At Burgie's.

I mention a few good tweets from the comic book world this past week. You should read the entire thread of tweets from Kurt Busiek here.

And Gerry Conway had a bunch of great tweets on white male privilege, like this one:

Gerry Conway, as it turns out, might be the most woke dude on Twitter (did I say that right?).

I also really enjoyed this Nick Spencer tweet:

Thanks for listening! 

Podcast - Episode 47: Comics in the Age of Social Media

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Hi guys!

Whoosh! What a week! I'm releasing this episode a day early!

I don't even have that much to write this week because I've pretty much said it all in this blog post I wrote last week:

A Defence of Nick Spencer From Someone Who Loves Captain America and Hates Hate

And if I didn't say it there, I certainly said it in the comments section of that post, or on Twitter, or in this episode of the podcast. Dave and I just talk for 90 minutes straight about all of this (with some actual thoughts on the actual content of the comics at the end).

But I did just want to clearly state a few things here in list format that I believe (not gonna speak for Dave, but he probably agrees):

  1. Fan entitlement and outrage is a real problem that does, and has always, existed as long as there have been things to be fans of;
  2. This does not mean that fictional characters aren't important, or that people cannot have strong feelings about them and what they do in fictional stories;
  3. The non-white, non-straight, and non-male population is still VERY underrepresented in pop culture and that does need to be addressed by the creators of entertainment, and fans have every right to get loud about that;
  4. BUT this does not mean that writers/directors/publishers/studios are not allowed to tell the stories they want to tell with the characters they own;
  5. Difficult subject matter is absolutely allowed to exist in fiction and SHOULD exist;
  6. BUT it's ok for someone to be offended or uncomfortable about it, or to choose not to consume that particular story/show/movie. It's ok for that person to explain why they feel that way without being dismissed. Everyone has valid points in any argument;
  7. BUT those fans who are upset about something that is happening in a fictional story can't dismiss that a lot of other fans are not bothered by it, and may even love it, and that this doesn't mean those fans who like it are bad people;
  8. Loudly judging a long-format, serialized story based on the first chapter doesn't make a lot of sense;
  9. Threats are always, always bad. So are false accusations and willful ignorance. Less yelling and more listening/discussion is a good idea;
  10. Nick Spencer is a good writer and has earned the right to tell this story.

Enjoy the episode! I think it's a good one. Dave and I had a really great discussion that covered a lot of issues. And if you don't know what happened last week, I open with a timeline to bring people up to speed.

As always, I welcome questions on this blog, or you can Tweet at us or hit us up on Facebook!