Podcast - Episode 102: Sexcastle (Image) by Kyle Starks

It's time to get crazy. This week we read Kyle Starks' hilarious love letter to 80s action heroes, Sexcastle. PLUS we've got a lot of news out of San Diego Comic Con to cover.

Before we get to Sexcastle, though, let's have a look at that Infinity War poster:

And let's just...zoom in. And enhance...

My. God.

Here's what I forgot to mention on the episode: he is wearing the same Captain America uniform here that he was wearing in Civil War. It's just all dirty and gross and hot now. And he, like, Sharpied out the star. Lord above.

Like...I've not even seen erotic Captain America fan art that was this hot. Why do there have to be other characters in this movie?!

Aw, I didn't mean you, baby. You're still my favourite. Looking forward to you and Steve rubbing your beards on each other.

Alright, let's look at some Sexcastle. This is some solid cartooning.

The Damn Twins!

This is a really fun book and a short read. Perfect for the beach or to get you through a really boring summer wedding.

Alright, next week we are talking about Christopher Priest's Black Panther comics. We are going to be reading and discussing the first volume of the Complete Collection. That contains issues #1-17 and that is over 400 pages of Black Panther comics, so get reading everyone!

I'll just remind you that I have the entire summer book club reading list posted on Goodreads here.

See you next week!

Podcast - Episode 55: SDCC and Doctor Strange: The Oath

Dave went to San Diego Comic Con! He's back to talk all about the things he saw, the people he met, the awards he won, and the things he bought! We also cover as much of the news that came out of SDCC as possible, including our thoughts on about a hundred movie trailers.

It's also another instalment of our summer book club, and this week we are talking about Doctor Strange: The Oath by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin.

PLUS we have a lot of comics to talk about! Steve Rogers Captain America #3 came out this week and it was awesome and nuts! And in This Week in Winter Soldier, I talk all about Thunderbolts #3 and tell Dave a story about fans going absolutely bananas on Sebastian Stan's Instagram when he cancelled his Wizard World Chicago appearance.

You can't watch Arty, the short film directed by Nathan Boone that Dave acts in, online yet, but here is the trailer:

ARTY TRAILER from Heavy Water Studios on Vimeo.

Dave got me a present at SDCC! It's an amazing print by Marvel Studios' Head of Visual Development, Ryan Meinerding! 

Man, so pretty.

Ryan Meinerding has like the best job in the world.

Thanks Dave! 

Here are those Iron Fist/Power Man Bill Sienkiewicz Marvel ads Dave was talking about:

Alright! I hope you enjoyed, or will enjoy, Doctor Strange: The Oath! It's really, really good!!!!

Podcast - Episode 49: Fandom, Fanfic and Friends!

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:

http://maxiekat.tumblr.com/post/145785730746/safelight-by-change-playing-a-scavenger

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

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:

Recognizing my white privilege is like recognizing one has ADHD. It helps me understand my own reactions. It helps me empathize.

— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) June 2, 2016

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:

Comics is the only medium that gets yelled at for pulling off big surprises. It's like going to a restaurant and yelling 'ugh, more food.'

— Nick Spencer (@nickspencer) June 2, 2016

Thanks for listening! 

Podcast - Epsiode 46: East Coast Comic Expo

It's the first ever Living Between Wednesdays road trip! Destination: Moncton, New Brunswick!

Ok, it wasn't much of a road trip. For one thing, we went on separate days in separate vehicles. For another, we really only hung out on Saturday night, after East Coast Comic Expo was over. But still!

This is a very chill episode, via Skype, because I was too tired to leave my house again after getting back. We talk about the many, many spoilers that have hit the internet for DC's Rebirth. We talk about Wonder Woman: Earth One, because we both finally got around to reading that this week. We talk about the first issue of Future Quest by Jeff Parker, Doc Shaner and Steve Rude (quite a line-up!). And this week sees the return of an organized This Week in Winter Soldier segment, in which I am amazed by Bucky's abilities to test the ripeness of plums with his metal fingers.

First of all, I feel like a complete ass because I forgot to mention the awesome Black Widow that Liz Mac drew for me at ECCE. Here is a slightly blurry image of it:

So cute!!!!

And here is the amazing Winter Soldier drawing that Andy Cotnam did for me! What an awesome surprise!!!

Here's Dave with the super rad Joe-Luis Garcia Lopez Wonder Woman piece that Nick Bradshaw scored for him:

So, yeah. We had a great time. Nick Bradshaw puts out a great spread!

Confession: Eating lobster is just an excuse to consume dinner rolls.

It was nice meeting everyone. Check out Kelly Tindall's work here, and Riley Rossmo's work here. 

Thanks for listening! Next week Dave and I are going to endure that X-Men Apocalypse movie for you.

Podcast - Episode 28: Great Writing/Bad Art & Great Art/Bad Writing

This week we totally talk about actual comic books! We talk about books that had such great writing that we were (almost) able to overlook the not-so-great art. And then books that had art that was so great that we bought them even though the writing was just terrible. It gets kinda mean, not gonna lie.

And the panel at the top of this post is, of course, from JLA (great writing by Grant Morrison, just dreadful art by Howard Porter). Here are a few more of the comics we mention:

1. Animal Man with great writing by Grant Morrison, not-so-great art by Chas Truog:

2. Miracle Man with great writing by Alan Moore, not-so-great art by Chuck Beckum:

3. Godland with great art by Tom Scioli and not-so-great writing by Joe Casey:

4. Doom Patrol with great writing by Grant Morrison, not-so-great art by Richard Case:

5. Our favourite example: Superman/Batman with great art by Ed McGuinness, terrible writing by Jeph Loeb:

Hey, if you want to watch the entire Captain America: Civil War panel from Wizard World New Orleans, you can!!! Right here.

And if you want to see how extremely handsome and snugly Chris Evans looked while doing that panel, here's some visual reference:

I'll finish this with a picture of that Winter Soldier Dorbz toy that is coming out and is adorable. And some very funny fan art inspired by it.

http://lalawooo.tumblr.com/post/136870599350/calie-day-lalawooo-eleonorebirk

Nah, I lied. I'm gonna end this with a selfie of Sebastian Stan in a tux on Golden Globes night: