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.

Podcast - Episode 21: Outsider Comic Writers

I love that review quote on the cover. So much.

So Max Landis wrote a Superman comic last week, and to, um celebrate(?) we decided to talk a bit about "outsiders" who try their hand at writing comics. Actors, musicians, directors, television writers, wrestlers, authors and more!

Still getting the hang of the new mics, but I think we're sounding better. You'll notice the sound gets better after the first couple of minutes (when we start talking about Supergirl) because we paused to fix some of the settings. Now I just have to remember to stay on the mic and we should be good!

It was a REALLY slow week for news, but a big week for comics. There was no Winter Soldier news to speak of, but that doesn't mean I didn't fill a few minutes with Bucky Barnes babbling.

Here's Chris Pine looking all hot as Steve Trevor:

I love me some Pine.

When we were talking about All New All Different Avengers #1 I voiced my concern about Sam Wilson hurling his shield through a car full of passengers. Here is what I was talking about:

And I also mention that Clint and Kate look a whole lot older than 'twenty years later' in Hawkeye #1:

When we are talking about Joss Whedon's run on Runaways, Dave and I both recall our favourite moment, when Molly punched The Punisher in the stomach (or nuts, if you like). Here are the panels:

We forgot to mention this on the podcast, but the comic Dave drew, The Last Paper Route, is now available to buy digitally on Comixology. Check it out!

I honestly can't think of much to write this week. Hopefully next week will be a more exciting comic news week. At least we'll have Jessica Jones to talk about! Thanks for listening! iTunes reviews are appreciated!

Podcast - Episode 2 - Canada!

Happy Canada Day! And if you aren't Canadian, happy new comic book day!

It's like i'm looking out my window!

This week Dave and I discuss the mountain of comic news and gossip that came out in the last week or so, including a director for Black Panther, a new Dr Strange book from Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, and a DC casting switcharoo for professional dreamboat, Chris Pine. 

We also talk about the first issue of Brian K Vaughan and Steve Skroce's new comic, We Stand on Guard, and discuss our favourite Canadian comic book characters and creators. We barely scratch the surface, really, but it's still a fun talk! Apologies to the zillions of Canadian comic creators who don't get mentioned. We mention, like, three.

Click here to listen, or head on over to iTunes to download/subscribe. New episodes will be posted every Wednesday. At least until America attacks Canada for our water supply.

We are going to be providing detailed posts with links, images, videos and more to supplement the podcast episodes. So here is some bonus material to enhance your listening experience for this week's episode!

First, if you like the song we use as our theme, Wordburglar's "Drawings with Words", check out the video! Look for Dave around the 1:40 mark!

I talk more than anyone needs to about The Covenant this week, since I watched it right before recording this episode. Here is the trailer:

And here is the whole damn movie, if you feel like watching the most ridiculous dialogue ever written tumble from Sebastian Stan's perfect mouth:

And here is a Sebastian Stan gif from the movie that I like:

There is no sex in this movie. I am serious. this is his reaction to being thrown up against a locker by a dude.

If you want to read the full "article" about Anthony Mackie describing the perfect woman for Chris Evans, it's here. And it's weird.

How often does Anthony Mackie's iPod play Earth Wind and Fire songs in Evans' presence while on "shuffle" mode?

I mention that one of my favourite sports is hate-reading Jeremy Renner's Twitter account. Here are some choice recent douchy tweets.

First he makes light of Chris Evans' inability to fulfil his dreams of fatherhood:

That is seriously cold.

And he makes a cool frat boy joke for Chris Evans' birthday:

Dick?

He also posts a lot of pics of himself wearing sunglasses, looking like an ass:

Montreal is too close to my home.

In the Canada section of this episode, we reference a few things that I had written about previously on the blog. Here are some links:

Jeph Loeb writes Wolverine as a Canada-hater

Rating the Super Hunks: Wolverine

Veronica In Canada

Archie gang goes to Canada

Good news! Dave was not imagining the comic where Spider-Man goes to the Calgary Stampede!

woah! It's the first appearance of turbine!!!!

And here is the official video for Plumtree's song, Scott Pilgrim, which inspired the comic.

I decided not to make a Canadian references bingo card for We Stand on Guard because it's too mean. It would be downright un-Canadian of me, really.

Thanks for listening! Please send us your dreamcasting choices for Guy Gardner. You can hit me up on Twitter @rachellegoguen and Dave is @paskettiwestern

This week's haul: Johnathan beat me to a StarCraft Preview Inside joke.

A bit of a light week for me. Here's some of what I bought this week:

Captain America #50

There is a Marcos Martin back-up in this comic that I would have gladly paid $3.99 for on its own. It's a stunning summarization of Captain America's complete story from origin to present. The design is so incredible that it would make Saul Bass cry beautiful, stylish tears.

And the main story is typically awesome as every issue of this series is awesome. Luke Ross and share the art duties. And there's also a two-page Hembeck comic at the back! That's a lot of comic for four bucks!

Uncanny X-Men #510

Every woman has the exact same frigging face!

Wolverine Weapon X #2

Jason Aaron is killing this thing! This comic is giving me everything I want out of a Wolverine comic: unchecked machismo, wit, and claws being poked through bad guys. And also: a gun that shoots bullets filled with cancer.

I loved Aaron's three issue run on Wolverine last year, so I am really happy to see him back writing everyone's favourite grouchy Canadian mutant.

Tiny Titans #16

At free comic book day this year a mom with two young kids was excitedly telling me how much her kids love Tiny Titans, and how she discovered that she enjoyed reading them as much as they did! She told me how gleeful the kids were when they were introduced to the Teeny Tiny Titans. Listening to her rave about this series reassured me that this comic is doing what it is supposed to be doing. Although I have loved it from issue #1, I was worried that it might be more of an adorable inside joke for adult nerds than something that kids would find funny. It's definitely not the case: kids love Tiny Titans. It's very exciting.

The second trade collection of Tiny Titans also came out this week. It makes a great gift for your favourite kid!

Mysterius #5

Johnathan already mentioned it, but I'll go ahead and say it again: Starcraft Preview Inside?! Come on. As if that is worth putting an ugly logo in the middle of a beautiful cover for. Who on Earth is going to buy a comic because it has a preview of another comic in it?  Much less the fifth issue of a series! Best case scenario: they pick up this comic, read the preview, and put it back on the shelf. Argh! So lame.

This series is awesome, by the way, as I keep saying. Everyone should buy every issue of Mysterius.

Johnny Hiro

I bought all the issues of this comic but I also bought this new trade collection of it because:

a) I love this comic. It is hilarious and awesome;

b) This book is beautiful!

The tag for Johnny Hiro is Half Asian, All Hero. That's right: Johnny Hiro was using the Hiro/Hero pun years before Heroes was ever on the air. It is a very funny and action-packed comic written and drawn by Fred Chao. Hiro is a young  man living in New York City and struggling to get by as a busboy. He lives with his Japanese girlfriend, Mayumi, who is a fantastic character with somewhat limited English.

It's, I guess, similar to Scott Pilgrim in that it combines romance and humour with insane crazy action sequences really well. Except with Johnny Hiro, you might actually want to hang out and be friends with the characters. I highly recommend buying this book. It's cheap!

G-Man: Learning to Fly

I definitely approve of Image's decision to release Chris Giarusso's original creation comic, G-Man, in this digest format for kids. We all love Mini Marvels, and this is just as hilarious and adorable. And you don't have to read Marvel cross-over events to get all the jokes!

This Week's Haul:Tearing myself away from dreaming about Chris Pine long enough to review comics

Time for some reviews! Here are a few of the things I read this week. Now my review feature less cover images and more interior panels! Wooooo!

Super Friends #15

I'll tell you why I love J.Bone. It's because of stuff like this:

Look at how pleased Batman looks with himself!!! That is one satisfied detective.

This was an exceptionally good issue of Super Friends, and not just because of J.Bone's fabulous artwork. Sholly Fisch really stepped up the humour in this issue, matching it with other DC kids titles on the stands. I always felt that Super Friends was a cute-but-bland comic that was more about learning lessons than witty banter. But this issue was great. Plus the plot was actually a little intriguing. Nice!

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1

One good adorable comic deserves another! This time its one from the Marvel universe featuring a superteam of critters! AND it's written by Chris Eliopolous! AND it features a Throg origin story drawn by Colleen Coover! AND Lockjaw is adorable! AND Throg's human name was Simon Walterson!

Wolverine #73

And now we switch gears completely.

I like to think that the cover of this issue alone will make it fly off the shelves, but just in case it doesn't I'd like to emphasize how awesome it is. Jason Aaron wrote the first story, and it's drawn by Adam Kubert. It's a very entertaining examination of Wolverine's day-to-day life as it is right now, stretching himself very thin between multiple teams and solo missions. It also is full of the attitude and bad assedness that we all love and expect from Jason Aaron. The second story is by Daniel Way and features art  by Tommy Lee Edwards. Pretty awesome. Also awesome is the fact that Marvel didn't charge $3.99 for it, even though they probably could have found a way to do that. So you get a lot of awesome for three dollars here.

Booster Gold #20

Keith Giffen steps in to write this issue, and I feel that it really brought back some of the fun that this title has been missing lately. I wasn't hating it or anything, but it was getting way too serious. This issue was funny.

I don't want all the drama, I just want to see Booster Gold zipping around to different points of time in the DCU and making cute remarks. This issue had that, and it also had Booster in a three-piece suit. So that was nice.

Secret Six #9

This is as close to Battle for the Cowl as I'm going to get. I strongly doubt that any other tie-ins will be as entertaining as this one. Gail Simone rules, and this series rules and I for one would love to see Catman as the new Batman.

Zorro #13

I was recently telling the guys at The Dollar bin how much I love this Zorro series and it was pointed out that there isn't a whole action in this comic. I hadn't really thought about it before, but it's true. This comic is a lot more Bruce Wayne than Batman. But that's what I like about Matt Wagner's writing: he gives you a lot of the man behind the mask, a lot of the villain, and a lot of the supporting characters. And when the action does happen it's creative and cool-looking. Plus, in the case of this comic, Zorro is always having a great time. And I like that in a hero.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this Zorro series and more people should be reading it. The first trade is coming out soon.

Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos (One-Shot)

Holy smokes! This was amazing! I don't know why I love war comics so much, but I do. And Sgt Fury is definitely one of the best military comic characters ever. He's just so damn manly. I love him.

The John Paul Leon artwork is beautiful, as usual, and TV writer Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost) that hits every beat. Every single panel is awesome. My only complaint is that this is a one-shot and not the first issue of a series that will go on forever.

Alright, that about does it. And now back to gazing longingly at Chris Pine.

My Spoiler-Free Mini Review of Wolverine

Sorry this is so late. Free Comic Book Day and all that.

Ok, this was not a great movie. For the first half I was pretty into it, and then it just got stupider and stupider. Hugh Jackman gave a great performance, and he was totally RIPPED. I don't find Jackman all that attractive except when he's Wolverine (and, oddly, I don't find Wolverine attractive unless he's Hugh Jackman). He was certainly looking good in this movie. Liev Screiber was also very good as Sabertooth, and looked great. He really gave it his all, I think. If you are a fan of Deadpool or Gambit, though, prepare for disappointment. The movie suffers from too many mutants. It's like they were just trying to round up everyone who didn't make it into the other three X-Men movies and cram them into one movie (plus Cyclops, who according to this timeline must have been in his fifties by the time of the first X-Men movie).

And, actually, I am going to drop some spoilers here. If you care about this movie, I guess, don't read past here because I have some bones to pick.

1. Adamatium bullets? ADAMANTIUM BULLETS?! What in hell? That makes no sense! 

2. This movie did the same thing that bothered me about the other X-Men movies. They threw in a bunch of background mutants, some of whom are really major characters in the comics, but they made no effort with them. In the second and third X-Men movie you had Colossus with no Russian accent. I mean, that's a small thing that makes a big difference when bringing a character to life. Why can't his two lines be delivered with a Russian accent? We saw the same thing in this movie with Emma Frost, who is Canadian (?!) and shows up very briefly.

3. When Gambit first showed up on the screen I was momentarily excited because I had been waiting about 15 years for this. But I was quickly bored because it was clear the character wasn't going to fit into the movie in any tidy way, and the actor, while very attractive, wasn't really going to go for it with the Cajun accent. And then he fought Wolverine for no reason.

So, in conclusion, the first half of this movie showed promise, which was quickly destroyed in the second half. But if you just want to see Hugh Jackman being sexy with his shirt off for an hour and 45, this is your movie.